A version of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #149 (March, 2009).
There is a natural caution amongst fans when a new writer begins to tell tales of such legendary characters and the sorry history of Conan following his creator’s death is ample evidence of how poorly it can turn out. Leiber’s creation had begun as a collaborative effort between himself and Otto Fischer and both were active in war gaming and the early days of Dungeons and Dragons. Despite Leiber’s distinctive style, then, a fan could hope for the best. And Robin Wayne Bailey was an excellent choice for literary heir as a veteran fantasy author with tales in the Thieves’ World anthologies that were extremely reminiscent of Leiber’s own work. Moreover, like Leiber, Bailey is very active in the fan community, approachable, and extremely likeable personally.
Bailey did not rush to put out a new story after Leiber passed away, the first new Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser tale; Swords against the Shadowland, was not published until 1998. Set in the period following “Ill Met in Lankhmar”, during which Fafhrd and the Mouser avoided that city and were plagued by memories of their lost loves, Vlana and Ivrian. The novel follows the vengeance of the wizard Malygris, and the unintended consequences of his vengeance. It falls to our two heroes, manipulated by Mouser’s wizardly patron Sheelba, to set things right.
Malygris might be named after the eponymous wizard from "The Death of Malygris" by Clark Ashton Smith, or perhaps it is intended to be the same wizard, I'm not certain. I rather hope there is an intended connection.
This is not a Fritz Leiber book, nor even a pastiche of Leiber’s style. Bailey wisely avoids that trap and instead writes a book in his own style, utilizing the characters and locations of Lankhmar. For Leiber fans there might be some disconnect here; like the heroes of all of the early 20th century fantasy greats (i.e. Howard, Lovecraft, & Tolkien) Lieber’s heroes are more than a little detached from themselves. Fafhrd and Mouser love deeply, but discuss those loves with the same ironic abstraction that they discuss broad philosophies and metaphysics. Bailey’s heroes are heirs of our own, far more confessional age. They admit and discuss their brotherly love for each other with far less reticence than Lieber would have allowed, and their understanding of, and connections to, their own psyches are deeper.
This is not a criticism, however. The story is a swashbuckling tale of Lankhmar in the finest tradition, told by a man who has carefully studied Lankhmar. Bailey’s experience writing for the Thieves’ World shared universe concept clearly aided him here. Lankhmar is not only one of the oldest fantasy worlds, it is one of the oldest role-playing settings, and there are many who feel they know the fabled city nearly as well as they know their own hometowns. They will feel right at home in Bailey’s Lankhmar, perhaps even more than Lieber’s, as Bailey adds a level of detail that Lieber avoided in the pre-RPG age.
For gamers, Bailey’s work has several interesting concepts and ideas that gamemaster’s can steal. Malygris’ method of vengeance and its unintended consequences make the entire plot perfect for lifting as an adventure premise, one easily adapted to most AD&D-style fantasy settings. The novel explores Lankhmar thoroughly, and those running campaigns in any fantasy city will find many ideas and concepts in it that can be easily lifted for use in places like Waterdeep or the city of Greyhawk. Fafhrd and the Mouser are always excellent examples for players to emulate, and in the current era of role-playing, they are perhaps even more relevant.
Though this was the first of a planned trilogy, subsequent works never materialized. I don't know why, I greatly enjoyed the novel but I can see purists rejecting even the idea of a successor to Leiber, perhaps sales were low. Or perhaps the format was an issue. The duo's tales were primarily sword & sorcery short stories, often first published in magazines and then later collected in the famous "Swords against..." series. Leiber himself only wrote one true novel of the pair (and several novellas). Bailey was a veteran of the short story format, but perhaps he had a hard time creating full novel stories for the pair that fit into their established timeline.
If that was the case, it is a shame that an anthology wasn't produced instead. I believe a Lankhmar festschrift celebrating Leiber would have been well received by fans. Not a collection of unconnected tales like After the King: Stories In Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien (1992) edited by Martin H. Greenberg, but rather a collection of tales set in Lankhmar or elsewhere on Nehwon by a variety of fantasy authors. Leiber himself established that Nehwon had connections to other worlds, so they could even bring characters from their own worlds. Bailey would be the perfect editor for such a volume.
Fritz Leiber has passed and his copious output as a writer leaves us much to enjoy. And we have this novel, showing that the world itself can still entertain. It has been over fifteen years since I first read this book, I think it is time to read it again. And certaunly, Bailey’s concluding words provide a fitting end to this review, encapsulating a fan’s longing for eldritch Lankhmar and her roguish heroes:
Our
Knight and Knave of Swords—sleep
Your
work is done, the tale is told,
And
lives are saved a hundred-fold.
If
only all man’s plagues could be
Such
a neatly ended fantasy.
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