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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dated narrative, slow in places, but still some dashing S&S charm.,
By Scott Andrews (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Flashing swords! #1 (Hardcover)
Ah, the early 1970s, when Led Zeppelin and Oakland A's ruled the world, when fantasy was booming with the first US paperbacks of _The Lord of the Rings_, and when original series anthologies edited by famous writers were the hot new thing. Lin Carter and several of his writer pals were fans of Howardian sword & sorcery, a style perfect for a theme anthology series. Carter recruited sword & sorcery veterans Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance and Poul Anderson, added an original tale of his own, and thus was born the first volume of _Flashing Swords!_.
Leiber is a legend in sword & sorcery for his classic thief duo Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Their origin story "Ill Met in Lankhmar" won the Hugo and Nebula awards in 1970; however, the new Fafhrd and Gray Mouser adventure penned for _Flashing Swords! #1_ feels vague and thin compared to that classic. The protagonist is Death himself, plotting the downfall of the two heroes. He brainwashes two warriors to attack them, but Fafhrd and the Mouser easily, quickly, and rather misogynisticly defeat them. Jack Vance, author of the classic Dying Earth tales, contributes a tale of squabbling sorcerers chasing after powerful stones. The beginning drags with constant bickering between these innumerable wizards. The pace finally picks up once they board a flying palace and track down their pawn on another world, told in Vance's uniquely vivid and crisp language. Anderson's novella is set in a vivid alternate-Viking world, based on his own historical knowledge of Icelandic epics. However, the early sections of this tale stumble through long passages of societal backstory and Christian ritual. Once the eventual mermen protagonists finally set sail to recover treasure from a submerged city ruin, the story becomes more interesting. Carter explains that his tale, introducing a barbarian warrior, was influenced by Robert E. Howard's Conan. His barbarian, a "man god," is so supernaturally gifted that he easily conquers all tasks. Carter's prose is so over-the-top, in passages like the description of the barbarian's huge physique, that it teeters between obsequious and farcical. The barbarian receives his divine mission, but then the story shifts to his sorcerer sidekick and that mission is largely forgotten. The two heroes get waylaid en route to their destination and sit through a whole chapter of boring theological discussion. They escape in implausible fashion; then the story ends with the original mission left for another tale. The old-fashioned omniscient point-of-view makes all of these stories an odd read for the modern audience. In some cases, the omniscient voice provides interesting detail on the setting. However, that same focus on setting, combined with the shallow depth of penetration into characters' thoughts, leaves the reader at a distance from the characters. Modern readers, in an age dominated by TV and movies, demand a closer and more intimate focus on their protagonists than this point-of-view can provide. Despite that handicap of its era, _Flashing Swords! #1_ does provide a few delightful moments of fantastical awe and visceral sword & sorcery glory.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Flashing Swords full of fun,
By
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This review is from: Flashing swords! #1 (Hardcover)
This is classic sword and sorcery with a dash of fun. Those who criticize it on literary grounds do not know what they are talking about.
You can't go wrong with Leiber and Poul Anderson, and Lin Carter's addition shows real imagination, while spoofing the whole genre. In fact, the "omniscient" viewpoint is perfect for this kind of story.
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