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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Satisfying Conclusion To The Series, December 8, 1999
As the stories contained within this last book of the tales of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser all revolve around Rime Island, they follow a much more linear and chronological order than the earlier three volumes, and are sequentially tied to the last two stories that concluded the previous "Lean Times in Lankhmar." In some ways more tightly written and plotted than some of the earlier tales, I found "Farewell" a satisfying conclusion to the "twain's" adventures, despite having grown somewhat weary of Leiber's over-worked writing style. While I agree with an earlier commentator that the tales here lack some of the roving action and fanciful--some might say farfetched--episodes contained within earlier tales, I was not entirely disappointed by their absence. Nor did I detect the melancholia noted by another; only a recognition of aging on the part of the heroes that added a new and realistic dimension to their characters--afterall, all good things must come to and end. I did find the sexual episodes in "The Mouser Goes Below" somewhat off-putting and indulgent, with their soft porn appeal to masochism and sadism, and felt they were largely irrelevant and distracting to the plot. But as the "boys" sexual prowess and escapades have always been indulged within the tales, I imagine they will retain continued appeal for fans of the series, regardless of their juvenile and chauvinistic pandering.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
How old age and past misdeeds are creeping up on two friends, August 21, 1998
By A Customer
Once more our two favourite rogues are at it again. Once again the Gray one and his barbarian northern counterpart have to fight off the machinations of spiteful and petty deities in their usual or should I say unusual manner, this time however assisted by their current stalwarthy paramours of Rime Isle and two surprising others. Their mishap reunites our two heros for a short while with old enemies and old lovers (and some of the most explicit sexual descriptions to date). All this as usual very eloquently told by Fritz Leiber at his best.However I do not rank this book as highly as the ones which went before. There is a subtle change in mood noticable in this book. Both heroes are preoccupied with their advancing age and do not hesitate to share their misgivings about that with the readers. Futhermore they have taken on responsibilities of family and employees and in doing so have more become like us ordinary mortals with our everyday problems. All this has aided in giving this book a sense of disconcerting melancholy. Although some might say that this is a sign of maturity, it is also putting some distance from the freespiriting and "the devil may care" attitude we have come to know and love in our two knaves... Still, any new Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser story is a real treat and preferable over most other and newer sword&sorcery outings, and definitly worthwhile enjoying. A final word on the book itself: Dissapointing was the fact that the publisher has decided not to reprint the map of Nehwon on the interior of the cover. Although one might say that this time none of the adventures took place in any of the places depicted on the map, the inclusion of the map would have given the book the cachet of its predecessors in the series. (Speaking of maps; in the colophone of "Return of Lankhmar" mention is being made of a map of "A portion of Lankhmar". Call me dimwitted, but does anybody know were that map is printed?) However the most serious shortcoming of "Farewell to Lankhmar" is,that it is NOT complete: Between page 110-111 no less than seven chapters are missing dealing with the dispatch of the twains would-be assassins. Hopefully the publisher will rectify this in the future.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful end to the series, June 18, 1999
This was the first Fritz Leiber book that I ever read, and titled as THE KNIGHT AND KNAVE OF SWORDS. C.J. Cherryh points out in an Interzone interview, that F.L. had a wonderful talent for delivering the contents of his stories with such a sophisticated, slickness that you didn't know it was coming till it happened. One of the better examples of this quality is in the story, THE MOUSER GOES BELOW. There is a section where The Mouser is privy to a pain and pleasure scene between the rat-queen, Hisvet, and her two maids, threesie and foursie. At the climax to this, The Mouser, being highly stimulated by the action is accosted by Death's sister, Pain, who relieves him drop, by excruciating drop. It's the way that the Pain character is reintroduced from earlier, and then used within a switch of related contexts. The former being comically erotic, the latter, a piece of pure horror. Sequences such as this, clearly demonstrate why F.L. was such a highly awarded writer, as is detailed in the dust jacket.My only gripe with this publication is the omission of the last few pages that ended THE CURSE OF THE SMALLS AND THE STARS in THE KNIGHT AND KNAVE OF SWORDS version, which I was familiar with. I think it would have been more complete with that addition, as it completes the story more agreeably, instead of leaving it slightly hanging.
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by Fritz Leiber
by Fritz Leiber
