Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Series - Book 1 Swords and Deviltry; Book 2 Swords Against Death, Book 3 Swords in the Mist, Book 4 Swords Against Wizardry, Book 5 The Swords of Lankhmar, Book 6 Swords and Ice Magic, Book 7 The Knight and Knave of Swords

In the annals of heroic fantasy one epic tale stands head and shoulders above the rest, spanning sixty years in the telling, the saga of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser has captivated fans ever since Fritz Leiber’s first tale of the duo appeared in the August, 1939 issue of Unknown. Just in time for the seventy-eighth anniversary of the characters debut, Centipede Press is releasing the first of what will be the definitive eight-volume set comprising not only all of the stories by Fritz Leiber (and his friend Harry Fischer), but also the brilliant epilogue to the series, Swords Against the Shadowland by Robin Wayne Bailey.

These are archival editions, lavishly illustrated and featuring guest introductions from some of the top writers in the field. They plan on releasing both Swords and Deviltry and Swords Against Death this year

The story of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is among the most enduring in modern fantasy.

Swords and Deviltry features five color interior illustrations, a full-color frontispiece, full color wraparound dustjacket, and custom illustrated endpapers. The introduction is by Michael Moorcock. The book includes all of the stories that make up Swords and Deviltry along with two archival essays by Harry O. Fischer, Fritz Leiber’s 1973 introduction, two “Gray Mouser” poems from The Acolyte, and an interview with Fritz Leiber from 1979. Yes, Centipede will be publishing the entire series of novels, each one with a load of extras. This is the ultimate edition of this legendary fantasy series. 

The second book in the series, Swords Against Death , features work produced over a thirty-year period, including five classic novelettes of the genre that show Leiber’s progression from excellent to perhaps the very best that the field has ever produced. These five novelettes are ably bolstered by five terrific short stories, demonstrating Leiber’s ability to excel at any length. 

The third book in the series, Swords in the Mist, includes “The Cloud of Hate,” “Lean Times in Lankhmar,” “Their Mistress, The Sea,” “When the Sea-King’s Away,” “The Wrong Branch,” and “Adept’s Gambit.”
      For bonus materials, we have a rare photograph of Fritz Leiber, plus Leiber’s introduction from Night’s Black Agents, an essay by Fritz Leiber called “H.P. Lovecraft meets Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser,” some story fragments and a “Few Fafhrd & Gray Mouser Firsts,” and H.P. Lovecraft’s letters to Fritz Leiber regarding “Adept’s Gambit.”
      This book features an introduction by Tim Powers and artwork by Grant Griffin. It features six color interior illustrations, a full-color frontispiece, full color wraparound dustjacket, and custom illustrated endpapers. The book includes all of the stories that make up Swords in the Mist along with the bonus material mentioned above.

The fourth book in the series, Swords Against Wizardry, includes “In the Witch’s Tent,” “Stardock,” “The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar,” and “The Lords of Quarmall.” In addition, there is a lengthy biographical piece, “Fafhrd & Me” by Fritz Leiber, three other short essays by Fritz Leiber, plus Leiber’s obituaries of the Fischers, two essays by Harry O. Fischer (including the rare “The Original Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser,” another essay by Franklin C. MacKnight (“The Formative Years of Fafhrd and the Mouser”) and an interview with Fritz Leiber by Darrell Schweitzer from the First World Fantasy Convention, Providence, Rhode Island, on November 1, 1975! Holy smoke!
      This book features an introduction by John Pelan and artwork by Jim & Ruth Keegan. It is signed by both of them and also has a family-approved facsimile signature by Fritz Leiber. It features four color interior illustrations, a full-color frontispiece, full color wraparound dustjacket, several black & white interior illustrations, and custom illustrated endpapers. The book includes all of the stories that make up Swords Against Wizardry along with the bonus material mentioned above.

     The fifth book in the series, The Swords of Lankhmar, includes two essays on “Sex and the Fantasist,” “The Mouser & Hisvet,” and The Tale of the Grain Ship. The Swords of Lankhmar finds the city characteristically plagued by rats. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are in the employ of Glipkerio, the overlord, to guard a grain ship on its journey. Along the way, the rats onboard stage a rebellion and threaten to take the ship until a two-headed sea monster saves the day. If only there were two-headed sea monsters everywhere, Lankhmar would be safe, too.

      Alas, upon returning to the city, the two discover that Lankhmar is controlled by rats. It is a city known for its thieves and swine, but even the city’s muddiest bottom feeders have never seen pillaging and plundering like this. And only the sorcerers Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Ningauble of the Seven Eyes can scare this scourge. Mouser must shrink into the rat’s world and Fafhrd must unleash the feared feline War Cats. Then the fun really begins.
      Before The Lord of the Rings took the world by storm, Leiber’s fantastic but thoroughly flawed antiheroes, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, adventured deep within the caves of Inner Earth, albeit a different one. They wondered and wandered to the edges of the Outer Sea, across the Land of Nehwon and throughout every nook and cranny of gothic Lankhmar, Nehwon’s grandest and most mystically corrupt city. Lankhmar is Leiber’s fully realized, vivid incarnation of urban decay and civilization’s corroding effect on the human psyche.
      As may be expected from Centipede Press, these are archival editions, lavishly illustrated and featuring guest introductions from some of the top writers in the field. Book five, The Swords of Lankhmar, has a new introduction by Michael Swanwick and stunning color and duotone artwork by Tyler Jacobson.

      This book features an introduction by Michael Swanwick and artwork by Tyler Jacobsen. It is signed by both of them and also has a family-approved facsimile signature by Fritz Leiber. It features five duotone interior illustrations, a full-color frontispiece, a full color wraparound dustjacket, and custom illustrated endpapers.

Book 6 Swords of Ice Magic

That swashbuckling, debonair duo, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, are back at it again in Swords and Ice Magic, indulging in their vices while evading their mortal enemies and scoffing at the Gods. All in a day’s work for these strapping lads who are only too cavalier to check their six when a token wench walks past. Age may be catching up with them, making the tides of war give way to calmer waters. But that doesn’t mean they still don’t have a trick up their leather bootstraps.
      Enter the fray and join in their exploits as they: outwit the eternal clutches of Death in cheeky style (and on more than one occasion!), pontificate their existence while confined to their faithful ship at sea, and defy the frigid monsters of Frost Monstreme after heeding the call from none other than two distressed warrior women.
      Watch as the pair are aided by their sorcerer mentors, Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, who prevent their dried-out bodies from populating the barren desert lands of Nehwon. And visit them making amends with the people of Rime Isle, who they swore to save from a throng of Sea Mingols.
      No extreme heat, godly ice bath, or societal upheaval is powerful enough to keep them from acting out their escapades and collecting the priceless booty vowed to them at the end of a long-fought journey.
      With Fritz Lieber’s Swords and Ice Magic, readers will be regaled by the infusion of magick, mirth, marauding, and enough steely envy to upset even the Gods. And with language and action that harks back to a time of antiquity and romanticism not unlike a Greek comedy, you won’t soon be disappointed by the ride you’ve embarked on. Not while Fafhrd takes the drink orders and Gray Mouser toasts to victory.

The sixth book in the series, Swords and Ice Magic, includes “The Sadness of the Executioner,” “Beauty and the Beasts,” “Trapped in the Shadowland,” “The Bait,” “Under the Thumbs of the Gods,” “Trapped in the Sea of Stars,” “The Frost Monstreme,” and “Rime Isle.”
      Bonus materials include three interviews: by Darrell Schweitzer from Philcon, 1990; by Eric M. Heideman, Rodger Gerberding, and Terry A. Garey from the Radisson South Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota on March 25, 1989; and by Robert P. Barger for his Fafhrd & Gray Mouser fanzine, The Silver Eel (1978). Plus, there’s one discussion by uncredited with Fritz Lieber in addition to two essays by Fritz Leiber (“Weird and Wonderful” and “Monsters & Monster Lovers”).
      This book features an introduction by Richard A. Lupoff and artwork by Richard Hescox. It is signed by both of them and also has a family-approved facsimile signature by Fritz Leiber. It features five interior illustrations, a full-color frontispiece, a full color wraparound dustjacket, and custom illustrated endpapers.

Book 7 The Knight and Knave of Swords

That swashbuckling, debonair duo, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, are back at it again in The Knight and Knave of Swords, indulging in their vices while evading their mortal enemies and scoffing at the Gods. All in a day’s work for these strapping lads who are only too cavalier to check their six when a token wench walks past. Age may be catching up with them, making the tides of war give way to calmer waters. But that doesn’t mean they still don’t have a trick up their leather bootstraps.
      After their adventures in Swords and Ice Magic, Fafhrd the barbarian and Gray Mouser the thief remain on Rime Isle with their loves, seeking lives of respectability and peace. Fafhrd works to regain his archery skills after losing his left hand to Odin in battle. Meanwhile, the Gray Mouser embarks on a trading expedition aboard the ship Seahawk. But their respite will soon come to an end — for on the world of Nehwon, a brother and sister plot to regain the treasures stolen from them by the pirates of Rime Isle. Soon Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, alone and together, are plagued by dreams and curses that will force them to confront the vengeful siblings, destructive temptations, sea demons, and ancient obsessions.
      Master manipulator Fritz Leiber is a worldwide legend within the fantasy genre, actually having coined the term sword and sorcery that would describe the subgenre he would more than help create.

The seventh book in the series, The Knight and Knave of Swords, includes “Sea Magic,” “The Mer She,” “The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars,” “The Mouser Goes Below,” and four short bonus items.
      This book features an introduction by Marc Laidlaw and artwork by Tim Kirk. It is signed by both of them and also has a family-approved facsimile signature by Fritz Leiber. It features seven interior illustrations, a full-color frontispiece, two maps, a full color wraparound dustjacket, and illustrated endpapers.

Unsigned Edition Specifications

• Limited to 500 unsigned copies
• Bound in full black cloth, blind stamping on front board.
• Color illustrations hand-tipped into the book.
• Introduction by Michael Moorcock.
• Gorgeous dustjacket on Mohawk Superfine.
• Head and tail bands, ribbon marker.

Signed Edition limited to 300 copies  

Deluxe Signed Edition limited to 50 oversized (13 1/4in X 9in dimensions), slipcased copies