Thursday, May 29, 2008

Why I've loved Fritz Leiber from the first story I read

"The seven black priests-" Fafhrd muttered.

"The six," the Mouser corrected. "We killed one of them last night."

"Well, the six then," Fafhrd conceded. "The seem angry with us."

"As why shouldn't they be?" the Mouser demanded. "We stole their idol's only eye. Such an act annoys priests tremendously."

"It seemed to have more eyes than that one," Fafhrd asserted thoughtfully, "if only it had opened them."

"Thank Aarth it didn't!" the Mouser hissed. "And'ware that dart!"

Fafhrd hit the dirt- or rather the rock- instantly, and the black dart skirred on the ice ahead.

"I think they're unreasonably angry," Fafhrd asserted, scrambling to his feet.

"Priests always are," the Mouser said philosophically, with a sidewise shudder at the dart's black-crusted point.

from The Seven Black Priests, in the book Swords Against Death

1 comment:

BobG said...

One of my favorite all-time authors. I remember reading the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series in serial form in the sci-fi and fantasy magazines. One of my favorite novels of his was Gather Darkness.