Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser Books In Order

Publication Order of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Books

Chronological Order of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Books

The Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser series is a popular series of fantasy, fiction, and sword & sorcery books. It is comprised of 7 novels and 1 novella, which were released between the years 1970 and 1988. This series is penned by a very renowned American novelist named Fritz Leiber. The series features the chief protagonists in the role of Gray Mouser and Fafhrd. These two characters are considered as the best ones developed by author Leiber so far.

It is said that the motive of author Leiber in creating them was that he wanted to have fantasy heroes that show the real human nature more closely than those like Tarzan or Conan, the Barbarian. Fafhrd is shown as a strong and tall barbarian from the north. He is around 7 feet tall. He has great skills in singing and swordsmanship. On the contrary, to him, Mouser is small. His height is around 5 feet. Mouser is a mercurial thief, who is a deadly and gifted swordsman. He likes to carry a sword in his one hand and lengthy dagger in his other hand. Mouser is shown to be an ex-apprentice of a wizard, so he seems to have some magic skills as well. Very often, it is seen in the series that Fafhrd uses a romantic approach to talk to others. However, his habit of being strongly practical in everything helps him win through. Mouser looks more of a cynical person. He tends to show sentiments at times when it is highly unexpected of him. Both the characters are more like rogues. They live in a world where being a rogue is highly essential for this survival. An ample amount of time of these two is spent in wenching, gambling, drinking, brawling, feasting, stealing, etc. They are always up for hire for their swordsmanship and hardly care about who they are getting chosen to work for as long as they get paid for their services.

In addition to all this, they look rather humane and like to cherish real adventures. Author Leiber has stated that he has done the characterizations based on his himself and one of his friends named Harry Fischer. It was in 1936 that author Leiber began working the series’ first book. He finished writing the story in a couple of years, but was not able to publish it until 1947. Until the 1960s, the stories of Fafhrd & Gray Mouser were linked loosely. After that, author Leiber added some extra material and arranged the stories chronologically while preparing for the paperback publication. Both are seen as young men in the initial part of the series. They meet their lovers separately and then meet one another. Also, they get separated from their lovers on the same day. Due to such similarities, Fafhrd and Mouser get bonded with friendship. Later on, they mature and learn leadership, and go on to settle down in life with new partners. Author Leiber had planned to extend the series from this point onwards, but he died before doing so. Most of the stories are seen taking place in a fictional world called Nehwon. Specifically, author Leiber has done the setting in and around the greatest city of Nehwon, Lankhmar. The scientists in Nehwon have the belief that it is bubble-shaped and floats on eternity waters. The technology is shown to vary between the medieval age and Iron Age. Other than the main characters, some very outlandish and bizarre characters keep making entries in between. Two characters who influence and became the greatest troubles of the central characters include Ningauble and Sheelba. The lead heroes are taken into some very dangerous and interesting adventures by Sheelba and Ningauble.

Author Fritz Leiber was born on 24th December 1910 and died on 5th September 1992. He was particularly famous for his interests in science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Apart from being a noteworthy author, Leiber was also a great poet, playwright, chess expert, and actor. He is rightfully regarded as the father of the sword-sorcery fantasy, along with other authors writers like Michael Moorcock and Robert Howard. The parents of Leiber were both actors, which is how he got interested in acting, theater, and films too. He pursued graduation in philosophy and literature.