P.K.

Solid performance as always, just like other sword and sorcery characters better.

Revisado: 03-14-25

A full length novel starring Fafhrd and Gray Mouser. Decent story, arguably better at keeping my attention than some of their earlier short stories, with some actual character and plot development that hopefully carries over to the next stories. Narrator is great as in past books.

Again, while I respect Fritz Leiber, I still like Conan and Elric more than Fafhrd and Gray Mouser. Or at least, Conan is a better barbarian than Fafhrd, and Elric a better sword fighter than Fafhrd. Gray Mouser is admittedly alright and unique.

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Listen to this one first, it has the first published stories

Revisado: 01-01-25

Publication order is preferable to chronological order for this series, so despite this being #2 in the series it has the earliest published Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories. Start with “The Jewels in the Forest” and end with “Claws from the Night”. Come back to the others after you listen to Book #1.

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Classic sword and sorcery

Revisado: 12-13-24

I respect the heck out of Fritz Leiber and his contributions to the genre, however I don’t personally rank Fafhrd and Gray Mouser as high as I do with Conan the Barbarian by Robert E Howard, or Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock. Stardock was a fairly enjoyable story in this book but the rest, while not bad by any means, did not grab my attention as much as other sword and sorcery does.

The narrator is great and probably the best thing about this audiobook series.

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Mouser > Fafhrd. Also, consider listening to the stories in published order instead of chronological order.

Revisado: 12-02-24

I read this book once before a while back. It was my introduction to Fafhrd and Gray Mouser. And reading Fafhrd’s origin story gave me a really, really bad impression of him as a character.

Later on, I learned that Fritz Leiber actually wrote the stories in Vol 2 in this series first, many decades before writing the origins of the characters. So after giving the earlier published stories a listen first, I was able to appreciate these prequel stories a little better.

Emphasis on “a little”. I still can’t look past what Fafhrd did. But Gray Mouser I can say I enjoyed his origin story and thus enjoy him as a character more.

Narrator does a great job as always. Hope to listen to this entire series one day.

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Two Conan stories for fans, by a fan

Revisado: 09-09-24

True to the spirit of the original Conan pulps by Robert E Howard, we get two novellas starring Conan in this book: Conan and the Emerald Lotus, and Conan and the Living Plague.

One is billed as a sequel to the other but they are mostly standalone so you can listen and re-listen to each at your own convenience.

The narrator is a great voice actor and brings many different characters to life, including of course Conan himself.

You can tell from the writing that the author is a big fan of Conan and puts a lot of references and Easter eggs from past Conan stories that will delight fans of the series, while being subtle enough that a new Conan reader will not have need read every past story to understand. Of course, I highly recommend doing exactly that (at least the original REH pulps) but not because of this book alone.

Would love to see more from this author if he is ever able to keep writing for Conan.

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Narrator was just fine

Revisado: 03-29-23

So I will say that I did enjoy Katie Wright’s performance from the first three books in this series. However, Emma Faye does a pretty decent job at picking up where the previous narrator left off. Even sounds like Katie Wright at times.

I enjoyed this as a continuation of the series. It’s a very different story from the first three for reasons that become clear early on as the description hints at. More political and romance drama and less swashbuckling adventure and danger like the previous books, although rest assured there is still action.

Hope to see Zaira and the others return!

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Picks up right where last one left off

Revisado: 03-08-23

Last book ended on a cliffhanger so this picks up right where it left off.

Performance is as good as it was the previous two books.

Lots of action in this one.

Also, having finished the book now I can appreciate the subtle details on the cover that I previously did not notice.

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Continuing Zaira’s adventure and expanding her world

Revisado: 02-15-23

Picks up not long after “For Steam and Country” left off. Zaira goes on an adventure well beyond where the first book took place, continuing some of the plot threads left unresolved after the first book.

Katie Wright’s performance as Zaira is as enjoyable as it was last time.

Had to listen to the book twice to pick up on some details I missed the first time, but still an easy listen.

Ends on a cliffhanger but something big is being setup. Look forward to the next in the series!

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Enjoyed and already planning to listen to next book

Revisado: 01-31-23

I wasn’t too much into steampunk before listening to this. I was familiar with the genre here and there, but wasn’t really my thing.

I listened to this book almost entirely from beginning to end with almost no need to rewind or repeat. It was very easy to listen to and follow along. The main character is a strong and independent female but she’s got her flaws and weaknesses, and needs to rely on others. So no Mary Sue here.

The narrator did a great job portraying Zaira, since the book is written from a first person point of view.

Since the book is written in first person view of the protagonist, that also leaves a lot of the world and imagery to the reader’s imagination. So having at least a basic understanding of steampunk and it’s typical characteristics would help.

I imagine this story could serve as the source for a comic or even film adaptation.

Looking forward to the next book already!

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When Conan met Valeria

Revisado: 01-24-23

The story directly precedes the original Conan story “Red Nails” by Robert E Howard. So any reviews saying it ended with the story unresolved haven’t read the original Conan stories or they would have immediately recognized the ending of this book is the literal beginning of Red Nails.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book as a recent Conan fan, having read most if not all original Conan pulps by REH. It provided some thorough background information to events only briefly alluded to in Red Nails. The original Conan pulps have a vague chronology at best and much of what happens in between if left to our imagination, so a story like Blood of the Serpent fills some gaps nicely and provides more depth to the Conan universe. I would totally read more Conan material that does just that, since REH’s life was tragically cut short.

The narrator was alright. Not great like any of the Ender’s Game narrators or the Elric of Melniboné narrator or Wil Wheaton from Ready Player One, but he kept me entertained and focused. I’d listen to more Conan audiobooks from him if more are made.

My only major criticism of this audiobook is that despite what the Title Details in the Audible store suggest, this audiobook does NOT include a reading of “Red Nails”. The printed copy of the book probably includes the printed prose but unfortunately this audiobook does not include an audio equivalent. Not the biggest deal for me because I already own a printed copy of “Red Nails” and the Titan comic adaptation, but was still disappointed. So you’ll need to look elsewhere to continue Conan and Valeria’s adventure.

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