Swords and Deviltry introduces us to a strange world where fantastic but thoroughly flawed anti-heroes Fafhrd and Gray Mouser find the familiar in themselves and discover the icy power of female magic. Three master-magician femme-fatales and a sprightly lad illuminate the bonds between father and son, the relationship between the bravado of the imagination, and the courage of fools. A hedge wizard explains the cold war between the sexes. Mouse and Fafhrd meet again and traverse the smoke and mirrors of Lankhmar learning more and more of the foggy world in which they live, experiencing the pleasures and pains of the City of Sevenscore Thousand Smokers that will lead them to countless more adventures and misadventures.

Fafhrd and Gray Mouser visit the Witch's Tent to consult a sorceress who holds the secret to their escape-but when would they ever need to escape? Their luck has been good so far; one way out should work. Their luck continues as thieves. They are the best thieves in Lankhmar until better positions arise: The Lords of Quarmall. Gray Mouser and Fafhrd steal a kingdom within a hill and declare themselves Lords.

Sent by a witch on a foolhardy journey, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser return to the icy reaches of the north in search of dubious treasure. There, they are seduced by the glittering attractions of an ice woman, who brings them with her to her shadowy lair. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser-brothers in arms-are overwhelmed by intimations of power and rise to become the overlords of Quarmall, a dangerous region of lies, magic, and swords.

In this book Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are back in more sheltered climes, or at least climes with a lot more rooves. Hanging around in Lankhmar for awhile after adventuring proves to be not quite as relaxing as expected. In fact, their skills are put to the test in defense of just that bunch of architecture as all sorts of things come calling.

Fafhrd and Gray Mouser Book 6.