recent read; Nifft the Lean

Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea

I'd been wanting to read this sword-&-sorcery classic for a long time. All the Nifft books are out-of-print. I finally procured a copy last year.

I recently discovered Audible has made them available as audiobooks. So, I finally listened to NIFFT THE LEAN.

Amazing stuff. Every sword-&-sorcery fan should read. Or, as in my case, listen to the excellent audiobook.

Four tales of Nifft's thieving exploits are told. A story of traversing the underworld - sort of an ode to Dante's INFERNO, a tale of larceny involving black pearls and a vampire queen, the longest of the tales is another journey/quest through the sub-world of the demon seas and finally an odd tale of a kingdom that once was visited by aliens.

My only slight dissatisfaction is with the final story, because Nifft really isn't the protagonist - he is just a witness to events.

I could see where these stories had a large influence on Dungeons & Dragons and the "thief" character class.

Stellar storytelling.