1983: Nifft The Lean

This series of 4 short novelettes shadow the escapades of Nifft the Lean, an expert thief whose criminal skills will guide you through Stygian realms to places where an endless succession of harm, horror, and unnerving calms flow past each traveler. Nifft the Lean begins with the promise of high-intensity, hard-edged dark fantasy. It delivers this promise in four perfect novels. Taking place in a garish and bizarre world, these stories narrate how Nifft and his team risk not just their lives, but their very souls in the pursuit of their darkest passions.Why it's on the listNifft is a character that like Conan, Fafhrd and other literary ‘barbarians', is the type of man who shows scorn for riches by pilfering untold fortunes and then choosing to drink and gamble everything away. Nifft's universe is suggestive of what can be read in the earliest epics of Homer or Gilgamesh, one in which a man should endeavor to live confidently and well - because there is no paradise waiting for any of us after death. Shea's abilities truly shine when, with horrific detail he describes the way Nifft, and his troupe traipse through a frenzied and untidy world. Michael Shea also truly understands the power of perspective: each story is different with one being recounted by Nifft, another is entirely in the 3rd person. Sometimes the story is continued by Nifft's friends, who are actually masquerading as Nifft… This book allows us to enjoy a multitude of differing narrative styles.Read if you likeConan, Sword and Sourcery