Nifft the Lean

Nifft the Lean is a master thief with a quick mind and a scholar's taste for the strange, and his loyal friend Barnar Hammerhand tells the stories of their exploits. Michael Shea's linked tales follow the pair through a dark and inventive fantasy world, from a journey into a vast underworld of demons to commissions that bring them face to face with grotesque monsters and dangerous sorcery. The adventures are told in rich, elaborate prose and mix horror, humor and swashbuckling action in the tradition of earlier sword-and-sorcery writers. The book won the World Fantasy Award for best novel in 1983.