YMMV / Jirel of Joiry

• Continuity Lockout: Jirel Meets Magic features a Call-Back or two to Black God's Kiss, but — unlike Black God's Shadow — it doesn't explain the events of that story at all, leaving any reader who began here ^note  For unknown reasons, at least one collection did in fact start with Jirel Meets Magic in the dark.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: "Sucks" may be a bit harsh, but the series has been criticized for getting quite formulaic at times, which may a reason for its relatively short length.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Jirel seemingly Took a Level in Jerkass at some point before her last story, which has her chew out her guards for their cowardice early on. Though given how unhelpful they've been throughout the series, her frustration is pretty understandable.
• Narm: The Ambiguously Brown Guy of Garlot being referred to as "Black Guy", given that "guy" has now exclusively taken on a meaning of being a casual way of saying "man."
• Nightmare Fuel: Being a Dark Fantasy taking cues from H. P. Lovecraft, this naturally pops up from time to time. When it happens... let's just say it lives up to the "weird" part of weird fiction.
• Once Original, Now Common: It can be hard for modern readers to really appreciate how novel the series was at the time, given that the Action Girl has become such an innate part of the genre that most fantasy games lets the player outright choose the gender of their protagonist. However, while the stories may come across as somewhat Troperiffic today, they are still considered good stories.
• Values Resonance:
  • Overall, the series strikes a good balance of making Jirel a badass who triumphs at the end, but only after tons of physical and psycological strain. This becomes all the more impressive when you consider how many later Feminist Fantasy heroines have fallen into the traps of becoming either a Faux Action Girl or an Invincible Hero.
  • The Defiled Forever trope is also avoided. Jirel isn't married, is said to have had several lovers in the past, and the stories never try to use Slut-Shaming against her or paint her as any less awesome because of it. At least where Pav and Andred are concerned, their respective chapters make it clear that consent is important and that the way they treat Jirel is not okay.

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