DMR 042: Die By the Sword (2023)
(Cover censored for Reddit)
DMR 042: Die By the Sword
Stories by Dariel R.A. Quiogue, M. Stern, Paul D. Batteiger, Chase A. Folmar, Glenn Rahman, Gregory D. Mele, Howie K. Bentley, Matthew Knight, Rose Strickman, Ethan Sabatella, Elias Varsity
Cover art by John Pound
Edited by D.M. Ritzlin
Release date: May 2023
With burgeoning interest in sword-and-sorcery over the past few years, I thought the time was right for a new S&S anthology. When I announced an open call for submissions, the response was overwhelming. My inbox was deluged with 175 stories! I was reminded of what Andrew J. Offut wrote in the foreword to Swords Against Darkness IV: “Lots of people who read science fiction try to write it; I think EVERY heroic fantasy fan tries.”
It took a lot of time and some hard decisions to whittle down those 175 stories to the 11 winners that made it into Die By the Sword. Several were by authors who’d previously appeared in DMR releases (such as Howie Bentley and Ethan Sabatella), a few were by up and coming writers making a name for themselves (Dariel Quiogue and Chase Folmar), and some were by authors new to me.
The cover art was painted by John Pound. He’s known as the creator of the Garbage Pail Kids (which I loved when I was young–and still do), but this piece was from his 1980 portfolio Power & Glory. When I first saw it I thought it was magnificent, and knew it belonged on a DMR cover.