I know this is bad since joining this subreddit my reading list has grown substantially, but there are stories that I regularly revisit. What are those for you and why?
For me, one I end up regularly rereading is Red Nails. It's a story that's sort of been the North Star for my personal writing, so every once and a while I like to reread it to either take notes or to understand what I want other people to think or feel.
(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.
By popular demand, the Manticore and the pig faced orc appear!
Hope I can revisit this down the road and add some more fun stuff to it, but other commitments are going to eat up a lot of free time in the near future.
I'm finally reviewing of TMS #11 which I finished reading several weeks ago but neglected to post. While I remain unabashedly bias towards TMS, this anthology magazine continues to impress me with a riveting collection of S&S short fiction. HAJ leads with his Editor's Introduction as usual and SanJulian provides yet another fantastic cover painting depicting a short story contained within the issue.
*Test of the Runeweaver* by H.T. Grossen commences the action and remains my favorite story in the issue. This riveting tale details the story of a shaman for a Viking-esque raiding party and the coming of age for his apprentice. Great stuff and again I find TMS capturing my imagination with a protagonist other than the usual fighter class I generally gravitate towards. This story inspires SanJulian's magnificent cover.
Demon slaying Shintaro Oba follows in *Lady of Frost* by C.L. Werner and again provides a scintillating read. As previously stated in other posts, I fervently wish Werner would release a compilation of all his Oba stories.
*Eyes of Rath Kanon* by Bill Pearce tells a tale of possession by a demonic mask and I thought it a solid and entertaining tale.
Caias Ward's *Ghostwise* introduces a ghostbusting mystic existing in multiple realms and provided me with an entertaining introduction to the writer.
*Melkart and the Whore of Babylon* by Mark Mellon, despite the title, chronicles an ambassador saving a priestess from a corrupt hedonistic king of Babylon.
*Kick in the Door and Improvise* by Dawn Vogel details a rogue in a heist to seize the crown of a usurped and return it to the "rightful" ruler in exile.
Daniel Amatiello's *The Lens of Being* tells of an pirate queen who ends up saving a village while questing to retrieve a stolen item and kill the thief. Very solid story.
*Bound in Brass and Iron* by Mathew Gomez pits a blood mage against shapeshifting demons and an awakened ancient goddess seeking to rise again in power in this engrossing short story.
While initially disappointed the only story featuring a recurring character is Werner's Oba tale, I tremendously enjoyed all the stories by authors I've never before read. HAJ successfully continued finding talented writers and fascinating stories for this issue.
I've recently noticed that many of my favorite sword and sorcery stories have the plot moved along by a compelling antagonist with a largely reactive protagonist. Do you think that a good antagonist is the key to a good sword and sorcery story or is it more complicated than that?
This is another movie that's questionable if it qualifies as sword and sorcery, but I see it on a lot of people's S&S recommendation lists, so I finally gave it a watch. Like Conan the Barbarian and Ladyhawke, this is an actually good sword and sorcery movie. I liked all the actors, the sets looked pretty good, and even though it has a long run time and very epic scope it does a good job at keeping you invested and following what's happening. Battle scenes are fun to watch even when they're visually busy and chaotic (battles often are so I'm told). Magic has the interesting theme of short term gain at the cost of long term loss. Like any good sword and sorcery story there's a healthy dosage of violence and sex. So overall, I think that even though I think that strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government, it was overall very good.
What do you think?
Hey guys, does anyone have recommendations for specific short fiction stories they read recently? I know there are a few S&S magazines, but I cant just buy a whole bunch randomly and read them all, so I'm looking for specific recommendations of stories you loved and that I would be insane to miss.
DWELLERS UNDER THE MOUND is an upcoming free to read Sword & Sorcery adventure story I wrote, taking inspiration from the pseudo-history and mythological framework of Robert E Howard's Conan stories, and the archeological hoaxes of early American news tabloids, specifically the folkloric "Mound Builders".
After the loss of his mercenary band against the might of the Ikkadian empire, the Fomorian outlaw THUNE has found himself an unexpected survivor, and a desperate fugitive. In his attempts to escape the city of Khet Ul-Ramai, capital of Ikkad, Thune is drawn into an ancient and otherworldly mystery, all centered around a single, decrepit tomb just beyond the city walls: THE MOUND OF SHAMASH-KHARAAB!
Brand new to the genre, an I’ve been told this is a good place to start! Otherwise I’ve only seen the Conan movies, what should I watch/read/play next?
Just found this at a local thrift. It’s my first non REH Conan I’ll have read.
This week on Substack I take a deep dive comparing two illustrators I admire, Michael Whelan and Frank Frazetta. You can read it here:
John Carter is not a sword and sorcery series and predates sword and sorcery by several years. However, John Carter and much of the sword and planet subgenre is enjoyed by sword and sorcery fans. What are some other pieces of media that aren't technically sword and sorcery but is still close enough to the subgenre you would recommend it to sword and sorcery fans?