Swords & Heroes
Swords& Heroes. Edited by Lyndon Perry. Tule Fog Press, 2023. 201 pages.
TuleFog Press is a relative newcomer in the publishing field. A small press that isprimarily the work of author and editor Lyndon Perry. Perry is a fan of heroicfantasy and has written a fair amount of it himself, most notably his TheSword of Otrim. Perry is positioned nicely for what currently seems to be asmall renaissance in heroic fantasy/sword & sorcery publishing. Thisanthology brings together twelve short heroic fantasy stories and a couple ofinteresting nonfiction pieces. One of the stories is mine, but I’ll onlybriefly mention it and focus mainly on the other pieces in the book.
Theforeword is by Jason M. Waltz, a publisher in his own right. He focusesprimarily on “sword and sorcery,” whichis a subfield in the greater field of heroic fantasy. He offers a couple ofsurprising insights, including an evaluation of Batman as a sword & sorcerycharacter.
Nextup is a preface by Lyndon Perry, which I found interesting because it discussedthe origins of the anthology. If you’re in it for the stories alone you canleap over this directly to the first tale. I like this sort of thing, though.
Next up is “Keeper of Souls” by me. As Perrypoints out, it’s a sort of a buddy tale, but with a twist that I thought waspretty unusual. I won’t say more about it here.
Storytwo is “The Path One Doesn’t Choose” by Gustavo Bondoni. Bondoni has beentearing it up recently. I’ve seen numerous short story publications by him inall kinds of genres. His character is Yella, who has to deal with a tribe ofvillains called the “Wanderers,” with some interesting traits. Enjoyable tale.
Storythree is “Lord of the Blood” by Michael T. Burk. Ahanu is the hero here, andhis opponent is a demon. But there’s a neat twist to this and it has a strongending. I don’t believe I’ve read anything by Burk before but this wasengrossingly written.
Story four is by Teel James Glenn, a namequite a few will likely recognize. I’m familiar with his work and I believewe’ve shared a TOC before. He is also a fellow member of the Horror WritersAssociation. Glenn’s story is “The Price of Rescue.” It’s a buddy story withAda (warrior) and Donal (Bard). After helping to defend a traveling coachagainst attackers, they are the only survivors and are tasked with taking ayoung girl to a local government official. Things are not what they seem,however. The characters have some nice interactions here.
Storyfive is “The Vault of Bezalel” by Tom Doolan. I’m also familiar with Doolan’swork and we’ve shared a TOC before as well. I’ve reviewed several of hisstories and always find them enjoyable. Here, a young but deposed king namedLiam must now make his way in the world. He runs into a childhood friend whooffers him a quick quest with a potentially large reward at the end. Doolan isan action writer and there’s quite a bit of action in this interesting story.
Storysix is “On Neutral Ground” by Nancy Hansen.” Serilda is the hero here, achieftain of her people who are at war with the “Ivari,” a race that strikes meas similar to the concept of Frost Giants. The human war with the Ivari is abattle to the death, with extinction the fate of the loser. There are elementshere of the mythic human war in ancient times against the “fey,” which wasmined so beautifully by Poul Anderson in his “Broken Sword.” Very well written.
Storyseven is by Tim Hanlon, another name I recognize, although I don’t believe he’sbeen writing very long. The title here is “The Swordsman and the Sea Witch.”Harkan the Swordsman takes passage aboard a ship, which is soon attacked bypirates. The pirates win the battle but their ship is sunk, and now the winddies way, leaving the survivors becalmed, including Harkan. Death soon comes slithering from the waves. The SeaWitch of the story is not the monster, however, but the pirate captain, and sheand Harkan must work together to find a way to survive. A very fine tale.
FrankSawielijew is the author of story eight, which has the longish title of “TheNecromancer and the Long-Dead King.” This is certainly a candidate for myfavorite story in the collection. It features an unusual main character andpairs her with a combination hero/villain against a true evil. Well written andintriguing.
Storynine is “Lady in Stone” by Cliff Hamrick. I’ve known Cliff a while but this isthe first story I’ve read by him. I’m sure it won’t be the last. Jarek isanother unusual hero, and the story has touches of mystery to season the actionand sorcerous horror. A well done piece.
Storyten is by J. Thomas Howard and is called “O Sapphire, O Kambria.” The settinghere is pretty unique and I’m curious to learn more about this world, whichseems to be a kind of future earth in which dinosaurs have been brought backand taken over. Shades of Jurassic World, perhaps. Great setting for plenty ofinteresting tales, I should think. Enjoyed this one.
Storyeleven is by David A. Riley and is called “Welgar the Cursed.” Riley is aprofessional editor and publisher who has done much to revitalize heroicfantasy with his “Sword & Sorceries” series of anthologies. He has alsoproduced plenty of good tales himself. Welgar is “god-ridden,” a trope that hasbeen used to great effect by several writers, including Janet Morris with herTempus tales. I’ll definitely be seeking out more Welgar tales.
AdrianCole closes the anthology with his “Ride the Fire Steed.” I remember readingCole’s awesome Dream Lord trilogy published in the 1970s so to share a TOC withhim is a pleasure and an honor. (It’s the second time it’s happened.) And Coleis still knocking stories out of the park. This is an exciting and actionfilled piece to end the anthology on.
Butwait, there’s more: There are some brief bios of the authors, and a reallyinteresting round table discussion about Sword & Sorcery, moderated byLyndon Perry and involving Adrian Cole, Cora Buhlert, Curtis Ellet, D. M.Ritzlin, an old pal from REHupa named Morgan Holmes, P. Alexander, RichardFisher, and William Miller. Some fun discussion.
Inclosing, I much enjoyed this anthology and believe it makes an importantcontribution to the revival of the heroic fantasy genre that we’ve been experiencingof late. See if you don’t feel the same.
