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Gonji: Dark Ventures
Two NEW tales of GONJI SABATAKE, the itinerant samurai-Viking warrior! A rallying cry for fans of the popular 1980s heroic-fantasy series. An ideal entry point for new readers-- The novelette "Reflections in Ice" -- picking up a mature Gonji, already well into his ca. 1600 A.D. European adventures, ensnared in a desperate crossfire between monstrous the undead assassins of the Dark Company; and mysterious horrors residing in remote caves of the snowbound Pyrenees… The novella "Dark Venture" -- the most intense, action-packed and classic-pulp-worthy Gonji tale in the canon. The first-ever story of "young Gonji," in dishonored exile from his native land. Now facing deadly peril during a bizarre and ghastly sea voyage; caught in the clutches of a hell where corrupted spells of evil magic go to die… ALSO included is the essay "The GONJI Odyssey"—the definitive chronicle of the series’ creation and publishing history… PLUS, a generous preview of the coming NEW Gonji the audacious origin tale of Gonji’s world -- BORN OF FLAME AND STEEL -- ! "People will not know what hit them when they read 'Dark Venture.' It’s one of the most exciting (and gruesomely bonkers) sword-&-sorcery stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading." --Fletcher Vredenburgh, Black Gate Magazine "One of the most original characters in heroic fantasy returns in all-new adventures that are truly epic. The return of Gonji Sabatake is a cause for epic celebration." --Joe Bonadonna, MAD SHADOWS
- GenresFantasy
212 pages, Paperback
Published March 21, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 26, 2017
One of the most original characters in heroic fantasy returns in all-new adventures that are truly epic.
Back in the 1980s, when far too many authors were just churning out their own versions of big, iron-muscled barbarian heroes like Conan of Cimmeria, T.C. Rypel hit the ground running with something different. His character of Sabatake Gonji-no-Sadowara, the half Scandinavian and half Japanese samurai was truly a breath of fresh air in the genre of Sword and Sorcery. But as it turned out, his novels were actually closer to Epic and Heroic Fantasy in theme and scope. His setting wasn’t some imaginary world, but was instead deeply rooted in and around Romania and the Carpathian Mountains. Perhaps a parallel world, but close enough to the real world of 16th century Eastern Europe. Besides the non-barbaric character of Gonji, who was introspective, poetic, humble, and a total bad ass with a sly sense of humor, what also set Rypel’s novels apart from so many others was the fact that he worked gunpowder and firearms into his stories, right along with the sorcery and creatures and other elements of fantasy, and he made it all work.
Gonji’s first out was “The Deathwind Trilogy,” which includes “Red Blade from the East,” “The Soul within the Steel,” and “Deathwind of Vedun.” Rypel is not only a master storyteller, his characters live and breathe and bleed – his characters are memorable, his dialogue spot on and his human drama written with real emotion. He can write a well-choreographed action scene like no one else, and his Siege of Vedun is one of the best battle scenes I have ever read. He followed up his trilogy with two more books: “Fortress of Lost Worlds,” an action-packed, powerful and almost psychedelic voyage through time, space and alternate dimensions. His fifth book in the series, “A Hungering of Wolves,” is an amazing fantasy with one of the best clan of werewolves I’ve ever read about, and it pretty much closes Gonji’s saga, tying up loose ends while leaving the door open for future adventures. Out of print for many years, this classic Heroic Fantasy was finally revised, expanded and republished over the last few years by Wildside/Borgo Press, and this is great news for all of us Gonji fans, and a wonderful opportunity for newer and younger readers to meet this amazing character
And now, a sixth Gonji "novel" has recently been released: “Dark Ventures,” and it is something quite different from the previous five books. This is actually 2 novellas and a great "teaser" for an upcoming Gonji novel. This is an entry point into the Gonji world.
This time out, Rypel has given us two novellas and sample chapters from a forthcoming Gonji novel that take place at different points during his “career” and time spent in Europe. But rather than do so in chronological order, Rypel has done something different, something that is totally “Rypel.” He starts out with a revised and greatly expanded opening chapter of his fourth novel, “Fortress of Lost Worlds.” This tale, called “Reflections in Ice,” tells us more about what happened to Gonji and his companions as they traveled across the Pyrenees during a horrendous snowstorm, pursued by the undead warriors and assassins of the Dark Company. Death follows Gonji and his comrades on their journey, and you will feel the breath of every icy wind that blows across the mountains, and the cold breath of the horror that awaits him in an ice cave. The next story, “Dark Venture,” takes us back in time where we’ll meet a much younger Gonji, dishonored and newly-exiled from his home. He sets sail on what turns out to be one of the most strange and horrifying adventures he’s ever experienced. Packed with action and powerful human drama, this is truly a nightmare of voyage where Gonji and his shipmates are trapped in a hell born of evil magic, bizarre creatures, and more twists and turns than a roller-coaster. The third part takes us even further back in time, to before Gonji was born. This is the opening of the forthcoming sixth seventh novel in the saga — “Born of Flame and Steel.” This is the story of how Gonji’s mother, a shipwrecked Viking shield maiden meets his father, Lord Sabatake Todohiro-no-Sadawara. This is a powerful, rousing tale set in Japan during a time of an almost apocalyptic upheaval, when the world is being attacked by the “kaiju” — the first appearance of those giant monsters we’ve all come to know and even love. Rypel has cleverly combined not only the origin story of Gonji’s “birth,” he’s also given us the origin of the “daikaiju” — their first appearance in Japan, their first attack against Mankind. These chapters from the next Gonji novel are the perfect introduction to the first novel in the trilogy, completing the circle that leads us back to Europe and Vedun. “Dark Ventures” also includes a generous Dedication page and an excellent Foreward that is full of great insight and information on this amazing series. There's also a great, definitive series creation/publication history in the Afterword. The return of Gonji Sabatake is a cause for epic celebration.
Back in the 1980s, when far too many authors were just churning out their own versions of big, iron-muscled barbarian heroes like Conan of Cimmeria, T.C. Rypel hit the ground running with something different. His character of Sabatake Gonji-no-Sadowara, the half Scandinavian and half Japanese samurai was truly a breath of fresh air in the genre of Sword and Sorcery. But as it turned out, his novels were actually closer to Epic and Heroic Fantasy in theme and scope. His setting wasn’t some imaginary world, but was instead deeply rooted in and around Romania and the Carpathian Mountains. Perhaps a parallel world, but close enough to the real world of 16th century Eastern Europe. Besides the non-barbaric character of Gonji, who was introspective, poetic, humble, and a total bad ass with a sly sense of humor, what also set Rypel’s novels apart from so many others was the fact that he worked gunpowder and firearms into his stories, right along with the sorcery and creatures and other elements of fantasy, and he made it all work.
Gonji’s first out was “The Deathwind Trilogy,” which includes “Red Blade from the East,” “The Soul within the Steel,” and “Deathwind of Vedun.” Rypel is not only a master storyteller, his characters live and breathe and bleed – his characters are memorable, his dialogue spot on and his human drama written with real emotion. He can write a well-choreographed action scene like no one else, and his Siege of Vedun is one of the best battle scenes I have ever read. He followed up his trilogy with two more books: “Fortress of Lost Worlds,” an action-packed, powerful and almost psychedelic voyage through time, space and alternate dimensions. His fifth book in the series, “A Hungering of Wolves,” is an amazing fantasy with one of the best clan of werewolves I’ve ever read about, and it pretty much closes Gonji’s saga, tying up loose ends while leaving the door open for future adventures. Out of print for many years, this classic Heroic Fantasy was finally revised, expanded and republished over the last few years by Wildside/Borgo Press, and this is great news for all of us Gonji fans, and a wonderful opportunity for newer and younger readers to meet this amazing character
And now, a sixth Gonji "novel" has recently been released: “Dark Ventures,” and it is something quite different from the previous five books. This is actually 2 novellas and a great "teaser" for an upcoming Gonji novel. This is an entry point into the Gonji world.
This time out, Rypel has given us two novellas and sample chapters from a forthcoming Gonji novel that take place at different points during his “career” and time spent in Europe. But rather than do so in chronological order, Rypel has done something different, something that is totally “Rypel.” He starts out with a revised and greatly expanded opening chapter of his fourth novel, “Fortress of Lost Worlds.” This tale, called “Reflections in Ice,” tells us more about what happened to Gonji and his companions as they traveled across the Pyrenees during a horrendous snowstorm, pursued by the undead warriors and assassins of the Dark Company. Death follows Gonji and his comrades on their journey, and you will feel the breath of every icy wind that blows across the mountains, and the cold breath of the horror that awaits him in an ice cave. The next story, “Dark Venture,” takes us back in time where we’ll meet a much younger Gonji, dishonored and newly-exiled from his home. He sets sail on what turns out to be one of the most strange and horrifying adventures he’s ever experienced. Packed with action and powerful human drama, this is truly a nightmare of voyage where Gonji and his shipmates are trapped in a hell born of evil magic, bizarre creatures, and more twists and turns than a roller-coaster. The third part takes us even further back in time, to before Gonji was born. This is the opening of the forthcoming sixth seventh novel in the saga — “Born of Flame and Steel.” This is the story of how Gonji’s mother, a shipwrecked Viking shield maiden meets his father, Lord Sabatake Todohiro-no-Sadawara. This is a powerful, rousing tale set in Japan during a time of an almost apocalyptic upheaval, when the world is being attacked by the “kaiju” — the first appearance of those giant monsters we’ve all come to know and even love. Rypel has cleverly combined not only the origin story of Gonji’s “birth,” he’s also given us the origin of the “daikaiju” — their first appearance in Japan, their first attack against Mankind. These chapters from the next Gonji novel are the perfect introduction to the first novel in the trilogy, completing the circle that leads us back to Europe and Vedun. “Dark Ventures” also includes a generous Dedication page and an excellent Foreward that is full of great insight and information on this amazing series. There's also a great, definitive series creation/publication history in the Afterword. The return of Gonji Sabatake is a cause for epic celebration.
October 2, 2017
As The Voice invaded their stricken minds, the ruined ancient temple begun to shimmer in the fog. There was a sense of intelligent presence permeating the atmosphere, as if the daemonic force had at last found solid footing in the world of men. There seemed to be a face in the fog. Yet it was only a suggestion of something sentient and ineffable, delineating nothing that could be described. It stretched, and yawned. . . and perhaps prepared to feast as it hadn't in ages, before pursuing some malevolent agenda in this promising new realm:
"YOU HAVE TRIED TO HARM ME. FOOLISH CHILDREN! BUT I AM A FORGIVING GOD. IMMERSE YOURSELVES IN THE WOMB OF REBORN LIFE. GIVE YOURSELVES THUS TO ME IN SERVITUDE, AND YOUR SUFFERING SHALL CEASE."
This is a collection of one short story, a short novel and an excerpt from an upcoming novel in the "Gonji" series; the short story, "Reflections in ice," has a sort of K. E. Wagner vibe, and is very entertaining; the excerpt of the prequel "Born of flame and steel" is very promising; but really, you needed no more then "Dark Ventures" to make this book worth buying--it is one of the top 10 (maybe 5!) sword&sorcery novels of all time, in my opinion.
I'm not going to go into the plot (so I guess this isn't much of a review), as I didn't know anything about the book (other than that I loved Deathwind of Vedun) and I really don't want to spoil it for anyone. It is really something reading this having no idea what kind of story it's going to be. What I am going to say is that this is one of the most fun and crazy horror/adventure stories ever written; and when you think that everything has turned up to eleven and can't get any crazier, T.C.Rypel goes up to 20--and this without loosing sight of the plot or devolving into meandering psychedelia as Moorcock often did.
Can't recommend it highly enough!
P.S: Due to the short length (not a bad thing!), Gonji's personality isn't really on display in this novel, and his character is what makes this series so compelling--so you should definitely check Gonji: Red Blade from the East: The Deathwind Trilogy, Book One!
"YOU HAVE TRIED TO HARM ME. FOOLISH CHILDREN! BUT I AM A FORGIVING GOD. IMMERSE YOURSELVES IN THE WOMB OF REBORN LIFE. GIVE YOURSELVES THUS TO ME IN SERVITUDE, AND YOUR SUFFERING SHALL CEASE."
This is a collection of one short story, a short novel and an excerpt from an upcoming novel in the "Gonji" series; the short story, "Reflections in ice," has a sort of K. E. Wagner vibe, and is very entertaining; the excerpt of the prequel "Born of flame and steel" is very promising; but really, you needed no more then "Dark Ventures" to make this book worth buying--it is one of the top 10 (maybe 5!) sword&sorcery novels of all time, in my opinion.
I'm not going to go into the plot (so I guess this isn't much of a review), as I didn't know anything about the book (other than that I loved Deathwind of Vedun) and I really don't want to spoil it for anyone. It is really something reading this having no idea what kind of story it's going to be. What I am going to say is that this is one of the most fun and crazy horror/adventure stories ever written; and when you think that everything has turned up to eleven and can't get any crazier, T.C.Rypel goes up to 20--and this without loosing sight of the plot or devolving into meandering psychedelia as Moorcock often did.
Can't recommend it highly enough!
P.S: Due to the short length (not a bad thing!), Gonji's personality isn't really on display in this novel, and his character is what makes this series so compelling--so you should definitely check Gonji: Red Blade from the East: The Deathwind Trilogy, Book One!
Read
November 9, 2023The first story is the novelette ‘Reflections in Ice’, which is linked to a previously published Gonji novel and features a cool encounter with cannibal trolls. The yarn has the hero pursued by otherworldly foes and is basically a revised and expanded version of the opening chapter from the novel FORTRESS OF LOST WORLDS.
The second story, the novella ‘Dark Venture’, is the real reason you should seek out this book. It is an action-packed tale that follows Gonji and a disparate group of pirates as they become trapped in a truly weird ship’s graveyard zone. This place is filled with all kinds of dangers and horrors!
Instead of the ocean, this zone has a massive, white mass of sentient, evil-controlled, protoplasmic gloop that ensnares vessels. This gloop is able to form semi-transparent, pseudopod-like tentacles that swallow victims whole and digest them very, very slowly.
Gonji and his companions must also ward off ape-hound hybrids, dodge attacks from flying, razor-faced manta ray creatures, wriggling worm-lampreys, floating killer bubbles, rogue black hole discs (?!) and loads of shambling protoplasm-zombies. But that’s not all! Other dangers include blue lightning charges that can burn victims to a crisp, a wretched, multi-limbed being created by sorcery and a daemon that becomes a massive spectral cobra. Of these monsters, I have to say the flying manta rays are my favourite critters.
Whilst reading this story it occurred to me that I could imagine Robert E Howard and William Hope Hodgson getting together to rewrite the script for THE LOST CONTINENT (1968) – and this would’ve been the result. Now believe me: that is a massive compliment! That Hammer film told the story of a tramp steamer ending up in a Sargasso Sea full of killer seaweed and giant crustaceans. It’s certainly a colourful, sweaty, bizarre treat, but GONJI: DARK VENTURES is about a thousand times more outlandish and incident-filled!
Writer Ted Rypel, with this Gonji story set in a twilight zone of corrupted magic, has produced a very colourful, violent, acid-trip-mad, monster-filled, thrilling read set in a ghastly blob-sea! Insane stuff!
The second story, the novella ‘Dark Venture’, is the real reason you should seek out this book. It is an action-packed tale that follows Gonji and a disparate group of pirates as they become trapped in a truly weird ship’s graveyard zone. This place is filled with all kinds of dangers and horrors!
Instead of the ocean, this zone has a massive, white mass of sentient, evil-controlled, protoplasmic gloop that ensnares vessels. This gloop is able to form semi-transparent, pseudopod-like tentacles that swallow victims whole and digest them very, very slowly.
Gonji and his companions must also ward off ape-hound hybrids, dodge attacks from flying, razor-faced manta ray creatures, wriggling worm-lampreys, floating killer bubbles, rogue black hole discs (?!) and loads of shambling protoplasm-zombies. But that’s not all! Other dangers include blue lightning charges that can burn victims to a crisp, a wretched, multi-limbed being created by sorcery and a daemon that becomes a massive spectral cobra. Of these monsters, I have to say the flying manta rays are my favourite critters.
Whilst reading this story it occurred to me that I could imagine Robert E Howard and William Hope Hodgson getting together to rewrite the script for THE LOST CONTINENT (1968) – and this would’ve been the result. Now believe me: that is a massive compliment! That Hammer film told the story of a tramp steamer ending up in a Sargasso Sea full of killer seaweed and giant crustaceans. It’s certainly a colourful, sweaty, bizarre treat, but GONJI: DARK VENTURES is about a thousand times more outlandish and incident-filled!
Writer Ted Rypel, with this Gonji story set in a twilight zone of corrupted magic, has produced a very colourful, violent, acid-trip-mad, monster-filled, thrilling read set in a ghastly blob-sea! Insane stuff!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews