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Tales from the Magician's Skull #5
Tales from the Magician's Skull #5
Experience the sword and sorcery adventure that is Tales From The Magician’s Skull #5!
Behold! I have fashioned a magazine like those from fabled days of yore. It overflows with thrilling adventures. There are swords, and there is sorcery. There are dark deeds and daring rescues. There are lands where heroes fear to tread. Dare you imagine it? Picture this as well — maps to wondrous and terrible places. Electrifying art for every tale. Guides to bring the terrors within to your own game table. All I lack are a few paltry shekels. Grant them to me, and I shall fling open a new portal to a world of ancient wonders! Join me, mortal dogs! Together we shall storm the gates of Valhalla!
Tales From The Magician’s Skull is a magazine of all-new swords & sorcery fiction. Issue #5 features cover art by Sanjulian, and stories by Adrian Cole, James Enge, John C. Hocking, Violette Malan, Adrian Simmons, and C.L. Werner. The magazine is edited by Howard Andrew Jones and published by Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games. Each story is lovingly illustrated by industry stalwarts, and issue #5 features art by Chris Arneson, Randy Broecker, Samuel Dillon, Jennell Jaquays, Doug Kovacs, Peter Mullen, and Russ Nicholson.
Finally, issue #5 includes a short appendix presenting DCC RPG stats for all the new material contained inside!
Behold! I have fashioned a magazine like those from fabled days of yore. It overflows with thrilling adventures. There are swords, and there is sorcery. There are dark deeds and daring rescues. There are lands where heroes fear to tread. Dare you imagine it? Picture this as well — maps to wondrous and terrible places. Electrifying art for every tale. Guides to bring the terrors within to your own game table. All I lack are a few paltry shekels. Grant them to me, and I shall fling open a new portal to a world of ancient wonders! Join me, mortal dogs! Together we shall storm the gates of Valhalla!
Tales From The Magician’s Skull is a magazine of all-new swords & sorcery fiction. Issue #5 features cover art by Sanjulian, and stories by Adrian Cole, James Enge, John C. Hocking, Violette Malan, Adrian Simmons, and C.L. Werner. The magazine is edited by Howard Andrew Jones and published by Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games. Each story is lovingly illustrated by industry stalwarts, and issue #5 features art by Chris Arneson, Randy Broecker, Samuel Dillon, Jennell Jaquays, Doug Kovacs, Peter Mullen, and Russ Nicholson.
Finally, issue #5 includes a short appendix presenting DCC RPG stats for all the new material contained inside!
80 pages, Paperback
First published December 5, 2020
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Howard Andrew Jones
68 books370 followersHoward Andrew Jones was an American speculative fiction and fantasy author and editor, known for The Chronicles of Hanuvar series, The Chronicles of Sword and Sand series and The Ring-Sworn trilogy. He had also written Pathfinder Tales, tie-in fiction novels in the world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, published by Paizo. He was the editor of Tales from the Magician's Skull and had served as a Managing Editor at Black Gate since 2004. He assembled and edited a series of eight volumes of the short fiction of Harold Lamb for publication by Bison Books.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 2, 2021
Heed me mortal dogs, Sword & Sorcery fans will devour these tales!:
Tales from the Magician's Skull #5 provides six new tales printed in superb format, with a bonus essay on Harold Lamb. And take in that beautiful cover by Manuel Pérez Clemente (better known as Sanjulián)!
As per the Tales from the Magician's Skull series, all are graced with RPG item/character statistics so readers can play out the stories, or play with key parts of them; the stats are in Dungeon Crawl Classics form which can readily be applied to other formats. The illustrations are wonderful too. Several more issues are in queue.
Review of #1 ; Review of #2 ; Review of #3 ; Review of #4
Availability & Subscriptions
- General retailers like Amazon have some current issues, but some of the earlier ones are getting out of stock.
- Goodman Games (publisher of the magazine) has many for direct sale (PDF and print), as well as subscriptions.
- DriveThruRPG has PDFs of most.
#5 Table of Contents with official blurbs (and some of my own commentary)
(1) "Pool of Memory" by James Enge: A wondrously trippy Morlock Ambrosius tale, extending the serialization across issues.
(2) "The Guardian of Nalsir-Fel" by Adrian Simmons: Heroic Fantasy Quarterly editor contributes an adventurous-duo (characters Ahzlamin and Penkatel) tale reminiscent of Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar series:
(3) "In the Corridors of the Crow" by John C. Hocking. Classic Hocking here. A calculated buildup to explosive mayhem. This one really builds the strained relationship between Benhus (the King's Blade) and his master King.
(4) "Road of Bones" by Violette Malan: Malan has had several Dhulyn & Parno adventures in TftMS, and this one was my favorite so far. They escort a deranged wizard on a perilous adventure into ruins.
(5) "Dreams of a Sunken Realm" by Adrian Cole: Yes, another Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis pastiche! The climatic battle between ghosts and demons-of-sea was splendid.
(6) "Demons of the Depths" by C. L. Werner: Shintaro Oba always offer demon killing with a refreshing non-European-centric milieu.
(7) "A Profile of Harold Lamb" by Howard Andrew Jones.
(8) "The Monster Pit" by Terry Olson.
Tales from the Magician's Skull #5 provides six new tales printed in superb format, with a bonus essay on Harold Lamb. And take in that beautiful cover by Manuel Pérez Clemente (better known as Sanjulián)!
As per the Tales from the Magician's Skull series, all are graced with RPG item/character statistics so readers can play out the stories, or play with key parts of them; the stats are in Dungeon Crawl Classics form which can readily be applied to other formats. The illustrations are wonderful too. Several more issues are in queue.
Review of #1 ; Review of #2 ; Review of #3 ; Review of #4
Availability & Subscriptions
- General retailers like Amazon have some current issues, but some of the earlier ones are getting out of stock.
- Goodman Games (publisher of the magazine) has many for direct sale (PDF and print), as well as subscriptions.
- DriveThruRPG has PDFs of most.
#5 Table of Contents with official blurbs (and some of my own commentary)
(1) "Pool of Memory" by James Enge: A wondrously trippy Morlock Ambrosius tale, extending the serialization across issues.
The sword sang, with an almost human voice, and bright shards of crystal flew everywhere. The luminous, image-laden fog of memories billowed forth, around him and through him. He staggered like a drunk, intoxicated by the swift shocking burst of other lives, other hates, other loves. When the mists were gone, he was himself again—whoever that was.
(2) "The Guardian of Nalsir-Fel" by Adrian Simmons: Heroic Fantasy Quarterly editor contributes an adventurous-duo (characters Ahzlamin and Penkatel) tale reminiscent of Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar series:
“Do not look for help,” the messenger said. “Do not call out for the guards, they will not hear you! They will not see you! Such is the power of Cowlanati Palisani, the great and serene!”
(3) "In the Corridors of the Crow" by John C. Hocking. Classic Hocking here. A calculated buildup to explosive mayhem. This one really builds the strained relationship between Benhus (the King's Blade) and his master King.
It was a nest, a great nest made of bones. He saw the bones of men and animals wound and bound together, forming such a dense fabric that he could not tell where one ended and the other began. He could make out the weathered skulls of men and the antlers of a great stag, all crusted with layers of dust and cobweb, filthy with age and abandonment.
(4) "Road of Bones" by Violette Malan: Malan has had several Dhulyn & Parno adventures in TftMS, and this one was my favorite so far. They escort a deranged wizard on a perilous adventure into ruins.
We, we removed his power—it’s a complicated and painful procedure, for all parties. Then we cut him to pieces, and burned the pieces. But the bones you know, the bones don’t burn.
(5) "Dreams of a Sunken Realm" by Adrian Cole: Yes, another Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis pastiche! The climatic battle between ghosts and demons-of-sea was splendid.
Elak and his companions watched in horror as the first wave exploded and cascaded over the great buildings of the city. Palaces and temples erupted, smitten by the almighty power of the wave.
(6) "Demons of the Depths" by C. L. Werner: Shintaro Oba always offer demon killing with a refreshing non-European-centric milieu.
The waves turned red as the feeding frenzy drove the creatures to turn against one another, ripping away at their fellows in the crazed hunger. When this frenzy was at its height, the man on the tower calmly rose and stepped to the edge. Deliberately he dropped the jewel straight down into the midst of the ravenous sharks.
(7) "A Profile of Harold Lamb" by Howard Andrew Jones.
Any writer who encountered Adventure magazine between 1917 and the early 1930s would have had Harold Lamb’s work readily at hand, because he was one of the magazine’s most popular writers and appeared there with great frequency. Probably the most important of those who saw him, though, was a Texan named Robert E. Howard…
(8) "The Monster Pit" by Terry Olson.
Enter the monster pit! Down here in the pit, we provide tabletop RPG fans with playable DCC RPG game.
March 1, 2022
Definitely some great stories in here, and the ones that aren't great are still good. You can't say that about too many magazines. Some standouts for me are:
The Guardians of Nalsir-Fel about an acting troupe who suddenly find themselves embroiled in a fight against a sorceress when one of the street urchins they employ is kidnapped.
Corridor of the Crow is a story in which the King's blade, Benhus discovers how the king he serves stays perpetually youthful, and it's not pretty. I've very much enjoyed all the John Hocking Benhus stories.
Dreams of a Sunken Realm is an atmospheric tale of Elak of Atlantis who was created by Henry Kuttner in 1938 who wrote four stories featuring this king of Atlantis. Adrian Cole picks up the baton here and ties this world to that of Robert E Howard's King Kull with mentions of the King of Valusia and his Red Slayers.
Demons of the Depths features a wandering demon-slaying samurai. If that's not cool enough, he fights shark demons. I hope to see more of these stories.
The Guardians of Nalsir-Fel about an acting troupe who suddenly find themselves embroiled in a fight against a sorceress when one of the street urchins they employ is kidnapped.
Corridor of the Crow is a story in which the King's blade, Benhus discovers how the king he serves stays perpetually youthful, and it's not pretty. I've very much enjoyed all the John Hocking Benhus stories.
Dreams of a Sunken Realm is an atmospheric tale of Elak of Atlantis who was created by Henry Kuttner in 1938 who wrote four stories featuring this king of Atlantis. Adrian Cole picks up the baton here and ties this world to that of Robert E Howard's King Kull with mentions of the King of Valusia and his Red Slayers.
Demons of the Depths features a wandering demon-slaying samurai. If that's not cool enough, he fights shark demons. I hope to see more of these stories.
December 23, 2021
Sweet cover! Nice addition of the Howard Lamb profile. Oh, and a complete series of S&S tales, no matter how you define it! A very well-rounded and delightful quality magazine.
January 4, 2021
Issue 5 continues the trend of a high quality magazine (the paper of this book has such a nice tactile feel), good art, with a stellar cover by Sanjulian depicting a scene from the story “The Guardian of Nalsir-Fel”. The stories rangefrom 3 star at the low end to 4 star on the average. My three favorites from this issue are marked with a *.
“Pool of Memory” by James Enge. A Morlock Ambrosius story. Well written, and this has been one of the best in my opinion, but I have not yet become a Morlock fan. 3 Stars
“The Guardian of Nalsir-Fel” by Adrian Simmons. Two street performers get caught up in a rescue mission. This had a “hustle and heist” feel to it that I appreciate. 4 stars.
*”In the Corridors of Bone” by John C. Hocking. Benhus the King’s Blade returns. His past actions nearly catch up to him and the reader learns a bit more about the King our antihero is protecting, as does Benhus. JCH’s Benhus stories have been a frequent occurrence in TftMS. I am a dedicated fan. 4 stars.
*”Road of Bones” by Violette Malan. A story of the mercenary duo Dhulyn and Parno. Malan’s tales of Dhulyn and Parno have not failed to entertain me yet. This one is my favorite so far. Malan takes a real sickness and tells a good story with it. This was my favorite story in the issue. 4 stars.
“Dreams of a Sunken Realm” by Adrian Cole. Mr. Cole returns with more pastiche of Henry Kuttner’s Elak of Atlantis. I have encountered a few Adrian Cole’s Elak pastiche. I appreciate what is being done, but have thus far found them adequate. 3 stars.
*”Demons of the Depths” by C.L. Werner. My second favorite story in the issue. Shintaro Oba the demon slayer takes on...well, I don’t want to spoil it. Trust me. It’s wicked cool. 4 stars.
In addition, Howard Andrew Jones gives a brief profile of Harold Lamb and his works.
In the first four issues, statistics for Dungeon Crawl Classics were given for monsters and items. This time around, just monster stats were given.
Tales from the Magician’s Skull is on the vanguard of keeping Swords and Sorcery relevant. Support it. Seek it out. You want more encouragement? Issue six will feature pastiche of two of Lankhmar’s most famous citizens by Nathan Long.
“Pool of Memory” by James Enge. A Morlock Ambrosius story. Well written, and this has been one of the best in my opinion, but I have not yet become a Morlock fan. 3 Stars
“The Guardian of Nalsir-Fel” by Adrian Simmons. Two street performers get caught up in a rescue mission. This had a “hustle and heist” feel to it that I appreciate. 4 stars.
*”In the Corridors of Bone” by John C. Hocking. Benhus the King’s Blade returns. His past actions nearly catch up to him and the reader learns a bit more about the King our antihero is protecting, as does Benhus. JCH’s Benhus stories have been a frequent occurrence in TftMS. I am a dedicated fan. 4 stars.
*”Road of Bones” by Violette Malan. A story of the mercenary duo Dhulyn and Parno. Malan’s tales of Dhulyn and Parno have not failed to entertain me yet. This one is my favorite so far. Malan takes a real sickness and tells a good story with it. This was my favorite story in the issue. 4 stars.
“Dreams of a Sunken Realm” by Adrian Cole. Mr. Cole returns with more pastiche of Henry Kuttner’s Elak of Atlantis. I have encountered a few Adrian Cole’s Elak pastiche. I appreciate what is being done, but have thus far found them adequate. 3 stars.
*”Demons of the Depths” by C.L. Werner. My second favorite story in the issue. Shintaro Oba the demon slayer takes on...well, I don’t want to spoil it. Trust me. It’s wicked cool. 4 stars.
In addition, Howard Andrew Jones gives a brief profile of Harold Lamb and his works.
In the first four issues, statistics for Dungeon Crawl Classics were given for monsters and items. This time around, just monster stats were given.
Tales from the Magician’s Skull is on the vanguard of keeping Swords and Sorcery relevant. Support it. Seek it out. You want more encouragement? Issue six will feature pastiche of two of Lankhmar’s most famous citizens by Nathan Long.
January 4, 2021
After some unexpected COVID delays, TFMS is here and was worth the wait.
Adrian Cole continues to fill in the blanks with his saga of Elak of Atlantis (I say his, as he has now written far more about the character and his world than Kuttner ever did). Having read all of Cole's pastiche I have felt that not only has he set Kuttner's Atlantis inside the world of Howard's pre-cataclysmic ages (between Kull and Conan) but that the stories feel more like the dreamy, otherworldly world of Kull more than Conan. Those who share that view will appreciate this tale, which indeed speaks to the last days of Valusia....
CL Werner's back with a story of the wandering samurai Oda in "Demons of the Depths", which is a wonderful, fast-paced and original tale with exotic magic and strange monsters. I have really enjoyed this alternate Japan -- enough to forgive him using a name like "Sekigahara" (the name of the unification battle that created the Tokuagawa Shogunate) for a clan, or Mu-Thulan right out of Howard for a pseudo-Japanese place. Werner seems otherwise in command of the material he draws from, so I'll just assume there is a method to his madness and enjoy the ride.
Adrian Simmons is best known as the editor of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, but every now and then he pens a tale of his own. "The Guardians of Nelsir-Fel" is a true romp in an Arabian Nights way: roguish theater performers/con-men are drawn into matters well over their head in a frontier city. There are some unexpected twists in this one -- including the presumed big-bad being instantly dispatched mid-story, creating an entirely different plot. The prose is sometimes a bit dense, and the story needed another proofread for typos, but I really enjoyed this one.
John C. Hocking does sword and sorcery as good as any and far better than most. Although it took me a little time to get into his "King's Blade" which has a noir edge and a lead character of dubious morality, I am all in now. "In the Corridors of the Crow" continue that character's saga, and gives us more insights into the none-too-virtuous-himself king whom our hero, Benhus serves. Even if you are new to Benhus' tales you can jump right in and Hocking's prose and pacing is at the top of his game.
Editor Howard Jones provides a fantastic essay on the godfather of sword & sorcery, the great adventure writer Howard Lamb. If you are the sort of person who is going to read this magazine and you haven't red Lamb, this essay will show you why you should. Jones also writes a few very funny commentaries from the Skull's PoV including the long-dead liche's discovery of a great and wondrous magical device -- the Betamax.
I can't comment on all the tales, alas. Jason Enge is a talented writer, but after the last issue I realized he and Morlock are just not for me (I also immediately fuzz out of sword & sorcery that has high fantasy tropes like elves or dwarves). I don't count that against the issue's review, however, as I think a lot of people WILL like what Enge does.
TFMS remains the most Weird Tales-style mag out there, indeed, far more than the revived Weird Tales itself! I am sooo glad this is out there and seems to be surviving. A nice fun way to start 2020.
Adrian Cole continues to fill in the blanks with his saga of Elak of Atlantis (I say his, as he has now written far more about the character and his world than Kuttner ever did). Having read all of Cole's pastiche I have felt that not only has he set Kuttner's Atlantis inside the world of Howard's pre-cataclysmic ages (between Kull and Conan) but that the stories feel more like the dreamy, otherworldly world of Kull more than Conan. Those who share that view will appreciate this tale, which indeed speaks to the last days of Valusia....
CL Werner's back with a story of the wandering samurai Oda in "Demons of the Depths", which is a wonderful, fast-paced and original tale with exotic magic and strange monsters. I have really enjoyed this alternate Japan -- enough to forgive him using a name like "Sekigahara" (the name of the unification battle that created the Tokuagawa Shogunate) for a clan, or Mu-Thulan right out of Howard for a pseudo-Japanese place. Werner seems otherwise in command of the material he draws from, so I'll just assume there is a method to his madness and enjoy the ride.
Adrian Simmons is best known as the editor of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, but every now and then he pens a tale of his own. "The Guardians of Nelsir-Fel" is a true romp in an Arabian Nights way: roguish theater performers/con-men are drawn into matters well over their head in a frontier city. There are some unexpected twists in this one -- including the presumed big-bad being instantly dispatched mid-story, creating an entirely different plot. The prose is sometimes a bit dense, and the story needed another proofread for typos, but I really enjoyed this one.
John C. Hocking does sword and sorcery as good as any and far better than most. Although it took me a little time to get into his "King's Blade" which has a noir edge and a lead character of dubious morality, I am all in now. "In the Corridors of the Crow" continue that character's saga, and gives us more insights into the none-too-virtuous-himself king whom our hero, Benhus serves. Even if you are new to Benhus' tales you can jump right in and Hocking's prose and pacing is at the top of his game.
Editor Howard Jones provides a fantastic essay on the godfather of sword & sorcery, the great adventure writer Howard Lamb. If you are the sort of person who is going to read this magazine and you haven't red Lamb, this essay will show you why you should. Jones also writes a few very funny commentaries from the Skull's PoV including the long-dead liche's discovery of a great and wondrous magical device -- the Betamax.
I can't comment on all the tales, alas. Jason Enge is a talented writer, but after the last issue I realized he and Morlock are just not for me (I also immediately fuzz out of sword & sorcery that has high fantasy tropes like elves or dwarves). I don't count that against the issue's review, however, as I think a lot of people WILL like what Enge does.
TFMS remains the most Weird Tales-style mag out there, indeed, far more than the revived Weird Tales itself! I am sooo glad this is out there and seems to be surviving. A nice fun way to start 2020.
January 7, 2021
This is fun little jaunt. I’ve been meaning to check out Mag Skull for awhile. Now I know I need to go back and read prior issues.
Three of the six stories stood out to me.
The Guardian of Nasir-Fel - This is story is about two street performers(with shady pasts, and darker secrets) looking for the lost street urchin who helped them out. It leads to evil magic and conspiracy. It’s just really well written and has a very “exotic” for lack of a better word, feel. I think it really elevated the collection. It’s by the editor of HFQ. This story is a must read, IMHO and makes a purchase worth it.
Dreams of the Sunken Realm - This is another Elak of Atlantis pastiche written by Adrian Cole. I think as he’s written more of these they’ve gotten better and feel closer to Kuttner’s work. It’s got a great days of high adventure feel. I’m glad he keeps making more of these! Only minor nitpick was there wasn’t enough Lycon banter.
Demons of the Depths - This really surprised me. It was Samurai S&S story. It’s got pirates, so I’m already sold. Then its got demon shark battles! What more could you want? C.L. Werner did something very familiar yet different using the Samurai setting. Color me impressed.
The other three stories were decent as well but didn’t stand out as much to me. There is also an interesting essay on Harold Lamb for pulp historians to enjoy. The excerpt really shows how much he influenced the legendary REH.
There is also a lot of great art, and campy high school notebook style maps. Love it.
I will have to get the others issues of the magazine, and the new ones going forward.
I have one other minor nitpick. Idk if it’s the editor Howard Andrew Jones’s taste or what, but I noticed none of these stories had a “babe” in anyway. Sure, plenty of women are done in outmoded ways in sword and sorcery but I think the racy, mildly romantic, “erotic” elements are one of the essential spices to the genre? There’s no reason those genders can’t be reversed. See C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry stories all the way back in the 30s. I just found it weird not one story had an element of romance. This is totally nitpicking but it would have been nice if 1 out 6 had a little bit of romance, or forbidden attraction. Heck, it’s 2021 it could be a homosexual S&S protagonist. Idk..maybe it’s just me. I just like S&S to be a little racy, at least some of the time.
Three of the six stories stood out to me.
The Guardian of Nasir-Fel - This is story is about two street performers(with shady pasts, and darker secrets) looking for the lost street urchin who helped them out. It leads to evil magic and conspiracy. It’s just really well written and has a very “exotic” for lack of a better word, feel. I think it really elevated the collection. It’s by the editor of HFQ. This story is a must read, IMHO and makes a purchase worth it.
Dreams of the Sunken Realm - This is another Elak of Atlantis pastiche written by Adrian Cole. I think as he’s written more of these they’ve gotten better and feel closer to Kuttner’s work. It’s got a great days of high adventure feel. I’m glad he keeps making more of these! Only minor nitpick was there wasn’t enough Lycon banter.
Demons of the Depths - This really surprised me. It was Samurai S&S story. It’s got pirates, so I’m already sold. Then its got demon shark battles! What more could you want? C.L. Werner did something very familiar yet different using the Samurai setting. Color me impressed.
The other three stories were decent as well but didn’t stand out as much to me. There is also an interesting essay on Harold Lamb for pulp historians to enjoy. The excerpt really shows how much he influenced the legendary REH.
There is also a lot of great art, and campy high school notebook style maps. Love it.
I will have to get the others issues of the magazine, and the new ones going forward.
I have one other minor nitpick. Idk if it’s the editor Howard Andrew Jones’s taste or what, but I noticed none of these stories had a “babe” in anyway. Sure, plenty of women are done in outmoded ways in sword and sorcery but I think the racy, mildly romantic, “erotic” elements are one of the essential spices to the genre? There’s no reason those genders can’t be reversed. See C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry stories all the way back in the 30s. I just found it weird not one story had an element of romance. This is totally nitpicking but it would have been nice if 1 out 6 had a little bit of romance, or forbidden attraction. Heck, it’s 2021 it could be a homosexual S&S protagonist. Idk..maybe it’s just me. I just like S&S to be a little racy, at least some of the time.
January 16, 2021
If you are a fan of sword-and-sorcery fantasy fiction, you owe it to yourself to start reading Goodman Games' Tales From the Magician's Skull - it is really great fiction, and includes DCC RPG stats accompanying the stories so you can bring some of the spells, monsters, enchanted items, and such from the stories into your DCC RPG game. All 5 issues so far have been great; I'm looking forward to issue 6!
May 26, 2021
Praise to the Skull for another deadly dose. All is well and good with special props to James Enge, John C. Hocking, Adrian Cole, and C.L. Werner.
September 18, 2023
A collection of high quality Sword & Sorcery stories.
Pool of Memory by James Enge
A story of Morlock Ambrosius, though not quite... A story of an amnesiac named "Am" who finds himself in a town with only a scant few other residents, also amnesiacs, and a pile of human corpses on which mushrooms, their only sustenance, grow. These corpses are attended to by very creepy plants with lips.
Am sets out to find out what the hell is going on, who the hell he is, and why the hell this is happening, and not necessarily in that order.
The story gives me the same vibes as The Sustenance of Hoak by Ramsey Campbell. A favorite horror leaning Sword & Sorcery tale of mine.
I'm becoming a real Morlock Ambrosius fan from the few stories I've read of Enge's and I plan on seeking out more. This is my favorite story in this volume.
The Guardian of Nalsir-Fel by Adrian Simmons
An adventure starring a pair of street entertainers named Ahzlamin and Penkatel. Hired by a sorceress to perform an assassination under threat of harm done to a young girl who assists them in their performances. They turn down the offer, slay the sorceress, and set off to find rescue the girl.
A good story. Good characters. Good action. Good horror. Nothing GREAT but overall a solid story that shows a lot of potential. I don't know if there are any more stories of Ahzlamin and Penkatel but they're a duo I could really get behind if there were. Loyal companions that have depths as of yet hidden from one another.
In the Corridors of the Crow by John C. Hocking
A tale of Benhus the King’s Blade. I've only read one other story in this series. I liked the story... hated the character, but I imagine that's kinda the point. Benhus has a keen survival instinct that leads to bastardous actions. In fact, everyone in this setting seems like a bastard. I find it hard to care about any of them... however... The story is a good dungeon crawl with good action and intriguing sorcerous dealings between the King and a greedy Shamanic deity. I don't really care for Benhus, but I kinda wanna read more of his adventures to see what he gets up to and see if he ever faces any consequences for his actions or encounters a problem he can't sneak his way out of.
Road of Bones by Violette Malan
A story in a series I was previously unaware of starring a pair of characters named Dhulyn and Parno. The pair of adventurers are hired by an elderly scholar named Horgath to escort him as he returns the bone of a slain magician to its rightful place.
The characters were the highlight of this story to me. I feel like the author got across the closeness of their relationship without it feeling overwrought. I also really enjoyed the character of Horgath. He was a magician and is hundreds of years old, but is suffering from the Sunset Malady (Alzheimers) which is an idea I found myself quite affected by.
The story uses an intriguing form of time travel as a solution in the climax of the story in a way I found interesting bu unfulfilling as the consequences of time travel are mentioned but mostly brushed aside. I enjoyed the story and wouldn't mind reading more of Dhulyn and Parno's adventures.
Dreams of a Sunken Realm by Adrian Cole
A story featuring Elak of Atlantis by Henry Kuttner, a character I'm not familiar with. Also makes mention of elements present in Robert E. Howard's Kull of Atlantis stories, but the section of the story detailing historical rises and falls of Atlantis had me a little bit lost about if and when this is meant to take place in a chronology with those and other Robert E. Howard stories.
Creepy dolphins with human faces draw the hero and the crew of his boat to the sea bed to meet the Sorcerer King of a lost land who equips them with arms and sorcery to help fend off an invasion of their kingdom.
Very well written classic feeling Sword & Sorcery with some flashy sorcery and bombastic action.
Demons of the Depths by C. L. Werner
An episode in the adventures of Shintaro Oba, a monster slayer in a close analogue of feudal Japan. The second nautical adventure in this volume. A vicious and bloody hack and slash largely confined to the deck of a boat, but makes good use of this small stage for big action. A monster hunter finds the ship he is travelling on assailed by a pirates lead by a sorcerer who summons a hulking shark monster. The resulting action scenes are well written and bloody. Just fun and cool action. I find Japanese inspired fantasy by western authors hit or miss but Werner hits hard by focusing on hard hitting action that I'd like to read more of.
Pool of Memory by James Enge
A story of Morlock Ambrosius, though not quite... A story of an amnesiac named "Am" who finds himself in a town with only a scant few other residents, also amnesiacs, and a pile of human corpses on which mushrooms, their only sustenance, grow. These corpses are attended to by very creepy plants with lips.
Am sets out to find out what the hell is going on, who the hell he is, and why the hell this is happening, and not necessarily in that order.
The story gives me the same vibes as The Sustenance of Hoak by Ramsey Campbell. A favorite horror leaning Sword & Sorcery tale of mine.
I'm becoming a real Morlock Ambrosius fan from the few stories I've read of Enge's and I plan on seeking out more. This is my favorite story in this volume.
The Guardian of Nalsir-Fel by Adrian Simmons
An adventure starring a pair of street entertainers named Ahzlamin and Penkatel. Hired by a sorceress to perform an assassination under threat of harm done to a young girl who assists them in their performances. They turn down the offer, slay the sorceress, and set off to find rescue the girl.
A good story. Good characters. Good action. Good horror. Nothing GREAT but overall a solid story that shows a lot of potential. I don't know if there are any more stories of Ahzlamin and Penkatel but they're a duo I could really get behind if there were. Loyal companions that have depths as of yet hidden from one another.
In the Corridors of the Crow by John C. Hocking
A tale of Benhus the King’s Blade. I've only read one other story in this series. I liked the story... hated the character, but I imagine that's kinda the point. Benhus has a keen survival instinct that leads to bastardous actions. In fact, everyone in this setting seems like a bastard. I find it hard to care about any of them... however... The story is a good dungeon crawl with good action and intriguing sorcerous dealings between the King and a greedy Shamanic deity. I don't really care for Benhus, but I kinda wanna read more of his adventures to see what he gets up to and see if he ever faces any consequences for his actions or encounters a problem he can't sneak his way out of.
Road of Bones by Violette Malan
A story in a series I was previously unaware of starring a pair of characters named Dhulyn and Parno. The pair of adventurers are hired by an elderly scholar named Horgath to escort him as he returns the bone of a slain magician to its rightful place.
The characters were the highlight of this story to me. I feel like the author got across the closeness of their relationship without it feeling overwrought. I also really enjoyed the character of Horgath. He was a magician and is hundreds of years old, but is suffering from the Sunset Malady (Alzheimers) which is an idea I found myself quite affected by.
The story uses an intriguing form of time travel as a solution in the climax of the story in a way I found interesting bu unfulfilling as the consequences of time travel are mentioned but mostly brushed aside. I enjoyed the story and wouldn't mind reading more of Dhulyn and Parno's adventures.
Dreams of a Sunken Realm by Adrian Cole
A story featuring Elak of Atlantis by Henry Kuttner, a character I'm not familiar with. Also makes mention of elements present in Robert E. Howard's Kull of Atlantis stories, but the section of the story detailing historical rises and falls of Atlantis had me a little bit lost about if and when this is meant to take place in a chronology with those and other Robert E. Howard stories.
Creepy dolphins with human faces draw the hero and the crew of his boat to the sea bed to meet the Sorcerer King of a lost land who equips them with arms and sorcery to help fend off an invasion of their kingdom.
Very well written classic feeling Sword & Sorcery with some flashy sorcery and bombastic action.
Demons of the Depths by C. L. Werner
An episode in the adventures of Shintaro Oba, a monster slayer in a close analogue of feudal Japan. The second nautical adventure in this volume. A vicious and bloody hack and slash largely confined to the deck of a boat, but makes good use of this small stage for big action. A monster hunter finds the ship he is travelling on assailed by a pirates lead by a sorcerer who summons a hulking shark monster. The resulting action scenes are well written and bloody. Just fun and cool action. I find Japanese inspired fantasy by western authors hit or miss but Werner hits hard by focusing on hard hitting action that I'd like to read more of.
December 13, 2023
Issue No. 5 of Tales From the Magician’s Skull continues the high quality consistent with the earlier issues. I own them in print and the paper quality is top-notch. There are six stories in this issue along with a few articles. My favorite stories included “The Guardian of Nalsir-Fel” by Adrian Simmons, editor of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, “In the Corridors of the Crow” by John C. Hocking, a really interesting Benhus tale that left me very curious as to how Benhus would consider his service to bis king in the future, and “Demons of the Depths” by C. L. Werner, a Samurai S&S story. I look forward to reading more stories of Shintaro Oba. Each of the stories has a high-quality illustration to accompany it done by top artists in the fantasy RPG hobby such as Russ Nicholson, Doug Kovacs, and Jennell Jaquays. One of the articles is a profile of Harold Lamb written by Howard Andrew Jones. This is a reprint of an essay from one of the updates to the first Kickstarter of the magazine and it was also reprinted in the first bonus issue of Tales From the Magician’s Skull.
March 22, 2022
Fifth volume in an anthology series of ostensibly Sword & Sorcery stories (some of which I wouldn't consider to be S&S at all, but hey, sub-genres are often a matter of taste...)
I liked some more than others, found me an author I'll read more from (C.L. Werner, who also impressed me in the previous volume), and will most likely read on.
As this is a bit of a mixed bag I'll give three stars.
I liked some more than others, found me an author I'll read more from (C.L. Werner, who also impressed me in the previous volume), and will most likely read on.
As this is a bit of a mixed bag I'll give three stars.
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October 13, 2021Another excellent edition of this Magazine, which is really hitting it’s stride. Apart from the stories, I especially liked the profile on Howard Lamb. Again: Great production value and design, with a nice sense of pulpish style. Recommended.
August 30, 2022
Loved every story in this volume. Great writing and eye pleasing art layout.
March 12, 2026
Good to have some short stories on hand!
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