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Tales from the Magician's Skull #5

Howard Andrew Jones (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

James Enge (Goodreads Author),

Adrian Simmons (Goodreads Author),

John C. Hocking,

Violette Malan,

Adrian Cole,

C.L. Werner,

Terry Olsen

4.30 · Rating details · 10 ratings · 5 reviews

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 ...more

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Paperback, 80 pages

Published by Goodman Publications (first published December 5th 2020)

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Jan 20, 2021 S.E. Lindberg rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sword-and-sorcery, reviewed-by-se

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 rea ...more

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Jan 03, 2021 Clint rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2021, anthologies-and-zines, dead-trees, fantasy, sword-sorcery, sword-sorcery-group-read

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 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. ...more

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Jan 03, 2021 Gregory D. rated it really liked it

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 th 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. ...more

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Jan 06, 2021 James Troxell rated it really liked it

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 colle 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. ...more

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Jan 16, 2021 Colin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: appendix-n, good-sci-fi-and-fantasy, rpgs, short-stories

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! ...more

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