Jason’s Comments (group member since Jan 16, 2013)

Jason’s comments from the Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" group.

I enjoyed CONAN & THE GRIM GREY GOD. Thought there were times Conan did a whole lot more talking (info dumping) then he would have, but there is plenty o'action, blood, sorcery, mayhem, intrigue, loot, betrayal, and sensual sensationalism. I think the S&S attitude appropriately presented.

Nice banner Stephen - you filled some big shoes!
Think I'll finally read my GRIM GREY GOD Conan and the Grim Grey God.

@Jason: Nice re-read!

I never knew of books 4-6 until at least 20 years after having read the original trilogy which I loved. but to me it told a complete story and I've never felt desire to read the remainder.

is this by subscription only?

I agree Clint. it was the first time in a very long time that I bought a book purely on the hype without having read any of the author's work. I regret the purchase. Not bad, it is decent, just not worthy of an unknowing buy when I could have bought something else. There are several authors appearing in WHETSONE and other S&S zines whose work I've read that would definitely entice me into buying their collections.

Finn J.D. John's Robert E. Howard's CONAN the CIMMERIAN BARBARIAN: The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus - anyone read this yet?

That Moe Lane series sounds interesting, thanks Mary!

WHETSTONE #5:
(Not up on Goodreads yet)
Best story thus far AND possibly best story in all WHETSTONE issues so far is Charles Dooley's "A Song from the Sea"! Great, great Howardian Loftcraftian storytelling. Now let's see how strong the next story is.

Whetstone #5!

you are an astounding consumer of books, Mary!

@Al - How did you like that GOD OF WAR? I enjoyed it, meant to read the sequel.

Howdy Kirk! I'm imagining a bar filled with earthier sort of fantasy folks - now THAT would be a terrific con!

@David - Excited to read your book, sir!

Awesome, Christian! I'm stoked you also complimentarily mentioned the Appendix REH - I believe you're the first to do so, thank you!

Great choice Gandalf the Red!

Richard, for some reason the link to your review won't work on my phone but I'll dig for it. Also the link to the book on Amazon only shows me book one, how do I find book two? Finally, this sounds rather fascinating, and brings to mind Phil Emery's exploration of S&S and his novel The Shadow Cycles https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1.... The challenge with such books is the uncertainty of that exploration. I was very familiar with - and enjoyed - Phil's short storytelling and so was willing to risk it. What say you of this approach?

Editing my comment above: after reading Stan Nicholls' afterword, it appears Gemmell wrote RR in the early '90s, so not at the close of his career. The story was simply never published until after his wife found it in his papers after his death in 2006.

Gemmell is absolutely a fantastic storyteller. There are a few of his heroic fantasies I have yet to read, but these last two months I'm reading his totally terrific crime thrillers and these are superb storytelling too! WHITE KNIGHT, BLACK SWAN gave a great Druss-like character in a dark heroic tale; RHYMING RINGS is delivering a delightfully diabolical tale with unexpected twists. Both are prime examples of sparse, straightforward writing and protagonists with growing arcs, though RR does both better... which is understandable, as these books were written at the onset and close of Gemmell's stellar storytelling arc. Neither are S&S, but I say read 'em.

Very cool recommends, Michael! Yes, I hang out here on occasion :)

Clint has some Oba stories in issues of TALES FROM THE MAGICIAN'S SKULL as well.