Joseph’s Comments (group member since Oct 24, 2012)

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

And I finished In Yana, the Touch of Undying, which was much as I remembered above, but highly recommended if you enjoyed Nifft the Lean, and started K.J. Parker's Devices and Desires, which I expect will have little-to-no sorcery but more than its share of swordplay.

S.E. wrote: "Joseph, I'd like to hear your take on Shea's Yana. After enjoying Nifft, I bought a copy but it sits on my shelf."

Give me a few days ... :) From memory (it's been years since I last read it), it's another book that exists primarily as an excuse to traverse weird landscapes. As far as I can tell, it's not set on Nifft's world, but there's nothing that would be out of place. The biggest difference is the protagonist -- Bramt Hex is kind of fat, ineffectual and naïve, none of which could be said about Nifft ...

And having finished Nifft, I'm moving on to In Yana, the Touch of Undying, which isn't directly tied to Nifft but is at least spiritually similar.

Fletcher wrote: "I've gone back to finish Oblivion Hand by Adrian Cole. I was a little hard on a earlier partial review on my own site. Revisiting it with less jaded eyes, it's a blast ..."

I read the trilogy a year or two ago and I kind of agree. I initially encountered the Voidal in the anthology Heroic Fantasy and was quite taken by the weird multilayered cosmos; then I had to wait many, many years before Wildside brought the entire trilogy back into print and eBook formats.

Myself, as I mentioned in the Whelan thread, I'm rereading Michael Shea's Nifft the Lean, and enjoying it again.

Charles wrote: "I just read the first in the series. I have the others in paperback"

I'm still amused when I see the Zebra editions of Tros that say, "In the tradition of Robert E. Howard!" (They have it, of course, exactly backwards.) And Zebra even managed to misnumber the last two books in the series. On the one hand, Zebra did publish a lot of good stuff back in the day; on the other hand, they really did make a botch of a lot of it.

On a related note, I just saw on Amazon that you can get a Kindle edition of the complete Tros of Samothrace (called Complete Tros of Samothrace, oddly enough) by Talbot Mundy for a whopping $0.99. Highly worth it even if he never did quite finish the series.

S.E. wrote: "Joseph, that is a strange introduction. I found it pretty distracting from the meat of the book, which has great descriptions of weird scenery."

Yeah, it's a bit odd, although he uses the intro to the book, and the intros to the individual stories, for additional world-building.

(Speaking of the world: In addition to the DAW paperback, I have the Darkside Press hardcover which does have a world map printed on the endpapers. Plus an introduction by Tim Powers.)

And I did just start Shea's Nifft the Lean; it was oddly melancholy because the book begins with Shag Margold's eulogy for his friend Nifft.

"In strict truth, I do not say that Nifft is dead. This cannot be known. But for all that he was dear to me, when I consider the Thing which took him from us I wish him dead."

I mentioned this in another thread, but since I just heard of Michael Shea's passing (entirely too soon to leave us), that means I'm going to have to go with Nifft the Lean.

From Locus:

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/03/...

A damned shame; he was one of my favorites and deserved far more recognition. He lived on the borders of Vance and Lovecraft.

Michael Whelan did the cover for the original paperback edition of Nifft the Lean so I think I'll be adjusting my group read plans accordingly.

Tom wrote: "S.E. wrote: "I like Whelan's interpretation of Elric the best."

Whelan or P. Craig Russell. I'm a huge fan of both."

I also love them both but have to include a shout-out to Robert Gould.

S.E. wrote: "Joseph, I wonder why Anackire may be a favorite for you. "

I think you may have just answered your own question ... :)

Other favorites include:

Decisions, decisions ... I might try for a twofer with Amazons! or Anackire. Other candidates: The Man of Gold or Nifft the Lean.

(Anackire is one of my favorite of Whelan's illustrations.)

A couple that I've read recently and would recommend: Violette Malan's Dhulyn & Parno novels (The Sleeping God is the first). Amanda Downum's Necromancer Chronicles, beginning with The Drowning City. Erin Hoffman's Chaos Knight trilogy, beginning with Sword of Fire and Sea.

Or if you want something further off the beaten path (and less directly sword & sorcery), there's Aliette de Bodard's Obsidian and Blood trilogy.

I'm currently reading The Dead of Winter and She Returns From War, both by Lee Collins. Not technically sword & sorcery -- they're both about a monster-hunter in the Old West -- but replace Cora Oglesby's leathers and six-shooter with a mail shirt & sword and she'd easily fit in.

Phil wrote: "'Eric Brighteyes' is a good one - but could I recommend his 'The World's Desire'? Haggard co-wrote it with Andrew Lang the folklorist and it makes the book much different in style from Haggard's ..."

I've already read World's Desire during one of my previous Ballantine Adult Fantasy read-throughs (and will do so again when I reach that point in the list on my current run) but otherwise an excellent suggestion!

Another great Viking novel, now available after about 80 years out of print, is Styrbiorn the Strong by E.R. Eddison.

S.E. wrote: "Did you see the movies Valhalla Rising or Hammer of the Gods? You probably did....but if not...they are "recent" Viking movies that are ~90% Sword and 10% Weird Myth ("Sorcery" would be a stretch)."

I did see Valhalla Rising; just added Hammer of the Gods to my queue. I also need to get caught up on Game of Thrones, now that you mention it. Vikings is definitely worth checking out when you get a chance.

And speaking of animation ... Berserk is also worth checking out -- kind of a Japanese take on western heroic fantasy.

OK, this thread has been pretty quiet of late ... Has anybody else been watching Vikings? I think it airs on the History channel but I've been watching it via Netflix. Not much sorcery but plenty of dudes bashing each other with swords (and axes and spears and arrows and ...). Reminds me that I have yet to read Eric Brighteyes.

S.E. wrote: "Nope, Sword & Planet hasn't been covered yet. Want to "write-it" in?"

I thought about it, but I like the choices we have listed currently; plus it'll probably be closer to May by the time a hole opens up in my reading schedule ...

I just voted in the March/April poll. For May/June, have we officially done any sword & planet?