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

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

Here's the actual Wandering Star page about it:

http://www.wanderingstarbooks.com/ult...

Lots of Frazetta illos -- 120, according to the website. (I just have the "Classic" edition.)

Here's the contents, as per the website:

Fiction:
Beyond the Black River - The original classic Conan.

The House of Arabu - According to Howard authority Glenn Lord, the first published version of the story, from which all subsequent publications derived, was likely have been "reworked" by Howard's agent, Oscar Friend. BUT - we have an earlier draft of the story from Howard's own typescript. The Ultimate Triumph will feature Pyrrhas the Argive entirely in Howard's own words, for the first time.

Spears of Clontarf - Celtic and Viking warriors: it doesn't get any more Howardian than that! This is Howard's rarely reprinted, original (historical, rather than fantasy) version of the story he later revised as "The Grey God Passes."

The Night of the Wolf - Picts against Viking warriors, with an Irish reaver thrown in for good measure.

Spear and Fang - Cro-Magnon man versus Neanderthal: how much more barbaric can you get? This story was Howard's first professional sale.

The Valley of the Worm - Howard's mythic storytelling at his best.

Lord of Samarcand - The warring Mongols were barbarians, too! But Donald MacDeesa was more so.


Poetry:

An Echo from the Iron Harp - A recently discovered final version of the poem. Differing slightly from its previously published form, this version will appear here for the first time.


A Word from the Outer Dark


The Song of the Last Briton


Viking's Trail


A Song of the Naked Lands - very hard to find poem, rarely reprinted


In addition, it has several essays and letter excerpts from Howard on the topic.

I mostly missed the Wandering Star (and later Subterranean Press) hardcovers of Robert E. Howard's work. And for the most part, I'm OK with that -- the Del Rey trade paperbacks are much more affordable and they're actually "better" editions than Wandering Star in some ways (they corrected typos and, in at least one case, included a fragment not available when the Wandering Star edition was published).

But there's one Wandering Star book that I do own, that hasn't been reprinted, and that I think is a uniquely fine collection of Howard's fiction: The Ultimate Triumph. As you might expect from the title, the stories are those dealing with "barbarian", whether alone or in conflict with civilization. Stories include "Beyond the Black River", "Lord of Samarcand", "Spear and Fang" and "Valley of the Worm" amongst others.

Oh, and did I mention that it's illustrated by Frank Frazetta?

Definitely one of the highlights of my REH collection ...

Coincidentally, the book I'm currently reading (The Sword of Shadows by Adrian Cole) took an unexpected Sword & Mythos turn -- the story is now taking place in Ulthar by the river Skai.

At some level, I think Far Away & Never would also hit the Sword & Mythos nail on the head -- it's a Group Read twofer ...

The Lumley stories are fun although he does subscribe to the Derlethian Heresy. Along the same line there are also his Hero & Eldin books -- Hero of Dreams, etc.

And to bring it back to Himself, you could probably make a case for The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath.

Finished Among Thieves and now I'm reading the Voidal books by Adrian Cole (Oblivion Hand is the first of three). They're far from perfect but I'm enjoying them -- they have that kind of weird cross-dimensional many-worlds-and-gods thing that you get in some Moorcock but not (to my taste, at least) in nearly enough other S&S fiction.

Jason wrote: "Excellent book. I really enjoyed the movie as well. Growing up I usually got to see the movie once a year, when it was on the Sunday Movie Matinee on channel 4, so in that sense I came to the book via the movie and not the other way around.

The movie was one of those that I remember seeing in my childhood, but all I really remembered was the execution scene and the temple dome. Finally found out the title a few years back and got it from Netflix; it actually held up pretty well. Still need to read the book.

Right now I'm reading Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick which is novel-length but definitely has the S&S vibe.

Periklis wrote: "I was dissapointed by: Robert Silverberg, Gene Wolfe and Tanith Lee, especially given their past works."

The Silverberg piece was a Majipoor story, wasn't it? I loved Lord Valentine's Castle and enjoyed the rest of the original Majipoor trilogy but haven't been able to get into the more recent volumes for whatever reason -- I think at least partly because he made them more overtly fantastical as opposed to the original trilogy which was definitely SF.

Have you read Shea's In Yana? It's a standalone novel but has a very Nifftean feel to the world.

Morgan wrote: "You might have a higher tolerance if you haven't read much sword and sorcery fiction or are newer to the genre."

Or alternatively different people have different tastes and different standards. I also like the technicolor atmosphere, the glamor and splendor of the classics but that doesn't necessarily preclude enjoying the more recent iterations.

Morgan wrote: "I have to say that I really hated SWORDS & DARK MAGIC. I call it SWORDS & SCATOLOGY. If you like stories with lots of urine, feces, pus, mucus, and other body fluids, this is your book."

Maybe I just have a higher tolerance for that kind of thing? I liked Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery quite a bit. It's been long enough since I read it that I don't remember many specifics but the Scott Lynch story in particular was a highlight for me.

Still reading Tolkien. About to start The Children of Húrin (of which I've read alternate versions in The Silmarillion and in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth) which isn't S&S, exactly, but is probably the closest Tolkien comes -- at least, it's got much more of a Viking/Icelandic saga feel to it than his other stuff.

Fletcher wrote: "My name's Fletcher Vredenburgh and I blog under the handle "the Wasp" at a site called Swords & Sorcery: A Blog. I've been reading the stuff since I came across my dad's copies of "Death Angel's S..."

Welcome! I've also been enjoying the blog, and I picked up Dark Sleeper by Jeffrey E. Barlough as a direct result of the post you wrote.

Jonathan wrote: "As am I. I would like to do something similar myself.

Custom cover art is expensive, though, so I can definitely see why he's doing a template."

Yes, I understand, especially given that they're only being published electronically. And honestly, once it's on my Kindle I'll never see the cover regardless.

Jonathan wrote: "I got it immediately, and I will read it after finishing A MEMORY OF LIGHT."

And per a recent entry on King's website, books 3 and 4 are in process. I'm glad someone is keeping alive the tradition of mid-1970's 200 page quick-reading S&S -- I just wish he could get some covers along the lines of what they used to use back then.

I'm not reading it (yet) but just wanted to mention that William King just published a new Kormak novel: Defiler of Tombs. (Which is available on Amazon and from the other electronic Usual Suspects but which doesn't appear to have a Goodreads entry yet.)

S.E. wrote: " Did the story Emery submitted to Rage of the Behemoth go somewhere else to your knowledge?

Jason -- Speaking of Rage of the Behemoth, any chance of an eBook release at some point?

Jason wrote: "I'm leaning toward one of these two: Heroic Fantasy or Swords Against Darkness. I may have to flip a coin."

Both great choices!

OK, all done with Swords Against Tomorrow, which is worth seeking out just for the Poul Anderson story (unless it's been reprinted elsewhere?) -- apparently it was originally published in Planet Stories under a pseudonym.

As for the rest of the anthology: The Leiber story was Bazaar of the Bizarre, which was pleasant enough -- it mostly reminded me that I haven't read the full Lankhmar series in many years. The Carter and Jakes stories I don't have much to say about -- they both kind of got the job done. The Brackett piece, Citadel of Lost Ships, was the other highlight of the book, but it definitely wasn't sword & sorcery -- it was Leigh Brackett planetary romance, so it read more like Chandler or Hammett than like Edgar Rice Burroughs. I really, really need to read the Haffner Press Bracket collections one of these days.

Finished Swords against Tomorrow (it's only 175 pages), which I'd recommend tracking down specifically for the Poul Anderson story, and am moving to some non-S&S stuff for a bit -- I need to get caught up on the Dresden Files, so I just started Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files.

S.E. wrote: "Joseph, what about "Demon Journey" appealed to you? (Haven't read it myself yet, though I did like Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword)"

It's a relatively old and obscure story -- first published in 1951, apparently under a pseudonym. If I just summarize it -- Corun the pirate has been captured and is sent with a wizard and the wizard's granddaughter on a voyage to the island of the Xanthi, evil reptile men; complications ensue -- it sounds pretty generic. But Anderson does an excellent job of sketching the world and characters in relatively few words, the story is fast-paced and action-packed, and the language is up to his usual high standards.

I've just started Swords against Tomorrow, but the first story (Demon Journey by Poul Anderson) is a gem. I also have high hopes for the stories by Leigh Brackett and Fritz Leiber. The Lin Carter and John Jakes stories, not so much, although I expect to find them entertaining.