S.E.’s Comments (group member since Nov 01, 2012)

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

HFQ is open again
the blurb: ....

After a year of being closed, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly will be open for submissions in September. In that year the field of S&S short story publishing has grown quite a bit, and since several of us are open at the same time, HFQ is going to allow simultaneous submissions.

https://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.co...

looks. pretty sick (good)

When the Goddess Wakes comes out next week! It's #3 of the Ring-Sworn trilogy.


WIN THE COMPLETE RING-SWORN TRILOGY BY HOWARD ANDREW JONES! Black Gate announcement and trilogy overview.

Win all three books via the publisher: St. Martin's Press Sweeepstakes form

A Sorcerer of Atlantis

Richard wrote: "Viking Adventure



There are some really deep cuts in this anthology. The newest story was published in 1958."

That looks fantastic. Another DMR gem.

I posted tribute article on Black Gate that reviews the Hel x 3 Books and reposts a 2014 interview I had with I'm (including 3x of his illustrations).

Link: : C. DEAN ANDERSSON TRIBUTE INTERVIEW AND TOUR GUIDE OF HEL: BLOODSONG AND FREEDOM!


July 5th, 2021 marked the passing of CDean Andersson (a.k.a, Asa Drake). Christopher Fulbright (author, a journalist turned technical writer, and owner/webmaster of Realms of Night) posted a moving tribute this month online.

Andersson had his fame with both horror fans and the fantasy crowd for his Sword & Sorcery heroine Bloodsong.

This Black Gate post honors him by combining a review of his Bloodsong Saga (a.k.a. Hel Series) with a reposting of a 2014 interview regarding his creative process (with 3x illustrations he made to complement his written art, shared below).

We may never see the fourth installment (Valkyries in Hel)...sigh. Peace to C. Dean Andersson.

never experienced that.

I found it interesting that the Winifred subplot was forced in. Didn't that have a loose connection to Welsh myths?

Aha, welcome Sean!

[Name Redacted] wrote: "The Green Knight story is often syncretized with that of the Loathly Lady -- does that come up at all in reality?"

I am not knowledgable about the legends. You may want to check out author Sean Poage's take. He is much more knowledgable than I am about the Gwain legends, having written one of his own too....The Retreat to Avalon. Interestingly, he and his wife hit the movies as I did with mine (i.e., a post covid, first-time-back-to-movie-post-covid-wave-1 date). Here's his review of Gawain's legends and movie:
Sean Poage - The Green Knight Movie and Legend Review

I'll ping him and see if he can chime in

[Name Redacted] wrote: "That's really disheartening. :( I guess people are so focused on "deconstructing" and "subverting" that they just can't manage a solid adaptation or even reimagining."

As part of my grieving process.... I will go on a small rant.

Promises to be broken: The intro sets up very clear "rules of engagement" (as revealed in the trailer). The Green Knight challenges a knight to strike him, and a year later he will return the wound to the challenger. Gawain cuts off the Green Knight's head...and a year later must confront the Knight again (who survived).

Bait and Switch Conflict: Although I am cool with a man-vs-self conflict..... the trailer, title, and beginning all promise a man-vs-man/creature (Gawain vs. Green Knight) conflict (which is not at the forefront). But let's say you get past that as you begin witnessing multiple, slow side-quests.

Incongruent Rules of the Game & Meaningless Fluff: The visuals were awesome. The pace couldn't have been slower....which I would have been okay with if the "rules of the game" were followed. Remember the super clear rules of the beginning? To Heck with clear rules going forward.

(contains obtuse/minor spoilers)... Gawain has several important items to take on a journey to reach the Green Knight's location. He loses sight of said items, and they reappear and disappear in ways that are incongruent across ~3-4 side quests/challenges/tests. Did he earn them back? Just stumble across them? How/why did they come back to him? You should care. Gawain doesn't.

The handling of the "rules" didn't feel intentionally done to be mysterious or engaging. It felt like the producers stitched together a few different historical legends of Gawain's journey/tests, and they did not harmonize the meaning/rules across them.

Frankly, if the conflict is now man-vs-self, Gawain doesn't really seem affected/changed....nor does he seem surprised that his key items come back to him for no clear purpose... and he doesn't even seem to be in denial or fretting about his impending duel. What seemed clear is that the ~3-4 side quests (~1.5hrs of the 2hr movie) were actually pointless (they did not build-up to the climax or develop the character) and they were also full of non-sequitur events.

One could literally cut the entire middle ~1.5hrs out (anything between the initial and final Green Knight interactions) and not change the impact of the climax. Actually, I think I would have loved this movie if were only 30min long.

Just saw The Green Knight movie. Trailer was awesome. Reviews promising..... but it was terrible. Beyond cinematics, it was not engaging, slow, and incoherent. Sigh ..... stick with Excalibur (1980s), Clive Owen's "King Arthur", or even Guy Ritchie's Legend of the Sword.

S.E. wrote: "Clint wrote: "DMR does a great service to fans by taking gambles others will not. Thoughtful reviews are deserved."
Agreed. I am grateful for DMR. Just wrapped up Fultz's

Finally got a review out there for Worlds Beyond Worlds: The Short Fiction of John R. Fultz:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Hey guys! Thanks for the support.

I appreciate the how-to-say "dyscrasia" link from Joy. (A bigger problem is the word "Daimones" lol....for Helen's Daimones. I'm pretty sure that is not "demons" and more like "day-mones." )

For Phil... I have a canned response regarding what is "Dyscrasia" that I'll steal from my website:
....Literally, dyscrasia means “a bad mixture of liquids.” Historically, dyscrasia referred to any imbalance of the four medicinal humors professed by the ancient Greeks to sustain life (phlegm, blood, black and yellow bile). Artisans, anatomists, and chemists of the Renaissance expressed shared interest in the humors; accordingly, the scope of humorism evolved to include aspects of the four alchemical elements (water, air, earth and fire) and psychological temperaments (phlegmatic, sanguine, melancholic and choleric). In short, the humors are mystical media of color, energy, and emotion; Dyscrasia Fiction presents them as spiritual muses for artisans, sources of magical power, and contagions of a deadly disease; the books explore the choices humans and their gods make as a disease corrupts their souls, shared blood and creative energies.

Anyway, dyscrasia and daimones are both real, archaic terms stemming from the Greeks (but modified over time by the Romans and others).

@Jason, uh oh. Did you post a review?

S.E. wrote: "A new poll is up, this one is for Sept-Oct group read topics. You know the drill...the top two usually get a 2-month spotlight and dedicated folder/discussion. Polls are dynamic, so write-in addit..."

Anyone here read James A. Moore's books? ones like: The Last Sacrifice, or Fallen Gods, The Silent Army, or The Blasted Lands, or Seven Forges?

I love these covers, but have yet to read them. I thought about adding his work to the poll. Thoughts?

Clint wrote: "DMR does a great service to fans by taking gambles others will not. Thoughtful reviews are deserved."

Agreed. I am grateful for DMR. Just wrapped up Fultz's Worlds Beyond Worlds: The Short Fiction of John R. Fultz....it was fantastic. I'll need a week or two to get a review together, but like most already know, he writes weirder S&S, with a slant toward sorcery over swords. His narrative style leans toward CAS's than REH's adventure (I adore both). Great collection of 11 stories full of revnants, spirits, and loads of weird events/worlds (as the title implies).

Another Dyscrasia Fiction short story has been published, this time in Swords & Sorcery Magazine's July 2021 edition. "Forging Independence" focuses on Doctor Grave's struggle to raise daughters in the Underworld. Have a look. It's free to read online.
Forging Independence (2021) Swords & Sorcery Magazine Issue 114, July 2021

This story follows "Raising Daughters" published late last year in Whetstone:
Raising Daughters (2020) PG - appears in Whetstone #2 S&S Magazine also read for free!

More stories are to come via various outlets, I hope.

Sword and Sorceries submissions

Blurb:


Submissions for Swords & Sorceries Volume 3 will open on the 1st August and close on the 31st October 2021

(Please do not send anything before the 1st August)

Payment is £25 per story regardless of length, plus a contributor's copy. The book will be published as a paperback and ebook. If a hardcover version is published we will pay an additional £25. Contributors can also buy extra copies of the book through us at cost price.

Please send your submissions as attachments (doc or docx) to:


paralleluniversepublications@gmx.co.uk


You can send in more than one submission, but we will not accept more than one story per writer.

Although we prefer original stories we are prepared to consider reprints. Just inform us where and when it was previously published.

There is no limit on the size of submissions.

All rejections and acceptances will be emailed by the end of the first week in November.

Please send your story as an attachment, headed:

"Submission - Swords & Sorceries 3"

A new poll is up, this one is for Sept-Oct group read topics. You know the drill...the top two usually get a 2-month spotlight and dedicated folder/discussion.

Polls are dynamic, so write-in additional suggestions. We can ping the crowd to alert folks of new options and change votes as we go.

--> Link to Poll