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

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

I just watched the series. Well done, I think. Entertaining and true to Witcher canon, characters. Anyone else here catch it?

A fun thread on BlackGate.com by John O'Neill stirs the fire for S&S anthologies!

https://www.blackgate.com/2019/12/24/...

Happy Yuletide, Xmas, etc... and especially Happy New Year.

The next two months are slotted for Anthology reading, the foundation of the S&S genre is formed from short stories... and plenty of new collections are out there. Classic or new, grab one from your TBR pile and join in.

The Jan-Feb 2020 Anthology discussion folder (link)

"What anthologies are people reading?", a list (disguised as a Poll): Link to list/poll, feel welcome to add your vote (or write one in)


The inspirational Image Banner credits (L-R)
Blackest Spells - cover by Max Shevchenko - Breaker Maximus
Lost Lore: A Fantasy Anthology - cover by Andreas Zafeiratos
Swords of Steel - cover by Martin Hanford

CA, candid feedback is welcome, but keep in mind civility.

Randy has been providing this list for a long time, and several members enjoy it... even though the listing is indeed far from strict S&S.

I recommend just checking ignoring the thread if its not for you.

Jason, now that would be a huge honor!

Member Artists Opportunites
Every 2months since Jan-Feb 2013, I've been making Masthead Banners that reflect our 2-month duration groupreads. 6 Years!
You can see them in the group photo area... or on my Pinterest board:
https://www.pinterest.com/sethlindber...

Not sure if I can continue that indefinitely and I'd love to enable any digital artists or hobbyist help out on occasion.

They are all the same size: 970px X 245px

Any volunteers or thoughts?

Some banners from the past Jan-Feb Anthology sessions:

BTW, speaking of Anthologies... don't forget the upcoming groupread: 2019 Listing "Poll" for Anthologies to be read during Jan-Feb 2020-Click to see and communicate your choice

Yes! Many are in the Poll for the anthology group read

I aim to read Swords of Steel, which has been on my TBR for far too long.

I just realized I neglected to include Tales from the Magician's Skull #1 on the poll. Just finished #3 and really enjoyed that. I know the group would too.

S.wagenaar wrote: "I have accumulated several S&S anthologies recently, so the timing is right. Perhaps I’ll tackle Echoes of Valor III, or Swords Against Tomorrow, or Heroic Visions, or...
You see the dilemma here."

S.Wagenaar, great! Time to tackle at least one of those. Looking forward to hearing which one(s) you do.

We have a tradition to read anthologies for the Jan-Feb group reads here. The S&S genre certainly grew out of short stories, anthologies are a great way to explore past and current authors, and most of us have them in our to-read pile.

So, have a look at your TBR pile, and chime in with the anthology you plan to read.

Magazine count!

There are plenty of good lists, and some of the historic ones from G. W. Thomas's site are back online!

1963-1985 link to GW Thomas
1986-2008



We'll start a poll shortly....not to select "winners" but just as a device to keep track of what might be read. So write-in your option... or type it in these comments and I'll add it for you.

Click here to see and vote or write in new options (link)

Jason M wrote: "A quick update:
Rogue Blades (RB) is now two entities:
Rogue Blades Entertainment (RBE is a micro publisher of themed heroic anthologies)
Rogue Blades Foundation (RBF is a literary non-profit pu..."

First, kudos to you and all of Rogue Blades for continuously pushing heroic fiction and nonfiction.

Secondly, I took a stab at renaming this thread to contain both RBE and RBF. We can tweak that as needed.

C.A. wrote: "Hi. My name is C.A. Tedeschi. I have never been an ambitious man. Aside from wanting to be the best Husband and Father, i can be, i have only one other genuine ambition, that is to be an author. I ..."

Welcome CA! You'll find this group is mostly members who are both readers & authors. Civil too. There are a few sections on writing and networking which you may find useful.

It's never a perfect time to share/publish work. Glad you are persistent, growing and meeting your goal of 3+ novellas.

I'm going to have to add K.J. Parker to the group-read options.

Just polished off the new Sword-n-Sorcery novella by Richard Lee Byers Arrival. Fun stuff... five Crusaders and a Saracen fighter summoned to an alternate world to fight "the Stain." Recommended, fast adventure. Looking forward to installment #2. Review posted.

Also just finished Tales from the Magician's Skull #3...and am writing a review now.

Lol. For clarification, you rock Jason!

Jack wrote: "Now for my take: I've read many comments and articles on Conan pastiches and "TOR-nans" over the years. To be honest, I find them a little off-putting when they veer away from novel-building skills..."

I understand Jack, I think.

I see this as a continuum:
[Sword & Sorcery stories (Clonans too?)] --> [REH-style stories] --> [Conan]

On Clonans: I think HAJ may have been picking up on market pressures too, since many publishers/authors superficially turned out less-than-thoughtful Clonans (i.e. Death Stalker-like movies (BTW my favorite review of these movies is awesome: https://youtu.be/9EJP2Ri6DRo)

With pastiche, one would hope that worthy-continuations (good enough to expand canon) would trump market pressures to "just make something fast, or that sells", but that doesn't always happen. Some of the recent Marvel comics are okay, some not.

I interviewed Darrell Schweitzer who made fun of his own pastiche (Conan the Deliverer....not the midwife type). He is a very serious author who did lots of research, but admittedly still made a pastiche that was better suited for a weirder genre (he transformed the material into The Mask of the Sorcerer).

Purists: Anyway, I am reminded of a video panel at this year's Robert E Howard days. It concerned what was a true Sword-and-Sorcery story... and a lot of the analysis assumed that whatever REH did, everyone else should follow... or else the material would no longer be true S&S. It was a real good panel (I think Jason M Waltz was on it...with David C Smith). I caught it on youtube but can't find the link now. I go by memory for this....

[edit...I found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H-Nr...]

Personally, I disagree with the purists that think that REH defined all the boundaries of the S&S genre. Now, as far as defining REH's own character/Conan... that is interesting to consider.

Here is a question to stir the pot: Can anyone identify a Clonan (or another barbarian character) that is more "Conan" than a particular pastiche?"

Cool! I’m rereading Solomon Kane’s Red Shadows now....

And Richard! You lured me into getting Offutt’s parody.

This reminds me of the use of Jedi magic in Star Wars. Whereas the original trilogy has minimal "wizards" making them more powerful/mysterious... it left many desiring stories with many Jedi/Sith fighting simultaneously. But after seeing the prequels that show that explicitly... I'm not sure if the desire is really met.

If all the characters are mighty/awesome, then the contrast is diminished...

Great idea clint!
1- Tower of the Elephant - this was the first time I read a Conan tale that had a weird-fiction flavor; it had a balance of adventure, fighting, and cosmic flare that I had never experienced before--it was like Lovecraft with swords

2- Red Nails - it's one of REH's longer novellas, I recall. The exploration of ruins (decayed civilization) and two major, antagonistic cultures/groups within Xuchotl. Again there was something unique about the balance in there: horror, adventure, pseudo-history/archeology with sorcery.

3- Worms of the Earth - for me, it was one of my first non-Conan, REH tales. I was impressed to learn of Bran Mak Morn and was endeared with his doomed role as leader of a dying clan subject to "civil" Rome and "weird" creatures

4-The House in the Oaks - well once I found out REH could write horror/weird fiction I was even more enamored with his work. I have an obsession with "beautiful" weird/art (see http://www.selindberg.com/p/interview... interiews :). This tale involves Art Theory and a Haunted House--right up my alley.

So I am very interested in any insight from David C Smith on REH and color!

Anyway, what are your 4?

https://deadline.com/2019/11/the-elri...

From the article: “New Republic Pictures’ Brian Oliver and producer Bradley J. Fischer acquired the exclusive rights to all works in Michael Moorcock’s seminal fantasy-horror series The Elric Saga. They are beginning to shop the property for series, with Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead and The Shield) and Prison Break and Star Trek: Discovery‘s Vaun Wilmott attached to adapt the sci-fi fantasy tale...”