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'm finally attending Indianapolis this year for Gencon this August (my first time there). Will catch part of the Writer's Symposium, do some game testing, and salivate in the exhibitor/vendor show (lots of board games to check out).

Anyone else going?

Just finished The Book of Paradox, Louise Cooper's 1973 debut [Frazetta cover on a first novel? awesome]. A nice trip to a dreamy afterlife that has echoes of Moorcok and Vance.

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

Anyone read her Indigo or Time Master series?

Holly wrote: "Although I don't participate in much discussion, I do enjoy reading the threads and have added some books to my to-read list. This is a great group and I am glad I joined. for joining th..."

Glad to have you, Holly. Thx for the feedback.

We've grown steadily at ~120 members per yr.... just reached 600 today! Toaster prizes for all (just kidding).

Groupreads are relaxed ways to synchronize members into reading similar books. Six times a yr (every two months) we poll for 1-2 themes/authors/books, then give it go! No real commitments. Any discussion or perspective is valued (ie even if you aren't reading the chosen themes but have memories/ideas to share).

A lot of members use the groupreads as an incentive/strategy to chip away the TBR pile. Many read the books and never chime in (I know because I follow most members). That's fine too.

We've been hosting these since Jan 2013, and every two months the banner/masthead image changes to reflect the winning themes (usually with cover art with credits given).
We started with an "Anthology" theme since they are integral to the genre and are a great way to find/screen new authors too. Every Jan-Feb we have run an Anthology theme, and that tradition is expected to continue.

The banners since Jan 2013 are on Pinterest (link). and in our Group Photos (link).

Our first banner and groupread:

2013 Jan-Feb Group Read.

Please note the masthead(title image for this group) is appropriately drawn from popular Anthology covers. Here are the artists and cover credits:

Johnney Perkins and Didier Normand
Rage of the Behemoth and Return of the Sword


Frank Frazetta
Flashing Swords! #1 and Flashing Swords! #1 (two different editions)

I do recommend the series. The end of it was never clear to me (i don't think it was ever set to be a certain number of books), though it mainly follows Raif's life/transformations. It still begs for more books.

Welcome David! I recognize your picture from comments/reviews. Glad to have you here.

Groupreads are relaxed ways to synchronize members into reading similar books. Six times a yr (every two months) we poll for 1-2 themes/authors/books, then give it go! No real commitments. Any discussion or perspective is valued (ie even if you aren't reading the chosen themes but have memories/ideas to share).

Moorcock and Leiber topics running thru June.

Obscure Works starting in July!

A lot of members use the groupreads as an incentive/strategy to chip away the TBR pile. Many read the books and never chime in (I know because I follow most members). Thats fine too.

They also have Ghor Kinslayer... which should have been the best compilation ever .... but was executed poorly. For REH buffs and S&S, its worth 8$ for historical perspective.

http://necropress.com/product/campbel...

Madeleine Michaud was running the Press in her father's stead a few yrs ago.

Less than $7 usd

We actually have a lead contact with publisher for Ryre: Far Away and Never from the groupread a few yrs ago. Order direct from the original publisher may still be feasible... will need to look up the email

Jon, your bio lists you as a actor/ director. Ever do something Sword n Sorcery? The Dark Crystal was awesome ... especially from an artist perspective.

Steven Morgan from Facebook adds: "Messenger of Zhuvastou" by Andrew J Offut is an overlooked classic." Our group has a Facebook page as a protal page, not for chatting, so I redirected here.

Messenger Of Zhuvastou

Jon, cool. You may notice that Weird Tales contributors and editors like Darrell Schweitzer and John Betancourt (Wild side press) play roles in weirdbook.

I have two in the queue for this:

1) The Book of Paradox

2) Shadow Of The Wolf by Robert Holdstock/Chris Carlsen

Note that the entire Berserker series is available as an Omnibus...someone here told me about this ... I think it was Stan Wagenaar:

US Link = https://www.amazon.com/Berserker-SF-G...
Berserker SF Gateway Omnibus: The Shadow of the Wolf, The Bull Chief, The Horned Warrior

Time to unearth arcana! Sword & Sorcery, our group reads for July and August are "OBSCURE WORKS." So we all won't be reading the same books, but we all can search for them, read, discuss, and review them! Let's shed a little light on lost gems.

Remember the poll? Poll Link for obscure bookst... if you need a goal, try one of those. If you voted for one, read it or discuss why you chose it. Our banner is made from two of those items:



Heather Gladney's Blood Storm (sequel to Teot's War of The Song of Naga Teot series). Cover by John Jude Palencar 1989

The Book of Paradox by Louise Cooper, cover by Frank Frazetta 1973.

J.V. Jones was writing the Sword of Shadow Series when she went off radar for a decade. She is apparently writing Endlords (#5) now, and has a Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/jvjones

Sword fo Shadow series:
A Cavern of Black IceA Fortress of Grey IceA Sword from Red Ice
Watcher of the Dead

Public Service Announcement: The father of Sword & Sorcery passed away today in 1936 (June 11) at only 30yrs of age.

By Crom, everyone take a moment to reflect on your bookshelf and his work.

REH fans will know that "REH days" occurred this weekend in his honor.
http://www.howarddays.com/

I love the underworld and recently (late to the game) stumbled across this Court of the Dead
https://courtofthedead.com/about/

Any fans who can explain the franchise?
It spans comics, videos, and statues! Which one started it all?

Jon wrote: "Greetings...I come from an 80s Dungeons & Dragons background that blossomed into my love of all things Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery. I actually saw Conan the Barbarian as a pup when it came out in theat..."

Welcome Jon. Were you a fan of the Fighting Fantasy [dicegame-book] series too? i.e., from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone? The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Over in the "Currently Reading" thread, Jack and Richard stumbled upon something interesting to me: I was unaware that Leiber's world was continued with other authors....i.e.,
Robin Wayne Bailey's Swords Against the Shadowlands


Can people comment on these pastiche/extensions? Were there other authors?