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

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

David Gemmell's Legend: This topic narrowly beating out “Sword’s and Orcs.” Actually any of Gemmell’s works will suffice for discussion, but the default will be his debut, and arguably his best work, Legend.

(1) Anthologies : Since Sword & Sorcery was largely born through the short-story format, collections are an appropriate way to learn the genre and discover authors. Don’t know where to start? Ask the group for a recommendation, or check out the sampling of Anthologies, old and new, as shown in this group’s bookshelf. You are challenged (invited?) to track any one down and share your journey with the group. Feel welcome to add to the bookshelf if you know how, or ask for help to expand the list.

(1) Anthologies : Since Sword & Sorcery was largely born through the short-story format, collections are an appropriate way to learn the genre and discover authors. Don’t know where to start? Ask the group for a recommendation, or check out the sampling of Anthologies, old and new, as shown in this group’s bookshelf. You are challenged (invited?) to track any one down and share your journey with the group. Feel welcome to add to the bookshelf if you know how, or ask for help to expand the list.

(2) David Gemmell's Legend: This topic narrowly beating out “Sword’s and Orcs.” Actually any of Gemmell’s works will suffice for discussion, but the default will be his debut, and arguably his best work, Legend.

Banner credits:
L. Sprague de Camp's The Spell of Seven (1965 cover artist Virgil Finlay)
David Gemmell's Legend (2003 cover art credited to John Picacio by isfdb)

Donna, Welcome! Nice portfolio of 3D bookcovers, and timely post. A discussion on illustrators was just brewing on our experimental "Networking" thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I encourage you to repost/copy come of your intro there (as a new Networking topic or under the existing thread).

BTW, I am a total Adobe junkie, though I stick to 2D Photoshop, After Effects, and Indesign mostly.

Cheers, Seth

Ashe wrote: "I would really love to see the portfolios of the illustrators in the group. Sound off, y'all!"

Ashe, I would like to see some portfolios too. Not sure if we have any 100% illustrators here or not. We do have a few illustrator-authors who either (a) like to draw their own material or (b) commission others. Some are listed below. I am sure there are more.

1) Member Ralph E. Laitres commissions illustrators for his Thorgil Bloodaxe: Enter the White Queen series. His facebook page is pretty nice: https://www.facebook.com/Thorgil.Bloo...

2) Member Milton J. Davis, Sword & Soul guru, hires a bunch of illustrators and graphic artists for his growing media empire, that includes Sword & Soul video games.
http://www.mvmediaatl.com/Wagadu/

3) Member Tom Barczak draws illustrations (sketches) for his Veil of the Dragon series.

4) I illustrated 50+ illustrations for Lords of Dyscrasia. For the sequel, Spawn of Dyscrasia, I hired Ken Kelly for the cover. A sampling of the art can be seen on pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/sethlindberg...

Just finished Nine Heroes: Tales of Heroic Fantasy, and have two anthologies in queue for the Jan-Feb 2015 Anthology Read: Azieran Adventures Presents Artifacts and Relics: Extreme Sorcery and Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology.

Joseph wrote: "Finished The Worm Ouroboros night and will be starting E.R. Eddison's Mistress of Mistresses (first in the ever-so-lightly related Zimiamvian trilog..."

Joseph, I assumed you liked Worm. I liked it a lot, but Mistresses was different enough for me to keep on my shelf for the time being. I'd be interested in your take on how they compare.

Welcome Rick. You are very similar to most group members here, being a genre fan, writer, and reader.

Kameron wrote: "Media tie-in fiction, i.e., shared worlds based on large intellectual properties, are a whole different beast than small-press/independent "shared world" projects. My experience with WotC was very ..."

I am continually amazed at the capabilities and experience of the members here. Thanks for sharing perspective, Kameron.

Steve, Cool, I have book in my queue already. When I find a time machine I'll reconnect.

Actually, back to shared universes, I was thinking of Ghory Kinslayer, the saga of Genseric's fifth born son. REH's tale was finished by ~17 awesome writers... Except Moorcock delivered a real stinker early on (chapter 5 I think) that ruined the rest ... For me anyway.

Slightly off topic, but to support Steve I'll comment that I remain a Mask Oath fan... Plus I never read Calthus, but I thought a collection was in the works. Any more Goble to track down?

Author and member of this group, Richard Lee Byers, was recently interviewed by Dirge Magazine on what it like to write novels in a shared universe...especially Forgotten Realms.

http://www.dirgemag.com/tag/richard-l...

Informal buddy reads: Ever get excited for a group read topic, only to learn it was not selected by the group? Well you can seek out members who voted like you and start a buddy read. For instance, every poll has a link that says "X# of voters"; clicking on that will filter responses by selected item (i.e. who voted for what). As an example, I followed that procedure to find which members selected "The Worm Ouroboros" and for "Swords and orcs." Buddy reads (groups of two) could be initiated via private messages...or a new discussion thread.

polls
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/8...

example listing for select voters
1) Voters for The Worm Ouroboros
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/answer...

2) Voters for "Sword and Orcs":
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/answer...

Peter, I grabbed a copy. Am buried in books, but that won't stop an addict :).

Joseph wrote: "As for myself, I'm working my way through Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy (freaky stuff); then the next big thing on my agenda is E.R. Eddison Worm & Zimiam..."

Joseph, wow nice to know that The Worm Ouroboros will be on Kindle soon.

Having read The Black Company for group read #1, I plan to read Elak of Atlantis soon...but first I am taking break of sorts and reading a weird mashup of erotic-dark-fantasy: The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles.

I've never read anything with explicit elf-intercourse before...until now.

Imaro is now available in Kindle and eBook, US centric links below:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Imaro-Book-Char...

eBook Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/shop/charles-r-sa...

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/imaro...

Sean wrote: "P.S. ARGH! It frustrates me there is no e-book versions of this series! ..."

Sean, there is now :)

Imaro is now available in Kindle and eBook, US centric links below:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Imaro-Book-Char...

eBook Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/shop/charles-r-sa...

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/imaro...

Imaro is now available in Kindle and eBook, US centric links below:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Imaro-Book-Char...

eBook Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/shop/charles-r-sa...

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/imaro...

Joseph wrote: "S.E. wrote: "Athena (Shardbearer) wrote: "Since you read the omnibus, you've already read Shadow Linger."

Thanks Joseph! I am on to Shadows Linger.

@Athena, oops/sorry...adding to the confusion is some of the links within goodreads confuse the single vs. omnibus edition. It may be too difficult to untangle the mess, but I apologize to Athena since my links above pointed to confusing places.

@Robin, I think the fighting was well done for fantasy warfare standards, but it does not seem to be as tactical as you crave.