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

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

Jason wrote: "Seth,
Well, I've got to congratulate you on yet another fantastic banner. Here's hoping I'll manage to participate in this group read..."

Thanks! The Swanland covers are amazing. Hope all is well with you and your haunting Bladewitch.

Nov-Dec 2014 Groupread Topics:
(a) Henry Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis
Elak Discussion Link

(b) Glen Cook's The Black Company
Black Company Discussion Link

Banner Credits
-Paizo edition of Elak of Atlantis, by Andrew Hou - 2007 (left)
-Glen Cook's The Return of the Black Company, artist Raymond Swaland (right)

Glen Cook's The Black Company.


Of interest is Scott Taylor's Blackgate 2011 post.

Also, the covers for newer releases by Raymond Swanland are stunning!
Check out his gallery: Raymond Swanland Gallery - check out the Illustrations section

Henry Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis are tales of Sword & Sorcery with a bit of "Mythos" thrown in. Written circa WWII, these followed REH's work in the Weird Tales magazines. Vintage stuff! He also co-wrote with Catherine Moore, an accomplished writer of adventure fantasy too.
Elak Tales
• "Thunder in the Dawn" (1938)
• "Spawn of Dagon" (1938)
• "Beyond the Phoenix" (1939)
• "Dragon Moon" (1940)

Paizo released the tales recently.


Of interest is Andy Beau's post on the old Sword & Sorcery blog: http://www.swordandsorcery.org/swords...

Thanks to Jason M. Waltz and J.M. Martin whose Facebook/Blog alerts shared the below "GEM" ... or is it GEMmell?:

This excerpt can be read as a preface to chapter 1 in The first Chronicles of Druss the legend. As it the first three pages detail Druss’s wedding day[which has not been seen in any of Druss’s books] pages 4 and 5 deal with the first true fight Druss faces[parts of this are already found in the book. Think of this excerpt as a first draft of that scene].

Fantasy Book Critic **EXCLUSIVE** A David Gemmell Short Story: The Birth of a Legend

For completeness:
Note that Both JM and Jason are members of the group and great advocate publishers of Sword & Sorcery. JM's Ranting and Raven Blogpost on this topic

It is funny how readers have favorite creatures or bad guys. I'm not too hip or against orcs, but I have a book fetish of sorts for sentient skeletons/zombies.

Orc folk,

The Orc-topic has a life of its own, deserving of its own thread; I created one just to keep the Introduction thread tidy.
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Like orcs? This thread is for anyone enjoying reading about Orcs (initiated from a Introduce-Yourself discussion).

Note, as of 10-14, we have a three way tie for the second topic!
The Black Company, by Glen Cook, is a clear leader for topic #1.

But, we'll need some more votes to decide #2...these are ones with 4 votes so far:
The King of Elfland's Daughter
Elak of Atlantis
The Worm Ouroboros

Ashe wrote: "Sword and soul isn't a term i'd heard but hell yeah. Need to check some of this out."

Ashe, you will definitely enjoy Imaro (there are two editions, both are good...the second revised one may be slightly preferred). I learned about Sword & Soul via this group, and am glad to have discovered" it. Milton J. Davis is doing a splendid job growing the genre to many audiences.

Finally read Gonji: Red Blade from the East. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Good stuff. Will seek out Gonji: The Soul Within the Steel.

Joseph, great post on the status of Moorcock's eBooks. Thanks for sharing.

Joseph, great post on the status of Moorcock's eBooks. Thanks for sharing.

Future group read theme : swords n orcs?

This group apparently attracts Orc-a-philes.

A.L. wrote: "Hi, I am seeking the following - author or character interviews and offering author, cover designer, editor, character, and reader/reviewer interviews on my blog..."

Alex, I'll be in touch.

Welcome Trey, you are in like company.

Welcome Trey, you are in like company.

Nov-Dec Sword & Sorcery Groupread Poll-Link: Top two choices win for our two month discussions. Instead of themes, let's try for specific book(s). Write in selections are welcome (in fact some of the choices are previous write-ins). Click Here to Vote!

Not exactly Sword & Sorcery, but Forrest Aguirre is a member of the group and writes weird, fantasy fiction that many others enjoy.

S E Lindberg Interviews engage contemporary authors & artists on the theme of "Art & Beauty in Weird/Fantasy Fiction." This interview all about Forrest and his novel Heraclix & Pomp.

Forrest Aguirre Interview: Forrest's short fiction has appeared in over fifty venues, including Asimov's, Gargoyle, Apex, and Polyphony. He is a World Fantasy Award winner for his editorial work, with Jeff VanderMeer, on the Leviathan 3 anthology. His novel, Heraclix & Pomp has just been published by the Underland Press imprint of Resurrection House press; with a corpse and fairy as protagonists, there is a lot of beautiful horror here! Learn about his fascination with weird art and creativity, including the mysterious death's-head fez: Totenkopf, and why he thought he'd never live past 36!