Periklis’s Comments (group member since Sep 30, 2012)

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

S.E. wrote: "Sword & Sorcery fans often attribute their being hooked into the genre by enthralling cover art..."

It was Chris Achilleos' Elric, which was used as a cover for all the Greek translations of Elric, that got me hooked:



Later I discovered Frazetta (especially Kane & Silver Warriors) & Whelan (the Vanishing Tower & Stormbringer were used in some Greek S&S collections that contained Elric stories).

Bill wrote: "A recent sword & sorcery duo that hasn't been mentioned yet is Chris Willrich's excellent Gaunt & Bone series -- online you can find some of their tales at Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Lightspeed, though I think most were published in F&SF. "

Here's a couple of Gaunt & Bone stories I found on-line:

The Sword of Loving Kindness
The Mermaid and the Mortal Thing

Thanks everyone for commenting so far!

Joseph wrote: "And (because it's a pick in the Fantasy Book Club this month) I just started David Gemmell's Legend, which has been sitting on my shelf for rather a long time. Not sure if I'll continue on with th..."

You'll definitely enjoy "Legend". I'm a bit intimidated by the lengthy Drenai series myself, but I'm planning to ignore continuity and read "White Wolf" next.

On a recent blogpost, Howard Andrew Jones describes Nathan Long's Blackhearts as "required reading for anyone who intends to write sword-and-sorcery". Long has chosen the term Sabrepunk to describe his writings and defines it on his website:
"I needed a word to describe the kind of fantasy I like to read and write, and Sabrepunk is what I came up with".

From Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser to Dave Gross' Jeggare and Radovan, duos seem to be a genre staple.
Paul Kemp's Egil and Nix, Violette Malan's Dhulyn and Parno, Gotrek and Felix, Royce and Hadrian and Howard Andrew Jones' Dabir and Asim. Also, Pat Mill's Slaine & Ukko.
Any more S&S duos?

Charles wrote: "Drake's early stuff like his Vettius stories are top notch."

While the first post refers to Asa Drake, it was great to mention David Drake's series. I've been reading the Swords Against Darkness anthologies lately and Drake's stories are always a highlight.

Great news. I'm looking forward to discovering Drake's work. There's a generation of S&S authors that, mostly, because of publishing constraints never got the attention they deserved. I'm thinking of Charles Saunders or David C. Smith (among many). The S&S panel in which Smith patricipates (in the videos section), best describes that situation. Perhaps Drake is part of that "wave" of authors waiting to be (re)discovered.

p.s. My reading list owes much to G.W. Thomas site ;)

Rogue Blades wrote: "Well, just watched SOLOMON KANE - though not a very well-educated SK reader, I did think it a good movie (outside one badly edited big scene splice), one of the best dark fantasy sword slashers I'v..."
In many ways Solomon Kane reminded me of Milius' Conan. Both movies adapted Howard's stories loosely but delivered a solid film.

I read about this on Black Gate. I'm really interested to see where this goes. My only fear is that Schwarzenegger's performance will overshadow "Conan", and instead of a good S&S film we'll be watching a nostalgic homage to the muscular action hero of the '90s. Fingers crossed that there is going to be a solid script behind this.
An upcoming film I've spotted and I'm curious about, is the Norwegian "Escape".
It looks like a series of more-or-less S&S styled films, like "13th Warrior", "Black Death", "Centurion" or even "Valhalla Rising"...

"The Viscount and the Witch", an introductory short story to, Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria series is also available freely on amazon (kindle).

For the next 2 days, Rogue Blades Entertainment is offering the "Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology" for free on amazon (kindle).

Joseph wrote: "(And Periklis, I'm officially jealous that you got the ARC for Bones of the Old Ones. As some consolation, though, I'm getting a free autographed copy of Knife Sworn from Mazarkis Williams thanks ..."

I'm waiting for my copy of Knife Sworn from the recent fb giveaway, too! ;)
Haven't read Emperor's Knife yet though...

True! these and the Swords & Dark Magic anthology...

Libriomancer looks very interesting. I've read a review of Shadow Prowler on Black Gate and will probably read it. I'm currently reading the 3rd volume in the Swords Against Darkness series and can't figure out why those books are out of print all these years.
Thank you, both, for joining and feel free to add any S&S themed books on the "Bookshelf".

Thank you for joining Steven! Please feel free to add books, invite friends or suggest anything for this group's improvement.
I'm currently reading Bones of the Old Ones, which is a terrific S&S read...

"Genre fiction in general, and fantasy literature in particular, is the only contemporary literature in which characters can act honourably, without irony. [...]So, they’re not heroes, but they are heroic, by the standards of their own worlds."

Full post can be read on Violette Malan's site, with some very interesting comments.

Discuss what you're currently reading, here...

Authors or readers that wish to promote their book, should do so here.

Posts regarding S&S films & TV series (are there any?) should be posted here.

Weird Tales, August 1929: The Shadow Kingdom by R.E. Howard.

Unknown, August 1939: Two Sought Adventure by Fritz Leiber.