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

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

Just noticed Brom's cover art for the upcoming Conan RPG from Modiphius studios:

Congrats Jack, thanks for joining us as a moderator!

Just finished Balfour and Meriwether in the Incident of the Harrowmoor Dogs. Sword and Sorcery blended with Victoriana. Great characters and pace, especially considering its short length (novella, 80 pages).
Also, The Autumnlands, Vol. 1: Tooth and Claw. The first volume in a series of Moorcockian - "funny animal" saga. If you enjoyed Mouse Guard and The Eternal Champion it's highly recommended.

There is a new S&S tv series coming out from ITV network.
Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands is based on the epic poem but seems willing to break new ground also. Video gamers will probably be reminded of Skyrim, due mostly to the architecture in the show but also the ambient cave crawling.

The first episode airs in the UK on January 3 and in the United States on January 23rd.

Trailer

Wishing everyone a happy new year, I'd like to thank Seth for embracing and enriching this group and all members for keeping it alive.
I will try to be more involved this year but I'll definitely follow you in your reading ventures, regardless of my participation in the discussion threads.

I've been making progress with Conan and the Emerald Lotus. Not a Clonan but a very good Conan pastiche. I became aware of it through Howard Andrew Jones' writings.
John C. Hocking writes a very Howardian Conan, hinting at the things that "make" Conan without overwriting his protagonist. He also puts Howard's technique of switching between characters and settings between chapters while driving the plot forward. So far I'd compare the book with Howard's stories, "Queen of the Black Coast" and "Black Colossus".

P.S. I'd love to read Oron as part of this group read next...

"Back in 1980, George Lucas wanted a film to play with Empire Strikes Back in the UK and ended up commissioning then art director Roger Christian to make it. Christian, who had set-directed Star Wars, and art-directed both Alien and Monty Python’s The Life Of Brian, made the short film in Scotland and titled it Black Angel. The film is a swords-and-sorcery tale of a knight traversing a plague-stricken land with many elements of dream imagery and mythical archetypes woven throughout."

Watch it here.

Charles wrote: "Sound good"

Fingers crossed Charles!
The sword choreography looks reaaaally slow... ;(

"The stirring of ancient magic has awakened the Black Goddess of the South Gates. Sacrifices of flesh and fire have given her power to take human form to walk among the living as a demigod. All around her the Old World is being destroyed by a violent New Age. She calls upon a Witch to search the forests for a slain warrior and resurrects him with a Shroud of Sacrifice. Yet, she does not wage war against her enemies, and instead sends the warrior into battle with other demigods of the Old World. He is sent to defeat them, to take their powers, to become her Champion, her undead Knight... to become the destroyer of symbols; the Iconoclast."

Iconoclast (2012) / Trailer

Joseph wrote: "My big problem with the Prism Pentad (assuming I'm not misremembering -- it's been years) was that [spoilers removed]"

Yes, the last book was full of moments like this. Stats before story. I remember hearing the dices roll after turning each page... :p
Don't think Denning is a bad writer though, I'm eager to try his Planescape novel, Pages of Pain.

Joseph wrote: "Periklis wrote: "Great link Joseph. On the D&D tie-in novels Marmell mentions, the Dark Sun trilogy -Tribe of One- is embedded with S&S mores & tropes... "

Dark Sun was always one of my favorite T..."

Yes, Dark Sun & Planescape. The Pentad was wildly uneven in terms of writing (some books just read like a transcript of a gaming session) but loved the overall plot. The tribe of one books can be read after that and are way better in terms of writing, too.

Joseph wrote: "This was actually linked in the comments in the SF Signal Mind Meld piece, but I thought it also deserved some attention ... (It's written by Ari Marmell, whose Widdershins books I ..."

Great link Joseph. On the D&D tie-in novels Marmell mentions, the Dark Sun trilogy -Tribe of One- is embedded with S&S mores & tropes...

Just two upcoming movies I've spotted, probably of marginal S&S interest...

Last Knights / Trailer

The Last Witchhunter / Trailer

" Modiphius Entertainment announces the definitive sword & sorcery roleplaying game "

...planned for launch August 2015.

Link to the forthcoming RPG version of Conan.

S.E. wrote: "You are getting me hooked, Periklis. I recently read Adrian Smith's Chronicles of Hate... and he had teamed up with sculptor Cyril Roquelaine,challenging himto make ..."

Great stuff! and thanks for reminding me of "Chronicles of Hate". GOT to read this sometime soon...

Great link Seth! Kostas is actually the artist behind Elric, also.
Ashe, true I wish I could afford a few myself...

S.E. wrote: "Periklis wrote: "I read Kothar: Barbarian Swordsman a while back, mostly because it was referred to as an early influence on Gary Gygax (I think on the creation of the Lich). Enjoyab..."

I've had the book sitting on my shelve ever since I'd discover Hocking's writing on Black Gate and Howard Andrew Jones' quote:

"If you were to ask Conan fans who wrote the best Conan story after Robert E. Howard, a lot of people would point to John Hocking. ... it is Hocking, above all, who consistently makes people's favorites list. ... Hocking may well be one of the best hopes readers of sword and sorcery have today."

I don't mean in no way to sidetrack the Group Read and its fruitful discussion. It just feels like a fast-paced novel that would help me re-connect with the genre after a long time...

Been wanting to read The Warrior Who Carried Life for quite some time. It seems that it's the only S&S themed book Geoff Ryman wrote (he writes mostly Science Fiction). It's also interesting to see how he handles masculinity and sexual identity & orientation within the genre. I'd recall S.R. Delany trying something similar with his Tales of Neveryon and Janrae Frank with In the Darkness, Hunting.

I read Kothar: Barbarian Swordsman a while back, mostly because it was referred to as an early influence on Gary Gygax (I think on the creation of the Lich). Enjoyable read but quite forgettable in retrospect.

Would Conan novels, written by authors other than Howard, apply to this Group Read? I'm thinking of trying Conan and the Emerald Lotus...

I fell in love with the genre first and foremost due to its escapist nature, but in restrospect, also for its sense of existensialsm (or in many cases nihilism and/or pessimism). I'm thinking of Conan's "crown [...] upon a troubled brow" or even the ironic, anti-heroic deeds of many Joe Abercrombie characters.
Most heroic fantasy/ sword & sorcery stories tend to break the mold that epic fantasy created and still nurtures.
Artwork was also a huge factor. Fred Fields' and Larry Elmore's artwork for Dungeon & Dragons, Michael Whelan's and Frank Frazetta's covers offered an early exposure to the genre.