Tales From the Magician's Skull #2 in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Jun 12, 2021 Jason Ray Carney rated it it was amazing

Shelves: gaming, sword-and-sorcery, heroic-fantasy

This is the second issue of the sword and sorcery pulp magazine released by Goodman Games, the publisher of *Dungeon Crawl Classics,* a wonderful OSR retroclone tabletop RPG that is based on the Appendix N (a famous list of pulp works that influenced Gary E. Gygax's creation of Dungeons and Dragons). If you followed me through that convoluted blabbermouth introduction--if you know what "S&S," "DCC," "OSR," and the "Appendix N" are; if you know who Gary E. Gygax was; if you know what the literary This is the second issue of the sword and sorcery pulp magazine released by Goodman Games, the publisher of *Dungeon Crawl Classics,* a wonderful OSR retroclone tabletop RPG that is based on the Appendix N (a famous list of pulp works that influenced Gary E. Gygax's creation of Dungeons and Dragons). If you followed me through that convoluted blabbermouth introduction--if you know what "S&S," "DCC," "OSR," and the "Appendix N" are; if you know who Gary E. Gygax was; if you know what the literary significance of "pulp magazines" is--then stop reading this review and get a copy. It is not hyperbole to say this is published for you. This is your magazine. If you don't know what those things are and are interested in contemporary heroic fantasy more generally, this will also be worth your time. It features an intriguing blend of classic sword and sorcery tropes and new, more innovative visions. Here are some brief impressions of each story. John C. Hocking gives an atmospheric tale set in an antique world of shadows and intrigue--the inky darkness is palpable in this story. James Stoddard's artful story takes place beneath the waves in a fantastical merfolk world. The villains are profoundly disturbing: alien, intelligent, inscrutable. James Enge's story combines mystery with sorcery that challenges our notion of character. Characters' pasts shape their present in an intriguing way here. Nathan Long's story insightfully treats disturbing themes of imperialistic race relations in a sword and sorcery / fantasy idiom. Setsu Uzeme's story features a fantasy world inspired by Chinese and Taoist culture. Violette Malan's tale, like Enge's, has us question our notion of identity. Dave Gross's story is the intriguing back story of a powerful magical artifact. As a bonus, artist Stefan Poag renders a graphic narrative version of A. Merritt's disturbing "The People of the Pit" (his work reminded me of Robert Crumb's illustrations of Genesis--with the same notes of cosmic dread). This is my current "crème brûlée" of contemporary heroic fantasy literature. I'm looking forward to issue 3. ...more

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Aug 18, 2019 S.E. Lindberg rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed-by-se, sword-and-sorcery

"Heed me, mortal dogs!" (so sayeth the Skull) Tales from the Magician's Skull is a must-read, must subscribe, periodical aimed at fantasy adventure and role-playing fans.

Tales from the Magician's Skull #1 and Tales From the Magician's Skull #2 emerged out of a 2017 Kickstarter. Tales #1 exceeded expectations with high quality printing, stories, and scope (the Appendix seals the deal!). A successful 2019 Kickstarter indicates subscriptions are planned up to #6.

Editor (author and Sword & Sorcery f ...more

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Jul 21, 2021 Jason Waltz rated it really liked it

Shelves: heroic, fantastical, series, zine, s-s, own, ebooks

Delightful issue filled with lots of fantastic adventures, including several well-told tales of sorcerous swordplay shenanigans. I'll be adding further stories from several of these authors to my TBR lists. Great quantity of stories, all just-right lengths, accompanied by appropriate ads and the trademark gaming stats. The Skull should rightly let this one go to his head. ...more

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