Scott Oden Presents The Lost Empire of Sol: A Shared World Anthology of Sword & Planet Tales in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

May 17, 2021 Charles rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

The Lost Empire of Sol anthology was a labor of many years and at least 2 incarnations. The initial discussion from Scott Oden regarding this project must have happened on Facebook as far back as early 2012. A facebook group for the concept/anthology was created on May 17, 2012—so, nine years ago today. A number of people were excited about the project, including me. I wrote a story a little later in 2012 for the book called “The Machineries of Mars.” I know that Tom Doolan also wrote a tale for ...more

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May 24, 2021 S.E. Lindberg rated it really liked it

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

Sword & Planet is Back!

Jason M. Waltz, champion of Rogue Blades Entertainment and the Rogue Blades Foundation, is well known for rounding up contemporary authors in themed anthologies (perhaps most well known for the 2008 Sword & Sorcery classic Return of the Sword .... and most currently known for Robert E. Howard Changed My Life releasing ~now (appropriately on June 11th, REH's anniversary of passing).

Fletcher Vredenburgh, well known in the adventure fiction community for outstanding reviews p ...more

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May 02, 2021 Richard rated it liked it

Shelves: anthologies, sword-and-planet

Sword and Planet is my favorite genre. From Lost on Venus by Burroughs to Thief of Llarn by Fox. From Banners of the Sa'yen by Stateham to the Dray Prescot series by Alan Burt Akers (Kenneth Bulmer)––I am a big fan. My excitement over a new sword and planet anthology was palpable.

What I encountered here was something different than I was expecting. Traditionally sword and planet fiction consists of an earthman arriving on an alien planet, and somehow by his wits and brawn survives. I was unprepa ...more

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Apr 11, 2021 Clint rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2021, anthologies-and-zines, ebook

This is an enjoyable read. It is a shared world anthology; the stories are by different authors but all take place in the same setting. It’s Thieves World for Sword and Planet.

It has an impressive list of authors, well known to the edge genres I enjoy: authors such as David C Smith, Howard Andrew Jones, Mark Finn and Keith J. Taylor. Some stories are stronger than others, but all are enjoyable.

I agree with the Introduction sword and planet is the genre we need now.

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Apr 04, 2025 Jim Kuenzli rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, sword-and-planet

This collection of stories takes place long after the Empire of Sol has fallen. Each planet on the solar system gets a story, even the one that becomes the Asteroid Belt.

When I heard sword and planet I was dreaming of something like Burroughs, Brackett, Attelbert Kline, Lin Carter or the like.
What we receive is something quite different, yet good and enjoyable. I wouldn’t consider a lot of the stories sword and planet. Maybe about a third are. The rest are a mix of science fiction adventure or ...more

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Nov 05, 2021 Vincent Darlage rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, sci-fi

Some of these stories seemed more space opera than sword-and-planet - but that may be because I expected some kind of romance in them. Most of the sword-and-planet stories I'm familiar with also include some kind of romantic element to them (John Carter and Deja Thoris, Almuric and Altha, Carson and Duare) so I really missed the absence of that element.

The first story, "To Save Hermesia," was a difficult read. It wasn't long, but it took me a long time to push through it. So many weird names ju Some of these stories seemed more space opera than sword-and-planet - but that may be because I expected some kind of romance in them. Most of the sword-and-planet stories I'm familiar with also include some kind of romantic element to them (John Carter and Deja Thoris, Almuric and Altha, Carson and Duare) so I really missed the absence of that element.

The first story, "To Save Hermesia," was a difficult read. It wasn't long, but it took me a long time to push through it. So many weird names just thrown at the reader (Jhaddin, Iron Paladins, Caloris, Caloram, Mythicals, Mentalors, Kra'Selegian... all thrown at us in about three paragraphs) with very little explanation. And then the story uses Forgotten Realms style names that I hate (Stormcrown, Treehigh Forest, Saltheart Sea). Wouldn't have been surprised to encounter Verywet River or Croppedgrass Yard. This would have been a good story to have had a human thrust into it so things could be explained better.

The second story was "The Lost Princess of Themos" by Tom Doolan. I liked this one better than the one before it. Themos is Venus (the last one took place on Mercury). It had interesting characters in an interesting situation. I did feel like the story didn't really prepare the reader for what happened in the final scene - it just seemed to come out of nowhere - but it was an enjoyable read.

The third story was "What Really Happened at the Center of the Earth." This was an okay story. I'm not always on board with stories that leave me guessing what is going on at the outset, and I think it might have had more gravitas if it were told as it happened rather than as a confession, but I did like the twist at the end. Not a great story, but also not bad.

"A Sand-Ship of Mars" is next, and I really enjoyed this story. Twice it surprised me in its direction, and I loved the ending. Really enjoyable story by Charles Allen Gramlich. I may need to look up some of his work.

"Whispers of the Serpent" by Howard Andrew Jones was the story I was most looking forward to reading. It takes place on Tharsia, which was one of the two planets where the asteroid belt is now. It had a decent twist in the middle and a weird (as in Weird tales weird, not as in inexplicably surreal) ending that begs a sequel. Top story so far in this volume.

I liked "Outcasts of Jov" by Mark Finn, but it felt incomplete with the cliffhanger ending. It was hard understanding what all the species or ethnicity names meant and I felt like those just cluttered the story unnecessarily. I did like the Gate concept.

"Written in Lightning" by Keith J. Taylor was next. I liked how it started on one planet and ended on another, and that it used the Gates introduced in the preceding story, and the lizard people from another prior story in the volume. It gave the anthology a much needed... oh, I don't know the word - it's like the Dude's rug... it tied the room together. This was a good story. I enjoyed it.

"Survivors of Ulthula" by E. E. Knight was, for me, hard to read... it took me days to read it. I liked Klegg (the antagonist), but the protagonists were just names to me. Stuff kind of happened but the story didn't really go anywhere. Not the best story in this collection by a far cry.

"Hunters of Ice and Sky," by David A. Hardy, took place on Neptune. It had a shift in the story that I felt came out of nowhere, but then it had a surprising twist at the end that I rather liked. I started out feeling really positive about the story, was losing steam in the middle (and actually getting close to a negative impression), but then ended the story on a great note!

"A Gate in Darkness" by Paul R. McNamee was quite enjoyable. Although the flight through the Dark seemed superfluous, the twists at the end were wonderful.

Although I would have liked some kind of romance in at least one of the stories, I did enjoy reading these, especially once the Gates entered into the stories. ...more

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Jul 03, 2023 Riju Ganguly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This anthology, seeking the revival of 'Sword & Planets' genre, contains a Prologue, one story for each of the planets that had once proudly marked the Empire of the Sol, and an Epilogue.
'Foreword' & 'Introduction' were heartfelt as well as informative. The Solar Map, bearing the names of the planets in this 'universe' was also helpful. But the stories were really the heart & soul of this collection. I must admit, except one boring piece dealing with Neptune, all others were very interesting and ...more

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