Swords Against Darkness II (Swords Against Darkness, #2) in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Oct 17, 2019 Derek rated it liked it

Shelves: sword-and-sorcery, anthology-or-collection

Of the stories...

"Sword of Unbelief" is another of Norton's Witch World stories, from the High Hallack sequence, and like "The Toads of Grimmerdale" deals with the aftermath of Alizon invasion, and the chaos and banditry in an exhausted land. And like "Grimmerdale" is of a woman of limited resources and bottomless determination against cosmic forces. It's very internal, as her stories tend, and details a minuteness of action that slows it all down. But it also reinforces that I need to explore t Of the stories...

"Sword of Unbelief" is another of Norton's Witch World stories, from the High Hallack sequence, and like "The Toads of Grimmerdale" deals with the aftermath of Alizon invasion, and the chaos and banditry in an exhausted land. And like "Grimmerdale" is of a woman of limited resources and bottomless determination against cosmic forces. It's very internal, as her stories tend, and details a minuteness of action that slows it all down. But it also reinforces that I need to explore the High Hallack novels which surround this.

"The Changer of Names", by Campbell, is excellent, especially how Ryre is drawn into conflict by a cultural/spiritual belief that has no real modern parallel other than "pride" or "self-esteem". The fascinating idea laces through the story and is part of its inception and resolution.

"Odds Against The Gods", by Tanith Lee, is in the Vancian mode and done successfully, which not all authors can nail so well, from the roguish characters to the outre cultures to the sparring, witty dialog.

"On Skellig Michael" is actually by Keith Taylor, part of his Bard series, and I will have to investigate further.

And then the others.

"Last Quest" by Offutt takes place in a very busy invented world with eccentricities, and feels like part of a series but isn't: the protagonists have backstories and relationships that we're forced to hear all about--well, actually, some of them I'd like to read in preference to this story--and it all turns unexpectedly grim as characters start expiring. But, the world-idea of wizards hybridizing human and animals (for...reasons?) intrigues, especially when dealing with the aftermath of such activity.

"The Coming of Age in Zamora" is the work of a relative amateur, and the story's craftsmanship makes that obvious. The interesting concept at play is the later years of some Conanesque adventurer who succeeds in taking control of a duchy and in his later years has to deal with the fact that he's no longer the young buck and is laden with tasks that would repel his younger self.

It plays a certain trope of the genre--the rampant womanizing--for laughs. Duke Gargan fixates on a young woman in order to prove to himself that he "still has it", and makes it his mission to get her into his bed against her personal preferences. There are ways to play this, and Harris takes the tack of her being much more than he expects (nudge nudge) but there's this entire sequence where Gargan seriously considers rape and the rape he committed in the past, and this fell like a lead brick into what had been styled as a light-hearted story. Not that his invocation of droit du seigneur is more thematically pleasant, but at that point the script flips, and her practical viewpoint sees him as pathetic but useful. It's not a _good_ story, but its late turn averts it from being actually awful. ...more

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Jul 18, 2008 Charles rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Another Ramsay Cambpell heroic fantasy story that is worth the price of admission by itself. This collection is weaker than the first one but still very fine.

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Mar 23, 2023 Quentin Wallace rated it liked it

This is really a typical sword and sorcery anthology from the 70s, when these type of collections became very popular. The stories are what you'd expect for the most part, other than one.

The Coming of Age in Zamora by David M. Harris. When I first read this story, I wondered if it was really as offensive as it seemed, or if it was just me. Then I read some of the other reviews, and realized it wasn't just me. It was supposed to be humorous, but since the main premise of the story was rape, it wa ...more

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May 07, 2014 Joseph rated it really liked it

Shelves: own

While not quite as strong overall as the first volume, this book still contains many fine stories, and an interesting mix of authors. The first is a Witch World story by Andre Norton, that I found had a fine atmosphere, but the plot was rather weak and uninspired, though their were many elements of interest for me in the world building, and many mysteries she opens up that I hope she solves in other Witch World stories. Ramsey Campbell's Ryre story in this volume is magnificent, and I look forwa ...more

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