Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion

@Mary

Oooh! I'm anxious to read that one!

@Jason

Oooh! That one too!

Warlords, Warlocks & Witches

@Jack

That's different. I'm interested.

A recent read of possible interest

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just devoured Tales From the Magician's Skull #2
.
That was incredible. With a recent Kickstarter, we are promised installments up to #6.

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Valhalla

@S.E.

I’m excited and went all in with a subscription starting with issue 3, physical copy. I ordered physical copies of 1 & 2. I’m eager for the arrival, but I think to save on shipping I can probably expect my copies of 1 and 2 when 3 hits

I’m not sure if Carter was picked for the next group read or not, but that’s what I am picking. Years ago I read Wizard of Lemuria. I don’t remember it well, but I do remember it’s not really worth a re-read. I started the first couple chapters of Thongor and the City of Dragons last night.

I forgot about the in fortunately named air-ships...”floaters”

Grrr. Hate doing this on my phone. That should read unfortunately named

Clint wrote: "I’m not sure if Carter was picked for the next group read or not, but that’s what I am picking. Years ago I read Wizard of Lemuria. I don’t remember it well, but I do remember it’s not really worth..."

Cool about Tales! You'll enjoy them. I could have had #3 in my hands if I had caught the memo about picking it up at Gencon. Sigh. Must wait.

And.... Lemuria's floaters! Yes, that is funny.

Spearmen of Arn

I'm back to fantasy with The Red-Stained Wings, second in Elizabeth Bear's Lotus Kingdoms trilogy and fifth novel set in the Eternal Sky world. I love these books! They tend more epic than S&S, I suppose, but are set in a fascinating world loosely based on central & east Asia -- think steppe-riding nomads and large, unwieldy bureaucratic empires, plus magic.

Swords of Steel

The Warehouse

I am trying to slog through the Outcasts of Order by L.E. Modesitt Jr. I love his books and the theme of Recluse, but almost nothing has happened in 600 pages. Get up early, go to work, worry about money, repeat. Except for a brief 20 page sprint around 175 this is largely repetitive and making my eyeballs fall asleep. Still love reading the man's work however.

Not &SS, but I am reading Todd McAulty's The Robots of Gotham.... and Todd McAulty is a pen name for John O'Neill, S&S supporter and leader of BlackGate.com. It's his debut novel, and it's a robot/AI thriller.

S.E. wrote: "Not &SS, but I am reading Todd McAulty's The Robots of Gotham.... and Todd McAulty is a penname for John O'Neill, S&S supporter and leader of BlackGate.com. It's h..."

Nice! I shall have to investigate ...

Unsheathed: An Epic Fantasy Collection
Been sitting on this one for awhile, looking forward to getting back into some fantasy.

I enjoyed Unsheathed

S.E. wrote: "I enjoyed Unsheathed"

Just finished the first story and so far so good.

I just finished A Demon in the Desert today, only 200 pages so sped through it quite fast. Rated it 3.5/5 stars, quite enjoyable read. It had very much a side quest video game RPG vibe that I really enjoyed and reminded me a bit of The Last Wish (first Witcher book) in that respect. For gamers if you can think of side quests in games like Fable, Skyrim etc where you can choose to investigate a haunting or strange monster/supernatural activities at a farm or in a town, it has that sort of atmosphere to it. Personally I enjoyed that a lot, plus the humour was definitely up my alley as well.

Curious if anyone else around here has read and enjoyed the Grimluk Demon Hunter books?

Anyway continuing with the second book Demon Haunted

For the group read.

Blood of Elves

I wrapped up my diversion into robotic thrill-rides, Todd McAulty's The Robots of Gotham was a blast.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now... the group read is pulling me toward Sword of Destiny, but I was lucky to score an advanced copy of Howard Andrew Jone's Upon the Flight of the Queen (due out n Nov.), so I am distracted.

Children of the Dragon

Cool! Very interested in reading your thoughts on this book. I’ve had a copy for a while, but never cracked it open due to other books shouting out for my attention. But it’s one of those books the seems to whisper “read me...” every time my eyes catch a glimpse of that cool cover art!

I envy you your paperback, lol. Ive long sought this one, but as fate would have it, this was recently part of a giveaway and I won a kindle edition with the updated cover.

Just finished City of Kings by Rob J. Hayes, which was a blast, particularly on audio.

Dungeon Samurai Volume 1: Kamikaze by Kit Sun Cheah

Heroes of Atlantis & Lemuria

Pale Kings by Micah Yongo and The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

Not sword & sorcery, but I just started Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth.

Gideon the Ninth looks cool (I love the undead). Looking forward to your review

Baptism of Fire

The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore by Michael Dylan Foster

Bane of Kanthos

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang and Pale Kings by Micah Yongo

Late to the post, but I started House of Cthulhu, the first of Brian Lumley's Primal Lands collections.

Interestingly, the vibe I'm getting, at least from the first couple stories, is very distinctly Clark Ashton Smith -- kind of midway between the Hyperborea and Zothique stories.

I'm currently reading the original Conan stories, in chronological order.
Also re-reading the Ketty Jay series

Finished House of Cthulhu and moved on to Tarra Khash: Hrossak!: Tales of the Primal Land, also sword & sorcery by Brian Lumley.

The Face in the Frost

Ghost in the Vault by Jonathan Moeller

The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker

The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker

I am reading "A Little Hatred " by Joe Abercromie.

Seisen by Kit Sun Cheah

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Come, Seeling Night by Daniel Humphreys

Beyond the Dar Al-Harb

This title might be of interest to others in the group. It fits the criteria for S&S or heroic fantasy. Evidentally this is the sequel to Jamie the Red which is a Thieves World book. I found it by chance in my travels. I'm enjoying it.

For a fun sword & sorcery read, pick up Marvel Comics Bizarre Adventures #1. The opening story is about a character named Ulysses Bloodstone. I’m not sure if it will be a reoccurring character, but I hope so.

Two of the remaining stories are good, goofy pulpy fun, one being a Dracula tale. I didn’t care for the 4th.

Honestly, this is one of the better Marvel Comics put out in a while.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke, by Philip Jose Farmer is so far every bit as entertaining as I’d hoped. I became interested in reading it several years ago after Kim Newman stated it was a big influence on his Anno Dracula books. It’s out of print, and has no ebook that I know of, but copies can be found at a reasonable price.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...