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

Unexpected Stories by Octavia Butler

C.A. wrote: "White Plume Mountain



Digging the 'Justicar and 'Cinders the undead hide of a Hellhound .... Unique Characters so far. Fight scenes are a bit ..."

It's based on a 1st ed module.

The Sleeping Sorceress by Michael Moorcock.

After finishing Matthew Hughes' Henghis Hapthorn trilogy, I decided to return to Lankhmar with Fritz Leiber's The Swords of Lankhmar.

Swords of the Four Winds: Tales of Swords and Sorcery in an Ancient East That Never Was

@Kirk

That’s a good one.

Nice! May I ask what led you to reading it?

You guys have talked up Swords of the Four Winds enough that I went and got a copy. I've been meaning to branch into Eastern myths and fantasy for a while now.

The best and oldest advertising: word of mouth. 😁

Morgan Barod by Moe Lane

Cloak of Iron by Jonathan Moeller

Upon a Dark of Evil Overlords, Steven Erikson

Oliver wrote: "Nice! May I ask what led you to reading it?"

I was reading Elizabeth's Bear's Range of Ghosts and was looking for something more Sword and Sorcery but with a Central Asian secondary world. a friend mentioned this and I picked it up. I'm actually rereading it. Love the adventure of it all.

Kirk wrote: "I was reading Elizabeth's Bear's Range of Ghosts and was looking for something more Sword and Sorcery but with a Central Asian secondary world. a friend mentioned this and I picked it up. I'm actually rereading it. Love the adventure of it all...."

I love Range of Ghosts and the rest of the Eternal Sky trilogy, and am very much looking forward to the third Lotus Kingdoms book (in the same setting) when it comes out later this spring.

I've noticed the mention of Asian-setting or Asian-themed Sword & Sorcery lately.

A fan of Dariel Quiogue and Elizabeth Bear's stuff for a few years now I would also highly recommend the feudal Japan samurai S&S short stories by R. Michael Burns in The Best of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly: Volume 1, 2009-2011, The Best of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly: Volume 2, 2011-2013 and The Best of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly: Volume 3, 2013-2015 + one more - chronologically #3 of 4 total thus far - which can be found on his site or on the Heroic Fantasy Quarterly website, as well as the crime-fiction influenced feudal Japan samurai S&S short stories by C.L. Werner, a few of which can be found in Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure, Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology, and Crossbones & Crosses: An Anthology of Heroic Swashbuckling Adventure - all 3 edited by Jason M. Waltz who I think frequents here sometimes (..? I don't interact enough to be certain!) - + one in Sharkpunk, + another you can read directly on one of C.L. Werner's (super-outdated) sites. Not sure where the stories land chronologically but it's fun stuff trust me (realizing a few of you have already read some of these anthos because they've been mentioned here before, even recently). *BTW there are still one or two others by C. L. Werner that have not been published thus far.

Both of these series are some of my very favorites in the expanding S&S field.

Very cool recommends, Michael! Yes, I hang out here on occasion :)

Clint has some Oba stories in issues of TALES FROM THE MAGICIAN'S SKULL as well.

All good so far.

Jason M wrote: "Very cool recommends, Michael! Yes, I hang out here on occasion :)

Clint has some Oba stories in issues of TALES FROM THE MAGICIAN'S SKULL as well."

Sadly, I have only read issues #0, #1 and Cubicles of the Skull, because though I have a beautiful copy of Tales From the Magician's Skull #2 I stopped there because I wanted to read earlier stories of Chris Willrich's Gaunt and Bone and James Enge's Ambrose series first. I've since abandoned that idea in part (because some of them are hard to track down) and may just read a few short stories or the first in the novels of each so I can get back to my favorite magazine ever. I didn't realize there were more Oba stories in TFTMS so thanks for that info, Jason. 👊😎

Jason wrote: "You guys have talked up Swords of the Four Winds enough that I went and got a copy. I've been meaning to branch into Eastern myths and fantasy for a while now."

Thanks Kirk and Jason!

Michael Fierce (Gandalf the Red) wrote: "I've noticed the mention of Asian-setting or Asian-themed Sword & Sorcery lately.

A fan of Dariel Quiogue and Elizabeth Bear's stuff for a few years now I would also highly recommend the feudal J..."

Thanks for the recommendations, Michael.

Started Soleri, the first of a two-book series by Michael Johnston.

Renegade Swords III

The Accidental Superheroine by J.R. Rain and Kris Carey

Schuyler Hernstrom's Eye of Sounnu. I have a soft spot for sword and planet flavored fiction.

@Dariel

Eye of Sounu has some great stuff in it. Hope you enjoy it!

The Legend of Zelda: Legendary Edition, Vol. 1: Ocarina of Time Parts 1 & 2 by Akira Himekawa

Richard wrote: "@Dariel

Eye of Sounu has some great stuff in it. Hope you enjoy it!"

Yup, definitely enjoying, especially the story with Mortu and Kyrus.

The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South by Robert D. San Souci

I’m back at D&D’s Dungeon Master’s Guide. I set it aside for a bit to focus on other stuff, but the campaign I’m DMing will be ramping up again, so it’s a good time to brush up a bit.

Which edition?

Joseph wrote: "Which edition?"

5e. I'm digging it for the most part. It's laid out well and seems to have a good balance of rules and ideals of game play. It walks the new DM through an adventure and campaign in a way that makes more sense than I seem to remember learning in the 1st edition.

Yeah, "makes more sense" and "1st edition" are two concepts that don't really pair well together.

Tales From the Magician's Skull #2 edited by Howard Andrew Jones

Joseph wrote: "Yeah, "makes more sense" and "1st edition" are two concepts that don't really pair well together."

Lol! No truer words... I remember being about 10ish trying figure the game out on my own via the 1e rule books. It was like trying to learn calculus from a textbook written in Japanese.

Finished Silence of the Soleri (second & final volume in Michael Johnston's Soleri series) and decided to reread American Gods for the first time in a good many years -- the TV series ended on a massive cliffhanger, so I want to refresh my memory of how the story actually went.

Apples of Immortality: Folktales of Armenia by Leon Z. Surmelian

Legend by David Gemmell

and

Michael Fierce (Gandalf the Red) wrote: "Legend by David Gemmell"

Still the best of Gemmell's novels for me, along with Waylander and White Wolf.

Dariel wrote: "Michael Fierce (Gandalf the Red) wrote: "Legend by David Gemmell"

Still the best of Gemmell's novels for me, along with Waylander and White Wolf."

I meant to read it for years but so glad I finally am. It is incredible. I'm loving every second of it. Looking forward to the others you mentioned which I am familiar with but only in name. Gemmell is a fantastic storyteller.

Sped through Tanith Lee's Companions on the Road -- a fairly short but excellent collection of two novellas -- and am starting The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng, the third in K.S. Villoso's trilogy.

Joseph wrote: "Sped through Tanith Lee's Companions on the Road -- a fairly short but excellent collection of two novellas -- and am starting The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng,the third in K.S. Villoso's trilogy."

Cool stuff, Joseph. I got Daughter of the Wolves: and Blackwood Marauders just yesterday.

Apparently she's written a lot more books than I realized. Cool

I go on reading Sorcery Against Caesar: The Complete Simon of Gitta Short Stories (but not fast enough as I would normally. The human tragedy in Ukraine is tearing me apart emotionally and I can not focus on reading fiction. )
The more I read it, the more I come to the conclusion that this book is an obscure piece of gem. The chronological story line, plots, characters, dialogue, narration, every piece of story telling looks superb to me. I believe Mr.Tierney and his works deserve much better publicity. I already plan to read his other books.

Cloud-Castles by Dave Freer

Gemmell is absolutely a fantastic storyteller. There are a few of his heroic fantasies I have yet to read, but these last two months I'm reading his totally terrific crime thrillers and these are superb storytelling too! WHITE KNIGHT, BLACK SWAN gave a great Druss-like character in a dark heroic tale; RHYMING RINGS is delivering a delightfully diabolical tale with unexpected twists. Both are prime examples of sparse, straightforward writing and protagonists with growing arcs, though RR does both better... which is understandable, as these books were written at the onset and close of Gemmell's stellar storytelling arc. Neither are S&S, but I say read 'em.

The Lost War by Karl K. Gallagher

Editing my comment above: after reading Stan Nicholls' afterword, it appears Gemmell wrote RR in the early '90s, so not at the close of his career. The story was simply never published until after his wife found it in his papers after his death in 2006.

Finished The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng -- great series! -- and started a reread of Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons for the Appendix N Book Club Patreon discussion.