Group Reads Announcements

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

True Mary, but we’ll take any discussion. So try to choose something Elfy... but since Dunsany’s book is a highlight...We’ll welcome discussion on his other work.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Jan-Feb 2019 Groupread theme will be our annual "Anthologies" topic.

Which one will you read (add books in the your-choice field)? Sword & Sorcery was born from anthologies/periodicals, and many new ones are available today.

Choose an oldie or new one, and broaden you knowledge of S&S authors (and some Weird Fiction authors too).

Vote link: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Have we done Dying Earth yet? Not just Vance, of course, but there's also Zothique, Hodgson's Night Land, Carter's Gondwane, Wolfe's Urth ...

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Joseph, those are great suggestions. We had a Vance read a longtime ago, but we are due for more.

I was thinking of “overlooked authors” or obscure ones. Clifford Ball?

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

S.E. wrote: "Joseph, those are great suggestions. We had a Vance read a longtime ago, but we are due for more.

I was thinking of “overlooked authors” or obscure ones. Clifford Ball?"

Yep, that'd be a good one too -- maybe Nictzin Dyalhis, or even Henry Kuttner would qualify these days.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Joseph wrote: "S.E. wrote: "Joseph, those are great suggestions. We had a Vance read a longtime ago, but we are due for more.

I was thinking of “overlooked authors” or obscure ones. Clifford Ball?"

Yep, that'd ..."

I am hoping the Anthology read will drum up some more authors to track down.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Banner and credits


- 1978 unknown/uncredited artist for the H. Rider Haggard book "Eric Brighteyes"
- 1999 Ken Kelly, Cover for "Conan and the Emerald Lotus" by John C Hocking


Link to Discussion Folders
(1)Haggard's Eric Brighteyes

(2) Conan and the Emerald Lotus - by John C Hocking



Conan and the Emerald Lotus by John C. Hocking the 1995 pastiche which has a 2019 sequel (of sorts) with a serialized novelette in Marvel's Conan The Barbarian (2019-) #1 (penned by John C Hocking, included as a parallel story with the comic). That series started release this year in January and continues!


Sword and Sorcery in 1891!; Indeed, Eric Brighteyes was written then by H. Rider Haggard, also known for:
She: A History of Adventure and Ayesha: The Return of She
King Solomon's Mines and Allan Quatermain

BTW, DMR books recent blog post on Haggard

interior illustrations by Lancelot Speed, 1891; that link shows many, and here are two:
"Eric and Skallagrim boarding the Raven" // "All Night Long Gudura Sat in the Bride's Seat"

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Discussions/groupreads:
Topic (a) Gene Wolfe's memorial groupread (link to folder)

Topic (b) Any Eternal Champion novel by Moorcock (link to folder)


Masthead Banner credits:



Frank Frazetta's 1980 cover to The Eternal Champion, by Michael Moorcock.

Don Maitz 1983 cover to Gene Wolfe's The Citadel of the Autarch (reapplied to Sword & Citadel)

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

July Aug 2019 Groupreads topics have been chosen:

A) Jack Williamson group discussion-read-LINK
Classic Jack Williamson, ie The Reign of Wizardry or Golden Blood (~1933 Weird Tales)


B) Lumely's Primal Land group discussion-read-LINK
Brian Lumley's Primal Land (Shad) series, The House of Cthulhu: Tales of the Primal Land Vol. 1 and Tarra Khash: Hrossak!: Tales of the Primal Land


Banner/Masthead Credits
Frazetta's 1964 cover to Jack Williamson's "The Reign of Wizardry"
Melvyn Grant's cover to Brian Lumely's Tarra Khash: Hrossak (Primal Lands #2) 1991

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

The 2019 Nov-Dec Groupread poll is finished.

It's Classic Howard AND a current Howard!


Masthead illustration credits:
- Justin Sweet illustration of Kull
- Cover artist TBD of Howard Andrew Jones' Ring-Sworn book #1: For the Killing of Kings

(A) with 13 votes: Link to the Classic Robert E. Howard discussion, ie just the real Conan/Kull/Bran (no pastiche).

~1930Robert E. Howard genuine Conan or Kull or Bran or Agnes: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, Kull: Exile of Atlantis, Bran Mak Morn: The Last King, or Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures

(B) 10 Votes (with a write-in): Link to discussion folder for Howard Andrew Jones' Ring-Sworn series

2019: Howard Andrew Jones's sequel to 2018's For the Killing of Kings is out this Nov. Upon the Flight of the Queen

_____________

The next runner-up with 9 votes will be on our radar in future polls. Note that there is a Kickstarter coming up for that series: 2019 Hard Cover Kickstarter for Dyrk Ashton's War of Gods books -link
2016 Dyrk AshtonPaternus: War of GodsPaternus: Rise of Gods

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Jack wrote: "Great job with the banner, S.E.!"

Thanks Jack!

[Jason]

S.E. wrote: "It's Classic Howard AND a current Howard!"

Sweet!
(see what I did there?)

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Jason M wrote: "S.E. wrote: "It's Classic Howard AND a current Howard!"

Sweet!
(see what I did there?)"

Just-in time!

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

I know that Jan/Feb is anthology time, but after that, have we done "lost continents"? (Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu, etc., which figured heavily in a lot of early S&S.)

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Joseph, great idea. I’ll take note of that... but feel welcome to remind me too.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

The poll for March-April 2020's groupread is up, and the topics are really sweet:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Please vote and participate

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Sword & Sorcery group reads:

We have LOST WORLDS and MOVIE ADAPTATIONS going strong now...

But what about July and August? Time to vote! Most topics were pulled from discussions from this group.
July-Aug 2020 Sword & Sorcery groupread topic poll.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Sword & Sorcery folk,
The July-Aug groupread folders are set up and ready for you!

(A) Sword & Planet Folder Link

(B) David C. Smith's Oron and Attluma- Folder Link


Cover Art credits for groupread banner:

Edgar Rice Burroughs books:
Barsoom #11John Carter of Mars - artist Michael Whelan
Barsoom #3 The Warlord of Mars -artist Michael Whelan

David C. Smith books:
Tales of Attluma artist Tom Barber
Oron- arist Clyde Caldwell

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

Another lovely, lovely banner! That's one of my favorite Whelan Barsoom covers (on John Carter of Mars), even if the book is a stinker.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Thx Joseph. Whelan has a rich depth of colors and nice compositions. Frazetta's Barsoom images also screamed to be highlighted.... but they got the banner 6yrs ago for S&P.

[S.wagenaar]

Excellent banner, as per usual! I actually just got a copy of Tales of Attluma a few weeks ago, so the timing is excellent. Also I have Oron and the first five Red Sonja books on my tbr.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Cripes, the Goodreads Interface and I are wrestling, and I am losing.

Once a day I am allowed to send a broadcast email, and in trying to incorporate the link to the new poll .... it fired prematurely. Whatever.
So that'll look like spam.

Also, the "widget" for embedding the Poll HTML has worked poorly for years now...but it would have been nice to write something.

So I'll just work with archaic HTML code to provide a link here:
Link to Sept-Oct Gropread Topic Poll

Please have a look and vote for the following groupread.
Thanks to L.D., Stan, Joe, Clint, Steve, Briam, Joy, etc....for the ideas (taken from various discussions)

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Sept-Oct Groupreads 2020 are (A) Philip Jose' Farmer's "The Dungeon" series , and (B) Karl Edward Wagner's "Kane".
As usual, we love to foster discussion with topics that are close. So any Wagner work would work to stimulate reading, and any Philip Jose Farmer work is ok (he inspired/edited The Dungeon series, but was not an author). Also, "Sword & Soul" was a very close runner up. Expec that topic to come back in Nov-Dec.

Links to Discussion Folders
A) Farmer's Dungeon
B) Wagner's KANE



Banner Credits
- Death Angel's Shadow -Karl Edward Wagner with cover art by Les Edwards
- Philip José Farmer's The Dungeon Books 1 and 6 - both had cover art by Robert Gould: The Black Tower and The Final Battle

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

And another nice banner!

I just read Kane a couple of years ago, so I might stretch things to Wagner's Howard pastiches. As for Farmer, I'm leaning towards the Opar books, although I do also have the Dungeon series.

(My personal favorite Farmer, which again I read not super long ago, is Dark is the Sun, which is more of a super far-future dying earth sort of thing, and would be one of the major inspirations for that Gamma World campaign I'll never run.)

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Thx Joseph. I've never read Farmer. The Dungeon covers have haunted me for decades. I may have to try those.

BTW, to all....we could always use "discussion leaders" which can be (a) reader's experiencing Kane/Farmer for the first time, (b) old-timers re-reading, or (c) fans who like to stimulate discussion.

[The Joy of Erudition]

So far I've only read Farmer's The Maker of Universes, but I've had Dark is the Sun on my shelf for a couple of years now waiting for the right time to read it. I thought the cover for Dan Simmons' Endymion had some interesting visual similarities to the Dark is the Sun cover.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Saunders and Sword & Soul Groupread Banner. Cover artists for Charles R Saunder's works
- 2013 The Quest for Cush Alain Brion
- 2011 Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology cover by Natiq Jalil
- 2008 Dossouye cover by Mshindo Kuumba



For the Nov-Dec 2020 Sword & Sorcery groupreads, the topic will be Sword & Soul in honor of Charles R. Saunders's passing (by royal decree). So Saunders will be a focus, but the sub-Genre he championed is all fair game. Including the works inspiring an HBO series for the Asuna works (Sebastian A. Jones) and all of Milton J. Davis's work too

Link: Discussion Folder for Saunders/Sword&Soul

Link: Poll used as a means to declare which book you intend to read (and see what others are choosing!)

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Time to gear up for the next group-read.

We are now polling for group-read topics for March-April. Please write in your ideas. Usually, top two topics get a spotlight.

Link to Poll for Mar-Apr 2021 Topics

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Spring 2021 (March-April) groupreads will have a "rebirth" theme to our two topics:

Nostalgia TOPIC FOLDER: Share, reread, and review the books that lured you into the Sword & Sorcery genre.

Appendix N: Eldritch Roots FOLDER LINK. This anthology exhibits the weird roots of Sword & Sorcery, and was a hot topic delayed from our Jan-Feb Anthology topic (book release was moved to late Feb).


Banner Credits, L --> R
The Book of Three - Art by Don Maitz 1976
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - Richard Corben 1983
Dragons of Spring Dawning, by Larry Elmore 1985
Appendix N -Arik Roper 2020

[Jason]

Great banner again, Seth - love me some Raistlin! And thanks for letting me keep reading my Jan-Feb anthology read as my Mar-Apr N read LOL

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Jason M wrote: "Great banner again, Seth - love me some Raistlin! And thanks for letting me keep reading my Jan-Feb anthology read as my Mar-Apr N read LOL"

Jason, well I had to extend since I am haven't received my non-deluxe paperback edition yet! I'm still jealous of you (plus the others) who got the deluxe version.

[The Joy of Erudition]

S.E. wrote: "Eldritch N FOLDER LINK. This anthology..."

Eldritch N?

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Well Eldritch N would be my obtuse, half arsed reference to the book "Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons" with only a few words to fit the banner....and I wanted to avoid saying Appendix N only (since that would refer to the actual entire list from DnD).

[The Joy of Erudition]

I'll eat a bowl of Special K while I read it, then. 🙂

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

The Joy of Erudition wrote: "I'll eat a bowl of Special K while I read it, then. 🙂"

I clarified the links and banner. So the "Eldritch" influence is buried.

If someone wants to read the actual Appendix N list instead of the anthology, then that ok.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Check out the new Poll for the July-Aug group read topics.
It's on the bottom of the homepage, and here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Vote...and join the crowd!

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Check out the new Poll for the July-Aug group read topics.
The poll is featured on the bottom of the homepage... and here is the direct link: link to Poll

Vote...and join the crowd!

Write-in new options if you want....but the starting list has these:
-REH-Character Pastiche
-Bard, or the series, by Keith John Taylor
-Fresh Meat from DMR
-Fresh Meat from Pulp Hero Press

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

A new poll is up, this one is for Sept-Oct group read topics. You know the drill...the top two usually get a 2-month spotlight and dedicated folder/discussion.

Polls are dynamic, so write-in additional suggestions. We can ping the crowd to alert folks of new options and change votes as we go.

--> Link to Poll

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

S.E. wrote: "A new poll is up, this one is for Sept-Oct group read topics. You know the drill...the top two usually get a 2-month spotlight and dedicated folder/discussion. Polls are dynamic, so write-in addit..."

Anyone here read James A. Moore's books? ones like: The Last Sacrifice, or Fallen Gods, The Silent Army, or The Blasted Lands, or Seven Forges?

I love these covers, but have yet to read them. I thought about adding his work to the poll. Thoughts?

[Jason]

I read 7 Forges after eagerly awaiting its release. I regretted it.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

@Jason, uh oh. Did you post a review?

[Jason]

yes sir, under 7 Forges, can't find a way to share it from the Goodreads app on my phone, sorry.

[Richard]

I found Seven Forges in a now closed bookstore in Memphis. It has collected dust ever since. Looks cool; too many books…

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Sept-Oct Groupreads

A) Leigh Brackett - link to discussion, focus on the Skaith series

B) C. Dean Andersson - link to discussion, memorial tribute focus on Hel


Banner Credits
"The Reavers of Skaith" cover art by Chris Achilleos 1985 (Leigh Brackett)
"Hounds of Skaith" cover art by James Ryman 2008 (Leigh Brackett)
"Warrior Witch of Hel" cover art by Boris Vallejo 1985 (C.Dean Andersson writing as Asa Drake)

[Jason]

I lean toward reading Andersson first, but since I have The Best of L.B. on my shelf and Howard Andrew Jones is always swearing by her work, I think I'll finally read it.

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

The Sword & Sorcery group on Goodreads is polling for the group topics for Nov-Dec. Usually, the top two choices get highlighted for the duration. Join in....vote..read!

Write-in the S&S you plan to read! Vote for ones you want to read for the end of 2021.

Keep in mind, Jan-Feb 2022 will be our annual Anthology/Magazine read.

LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Nov-Dec Groupread Folders
Click the links to join!

Cover Art Credits [Stephen E. Fabian (Far AWay & Never), Ken Kelly (Conan and the Emerald Lotus) and Lauren St. Onge (When the Goddess Wakes)].


Campbell's Ryre in Far Away & Never


Conan Pastiche


Howard Andrew Jones' Ring Sworn Trilogy

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

All,

Jan-Feb will be our annual 2month dedication toward reading/sharing/reviewing anthologies.

Pick any magazine or print anthology, and shed some light on it!

There is a poll where you can select items you intend to read; please write-in options not shown. The idea is not to select options for members, but to use the poll to advertise which ones folks intend to tackle.

Here's the poll link:https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

Banner Artist Credits
Boris Vallejo 1981 "The Ring of Ikribu"
Zach McCain 2021 "the Drums of Chaos"
Steven Gilberts 2021 "Sorcery Against Caeser"



Richard L. Tierney memorial groupread
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Richard L. Tierney passed away this month. Let's read some Weird Detective occur or Red Sonja in his honor!

Obscure Books
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Dig through your bookshelves and unearth some arcana. Or seek out an underappreciated classic and shed some light on it!

[S.E., Gray Mouser (Emeritus)]

The 2022 May June Groupread Topics have been selected and the discussion folders are set.
Please join us!


(A) Tanith Lee
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

(B)Sword and Planet
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Banner Credits
Tanith Lee Night's Master, art by Melvyn Grant, 1981
Tanith Lee Empress of Dreams, DMR Book 2021, art by Lauren Gornik
The Tides of Kregen (Dray Prescot, #12) , art by Michael Whelan, 1976 (Dray Prescot) Alan Burt Akers