2014 Jan-Feb (a) Heroines

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

Just devoured The Bladewitch. There are many memorable scenes in this fast read, which manages to squeeze in more depth than most would expect from Sword & Sorcery genre. Jason E. Thummel keeps the action fun with creative duels (beyond just sword play , you'll get several trippy sequences), unique magical artifacts (The Blade of Sealing, the Seven-strand Ropes of Seeing and the Inner Temple cube), and omnipresent/alien sorcery (reminiscent of that from K. E. Wagner's Kane series). Highly recommend for anyone seeking fantasy adventure.

Full review here = https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

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

Bruce wrote: "I enjoyed your Bloodsong review, Seth. Looks like I'll be adding that collection to my must read list."

Thanks Bruce. Dean Andersson and I are working up an interview that I am anxious to share.

BTW: I enjoyed your recent review on Azieran Adventures Presents Artifacts and Relics: Extreme Sorcery... a great collection that I will no doubt acquire soon.

[CDean]

I believe Gate of Ivrel was C.J. Cherryh's first novel. I first encountered it in a Walden Books (remember those?) in, I think, a British paperback edition before DAW brought out theirs with the Whelan cover. The manager had indulged his good taste by stocking his SF section with British imports as well as American publications and recommended it to me as the debut novel of an author to watch. Boy, was he right about that!

I also remembered the character from SPAWN comics known as Angela. Actually, I remembered her because I remembered an action figure of her that I bought back in the '90s, I guess it was. Where is it? In the garage or in the closet packed way at the back or...if any of you know where I stored it, let me know! She's a great character, a "warrior angel." http://marvel.wikia.com/Angela_%28Ear...

[Greg]

S.E. wrote: "Just devoured The Bladewitch. There are many memorable scenes in this fast read, which manages to squeeze in more depth than most would expect from Sword & Sorcery genre. [author:J..."
I've got that on my list. I enjoyed, In Savage Lands.

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

Kidgreg wrote: "S.E. wrote: "Just devoured The Bladewitch. There are many memorable scenes in this fast read, which manages to squeeze in more depth than most would expect from Sword & Sorcery gen..."

Cool. I enjoyed In Savage Lands too; I think The Bladewitch was a notch better. I just noticed it seems to be a developing series, which would be great.

[Joseph, Master Ultan]

The Sleeping God was quite good -- not quite as much swordplay as I expected in a book about a couple of mercenaries, but very entertaining nonetheless, so I decided to move on to the sequel, The Soldier King which does, at least, start off on a battlefield.

[Tara]

S.E. wrote: "Cdean wrote: "Another comment about heroines in S&S..."

C. Dean, so glad you joined us. I am currently enjoying your rerelease of Bloodsong (Bloodsong - Hel X 3) in eBook form. Yo..."

Hey - thanks for plugging my new movie Legend of the Red Reaper, which was the inspiration for the novel "Sword Sisters".
It releases in APRIL.

I had a lot of fun doing my own stunts, and you can see clips my live action sword play on my page, along with some great clips from the movie.

[Tara]

S.E. wrote: "Just devoured The Bladewitch. There are many memorable scenes in this fast read, which manages to squeeze in more depth than most would expect from Sword & Sorcery genre. [author:J..."

That sounds really good. I'll put it on my to-read list.

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

Tara wrote: "...I had a lot of fun doing my own stunts, and you can see clips my live action sword play on my page, along with some great clips from the movie. "

Tara, can you tell us more about the April movie release? Should I expect to be able to catch it in a theater in Ohio? That gives me a few months to read Sword Sisters: A Red Reaper Novel.

I find it inspirational that you have portrayed a character in both written and theatrical form. Glad to have you here. It seems that you'd be a wonderful candidate for an interview. I need to get acquainted with your work prior, but note that I have an emerging series on Beauty in Weird fiction:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Tara]

Unfortunately they don't release movies in theatres without a whole bunch of promotional money, and I didn't bother with all that. You will be able to get it in DVD in April (unless my distributor changes the date again :)

I started off performing at Renaissance Festivals, and learned sword play fairly young. The rest all sort of flowed from that. I think it's important be as physical as I am cerebral.

I'd be happy to an interview with you. No rush - I'm all over the US until the end of the summer!

[Athena Shardbearer]

Jason wrote: "Bob wrote: "I just started reading Red Sonja Volume 1: Queen Of Plagues last night, following on the heels of Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars Volume 1. Lookin..."

I received the ARC for this one on Netgalley and it was wonderful. Better than I expected.

[Jason]

Athena wrote: "I received the ARC for this one on Netgalley and it was wonderful. Better than I expected."

I've seen a few of the pages on Amazon's look inside feature, and I'm definitely looking forward to this one. Of course, there's no way to tell how good the story is from a few pages, so it's good to hear from someone who has read it in its entirety that it's going to be a good one. Unfortunately, my wait has been expended as I believe they've pushed the release date back again... Luckily my TBR pile has more than enough in it to keep me occupied.

[Athena Shardbearer]

Jason wrote: "Athena wrote: "I received the ARC for this one on Netgalley and it was wonderful. Better than I expected."

I've seen a few of the pages on Amazon's look inside feature, and I'm definitely looking ..."

I was disappointed as well when I seen the date pushed back, then I was looking for a new books on Netgalley and found it there. I read another Red Sonja graphic novel, don't even remember the author and it wasn't as good as Red Sonja Volume 1: Queen Of Plagues. So I do recommend this one. It was well written and there are parts that are pretty funny.

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

New book trailer released for Sword Sisters: A Red Reaper Novel by Tara Cardinal, the book-prequel to the movie that releases April 14th by DVD (the book is available now).

Video Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/IhP30NOsfvk

Movie link on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Red-Reap...

[Aaron]

Just finished reading The Sword Woman by Robert E Howard. Can definitely say I am a fan now of Dark Agnes! I only wished Howard would of lived longer and written more stories with her in them.

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

Aaron wrote: "Just finished reading The Sword Woman by Robert E Howard. Can definitely say I am a fan now of Dark Agnes! I only wished Howard would of lived longer and written more stories with ..."

Aaron, thanks for sharing. Dark Agnes is not a well known heroine. I read a lot of REH, but missed her somehow. Can you fill us in on how REH portayed her? Seems like she inspired Red Sonja.

[Aaron]

She was dark and fiery, with the natural instincts of a warrior. She was determined to not be stuck in a woman's role. Red headed women must of been on his mind alot! I am not sure if she or Red Sonja came first though.

[Aaron]

Hmm a quick look at Wikipedia has this about his female characters:
Howard had feminist views despite his era and location which he espoused in both personal and professional life. Howard wrote to his friends and associates defending the achievements and capabilities of women.[160][161] Strong female characters in Howard's works of fiction include the protofeminist Dark Agnes de Chastillon (first appearing in "Sword Woman", circa 1932–34); the early modern pirate Helen Tavrel ("The Isle of Pirates' Doom", 1928), two pirates and Conan supporting characters, Bêlit ("Queen of the Black Coast", 1934) and Valeria of the Red Brotherhood ("Red Nails", 1936); as well as the Ukrainian mercenary Red Sonya of Rogatino ("The Shadow of the Vulture", 1934).[162][163]

[Jason]

I believe I have the Berkley edition of this one, but have not yet read it. I will have to try to remedy that, but there's just so little time and so many books... A lament that is likely familiar to the folks hereabouts.

[A.L.]

S.E. wrote: "Janet Morris has pushed people's expectations of sexuality and the role of women in fantasy fiction since 1976; I just completed an interview with her on the targeted discussion of "Art & Beauty in..."

I'm reading The Sacred Band again and can recommend these.

I've also gotWarprize

[A.L.]

Thread Slivers and The Dragon Within both have strong lady characters.

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

To follow up on the Gate of Ivrel...due to it's Whelan cover, several folk have mentioned reading it for the Mar-Apr groupreads:

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

[Periklis, Fafhrd (Emeritus)]

Just finished Marada the She-Wolf. A feisty heroine, yet more fully realized than the comic book versions of Red Sonja I've read. John Bolton's artwork is the true protagonist here though, whether illustrating a choreographed sword fight or an otherworldly spell.

[Tara]

S.E. wrote: "New book trailer released for Sword Sisters: A Red Reaper Novel by Tara Cardinal, the book-prequel to the movie that releases April 14th by DVD (the book is availab..."

Thank you for posting this!
I had a good time making them

[Tara]

Aaron wrote: "She was dark and fiery, with the natural instincts of a warrior. She was determined to not be stuck in a woman's role. Red headed women must of been on his mind alot! I am not sure if she or Red So..."

I have this sitting on my bookshelf. I might take a crack at it tonight.

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

Another interview: This continues the interviews of weird/speculative fiction authors on the themes of Art & Beauty in Fiction . Here we corner C. Dean Andersson (a.k.a. Asa Drake) who has written Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror since the 1980's and just released Bloodsong! — Hel X 3 (an eBook omnibus of his Bloodsong saga).

The interview discusses how his fine arts education/creative-process informed his fiction, and features a previously unpublished painting.

Find out how C. Dean Andersson makes the corpse-side of Hel appealing, putting a pretty face on his fears.

Follow the blog to read more interviews.