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Brian Murphy

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Born
in Melrose, MA, The United States
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Member Since
December 2016


Average rating: 4.27 · 163 ratings · 46 reviews · 1 distinct workSimilar authors
Flame and Crimson: A Histor...

4.27 avg rating — 163 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions
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Arcane Arts hitting inboxes... make it yours

The latest issue of Arcane Arts--my weekly-ish email newsletter covering all things sword-and-sorcery, heavy metal, personal, and random shit that crosses my transom which I find interesting--is out.

Issue #14 covers Queen of the Black Coast, a new Geddy Lee interview, and more.

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Published on May 20, 2026 07:34

Brian’s Recent Updates

Brian Murphy wrote a new blog post

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The latest issue of Arcane Arts--my weekly-ish email newsletter covering all things sword-and-sorcery, heavy metal, personal, and random shit that cro Read more of this blog post »
Watership Down by Richard  Adams
Flame and Crimson by Brian     Murphy
"An excellent book on sword & sorcery

This is a very comprehensive history of the sword and sorcery subgenre and its influence on music, movies, television series, role-playing games and video games and counter-culture. There is much information for th" Read more of this review »
Flame and Crimson by Brian     Murphy
"Wow! What a fantastic history book of my favorite reading genre. Very well researched and the chapter breakdown is perfect. Amazing read. Very recommended "
Jack by Andrew Sinclair
" This comment is not accurate... Sinclair repeatedly and frequently condemns London's racism, judges the stories in which it appears lesser, and calls ...more "
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The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck
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The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck
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Quotes by Brian Murphy  (?)
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“His essay “Epic Pooh,” originally published in 1978, skewered Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Richard Adams (author of Watership Down) for, among other perceived offenses, writing the equivalent of coddling, consolatory, nursery-room tales for grownups, stories that reinforced the paternalism of the establishment: I suppose I respond so antipathetically to Lewis and Tolkien because I find this sort of consolatory Christianity distasteful, a fundamentally misanthropic doctrine. … It is moderation which ruins Tolkien’s fantasy and causes it to fail as a genuine romance. … The Lord of the Rings is much more deep-rooted in its infantilism than a good many of the more obviously juvenile books it influenced. It is Winnie-the-Pooh posing as an epic (126–127).”
Brian Murphy, Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery

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