Jason Waltz’s Reviews > Guilds & Glaives > Status Update

Sirina, "Those Who Look Back": very unique mask magic, a tragic story for two characters, an vague conclusion, but overall unique fantasy. Not S&S.

Palmatier, "Assassinsssss": stopped reading the brain-killing drivel after 3 pages. Wish I could get those minutes of my life back.

Enge, "The Cage at the End of the World": Morlock used to be cool. Now he's just an old senile professor trying to stay relevant.

Jackson, "Guild of the Ancients": not a bad story. Very interesting fantasy world and races. But the further this book gets from its start the further it gets from Sword and Sorcery. I don't know why it claimed to be that.

McConnell, "The Charter": A fine story of learning and growing and maturing with a fine protagonist whose innocence helps to feed a demon.

An observation on this book: our stories seem to be getting further and further away from Sword and Sorcery.

Farland, "Oathbreaker": Way overwritten, either as an introductory piece to a world and series, or as a piece that assumes we're familiar with this world and series. I'm glad the story did not deliver upon the assumption it projected. The primary character is cool enough, though there was another I am far more interested in. Lots of writing to tell a story whose close was foretold early.

Webber, "The Witch that Wasn't": clever silliness that definitely featured a guild but no glaives. And no Sword and Sorcery.

Malan, "Footprints of the Hound": I always enjoy the way Dhulyn and Parno interact. This was an interesting yet also confusing tale.

Ensal, "The Three Assassins of Lord Slaughter": childishly written and silly. I should have stopped reading it when I first thought about it.

Rhodes, "Rainbow Dark": new to me author. Sweet, melancholy, well-told tale. Definitely on the Guilds side, passably Sword & Sorcery.