A SHORT SELF PROMOTIONAL PRELUDE
I have a new story out!
"Storm God over Sin City!" a tale of communist spies, reclusive millionaires and Nazi occultists in Rat Pack era Las Vegas. It appears in issue 11 of Bronze Knuckles Magazine, which is celebrating two years of publication.
If you'd like to read the story and support a fine pulp-oriented publication, you can order an affordable PDF file of the entire magazine at their Patreon, along with back issues. If you're looking for physical editions, send them a DM.
Interested in my past stories?
In that case, I have “High Road to Hy-Brasil!” a tale of 1930s adventure featuring a rogue aviatrix, phantom islands and Hyperborean tombs in Hell Hath No Fury from Pro Se Press, and the cozy fantasy “Inn of the Seven Stars”, a tale of good food, good drink, and inadvertent necromancy sold individually from Water Dragon Press.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled Sword & Sorcery newsletter.
THIS MONTH’S NEWS & UPDATES
+ Beginning in 2022, Spiral Tower Press established the Trigon Awards to show appreciation for those who champion the past, present, and future of science fiction, fantasy, and supernatural horror pulp genres. Their criteria for awardees are that they “demonstrate an artistic, intellectual, and passionate commitment to the values celebrated by the sorcerer's mysterious trigon: chronopolitanism, compassion, and hope.”
The Trigon Awards consists of three categories: literary achievement, scholarly achievement, and special achievement, and are determined by a rotating and anonymous standing committee, "The Trigon Committee," which nominates and selects the awardees with the optional voting and nominating aid of previous awardees.
Literary Achievement: Howard Andrew Jones
Although a champion and author of Sword & Sorcery for decades, this past year saw Jones attract significant attention for his Chronicles of Hanuvar , beginning with Lord of a Shattered Land. The series serves as both a critical commercial and a high watermark for the current Sword & Sorcery scene. On a bittersweet note, Jones recently concluded his run as editor of Tales from the Magician’s Skull Magazine, the premier market for new Sword & Sorcery fiction.
Scholarly Achievement: Jeffrey Shanks
Jeffrey Shanks is an archaeologist and popular culture historian who has authored several popular and scholarly articles on Robert E. Howard. He served as co-chair of the Pulp Studies area of the Popular Culture Association and has received the REH Foundation Award for Best Print Essay three years in a row. He is the editor of Zombies from the Pulps! and co-editor of the academic essay collection The Unique Legacy of Weird Tales: The Evolution of Modern Fantasy and Horror.
Special Achievement: Oliver Brackenbury
Oliver Brackenbury is awarded this for his multiple roles these past few years as a podcaster for So I’m Writing a Novel, where he did in-depth interviews of current Sword & Sorcery authors, as publisher/editor of New Edge Sword and Sorcery magazine, and most recently the upcoming anthology Beating Hearts and Battle Axes, making numerous bridge-building attempts with both the general public and the larger SFF community.|
Speaking of Brackenbury’s publishing endeavours…
+ Brackenbury Books successfully funded the romance-themed Beating Hearts and Battle Axes this month, including six interior drawings by Trevor Ngwenya through an achieved stretch goal. You can celebrate by watching the recording of the live wrap party here:
+ Heroic Legends has a new adventure starring the pirate queen Belit. We’ve written before about her curious second life after her singular appearance in Robert E. Howard’s “Queen of the Black Coast,” regarding her earlier appearance this year in the novelette “Shipwrecked” by V. Castro. Now, she returns in a tale written by Michael A. Stackpole.
+ For anyone attending Gen Con, there is a panel presentation on Sword & Sorcery for Contemporary Audiences with special guests S. E. Lindberg, Dedren Snead, Howard Andrew Jones, Jason Ray Carney Sarah Sharp and Matt John!
+ Matt Holder appears in the ongoing feature “My Favorite Bit” on Mary Robinette Kowal’s site to discuss his Sword & Sorcery novella Hurled Headlong Flaming.
+ People Magazine revealed the cover art for the upcoming Red Sonja novel Consumed by Gail Simone.
I will probably discuss Red Sonja in more detail when the novel and/or upcoming movie are released.
However, I must express some disappointment with the Generic Fantasy Sword Cover #34981054 that they decided to use for Gail Simone's new novel.
I understand a desire to step away from what people expect from Sword & Sorcery book covers, especially in Red Sonja’s case, but this fades into the background when something more striking should be done that leaps off the shelves.
Titan Books had a similar issue with their first new Conan novel, Blood of the Serpent by S. M. Stirling, which used a Generic Fantasy Sword Cover (though with some visual easter eggs for longtime Conan fans).
However, their more recent books, featuring gorgeous black-and-white art from Richard Pace, do a better job evoking specific Sword and sorcery elements while still not looking like just another Conan book, and there’s no reason why Orbit Books can’t do something similar.
I will point to the Red Sonja comic covers done by Jae Lee as striking designs that sidestep both Generic Modern Fantasy Book Covers and stereotypical Red Sonja art that would intrigue the reader.
+ Rogues in the House Presents confirmed Book of Blades 3, the third installment in their anthology series celebrating current Sword & Sorcery authors, will have a target date for release in December 2024.
+ We covered Steven L. Shrewsbury before in regards to his Bran Mak Morn story Red Waves of Slaughter that he wrote for the Heroic Legends series. However, he has been doing his Sword & Sorcery novellas starring Rogan for over 10 years.
This new one caught our eye due to Rogan, whose adventures like Conan and others are before the recorded dawn of history, having to deal with two time-travelling magicians from the future to wreak havoc in Rogan’s time. One is named Oliver Haddo, which is the name of Aleister Crowley stand-in who is an actual wizard in the lurid potboiler a young W. Somerset Maugham wrote, a character who later was used in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill.
I am enough of a pulp nerd that I can’t resist, and if you’re similarly intrigued, you can check out the book here.
+ It is only loosely related to Sword & Sorcery, but it does so near the end. The rest is a fascinating look at Voidspace Live, “an interactive arts festival,” and what it represents, courtesy of Neil Willcox. Recommended reading.
COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS
The A. V. Club takes an in-depth look at the Deathstalker comics being put out right now, which ties in with the current version featured in the upcoming feature film directed by Steve Kostanski.
+ It is a sign of how the Sword & Sorcery revival has been taking off (and perhaps more specifically, in this case, the success of the current Conan comics from Titan Books, which are now burning up the charts) that DC is having Greg Smallwood write and draw Batman The Barbarian, which is coming out this fall.
While DC did its fair number of Sword & Sorcery titles in the 70s and 80s, none were Batman-related. In the 1990s, Writer Doug Moench and Kelley Jones remade the core ingredients of Batman into a secondary world dark fantasy called Dark Joker: The Wild for the Elseworlds imprint, and in the miniseries Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, written by Grant Morrison, the character’s travels through time was specifically equated with prehistoric Spear & Fang style caveman adventure and later a Solomon Kane style Puritan adventurer that the fact it did not do a Barbarian take seemed suspiciously missing.
The comic comes out in October, and the above artwork from Greg Smallwood is quite lovely.
Special thanks to Captain Corum, who alerted me to this. —KB
FILM & TELEVISION
Moving on from comics based on movies to movies based on comics, The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Michael Bay wants to adapt Barbaric, the breakaway success from Vault Comics. Star Sam Claflin is the barbarian cursed to aid people in their time of need. Patrick Stewart will voice the demonic axe he wields, the curse's focal point.
Things come full circle with this month’s release from Vault Comics of the double-sized one-shot Deathstalker vs. Barbaric. Will this be the Conan vs. Elric of our time?
INTERVIEWS
+ John C. Hocking stops over at Mass Movement! This website describes itself as a “well-established part of the Punk and Hardcore Scene as well as a haven for Geek and Comic Book Culture.” to discuss his new Conan novel, his other Sword & Sorcery works, music and more on their podcast Geek-O-Rama.
+ Jay Wolf sits down with Brent C. Lambert to discuss Sword & Sorcery, Romance, and his contribution to Beating Hearts and Battle Axes.
You can watch the live stream here.
+ Jay Wolf and Oliver Brackenbury also do a live stream to discuss being editors and the editing process.
+ Jay Wolf takes a break from interviewing other people to be interviewed by Wyrd Daze magazine regarding their creative endeavours, from editing the Beating Hearts and Battle Axes anthology to writing as M.Daniel McDowell.
+ Forbidden Planet interviews Michael Moorcock regarding the unexpurgated new editions of his comic Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse and more.
+Bastien Pilon sits with veteran Sword & Sorcery author David C. Smith to discuss his venerable career.
+ Molly Tanzer visits The Infinite Library for an in-depth 90-minute interview about Sword & Sorcery, Lovecraftian Horror, and her new story for New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine, “Jirel and the Mirror of Truth” starring C.L. Moore’s creation Jirel of Joiry.
MUSIC
Castle Rat announced tour dates for a predominantly Northeast tour of the United States, though take note, fellow Canadians, they are also hitting up Toronto and Montreal!
In the meantime, here’s a quick musical break to enjoy Green Lung’s tongue-in-cheek take on folk horror:
Hopefully, Castle Rat will have a West Coast tour lined up later in the year or next.
Green Lung’s Bandcamp
Castle Rat’s Bandcamp
New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine for Dungeon Synth Sunday promoted on their social media the new album with The Kingdom is Ours, an album for Erang where he collaborates with a number of similarly minded musical artists. Including Mortiis, Quest Master, Hole Dweller, Fog Weaver, Jim Kirkwood, Fief, Hedge Wizard, RAL from Depressive Silence, and Dame Silú de Mordomoire.
Listen to it on Bandcamp here.
Spirits Burning is a rotating supergroup of progressive rock musicians that, for this collaboration, includes Blue Öyster Cult, Hawkwind, Pink Fairies, The Strawbs, The Damned, Camper Van Beethoven, and Tangerine Dream.
This album, part of an ongoing adaptation of Michael Moorcock’s Dancers at the End of Time trilogy, is reviewed by the heavy metal review site Brave Words. The reviewer describes the album as not Metal but
"a pleasing retro ‘70s musical journey across seventeen songs of various sounds and instruments.”
You can check it out here on their Bandcamp.
PODCASTS ON PARADE
+ The Cromcast concludes its look at Poul Anderson’s classic Norse fantasy novel and critical work in Sword & Sorcery, The Broken Sword. Listen to it here.
The next novel they will examine is Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock. Listen to the transition from Anderson to Moorcock at this link.
+ Oliver Brackenbury does an episode of So I’m Writing a Novel where he interviews Matt Holder over his new phantasmagorical sword & sorcery novella Hurled Headlong Flaming that came out as part of the new Keen Blades imprint from Spiral Tower Press.
TWICE THE PONDERING OF THE ORB THIS MONTH:
+ In the first episode, host Jay Requard looks at Matt John’s To Walk on Worlds, and reads from his own story “Among the Poppies” featured in Mystic Mind Magazine. As well as featuring a double shot of synth-wave artists with songs from Emil Rottmeyer and Decisive Koala.
+ In the second, Jay looks at the classic Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien and Bringer of the Scourge by M. Daniel McDowell, as well as music from Polish Melodic Death Metal Band Moyra and the synth-wave of Hotel Rooms.
+ This was an interesting podcast to discover. Witch House Media, home of Strange Studies of Strange Stories, has decided to do an Sword & Sorcery focused “Thew-ly” month and looks at “Turkhana Knives” of the Imaro stories by Charles R. Saunders and has released it as a free public listen, as much of the rest of their back-catalogue is on their Patreon, such as looks at “Rogues in the House" by Robert E. Howard, “The Barbarian” by Joanna Russ, and “Hellsgarde” by C. L. Moore.
REVIEWS
+ Swords and Sorcery Magazine editor Curtis Ellett reviews the dark fantasy Old Knucklebones by PJ Atwater.
+ Grimdark Magazine reviewer Carrie Chi Lough takes a look at Immaculate Scoundrels from John R. Fultz, calling him:
”John R. Fultz is the modern voice for traditional sword and sorcery tales. Immaculate Scoundrels is a must read for those looking for a barbarian-esque fantasy adventure with modern pacing and prose.”
+ A deep dive into John C Hocking’s Conan and the City of the Dead and the related Conan: Black Starlight Novella. Courtesy of S. E. Lindberg at Black Gate.
+ New Edge Sword and Sorcery now has a blog! It kicks things off with a review of Matt Holder’s surreal Sword & Sorcery novella Hurled Headlong Flaming by Robin Marx.
”Swiftly moving from gritty war epic to philosophical debate to claustrophobic horror, each presented with a different perspective, also cleverly serves to keep the reader on the back foot.”
+ Back at the Black Gate blog, S. E. Lindberg returns to look at Matthew John’s new collection, To Walk on Worlds, with the memorable quote in it:
“If Gandalf was an a**hole, then we’d call him a “Meddler” instead of an “Istar”
+ Liam’s Lyceum does a spoiler-free review of the third book in The Chronicles of Hanuvar by Howard Andrew Jones. Shadow of the Smoking Mountain will be released from Baen Books on October 1, 2024.
+ John Mauro at Before We Go Blog also reviews the new Hanuvar novel and decrees:
“Howard Andrew Jones shows his versatility as a writer in Shadow of the Smoking Mountain, leveraging the episodic format to flex his writing style, often in subtle ways. Jones writes with a skill and gravitas that reminds me of Umberto Eco at his best.”
+ Bastien Pilon reviews Trevor Ngwenye’s Sword & Soul comic Shakar and The Eye of the Midnight God.
+ Over at Rogues in the House Presents blog, Logan Whitney reviews the same Trevor Ngwenya comic.
“What's even more impressive about all this is that this comic is a one man endeavor. This is the passion project of an extremely talented individual who knows the craft well.”
+ Outlaw Vern reviews the Sword & Sorcery Art Film She is Conann,
“There’s lots of snow, glitter, glowing eyes, face paint, furs, swords. Though reportedly done on a modest budget, it’s a movie of elaborate props, costumes and sets built on soundstages in an old steel mill and shot on film. It seems like a large-scale international art movie, a real spectacle.”
THIS MONTH IN SWORD & SORCERY MAGAZINES
HEROIC FANTASY QUARTERLY:
The magazine just finished its submission call for July. Good luck to all who submitted!
The Best of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly Volume IV just came out and is available on Amazon. Featuring sixteen stories, ten poems, twenty-seven illustrations, plus an essay on the Sword and Sorcery genre by Howard Andrew Jones, all collected from HFQ issues ranging from #25 to #32.
You can still read issue #60, celebrating 15 years of the webzine, for free. It features stories from Howard Andrew Jones, James Enge, and Gregory Mele.
You can read the issue #60 here.
If you are interested in their Patreon, click here.
NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY:
According to editor/publisher Oliver Brackenbury, issues 3 and 4 are set for a Fall release date.
As stated above in reviews, they have now premiered their official blog.
As always, you can try their free issue #0 here.
OLD MOON QUARTERLY: Old Moon's Year One anthology, collecting Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4, is now available in paperback and hardcover on Amazon.
SWORDS & SORCERY MAGAZINE:
The online magazine celebrates reaching issue #150 by editor Curtis Ellett telling readers to “Chill Out with Some Hot Stories.”
.The Host Stories are:
”Joy’s Soul Lies In the Doing”, by Todd Honeycutt
“Tola’s Waft”, by Ranylt Richildis
“A Voyage Among the Vandals”, by Daniel Stride
All three are free to read online, but if you enjoy the magazine, consider joining the Patreon here.
TALES FROM THE MAGICIAN’S SKULL:
The Kickstarter set up by the magazine’s new owners, Outland Entertainment, is not active yet; this will be for issues 13 and onwards.
Click here to be notified when it goes live.
TRIAPA:
Issue #11 was released July 1st, and the following authors contributed a 2-page amateur zine.
Andy Darby, Because the Bastards won’t write themselves, Issue 2
Neil Willcox, Solar Orbit Cinderella, Issue 2
Black Cavalier Designs, 12 Leagues To Averoigne Vol 1, Issue 11
David J. Lynch, Ink and Hatchet: Musings on Larger than Life Fiction (June 2024, Issue 11)
Jason Ray Carney, The Spiral Tower, 6.1 (June 2024)
Carl Ellis, Tales from the Valley VIII
Matt Holder, Pandemonizine, Vol 2 (June 2024) Issue 10
Jason Donaldson, The House Half Under a Hill, July 2024
Rom Parsons, Brazen Blades, Issue 3
TRIAPA is an Amateur Press Association founded by Spiral Tower Press, the people behind the Amateur Zines Way Station, Whetstone and Witch House.
If you want to submit a zine for TRIAPA, please send a 2-page zine (maximum) to spiraltowerpress@gmail.com. They invite and encourage all fans of sword and sorcery, cosmic horror, and space opera to submit.
Find out more and check out all previous editions here.
WHETSTONE:
Whetstone: The Amateur Magazine of Pulp Sword & Sorcery will be on hiatus until 2025.
The archive of all eight issues can be accessed here.
In the meantime, check out Waystation, the amateur space opera magazine they are putting out in its place. The first issue has just been released, and one can see a number of stories from members of the Sword & Sorcery community.
You can read it for free here.
The Spiral Tower crew is concentrating on their next project, the next issue of Witch House, the amateur magazine of Cosmic Horror.
SUBMISSIONS
The following markets are dedicated to or specified to accept Sword & Sorcery.
+ BFS Horizons, put out by The British Fantasy Society, is always open. 500 - 5000 Words. Remuneration £20. Submission Guidelines.
+ Dirty Magick is a new online magazine specializing in a variety of subgenres of fantasy and notes:
“[W]e want sword and sorcery, which we define as fantasy adventure fiction taking place in an ancient or alternative world where the protagonists must use their wits and weapons to survive. We contrast this with high fantasy (which we are not interested in) where quests taken on behalf of the rulers are world shaking. We are much more interested in the street level like the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tales of Fritz Leiber and the Conan/Bran Mak Morn tales of Robert E. Howard.”
The range is from 2,000 to 12,500 words. It pays a single-story rate of $50, which is halfway to SFWA qualification and fully HWA eligible. It is open until August 15.
Submission Guidelines.
+ Indie Bites, a non-profit fantasy anthology series put out by Silversun Books, is available on Kindle Unlimited and is looking for stories for its upcoming Spirits & Spellcasters-themed issue. Deadline: 30 September 2024. Accepts up to 7500 Words. Honorarium £5. Submission Guidelines.
+ Seize The Press, ”Writers, please send us more fantasy! Particularly dark sword & sorcery, historical horror, grimdark, but anything you think falls under dark fantasy and all the weird stuff you can't truly pin down.”
3 pence GBP per word, max 7500 words. Submission Guidelines.
+ Swords & Sorcery is always open. Takes 1500 - 7500 words. Payment: $10 USD. Submission Guidelines.
Thank you for reading to the end! If you like it, please share it with people you know who would dig it!
We will be back at the end of August for more Sword & Sorcery News, and it will be our first anniversary of Just The Axe, Ma’am! —KB
Whoa, that's a lot of content. Feel like it's safe to say sword and sorcery is alive and well!