Just The Axe, Ma'am #15
A monthly curated newsletter of New & Notable Sword & Sorcery
THIS MONTH’S NEWS & UPDATES
+ The audiobook market is still somewhat unexplored territory for new Sword & Sorcery, with only a few dabblers in the indie market and several classic works, both having official audiobooks and fan-made versions of public domain works.
However, this month, Lord of a Shattered Land, which premiered in prose form in August 2023, finally gets its audiobook version released in time to tie in with Shadow of the Smoking Mountain, the third book in the Chronicles of Hanuvar being released this month as well.
As always, news in regards to the Hanuvar books will be bittersweet due to the revelation of the author’s brain cancer last month, but it’s something to celebrate that a new audience has a chance to discover the series.
If you would like, please consider supporting the GoFundMe that Howard’s family has set up to assist with his considerable medical expenses. There are also more details about planned benefit anthologies of stories Howard Andrew Jones had previously edited for venues such as Flashing Blades, Black Gate and Tales from the Magician’s Skull, and an all-new anthology of stories from friends and fans of Jones.
The GoFundMe is here.
Speaking of audiobooks…
+ Red-headed Felicia Day is doing the audiobook for the Red-headed adventuress Red Sonja by Red-headed author Gail Simone.
Red Sonja: Consumed is due to be released Nov 19, 2024.
+ We missed this when it was released in August, but this seems appropriate to spotlight for Halloween.
However, starting in 2014, he collaborated with Steven L. Shrewsbury on the Rogan trilogy (King of the Bastards, Throne of the Bastards, Curse of the Bastards), which involves the barbarian character being forced to confront he is past his prime.
While Shrewsbury has continued to tell tales of Rogan solo, most recently Bladespell (profiled in Just The Axe, Ma’am #12), Brian Keene has moved on and told a serialized tale for a few years on the Kindle Vella (which Amazon is winding down to close in February 2025) called Island of the Dead, in which barbarian Einar finds himself trapped on an island beset by a zombie plague closer to the ones created by George A. Romero, rather than the stock undead of RPGs.
With the completion of the serial and the oncoming closure of Kindle Vella, Keene has now collected and released the story for the reader. If you are looking for some barbarian fantasy with a considerable horror element for Halloween.
You can purchase it here.
+ Neon Hemlock Press, a specialty press for the LGBTQIA+ community, announced that they would be doing a Kickstarter for a Sword & Sorcery-themed anthology Shatter The Sun: Queer Tales of Untold Adventure.
The description specifies this will be an anthology of “pulp heroism in conversation with Samuel R. Delany's Nevèrÿon, Conan and Red Sonja, Imaro and Xena.”
At the same time, they are holding a submission call for those stories from November 1 to January 15 at 8 cents per word for a maximum of 6000 words.
The Kickstarter is is here.
+ Brackenbury Books successfully funded Double Edged Sword & Sorcery with 341 backers raising $11, 250, The current plan to release the double novella collection from Bryn Hammond and Dariel R. A. Quiogue in early 2025.
+ From WeirdPunk Books they made the following announcement in their newsletter:
Profane Sorcery Vol 1 is a limited-run zine that can be ordered here.
+ GMB Chomichuk and James Gillespie have a new volume of the Shared World series out. Shared World, featuring “Sinister Stories of Sword & Sorcery” from Chomichuk, Gillespie, Jonathan Ball, and Chadwick Ginther, and Khyber, a solo collection in the same setting from Ginther.
I picked up my copy at Winnipeg Comiccon, where Chomichuk and Gillespie did a collaborative sketch inside the cover of a monster drawn by Chomichuk and a method of execution from Gillespie.
+ Milton Davies revealed on Facebook he is writing a new adventure of Eda Blessed for 2025. Two collections of stories are out featuring the character, described on the MV Media website:
Raised in the streets of Sati-Baa, Omari Ket is a man that gets by on his wits and skills . . . and the attentions of a god. Eda Blessed shares the tales of the man and the mercenary as he roams the roads of Ki Khanga bouncing from one adventure to another surviving with his skills, wits, and Eda's blessings.
+ This interesting essay by Krystle Matar in Grimdark Magazine examines outsiders as the main characters in dark fantasy fiction, which is very similar to Sword & Sorcery fiction.
COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS
Volume 4 of Den/Neverwhere by Richard Corben is now out from Dark Horse. Den appeared in, among other outlets, Heavy Metal Magazine, which eventually ended in 2023 due to a number of bad business decisions and personal feuding.
However…
+ Heavy Metal has announced they are returning. Under new management, Frank Forte is now the editor-in-chief. They have released a cover of their first issue by Greg Hildebrandt and a link to their Kickstarter.
Besides a clear “No AI Art” policy, they point to the magazine's early 80s glory days as what they wish to bring back. But currently have no other details revealed at press time.
+ Interestingly, Metal Hurlant, the French comics magazine that has successfully relaunched in Europe and was previously the genesis of the U.S. based Heavy Metal, is making its entry into crowdfunding with a relaunch where the creator lineup consisting of Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, James Stokoe, Mark Waid and more.
Read more about the relaunch at The Wrap.
Neither is currently touting any Sword & Sorcery features, but considering both magazines’ esteemed history in the genre, we are watching with extreme interest what they have planned.
INTERVIEWS & PANELS
+ This interview was conducted before the tragic news broke of Howard Andrew Jones being diagnosed with terminal cancer but focuses on his current series, The Chronicles of Hanuvar.
+ The Infinite Library conducts this interview with Dariel Quiogue over his work in the Sword & Sorcery genre.
+ Liam Hall of Liam’s Lyceum also sits down for an interview with Dariel Quiogue about his life writing Sword & Sorcery.
+
Interviews with Bryn Hammond on the ongoing historical focus in the Sword & Sorcery revival and other subjects.He also interviewed Graham Thomas Wilcox about his novella, which is now out on Halloween.
PODCASTS ON PARADE
+ The Baen Free Radio assembled a special Appreciation episode for Howard Andrew Jones as Shadow of the Smoking Mountain was released.
+ The Cromcast this month decided to focus on “Robert E. Howardian Cinema” and kick things off with the John Milius written and directed The Wind of the Lion. Most people have some fun at the idea of Sean Connery playing an Arab chieftain (including the folks at SCTV who used it as part of their How The Middle East Was Won sketch, with Eugene Levy’s eyebrows capturing Connery’s usage of them quite well). Still, if you haven’t seen the actual movie, Brian Keith is charismatic and hilarious in the role of Theodore Roosevelt.
+ New Edge Sword and Sorcery Short Story Chat had an episode this month looking at two stories featured within its pages. “Sister Chaos” by Bryn Hammond and “The Demon of Tashi Tzang” by Dariel R. A. Quiogue.
This episode’s lineup consists of host/publisher Oliver Brackenbury, author Kirk A. Johnson, author of The Obanaax, Jay Wolf, editor of the upcoming Beating Hearts and Battle Axes, and uh, Kevin Beckett, who runs this newsletter.
From fan casting the stories discussed with actors from Big Trouble in Little China, imagining the pieces of the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack that seemed specific to each story, and the phrase "Post-Orgasmic Gales of Laughter."
Speaking of Conan the Barbarian…
+ Rogues In the House Podcast dropped a new Halloween episode where host Matt John (designer of the new Conan: The Hyborian Age TTRPG). is joined by John C. Hocking, author of Conan and the City of the Dead (out now from Titan Books), and uh, that Kevin Beckett guy again.
Spookily, we do not discuss Conan the Barbarian but instead examine the phantasmagoric Panos Cosmatos/Nicolas Cage epic Mandy.
Oliver Brackenbury did a new episode of So I’m Writing a Novel where he sat down with Dave Ring of Neon Hemlock Press to talk about his new Queer Sword & Sorcery anthology Shatter The Sun.
REVIEWS
+ Liam’s Lyceum has been concentrating on reviews of new Sword & Sorcery this past month.
Here is the master list of the links:
A Book of Blades vol. II from Rogues in the House Presents feat. Steve Dilks, John R. Fultz, , Bryn Hammond, John C. Hocking, Scott Oden, J. M. Clarke, Kirk A. Johnson, Jason Ray Carney. Watch it here.
Contra Amatore Mundi by Graham Thomas Wilcox. Watch it here.
The Obanaax and other Tales of Heroes and Horrors by Kirk A. Johnson. Watch it here.
Rakefire and Other Tales by Jason Ray Carney. Watch it here.
Red Sonja: Consumed by Gail Simone. Watch it here.
Terra Incognita ed. by Douglas Draa feat. Howard Andrew Jones, Adrian Cole, S. E. Lindberg, J. Thomas Howard, John C. Hocking and David C. Smith. Watch it here.
+ While Liam gets reviewed by Niko’s Bookshelf for his new novella Dreamer, Awake!
+ Robin Marx, who has reviewed many new works in Sword & Sorcery for outlets such as New Edge Sword & Sorcery and Grimdark Magazine, now has an archive of his reviews you can peruse here.
THIS MONTH IN SWORD & SORCERY MAGAZINES
HEROIC FANTASY QUARTERLY:
As HFQ gears up for its next issue, it revealed another page of Gary McClusky’s ongoing adaptation of Robert E. Howard's “Spear and Fang.”
If you are interested in their Patreon, click here.
NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY:
+ Advance copies of Issues #3 and #4 have arrived in paperback and hardcover. Now, it’s waiting for the main shipment to arrive at the border.
As always, you can try their free issue #0 here.
OLD MOON QUARTERLY:
+ While it has been available to their Kickstarter backers, Old Moon Quarterly #7 is now available for purchase on Amazon, featuring:
”The Ember-Eyed” by James Enge
”Stolen by Moonlight, Bretrothed” by E. Catherine Tobler
”Torrent of Souls” by Harry Laurie
”Footnotes on ‘Only Forever.’ The Grey Witch’s Last Poem” by Calie Voorhis
”The Last Gift” by Jason Mills
”Last Day on the Farm” by Matthew John
”Bleed Me in the Water” by Haily Piper
”Of Decadence a Child” by David Costa
”In Her Waters, Raging” by Lora Grey
”Letter from Aulis” by Monica Joyce Evans
SWORDS & SORCERY MAGAZINE:
+ Editor Curtis Ellett cries, “Now Hear This!” in his editorial for issue #153. There are four stories released for free reading online this month.
“Beyond the Slit of Eternity,” by K. T. Booker
“A Hoard of Infinite Meanings” by Abby Roberts
“A Fallen Flare,” by Jamey Toner
And in a first for the magazine, an audiobook story:
“Eliza Sky and the Iron Smelter’s Devil,” by Neil Willcox
If you enjoy the magazine, consider supporting it on Patreon.
TALES FROM THE MAGICIAN’S SKULL:
+ The Kickstarter campaign set up by the magazine’s new owners, Outland Entertainment, was successful. 434 backers pledged $21,257. From now on, they will publish twice annually.
Click here for the complete Table of contents for issue 13 listed at their live Kickstarter page.
TRIAPA:
+ Issue #15 was released on October 6th, and the following authors contributed a 2-page amateur zine.
Andy Darby, Because the Bastards won’t Write Themselves, Issue 5
Liam D Hall, Walking with Wolves, Issue 7
Brazen Blades, Issue 5
Chase A. Folmar & Jason Ray Carney, Witchmark 2
Neil Wilcox, Solar Orbit Cinderella, Issue 3
Jason Donaldson, The House Half Under a Hill, October 2024
Aaron Cummins, Views from the Pig Sty, October 2024
Black Cavalier Designs, 12 Leagues To Averoigne Vol 1, Issue 14
Sage, Legion
David J. Lynch, Ink and Hatchet: Musings on Larger than Life Fiction (Oct 2024, Issue 14)
Letters – Acute Apistles 1-14
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 it features 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
+ For Halloween, they are releasing Issue 4 of Witch House, their amateur magazine devoted to cosmic horror. You can download and read for free here.
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. The remuneration is £20. 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 Pirates & Prophecies-themed issue. Deadline: 30 November 2024. Accepts up to 7500 Words. The honorarium is £5. Submission Guidelines.
+ Neon Hemlock Press is open for submissions Nov 1 - Jan 15 for queer themed Sword & Sorcery for their anthology Shatter The Sun" “pulp heroism in conversation with Samuel R. Delany's Nevèrÿon, Conan and Red Sonja, Imaro and Xena.” 8 cents per word, 4-6000 words maxium
+ 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.”
Three pence GBP per word, max 7500 words. Submission Guidelines.
+ Swords & Sorcery is always open. Takes 1500 - 7500 words. Payment: USD 10. 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 return at the end of November for more Sword & Sorcery News. Thank you for reading Just The Axe, Ma’am! —KB
"I'm the bloody Mufti."