Just The Axe, Ma'am #17
A Monthly Curated Newsletter of New and Notable Sword & Sorcery
THIS MONTH’S NEWS & UPDATES
+ Rogues In The House Presents, the publishing arm of the popular Sword & Sorcery podcast, released a newsletter detailing recent projects the hosts have been working on, including a cover reveal and a Table of Contents for the upcoming third volume of their annual Sword & Sorcery anthology A Book of Blades.
As well as the cover pictured above from Jesus Garcia, it will feature the following stories:
"The Scroll of Blood" by Dariel R. A. Quiogue
"Sabertongue" by Jonathan Olfert
"God of Blueberries" by Matthew John
A yet untitled story by Charles Clark
"Glory, Riches & Death" by T.A. Markitan
"Alas, Lord is Upon Me" by Graham Thomas Wilcox
"The Harvester" by J.M. Clarke
A yet untitled story by Christopher Rowe
"Kiss of the Blood Rose" by John C. Hocking
“She Drinks Blood” by John R. Fultz
"Blood of Giants" by Logan D. Whitney (edited by Howard Andrew Jones)
+ Milton Davis has revealed his renewed focus on new Sword & Soul stories for 2025. In the Facebook group Sword & Soul Adventures, he revealed:
In 2025, I'm stepping back into Sword and Soul in a significant way. Ki Khanga 2.0, an update to the Ki Khanga RPG, will be released in addition to novels introducing more characters from this world. I also have two projects that have been on the backburner for quite some time that I hope to complete and release. Last but not least, the final book of the amazing Heretic series by Sarah Macklin is due to drop, and you don't want to miss it. So stay tuned. Sword and Soul Forever!
+ John R. Fultz used the amazing art pictured above to illustrate a year-end update on his blog of the stories and novels he had published in 2024 and what to look forward to for next year, including the third volume of his Scaleborn novels, We Laugh at Death.
+ Bryn Hammond dissects the legend the Black Death was started by Mongols laying siege to Venetians at the Black Sea and catapulting infected corpses inside.
+ Matthew John is having a bit of a banner month as he has released the self-contained novella Knife Fight, set in the same universe at Maxus & Lachmannon, that is featured in his recent collection To Walk on Worlds but featuring instead a rogue named Razlan the Blade who learns “some harsh truths about the southern kingdom of Selsun: meddlers meddle, cheaters cheat, and knives are useless against flesh made of steel.”
You can order Knife Fight here.
Also, Matt, who has previously worked on the Conan board game from Monolith and the new Conan: The Hyborian Age RPG, has had a lifelong dream come true: his own story featuring Conan the Barbarian has been published in Savage Sword of Conan #6 from Titan Comics.
+ We knew at least one of these was coming out, but as per Screenrant, now Titan Books and Heroic Signatures have officially announced three new books featuring Robert E. Howard characters.
The first two are Conan: Songs of the Slain by Tim Lebbon and Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God by Tim Waggoner.
There will also be the novel Solomon Kane: Suffer The Witch by Shaun Hammill, who previously wrote the story Conan: Lethal Consignment earlier this year.
It remains to be seen if it is now a requirement that you must have the first name Tim to write an authorized Conan novel.
+ Scott Oden has written a free sword-and-sorcery story, “The Bones Remember,” which combines imagery from Ray Harryhausen’s Jason and the Argonauts with some of the darker elements of Greek Mythology.
You can read it here.
+ Finally, we have to mention this particular strain of bacteria that has been dubbed in news reports like this one, Conan the Bacterium, for its ability to withstand extreme conditions, including the ability to survive radiation levels 28000 times higher than what is needed to kill a human being.
COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS
+ Milton Davis discusses writing a story for Marvel about an ancestor of Black Panther told as a Sword & Soul tale. The story is collected in the 2021 anthology Tales of Wakanda.
FILM & TELEVISION
+ Alec Worley looks at David Lowery’s 2021 Arthurian movie The Green Knight, which joins Seabury Quinn’s last novel, Roads, as one of few Christmas-themed examples of Sword & Sorcery.
+ Brian Murphy ponders the ambiguity of the movie's ending in his blog, The Silver Key.
+ “The Once and Future King,” the New World episode of the Secret Level TV Series, tells the tale of an arrogant physical specimen of a king who finds himself stranded on an island kingdom where everyone is functionally immortal and his attempts to conquer it while dying repeatedly.
Arnold Schwarzenegger voices the king at his swaggering, charismatic best, and it might be the last time we see him in a fantasy story. While the ending is a bit overly sentimental, it has some good violence and gags beforehand that had me laughing a lot. This one is worth checking out and is only 15 minutes long.
INTERVIEWS & PANELS
+ Michael Moorcock turned 85 years old on December 18! As part of the festivities, he sits down with Forbidden Planet TV to discuss the new edition of his Von Bek omnibus that Titan Books just put out, his work in progress, The Wounds of Albion, his experiences with marijuana vs. cocaine, and celebrating Christmas.
In a surprise twist, because the interview did not get to what Michael wanted to talk about, the new editions of his Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse comic, they will be recording a follow-up interview about it in January.
+ Oliver Brackenbury sits down with Graham Thomas Wilcox for Oliver’s podcast So I’m Writing a Novel to discuss the creative process behind Wilcox’s novella Contra Amatores Mundi.
MAGAZINES
NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY:
+ New Edge released the ebooks and started shipping issues 3 and 4 simultaneously.
Issue 3’s contents include:
”Beating Stars, Dying Hearts” by Matt John, Illustrated by Artyom Trakhanov
”The Betrayal of the Rhinoceros” by Premee Mohammed, Illustrated by Remco van Straten.
”St. Fario’s Feast” by Thomas Ha, Illustrated by Damiano Di Marco
”Gravediggers of Carsonne” by John R. Fultz, Illustrated by Simon Underwood
”Something Oath-Like” by Oliver Brackenbury, Illustrated by Crom
Flash Fiction from W.O. Balmer, Timaeus Bloom, Melissa Burlock, James A. Estes, Samantha Rich, R.L. Summerling, Illustrated by Jan and Vlad Schwartz
”Jirel and the Mirror of Truth” by Molly Tanzer, Illustrated by Saprophial
”Sticker Story: The Barber of Rem Um,” Andrew Whelan, Illustrated by Michael A. Zug
Plus the following non-fiction essays:
”The Untrammeled Wilds,” by Jay Wolf, Illustrated by H.B. Tyson
”Jessica Amanda Salmonson: Amazon,” by Bryn Hammond, Illustrated by Chuah Shih Shin
”Cock & Bull: An Interview with Kirk A. Johnson,” Conducted by Oliver Brackenbury
”Review: Shared World edited by Jonathan Ball” by Robin Marx
Issue 4’s Table of Contents:
”Gaze Upon The Beating Dark,” Jeremy Pak Nelson, Illustrated by Daniel Vega
”White in the Eye,” Jonathan Olfert, Illustrated by Gary McCluskey
”The Concord of the Outhar,” by Kirk A. Johnson, Illustrated by Trevor Ngwenya
”A Portrait in Ivory,” by Michael Moorcock, Illustrated by Sapro
”Hunter,” by Oliver Brackenbury, Illustrated by Sage Curtis
”The Jesting Jann” by Harry Turtledove, Illustrated by Dan Rempel
”Battle of The Nine Waters” by Dariel. R. A. Quiogue, Illustrated by Goran Gligovic
”A Serpent from the Ash” by June Orchid Parker, Illustrated by Matthew Spencer
Plus the nonfiction essays:
”Tanith Lee: Dark Mistress of the Weird,” by Cora Buhlert, Illustrated by Chuah Shih Shin
”Axes at the End of History: Sword & Sorcery & Heavy Metal” by Nathaniel Webb, Illustrated by Ursa Doom
”Lofty Heights and Profound Depths: An Interview with Bryn Hammond,” Conducted by Oliver Brackenbury
”Review: Swords in the Shadows, edited by Cullen Bunn” by Doris V. Sutherland
OLD MOON QUARTERLY:
Issue 8 is now available here and features the following stories.
“Now I Have The Scent” by Laird Barron
”Diamond Skin and Bones of Jewels” by Jake Brewer
”Galatine” by Alexander Atreya
”Old Warlocks Never Die” by Avra Margariti (poem)
”A Grass Rope” by Jonathan Olfert
”Rendezvous Aboard a Ship of Death” by K H Vaughan
”Shadows Under Assoil” by Elizabeth Morrissey
”Nobody Kills a Wizard” by John R. Fultz
”Censor, Poet, Paper, Tree” by Kyle Miller
”Discovering the Caliper’d Heart” by Daniel Rabuzzi (a poem)
”The End is the Beginning is The End” by Alex Fox
”The Fourth Intruder” by John Langan
SWORDS & SORCERY MAGAZINE:
Editor Curtis Ellet wishes us a Happy 2025 while having three stories for us to read online for issue #155. They are:
“A Ritual of Thieves,” by Malcom North
“A Blackened Shield,” by Jay Requard
“The Iron Bells of Xylinthia,” by Jeffery Scott Sim
If you like the stories and wish to support the magazine, please consider their Patreon,
TRIAPA:
Issue #16 was released on December 1st, and the following authors contributed a 2-page amateur zine.
Andy Darby, Because the Bastards won’t Write Themselves, Issue 7
Jason Donaldson, The House Half Under The Hill, Dec 2024
Chase A. Folmar & Jason Ray Carney, Witchmark 4
Black Cavalier Designs, 12 Leagues To Averoigne Vol 1, Issue 16
Carl Ellis, Tales from the Valley XII
Rom Parsons, Brazen Blades, Issue 7
David J. Lynch, Ink and Hatchet: Musings on Larger than Life Fiction (Dec 2024, Issue 16)
Aaron Cummins, Views from the Pig Sty, Dec 2024
Ben Gardiner, Caliginous Chronicles, Vol IV
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.
MUSIC
+ The band Castle Rat has had a banner year, with their music videos and tours drawing much attention. On Dec 9th, they launched a Kickstarter for their second album, Return to the Realm. Along the way, they created great promotions for it, including the above photo, which looks like The Rat Queen is taking back her kingdom with the aid of a goth gang from Lankhmar and a half-skaven assassin.
I also recommend checking out the video she and the Rat Reaperess made to promote it and its followup. It knowingly embraces the extreme low-budget aesthetic of Sword & Sorcery community theatre.
It properly evokes 1990s VHS gems like this promotion video for the Shadowrun RPG and the VHS portion of TSR’s Dragonstrike video board game.
As for Castle Rat, they successfully funded it in the first 37 minutes and have raised it since then. If you haven’t yet, check them out to support before the campaign closes on January 9.
PODCASTS
In this episode, the Michael Moorcock-dedicated podcast sits down with the man to discuss his creative process and more as part of his 85th birthday celebrations.
+ The Rogues in the House, after being busy this year with their creative efforts in prose and gaming, reunite their original lineup of hosts to discuss Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies.
I can confirm how strongly Christmas is associated with the films. One of my fondest memories is our circle of friends going to see it on Christmas Day after our family obligations. A gentle snowfall occurred while we watched the movie, adding to that season's reverential mood.
+ In addition to the above interview with Graham Thomas Wilcox, SIWAN host Oliver Brackenbury has begun releasing episodes that update viewers on the creative process of the final act of his Sword & Sorcery novel.
Episode detailing his plans for the overall final act is here
The episode detailing the first story of said final act is here.
This episode discusses his tribute to the Elric of Melnibone story “Sailing to the Future” by Michael Moorcock.
Finally, for this month, this episode details a foray into Sword & Planet.
REVIEWS
Titan Books released a new 2-book omnibus, which collected two works from Michael Moorcock featuring members of the Von Bek clan, who became a recurring connection through the second half of the bibliography. The 1981 novel The War Hound and the World’s Pain and 1986’s The City in the Autumn Stars.
The Washington Post gives the books an appreciative look:
If there’s one thing Moorcock understands in his bones, it’s the ability of language to dream a new world into being, or to make us confront the limits of the here and now. Sometimes, as in “Von Bek,” he does both at once, harnessing pulp fiction’s addictive immediacy to subvert the ideas we take for granted in provocative, dizzying ways.
Jason Ray Carney gives a deep review story by story of Old Moon Quarterly #7 that you can read at Spiral Tower Press.
[T]he editors now seem more willing to publish works that test the conventions of established genres, specifically highly conventionalized genres like sword and sorcery. There are some stories written in a conventional narrative style, but there are also some decidedly experimental works. I’ll touch on those shortly. In essence, this was an eclectic and artistically ambitious issue. Old Moon Quarterly doesn’t seem interested in merely publishing more of the same.
+ To Walk on Worlds from Matthew John gets an extremely in-depth spoiler-riffic story by story review by Vincent Darlage that you can read here, but consider yourself warned over those spoilers:
[M]ostly I feel positive about this book. I loved the cover art. I enjoyed most of the stories, including Maxus and Lachmannon. I like how Matt John can convey character quickly. Many of the background images were stellar and easily conveyed what should be seen. There were many passages or phrases that I simply relished, and read them over and over just to appreciate them.
+ Robin Marx reviews Contra Amatores Mundi by Graham Thomas Wilcox at Grimdark Magazine:
Hieronymus and Prospero’s odyssey is a bloody, arduous one. At every turn they are confronted by giants, animate skeletons, serpent-headed creatures and worse. Their nightmarish journey is accompanied by frequent meditations upon the nature of their vocation. These knights fight in the name of the Christian God (presented here as a more martial and bloodthirsty icon than some might expect), and Hieronymus is simultaneously devoted to the darkly alluring Walpurga. But the reader is also given the impression that these two warriors relish the taking and giving of blood. They are compatible with no other lifestyle; killing is their business and business is good. And trapped as they are in another realm with only a faint glimmer of hope, they have effectively become suicide commandos.
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 Bards * Bargains-themed issue. Deadline: February 28, 2025. 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 maximum.
+ 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 in 2025 for more Sword & Sorcery News. Thank you for reading Just The Axe, Ma’am! —KB
