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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 14, 2021.

Whetstone: Amateur Magazine of Sword and Sorcery Issue One

Edited by Jason Ray Carney – Spiral Tower Press – June 12, 2020

Review by Robin Marx

While some of the stories are a little rough, for the first issue of a free amateur fantasy magazine Whetstone makes an impressively strong showing.

The issue puts its best foot forward with “The Wizard’s Demise” by Géza A. G. Reilly. While the premise is a fairly simple perspective reversal of the “barbarian stalks an evil sorcerer” premise, it’s cleverly written and just plain fun.

“The Temple of Vanas” by Kieran Judge is another highlight, with some nice twists, a paranoid feel, an a tough heroine.

D. M. Ritzlin’s “Undying Thirst for Vengeance” reads like a fantasy episode of The Twilight Zone. It has some excellent sword & sorcery names, too: Fanzubibar, Flargesht, Nilztiria.

While not every story took my breath away, there was at the very least something interesting about each of them. Some of the authors may lack experience, but even if one of this issue’s stories didn’t quite land right I was left looking forward to future work by them. It’s great seeing contemporary sword & sorcery fiction being promoted and new talent being cultivated, and this inaugural issue left me excited about subsequent installments.

★★★☆☆

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