This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on August 15, 2026.

Cormac Mac Art: Isle of Swords

By Matthew John – Titan Books – July 28, 2026

Review by Robin Marx

As Isle of Swords begins, Gaelic reaver Cormac Mac Art awakens on the shore of a corpse-strewn beach, greeted by the sound of his Danish comrade Wulfere (appropriately nicknamed the “Skull-splitter”) braining shipwrecked Saxons with a rock. The two are the only survivors of a raiding crew swept away along with their Saxon foemen by a rogue wave during a bloody boarding action. Upon realizing that they have washed up on their original destination, the Isle of Swords, rumored to house a lost trove of Roman gold guarded by hostile Pictish tribesfolk, the pair elect to press on with the search for the treasure despite the overwhelming odds against them. In addition to brutal Saxons and baleful Picts, before long Cormac and Wulfere encounter menacing sorcery and the uncanny influence of a tribal icon called the Dark Man.

Cormac Mac Art: Isle of Swords is part of Titan Books’ HEROIC LEGENDS line of digital short stories featuring the characters of Weird Tales veteran pulp author and Conan the Barbarian creator Robert E. Howard. While Conan himself has inevitably received the lion’s share of attention given his name recognition, HEROIC LEGENDS has also allowed modern authors to revive some of the lesser-known heroes from Howard’s body of work. Cormac Mac Art is one such character, having only appeared in a pair of finished stories and two further incomplete fragments, none of which were published during Howard’s lifetime. Indeed, Cormac Mac Art remains somewhat of a Howard “deep cut” character even today, with only a handful of pastiche fiction and comic appearances. Despite being the 24th installment in the line, Isle of Swords is the first HEROIC LEGENDS story dedicated to Cormac.

While this is (occasional Grimdark Magazine contributor) Matthew John’s first piece involving Cormac Mac Art, he is no stranger to the realms of Robert E. Howard and Sword & Sorcery fantasy in general. In addition to extensive work on Monolith Board Games’ Conan tabletop and roleplaying games, John has penned stories starring the barbarian for The Savage Sword of Conan. Readers familiar with his previous fiction, either through his Conan work or To Walk on Worlds, have a good idea of what to expect from Cormac Mac Art: Isle of Swords: muscular, kinetic prose and bone-crunching violence. John keeps the pace brisk and the bodies dropping. Unlike John’s previous work, however, the supernatural elements of the story are kept low-key; eerie, but with an air of plausible deniability about them. While readers accustomed to Conan and King Kull may miss the lack of fireworks and monsters, this restraint is wholly appropriate for Cormac Mac Art, whose original exploits as related by Howard (barring one) were grounded historical adventures. On the other hand, the true identity of the Dark Man is a fun Easter egg sure to be appreciated by fans of Howard’s more sorcery-infused stories.

Cormac Mac Art: Isle of Swords is a fast-paced and gritty adventure involving one of Robert E. Howard’s more underutilized characters. Readers in the mood for monsters and magical mayhem are better directed to other entries in the HEROIC LEGENDS line, but grimdark fans in particular are likely to appreciate the mud-caked melees and dirty tactics Matthew John delivers.

#ReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #HeroicLegends #CormacMacArt #CormacMacArtIsleOfSwords #MatthewJohn #GrimdarkMagazine #GdM