This review originally appeared at This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 25, 2021.

The Infernal Bargain and Other Stories

Edited by D.M. Ritzlin – DMR Books – January 1, 2019

Review by Robin Marx

Available free to mailing list subscribers, this promotional collection offers a sampling of the works by authors published by DMR Books. Most of the stories fall firmly in the sword & sorcery sub-genre of pulp fantasy. While not all of the stories left a strong impression on me, there were a number of standouts.

The books starts off strong with the title story by publisher D.M. Ritzlin himself. A muscular wanderer named Avok encounters a treacherous sorcerer and, but for his strength and wits, nearly finds himself the prey of a demon. A pretty traditional S&S tale, but an enjoyable one.

“Thannhausefeer's Guest” is another strong story. In this Viking-themed tale, a shipwrecked man finds himself drawn into a gladiatorial competition to entertain a giant cannibal. While a bit on the dour side, the story is vividly written and atmospheric.

“Into the Dawn of Storms” is more of a vignette than a self-contained story, but the situation it presents—an Elizabethan ship captain named Caleb Blackthorne receiving ominous portents from famous occultist Doctor John Dee—is intriguing enough to tempt me to seek out the complete book.

“The Gift of the Ob-Men” by Schuyler Hernstrom is a nicely weird sword & sorcery tale, also serving as the source of the title for Hernstrom's solo collection, The Eye of Sounnu. This story is one of the highlights of both books, seamlessly blending science fiction and fantasy.

Much like “The Infernal Bargain,” “Adventure in Lemuria” is another fairly traditional sword & sorcery adventure, this time complete with a strange cult, human sacrifice, and an evil temptress. The protagonist is ostensibly from Crete, but historical and cultural details are fairly light, seemingly more for spice than to ground the story in our world.

The book concludes with “The Heaviest Sword,” a horror story set in feudal Japan. This story is quite brief and vaguely sketched, but the Japanese flavor set it apart from the many Eurocentric stories in the book. I'd happily read more Japan-themed stories by Geoff Blackwell, but so far his output seems rather sparse and his Internet presence minimal.

Overall, this book offers a solid look at the kind of stories offered by DMR Books. It has encouraged me to research some of the authors further, but the anthology itself is harmed a bit by the presence of a couple novel excerpts that don't work particularly well independently. Most of the stories are by modern writers, so the inclusion of “The Sapphire Goddess” (1934) and “The Thief of Forthe” (1937) from the pages of Weird Tales also strike a bit of an odd note. That being said, this collection succeeds as a free sampler of DMR Books' output and is worth a read for sword & sorcery fans.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 29, 2017.

The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz

By Dan Simmons – Subterranean Press – June 30, 2013

Review by Robin Marx

With the death of archmagician Ulfant Banderoz, the Dying Earth seems closer to destruction than ever. Shrue the diabolist decides to make the dangerous journey to Banderoz’s Ultimate Library and Final Compendium of Thaumaturgical Lore and acquire the mystic knowledge housed within.

This charming novella evokes the color and vibrancy of Jack Vance’s classic Dying Earth cycle without attempting the fool’s errand of parroting the style of Vance himself. The end result is a story that feels at home in the setting (pelgranes, deodands, and the Excellent Prismatic Spray are all present and accounted for), but with a milder dose of Vance’s world-weary cynicism. There’s even some optimism mixed in here. That seems like a strange choice for a Dying Earth story, but somehow it works. An absolute gem of a story.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #DyingEarth #DanSimmons #TheGuidingNoseOfUlfantBanderoz

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on July 14, 2012.

Wizardry and Wild Romance: A Study of Epic Fantasy

By Michael Moorcock – UNKNO – March 16, 2004

Review by Robin Marx

This is an interesting and erudite overview of epic fantasy by one of the genre's living masters. The breadth of Moorcock's knowledge is impressive, particularly when it comes to pre-Tolkien fantasy and it's roots in gothic literature. It's also incredibly opinionated; there's something in here to irritate any serious fantasy fan. I delighted in his notorious portrayal of Lord of the Rings as safe and bland “Epic Pooh,” but I thought he gave Robert E. Howard short shrift in places, especially since he appeared to be working from one of the inferior products resulting from L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter's tampering. For the most part everything is well-argued, however. This is a worthwhile read for serious fantasy fans.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Nonfiction #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #WizardryAndWildRomance #MichaelMoorcock

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 9, 2015.

Eight Skilled Gentlemen

By Barry Hughart – Foundation/Doubleday – January 1, 1991

Review by Robin Marx

While still a pleasure to read, Eight Skilled Gentlemen hews disappointingly close to The Story of the Stone's formula. As with the last book, there's a barrage of digressions, false starts, betrayals, and red herrings. While individual scenes are invariably entertaining—one where Number Ten Ox and Master Li have to dispose of a corpse was stomach-churningly hilarious—I felt they didn't quite come together to form a single cohesive book.

That being said, Master Li and Number Ten Ox have earned a place in my heart as two of my favorite characters, and it seems a great loss that there won't be any more adventures starring them.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #HistoricalFantasy #Mystery #HistoricalMystery #BarryHughart #EightSkilledGentlemen #TheChroniclesOfMasterLiAndNumberTenOx

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 9, 2015.

The Story of the Stone

By Barry Hughart – Spectra – October 1, 1989

Review by Robin Marx

It was great to read more about Master Li and Number Ten Ox's exploits, but I can't help feeling like it didn't quite live up to its predecessor.

While Bridge of Birds is more of a traditional fantasy adventure, The Story of the Stone ends up more like a murder mystery. While investigating an apparent forgery, the protagonists come upon the scene of a killing, along with hints that the killer may be the Laughing Prince, a long since deceased despot.

The premise is interesting, but the story that follows has even more meanderings, red herrings, and side treks that Bridge of Birds. The adventures described are always entertaining—the heroes' visit to a number of the Chinese hells stands out in particular—but with so much misdirection and dead ends I found myself losing the plot at times. It turns out there's a reason for all this, revealed (in true mystery novel fashion) as a climactic twist.

Master Li and Number Ten Ox continue to entertain, but Master Li's idiosyncrasies in particular seemed somewhat muted in this novel compared to the first one. Perhaps it was due to the spotlight time given to newly-introduced characters Moonboy and Grief-of-Dawn.

The Story of the Stone didn't wow me as much as Bridge of Birds, but then again very few books do. This is still an interesting novel and very much worth a read.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #HistoricalFantasy #Mystery #HistoricalMystery #BarryHughart #TheStoryOfTheStone #TheChroniclesOfMasterLiAndNumberTenOx

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 9, 2013.

Witch of the Four Winds / When the Idols Walked

By John Jakes – Open Road Media – July 31, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

This ebook volume collects the third and fourth Brak the Barbarian novels as well as two subsequent short stories. I enjoyed the first volume well enough, but this one left me pleasantly surprised. The novels here are much stronger than those in the previous book.

Witch of the Four Winds was the highlight of this volume. The premise is pretty standard; Brak must stop an evil sorceress from using her magic to destroy a beleaguered kingdom. But the great thing about the story is how lean it is. There is nothing extraneous here. Every character has an important role to play in the story, and no plot threads are left dangling. Everything comes together in the end to form a neat and tidy package.

The fourth novel, When the Idols Walked, was interesting, but not quite as strong as the third. The antagonists' motives are less clear than in other stories, and apart from a perceived debt of honor, Brak doesn't have much reason to stick around and become involved in a war that doesn't involve him. Still, the use of bound souls to control inanimate objects is an interesting one and leads to a pretty spectacular finale.

The novels are followed by “Brak in Chains.” While it wasn't quite as action-packed as the novels, the premise was an interesting one. Taken as a slave and blamed for heresy in a drought-cursed land, Brak is ordered to make it rain within two days or be executed. Like Witch of the Four Winds, the plot he uncovers is a clever one, and there's very little wasted verbiage or exposition.

Unfortunately the concluding story, “The Mirror of Wizardry,” is the dog of the collection. While it had a neat monster appearing it (piranha-like stones), the rest of the story is rather unremarkable and the characterization thin. It's a shame the book ended like this. To the best of my knowledge, this is the last Brak story, and with John Jakes' considerable age and the fact that his historical novels are so much more commercially successful, it doesn't look like Brak will ever get a worthy send-off.

While it didn't affect my opinion of the stories either way, one thing I noticed was how chaste the stories are. There's a pretty significant amount of gore (people reduced to “red slime” by falling rocks, enemies getting stabbed in the eyes, etc.), but zero sensuality. Every story has a beautiful girl appearing in it (or two: a companion/damsel and a femme fatale), but unlike Conan, Brak doesn't get any action at all. The evil girls tempt him but are ultimately rejected, and the good girls are either already romantically involved with other characters or lamely rejected by Brak by the story's conclusion. Brak has to be the most celibate literary barbarian I've come across.

While nowhere near as innovative and indispensable as the Conan, Elric, Kane, or Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser stories, the Brak stories are still worthwhile reads for fans of sword & sorcery. If you're new to the subgenre, however, I'd recommend you stick to the classics.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #JohnJakes #BrakTheBarbarian #WitchOfTheFourWinds #WhenTheIdolsWalked

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 5, 2013.

Guardian of the Dawn

By William King – Self-Published – August 1, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

This atmospheric fantasy short introduces Kormak, a disreputable-looking stranger belonging to a semi-mythical order of monster hunters. Wounded and caught out on the night of the full moon, when hostile creatures roam, he takes shelter at an isolated house. Realizing his true identity, the house's residents use his code of honor to coerce him into defending them against one particularly menacing creature.

The premise is appealing, and while Kormak himself is only vaguely sketched out as a character, he seems interesting. I also liked the setting hinted at in the story, with a sort of uneasy detente between the human realm and the bestial “children of the moon” roaming just outside the borders. However, I was disappointed when the story name-checked elves, dwarves, and orcs. Those Tolkienian races are completely played out, and their seemingly automatic inclusion marred an otherwise original sword & sorcery setting. The ending was also a bit of let-down. I respect the author for taking a daring chance with the narrative, but I can't help feeling that it effectively invalidated much of the preceding excitement.

Still, this was a good read overall. While I wasn't quite moved to run out and buy the other Kormak books, this story put King on my radar, and I'll keep an eye out for his stories in the future.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #WilliamKing #GuardianOfTheDawn #TheKormakSaga

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on December 17, 2012.

Sleepless, Burning Life

By Mike Allen – Mythic Delirium Books – June 23, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

Created for a lesbian steampunk anthology, this novella has an exciting premise, but the execution doesn't quite manage to do it justice. The plot involves a young woman, Jyshiu, sacrificing her life to rescue a goddess imprisoned in the afterlife. Driven by love, her quest leads her up the spinning, whirring clockwork tower underpinning the universe.

The Moorcockian setting and goddess/mortal romance are intriguing, but the novella falls down at the very end. The ambiguous “choose your own ending” climax is too clever for its own good. It appears the author's aim was to keep the reader wanting more, but rather than concluding with a pleasant tantalizing feeling I was left deflated and disappointed. The story could've been fleshed out more, too. As it stands, Jyshiu's journey doesn't seem like the ordeal it should be, it needed more trials and tribulations along the way.

This was an interesting read, but ultimately an unsatisfying one. I'd like to see the story reworked into a novel, fleshed out and given an appropriate resolution.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Fantasy #Steampunk #SleeplessBurningLife #MikeAllen

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 2, 2012.

Michael Moorcock's Multiverse

By Michael Moorcock (Writer), Walter Simonson (Artist), Mark Reeve (Artist), John Ridgway (Artist) – DC Comics – November 1, 1999

Review by Robin Marx

Beautiful art, but this comic is for the hardest of hardcore Moorcock fans only. I've read about two dozen Moorcock books and have a decent grounding in his Eternal Champion mythos, and this series was still largely incomprehensible.

The idea of three parallel plot lines linking at the end of the story is an interesting one, but things never quite mesh, and the various threads don't seem to share equal relevance to the overall story. In the end the reader is left with a host of mostly cipher-like characters shouting about how “destruction of the multiverse is imminent” without gaining any real sense of the how and the why behind the threat.

Moorcock has written many of my favorite books, but this is him at his most impenetrable.

★★☆☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #DCComics #MichaelMoorcocksMultiverse #MichaelMoorcock #EternalChampion #WalterSimonson #MarkReeve #JohnRidgway

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 7, 2011.

The Chronicles Of Solomon Kane

By Various – Dark Horse – December 8, 2009

Review by Robin Marx

This volume collects a two volume series called “The Mark of Kane” and a later six issue miniseries called “The Sword of Solomon Kane.”

Despite scripts by Roy Thomas, the former is a little on the cheesy side, but I was pleasantly surprised by the “Sword of Solomon Kane” series. With only six issues to work with, I found it baffling that they spent time making a few original stories (one called The Prophet was particularly sleight and disappointing, despite excellent Mike Mignola artwork) rather than sticking with adaptations of the original Robert E. Howard short stories, but the comic versions of “Red Shadows,” “Hills of the Dead,” and “Wings in the Night” were well done.

The highlight of this volume was the characterization, however. While the authors of the current Dark Horse series seem to be struggling with how to present Kane, the staff of this old Marvel comic got him right. Dour, vengeful, and above all driven.

While I wouldn't recommend this volume as an introduction to the adventures of Solomon Kane, it's certainly worth a look for those already familiar with the character.

★★★☆☆

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