This review originally appeared on Goodreads on February 6, 2013.

The Viscount and the Witch

By Michael J. Sullivan – Ridan Publishing – October 8, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

I wasn't familiar with this author or his Riyria Chronicles series, but this short story has motivated me to investigate further. The title story itself is a bit sleight and ends abruptly, but the characters (well-meaning soldier Hadrian and his cynical thief comrade Royce) and their interactions were appealing. Fans of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories may notice a similar vibe.

The sample Riyria Chronicles book chapters included in the e-book have also piqued my interest. I've added the first book to my shopping list, and I look forward to seeing if Sullivan's plots live up to his characters.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 21, 2012.

Travellers' Rest

By James Enge – Pyr – December 3, 2010

Review by Robin Marx

This sword & sorcery story plays out almost like a spaghetti western, with the moody wizard-swordsman Morlock Ambrosius and his dwarfish companion happening on a tiny hamlet with a dark secret. Both the characters and story remind me a great deal of Michael Moorcock's Elric stories, sharing driven, melancholy characters, a tense atmosphere, and weird events. This free Kindle novella was released by James Enge's publisher Pyr to introduce readers to his Morlock Ambrosius series, and it certainly succeeded in capturing my interest.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 21, 2012.

The Book of Taltos

By Steven Brust – Ace – January 8, 2002

Review by Robin Marx

This omnibus collects the fourth and fifth volumes in Steven Brust's Dragaera series, Taltos and Phoenix. I read the first three books collected as The Book of Jhereg about five years ago, and while I remembered a bit about the world Brust presents, those stories had completely faded from my memory. I expect the same will happen with these two installments as well. The world of Dragaera is interesting and appealing, but other aspects of the books aren't quite as strong.

Although published fourth, Taltos is chronologically the first story in the series. It introduces Vlad Taltos, a human assassin operating in the Dragaeran Empire. In an interesting twist, the tall, magically-adept Dragaerans (nicknamed “elfs” by the humans) are the dominant species in Brust's world, with humans (called “Easterners” by the Dragaerans) generally relegated to the fringes of society. This book covers Taltos' youth, with a parallel plot-line involving a quest into the Dragaeran land of the dead. The story provides a good deal of insight into the character of Taltos, as well as describing how he gained some of the powerful allies that feature so heavily in the other stories.

The other book in the omnibus, Phoenix, was the more troubled of the pair. In this story, Taltos is called upon by a goddess to assassinate the king of a minor nation. Just why this is necessary is never satisfactorily revealed, although there's some hinting about portents, etc. There's another thread dealing with the human liberation group Taltos's wife belongs to and it's struggle with the Dragaeran Empire, but this plot seemed fairly muddled as well. The ending was much better than the rest of the book, however; Taltos and the final pages of Phoenix are good enough to earn three stars, rather than the two I would've awarded otherwise.

I'm starting to thing Brust may not be the author for me. I find the world of Dragaera interesting and I'm fond of fantasy crime stories (Lankhmar, etc.), but the plots in this volume were a little weak. The Vlad Taltos character is well realized, but the (unnecessarily numerous) supporting characters basically seem to have one shtick. There's Sneaky Guy, Thief Girl, Uptight Swordsman, etc. Whenever Sneaky Guy appears, he's being sneaky, that's it, there's no further development. Uptight Swordsman is Uptight, and Long Cat is Long.

Vlad Taltos's “voice” (the books are written in first person) also rubs me the wrong way. He relates the story in a very casual, modern tone. He talks like every Joss Whedon character, basically. (It didn't surprise me at all to find out that Brust has written a full-length Firefly fan-fic novel.) For some readers (who may also be Whedon fans), this is probably not a drawback. However, I can only take Whedon in small doses, and when Brust (speaking through the character of Vlad Taltos) is describing life and death struggles and the fate of nations in a Whedonesque flippant, detached manner, I find I can't muster up much emotional involvement in the story. If the narrator isn't taking things seriously, why should I?

I own one more Dragaera omnibus, collecting the next two volumes in the series. I'll read Athyra and Orca before deciding whether to keep going or to abandon the series entirely.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 11, 2022.

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart

By Jesse Bullington – Orbit – October 27, 2009

Review by Robin Marx

Natural Born Killers in the 14th century. Grand Theft Wagon. This grimdark picaresque romp through the Holy Roman Empire and points beyond follows two grave-robbing brothers on a grandiose journey to loot the tombs of Egypt.

Hegel and Manfried, the titular Brothers Grossbart, are not good people. They rob from the dead and have zero compunctions about creating new corpses. Shortly after being introduced to them, we see the pair murder a family of farmers with no real provocation. This inciting event plants the seeds for future strife experienced by the brothers as well as marking the start of their medieval international crime spree. Along the way they encounter witches, demons, and brigands every bit as cruel and vicious as themselves.

The brothers are churlish, thuggish, and ignorant. They’re hot-tempered, violent, arbitrary, and petty. They’re also pious in an idiosyncratic way: they’re reverently horny for the Virgin Mary, but they don’t think much of her son. Like most villains, they view themselves as the heroes of their narrative, and despite their repellant natures, they make compelling protagonists.

The Grossbarts are perfectly at home in the medieval Europe portrayed in the book. The people they encounter tend to be every bit as treacherous and untrustworthy as themselves. The supporting cast is vicious, diseased, demented, avaricious, and/or occasionally literally in league with the devil.

This book isn’t for everyone. People who require likable protagonists and happy endings should stay away. The book is full of graphic violence and drenched in various bodily fluids. Children are casually murdered. Blasphemy is present and accounted for. But for those who can enjoy grim and dark tales, this book is exhilarating and slyly humorous.

The dialogue was the highlight of the book for me. The brothers speak in a crass and blunt dialect that never ceases to entertain. Their interactions with other characters pleasantly reminded me of Jack Vance’s Cugel the Clever stories, albeit with Cugel’s highfaluting bloviating replaced with hammer-blunt gutter slang.

My only real complaint with the book is that the pacing lags in some sections. The brothers’ sojourn in Venice seems to go on longer than necessary, and there’s an ocean journey that feels a little slow. That being said, a lot of territory (geographically and spiritually) is covered over the course of the book, and it was sufficiently gripping that I finished the final third of the book in a single sitting.

As I said, this book isn’t for everyone, but I found it a lot of fun. If you have an affinity for grimdark, this is an entertaining and wryly funny read.

★★★★☆

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

Wrath of the White Tigress: A Tale of Pawan Kor

By David Alastair Hayden – Typing Cat Press – June 25, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

Billed as a modern sword & sorcery tale in the tradition of Moorcock and Gemmel, this book starts with a compelling premise: an assassin tasked with killing a high priestess manages to shake off decades of mystical brainwashing. Working with Zyrella, the high priestess, he turns against the evil emperor Salahn and attempts to destroy the regime he once helped build.

I enjoyed the book, but it had a few issues. The beginning and conclusion were quite strong, but the middle part seemed to lose focus and meander a bit. I liked the main trio of characters, Jaska, Zyrella, and Ohzi, but the middle third of the book rapidly introduces a number of new faces that failed to leave much of an impression. As a result there are a couple cases of dramatic self-sacrifice that fell flat. I didn't really need the archer twins with their vague prophecy or the desert tribesmen, they were all fairly interchangeable and I would've rather spent more time with the main characters.

The prose was solid, but not particularly ostentatious. Not much time was spent on world-building, but the setting seemed interesting and a pleasant change from pseudo-Europe. The magic presented was interesting, but perhaps a little under-developed (the star-based magic was especially vague). The fast pace and action reminded me a bit of my favorite sword & sorcery stories, but the frequent divine intervention and good versus evil plot are well-trodden epic fantasy tropes and appealed less.

Hayden is a newer author, and I suspect my issues with the book are related to that. It was a fun read, though. I own another Hayden book besides this one and I plan to keep an eye out for future releases as well.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #DavidAlastairHayden #WrathOfTheWhiteTigress

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on July 27, 2020.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection Volume 2

By Various – Dark Horse Books – November 3, 2015

Review by Robin Marx

Like the first volume, this collection delivers a fun look at the mini comics included with the Masters of the Universe toy line. In addition to the later He-Man mini comics not included in the first volume, this book contains the She-Ra: Princess of Power mini comics, the few that were produced for the more space opera-oriented New Adventures line, and some fun fan service-filled comics that were created for the recent Masters of the Universe Classics toy line for adult collectors.

While the volume itself is assembled with every bit as much care and attention to detail as the first, it suffers a bit in that the stories included aren’t quite as entertaining as those contained in Volume One. While the entire line was conceived as a marketing instrument to promote toy sales, the earlier comics had more of a “wild and wooly” feel. As the comic line progressed, the formula became a bit more repetitive and the commercial aspect slightly more obvious. This book is still a fun read and a worthwhile companion to the first, but I missed the weirdness and mystery of the first comics, where the setting of Eternia was less developed.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #DarkHorse #HeMan #MastersOfTheUniverse #MOTU

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on July 3, 2020.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection Volume 1

By Various – Dark Horse Books – November 3, 2015

Review by Robin Marx

The Masters of the Universe toy line was an imaginative mix of fantasy and science fiction, with wildly unique character designs. While the premise has a clear delineation between good and evil (“these guys fight those guys”), it was thought that kids could benefit from a bit more backstory. Knowing more about the characters and the setting they lived in would provide inspiration for children to come up with their own stories, and thus the bonus pack-in mini comics were born.

While the comics were quickly produced and tended to have simplistic, linear plots much like the subsequent Filmation cartoon, they have their own charm. Many of the people that worked on the mini comics were either established pros doing some quick work on the side for extra money, or newcomers who later went on to greater success and fame. It was also interesting to see how the Masters of the Universe setting developed over time. Backstories change, characters are given different roles, etc.

First of a two-volume series, this book was clearly assembled with care. The artwork is presented in a larger format than originally used, allowing the readers to see both fine details and artistic goofs. Footnotes are sprinkled throughout the book, drawing attention to trivia, errors, first appearances, and other interesting aspects of the comics. There are also a number of interviews with members of the shifting teams behind their creation.

All in all, this is a fun look at a part of many kids’ childhoods. The comics were marketing instruments thrown together in haste, but the characters and stories are enjoyable and nostalgia-filled. It’s also an interesting look at the early work of a number of comic creators who would go on to bigger and better things.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #ComicReview #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery #DarkHorse #HeMan #MastersOfTheUniverse #MOTU

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 22, 2012.

Thieves' World: First Blood

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey (Editor) – Tor Books – December 1, 2003

Review by Robin Marx

The volume collects the first two Thieves' World anthologies, Thieves' World and Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn. While it was great finally having a chance to read these (previously long out of print) stories, I don't think many of them lived up to the great premise.

The Thieves' World I expected was quite similar to what was described in the Making of Thieves' World essay included in the book: a massive slum various sword & sorcery heroes call home, their adventures tangentially intersecting and their paths crossing. While there are some stories that deliver—those stories tend to be the highlights—there are surprisingly few actual thief protagonists, and far too much high fantasy mucking about with competing gods. Fritz Leiber is cited as an influence, but Thieves' World's city of Sanctuary is nowhere near as lush, decadent, and dangerous as Lankhmar, and few of the adventures found here have the same kind of personal stakes and gritty, street-level action of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tales. The Making of Thieves describes a teeming hive of corruption that could play home to Conan, Elric, Karl Edward Wagner's Kane, etc., but then it has too many stories about humans acting directly as pawns for interventionist, physically manifested gods. This felt like a bait and switch to me. For something called “Thieves' World” there were surprisingly few heists; perhaps “Prophet's World” would have been a more appropriate title.

Perhaps it can be said that Thieves' World shows the fantasy genre in transition. It was released in 1979, when pure sword & sorcery was on the decline and Tolkien-inspired high fantasy (as embodied by Terry Brooks's The Sword of Shannara, released in 1977) was becoming increasingly commercially successful. I suspect that's the reason for the tension between the few gritty street-level tales and the more high flying epic stories. This is interesting from a genre history perspective, but not really what I was looking for. I don't think I'll go out of my way to seek out the sequel anthologies, as it appears that the competing pantheon aspect of the stories only grows more prevalent.

As a final note, the Kindle edition of this book is probably the most poorly formatted commercial e-book I've seen to date. There are numerous cases of OCR errors (spelling errors are particularly obnoxious in jargon-prone fantasy), several instances of strangely hyphenated words, and even a few snippets of missing text. While I didn't factor this into my rating, I expect better from a major publisher like Macmillan/TOR.

★★☆☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #RobertLynnAsprin #LynnAbbey #ThievesWorld

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 25, 2016.

Gloriana

By Michael Moorcock – Allison & Busby – April 1, 1978

Review by Robin Marx

This is an incredibly lush story about an idealized England. Albion has emerged from tyranny and into a Golden Age, brought about by its perfect queen, the titular Gloriana. As with most empires, there's corruption behind the scenes, however: the queen's advisor, Montfalcon, breaks quite a few eggs making the omelets necessary to keep Albion running while protecting her from his scheming. A careless mistake leads to hurt feelings and a growing sense of enmity that threatens to topple the whole kingdom.

The novel is tightly-plotted and evocative. Everything ties together and the twists and turns keep the reader guessing until the satisfying end. Even more than the plot, the richly described world is the main draw for this book, however. Moorcock crafts a world that I enjoyed visiting immensely. And although there are a few allusions to his Eternal Champion series, this novel stands alone, serving as an approachable introduction to his work. Highly recommended.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on December 13, 2024.

Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #3

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Jonas Scharf (Artist) – Titan Comics – November 6, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #3 begins with the Heroes of Man reeling from the loss of two of their own. The giant, many-armed creature now known as the Beast of the Black Stone has demonstrated that it’s capable of pursuing and killing its victims across time and space, and that there is no safe refuge for Conan and the other gathered champions.

The Pictish scout Brissa guides them through the wilderness using a fragment of the Black Stone that harbors a remnant of the immolated Texan author James Allison’s soul. Thrown together by circumstance, the six survivors react differently to their task and their companions. Conan and Brissa relish their unexpected reunion. Dour Puritan adventurer Solomon Kane and hot-tempered swordswoman Dark Agnes de Chastillon—both displaced from the 16th century—are skeptical of their companions but face the struggle against the Beast with grim resolve. Conrad and Kirowan remain fascinated by the occult implications of their plight. A disastrous encounter with another shard of the Black Stone leads to an unplanned confrontation with the Beast, however.

From a narrative and characterization standpoint, Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #3 is a mixed bag. The interactions and dialogue between Conan and Brissa are well done. Years have passed since Brissa’s presumed death at the climax of Conan the Barbarian #4 (with her supernatural escape revealed in The Savage Sword of Conan #4); the two were intimate when they traveled together, but Conan is older now, battle-scarred and experienced. This story takes place after Conan has loved and lost his pirate queen Bêlit, perhaps the most impactful relationship in his life, but thrown together with Brissa again he rediscovers his attraction for the Pict. While apparently little time has passed for Brissa, for her part she finds the more mature Conan to still be “burning bright,” subtly echoing Atali’s appraisal of the barbarian’s vitality in the Frozen Faith story arc (Conan the Barbarian #16). Their scene together is a nice bit of character work in a largely rushed-feeling miniseries.

Unfortunately, the other characters in the story continue to be mishandled or neglected. While the bonding scene between Solomon Kane and Dark Agnes is entertaining, both characters’ subsequent individual portrayals either feel inauthentic or fail to communicate their appeal as original author Robert E. Howard created them. Last issue Solomon Kane attacked Conan without any real justification (apart from to provide an eye-catching cover illustration), and this issue he randomly and inexplicably accuses Brissa of responsibility for a companion’s death. Dark Agnes fares even more poorly. After being mostly sidelined for two issues she finally gets some screentime, only to make a bizarrely rash decision that has catastrophic consequences for her and her companions.

Jim Zub began the Battle of the Black Stone miniseries with eight characters and issue #3 concludes with—to the best of the reader’s knowledge—three surviving heroes. The intent seems to be to create a high-stakes atmosphere where any character can die, but so little time has been spent with the non-Conan characters that their deaths fail to have much narrative impact. Even worse, those who are killed have, thus far, not experienced the most dignified or heroic deaths. Multiple characters have been isolated in time and space from their companions and slaughtered by the Beast, and one of the miniseries’ two heroines loses her life in a situation that feels less like a desperate last stand than it does a pointless, ill-considered and avoidable fight. Put bluntly, watching classic Howard characters go out like punks hasn’t been a great time. From the beginning, this miniseries felt like a blatantly commercial attempt to launch a Robert E. Howard comic universe for Titan Comics (a solo Solomon Kane miniseries has been announced), so the likelihood of these characters’ deaths being hastily reversed in the final issue means their demises have even less weight than an X-Men hero dying in a Marvel title.

Throughout Conan the Barbarian: Battle of the Black Stone #3, the spirit of James Allison mutters portentously about “heroes and fools,” but it feels like there are more fools than heroes in this issue. There’s still time for the final issue to stick the landing, but my optimism is waning.

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