Robin Marx's Writing Repository

SwordAndSorcery

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on December 29, 2016.

Elak of Atlantis: Four Stories

By Henry Kuttner – Diversion Books – July 29, 2014

Review by Robin Marx

The four stories contained in this book were entertaining, but a mixed bag.

The two longest stories, “Thunder in the Dawn” and “Dragon Moon” felt a bit unfocused, with extended, almost psychedelic interludes that reminded me of C. L. Moore's (Kuttner's wife) “Black God's Kiss.” Unfortunately, this aspect of Kuttner's stories compare unfavorably to Moore's.

“The Spawn of Dagon” was the shortest story in the book, but also the most interesting. Elak and his erstwhile companion the perpetually drunk Lycon accept what appears to be a relatively straightforward mission to assassinate a sorcerer. Without giving too much away, there's an interesting twist towards the end and the two heroes find themselves in a tense situation. While Robert E. Howard's “The Tower of the Elephant” is my usual go-to, this would also be a good example of a story to introduce Sword & Sorcery to someone unfamiliar with the subgenre.

While the afore-mentioned Lycon and an ugly, rotund druid named Dalan captured my interest, Elak himself was a bit bland as a character. He's of a royal bloodline, with no interest in ruling. There are hints that he had a falling out with his father, but it wasn't expanded upon. His weapon of choice is a rapier, which is an uncommon choice for a Sword & Sorcery hero. Apart from that, Lycon and Dalan seemed more vividly rendered than the titular hero.

While I don't feel like I wasted my time with this book, the bulk of the stories were fairly forgettable. Moore's Jirel of Joiry was a lot more compelling than her husband's creation.

★★★☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #HenryKuttner #ElakOfAtlantis

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 17, 2016.

The Door to Saturn

By Clark Ashton Smith – Night Shade Books – June 1, 2007

Review by Robin Marx

[The Door to Saturn] Part of CAS' Hyperborean cycle, “The Door to Saturn” has an interesting premise. A party of inquisitors storm the wizard Eibon's tower, hoping to bring him to justice for heresy. Eibon has a contingency plan, however, and a magic panel presented to him from his otherworldly patron Zhothaqquah to escape to Cykranosh (Saturn). The chief inquisitor Morghi discovers the trick and follows Eibon. They discover that the planet isn't especially hospital to human life, and they put aside their differences in an effort to survive their incomprehensible new environment. While more event- and locale-driven than plot-driven, the pair have an amusing adventure that reads very much like the kind of tale that Jack Vance would later write.

[The Red World of Polaris] This story is a straight science fiction tale, with a ship of explorers pulled down to the surface of a planet orbiting Polaris after drifting too close. They encounter aliens who have replaced their bodies with mechanical shells, and their hosts are homicidally offended when the humans rebuff their offer for a similar “upgrade.” While a lot happens in this story, apart from some vivid description there isn't much of interest here. Like “The Door to Saturn,” it's another story about characters trapped in a strange land, but it lacks the humor and whimsy of the previous tale.

[Told in the Desert] This story returns to one of Clark Ashton Smith's favorite themes: loss. A desert wanderer tells his camp-mates about his chance discovery of an isolated oasis and the charming young woman he romanced there. A callow individual, he takes his simple lifestyle and devoted paramour for granted and leaves the oasis. He realizes his mistake too late, and wanders the deserts searching in vain for the oasis. There aren't any big surprises in this story, but it's a simple fable well told.

[The Willow Landscape] While the previous story had an Arabian setting, this one takes place in ancient China. It involves an art collecting courtier who has fallen on hard times. He supports himself and his much younger brother by selling off pieces of his collection, until he eventually has to part with his absolute favorite piece, a wall scroll depicting a idyllic glen with a rustic hut, and arched bridge, and a small figure of a beautiful woman. The new owner—a fat man who, refreshingly, is not depicted as greedy or cruel—graciously allows the impoverished courtier one last night with the painting. He is rewarded for his love and devotion over the years by a mysterious voice who welcomes him into the world of the scroll, where he lives happily ever after with the maiden in the painting. As an art lover, I enjoyed this story a great deal. It seemed a bit like a reversal of Pygmalion, both feature protagonists who are rewarded for their devotion to a work of art, but instead of Galatea becoming flesh and joining Pygmalion as his wife, the courtier (whose “heart is native here but alien to all the world beside”) is absorbed into the art. This is a beautiful, charming story.

[A Rendezvous in Averoigne] This story is a classic, but probably more for the prose than the plot. It's a nice vampire story, but there's not much in the way of dramatic tension. The protagonist finds himself in a creepy, atmospheric situation, but it's resolved pretty smoothly, all things considered. Everything goes according to plan with the vampire-slaying, and I can't help but think the story would be stronger if there had been more obstacles or setbacks along the way. Still, the story is beautifully told.

[The Gorgon] This story about the caretaker of Medusa's head could easily have been written by Lovecraft or Clive Barker. There aren't any major twists or reveals, but it has a nice creepy tone.

[An Offering to the Moon] This story didn't work too well for me. The core premise, of an archaeologist basically going native and attacking a colleague while investigating an ancient sacrificial site, had promise, but the framing could have been better.

[The Kiss of Zoraida] I tend to like CAS' Arabian Nights-style stories, and while straightforward this is an effectively-written story of a jealous husband's revenge.

[The Face by the River] Not particularly notable or memorable.

[The Ghoul] Another Arabian Nights tale, this one is clever take on the theme of an average person burdened with a horrible task by a monster. Darkly poignant.

[The Tale of Sir John Maundeville] This story about a valiant knight starts off in an exciting and atmospheric manner, but the ending is absurdly anti-climactic. A literal conqueror worm king imprisons the knight for trespassing into the kingdom of the dead and...wordlessly, peacefully releases him after a reasonable period of incarceration. I would have liked to read Robert E. Howard's take on this premise, he would've given it a much worthier ending for sure.

[An Adventure in Futurity] While involving time instead of space travel, the second half of this story is almost a retelling of “The Red World of Polaris,” with an advanced society being overthrown by a slave uprising combined with biological warfare. I found it hard to summon up much sympathy for the future humans, given that they kept slaves in the first place. This story also felt entirely too long compared to “Polaris.”

[The Justice of the Elephant] While set in India, this story has a similar flavor to the Arabian Nights-style. This story makes an interesting pair with “The Kiss of Zoraida,” as it's the lover who gets revenge on the murderous cuckolded husband. That he makes use of the very same “weapon” used to kill the executed wife adds a nice symmetry.

[The Return of the Sorcerer] This story, with a secretary hired to assist a reclusive and harried-looking occultist, starts off quite a bit like “The Devotee of Evil” from Volume 1. Fortunately, it takes a wildly divergent path after the initial setup is established and culminates in a grisly ending that Edgar Allan Poe would have greatly appreciated.

[The City of the Singing Flame] This tale inspires more questions than it answers. It's framed as an “abandoned diary” from a vanished colleague so it's easy to guess the narrator's fate, but the mysterious otherworld is described in an extremely compelling manner.

[A Good Embalmer] It's easy to predict where this story is headed after the opening paragraphs, but this story stands out as one of the more obviously humorous of CAS' tales.

[The Testament of Athammaus] An executioner deals with a monstrous criminal that refuses to stay dead. This story has an interesting premise and some creepy exposition, but otherwise doesn't stand out too much.

[The Amazing Planet] This is an unusually action-packed story for CAS. Mistaken for animals, a pair of space explorers are captured by aliens and put on display at a zoo. Unable to communicate through any means but violence, the pair escape their cage and kill waves and waves of aliens until they're recaptured and shot back into space in the direction of the initial planet. The story has an interesting, desperate premise, but the execution doesn't quite live up to it.

[The Letter from Mohaun Los] I'd grown a bit tired of time travel stories by the time this one appeared, but this one had an interesting twist. The universe is always in motion, so if you travel far enough forward or backward in time you can't count on remaining in the same spot. As a result, the protagonist ends up traveling not just through time, but into outer space and even to other planets. He and his stereotypical Chinese servant encounter a variety of strange societies, make an alien friend, and end up settling in the far future. One repeating theme in CAS' fiction seems to be that you can't go home again. When protagonists journey to strange lands, they usually stay there permanently, either voluntarily or otherwise.

[The Hunters from Beyond] While more than a bit reminiscent of Lovecraft's “Pickman's Model” (something CAS readily admitted himself), this is a fun, creepy story to end off the volume with. After glimpsing an otherworldly monster, a struggling writer of weird fiction visits a sculptor cousin who regularly summons these creatures and uses them as inspiration for his art. The resulting plot doesn't have much in the way of surprises, but it's evocatively told.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #ClarkAshtonSmith #TheDoorToSaturn

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 26, 2015.

The End of the Story

Edited by Clark Ashton Smith – Night Shade Books – September 1, 2006

Review by Robin Marx

[Introduction] The introduction is nice and appropriately respectful of Clark Ashton Smith's legacy, but it won't mean much to new readers not yet familiar with his work. The introduction was written by British horror writer Ramsay Campbell, who along with Robert M. Price and Brian Lumley, is one of the major living figures in modern Lovecraftian horror fiction. Campbell's Lovecraftian creatures have been statted up in Call of Cthulhu, most notably Glaaki (from The Inhabitant of the Lake), the Insects from Shaggai, and Y'Golonac. I agree that CAS has fantastic, evocative titles. Campbell also touches on the fact that CAS created and revisited a number of distinct fantasy worlds in his fiction, including the Hyperborea (a pre-Ice Age setting), Poseidonis (remnants of Atlantis), Averoigne (based on medieval France), and Zothique (far, far future, as the Earth gradually dies).

[To the Daemon] This is more of a prose poem than a story, but I like how packed it is with strange imagery (“eyeless titans,” “beings that wander in the green light of the twin suns of azure and orange”). In the Introduction Campbell suggests that it might be Smith talking to his writerly muse, asking this “daemon” to tell him stories, but to me it feels more like a bored sorcerer or aristocrat demanding entertainment from a literal summoned demon. It also reminds me of this famous bit from the very first Conan story by Robert E. Howard, “The Phoenix on the Sword” (also paraphrased at the beginning of the Conan the Barbarian movie):

“KNOW, oh prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars—Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.”

Both passages manage to pack a lot of exciting and mysterious imagery into just a wee bit of text.

[The Abominations of Yondo] While one of CAS's early stories, this one in particular stuck with me for the decades since I first read it. The plot is a bit sleight, and it's more of a string of events that happen to the narrator than a plot with a beginning, middle, and end, but I like it.

So much of modern fantasy places an undue emphasis on world-building, where the author conceives and documents everything about his setting in advance and details everything down to the lineage of the last rural goat farmer. Tolkien and the Star Wars Expanded Universe are two major examples of this. While that's a perfectly valid approach and one beloved by geek fans (in my experience especially “right-brain” engineer types who value internal consistency above all else) who want to immerse themselves in ultra-detailed fantasy worlds, it's not the One True Way to go about things in fantasy & SF. In this story CAS hints about so much, without really revealing anything. The result is a lot of appealing mysterious imagery. Remember in Star Wars how cool and intriguing the “Clone Wars” and Jedi sounded? Until you found out how dull the Clone Wars really were, and that Jedi powers are powered by Midichlorians? CAS doesn't mess around with all that. He MIGHT have planned the background out in great detail (I kinda doubt it, though), but he doesn't tip his hand to the readers. He reveals enough to make you intrigued, but continues on with the story. Who are the Inquisitors of Ong and why did they torture the narrator? Why is the world so devastated? Who knows. The reader is left to fill in the blanks by himself. You see this a lot in old school sword & sorcery fiction (“Remember that time we were almost killed by the Winged Men of Xarn?”) and I dig it. I prefer evocative and tantalizing hints over info-dump exposition.

It's interesting to note that the chuckling bat-faced nine-legged monster that emerges from the cave in this story has been statted up in Call of Cthulhu. It's not given a name by Clark Ashton Smith, but the CoC writers call it a Wamp and say it lives in Lovecraft's Dreamlands. There have been a number of other cases where I've read about a cool monster in Call of Cthulhu, only to read the original Mythos story and find out that the monster in question only shows up for a paragraph, or is just mentioned in passing in a “I heard from a guy who heard from a guy that this monster exists” way. It's kind of funny. I love Call of Cthulhu, but it has kind of a funny Pokémon-style “Gotta catch 'em all!” Pokédex take on quantifying and categorizing Mythos creatures.

It's a little thing, but the big image from this story that has always stuck with me is the screaming half-buried statue of the naked woman. I don't have anything particularly profound to say about this passage, but it creeped me out when I first read it, and it still stands out to me today. It reminds me a bit of the Elric stories, where the Sorcerers of Pan-Tang turn enemies into living, wailing statues.

I also like the last line of the story, where the narrator flees back past all the horrors he's seen, into the waiting arms of the Inquisitors of Ong. Did they release him in Yondo as a death sentence? Were they hoping he'd see something in particular? Was this exile to Yondo just another form of torture (perhaps the likeliest explanation to me)? We can only speculate.

[Sadastor] This is a story told by a demon to cheer up a lamia, which is a premise I find delightful.

To me, the main theme of this story is loss, which is something that shows up frequently in CAS's work a lot. Beautiful things are always rotting, temples and empires are falling to pieces, continents sink, and even whole planets die. This focus is probably only natural, though, as Smith was a fan of Romantic poetry and even categorized with his collages as a “West Coast Romantic.” (It might not be a coincidence that a lamia shows up in this story, too, as Romantic poet John Keats famously wrote a poem called “Lamia.”)

As an aside, I like the fact that the demon Charnadis physically flies through space, including into the atmospheres of Neptune and Jupiter. I like how it brazenly defies the laws of physics, with no attempt at providing a pseudo-scientific explanation. I think I first encountered this with the unnamed flying creatures from HPL's “The Festival” (they came to become known as Byakhee), and it's always appealed to me. Unless I'm mistaken, even in CAS's time they knew it was impossible for muscle-powered flight to work in a vacuum, but it's both a cool mental image and a quick way to show that normal human rules about How Things Are do not apply.

[The Ninth Skeleton] Despite mention of a girl named Guenevere, this story takes place in contemporary California, near Auburn (the town in which the real CAS lived). After the past few stories it was a little jarring to see the author turn his same extremely descriptive gaze to California forests rather than alien landscapes.

While there are some nice creepy bits, overall this story fell flat with me. Why are skeletons wandering through the forest carrying infants? Mystery a la “Abominations of Yondo” is one thing, but here it felt too cryptic and obscure. And while It might not have been so played out when the story was written in the 1930s, the ending felt like the “It was all a dream, or was it?” trope.

[The Last Incantation] While “The Ninth Skeleton” was a bit bland, “The Last Incantation” is another one of CAS's best, and a story that has stuck with me for decades. The beginning creates an extremely vivid scene of a wizard's sanctuary, and “Malygris” is a particularly delicious name for a magician. I believe this might also be the first story explicitly set in Hyperborea. Anyway, the ending is classic; Malygris discovers that with all his power, he can't bring back the magic of young love. Again we see the recurring theme of loss in Smith's work. I also suspect it's not a coincidence that Malygris' demon familiar takes the form of a snake; like the serpent in Eden he harbors more knowledge than the protagonist.

[The End of the Story] I think this is the first Averoigne story. While the fairly conventional setting of Averoigne doesn't capture my imagination as much as Zothique or Hyperborea, it still has an interesting atmosphere. The story itself is pretty straightforward, without any major surprises, but the lush, sensual presentation of Nycea appeals. Unlike Lovecraft, Smith was fond of including sexual temptation as an element in his work, and I never get tired of femmes fatale.

[The Phantoms of the Fire] This is kind of a clunky, banal story. It's frequently embarrassing when authors attempt to emulate regional dialects; it was clunky in Lovecraft (e.g., “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”), and it's awkward here, too. The foreshadowing is heavy-handed and the protagonist lacking in sympathetic qualities. About the only redeeming quality is some elegant description of the scenery.

[A Night in Malneant] While the ending is a bit predictable bit light on plot, this story is heavy on atmosphere. It reminds me a bit of Silent Hill 2, with the narrator trapped in a hell that reflects his mental state.

[The Resurrection of the Rattlesnake] One of CAS's lesser works. I found the ending more confusing than mysterious.

[Thirteen Phantasms] I noticed that the name of the protagonist, Alvington, is a bit similar to “Avilton” from the previous story. The plot itself reminds me a bit of “The Ninth Skeleton,” as it basically relates a brief encounter with the supernatural. It feels like Smith is emulating Poe with this story.

[The Venus of Azombeii] I found this story to be pretty exciting. It has sort of a “Lost World” pulp adventure feel, and despite being published circa 1931 the African characters are presented more fairly than in much of the fiction of the time. Despite being idealized to a certain extent, Mybaloe is a strong and appealing character who is given more to do than just be a passive object of admiration. The final paragraph is pretty brutal.

[The Tale of Satampra Zeiros] Like “The Last Incantation,” this Hyperborea story is another example of Smith at his best (Lovecraft especially liked this story as well). In terms of the Mythos, this story introduces Tsathoggua and the monster named the “Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua” in the Call of Cthulhu RPG. As usual, Smith's invented names (Satampra Zeiros, Tirouv Ompallios, Cunambria) are flavorful and charming. While it takes a turn towards the horrific, the first half of the story has a great picaresque feel, with charming dialogue (e.g., the two thieves deciding whether or not to buy food or alcohol with their remaining coin) and a droll voice. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Fritz Leiber and Jack Vance were influenced by this tale in particular.

The relentless stalking of the amorphous creature from the temple was exciting. In a lot of Mythos tales, the story would end—in insanity or death—abruptly after its first appearance, but Smith doesn't let his characters off that easily. The “every man for himself” finale and jaunty farewells make me smile.

[The Monster of the Prophecy] One of the lengthier stories in this volume, it involves an unsuccessful poet being taken to a planet orbiting Antares, where he lives a brief life of pampered luxury before the dominating regime collapses and he finds himself fleeing for his life. The spacecraft, setting, and the aliens described are all extremely imaginative. (Science fiction was more fun before it was codified by realism-fetishists like John W. Campbell.) This story feels a bit like Edgar Rice Burrough's planetary romances, minus the protagonists super-competence. I also liked that the poet continues to make the best of his life in space, rather than slink back to Earth in defeat.

[The Metamorphosis of the World] Scientists investigate strange and sudden changes in the environment, with the Sahara and other locales undergoing bizarre, life-threatening metamorphoses. As the story progresses they learn that Venusians are “terraforming” the planet, transforming it to suit their habitational needs ahead of their impending invasion. Maybe I haven't read enough classic SF, but the premise felt extremely novel to me; I've read plenty of stories where aliens invade, but this was the first I can recall where they take steps to make the planet more like their own home. I was also a bit taken aback by the grimness of the tone. Nearly all of the characters featured in the story die horrible, agonizing deaths. The story ends 20 years after the start of the invasion, and while mankind has put up a valiant fight and gained some powerful weapons, their victory is still far from assured. Pretty bleak stuff.

[The Epiphany of Death] Short and fairly insubstantial, but atmospherically written.

[A Murder in the Fourth Dimension] This story reads like a minor episode of the Twilight Zone, complete with ironic comeuppance. The romantic conflict at the beginning could have been developed further; as it stands, the narrator just seems petty. The story has an interesting premise, though, and a spooky conclusion.

[The Devotee of Evil] This is another story that relies more on atmosphere and prose than plotting. Much like “loss,” genius characters done in by their own hubris is a frequently recurring theme in CAS's work.

[The Satyr] The appendix of the book has an alternate ending for this story, but the one included with the story itself is far superior. The forest in Averoigne is beautifully described, and the supernatural elements are surprisingly subtle and incidental to the story itself.

[The Planet of the Dead] An interesting portrayal of romance on a dying planet. This story feels like one of those crushing dreams where you experience a perfect love, only to be wrenched back to reality. The way the protagonist is drawn into space through his telescope again reminds me of Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom, where John Carter basically teleports to Mars.

[The Uncharted Isle] Brief but creepy. Not only does the narrator find himself on a bizarre isle seemingly removed from time, the fact that the other inhabitants can't perceive him makes his plight feel so much more desperate. This story reminds me of William Hope Hodgson's spooky nautical tales.

[Marooned in Andromeda] SF tales of characters being stranded on dangerous planets are common, but this is the first I've seen that has mutineers intentionally marooned in space. The story that follows is a bit formulaic for CAS (“characters journey through strange terrain” is a theme that pops up again and again), and the “all is forgiven” ending seemed a bit pat, but this was still an engrossing adventure tale.

[The Root of Ampoi] In some ways, this story felt like the opposite of “The Venus of Azombei.” Like that story, the protagonist finds himself in a lost world and romances a tribal queen. But rather than have his idyllic days spoiled by a jealous interloper, he spoils his own paradise out of a sexist desire to “assume his rightful place as a man” and dominate his giant bride. The climax, where Knox is bodily cast out from village society, is effective, but I felt the story could have benefited from some final reflection by the main character on his actions.

[The Necromantic Tale] The ending is probably a bit predictable to modern readers, but this is still an entertaining read in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe.

[The Immeasurable Horror] Another brutal SF tale. If you journey into Smith's version of space you're almost guaranteed a horrible fate. The narrator survives, but endures horrific injuries and mental scars. An interesting example of horrific SF, but by this point in the book it felt a little over-long.

[A Voyage of Sfanomoe] This tale is a sort of counterpoint to “The Immeasurable Horror.” Two genius scientist brothers from the dying realm of Poseidonis build a spherical spaceship and journey to Venus/Sfanomoe in an attempt to avoid perishing along with their society. This being a CAS story, the brothers die nearly immediately after their arrival, but they're extinguished in such a wonderful, painless, exhilarating way that this reader actually felt joy. The last Atlanteans dissolve into beautiful Venusian flowers, effectively being embraced and absorbed into their new home. And that's not such a bad way for two old men to go, is it?

[Concluding Thoughts] While there are some definite hits and misses in this collection, the breadth of CAS' imagination is astonishing. Even the lesser stories are eloquently written, and the better tales (“Abomination of Yondo,” “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros,” “The Last Incantation”) are among the best the fantasy genre has ever seen. Just this one volume would be a powerful retrospective of an author's career; the fact that no fewer than four volumes follow in this Collected Fantasies series is nothing short of amazing. Clark Ashton Smith is a giant, and every fantasy fan should explore his work.

★★★★★

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #ClarkAshtonSmith #TheEndOfTheStory

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on January 21, 2022.

Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure

Edited by Jason M. Waltz – Rogue Blades Entertainment – January 1, 2008

Review by Robin Marx

This anthology focuses primarily on sword & sorcery tales, with a touch of historical adventure as well. As with all anthologies, some stories stood out more than others.

Neither “Mountain Scarab” by Jeff Stewart nor “Red Hands,” a 1935 Cossack tale by Harold Lamb, directly involve the supernatural, but both are vigorous adventures with exciting swordplay.

Some of the best stories in the anthology have an element of humor. “To Be a Man” by Robert Rhodes involves an exhausted fellow trying to escape his lusty and bloodthirsty amazon-like bandit paramour. “An Uneasy Truce in Ulam-Bator,” by Allen B. Lloyd & William Clunie, involves a spell gone wrong, turning a callow sorcerer and his barbarian mercenary into unlikely allies.

For me, the highlight of the book was “The Red Worm's Way,” by James Enge and starring his Morlock Ambrosius character. The story combines weird occurrences and a creepy supernatural threat with clever twists and Morlock's wry wit.

While I wouldn't call it a misstep, necessarily, the inclusion of a writing advice article by E.E. Knight is a bit mystifying. While perhaps helpful to budding writers, the advice isn't particularly tailored to sword & sorcery fiction (Star Wars and Titanic are frequently used in the examples), and as the only non-fiction entry in the anthology it feels fairly superfluous.

Overall this is an entertaining look at fairly recent sword & sorcery (with the exception of classic author Harold Lamb) and wholeheartedly recommended to fans of the sub-genre.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #Fantasy #JasonMWaltz #ReturnOfTheSword

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on December 29, 2020.

Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology

Edited by Milton J. Davis & Charles R. Saunders – Mvmedia, LLC – August 7, 2011

Review by Robin Marx

Griots is an anthology of African-inspired sword & sorcery, or “Sword & Soul” as dubbed by the sub-genre’s first proponent, Charles Saunders. The anthology sets out to provide fantasy stories in a neglected milieu (nearly all the stories take place in Africa or an Africa-like fantasy setting), with Black heroes and heroines in a genre that has long had a tendency to put dark-skinned characters in the roles of supporting characters or antagonists.

The anthology gets off to a strong start with “Mrembo Aliyenaswa,” an adventure by active sword & soul promoter Milton Davis. Much like many Robert E. Howard stories, it’s set in a historical African setting with a light touch of magic. I’d never read any of Davis’ other stories featuring his hero Changa, but this story encourages me to check them out.

“Awakening” by Valjeanne Jeffers is less testosterone-drenched than the bulk of the stories in this anthology, but it serves up an interesting blend of action and mythology.

“The Demon in the Wall” is a fun adventure involving a young warrior and his spry, alluring grandmother(!) fending off a supernatural invasion. The characters in this story are particularly fun, including one antagonist who isn’t fully committed to evil.

Other standout stories included “The General’s Daughter” (by Anthony Nana Kwamu), “The Queen, the Demon, and the Mercenary” (by Ronald T. Jones), and “Icewitch” (by Rebecca McFarland Kyle). The latter is notable for being the only story NOT taking place in an African setting, involving a Black character among a tribe of white people in the frozen north.

The best story by far is “The Three-Faced One,” an Imaro tale by Charles Saunders. I imagine it must have been intimidating for the newer writers appearing in the same anthology as the genre’s founder, and Saunders really delivers. Imaro remains an appealing hero, and the supernatural threat he faces is an intriguing one.

While it’s nice that this anthology collects and spotlights African fantasy and Black heroes, nearly any of these stories would just as easily be at home in any sword & sorcery anthology. So if you enjoy sword & sorcery but aren’t familiar with sword & soul, give it a try!

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #SwordAndSorcery #SwordAndSoul #Fantasy #MiltonJDavis #CharlesSaunders #Griots

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 15, 2022.

Rakehell: Issue 1

Edited by Nathaniel Webb – Young Needles Press – July 1, 2022

Review by Robin Marx

This is the first issue of what is promoted as “a modern magazine of swashbuckling adventure,” mentioning Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, and Indiana Jones as touchstones.

The issue starts off strong, with “The Mortuary Sword” by H. R. Laurence. Featuring the heroine from the magazine's appealing cover artwork, it involves a highwayman who encounters a supernatural threat on the road. The tone of the story is pitch-perfect, and the low-key fantastic aspects add spice without overshadowing the swashbuckling swordplay.

“The Trans-Pacific Railway” by Mar Vincent follows. This is a vaguely steampunkish story with stuffy European aristocrats and academic types. The titular railway is set upon by kite-like jetpack-wearing Frenchmen, and the protagonists attempt to harness the occult to fend them off. I may have enjoyed this story more had I encountered it in a different context, but steampunk leaves me cold. The story also seemed to go out of its way to avoid thrilling sword combat and action in general. It felt out of place, given the magazine's mission statement.

“A Fool's Errand in Amberford” by Lawrence Harding involves a mercenary swordswoman escorting a reckless-seeming noncombatant client deep into a ghoul-infested city. There's a fair bit more action than the preceding piece, and I enjoyed the somewhat normalized portrayal of necromancy (the heroine ingeniously keeps paper packets of beetles in her pockets to squish, channeling their life force into magical effects) but it seemed like a straight-up fantasy story. None of the heroine's opponents are armed, making swashbuckling swordplay a non-starter.

Just as I'd begun to wonder if I'd picked up a general fantasy zine by mistake, it's “The Daisy” by T. K. Howell to the rescue! This historical adventure features Francis Drake as a teenaged deckhand trying to survive a mutiny sparked by a hidden cache of silver. This story has tense action, witty repartee, and was completely free of fantastical elements. It was exactly the kind of story I'd expected to find within the pages of the magazine.

“When Your Only Tool’s a Hammer” by J. B. Toner is a fun sword & sorcery story, in which a barbarian Cundar of Raelor goes to extreme—and otherworldly—lengths to halt a devastating war. I love sword & sorcery fiction a lot and found this to be an engaging addition to the subgenre. It wasn't much of a swashbuckler, though, and it may have felt more at home in a different venue.

The final story, “The Temple of the Ghost Tiger” by Dariel R. A. Quiogue, was the absolute highlight for me. Fantasy elements are present (the viewpoint character is a man transmogrified into a monkey through occult experimentation, for example) but restrained, with center stage yielded to hand-to-hand combat against pirates, a duel between well-matched opponents, and a desperate struggle against the titular Ghost Tiger. It's a fast-paced cinematic adventure in the tradition of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and the primary characters are all appealingly rendered despite their relatively brief “screen time.”

While I enjoyed nearly all of the stories in this magazine, I was leaning towards a three star rating until “The Temple of the Ghost Tiger” blew the doors off at the very end, earning an extra star by itself. My main issue with the magazine was my expectations compared to what was delivered. To me, swashbuckling adventure suggests a Renaissance setting or thereabouts, rapiers and flintlocks, snappy dialogue, and acrobatics. I love general fantasy fiction, but that wasn't what I bought this magazine hoping to read. Perhaps my definition of swashbuckling adventure is too narrow, but it may also be that—being a new publication—the editor lacked an abundance of traditional swashbuckling tales to select from. Compared to general fantasy, swashbuckling adventure fiction is a bit thin on the ground. Hopefully, with future issues, Rakehell will be able to distinguish itself from competing magazines by developing a tighter focus.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on June 19, 2021.

The Eye of Sounnu

By Schuyler Hernstrom – DMR Books – May 2, 2020

Review by Robin Marx

The stories in this collection hearken back to the golden age of pulp sword & sorcery and science fantasy. Images and themes occasionally remind the reader of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, and even maybe a bit of Gene Wolfe but happily the author avoids well-trodden ground. These stories share the spirit of the classics without aping them outright.

Particular stand-outs include “The First American,” in which a barbarian tribesman enlists the scientific aid of a stranded US astronaut to rescue a captured woman from reptilian adversaries, and “Mortu and Kyrus in the White City,” about a motorcycle-riding warrior and his monastic monkey companion encountering an idyllic metropolis hiding a dark secret.

I look forward to reading more by Hernstrom and DMR Books!

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on May 8, 2011.

Midnight Sun: The Complete Stories of Kane

By Karl Edward Wagner – Night Shade Books – September 15, 2003

Review by Robin Marx

This volume is packed with excellent sword & sorcery yarns in the tradition of Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock. The Kane short stories are even better than the novels (collected in another Night Shade Books companion volume).

I appreciated the inclusion of the modern-day horror Kane stories. They're quite different from the “barbarian fantasy” tales, and the transition from those to the Clive Barker-style stories was a bit abrupt, but Kane's presence just somehow works. Karl Edward Wagner's essay regarding the creation of Kane was also very enlightening. It's absolutely tragic that he didn't live to write dozens more stories.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on March 17, 2013.

Elric at the End of Time

By Michael Moorcock – DAW – May 7, 1985

Review by Robin Marx

I enjoy Moorcock and his Elric stories a great deal, but despite the “Seventh Book of Elric of Melnibone” billing on the cover this particular collection is pretty random and weak. It includes the title story, “The Last Enchantment,” a pair of Elric-related essays, a pair of Jerry Cornelius essays, the Sojan the Swordsman stories, and a short short called “The Stone Thing.”

Elric at the End of Time is a crossover between Elric and Moorcock's Second Aether stories. The pseudo-Victorian Second Aether stuff has never done anything for me, and the team-up here struck me as kind of clumsy. Not an essential work.

“The Last Enchantment” is much better, however, one of the better late Elric stories. Unlike some of the more out-there and psychedelic tales, it fits in well with the earlier Elric canon. Elric's dealings with the Gods of Chaos are intriguing, and the premise is original.

The essays were brief and not particularly essential. It also seemed odd having two essays devoted to the Jerry Cornelius character when no Cornelius stories appear in the book.

The Sojan the Swordsman stories were the highlight of the book for me. They represent Moorcock's earliest published writing and were featured in a Tarzan fanzine. The stories themselves are pretty generic sword & planet. Moorcock was probably influenced by Burroughs' Barsoom stories, but they read more like Lin Carter's Thongar the Barbarian tales. They're pretty poor, to be honest. The plotting is pretty simplistic, the dialogue laughable, and with no major setbacks Sojan's adventures tend to be tension-free cakewalks. Still, the goofy enthusiasm in the writing was fun, and it was also fascinating from a historical perspective seeing these stories. If one of the greatest living fantasists started out writing stories this silly, maybe I've got a chance, too.

“The Stone Thing” is an extremely brief joke story. It's funny, but kind of a weird note to end a book on.

This book seems like a bit of a cash grab, a way to make some extra money on a mix of lesser work. It's worth a read for hardcore Moorcock fans, but only half the book is Elric-related and all the good stuff has been re-released in Del Rey's collections. Sojan the Swordsman was fun, but not something casual fans would be incredibly interested in. Far from essential Moorcock.

★★☆☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on November 12, 2013.

Stealer of Flesh

By William King – Self-Published – March 27, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

The first book in the Kormak Saga, Stealer of Flesh consists of four linked sword & sorcery novellas. While there is currently quite a glut of low-cost self-published fantasy ebooks, I was quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of this work.

The story focuses on the adventures of Kormak—a Guardian equipped with a dwarf-forged sword and monastic martial training—and his efforts to track down and destroy a demonic body-stealing Ghul. While Serious Guy Slays Monsters is well-trodden fantasy ground, I appreciated the execution. Setting details and other exposition aren't presented to the reader in big info dumps, but rather handed out a tidbit at a time. Not much is disclosed about either the Guardians or their Ghul enemies, but what is revealed is interesting. And while at first glance Kormak himself could come across as a grim two-dimensional character, King fleshes him out in a subtle and interesting manner. Despite his heroic drive, there are a number of instances where Kormak questions his own motives and whether or not his quest has a point at all. And despite his apparent monk-like dedication to his cause, it doesn't take too much pushing for him to dally with women he'd be best off avoiding. There's more to both the world and the protagonist than what's revealed at first glance.

I also enjoyed the linked novella format. Compared to other fantasy subgenres, sword & sorcery lends itself extremely well to shorter formats. King doesn't draw things out to fill out page count; he sets up an interesting premise and immediately gets down to business. My only complaint is (view spoiler), but the concluding story was extremely satisfying, even if the ending was a little abrupt.

I'm not as familiar with the current sword & sorcery authors as I am with the classic ones, but King strikes me as a writer to watch. I look forward to reading more Kormak tales.

★★★★☆

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