This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on December 28, 2023.

Conan the Barbarian #6

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Doug Braithwaite (Artist) – Titan Comics – January 3, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian issue 6 opens immediately after the previous issue left off. Conan and the Gloryhounds—the overambitious band of thieves Conan is effectively babysitting—have succeeded in getting their hands on Tarim’s Touch, only to discover that careless handling of the black stone relic has unleashed a trio of ravening spectral guardians. Trapped between an incorporeal threat and a temple swarming with alerted Bel worshipers, Conan and the thieves must battle their way to freedom.

Despite the considerable gap in time and geographical distance between the current events and those of Conan the Barbarian issues 1-4, in “Thrice Marked for Death! Part II: Cursed” writer Jim Zub makes plain the connections to the previous “Bound in Black Stone” story arc. It’s confirmed that Tarim’s Touch is composed of the same supernaturally infused black stone that had such a malevolent effect on the Cimmerian countryside, and the specters that escaped from the relic follow the same dark tentacled god that Conan faced off against in his homeland. In the Marvel Comics and Dark Horse versions of the Conan the Barbarian comic, even the longest plotlines were generally neatly confined to a single arc of about five or six issues, so it’s interesting to see Zub attempt some longer-form storytelling in the Titan Comics incarnation. Conan’s adventures aren’t necessarily desperately crying out for ongoing continuity, but I’m not opposed to its introduction.

As hoped, Conan’s slain pirate queen Bêlit (originally appearing in Robert E. Howard’s 1934 Weird Tales story “Queen of the Black Coast”) makes another appearance through flashbacks. In the previous issue, the tragic loss of Bêlit is used to explain Conan’s current state of nihilistic dissolution, but here it highlights that Conan already has some experience with spirits and the afterlife, even before encountering the specters from the black stone. Where Bêlit’s fierce love allowed her soul to briefly return from the realm of the dead and save Conan’s life at the climax of “Queen of the Black Coast” (also a scene adapted and given to Valeria in the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film), now he faces spirits resurrected to kill again in their master’s name. As a fan of the original Howard stories, I appreciate seeing the events of the classic tales incorporated into newer adventures in this way. However, I suspect that newcomers unfamiliar with the “Queen of the Black Coast” short story or its previous comic adaptations may not be getting the full effect of the Bêlit flashbacks.

The artwork continues to appeal. Diego Rodriguez does some excellent work with the color in this issue. After so many sepia-toned scenes lit by torch and lantern-light in the previous issue, the unearthly green glow of the specters has real impact. In terms of the line artwork, I still think Doug Braithwaite makes Conan’s face too lined for this early stage in his life, but that can be explained away as the Cimmerian’s lack of access to sunscreen. On a more positive note, Braithwaite shows him wearing the classic disc-shaped necklace from the earliest issues of Marvel’s 1970s Conan the Barbarian, a fun visual throwback to Barry Windsor-Smith’s depiction of the character.

Conan the Barbarian issue 6 answers some questions while raising several more. I’m excited to learn more about the black stone and its ghostly servants, and I hope to continue to see Conan’s past with Bêlit influence his current adventure.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on December 23, 2023.

The Doom of Odin

By Scott Oden – St. Martin's Press – December 19, 2023

Review by Robin Marx

Third and final volume in the GRIMNIR SAGA, The Doom of Odin begins where many tales would end. The year is 1347, and Grimnir—the last skraelingr (i.e., orc)—has doggedly tracked his nemesis to Rome, a dying city decimated by the black plague. After nearly 130 years of pursuit, it is there that he plans to fulfill his oath to destroy the resurrected wyrm Níðhöggr, Odin’s chosen weapon and the ancient enemy of Grimnir’s people. As he’s closing in on Níðhöggr’s lair, however, Grimnir is felled by a crossbow bolt loosed by a terrified mercenary. Just like that, a legendary warrior seasoned by a thousand years of battle is snuffed out by a single lucky shot.

Grimnir awakens in Nástrond, a grim realm at the base of the World Tree Yggðrasil. A dark mirror of the humans’ Valhalla, Nástrond is where Grimnir’s extinct people feast, intrigue, and brawl. The family reunion is an acrimonious one, however, as his parents, cousins, and myriad half-brothers despise him as an upstart outsider. The contempt is mutual, as Grimnir feels his fellows have strayed from Loki’s path, more concerned with social jockeying and establishing petty kingdoms than honing each other through constant warfare in preparation for Ragnarök. A treacherous ambush cuts short Grimnir’s afterlife, but while “slain” souls in Nástrond are typically revived a few hours later, Grimnir instead finds himself unceremoniously shunted back into the world of the living. Subsequent deaths catapult Grimnir back and forth between Rome and the Worlds Below, where he doggedly pursues his goals in parallel. In the world of the living, he continues his quest to destroy Níðhöggr and thwart the wyrm’s master, Odin. When in the afterlife, Grimnir strives to discover the source of his mysterious resilience and the role he is destined to play in the final battle of Ragnarök.

Norse mythology figured heavily in both A Gathering of Ravens and Twilight of the Gods. But while the gods and creatures of Scandinavian folklore were marginalized by the encroachment of Christianity in the first two volumes of the GRIMNIR SAGA, having so much of the final book’s action take place in otherworldly realms allows Scott Oden to pull out all the stops, delivering a phantasmagorical epic packed with Scandinavian spirits and monsters. In The Doom of Odin humans are mostly anonymous rabble rather than the central characters they were previously. Instead, Grimnir finds himself struggling against the souls of his vanquished race, fey witches, undead draugar, winged murder-crones, giants, and Odin himself. While the story is consequently less grounded in our historical world than previous volumes, the cosmic elements feel like a natural escalation at this point in the narrative. Oden creates the sense that not only is Ragnarök nigh, it’s also just two steps away.

After following Grimnir’s exploits over two books as the sole surviving skraelingr, it was fascinating seeing him thrown in among his own people. Grimnir’s cocksure bravado and casual cruelty seem ubiquitous among his kind; they act like jackals, constantly circling each other, waiting for an opening to strike. While the skraelingar clearly share a certain base disposition, their personalities are given enough nuance to keep them from feeling one-dimensional. The fierce warrior woman Skaði is a special highlight, especially after seeing Grimnir mostly interact with smaller, more fragile human women in the previous books.

Even compared to the first two volumes, The Doom of Odin revels in vicious, graphic violence. Skulls are smashed and entrails are spilt, and it’s all rendered in vivid detail. Much like the story’s stakes had been raised, it felt like the brutality had been taken up a few notches as well. This wasn’t a negative point for me, if anything it created the sense that Grimnir was truly unchained for the first time, giving in to his empowering rage in a way most works of entertainment warn against. Sensitive readers might find themselves skimming some passages, however.

A minor issue I had with The Doom of Odin is that the cast of characters is considerably larger than before, and Old Norse mythological terms more frequently encountered. There were occasions when I had trouble keeping track of who some of the minor characters were, or what a given branch of the World Tree signified. It was only upon finishing the book that I discovered that a combination glossary/dramatis personae had been tucked away in the back. This appendix would have smoothed over the few rough patches in my reading journey if only the book had drawn my attention to it earlier, perhaps in a table of contents.

Packed with world-shaking events and operatic struggle, The Doom of Odin is an immensely satisfying conclusion to Grimnir’s saga. One of grimdark’s most compelling characters gets exactly the bloody send-off he deserves. Grimnir’s tale couldn’t have ended any other way.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on December 5, 2023.

Twilight of the Gods

By Scott Oden – St. Martin's Press – February 18, 2020

Review by Robin Marx

It is the year 1218, and deep in the wilds of Scandinavia there is a sense that Fimbulvetr, the final winter presaging Ragnarök, is at hand. While the Norse, Danes, and Swedes neighboring them have adopted Christianity, the isolated Raven-Geat tribe reject the so-called “Nailed God” and cling to the old ways. Though surrounded by enemies, the Raven-Geats have a protector known as the Hooded One, immortal herald of the Tangled God Loki. As Twilight of the Gods opens, hot-blooded teenage girl Dísa Dagrúnsdottir has just been chosen by the Fates to serve as the Hooded One’s new priestess. She is shocked to learn that the truculent and mercurial guardian of her people is a literal monster: Grimnir, last of the kaunr, what we would call an orc. As Dísa attempts to survive her new master’s cruel ordeals, a greater threat looms just out of sight. A haunted and deranged zealot fresh from the sack of Constantinople plots a new personal Crusade, one to exterminate the heathen Raven-Geats and unite the Scandinavian peninsula under the White Christ.

Set two centuries after the events of A Gathering of Ravens, Twilight of the Gods is the second volume in Scott Oden’s GRIMNIR SAGA. Twilight of the Gods manages to be both more intimate and more epic than its predecessor. Where A Gathering of Ravens spans more than a decade, roaming from Denmark to England and then Ireland, Twilight of the Gods mostly confines itself to the wilderness of what is now Sweden. The cast of characters is smaller, but the stakes are much higher. While the first book primarily dealt with a personal vendetta, this time a reluctant Grimnir finds himself called upon both to defend the humans he’s been parasitically lording over for generations and fulfill his role in a prophesized religious war threatening to spark the end of the world.

Twilight of the Gods is a book drenched in both grim Norse fatalism and blood & thunder heroics. The novels in the Grimnir Saga depict a North where the Old Gods are in decline. Grimnir is the last of his kind, and other once respected and feared supernatural creatures have likewise become relegated to the margins of the world or gone extinct entirely. The influence of Odin and the old pantheon wanes, displaced by the encroaching Christian faith. For Grimnir and many of the other characters in this book, there’s a pervading feeling that the war has already been lost, yet for various reasons they still gear up to fight one last glorious battle. And readers familiar with Oden’s other work, from the previous Grimnir novel to historical adventures like Men of Bronze and The Lion of Cairo, know that Oden can deliver that final battle with gusto. Simultaneously rousing and horrifying, the combats in this novel blend cinematic action with gory, gritty, down-in-the-mud struggle.

As with A Gathering of Ravens, appealing characters are another strong point in Twilight of the Gods. Oden treads a delicate line with his hero Grimnir; he must appear monstrous enough to feel like an “authentic” orc and not just a brutish costumed human, but not so repellent that the reader finds themselves unable to relate to the character or enjoy his exploits. Grimnir is bellicose, capricious, spiteful, and arrogant. He’s casually brutal and an unrepentant murderer. But he’s also an orc of his word, and never fails to repay a debt. In his dealings with humans, who Grimnir views as little more than animals, Oden also imbues him with a mischievous, amused paternalism. Grimnir may not have a heart of gold, but he’s not an outright villain, either. To preserve Grimnir’s mystique, Oden wisely provides primary viewpoint character Dísa as a counterbalance and foil. Imperfect and impetuous, and sharing more than a little of Grimnir’s arrogance, Dísa is an entertaining heroine to follow. Her undying determination is admirable, and it’s interesting to watch her learn when to push back against Grimnir and when to (grudgingly) accept his brusque guidance.

Despite the exceptional quality of the book, Twilight of the Gods had the misfortune of launching in February 2020, roughly simultaneously with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With all the societal upheaval, store closures, cancelled events, and supply chain issues that followed, I suspect unlucky timing and curtailed promotions prevented this volume from attracting the audience it deserved. Now is an ideal time to read Twilight of the Gods, however. Its conclusion will leave readers wanting more, just as more is about to arrive: The Doom of Odin, book 3 in THE GRIMNIR SAGA, is scheduled to be released on December 19, 2023.

Wholeheartedly recommended for fans of Vikings, orcs, Viking orcs, tough heroines, Scandinavian metal, and doomed battles against incredible odds.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on December 3, 2023.

Conan the Barbarian #5

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Doug Braithwaite (Artist) – Titan Comics – November 22, 2023

Review by Robin Marx

Issue 5 of Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian begins several months after the conclusion of the “Bound in Black Stone” story arc. Since putting his homeland of Cimmeria behind him, Conan has journeyed across much of the continent and even put to sea as a member of a pirate crew. After loving and losing freebooter queen Bêlit, however, Conan is a drunken shell of a man. He passes his days in disreputable taverns in the even more notorious city of Shadizar, earning his drinking coin acting as a hired thug for an ambitious band of thieves calling themselves the Gloryhounds. Constantly pushing their luck, the aptly named Gloryhounds drag a reluctant Conan into their most audacious heist yet: an attempt to filch Tarim’s Touch—a religious relic carved from dark stone—from the very heart of the Temple of Bel, patron god of thieves.

Thus begins the “Thrice Marked for Death” storyline. While Jim Zub continues to handle the writing duties (and is expected to do so for at least the first two years), the change in artwork is instantly noticeable. Scheduled to return with Conan the Barbarian issue 9, Roberto De La Torre is taking a well-deserved break and letting UK artist Doug Braithwaite deliver the artwork for this second arc. Unlike De La Torre’s classic John Buscema-inspired lines, Braithwaite has a thoroughly modern style comparable to the newer Dark Horse and Marvel depictions. Facially, his Conan looks a bit craggier than I would expect for this point in the barbarian’s career (ostensibly still his mid-twenties), but it’s not a bad likeness. The color artist is now Diego Rodriguez, who has given the artwork a sepia cast that suits the torch-lit environs in this issue. While I thoroughly enjoyed De La Torre’s artwork in the previous issues, Braithwaite’s artwork is also appealing and feels appropriate. If this first issue is any indication, it appears that we can expect his combat scenes to be slightly bloodier and more explicit than De La Torre’s. Decapitations may have been ubiquitous in De La Torre’s Conan the Barbarian run, but Braithwaite seems to give Rodriguez many opportunities to reach for the red paint.

Conan the Barbarian #5 is set after the events of Robert E. Howard’s 1934 Weird Tales story “Queen of the Black Coast.” It’s briefly touched upon in flashback panels, but readers curious about Conan’s career as a pirate and his tragic, whirlwind romance with Bêlit are encouraged to look there, or perhaps even the 1970s Marvel Comics or 2012 Dark Horse adaptations of the story. For those who are unfamiliar with “Queen of the Black Coast,” Howard scholar Jeffrey Shanks provides some additional background, including spotlighting how it provides rare insight into Conan’s personal philosophy. For my part, I approve of Zub’s choice to deliver new adventures occurring between the original short stories, rather than add to the already tall pile of adaptations. While Conan becomes entangled with a wide variety of women during his later career, I’ve always had the sense that Bêlit was as close as the barbarian ever got to a soulmate, and I’m interested to see if Zub continues to explore Conan’s grief and the aftermath of her death in future issues.

While I was left a little deflated by the finale of the previous plotline, Conan the Barbarian #5 marks a promising start for the second story arc. Braithwaite has a very different visual style than his predecessor, but his gory theatrics a good fit for the series.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on November 28, 2023.

Conan: Lord of the Mount

By Stephen Graham Jones – Titan Books – September 26, 2022

Review by Robin Marx

Lord of the Mount opens with Conan as the last survivor of a vanquished raiding party. Surrounded by the dead, as the battered barbarian’s consciousness returns the first shapes that come into view are that of a small group of cattle and their herder. The eyes of both the cows and the man tending them have a strange purple tinge to them, hinting at long term use of the intoxicating powder of the black lotus. Wary of the shifty lotus addict, Conan nevertheless accepts a meal of wine and steak—carved directly from the flanks of the passive, drugged cattle—from the man. Known as Jen Ro, the herdsman tells Conan of his destination: the village of Trinnecerl, where ale and women are plentiful. He warns that the mountain pass leading to the village is guarded by a fearsome monster, however, the so-called Lord of the Mount. With no better destination in mind, the rootless barbarian wanderer elects to accompany Jen Ro, hoping to indulge himself in the pleasures Trinnecerl has to offer and see this Lord of the Mount for himself. Conan soon finds himself fighting for his life against a foe unlike any he has faced before.

Lord of the Mount is the first installment in the Heroic Legends series of monthly digital short stories starring Conan the Barbarian and other pulp fiction heroes created by Robert E. Howard. While not the first piece of new Conan fiction produced via the partnership between Titan Books and Howard franchise owner Heroic Signatures (that would be the Conan – Blood of the Serpent novel by S. M. Stirling), news of the Heroic Legends series was welcomed by Conan and Howard fans for a number of reasons. One was that the Conan stories and the sword & sorcery subgenre of fantasy as a whole originated as short stories and still tend to be most at home in that format. Another reason was the roster of authors listed with the series announcement. Experienced and reliable Conan authors such as John C. Hocking and Scott Oden were present and accounted for, yes, but there were also unexpected curve-balls like Laird Barron and V. Castro. Of the latter group, Stephen Graham Jones was a particularly anticipated contributor, as not only is his star currently ascendant within the horror genre (a field with considerable overlap with sword & sorcery), but his 2021 autobiographical Texas Monthly essay My Life With Conan the Barbarian had already fostered a sense of kinship among many sword & sorcery fans. Jones gets it, he’s one of us. We wanted to see what he could do with the character.

The strong points of Lord of the Mount are its minimalist premise and brisk pace. No time is wasted getting to the good stuff. The scene is set, Conan hits the road, and a knock-down, drag-out battle with the Lord of the Mount follows.

Unfortunately, Lord of the Mount is not entirely successful. Unlike many Conan pastiche writers, Jones made little effort to emulate Howard’s writing style. But he also didn’t seem to write in the colloquial, almost folksy voice Jones used in other works like The Only Good Indians. The result is sort of a hybrid, neither fish nor foul. Dissimilar to Howard, but also not quite Jones’ natural narrative voice.

The portrayal of Conan also felt off in parts. During his battle with the Lord of the Mount, in multiple instances Conan is described as “screaming.” Conan has never struck me as much of a screamer, but even if he had occasion to scream at least some of these screams should have been changed to “bellows” or “roars” for variety’s sake. Also, when Conan reunites with Jen Ro in the story’s denouement he reacts as if he has been subjected to a betrayal worthy of violent retribution. However, at the beginning of the story Jen Ro is pretty forthright when describing the danger of the Lord of the Mount and the means he uses to evade it, making Conan’s rage feel excessive and unwarranted.

While I expected more from a Stephen Graham Jones take on Conan, Lord of the Mount is still worth the small price of admission. I appreciate Titan Books’ willingness to go beyond safe and expected Conan writers, giving readers a chance to see a variety of different interpretations and portrayals of a familiar character.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on November 24, 2023.

Old Moon Quarterly: Issue 5, Summer 2023

By Old Moon Publishing – August 29, 2023

Review by Robin Marx

Old Moon Quarterly has returned with its third installment of the year. Like previous issues, OMQ serves up an intriguing mix of grimdark and weird sword & sorcery fiction. Vol. 5 cover artist Derek Moore delivers the magazine’s most striking cover artwork to date: a skeleton in full plate harness equipped with a bec de corbin polearm. There are no interior illustrations or advertisements in this 89-page issue, and the text is presented in a single column layout.

After a brief Introduction expressing a desire to see more cerebral sword & sorcery tales in the vein of Robert E. Howard’s King Kull of Atlantis (as opposed to the more direct action yarns featuring Conan and his ilk), the issue opens with “Together Under the Wing,” by Jonathan Olfert. A Stone Age revenge tale with a twist, this story involves a young warrior driven to avenge the murder of his mother, the matriarch of their people. The wrinkle is that the protagonist, Walks-like-a-Rockslide, is a sentient mammoth with bladed tusks and his foe is the king of the giants. Appropriately, given the stature of these clashing titans, the struggle that follows is imbued with a palpable sense of momentum and inevitability. Mammoth and Giant King circle, close, and deal grievous wounds to each other. While the events of the narrative are straightforward, the unusual hero and heavy atmosphere of finality make this story stand out.

K.H. Vaughan’s “Champions Against the Maggot King” is another story that focuses on conjuring a very specific mood. The narrator, Grath, is a grunt in an imperial army locked in a desperate war against the monstrous hordes of the titular Maggot King. The story is presented as a series of vignettes showcasing both the formidable odds the soldiers are facing and the handful of elite heroes who may just be able to turn the tide. Sorrow Mai is a warrior woman with a massive axe and a “leather cuirass boiled in blood.” Ilhar, also called “The Raven,” is an untouchable elven duelist with a darkly poetic heart. Ko-Mon the Heartless is a scarred dwarf who wields an enchanted war chain that is powered by his pain. All these characters are anime levels of over-the-top and portrayed in a worshipful tone by Grath. Their enemies are likewise epic, especially the decomposing dragon that drips clumps of rotting flesh as it strafes the beleaguered troops below. There’s much in this story that’s excessive and even perhaps silly, but Vaughan absolutely sells it with a straight face. “Champions Against the Maggot King” is a grimdark treat that should appeal to fans of the Berserk and Bastard!! -Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy- anime series as well as enthusiasts of The Black Company and The Malazan Book of the Fallen.

In a first for Old Moon Quarterly, issue 5 includes two poems: “The King’s Two Bodies” by Joe Koch, and Zachary Bos’ “A Warning Agaynste Woldes.” “The King’s Two Bodies” is vividly lyrical, if perhaps a bit opaque. “A Warning Agaynste Woldes,” however, was peppered with Old English and tedious to decipher. The poetry didn’t add much to this issue, in this reviewer’s opinion, but I would not be opposed to seeing more verse in the future.

“The Origin of Boghounds,” by Amelia Gorman, is another grimdark entry. Boghounds are dog-like creatures of unknown pedigree. When a bounty hunter named Samphire discovers Hum, the boghound companion of her mountebank target, she decides to use the boghound to track down its master. The pair face stiff opposition in the form of two competing bounty hunters, however, and the situation becomes even more lethal when together they all discover the monstrous and delightfully gross progenitor of the boghounds. This story is packed to the brim with entertaining weirdness. The characters are all quirky and strange, like NPCs from the Dark Souls video games, and the world is evocatively rendered despite the story’s brevity.

David K. Henrickson’s “Well Met at the Gates of Hell” is one of the more sword & sorcery-oriented tales in this issue. A nameless man awakens on a barren plain, under a starless sky. Three figures await him: a massive paladin with a glowing sword, a small dagger-wielding man with a hateful smile, and a 12-foot-tall praying mantis. The trio wish to kill the new arrival for his past offenses and have agreed among themselves to engage him in single combat, one at a time. The story that follows is a triptych of duels shot through with witty repartee reminiscent of The Princess Bride. The protagonist—I hesitate to call him the hero, his enemies seem justified in their hatred of him—and his opponents are all vague sketches, but Henrickson makes the minimalism work. The result is a completely fat-free story that gives the reader just enough to satiate them and not an ounce further. This was the highlight of the issue for me.

“The Skulls of Ghosts,” by Charles Gramlich, is another sword & sorcery adventure. The muscular warrior Krieg journeys into a plague-ridden kingdom trying to locate the malady’s sorcerous origin. While there is a lot to like about this story, it suffered by following “Well Met at the Gates of Hell.” There’s some nicely hallucinatory prose here—the story shares many characteristics with the King Kull tales celebrated in this issue’s Introduction—but “The Skulls of Ghosts” felt long and overstuffed compared to the other stories in issue #5. There were more named characters and backstory than seemed truly necessary, and the evil sorcerer’s habit of assuming other characters’ identities was confusing. The components of a good story are present, but it would have benefited from some trimming and tightening.

“Today, I met a man I had killed before,” opens “The Headsman’s Melancholy” by Joseph Andre Thomas. Set in 14th century England, the final story of the issue is related by Jack Marvell, an executioner in the employ of King Henry IV. While he professes job satisfaction, Marvell keeps a diary to help cope with his depression, and this story consists of a series of journal entries describing his encounters with a strange knave he has beheaded on multiple occasions. Bizarre and gleefully gory, with a cryptic ending, “The Headsman’s Melancholy” is oddly compelling. A fitting conclusion to a strong issue of Old Moon Quarterly.

Unlike some more generalist fantasy fiction magazines, Old Moon Quarterly gives the sense of a very specific editorial vision. A desired vibe. Their submission guidelines call for “dark and weird sword & sorcery,” and while that’s not inaccurate, it feels like it insufficiently articulates what makes a given story Old Moon Quarterly material. With the launch of their first Kickstarter campaign, however, it seems like the editors have zeroed in on a pithy way to describe the type of fiction they showcase: “Soulsborne-inspired.” In short, if you enjoy the brutal, gothic, grimdark aesthetic of From Software’s Dark Souls and Bloodborne video games, Old Moon Quarterly curates fiction with a similar feel. Old Moon Quarterly is recommended for dark fantasy fans of all stripes, but for those yearning for that elusive Soulsborne atmosphere in particular, this is the place.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on November 13, 2023.

Conan the Barbarian #4

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Roberto De La Torre (Artist) – Titan Comics – October 25, 2023

Review by Robin Marx

Our hero is already in dire straits at the opening of Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian #4. The struggle between Conan and the high priest of the Black Stone cult has plunged them both into the deep emerald-green waters at the core of the temple. Tentacles rise to meet the barbarian as he sinks into the murky abyss, and he pledges to slay the cult’s misshapen deity, even if it costs him his own life. As he begins to drown, however, he sees a vision of an ancient Pictish chieftain. This echo from the past provides Conan (and the reader) with some welcome backstory. Conan learns more about the mysterious black stone that has had such a malign influence on the countryside, and how he has become embroiled in a hidden struggle against the occult dating back tens of thousands of years. While his ghostly benefactor is unable to provide Conan with direct aid, the brief conversation steels his resolve, and—lungs bursting—he swims down to meet his godlike foe.

Conan the Barbarian #4 is the conclusion of “Bound in Black Stone,” the first story arc in this latest Conan comic. Jim Zub’s narration was solid and evocative as usual. The ancient Pict is a figure that will be instantly recognizable to those who have read “The Shadow Kingdom” (1929) or Robert E. Howard’s other King Kull stories. Kull’s Thurian era is the distant past of Conan’s own Hyborian Age, and it was fun to see Zub link these two distant epochs. The essays by Jeffrey Shanks at the end of each issue go to great lengths to point out the connections between various corners of the Howard literary universe and, like Thulsa Doom being name-dropped in issue #3, it appears that Zub is very intentionally laying the groundwork for future cross-pollination between Howard’s heroes and settings.

De La Torre’s artwork maintains the high standard of quality seen in the previous issues. The forceful and dynamic posing of characters during the combat scenes was especially noticeable in this installment.

While I found Conan the Barbarian #4 largely successful, I was left baffled by some of the creative choices. The Pict warrior woman Brissa was one of the most talked-about elements of the new series, but she was completely absent from this issue. Mentioned briefly, but not shown. The tropes of comic storytelling being what they are, it’s painfully obvious that we haven’t seen the last of Brissa (Zub has hinted as much in interviews), but it felt like an unfair and anticlimactic way to handle an exciting supporting character.

The battle between Conan and the tentacled aquatic creature felt like another missed opportunity. Generally, in this situation a Conan the Barbarian reader would expect to be treated to some particularly impressive artwork, perhaps even a two-page spread revealing the blasphemous alien god in all its glory. Somewhat disappointingly, De La Torre delivers an unexpectedly subdued combat against a mostly hidden monster.

While my enthusiasm for Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian remains high, the finale of “Bound in Black Stone” didn’t quite attain the heights of preceding issues. The creative team have demonstrated their formidable capabilities, but this time it felt like they weren’t operating at full strength. I’m excited about the foundation Zub seems to be constructing for future stories and even upcoming titles featuring other Robert E. Howard heroes, but it seemed like the story’s immediate present was underserved. And Conan is a character that lives in the moment.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on October 13, 2023.

The City of Marble and Blood

By Howard Andrew Jones – Baen Books – October 3, 2023

Review by Robin Marx

Book 2 in the Chronicles of Hanuvar, The City of Marble and Blood picks up shortly after the conclusion of Lord of a Shattered Land. Defeated general and master strategist Hanuvar continues his undercover efforts to free his enslaved Volani countrymen from the genocidal Dervan Empire. He reconnects with old allies and gains new ones, including some surprising friends highly placed within the Dervan Empire. Early in the book a sorcerous mishap inflicts upon Hanuvar a startling transformation, however. The magical disaster provides renewed physical vigor and makes disguising his identity easier, but he also finds himself unrecognizable to longtime friends and aging at an accelerating pace. Freeing his people remains his utmost priority, but even more than before Hanuvar is confronted with his own mortality.

Like Lord of a Shattered Land before it, The City of Marble and Blood is another cycle of 14 linked stories (the final 15th chapter is more of an epilogue). Each chapter is largely episodic, making this an ideal book for short reading sessions. Compared to the first volume, however, The City of Marble and Blood holds together better as a cohesive novel. Where the installments in Lord of a Shattered Land tended to be scattered both geographically and thematically, with few members of the supporting cast returning after their original appearance, the stories here share more recurring characters and the plots more connections between them.

While Hanuvar remains as clever and driven as ever, the type of stories being told in The City of Marble and Blood have shifted slightly compared to the preceding book. Where Lord of a Shattered Land took place in the outlying provinces, The City of Marble and Blood is largely set deep behind enemy lines, either in the Empire’s central territories or the capital of Derva itself. This change in locale raises the stakes, as Hanuvar is surrounded at all times by the imperial war machine and the Gestapo-like Revenants. The capture and interrogation of Hanuvar or one of his key allies has the potential to scuttle his entire plan to liberate the enslaved Volani. And while they don’t disappear entirely, the “man versus monster” stories from the first volume mostly give way to a greater focus on mystery and political intrigue. Hanuvar finds himself in the uncomfortable position of working to foil assassination attempts on Dervans responsible for the destruction of his homeland, simply to prevent the ascension of even worse figures.

Fewer supernatural monsters appear in The City of Marble and Blood than the first book, but there is a greater emphasis on humanocentric evil. While there are a number of likable Dervan characters, it remains an empire built on slavery and Jones doesn’t shy away from depicting the brutality of human bondage. Entitled “In a Family Way,” the eleventh story in the book is an incredibly bleak look at a Dervan lordling who surrounds himself with beautiful slaves. Not only are the women mistreated and forced to share his bed, those unfortunates who fall pregnant end up being subjected to an even more sadistic fate. Hanuvar is an unambiguously heroic figure and many of his adventures have bright conclusions, but when a story wanders into grim territory Jones seems happy to rip the gloves off and bolt deeper into the darkness.

Lord of a Shattered Land marked a strong start to the *Chronicles of Hanuvar and The City of Marble and Blood makes for a compelling follow-up. The nature of Hanuvar’s exploits have changed slightly, but he remains the same cunning and cerebral character introduced in the first book. He also now benefits from an expanded roster of interesting and engaging allies and foes. The Roman-inspired Dervan setting continues to intrigue. Jones provides enough detail to paint a vivid picture of the society while simultaneously avoiding the dreaded “info-dump.” The City of Marble and Blood delivers a definite sense of forward momentum that I found incredibly satisfying. Formidable obstacles remain, but it feels like Hanuvar is making significant progress towards liberating his people. He’s winning. This makes me suspect that readers are being set up for a devastating reversal of fortune in the third book.

While The City of Marble and Blood appeared merely two months after Lord of a Shattered Land, readers will have to wait notably longer for the third volume in the series. Shadow of the Smoking Mountain is scheduled for an October 2024 release.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on September 8, 2023.

A Book of Blades: Volume II

Rogues in the House Presents – June 28, 2023

Review by Robin Marx

Sequel to 2022’s A Book of Blades, A Book of Blades: Volume II is the second anthology of fiction curated by the crew of Rogues in the House: The Ultimate Sword & Sorcery Podcast. It includes 14 Sword & Sorcery-themed short stories by as many authors, with striking cover artwork by Jesus Garcia and internal illustrations by Gilead. Writers featured here have appeared in the pages of short fiction venues like Tales From The Magician’s Skull, Old Moon Quarterly, and Savage Realms Monthly, so this anthology also serves as a broad survey of more than a dozen authors active in the indie S&S scene.

As a Sword & Sorcery anthology, most of the stories deal with either lone heroes or small bands (here frequently drifters, tomb raiders, or mercenaries between jobs) thrust into deadly situations, relying on their wits and weaponry to defeat supernatural threats. The protagonists generally aren’t embarking on epic quests, they’re seeking riches, revenge, or simply attempting to survive. The tone is almost universally gritty and violent across the collected stories, with several selections comfortably grimdark in everything but name. This review focuses on A Book of Blades: Volume II’s darker entries.

“Breaching Earth’s Womb” by S.E. Lindberg is one of the most grimdark and all-around weirdest stories included in A Book of Blades: Volume II. When tainted pregnancies result in several expectant mothers being eviscerated and consumed by insectoid parasites, golem midwife Nurse Leech must leave the relative safety of home to ward off a larger disaster. Her desperate journey takes her across a blasted land ravaged by an ongoing struggle between immense, godlike beings. Lindberg is fascinated by the concept of the ancient Greek bodily humors and the maladies thought to result from imbalances between them, and this story shows the same bizarrely compelling gooey, squidgy body horror of the other tales in his Dyscrasia Fiction line.

“Beasts of Waste & Desolation” features the Viking-era orc hero of Scott Oden’s grimdark Grimnir trilogy (A Gathering of Ravens, Twilight of the Gods, and the forthcoming The Doom of Odin). Back in Jutland after slaughtering “whiteskin” humans abroad, Grimnir encounters a crone doing her laundry in a shallow pool. Recognizing her as a deadly water spirit in disguise, he helps himself to her banquet while participating in a high-stakes game of riddles. The story that follows is an entertainingly predatory tête-à-tête in which two lethal killers circle each other, simultaneously probing for weaknesses and coiling to strike.

“Cries from a Sleeping City,” by Grimdark Magazine contributor and Rogues in the House podcaster Matt John, is another adventure featuring barbarian mercenary Lachmannon (previously seen in issue 10 of Tales From The Magician’s Skull). The wealthy ruler of Zanzara hires a tavern full of sell-swords to scour the tunnels beneath the city, searching for the mythical Queen Vashka, thought to be an imprisoned immortal sorceress. Initially skeptical of the task, Lachmannon quickly learns that the tales of Vashka are true. To survive, he must fight to escape a nightmarish subterranean hellscape filled with cannibalistic “eaters” and unseen lurkers that use body-invading tentacles to drive their victims insane with bloodlust. The story is fast paced, with a fun menagerie of monsters and a dark streak a mile wide.

John R. Fultz’s “Return of the Quill” is another moody standout in A Book of Blades: Volume II. The necromancer Grimsort, one of eight Sorcerer Kings ruling a conquered city policed by revived corpses, is persuaded to allow a traveling acting troupe to stage a play in his domain. His fellow tyrants plan to sacrifice the massive audience as fuel for a demonic summoning, but Grimsort finds himself unexpectedly swayed by the actors’ bravura performance. While not particularly lengthy, this story is rich with gothic imagery and fascinating characters. Its celebration of the power storytelling can have even over the most hardened heart also appealed.

A Book of Blades: Volume II concludes with “The Horror from the Stars,” by Steve Dilks. Like Charles Clark’s “The White Tower” at the very beginning of the anthology and “The Geomancer’s Son” by J. Thomas Howard, this story involves a close encounter with a threat from outer space. (The Sword & Sorcery subgenre predates the firmer separation of fantasy from science fiction to which modern readers have grown accustomed, and I have a particular soft spot for warrior vs. alien stories.) “The Horror from the Stars” begins with Bohun arriving in the city of Ibn-Shahk, determined to reclaim his abducted wife from the sultan’s harem or die trying. He’s warned of a string of mysterious disappearances since the sultan’s retrieval of a “fallen star” from the desert, and soon comes face-to-face with the sadistic otherworldly intelligence behind the throne. While Bohun’s final triumph felt a little too easily attained given what we’re shown of the alien’s capabilities, both the action and horrific elements are exciting and cinematically presented.

While some contributions are reprints from other venues and I was slightly disappointed that the artwork didn’t directly tie to the included stories, A Book of Blades: Volume II feels like an enthusiastic labor of love. Brisk action is the hallmark of these stories, and there’s more than enough here to justify the purchase for fans of grimdark fantasy.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on September 6, 2023.

Conan the Barbarian #2

By Jim Zub (Writer) and Roberto De La Torre (Artist) – Titan Comics – August 30, 2023

Review by Robin Marx

The second issue of Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian begins in the ashes of Aquilonian frontier outpost Hauler’s Roam. Conan and the Pictish scout Brissa watch from hiding as the undead “Tribe of the Lost” wordlessly gather together the bodies of their savaged victims. Loading the corpses into a net they drag behind them, the rotting horde heads north, crossing the border into Conan’s homeland of Cimmeria. Sole survivors of the supernatural raid, Conan and Brissa follow in pursuit, hoping both to warn Cimmerian warriors of the encroaching threat and learn the location of the larger army of zombies. Along the way Conan and Brissa learn more about one another, with initial mistrust eventually giving way to camaraderie.

The artwork for this issue is the best seen thus far. For Conan the Barbarian #1 I commented that the reader’s viewpoint often felt a bit too distant from the action, obscuring facial expressions and other fine details. Issue #2 displays a marked improvement on that front. Not only are we given a clearer look at character’s faces, they are good faces as well. As to be expected given the situation, Conan mostly wears an expression of grim determination throughout the issue, but Roberto De La Torre avoids stone-faced monotony through subtle attention to Conan’s eyes. Now that we’re able to get a better look at her face, we can see that Brissa is rendered in a style that would not be out of place alongside Belit, Valeria, Red Sonja, and other warrior women and love interests from the 1970s issues of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, rather than a more modern standard for comic book heroines. This consistency with the classic artwork is appreciated. While the characters and fight scenes take center stage, De La Torre’s art also does a quietly effective job showcasing the rugged wilderness of Cimmeria.

There’s more narration than dialogue in Conan the Barbarian #2, but Jim Zub continues to take a light hand with the text. He mostly lets the artwork speak for itself, using brief and evocative language as needed to communicate the less visual aspects of the story. Most of this issue is taken up by overland travel, but there are some nice character moments as Brissa and Conan—thrown together by circumstance—gradually feel each other out. The Tribe of the Lost and the unseen power commanding it remain mysterious, but some intriguing hints are revealed.

There has been a small amount of grumbling from canon purists about the coziness of comic book Conan’s relationship with the Pict Brissa. In “The Black Stranger,” one of the original short stories by Robert E. Howard, Conan takes considerable umbrage at another character’s suggestion that he has been living among the Picts: “Even a Zingaran ought to know there’s never been peace between Picts and Cimmerians, and never will be.” The comic book Conan is much younger than the one depicted in “The Black Stranger,” and I’m curious to see if this long-standing feud between Cimmerians and Picts will be reflected in the plot developments of subsequent issues of Conan the Barbarian.

Conan scholar Jeffrey Shanks’ brief article for this issue takes no position on “Pictgate”; instead he draws a connection between Zub’s comic character Brissa and the lineage of Howard’s Pictish characters Brule the Spear-slayer and Bran Mak Morn. The issue concludes with a letters column, in which Zub reiterates a statement he has made in interviews, that his intent for Titan Comics’ Conan the Barbarian is to focus on creating new tales, rather than retell classic adventures. A laudable goal, in this reader’s opinion.

Enthusiasm remains high regarding Conan’s comic revival, with Conan the Barbarian #1 reportedly outselling all Titan Comics releases to date. A third printing of the first issue is in the works, and Titan reports that this second issue is already back at the printers for a second run. Conan the Barbarian #2 maintains the high standard of quality seen in #1 and the Free Comic Book Day issue #0 and is an easy recommendation for fans of dark fantasy comics.

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