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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