This review is a Writing Repository original.

Old Gods and Other Tales

By Scott Oden – Independently Published – August 28, 2025

Review by Robin Marx

Old Gods and Other Tales is an independently published collection of eleven short stories by Scott Oden. While he has attracted a following in the Sword & Sorcery scene for fantasy work including the occasional Conan the Barbarian pastiche (i.e., the “Conan the Unconquered” novelette that accompanies Funcom’s video game of the same name; Conan: The Shadow of Vengeance, part of Titan Books’ Heroic Legends line) and his outspoken admiration of Conan’s creator Robert E. Howard, Oden’s first love is the “Heroic Historical.” Some of his creations are straight historical fiction (e.g., Men of Bronze, while others marry Earth’s distant past with the fantastic (e.g., the Viking orc trilogy THE GRIMNIR SAGA). Pulse-pounding action, particularly against overwhelming odds, is a prominent element in Oden’s work and Old Gods and Other Tales offers readers a representative look at the thrills he has to offer.

The collection opens with “The Prince of Cups,” one of the more overtly Sword & Sorcery-oriented stories. Tisias the Crow, a flamboyant gambler/thief/duelist is hired by the playwright Barzentes to steal back a seditious play ill-advisedly given to the elite courtesan Pythonike and seal her lips permanently. Tisias is reluctant to resort to murder, however, and decides to put another one of his specialties to use in assisting Barzentes. Tisias is a rakish and fun character, and the glimpses readers receive of both the magic and Old Stamboul city setting are intriguing.

“The Lion of Montgisard” is a straight historical fiction tale, recounting the Battle of Montgisard between Saladin’s army and the vastly outnumbered forces of the leper king Baldwin IV. Set in the same historical period and sharing several historical personages, fans of the 2005 Ridley Scott movie Kingdom of Heaven are likely to enjoy this story; it’s even narrated by Balian, who was portrayed by Orlando Bloom in the film. “The Lion of Montgisard” delivers the sort of desperate, against all odds, stirring adventure that is Oden’s forte. While certainly authentic for the period, the frequent “God wills it!” battle cries land a little uncomfortably in 2026, given the attempts of Christian nationalists (notably US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has a “Deus Vult” tattoo) to revive it as a racist, far right rallying slogan. Oden is obviously not responsible for America’s current debased political climate, however, and what we see of the Crusaders’ opposition feels as humanizing as space and the intense life-or-death circumstances allow.

Three of the included stories in this volume focus on Martin Kestrel, a playwright in a fantasy-tinged Elizabethan London in which the Queen has diplomatic relations with the fey folk. As “A Stage by Any Other Name”—Kestrel’s first appearance—begins, one of Kestrel’s scripts has gotten him into political trouble with Gresham Drake, an influential moneylender and occultist backed by a secret society called the Brotherhood of the Silver Thorn. Drake hopes to eliminate the thorn (no pun intended) in his side by selling off Kestrel’s considerable debt to Lady Ravenna, the cold and intimidating Faerie Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth’s court. Kestrel must use his wits and silver tongue to keep his demanding new patron happy while outmaneuvering his foes. While the premise is interesting, “A Stage by Any Other Name” ends incredibly abruptly, feeling more like a chapter than a complete story. Fortunately, the dangling plot threads are taken up again in the two follow-up stories later in the book, “The Wordsmith’s Gambit” and “The Final Performance.” Across both stories, Kestrel works to foil the Silver Thorn Brotherhood while keeping Lady Ravenna placated.

According to their introduction, the Martin Kestrel stories were born out of Oden’s desire to create a Sword & Sorcery protagonist who is a creative artist by trade. Elizabethan London with a cutthroat occult underground is a fascinating setting, and while Kestrel is an interesting and cerebral hero, the three stories felt like they didn’t quite live up to their full potential. It also seemed like Oden struggled a bit giving trying to end these stories without violent climaxes. “The Wordsmith’s Gambit” ends with Kestrel cleverly talking himself out of a dangerous situation, but the most exciting part of the story—a daring heist—takes place off-screen, handled by his associates. As a reader, that’s the bit I most want to see! While the Kestrel stories aren’t quite up to Oden’s usual standard, they’re an interesting experiment. It also feels significant that he chose to write three stories with this protagonist. Perhaps, rather than as short stories, Kestrel’s exploits would work better expanded into a full-length novel.

“The Bones Remember” starts with a wild, original, and fun premise: essentially “Whatever happened to that skeletal warrior with the octopus-emblazoned shield from Ray Harryhausen’s Jason and the Argonauts?” The story that follows is surprisingly emotional, however, as the skeleton (whose name was Meriones, we learn) reflects upon memories of the past and situations and sensations from his former life as he embarks on a mission of revenge for the theft of the Golden Fleece. I appreciated the artistry on display here, how Oden took a slightly goofy idea and made something unexpectedly moving out of it.

The collection’s title story, “Old Gods,” is another historical fantasy, this time starring a wandering 6th century Vandal named Athalaric. Athalaric violently intervenes when he encounters a beautiful woman being accosted by a mob accusing her of witchcraft. While his initial rescue is successful, the locals return later in greater numbers. Athalaric soon learns that the claims the woman Nikaia possesses preternatural powers are not unfounded, and that she comes from a very unusual bloodline. While the action and romantic elements are satisfying, the dreamy interlude felt like an awkward infodump of exposition that could have been shared more elegantly. Taken as a whole, however, “Old Gods” is still an entertaining example of historically anchored Sword & Sorcery, featuring perhaps the most Conan-like protagonist in the book.

“The Purple Shroud” takes inspiration from a fantastic situation, Conan violently seizing the throne of Aquilonia from King Numedides, and relocates it to the Byzantine Empire, with historical figures in the starring roles. Ioannes Tzimiskes infiltrates the quarters of Emperor Nikephoros Phokas with designs to assassinate him and replace him on the throne. Complicating matters is the fact that the pair were once close friends, and Ioannes is also being pressured to slay the guiltless Empress Theophano or risk losing the support of powerful allies. The meat of the story centers on the duel between Tzimiskes and Phokas, with the two crossing blades while conversing. Tzimiskes attempts to justify his betrayal, and Phokas warns him of the countless burdens of statesmanship while still selling his life dearly. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. “The Purple Shroud” boasts exciting swordplay and court intrigue, all set in a historical period mostly unfamiliar to this reader.

“The Unburied” is an ancient world zombie yarn, involving soldiers from Alexander the Great’s army struggling against the living dead upon returning to their home village. The story is well-executed, but as it boils down to bog-standard traditional zombie tropes paired with one of Oden’s trademark desperate last stands it feels distinctly familiar.

Described in somewhat unconfident terms as a “strange and experimental piece” and as preliminary work for an as-yet embryonic novel on the 12th century siege of Acre, “The Eternal Jest” consists of three linked episodes. The first centers upon Templar Jean de Montluc, one of seven men tasked with defending a gate from an army of 10,000 invaders, buying time until ships can evacuate the falling city of Acre. Ten years later, the second episode introduces us to Raoul de Montjoie, a jocular leper knight who, upon hearing of their plight while visiting a tavern, immediately takes it upon himself to rescue a group of children taken by local brigands to be sold into slavery. As with Jean de Montluc a decade earlier the odds prove insurmountable, but Raoul de Montjoie again demonstrates the amount of good a dying man can accomplish. A decade after Raoul’s death, the final episode returns to a supporting character from the first segment: Jean de Montluc’s squire and bastard son Guillaume. Now a lord in his own right, Guillaume is crippled by survivor’s guilt over his inglorious escape from Acre, bereft over the loss of his wife and sons from plague, and stricken with a chronic wasting disease. Aimless and bitter, he has a chance encounter with Miriam, one of the children freed by Raoul de Montjoie’s suicide mission a decade ago. Hearing her tale inspires Guillaume to similarly dedicate himself in service to others. The overarching core of the three-episode cycle is stated quite openly: “The strong die so the weak might live, and the weak grow strong so that they might die for others in turn.” It’s a powerful theme and one affectingly delivered. In recent years there has been much hand-wringing discussion of “masculinity in crisis,” and so many of the men most vocal about masculinity absolutely should not be listened to. They sell a profoundly insecure, intolerant, and superficial conception of masculinity that diminishes women, promotes pointless aggression, and pushes an infantile zero-sum view of society and interpersonal relations. In contrast, “The Eternal Jest” is a showcase for healthy masculinity. What can be manlier than being a protector? A steadfast bulwark shielding those in dire need? The world isn’t divided up into Alphas and Betas, heroes and zeroes. Guillaume is weak and powerless when we first meet him, but through Jean’s sacrifice (and former victim Miriam’s sage guidance!) Guillaume is allowed to grow into a hero himself. “The Eternal Jest” is the most moving and impactful tale in the book. It should have been the title story.

Have you ever been talking with a friend and, out of the blue, they say something incredibly revealing, vulnerable, and poignant? And then that friend, realizing that they may have gotten a little too real, rushes to defuse the moment with a joke? That’s what readers get with the final story in the book, “Three-Tabbed Doom.” Chad of Poughkeepsie, employed at Mediocre Mutual Insurance, frees his comrades from tyranny by striking down (in Office Space fashion) the evil HP LaserJet 4200 that oppresses them. It’s a silly bit of fluff. Not unentertaining but placing it immediately after “The Eternal Jest” feels like an act of self-sabotage on Oden’s part. Come on, man. You were real with us readers for a moment there, and this is how you’re going to leave us?

Minor quibbles aside, Old Gods and Other Tales is an excellent microcosm of the work of an underacknowledged author. While his Sword & Sorcery stories are entertaining, he seems most confident with the real world as his foundation; historical fantasies and the more grounded Heroic Historicals are where he truly shines. Adrenaline, overwhelming odds, and desperate last stands are his forte. Old Gods and Other Tales was awarded the 2026 Costigan Award for Literary Achievement by the Robert E. Howard Foundation.

Old Gods and Other Tales is available as an ePub directly from the author, and in Kindle and paperback formats from Amazon.

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This review is a Writing Repository original.

Merynthia's Master

By Luana Saitta – Independently Published – April 25, 2026

Review by Robin Marx

Revolution is brewing in the seaside city of Merynthia, with the Sicanian underground yearning to overthrow the yoke of the Trynacrian Empire. The enchanted Amulet of Al-Khapish could tip the balance of power in the rebels’ favor, and the Sicanian wizard Barixes Crab-Eye is determined to acquire it at any cost. To that end, Barixes dispatches his light-fingered apprentice Worm to steal the magical artifact. When Worm’s initial attempts to pilfer the amulet end in disaster, Barixes forces him to undergo a startling transformation. Assuming the new identity “Wren,” the wizard’s apprentice goes undercover in the amulet owner’s lavish estate, encountering both unexpected threats and temptations.

Merynthia’s Master is the debut Sword & Sorcery novella by Luana Saitta. While Saitta has previously released a handful of short stories taking place in the same world at Swords & Sorcery Magazine, they focused on sorcerous dabbler Princess Kawtar and her bodyguard/lover Zeynep of the Plains. While I was initially surprised to learn that Merynthia’s Master dealt with an entirely new cast of characters, any faint disappointment at not being treated to a longer Zeynep and Kawtar tale evaporated after reading past the first few pages. As a protagonist, Worm is an entertaining underdog and it’s easy for the audience to root for them. Indeed, appealing characters abound in Merynthia’s Master, with cruel Barixes, affable Trynacrian legionnaire Marcus Posca, and the alluring Qazhia standing out from the pack. Despite the brief page count, readers are given a good sense of the characters’ distinct personalities. Saitta also succeeds in making the bustling pseudo-Mediterranean port of Merynthia itself a character, conjuring a real sense of place that makes the setting come alive.

Merynthia’s Master also benefits from its brisk action. The novella opens with a dynamic chase scene that ranges through, above, and even under the sun-drenched streets of Merynthia. This sequence kickstarts the book, providing thrills and spills from page one. While Worm sometimes wanders off mission, there’s never a lull in the action.

The novella similarly delivers a great deal of spectacle. While swordplay isn’t emphasized to the degree as it is in a great deal of Sword & Sorcery fiction, magic plays a critical role in the narrative. In addition to Worm’s pivotal transformation and the novella’s blockbuster finale, sorcery is put to creative and evocative use throughout. The skeletal scribes working away in a basement, mechanically producing Sicanian revolutionary literature is a fascinating image.

Adding a different kind of spectacle and spice, romance and sexuality occupy a more prominent role in the story than is commonly seen in Sword & Sorcery (at least since the passing of Tanith Lee). The friendly characters of all genders are extremely attractive, enthusiastically receptive to sexual overtures, and completely lacking in jealousy. The sex scenes aren’t incredibly extended or graphic, but they go into a bit more detail than the typical “fade to black” to which many contemporary fantasy authors nervously resort.

Merynthia’s Master covers quite a bit of ground within its slim page count. While I appreciated the fast pacing, parts of the novella—perhaps inevitably—feel underdeveloped. For a story ostensibly sparked by a desire to expel the foreign occupiers, readers aren’t given much cause to cheer on the Sicanian rebels or view the Trynacrian Empire in a very negative light beyond “some of their guards are arbitrary and mean.” Real world history tells us that imperialism rarely works out advantageously for the colonized, but it was vague exactly what yoke under which the people of Merynthia were suffering. The need for an independent Merynthia could have been more clearly established.

Sword & Sorcery stories work best when their authors demonstrate a certain degree of sadism towards their characters, but much of the novella is surprisingly light on conflict. Emotionally I want Elric of Melniboné to finally find peace, but intellectually I understand the story requires Michael Moorcock to put him through the wringer. Similarly, as readers we like Worm/Wren and want good things for them, but the story would have benefited from more obstacles. Worm becoming Wren is a rags-to-riches lifestyle upgrade with even fewer drawbacks than what Will Smith encounters in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Luxurious accommodations, found family, and plenty of sexy new friends! Love this for you, Wren. Perhaps Wren could have been put through more of an awkward adjustment period with their new form, or maybe a suspicious or unimpressed character could have been included in al-Thari’s household to provide some much-needed pushback.

In the end, however, my gripes with Merynthia’s Master can basically be summed up as “I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I just wish there was more of it.” More background, more interpersonal clashes, more setbacks. The characters are endearing, the action exciting, the spice is welcome, and the prose is the strongest Saitta has delivered to date.

Merynthia’s Master is available in ePub and PDF formats from itch.io, and Kindle and paperback formats from Amazon.

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This review is a Writing Repository original.

JANGAR!: Slaves of the Mind Mage

By Logan D. Whitney – Cliffhanger! Press – June 1, 2026

Review by Robin Marx

The pounding of drums deep in the jungle draw savage wild man Jangar to an encampment of Ur-Men—hostile ape-like creatures—who revel as caged humans cower in fear. When he spies a terrified young woman tied to a spire in the outpost’s center, offered up as a sacrifice to the Ur-Men’s lumbering god, Jangar is pushed to violently intervene. Even after his daring rescue is complete, however, Jangar’s troubles have only begun. While Jangar was born to the jungle, Yala—as the beauteous former captive is known—is altogether unprepared for such a dangerous environment and unlikely to survive on her own. As Jangar and Yala set off for civilization, the pair soon encounters threats unknown even to Jangar: the otherworldly Mind Mage and his eerie servitors.

Hot on the heels of February’s Honor Among Rogues: Six Thrilling Tales of Pulp Adventure, JANGAR!: Slaves of the Mind Mage marks the first installment in a new project by Logan D. Whitney. It’s the first novelette of six planned monthly releases; the first five will be DRM-free ebooks, with the sixth installment to be collected along with the previous installments and printed as a mass market-sized paperback.

Where Honor Among Rogues kept to the relatively grounded terrain of Earth’s historical past as viewed through an adventure pulp lens, in JANGAR! Whitney is in full Sword & Sorcery mode. In his Author’s Note, he cites contemporary author Steve Dilks’ hero Gunthar as an inspiration, one that then led Whitney to another character that would become a further influence on JANGAR!: Lin Carter’s Thongor. While the broad-strokes setting of primeval Muu does feel reminiscent of Carter’s ancient Lemuria, readers are also likely to feel the shadow of Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan. Like Tarzan, Jangar is a solitary human raised in the wilderness by animal parents: saber-tooth tigers rather than the gorilla-like Mangani from Tarzan of the Apes. The panther-like Jangar is portrayed as more beast than man, and his interactions with other human beings as guarded and tentative. In one memorable passage, he even teaches Yala how to use dangling vines to navigate the jungle.

The greatest strength of JANGAR!: Slaves of the Mind Mage is its fast pacing. Just 42 pages in length, there’s no wasted verbiage. Jangar and Yala face one struggle after another, with very little opportunity to catch their breath. Readers are only given enough worldbuilding required by the story, and the distant metropolis of Q’oth and the rest of the continent of Muu remain mysterious and ripe for future elaboration.

With a savage barbarian hero, a beautiful woman in need of assistance, brutal ape-men, and glimpses of cosmic horror, the ingredients of JANGAR!: Slaves of the Mind Mage will be familiar to seasoned readers of Sword & Sorcery, but they’re served up in such an entertaining manner that I suspect most fans of the subgenre will happily overlook the lack of boundary-pushing. Indeed, Whitney includes several amusing references to other pulp tales as if affirming the story’s connection to similar adventures, rather than trying to stand apart. Jangar’s jungle home is named “Zan-Tar,” a barely-concealed anagram for “Tarzan.” Paraphrasing Conan’s memorable “if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion” reflection from “Queen of the Black Coast” (1934), Jangar echoes “If life is a dream, then I, too, am a dream.” There’s even a sly reference to the work of Whitney’s Rogues in the House podcast associate Matthew John when Yala is tempted with the knowledge of how to “walk on worlds,” a phrasing suspiciously similar to the title of John’s first S&S collection.

Fast-paced and action-packed, with a satisfying conclusion, JANGAR!: Slaves of the Mind Mage is a tasty Sword & Sorcery snack. I look forward to future installments. The digital novelette is available now via Amazon Kindle and Payhip.

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This review is a Writing Repository original.

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre

By Philip Fracassi – Tor Nightfire – September 30, 2025

Review by Robin Marx

Horror fiction has been undergoing a resurgence in recent years, and with outstanding releases like Gothic and Boys in the Valley Philip Fracassi quickly established himself as an author worth watching. Released by Tor’s Nightfire imprint, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre feels somewhat different from past Fracassi books, but more of an expansion of his repertoire than a permanent change in direction. It experiments with genres in a way that is interesting, but perhaps not entirely successful.

Nearly eighty years old, retired high school teacher Rose DuBois lives a quiet life at the titular Autumn Springs Retirement Home in upstate New York. She’s comfortable in her routine and surrounded by friends, most notable among them the affable former professor Beauregard Mason Miller, with whom she enjoys a warm companionship that—to Miller’s obvious chagrin—hasn’t quite blossomed into a Golden Years romance. A shadow falls over Autumn Springs, however, when Rose’s friend Angela dies of an apparent bathroom fall. Given their advanced age, the Autumn Spring residents largely take the death in stride, but the retirement home administrator’s horrified reaction to Angela’s body and the extent of the injuries seen on the corpse make Rose wonder if foul play was involved. In the days to follow, more of Rose’s friends and acquaintances fall victim to similar mishaps and maladies. Rose’s suspicions mount, and with Miller by her side she begins to investigate the deaths that the larger retirement community mostly shrugs off. Her stubborn persistence, however, marks her as a future target for a shadowy murderer.

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre benefits from its brisk pacing. While the story itself is a bit of a slow burn—for most of the book the retirees are blissfully unaware that a killer lurks in their midst—individual chapters are brief and proceed at a rapid clip, frequently hinting at the murder to come, depicting its actual execution, or the discovery of the aftermath. While the proper amount of attention is spent on nice character-establishing moments, there isn’t a lot of extraneous fat; this is a lean, fast-moving book.

The appealing characters are another highlight of the book. Readers spend the most time with Rose and Miller, and both are well-rendered, realistic-feeling characters. I’ve met people very similar to them, and I imagine many other readers have as well. But we also get to spend some time in other characters’ shoes, frequently in their final desperate moments, and Fracassi doesn’t skimp on the supporting cast’s characterization. I noted it in my review of Boys in the Valley, but Fracassi’s uncommon ability to breathe life into a large cast of supporting characters through economical and empathetic characterization is again showcased in The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre. The elderly residents’ vulnerability and isolation are especially poignantly rendered in one brief chapter late in the book, after it has been unequivocally established that a killer is stalking the halls of the retirement home. Desperate to flee, various residents phone family members and former spouses begging for sanctuary until the danger has passed, only to have their pleas fall on deaf ears. Their relatives are all busy with their own lives and don’t welcome the intrusion from the old folks; better they go back to being out of sight and out of mind, warehoused at faraway Autumn Springs.

While promoted as a “slasher” novel, that aspect doesn’t arrive until quite late in the narrative. Most of the murders are orchestrated to appear as accidents or deaths from existing health issues, the knives only come out towards the end. Indeed, the “Massacre” in the title almost feels like a misnomer, suggesting more of a kinetic bloodbath than the methodical and gradually escalating series of serial killings we are presented with. While there are some gory passages, horror elements in general are fairly muted. Subtle supernatural elements do appear in the book, but they’re plausibly deniable and so lowkey that part of me wonders if Fracassi would have been better off omitting them entirely and aiming more squarely at the thriller genre. Had Fracassi pursued that direction, he could have further augmented the mystery elements of this book. There are a handful of attempts to misdirect the reader regarding the masked killer’s identity, but they’re quickly discarded; Fracassi doesn’t really commit to the red herrings in a way that made me as a reader entertain them to as realistic possibilities. And while we eventually learn the murderer’s identity, even despite a handful of first-person perspective scenes we do not receive much insight into their motives for the killings beyond opportunism and contempt for the infirm.

Straddling the mystery and horror genres, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre feels slightly less self-assured than Fracassi’s Gothic or Boys in the Valley. I get the sense that Fracassi is trying something new here, going out on a limb. Indeed, in the Afterword Fracassi remarks that the final novel did shift and grow beyond his original concept, changing through his development of Rose as a character and the experience of losing his parents. If you’re already acquainted with Philip Fracassi’s work, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is well worth checking out. Fracassi’s strengths—empathetic characterization and effective pacing—are present and accounted for. Horror enthusiasts unfamiliar with Fracassi are better directed to something like Boys in the Valley first, however, as the “slasher” marketing overstates the amount of gore and brutality present in the actual novel. “Final Girl” labeling aside, Rose owes more to Jessica Fletcher than Laurie Strode. Even if the mystery elements aren’t as developed as they could have been, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is an easy recommendation for thriller fans. I enjoyed the time I spent with Rose DuBois and Beauregard Mason Miller and I’m pleased to see Fracassi resist complacency and push himself in new directions.

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