I have a number of well-worn anthologies on my shelves. It has been said that shorter fiction is the proper length for Swords-and-Sorcery. Maybe so. At least in an anthology the reader has access to multiple imagined worlds in a single volume instead of the single world of a novel. I thought I’d investigate this… Continue reading Flashing Swords #3. Pack Your Bags.
Category: Anthologies
Anthologies: Warlocks and Warriors, Emphasis on the Warlocks.
This one is a gem. And take a look at that cover. Interestingly, it promises cover-to-cover hand-to-hand combat, but while there is plenty of sword-swinging in this Sword-and-Sorcery anthology, the emphasis is on the sorcery. Perhaps that theme is hinted at in the title Warlocks and Warriors, giving precedence to the Warlocks. The supernatural takes center… Continue reading Anthologies: Warlocks and Warriors, Emphasis on the Warlocks.
Mighty Swordsmen…and Guest
The Mighty Swordsmen comes close to delivering precisely as advertised, and even its single lapse is excellent. I admit to a lack of familiarity with the editor, Hans Stefan Santesson. He provided a short introduction, rambling about sorcery and what we’d probably now refer to as “deep time.” It doesn’t seem to have much to do with… Continue reading Mighty Swordsmen…and Guest
Swords Against Darkness: Here Be Monsters
Monsters come in many guises. Andrew Offut put together an anthology illustrating that very point. It is a fine collection. It doesn’t achieve the heights of some of the other anthologies I’ve discussed in earlier posts, but it ain’t no slouch either. Most of the stories first saw print in this volume, so Offut could not simply cherry pick,… Continue reading Swords Against Darkness: Here Be Monsters
Swords Against Darkness: Sometimes Less is More
In the last entry in this series of reviews of anthologies, I covered Swords Against Darkness I. This time I’m leaping ahead to Swords Against Darkness III, because it is on my shelves. (I’ve since secured a copy of volume II and I’m eagerly looking forward to opening its pages.) The first volume offered up nine stories.… Continue reading Swords Against Darkness: Sometimes Less is More
Swords Against Darkness II: Thematically Ambiguous
Andrew Offutt’s introduction to Swords Against Darkness II deals with what term to apply to this genre of stories. He writes of sitting on four different panels over the course of a single year concerning this very topic. I wish convention panels would include such subjects nowadays. Currently about half of the list of panel topics I’m… Continue reading Swords Against Darkness II: Thematically Ambiguous
The Fantastic Swordsmen Delivers a Fantastic Lineup
The Fantastic Swordsmen is the third entry in L. Sprague de Camp’s swords-and-sorcery anthology series. De Camp’s introduction is solid, but after a few of these apologias for S&S they all begin to read much the same. Don’t worry, the stories are better. Black Lotus. Robert Bloch. Bloch wrote this story at the age of sixteen.… Continue reading The Fantastic Swordsmen Delivers a Fantastic Lineup
Swords & Sorcery. Or Swords & Monsters?
Swords & Sorcery is L. Sprague de Camp’s first entry in his four-volume series that spanned seven years. His introduction — an early sample of the short essay he’d return to with variations on the theme often enough — is a decent explication concerning what heroic fantasy consists of. (I found myself nodding in agreement at… Continue reading Swords & Sorcery. Or Swords & Monsters?
Golden Cities, Far. The Roots of Swords-and-Sorcery
I think a brief reminder is all that is needed here: Lin Carter was a gifted and prolific editor. One of the volumes he put together for The Adult Fantasy series was a book titled Golden Cities, Far. The introduction is one of his better efforts, and seems to have been exhaustively researched. In fact, the… Continue reading Golden Cities, Far. The Roots of Swords-and-Sorcery