Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion

Perkilis, you're not half so happy as I, to have met you and found some help with this.... You can listen to a good-length free sample of Wake on Amazon or auidble.com. I loved how it came out.

Janet wrote: "Perklis, when I click on "here" in your post, it takes me to a list of discussions and I don't know how to begin a new topic. Sigh. So, here's a reading list/chronology, and if you could put this outline somewhere, where it's useful and show me where, I can expand on it if desired."

"Perkilis, you're not half so happy as I, to have met you and found some help with this.... You can listen to a good-length free sample of Wake on Amazon or audidble.com. I loved how it came out."

I have deleted the post from the "Introductions" thread (unfortunately I cannot move it between folders) and created the post here.
I also created and separated from the older books, The Sacred Band of Stepsons Expanded "Author's Cut" editions series.

Thanks, Perklis. That's wonderful.

S.E. wrote: "Bruce wrote: "Hi, I'm Bruce Durham and I'm a S&S author and fan (sounds like an AA intro...). I discovered S&S way back in the 60's while perusing a selection of pocketbooks and coming across a tit..."

HI, Bruce. I'm jsut learning Goodreads. Nice to see you here...

Greetings to all in this Sword andSorcery group. My name is Ralph E. Laitres, and I have been a fan of Sword and Sorcery since my teenage years back in the 70s. That is when I was introduced to the Conan paperbacks and to Marvel's Savage Sword of Conan Magazines.

I am also an author. I enjoy writing about Thorgil Bloodaxe, a ruthless mercenary warrior that roams the northern lands.

"Thorgil Bloodaxe, Enter the White Queen" was published and released through FriesenPress, Sept 2011. This was my first published book, and at this time,I am working on my second book of Thorgil.

Ralph wrote: "Greetings to all in this Sword andSorcery group. My name is Ralph E. Laitres, and I have been a fan of Sword and Sorcery since my teenage years back in the 70s. That is when I was introduced to the..."

Welcome Ralph, thank you for joining us. The The Savage Sword of Conan is also one of my earliest memories of S&S.
Why don't you introduce new readers to Thorgil, by creating a post in this thread?

Greetings!
My name is John Elwood and I'm quite new to Sword & Sorcery in general. I was searching the groups for "dark fantasy," when I came across this, and was intrigued. After reading the various definitions of Sword & Sorcery, as well Planetary Romance (whose description reminds me of my own work, The Rail City), I was intrigued. I recently have acquired some of Mr. Lieber's work and have added it to my reading list. I'm very excited to check out this earthier sort of fantasy. ^_^

Periklis wrote: "Ralph wrote: "Greetings to all in this Sword andSorcery group. My name is Ralph E. Laitres, and I have been a fan of Sword and Sorcery since my teenage years back in the 70s. That is when I was int..."

Thank you Periklis Begzos for the welcome. I still have special collector issues of Marvel's treasury edition of Conan the Barbarian, #4 1975, #9 1978, #15 1977.

John wrote: "Greetings!
My name is John Elwood and I'm quite new to Sword & Sorcery in general. I was searching the groups for "dark fantasy," when I came across this, and was intrigued. After reading the var..."

Welcome John, hope you enjoy your venture in the genre (and the group!).Fritz Leiber's work helped define and shape the genre. The Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories will serve as a great introduction. May I recommend The Dying Earth? If you like more genre-blending S&S, you'll enjoy it.
You could also join the group's first read (Jan/Feb 2013), dedicated to anthologies. It's a nice way to discover new authors and different approaches to adventure stories.

Ralph wrote: "Thank you Periklis Begzos for the welcome. [...] This is "Thorgil Bloodaxe, Enter the White Queen".
The cover is designed by Casper Art, who works with Viking re-enactors from all over the world. The black-and-white picture inserts in the book are the works of Casper Art..."

You're welcome. As I have no way of moving messages between folders, I created a thread where you can further present and discuss your book.

Hmm. I'm currently in South Korea, without a Mastercard or Visa, and therefor no real means of acquiring a S&S anthology to read. I don't suppose anyone could help me out? I *do* have a kindle.

John wrote: "Hmm. I'm currently in South Korea, without a Mastercard or Visa, and therefor no real means of acquiring a S&S anthology to read. I don't suppose anyone could help me out? I *do* have a kindle."

You could check this thread, where bargains are posted. I'm not sure there are any bargains for S&S anthologies available at the moment, but you could always ask in the group-anthology-read thread. Many of us read digital books. Hope you have a good time in Korea too.

Janet wrote: "HI, Bruce. I'm just learning Goodreads. Nice to see you here... "

Likewise, Janet. Lots to read and discuss. This looks like a well-run group.

Hey everyone. I'm Paul Miller and I've been a fan of S&S since the first time my mom let me pick out library books from the adult section. Not surprisingly, I started with Robert E. Howard. I read all sorts of other things too, but this has to be my go-to genre.

I've taken up writing in the last year or so as well. I write all kinds of speculative fiction, but have a special fondness for S&S. A few have even been published in various venues. If you're so inlined, they can be found at http://paulmillerfiction.wordpress.com/

Anyway, I guess that's it. It's nice to find some people with the same interests as me. A very rare thing. At work a while back, a coworker asked what I was reading. I showed him the conan collection i had and started to talk about it when the coworker cut me off with, "that's cool man, that's cool... hey did you see Dancing with the Stars last night?"

Paul wrote: "Hey everyone. I'm Paul Miller and I've been a fan of S&S since the first time my mom let me pick out library books from the adult section..."

Welcome Paul. You've stumbled upon a decent group I think. We have no discussions yet linking "Dancing with the Stars" with Sword & Sorcery (phew!)...and there is a diverse set of writers/readers with whom you should find much in common.

BTW: We have a group-read running through this month on "Any Anthology", and another set planned for Mar-April. Please feel welcome tovote on the poll to decide the thematic topic.

Paul wrote: "Hey everyone. I'm Paul Miller and I've been a fan of S&S since the first time my mom let me pick out library books from the adult section. Not surprisingly, I started with Robert E. Howard. I read ..."

Welcome Paul, thanks for joining us. Really enjoyed your, "The Sword of many Names". The latest Conan movie probaly didn't do much to popularise Howard's character, even to the viewers of "Dancing...".

You're right, Periklis. That Conan movie was pretty terrible. It's a shame, but not the first time the character has been badly mishandled.

And the next group-read sounds like fun. Count me in.

Hello everyone – I'm Phil Emery, and have been reading sword-&-sorcery since encountering it in a supermarket bargain paperback bin about 1969. ("Spell of Seven", "Warlocks & Warriors", and "Almuric" – quite a bargain.) I'd been writing fiction for some years before that, but naturally it wasn't long before I (hand) wrote a short story "Swords at Night" owing too much to too many, but mainly Howard's "Shadows in Zamboula" – soon after I was introduced to the perils of having your work edited, a fate in this case much more horrible than the story itself.
The fascination with s-&-s continues to this day and I'm presently happily engaged in studying it as part of a degree.
I'll end with an apology-in-advance: my internet access is very limited, so my participation here will be a bit slow, but I'm looking forward to being directed to plenty of material I've never come across and back to some I've forgotten about – after a quick dip into the discussion threads it's already happening!

Paul wrote: "Hey everyone. I'm Paul Miller and I've been a fan of S&S since the first time my mom let me pick out library books from the adult section..."

Welcome aboard, sir.

Phil wrote: "Hello everyone – I'm Phil Emery, and have been reading sword-&-sorcery since encountering it in a supermarket bargain paperback bin about 1969. ("Spell of Seven", "Warlocks & Warriors", and "A..."

Hello, Phil. Out of interest: What resources are you using to study S&S, just the stories themselves, or are there additional works on the history and development, etc. that you are referencing?

Phil wrote: "Hello everyone – I'm Phil Emery, and have been reading sword-&-sorcery since encountering it in a supermarket bargain paperback bin about 1969. ("Spell of Seven", "Warlocks & Warriors", and "A..."

Phil, I recently discovered your fiction via the Rogue Blades anthologies. As I mention in my review of Return of the Sword, your two poetic/trippy contributions really captivated me. Those led me to getting Necromantra from Smashwords (in my to-read queue). Nice to see you here.

Phil wrote: "Hello everyone – I'm Phil Emery, and have been reading sword-&-sorcery since encountering it in a supermarket bargain paperback bin about 1969. ("Spell of Seven", "Warlocks & Warriors", and "A..."

Welcome and thank you for joining us.
I also discovered your experimental approach on S&S, through Return of the Sword. We are discussing this among others, in the JAN/FEB group read, themed "Anthologies", here.
I'd be thrilled if you wanted to share your studies and findings regarding the history of the genre. You could create a new post in this folder.
Also, as our Bookshelf is reaching 500 books, any suggestions on how to better categorisation would be most welcome, in the Bookshelf thread.

Many thanks for the welcomes!
Jason - I've been using mostly the stories themselves; but there's been the odd article and interview over the years. Sword-&-sorcery as opposed to fantasy in general hasn't had anything like as much written about it. There's the Howard journal 'The Dark Man', of course. But I tend to see the anthology as the main engine of s-&-s, and I've just written up a section of my thesis examining the introductions to these.
S.E. - Thanks for your interest. Trippy, eh? I've been called worse.
Periklis - I'll certainly share. My ideas tend to be a little 'individual', but that just makes life more interesting in my view! Be patient with me on my involvement - limited internet access as I mentioned, and very little computer skill!

Hi all,
I am a new to this group and Goodreads in general. While a fan of S&S since, I suppose, a combination of the '82 Schwarzenegger Conan film (I admit it!) and the now-famous (?)list of classic S&S authors in the Dungeon Masters Guide, Appendix N :), I've probably spent more time in the intervening years ... OK, _decades_ :) reading epic fantasy, historical fiction, and other things. These days, I train English teachers in South America, but once upon a time a ran an SF/Fantasy-oriented creative writing workshop in the UK (and before that was a grad student working on medieval heroic legend). Back then, I had been working on a epic fantasy novel thing, which since kind of stalled in the throes of Life, Work, Parenthood, and Everything. I'm trying to kind of get myself back into creating via reading more (reading kind of stalled for a while, too!), though given the changing state of the publishing business, I find myself thinking about (while not abandoning the epic novel concept) serial fiction -- and that leads me back to the good old S&S short-form fiction. I suppose I am most familiar with Poul Anderson, Howard, Leiber, to some extent Moorcock (whose Elric I found compelling, but also kind of irritating ;)), but I am eagerly loading sample chapters of newer stuff from Amazon and iBooks onto my iPad in hopes of finding time to read it. I did also recently read group member K.V. Johansen's _Black Dog_, which I really liked, and which ultimately led me here ....

And, so: Here I am. :)

Carl wrote: "Hi all,
I am a new to this group and Goodreads in general. While a fan of S&S since, I suppose, a combination of the '82 Schwarzenegger Conan film (I admit it!) and the now-famous (?)list of classi..."

Welcome Carl and thank you for joining us. Films, Comics and RPG's were also an early introduction to the genre for me too.
There are two Group reads scheduled for the next two months (March/ April 2013). The first one is focused on Ramsey Campbell's "Ryre" stories, collected in Far Away & Never. The second one is still on vote (Poll ends on February 25th). Also, in the group's Bookshelf you will find many titles from which to choose from, regardless.
I hope that joining and participating in the group will rekindle your passion for writing.

I may need to hope for a Group read that comes in some sort of e-book format; that's the most effective way for me to get to stuff from S. America (where traditional post is slow and unreliable, but the Internet works fine!). But I shall be keeping my eyes open! :)

Hi folks, I'm Stan, and I can't can't get enough old school S&S. I am mostly a reader, but I have written one short story so far, and started about 100 in my head! I look forward to all the great info posted here, as there seems to be a real shortage of info about real sword and sorcery out there. Great to see all the awesome authors posting here; keep the flame burning folks!

S.wagenaar wrote: "Hi folks, I'm Stan, and I can't can't get enough old school S&S. I am mostly a reader, but I have written one short story so far, and started about 100 in my head! I look forward to all the great i..."

Welcome Stan, thank you for joining us.
There are two Group Reads planned for the next two months (March/ April), so feel free to vote on the Poll and participate on the Focused Topic dedicated to Ramsey Campbell's "Ryre".

S.wagenaar wrote: "Hi folks, I'm Stan, and I can't can't get enough old school S&S. I am mostly a reader, but I have written one short story so far, and started about 100 in my head! I look forward to all the great i..."

Welcome, Stan. Being old, we're happy to hear you like old-school.

Also, Periklis, thanks for the wonderful job you've been doing organizing and presenting the sacred Band of Stepsons books and stories. Jut today I saw the "Beyond" sub-series grouping. This makes me even more excited about getting all of thee books revised, expanded, and reissued. Life and glory, j

Janet wrote: "Also, Periklis, thanks for the wonderful job you've been doing organizing and presenting the sacred Band of Stepsons books and stories. Jut today I saw the "Beyond" sub-series grouping. This make..."

You're most welcome. Looking forward to the Perseid Press releases of the "Beyond" series, with thanks to the "Muse of Hell" (Sarah Hulcy)!

I am an author and long time fan of sword and sorcery and heroic fantasy

Gerald wrote: "I am an author and long time fan of sword and sorcery and heroic fantasy"

Welcome Gerald, thanks for joining us!

Periklis wrote: "Janet wrote: "Also, Periklis, thanks for the wonderful job you've been doing organizing and presenting the sacred Band of Stepsons books and stories. Jut today I saw the "Beyond" sub-series groupi..."

I am, as well. "Beyond teh Veil is finished, cover done. Love the cover and the book came out very well, bigger and bolder than before. Beyond Wizardwall is still with me, getting a final pass; cover chosen, cover copy not written. Expect BTV within a couple months, BW maybe 4 months. They are going to look spectacular together (each with a Ruben cover featuring a gray horse), and be very satisfying with the enriched text of these "Author's Cut" editions. Last time, I had word and time limitations; these are the length they always wanted to be. I love Indie publishing. More than that, it's wonderful to be riding with the Band once more. And thanks again for your help. It's great to be able to connect on Goodreads with someone like you. jem

Hello everyone!

My name is Philip, and I've became interested in sword and sorcery style fantasy years ago when my friends first introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons. I grew up in a house of readers and there was always sci-fi, fantasy and mysteries in the house but nothing Conan or Solomon Kane! I've been playing catch up ever since, spending many happy hours reading the works of so many of the authors inspired by the pulp works, as well as the masters themselves. I'm glad I found this group and I hope to find even more works for me to read and enjoy.

I have e-published a novel, my first, very recently and if interested it can be found on Amazon and Smashwords: http://amzn.to/SsmuFT and http://bit.ly/THMUBP respectively. It's fantasy mixed with westerns, steampunk and post apocalyptic themes.

Thanks for having me here!

Philip wrote: "Hello everyone!

My name is Philip, and I've became interested in sword and sorcery style fantasy years ago..."

Welcome Philip, Note we just started two group reads that will run side-by-sde for two months (Mar-Apr 2013). The Sword & Mythos is a thematic one...pick any short story or book you think fits.
a) Campbells’ Ryre Character - Link
b) Sword and Mythos Theme-Link

Also, please start or join any of the ongoing discussions. As a default, I like to invite new comers to share their favorite cover art here: Cover Art Thread.

Hi everyone. My name is Jorge and, as it seems, like a few others here my introduction to S&S began with the Conan books and magazines.

I'm currently reading Glenda Larke's
Stormlord's Exile. On the whole it hasn't been quite what I expected so, hoping to get tips/suggestions/etc for something closer to S&S, I though I'd check-out this group.
I've seen the group reads, but i hate to leave a story unfinished so I'm aiming to finish Stormlord's Exile first before sinking my teeth into those.

Jsnows wrote: "Hi everyone. My name is Jorge and, as it seems, like a few others here my introduction to S&S began with the Conan books and magazines.

I'm currently reading Glenda Larke's
Stormlord's Exile. On..."

Welcome Jorge, thanks for joining us. There are two group-reads running, until the end of April:
Ramsey Campbell's Ryre
and Sword and Mythos

Fell free to participate!

Hi to all. I'm a long time fan of Sword & Sorcery and I'm sure like most of you, it started with Robert E. Howard's Conan The Barbarian. From the books to the comics, never could get enough of that stuff. Anyhow, I'm more of a fan of the old S&S by writers like Fritz Leiber, Lin Carter, Poul Anderson, Jack Vance, A. Bertram Chandler, Michael Moorcock and many more. I enjoy the heck out of the older S&S anthologies, like Swords Against Darkness and Flashing Swords. Also like the old comic books and all that other great stuff.

I have just finished writing my own first book of Sword & Sorcery called 'Log! Defender Of The North Woods' and hope to share it with the group.

Everyone can also just call me by my nickname, Ski. It feels more comfortable than my first name, David.

Thanks for having me in the group.

Goodreads profile

Legends of Log site

Ski's LEGENDS OF LOG book series wrote: "Hi to all. I'm a long time fan of Sword & Sorcery and I'm sure like most of you, it started with Robert E. Howard's Conan The Barbarian. From the books to the comics, never could get enough of that..."

Welcome Ski, thank you for joining us. Most of us had the same influences, but I'm happy to find out that A. Bertram Chandler wrote S&S. Feel free to join our two group-readings.

Hello to all of my companions in Sword & Sorcery! My name is Tom. I joined the group just over a month ago and have been truly inspired to recapture a large piece of my life that I had drifted away from. As a child in the early seventies, I evolved from mythology and history books to Burroughs (John Carter and Tarzan) and on to Sword & Sorcery through the likes of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcook, and many of the other usual suspects. I went on to be a huge comic book and Dungeons and Dragons fan as well. While I've never stopped reading over the years, my time spent doing so has dwindled. Finding Audible (I have a long commute), Goodreads, and this group in particular have really reinvigorated me. Now I'm listening in the car, reading on my iPad, and pulling old classics like Flashing Swords off the bookshelf. Thanks for the motivation!

Welcome Tom (and Ski too...and any others I missed),
In addition to the Sword and Mythos group read, please browse the many discussion threads. Join in or start a new one. Not sure where to start? Considering that Ski's cover of a menacing barbarian-log-dude is captivating, check out the one re: Covers that got us hooked.

Tom wrote: "Hello to all of my companions in Sword & Sorcery! My name is Tom. I joined the group just over a month ago and have been truly inspired to recapture a large piece of my life that I had drifted away..."

Welcome Tom, thank you for joining us.
It's interesting that, apart from most things (comics, RPGs) common to S&S afficionados, you mention audiobooks. Are there any particular titles that worked best in this format? Feel free to discuss it in this thread.
Thanks also for bringing your enthusiasm to the group!

S.E. wrote: "Welcome Tom (and Ski too...and any others I missed),
In addition to the Sword and Mythos group read, please browse the many discussion threads. Join in or start a new one. Not sure where to start?..."

Thanks Tom,
That barbarian-log-dude on my book cover is totally inspired by Frank Frazetta, thanks to the great artist who helped me out for the cover.

Greetings to all. I am a huge Sword and Scorcery fan. Like most I really got into the Conan books at a young age and I love reading just about anything set in the Forgotten Realms world. I am an avid reader but just released my first book recently, The Thieves of Stonewood. The first book in a fantasy trilogy.

Jeremy wrote: "Greetings to all. I am a huge Sword and Scorcery fan. Like most I really got into the Conan books at a young age and I love reading just about anything set in the Forgotten Realms world. I am an av..."

Welcome Jeremy, thank you for joining us. Feel free to introduce your book on this thread, or join this month's group read.

Hi! I'm Paul S. Kemp. I've been an avid reader of sword and sorcery since a friend first gave me Swords Against Death. From there it was more Leiber and Fafhrd and the Mouser, then Howard and Conan, then Bracket and John Stark, then Burroughs and John Carter.

These days I not only read it, but I also write it. Looking forward to interacting with you. :-)

Paul

Paul wrote: "Hi! I'm Paul S. Kemp. I've been an avid reader of sword and sorcery since a friend first gave me Swords Against Death. From there it was more Leiber and Fafhrd and the Mouser, then Howard and..."


Hey Paul, welcome to the club. Given your interests in Lankhmar.. you'll have to check out the current group-read on the same topic! See below link:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Paul wrote: "Hi! I'm Paul S. Kemp. I've been an avid reader of sword and sorcery since a friend first gave me Swords Against Death. From there it was more Leiber and Fafhrd and the Mouser, then Howard and..."

Welcome Paul, thank you for joining us. If you're interested in introducing your heroic duo to us, Egil and Nix, you can start a new topic here.

Thanks, S.E. and Periklis.

Periklis, I'll do just that. Thank you for pointing it out to me.

Hello all! I'm J.W. Kent, I started reading sword and sorcery when I was in high school... Howard, Carter, Buroughs... I really enjoyed Howard's non-Conan books as well... the short stories he did during the time of the crusades was some of his best work.
So of course... some thirty years later when I took up writing this was the genre I fell into... And my "Legend of Fergus" stories feel right at home in this niche.Anyway, nice to meet y'all