S&S Roundup #23
The Latest in Contemporary Sword & Sorcery
Welcome back. If you’re into stats (which I’m not, I can barely read a chart or graph), we have 154 subscribers, a 54% open rate, and over 1200 views these past 30 days. Does anyone know if this is decent or dudsville? Thanks! Now on with the show.
Old Stuff in the News
+ Remnants of a Bronze Age ceremony have been discovered on the island of Unst in Shetland, the northernmost point of the U.K. My only question about these ancient people and their ceremonies - why live that far north? ;)
+ Items from Roman ship dating from the 1st to early 2nd century which sunk while "transporting a cargo almost exclusively of glass" has been recovered, much of it in excellent condition.
Interviews & Reviews
+ Bow, Mortal Dogs! An Interview with Howard Andrew Jones from Graham Thomas Wilcox at Old Moon, featuring the latest from Jones, Lord of a Shattered Land. More on this upcoming “fantasy revolution” led by Jones from John O’Neill at Black Gate.
+ David A. Riley interviews (July 23) author Steve Dilks at Parallel Universe Publications blog.
+ Morgan’s quick take on Die by the Sword anthology from DMR Books.
+ Richard Fisher's review (July 22) of Monster Hunter Bloodlines by Larry Correia.
+ An Interview with Clyde Caldwell: The Cool Fantasy Artist Who Made D&D Hot from J.Q. Graziano at Rediscovered Realms.
+ S E Lindberg's review of Mad Shadows: The Heroes of Echo Gate by Joe Bonadonna, Book 3 in the series. Series starts with The Weird Tales of Dorgo the Dowser.
New & Cool in Contemporary S&S
+ Did you know we have a wiki section at Fandom? It features a number of pages already and fans can add sections and edit the lists, including lists of S&S series featuring lots of new and exciting heroic main characters; lists of authors; lists of contemporary anthologies; and a whole lot more. Check it out! Add to it!
+ Two volumes of non-stop Sword and Soul action and adventure with Ki Khanga's lovable rogue at a special price. Omari Ket fights, flees and carouses his way across Ki Khanga, all under the watchful gaze of Eda. From MVmedia and Milton J. Davis.
+ Augustus Seton Collected Chronicles: A Scottish Sword and Sorcery Collection by William Meikle. This omnibus edition collects all 12 of the Augustus Seton stories.
+ Swords Against Cthulhu, a series of 3 anthologies of S&S/Cthulhu Mythos crossovers. “Mighty thewed barbarians battle alien wizardry and cosmic terror in a blind, unreasoning universe where only the strong survive.” From Rogue Planet Press.
+ This is getting a lot of buzz: Swordplay (July 12, 2023) - Thirteen Tales of Sword & Sorcery edited by Dan Brereton, Allison Pang, and James A. Moore featuring all original stories. Has a cool cover as well.
Podcasts & Roundups
Links of Steel from DMR Books (July 23)
Sensor Sweep from Castalia House (July 24)
SF&F New Releases from Castalia House (July 22)
The Cromcast - (July 25) - New: S18 E12: “The Fantasy Draft”
Rogues in the House - (June 26) - “Last King of the Picts”
Dungeons & Damsels - (July 13) - “Laallafee’s City Adventure" (Part 1 of 5)
Baen Free Radio Hour (July 22) - D.J. Butler’s Between Princesses and Other Jobs
The Worldshapers (July 25) - New Episode #140: Edo van Belkom
Discovered Wordsmiths (July 26) - New Episode #164: Don Ake
REH Corner
+ New Solomon Kane Pastiche: “The Death’s Head Tavern” by Nancy Collins reviewed by Gary Romeo.
+ A Tip of the Helm to Howard Works from Deuce Richardson, referencing the comprehensive Howard Works website.
+ Barbarian at the Gates: Old-School Conan Role-Playing Game Boxed Set - A Review from Rediscovered Realms.
Blogs and More
+ Monsters of the Hyborian Age 13: The Ancient One (July 25) from G. W. Thomas
+ Here’s a 2005 column from Poul Anderson, “On Thud and Blunder” at SFWA.
+ From Jason Ray Carney at Spiral Tower on “The Glut of New Sword & Sorcery.”
+ Check out the book trailer for Heroika: Dragon Eaters (Heroika Volume 1) (YouTube). Book tour and give-away information here at Silver Dagger.
+ Are you into RPG and all things fantasy, D&D, and more? Check out J.Q. Graziano's Rediscovered Realms Substack newsletter/website. Also check out his upcoming Kickstarter campaign: The Lost Dungeon: Heroic Old School Epic Fantasy Gamebook.
Speaking of Crowdsourcing Campaigns…
+ ANVIL: Iron Age Magazine Issue #2 - Hammering Out the New Age of Independent Entertainment from IronAge Media. Project on FundMyComics - almost at $3k goal.
+ Coming Next Month! Neither Beg Nor Yield: A Sword & Sorcery Attitude Anthology from Jason M Waltz and Rogue Blades Entertainment. Coming next month. Discover more about NBNY here.
+ The Good Knight: Paradise Lost #2 - Immutable honor, forged in Arthurian lore, immortal knight, misfortune's decree from Crystal McGhee (at Indiegogo).
+ Not S&S, but I want to plug my current project with only a week to go. If we hit our stretch goal, every backer gets an additional e-book antho called “Fistful of Hollers!” Thanks for checking out my “Monster Fight” Kickstarter Campaign (a weird & wild west 2-volume antho project). Cover art and design by B. L. Blankenship - Western Horror Author & Aficionado.
+ Four days to go! Almost funded. The Mighty Sons of Hercules: An homage to classic Sword & Sandal adventure from Retrovirus Records (ie, P. Alexander from Cirsova).
That’s about it! See you next week. Send me links and promos if you want.