S&S Roundup #31

The Latest in Contemporary Sword & Sorcery

Happy Thanksgiving! May God bless you and yours and may you have a fantastic holiday season beginning with this wonderful weekend of giving thanks to the Creator of all good things. Not sure what’s going on in this photo, but heh, whatever works! Carve away anyway you can, I suppose. (grin) Now on with the show!

Thews News & Reviews

+ Cirsova 2024 Lineup - long list of upcoming publishing projects from Cirsova.

+ Humbled by this review of Swords & Heroes at DMR Books blog. Twelve tales of heroic adventure, with a preface by Jason M Waltz and a round table discussion on the current state of sword and sorcery. Available on Amazon.

+ From S.E. Lindberg: Good Vibes from Demons: Re-release and Commentary regarding Rogue Blades Presents Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology edited by Jason M Waltz.

S&S Roundups…

• Links of Steel from DMR Books (Nov 19)

• Sensor Sweep from Castalia House (Nov 20)

From the Blogosphere

+ From Dark Worlds Quarterly: Green Falcon – Heroic Fantasy Champion, a comic from the early 1940s.

+ From Jon Cronshaw: How Michael J. Sullivan’s novels has left an indelible mark on modern fantasy. The Enduring Influence of The Riyria Revelations.

New Releases & Projects

+ Vran the Chaos-Warped by D.M. Ritzlin. In addition to the novel Vran the Chaos-Warped, this volume also contains two previously unpublished short stories. From DMR Books.

+ The Sea King, the Viking Gael book 3, is available for pre-order on Amazon. The Sea King is the 3rd book in the Viking Gael series by JTT Ryder. Cover reveal!

+ Witch House Issue 3 (October 2023) is now available. You can download it as a free PDF. An Amateur Magazine of Cosmic Horror.

+ Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 7 now available in paperback and kindle eBook from Parallel Universe Publications.

Free Audio Books

+ Blades of Wolfsbane – Full Free Audiobook by Jon Cronshaw. “Dive into the world of chieftains, warriors, and ancient traditions. Experience the thrill of the tournament, the weight of a secret, and the struggle for respect.”

+ From Faenon on Substack: “I just released the whole of season 1 of my podcast bundled together as a single audiobook (9 hours total of story), available on the feed for free. Anyone who subscribes to my substack also gets a free sample short story as an ebook and mp3 file--the cover for it is extremely S&S!”

+ Not an audio book, but a lengthy discussion (over 90 minutes) from Pondering The Orb - New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine's Issue #1. New on their YouTube site.

Some Crowdsourcing Projects

+ IndieGoGo Campaign - ANVIL: Iron Age Magazine #3 & First Strike EP. Growing the New Age of Independent Entertainment to Music as well as Fiction & Comics from IronAge Media.

+ 8 Days to Go: Old Moon Quarterly Magazine: A magazine of Soulsborne-inspired weird sword-and-sorcery and dark fantasy fiction!

Coming soon…

+ J.Q. Graziano’s The Lost Dungeon: Heroic Old School Epic Fantasy Gamebook.

+ Eugene Johnson's Amazing Tales of Terror Anthology. “Paying Homage To The Vintage Horror Comic Book Stories Of The Past.”

+ Gary's Appendix: Issue 4 from Jeffrey Jones - Sword & Sorcery Articles for OSE & OSR.

What projects am I missing so I can include them next time?

Conan & the Pulps

+ From Gary Romeo: Temple of the Black One by Robert M. Price. This “Homage to Robert E. Howard’s Conan” was published in 2017 and dedicated to “the memory of my esteemed friends L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter.”

+ From Paperback Warrior: Conan - The Thing in the Cave, a Little Golden Book review.

Recs from Readers

+ Sword of the Barbarian by John Thane is out now. “Fresh and exciting S&S with lots of twists and turns.” Two book series - The Kuda Chronicles.

+ Exile (The Nandor Tales Book 1) by Martin Owton on Amazon and B&N. “Aron of Darien, raised in exile after his homeland is conquered by a treacherous warlord, makes his way in the world on the strength of his wits and skill with a sword.”

+ Skallagrim - In the Vales Of Pagarna (Book 1) by Stephen R. Babb. “A sword. A killer’s sword. Hilt down, blade shining, and baneful edge glittering. A blade both beautiful and dreadful to behold.” On Amazon.

Podcasts of Note

• The Cromcast - (Nov 16) - Season 18 Episode 17: Beyond the Black River.

• Rogues in the House - (Oct 12) - Solomon Kane in living color.

• Dungeons & Damsels - (Nov 6) - “Requiem For Isataar” S3E12 .

• Baen Free Radio Hour - Virtual Launch Party for The City of Marble and Blood.

• The Worldshapers - (Oct 23) - Ep. 146: L. Jagi Lamplighter.

• Discovered Wordsmiths - (Nov 10) - Episode 147: Kerstin Stanford.

• Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff - (Nov 17) - Ep. 574: Kettle of Worms.

• Strange Shadow (Nov 11) - SS2 Ep14 The Hunters From Beyond.

• Monsters, Madness and Magic Podcast - (Nov 19) - EP#224: Within A Burning Heart - An Interview With Jim Peterik

• New to this Roundup: Jay Requard, Fantasy Author & Podcaster. (YouTube)

Well, that’s about it for now. I’ll be traveling in December (my mother-in-law broke her hip and we are helping her transition to an assisted living facility after Thanksgiving) so this will likely be the last issue of 2023. If I don’t chat with you until next year, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as well.

Oh, and before you go, check out the upcoming issue of Crimson Quill. - Lyn Perry