S&S Roundup #53

The Latest in Contemporary Sword & Sorcery

Holiday greetings to all! After this we’ll take a short break and get back in action with S&S story #16 on Jan 7, 2025 - “The Necroman” by Adam Parker. The next Roundup will be Jan 14. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and prosperous New Year, everyone! Enjoy your holiday scones!

News, Reviews, and Interviews

+ An older interview, but since we just featured a story by Clint Werner, here’s a link to some interesting back and forth - Black Library Interview: C.L. Werner.

+ Another older review, this from David Mana (recently passed) remarking about Dariel R.A. Quiogue’s Swords of the Four Winds.

+ Spiral Tower Review: The Ambitious and Eclectic Inconsistency of Old Moon Quarterly Issue 7.

+ At DMR Books: The Barbarian and the Playwright by M. C. Tuggle.

+ Sensor Sweet at Castalia House: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Claw, Wulfwald.

+ At the Silver Key: Some interpretations of the ambiguous ending of The Green Knight (2021).

+ At Black Gate: The Convincing Villain from S. M. Carrière.

New Projects in S&S and Adjacent

+ Valengetrix: Slayer of Nameless Shadow by J. R. Cason (Book 4 of 4: Valengetrix Series). “The empire of Aratania continues its shadow of tyranny across the western realm of Auropia.”

+ BladeSpell: A Rogan Novel by Steven Shrewsbury. “On the east coast of antediluvian Africa, the warrior Rogan escapes the gallows via the magicks of a wizard.”

+ Knife Fight (The Maxus Cycle) by Matthew John (short story). “Razlan the Blade is infamous, and, for a rogue such as him, that's a problem.”

+ Hagan's Tale - Book 1 of the Sorrowborn - by Dave Shaw. “A fantasy tale of swords and sorcery. A struggle between two warring powers and the bloody revenge of the Sorrowborn twins Veil and Shade.”

+ Savage Realms Monthly: November 2024: A collection of dark fantasy sword and sorcery short adventure stories (Savage Realms Book 31). Featuring stories by Damien Nortier, H. T. Grossen, and C. D. Crabtree.

+ Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense Issue #21 (Winter 2024). Over a dozen stories.

+ The Barbarian’s Blade (2 book series) by Eli Freysson. “A dying empire. A rising hero.”

Conan, Pulps, D&D & More

+ Conan - The People of the Summit at Paperback Warrior.

+ Don McGregor reviews Conan the Valiant by Roland Green on Facebook.

+ The Dragon of Skar by Chris Turner - Over 1200 pages of Conan fan fiction from 2011 is available for 99 cents. Also, check out Turner’s Beastslayer : Rise of the Rgnadon - over 1200 pages of sword and sorcery adventure from 2017 for only 99 cents.

+ Literary Outlaw is “a modern pulp fiction magazine featuring both original fiction as well as classic stories and comics from the public domain.” (Number 8 is now up!)

+ A Christmas Carol in Comics by G. W. Thomas at Dark Worlds Quarterly.

+ Review from Gary Romeo: Arkham House Ephemera at Sprague de Camp Fan.

+ At Rough Edges: Review of The Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

+ Pulp Spotlight: "Man of Two Worlds" by Bryce Walton. “A sci-fi classic from the early 1950s.”

+ At Rediscovered Realms - Old School Exploring: IMAGINE Adventure Games Magazine #12.

+ At Grognardia: Done with Dungeons & Dragons?

+ Robert E. Howard Days announces that the next event is June 13th & 14th 2025.

For Writers

• These markets seem to be always open: Swords & Sorcery Magazine // Savage Realms Monthly // BFS Horizons // Schlock! // Swords & Heroes // Peasant Magazine // Iron Age Media // Do you know of any others?

• Raven Tale Publishing is open for ‘Creature Feature’ stories.

• FB page: Open Submission Calls for variety of genres.

• Robert’s Recurring Nightmares (see guidelines here)

• If I Die Before I Wake, Volume 10: Tales of Cryptid Chaos

• From Authors Publish: December 2024

• Open Call for Space Opera Stories (my next project for 2025)

• Raconteur Press - Open Calls for 2025.

Podcasts…

• Monsters, Madness and Magic Podcast - EP#298: Ode to the Old West - An Interview with Mark L. Gardner (Dec 9)

• Rogues in the House - “A Fellowship of Rogues” (Dec 12). Also, check out Rogues in the House December Newsletter.

• Strange Shadows - SS3 019 The Double Shadow (Dec 8)

• Paperback Warrior Podcast - Ep 110, Nov 25: The world of Alistair MacLean.

• Baen Free Radio Hour - Latest episode is Nov 15.

• The Cromcast - S21 E3: Valhalla Rising and The Green Knight (Nov 25)

• Dungeons & Damsels - “Soldier, Arrow, Horse” (Part 4 of 4, Nov 29)

And on YouTube…

• Rogue Blade Presents “24 in 42” - latest episode with Jason Ray Carney.

• Michael K. Vaughan’s latest: The Ten Best Books I Read in 2024.

• Skallagrim’s latest: Were Certain Weapon Developments Inevitable?

And Kickstarters…

• SwordRealm Graphic Novel Saga Issue #1 - SwordRealm takes the beloved genres of sword and sorcery, fantasy, and science fiction in a new and unique direction. From Classic Game Room.

• Sîan: Thief of Khor-Shavarah #1 - A Double-Sized Sword & Sorcery Comic by Craig A. Taillefer. Wizards, Demons, Thieves, and an Adventure Heroine for the ages!

So that’s about it. As usual, I know I missed a bunch of news, so please feel free to point me to new projects, links, interesting blogs, updates, etc. Thanks!

If you want to support this roundup, check out the selections from Tule Fog Press.

Until 2025, keep swinging!