S&S Roundup #54
The Latest in Contemporary Sword & Sorcery
Welcome to a New Year! Our last roundup was almost a month ago, so we have a lot of ground to make up. I’ll miss some big announcements, I’m sure. So please let me know if you have any updates, projects, releases, blog posts, etc. you want included next time. This next year we’ll keep bringing you the latest in S&S. I’ve also added a tier for paid subscribers with even more S&S goodies. What are your plans for 2025? Don’t let some silly sign ruin anything special! (grin) Now on with the show!
New Projects - S&S and Adjacent
+ From Larry Correia: “Heart of the Mountain comes out in a month. That's the conclusion of my epic fantasy series. 6 books, starting with Son of the Black Sword ten years ago. And I'll put this series up against anything else on the market. I happily invite comparisons. It came out really good. I'm going to spam the internet A LOT. :)”
Saga of the Forgotten Warrior (Amazon links throughout the newsletter, btw) is now complete. Larry celebrates with a bit of trolling on his dedication page. Ten years, Baen Books published the first book in 2015, so congrats are in order.
+ Speaking of Baen Books, they’re reprinting Stephen R. Lawhead’s Pendragon Cycle and have just released a new novel by Lawhead, Aurelia, a prequel to the series (look for Baen’s new releases here). “Last witness of an elder time, handmaid of the age to come.” Also, watch for the streaming series coming soon from Daily Wire+.
+ Up for another series? What about JTT Ryder’s Viking Gael Saga. The third book of the trilogy was just released: The Sea King: A Viking Historical Adventure Novel. “Outlawed but undeterred, Asgeir will return as the Sea King. After his banishment to Iceland, Asgeir forges alliances to vie against his enemies…In the bloody waters of Scotland and Ireland, he will earn the respect of friend and foe alike as the fearsome Viking Gael.”
+ Okay, let’s do one more! From Parallel Universe Publications comes the complete trilogy of Elak of Atlantis as envisioned by Adrian Cole. This series “tracks the rise to power of the greatest king in Atlantean history.” Elak was created by Henry Kuttner whose stories appeared in Weird Tales in the late 1930s and early 40s.
More News, Reviews, and Interviews
+ Have you heard of TBRCon2025? It’s “an all-virtual sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention, streaming LIVE from Jan. 19th-26th, 2025,” with over 150 presenters. “Best of all, TBRCon2025 is absolutely FREE, available to stream live on YouTube, Bluesky, X and Threads during convention week (or to re-watch on YouTube at your convenience).”
+ The Atlantean #1 (Paperback) “Kull and Brule ride to The Demon's breath Tavern in the city of Darkoth and leave with a hint of where to find more Serpent-Men. Will their quest lead to good fortune or dark defeat? An original novel-length tale by Randy Zimmerman and Russ Leach.”
+ From HFQ: “Happy 2025! Heroic Fantasy Quarterly's Best-of Volume 4 came out last year and we just got a pretty in-depth review on Youtube” from blackraptor311.
+ New Edge S&S has a book club panel on YouTube and recently discussed “Jirel Meets Magic by C.L. Moore.” You can read this classic story online here.
+ To Walk on Worlds (The Maxus Cycle Book 1) by Matthew John is reviewed at Sprague de Camp Fan by Vincent N. Darlage.
+ Bohun: The Complete Savage Adventures by Steve Dilks is now here in hardcover.
+ DMR Books Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Swords of Steel IV.
+ Review: War on Rome I – Arminius, Bane of Eagles by Adrian Cole from Age of Dusk.
+ New: The Witch-Queen of Samorrah by William M Hope available on Lulu. “A fun adventure in the mold of Robert E. Howard’s Conan, with flashing swords, mighty warriors, and beautiful slave girls.”
Cool and Nifty
+ Are you in the r/SwordandSorcery community on Reddit? Jason Ray Carney writes: “I'm not sure how many of you use Reddit but four years or so ago I started a Sword and Sorcery subreddit. I didn’t realize how active it was becoming, to be honest. It now has nearly 5500 members. Please feel encouraged to join us there. Lots of interesting discussions are underway.”
+ There’s also a Discord channel for the genre called Sword & Sorcery Tavern. You need an invite, but just message me and I can send you one. Lots of discussion threads including various markets and publishers of S&S, reviews, promos, new projects, etc.
ALSO: SOME KICKSTATERS
SwordRealm Graphic Novel Saga Issue #1 (Launching Soon)
Sîan: Thief of Khor-Shavarah #1 (Launching Soon)
Reign of Dragons: Illustrated Hardcover Anthology (Launching Soon)
Tales from the Turning Leaf Tavern (Launching Soon)
Realm Travelers - A Fantasy/Adventure Anthology (Launching Soon)
Medieval Dark Fantasy TTRPG: Moss, Stone & Steel (16 days to go)
Green Hornet Epic Anthology - Timothy Zahn & Kevin Anderson
Conan and the Pulps
+ Michael Moorcock: Conan and Elric by Gary Romeo at Sprague de Camp Fan.
+ Conan the Valorous by John Maddox Roberts - a review of Paperback Warrior.
+ The Articles of Dragon: “The Chivalrous Cavalier” from Grognardia.
+ Space Pirates of the Bronze Age: 1980s by G. W. Thomas at Dark Worlds.
+ Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part 1 by Fletcher Vredenburgh at Black Gate.
+ Review from James Reasoner: Tam, Son of the Tiger by Otis Adelbert Kline (stories originally published in Weird Tales) at Rough Edges.
+ Brian Murphy at The Silver Key reread The Silmarillion and has some additional thought to his Blogging the Silmarillion series.
+ Stephen Fabian: 60 Years of Classic Art from Deuce Richardson at DMR Blog.
+ Don McGregor reviews Kellory the Warlock by Lin Carter on FB.
+ New for January 13 - Sensor Sweep: Weird Tales, Ramsey Campbell, Swords of Steel from Castalia House. (Lots of great links and news and reviews listed here.)
+ Another collection of fantasy links is: The Phantasy Snitch: December 2024 from Rediscovered Realms.
Podcasts…
Monsters, Madness and Magic Podcast - EP#301: Rite of the Runestaff - An Interview with Michael Moorcock (Jan 13)
Paperback Warrior Podcast - Conversations - Brian G. Berry (Jan 13)
The Cromcast - S21 E4: The Last of the Mohicans & The Revenant (Dec 21)
Rogues in the House - “A Fellowship of Rogues” (Dec 12).
Strange Shadows - Check out “Christmas with the Lovecraft Circle.”
Baen Free Radio Hour - Latest episode is Dec 6.
Dungeons & Damsels - “Soldier, Arrow, Horse” (Part 4 of 4, Nov 29)
And on YouTube…
Rogue Blade Presents “24 in 42” - latest episode with G. W. Thomas. Recent interviews: Gustavo Bondoni, Jonathan Olfert, Kate Martin, Armand Rosamilia, and Jason Ray Carney.
Michael K. Vaughan’s latest: The Private Files of The Shadow.
Skallagrim’s: Most Unique Weapons of History Look like They're Made Up.
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)
Open Call for Space Opera Stories (via my own Tule Fog Press)
Raconteur Press - Open Calls for 2025.
Welp, that’s about it! If you like these free weekly mailings/postings, would you consider becoming a paid subscriber at only $5 a month, or $50 for the full year? Here’s what you’ll receive:
A Monthly E-Book Selection from our Tule Fog Press Catalog. (You choose each month! I’ll send you a full list of our publications and you tell me what you want.)
Early, Additional, and Exclusive Offers from Tule Fog Press. (I’ll be working with other S&S indie writers as well to bring you early access to news and projects.)
Thanks for reading! Until next time, keep swinging! - Lyn Perry
Excellent edition, like always, Lyn! I'm going to check out TBRCon2025 right now!