#sword & sorcery

[chadwickginther]

Fantasy/Horror Worldbuilding Workshop at Raven's End Books!

Thrilled to be doing my first book event at the excellent Raven’s End Books! Myself, Jonathan Ball, and GMB Chomichuk will be hosting a worldbuilding workshop to show others how we approach the topic for our fantasy and horror stories. We’ll be particularly leaning on how we built a world together using the example of our Shared World project. Our Shared World series will also be used to tell a…

[cyallowitz]

Teaser Tuesday: Post-Legends Kira

Cover Art by Sean Harrington Here’s an excerpt from Quest of the Brokenhearted.  This is part of a bigger scene, which I trimmed down the best I could.  It shows what became of Kira Grasdon about the battle with Baron Kernaghan.  My original plan had her doing a job that would make a lot of readers upset and criticize her as a human being.  So, I kept her in that setting, but changed her role for…

[threeravenspublishing]

Raven and the Crow Author Interviewed on TV!

If you’re a fan of the Raven and the Crow series and you’ve never met the author, now’s your chance to at least see him! Michael K. Falciani was recently interviewed by a TV station local to his area. ABC’s KOLO 8 spent a segment covering Michael’s writing career with specific emphasis on his newest release in the Raven and the Crow universe, Shores of Blood. Click the picture to watch the video,…

[lisaav1]

Kindle Vella Madness Voting is Open

Summer Kindle Vella Madness is having a contest, and Lisa’s slot is today. She would appreciate it if you would click on the link and vote for her Vella, An Enchanted Quest: Carasylia Enchanted Season One. Follow the above link to the linktree and find the story title, A Sacred Quest by Lisa Vandiver. Click on the book, and it will take you to the contest. Once you get to that final page, just…

[deepdarkspaceblog]

Conan Returns in ‘Blood of the Serpent’ by S. M. Stirling

Blood of the Serpent #conanthebarbarian #hyborianage #swordandsorcery

I discovered Robert E. Howard’s Conan at an early age. I was spellbound by Frank Frazetta’s covers for the Ace reprints. The evocative images promised something special inside. I’d don’t even recall which of the books I read first, but it didn’t matter, I was instantly hooked and have been an avid Robert E. Howard and sword and sorcery fan ever since. Now, some 90 years since Conan first appeared…

[esonetwork]

'The Nine Nation Book One - The Sliding World' Book Review By Ron Fortier

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/the-nine-nation-book-one-the-sliding-world-book-review-by-ron-fortier/

'The Nine Nation Book One - The Sliding World' Book Review By Ron Fortier

THE NINE NATIONS Book One – The Sliding World By Jim Beard A Becky Books Production 192 pgs

The truth is we are not big fantasy readers. Oh sure, being involved with pulpdom, we’ve read our share of Robert E. Howard’s Conan and Charles Saunders’s African mythology books but not a whole lot more. In fact, we tend to avoid the genre these days in the place of masked avengers and noir mysteries. So why this one? Well, in all honesty, because the author is someone of unusual talent whose past efforts have always entertained us. We opted to give it a go.

At the start of the tale, we learn that things are rather bleak in the world of the Nine Nations. Apparently, the land mass upon which the varied countries are situated is actually sliding over the edge of a bottomless abyss. It’s as if Mother Nature has decided to destroy humankind and nothing can stop this slide to oblivion. Amidst this dismal predicament, something happens in the land of Complin that predicates an unusual quest. A notorious thief has stolen a pendant that is somehow mystically connected to the land and its retrieval becomes King Green’s singular goal. To that end, he assigns his General Ketch to put together a small group of warriors and take the Warrior’s Road through other nations on a quest to find the pendant.

Ketch chooses an odd assortment of male mercenaries and a group of fierce maiden Horse Wardens of Uzzlin.  As this is transpiring, the King orders his chief law enforcer, High Warrant Jon Torck to accompany a magician named Stoan and a separate mission. It is the King’s belief that the mage may be able to divine a way to end the slide and save civilization. Torck, who abhors any kind of idol worship and mumbo-jumbo, is reluctant but acquiesces due to his staunch loyalty. Their journey leads them to the mysterious uninhabited zone known as the Graylands where nothing lives; not animal, vegetation or human. There, Torck will meet his destiny head-on.

As ever, Jim Beard has woven a totally original story, unlike any other sword and sorcery adventure. It is filled with intriguing, complex characters and the pace is relentless from beginning to end. Oh sure, there are the required fantasy elements, but it is how he weaves them into his narrative that we found refreshing. Like all good sagas, Book One ends on a cliffhanger and we are looking forward to it with relish. Don’t let us down now, Mr. Beard. We’re having too much fun.

[redlilyadventuringcompany]

1974 Homerules: Shields

As a history nerd, it has always bothered me that in many fantasy and sword & sorcery games the shield is so consistently boiled down to a mere numerical bonus to defense. So I wanted to create a set of rules for my 1974 table that reflected the reality of why the shield was ubiquitous on the battlefield from the dawn of time up until about 300 years ago, as well as the variety of application…

[blogthefiresidechats]

Monthly Release Party - May 2023

I only have one one book on my monthly release party for the month of May. The book is called “Cherish” and it’s the 6th book in Tracy Wolff’s Crave series. I’ve already pre-ordered this book so it’ll be shipped out on the release date. I can’t wait to get my hands on this book and see what happens in the next step in the series. *squeals of delight* Synopsis: The sensational conclusion to the…

[fazilareads]

A Quest Style Coming-Of-Age Fantasy !! Springtide Harvest By JD Mitchell | Book Review

A Quest Style Coming-Of-Age Fantasy !! Springtide Harvest By JD Mitchell | Book Review

TITLE : Springtide Harvest AUTHOR : JD Mitchell GENRE : Fantasy, Sword And Sorcery Intended Age Group: Adult Pages: 418 DATE OF PUBLISHING : August 22, 2022 SYNOPSIS The old world is dead. Worse, it was a lie. Haskell yearns to be a warrior like his grandfather, who broke the orcish hordes, not the unwanted son of a ruthless High City merchant. With nothing but a bag of stolen coin and…

[davidjhiggins]

Sword & Scandal, ed. J Manfred Weichsel

Weichsel gathers fantasy tales that accept that worlds filled with mighty-thewed heroes and unspeakable horrors are not magically free of passionate sex and unpleasant death. Continue reading Sword & Scandal, ed. J Manfred Weichsel

[chadwickginther]

Once Lands Launches Tomorrow, November 6th!

The third Shared World collection of sinister sword and sorcery tales, Once Lands, by GMB Chomichuk and James Gillespie, is live! Once Lands officially launches November 6th, 7pm at McNally Robinson Grant Park in the Atrium and the whole Shared World team will be there. If you’re curious of what the shape of the evening might look like, check out last year’s launch of Khyber and Shared…

[cyallowitz]

Teaser Tuesday: A Guest!

Cover Art by Alison Hunt Here’s an old excerpt from War of Nytefall: Lost.  This involves Stephanie, who was the ritualist of Xavier Tempest’s team.  She didn’t get as much page time as the stronger personalities.  Still, I had fun when I did find a place for her, especially when she was part of a mission group.  Not sure why I always put her with Archillious (psychotic assassin) and Kenneth…

[threeravenspublishing]

Do New Year's Resolutions Work?

[jolenes-book-journey]

Season of the Runer Book 1 by Abigail Linhardt

Season of the Runer: TRIAL OF TWO – Book 1 by Abigail Linhardt – Excerpt “That is orichalcum. It kills monsters. Do you understand?” “I saved you,” she fought back, a little affronted. “You almost killed me!” he screamed back. He stopped and took a breath when his entire body quaked from weakness. “We are monsters, woman. Orichalcum kills us. The sulfates in our veins are not natural.” Her voice…

[ronlanham]

Fate, Evermore

Cunning and quiet, the thief makes a play Dagger raised he leaps into the fray Consumed by dragon fire, thief is no more Warrior strong, bold heads into battle too Axe ready and sure, steady, resolved anew Dragon breath makes him ash at the door Wizard makes magic, wise and fierce Casting ice at the […]Fate, Evermore

[charliadamswriter]

Revenant Prince (Curse of Shavhalla Book 2) by T. A. Hernandez

They survived, but lost one of their own…With Amar now under the enemy’s control, his loyal friends will stop at nothing to rescue him. To succeed, they must fight inner battles more daunting than even the harshest external challenges. New alliances are forged as former adversaries work toward a common goal, but with Kavora on the brink of war, Kesari, Aleida, and the others face mounting…