I got this collection of short stories from Amazon last month, and took my time reading the stories. Edited by veteran Robert M. Price, this is a good collection of sword and sorcery tales. Some feature long-standing characters, others have newer protagonists. Price states in his intro that we need heroic stories like this now because of the “slave mentality” and malaise that grips our current culture, where heroes are scorned. Given the political bend of both the right and the left, I agree with his assessment. Not sure that this book will counter the larger movement, but it is a nice respite.
A quick note on the editing: there are some lapses, like some spelling and paragraph indentation. This seems to be endemic in the anthologies I have read lately. Not sure why. Is the carelessness of social media style infecting the editing profession? Anyway…
The first story is “Spawn of the Sea God” by Adrian Cole. Cole has been around since the ’70s, and he is a skilled writer. It features Elak of Atlantis, who was one of the first sword-swingers to stalk the pages of Weird Tales after Robert E. Howard’s death, created by prolific pulpster Henry Kuttner. An intersesting surprise to see the old character in new stories, but Cole has the knowledge and skill to pull it off.
The story starts off well, with great pacing and a weird mystery. There were a couple of things that jarred me, reflective of fast writing and loose editing. First, a ship the heroes are in is covered by sorcerous fog to hide their passage from an island they are approaching, but the lookout in the crow’s nest sees land. Nothing about elevation allows you to see through fog; if you can see over it, they can see you. There’s another passage where they land on an island in paddle craft, but only have a few hours until the tide will sweep away their boats. Their subsequent trek takes a day and a half, and they never discuss their boats or their ruined plans again. They leave the island by other means, but they had not intended to, and it seems like sloppy writing.
The story was good overall, though, rapidly-paced and action-packed with a menacing enemy. There will evidently be a collection of Elak tales from Cole, published by Skelos Press sometime this year. I have issues with Skelos, but I will support this project if and when it shows.
The second tale is “The Corpse’s Crusade” by Cory Goodfellow, a horror writer I am unfamiliar with. This story takes place in one of the greatest of fantasy worlds, the dying earth of Zothique created by Clark Ashton Smith. I was very skeptical, especially since Goodfellow tried to write in a similar fashion to Smith, who had a very distinct voice and use of language and word-choice. But this story does feel authentic, and induces a bit of Smith’s hypnotic effect. By the end, I was enthralled with the story.
Next is “Thongor in the Valley of Demons” by the editor, Price. Thongor is Lin Carter’s Conan knock-off, and I read three of the six novels he penned. I did not particularly enjoy them, though I have a lot of appreciation for Carter (that is best discussed in another blog post). Price certainly captured Carter’s voice, and it is fine for a Thongor tale. Not sure why Thongor’s mind remained intact while disembodied, while others who were possessed were destroyed. But it is exactly what it says on the tin: a Thongor tale.
Following this is “The Shadow of Dia-Sust” by David C. Smith. Another author who has been around for decades, this stars his long-standing hero Oron. I am embarrassed to say I have never read an Oron story, but that will change. I love Smith’s lean but descriptive prose. This seems to be a story from early in Oron’s career, and I am stoked to read more. Tight and focused, this story of conflicting revenges is one of the book’s highlights.
After this we have “Amudu’s Bargain” by Charles R. Saunders, who has been writing tales of his pre-historic African hero Imaro since the ’70s. This was a decent tale, I liked it more the further into it I went. Nothing great until the end, and the neat little twist there that really underlines Imaro’s inner struggle.
“The Secret of Nephren-Ka” by Price is next, featuring his well-documented hero Simon of Gitta. I have read a few of his stories before, and liked them. This one is entertaining. The twist is not unexpected, and wraps up a little too pat.
“The Temple of Light” by Milton J. Davis follows this, and stars his hero Changa. Davis is one of the leading authors in the current “sword and soul” movement, and I read one of his Changa stories before, liking it very much. This one is a bit lighter, and frankly Changa feels like he is along for the ride rather than impacting the flow of events meaningfully. The reasoning behind the story’s events is a bit awkward, specifically why Changa gets caught up in things, even when explained at the end. But the imagery is very good.
After this is “Kiss of the Succubus” by Charles R. Rutledge. The hero, the immortal Kharrn, reminds me strongly of Wagner’s Kane, given his size and inclination to sorcerous knowledge. It is a bit silly he could hide a huge two-bladed battleaxe under his coat, but the story is good and the stakes feel high, even given its brevity. A nice and strong tie-into Lovecraft’s mythos is a cornerstone. Kharrn does feel a bit like a force of nature, if a little too unstoppable, but I am eager to read the three or four other tales he is in.
Then comes “The Living Wind” by Ken Asamatsu, featuring a Buddhist monk in Japan. The story is pretty strong, though the climax is drawn out a bit. Some of the references are hard to follow, and defeating the evil is done through praying to/angering the gods, but the story has an authentic feel. The translation is questionable at points – such as using “noisy” several times when “nosy” seems to be the correct word. But the story is a good one.
After this is “The Last Temple of Balsoth” by Cliff Biggers. A straight-forward tale of sword-swinging hero out for revenge against an evil cult, this features the last battle in his private war. Some cool weirdness highlights this story, even if the fight is won a bit too simply. A good read.
Finally is “Lono and the Pit of Punhaki” by Paul R. McNamee, featuring a Pacific islander as a hero. I liked his story quite a bit. The description was confusing a couple of times, but the pacing and characterization was great. The different weapons used were intriguing and a nice counterpoint to the sword. The menace was a bit familiar, and it’s defeated a bit too easy, but this is a strong tale, and I will look for more Lono stories.
There were a lot of good tales in this book, and the heroes all stood out. Some tales were haunting, like the Zothique story, and some were brutal, but Price put together a great collection, reminiscent of the old anthologies he references in his introduction. The mix of heroes hints at something primal, not just the contemporary calls for diversity, but more the universal human bias for the mythic hero.
Buy it with the link below and I am a step closer to unlocking my $10 meal ticket! You will enjoy a lot of good stories!
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