Richard L. Tierney passed away earlier this year. I was not really familiar with his work, despite having seen it and his name many times over the years. The main things I recalled him writing were a series of books featuring the Robert E. Howard/Roy Thomas character Red Sonja (written in collaboration with David C. Smith) and a series of fictional Sword & Sorcery stories about Simon Magus, who was a prophet figure around the same time as Jesus, mentioned in a couple of canonical Biblical texts. For some reason, I had never picked up any of this work, but his passing inspired me to pick up the collected short stories of Simon Magus (there are two novels, as well, I believe), called Sorcery Against Caesar.
I am about a third of the way through the collection, and dragging a bit. They are not bad stories, but I found the premise to be more interesting than the actual stories themselves, for the most part. My knowledge of early Christian history and Gnosticism specifically is rather sketchy, and Robert M. Price’s introduction to the volume is fascinating and eye-opening. He sets the stage for the stories, both from the historical perspective and the way it uses the Cthulhu Mythos as filtered through Derleth, and how it is re-distilled by Tierney. Derleth tried to tie the Mythos to Christianity; Tierney made it pre-Christian. Or something like that! I don’t think I have read an introduction to a collection of stories that has ever whetted my appetite as Price’s did.
So maybe it was inevitable that the stories have not lived up to my heightened expectations? At least, not yet. There are a couple of good ones early on, “The Fire of Mazda” and “The Seed of the Star-God,” but I had a few problems with each story and neither was great. “The Blade of the Slayer” actually features Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane, tying him into the Biblical narrative (there is overwhelming evidence in Wagner’s stories to Kane being the Caine of the Bible) with Magus, but it is not a particularly striking story. One that was co-written with Price, “The Throne of Achemoth,” is clever but on the boring side, despite the god-fight at the climax.
As I said, I’m only a third or so through it. I’m moving at a slow pace but I will definitely finish it. I may or may not do a full review, maybe just post some thoughts about key stories. I will say again that I really want to like these stories; the concept is very strong, and the historical and mystical background that Price contextualizes everything in is awesome. Maybe that’s the problem! Maybe I’ll appreciate the works more as I savor them with the incredible intro being a little more distant in my memory.
To those who might be raising their eyebrows at my mentioning Price favorably, I am well aware of the controversy he caused last year with his introductory screed to Flashing Swords #6. Maybe I’ll talk sometime about the points buried within it, but probably not. Any kind of thoughtful critique instead of blanket condemnation in these polarized times, in the sf/fantasy community as well as larger society, means that you are also the enemy. Suffice to say: this intro was good! Though devout Christians who are unwilling to suspend their belief for a few stories will probably find it problematic.
Anyway, I’ll have more to say on this collection in a week or two. I’ll have a post or three before then. Until then, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are well!