Swords Under Distant Suns

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!

So the seventh issue of TftMG arrived a couple of weeks ago. This is the first issue from the most recent Kickstarter, and the first to contain tales from their open call for submissions last year.

I’ll start off with my disappointingly regular complaint about typos. Some stories have more than others, as if some received better proofreading. Surely I am not the only one of the readers who wishes for better editing in this regard. The first story had three unsubtle errors that should have been caught. We are paying a premium price for the magazine. Can we please get an additional proofreader with a good grasp of spelling, capitalization, and punctuation to do a pass on each story before it is signed off on as ready? Yeah, that is harsh, but we’re paying for it to be done right; so why can’t it? It’s been seven issues now, Publisher Goodman and Editor Jones, and things are still somewhat slack on this front.

The cover is a pretty cool illustration from Sanjulian with a nice use of color. It reflects one of the stories, Beneath a Scarlet Moon. The magazine doesn’t always use a cover that is based on one of the stories contained in the issue, but I prefer it when it does, as opposed to some generic Swords & Sorcery-based cover. The illustration of the manticore does not match either the myth or the the story, though. The paper is still heavyweight stuff this issue, but the color is plain rather than parchment. This is explained as the printer did not have the regular paper due to the pandemic. Not a big deal. There is a brief editorial and then some remarks from the Skull. The main point worth mentioning here is the Skull’s enthusiasm for Dashiell Hammet. If you read my review of Red Harvest, you know I wholeheartedly agree.

Been busy doing nothing the last few weeks. In order to keep the little grey cells circulating, here’s a few reviews of some short stories I read recently.

The first is “The Toads of Grimmerdale” by Andre Norton. I wanted a palate cleanser after my ambivalent read of Quag Keep. This story came through in spades. It is set in her iconic Witch World, after a war that swept through the main continent after an invasion. The main character is a woman who was raped (bitterly, by one of her own countrymen rather than an invader) and turned out by her lordling brother as she refused to have the resulting pregnancy terminated. She has no skills to survive in the decimated land, but her drive is indomitable as she tries to chart a path for her unborn child, and take revenge on her unknown ravisher. She gets the opportunity for revenge through some malignant elder beings, and the story has tones of both Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith in addition to Norton’s own detailed voice. I won’t spoil anymore, as you should absolutely track it down and read it. The story was evidently written for Flashing Swords! #2, though it may have been in an earlier magazine. (Flashing Swords! was Lin Carter’s Swords & Sorcery anthology series from the early to mid 1970s). My copy of the story is in The Book of Andre Norton, published by DAW in 1975. It was also contained in The Many Worlds of Andre Norton, and also (I believe) The Lore of the Witch World.