Sword and Sorcery ebooks

[issybird]

An oversize image has been thumbnailed in the original and deleted in two quotes. This is far from the first time; please don’t upload large images again. It’s trivial to add them as thumbnails.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by gmw

It does. What's left are all zombies - which is the wrong genre.

Awrght! That's the ticket!

Are you telling me - telling me!???!! - that there is not one single sword & sorcery hero who is a zombie!??? If so, this must be rectified!

You're giving me ideas, gmw. Ideas, I say!

[Cootey]

I enjoyed Unnamed Memory 1&2 recently. It's an interesting blend of high fantasy, warfare, politics, fairytales, and magic, told from a Japanese voice. Its focus seems more romantic than any Conan book I ever read, but it's not a romance. It's a story about the end of the Age of Witches, specifically of one of the witches and her lover King who holds the only sword capable of killing her.

https://amzn.to/2T1VbM6

https://amzn.to/3kb0KTE

[Dr. Drib]

As mentioned, Henry Kuttner created a Sword & Sorcery hero named Elak of Atlantis.

There's now a new book of short stories featuring this intrepid hero, written by Adrian Cole. This book looks really exciting.

Here's the link to check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M1YJ5QV...v_lig_dp_it_im

[issybird]

While not quite off-topic, this is a tangent.

This has been a fascinating discussion for me. I love “sword”, as in turn-of-the-last century (or earlier) swashbuckling books, but once you add in sorcery, my eyes glaze over. It takes all kinds!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by issybird

An oversize image has been thumbnailed in the original and deleted in two quotes. This is far from the first time; please don’t upload large images again. It’s trivial to add them as thumbnails.

Sorry. I remember there are image size guidelines. I thought the image size limit was 600X800. I wish when uploading an image, the window clearly stated maximum allowable dimensions.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by hobnail

I tried to read Fafrd and the Grey Mouser but couldn't get interested in it; I think that's the only sword and sorcery book I've read (and didn't finish).

The Fafhrd and Gray Mouser collections are put together following internal chronology rather than original publication order. They start with two later written stories featuring the characters individually (The Snow Women and The Unholy Grail) that I didn't enjoy as much as the earlier written stories where the two are already a pair.

The real magic of the series is the two as a pair, the city where they live(Lankhmar) and the sorcerous 'advisers' (Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face) who often get them into trouble.

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Elric show that sword and sorcery doesn't have to be about amoral, barborous lunkheads.

I first read Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser as a comics adaptation featuring gorgeous artwork by Mike Mignola. Sadly there isn't a legal digital edition available, or I'd recommend those as a way to get a feel for the stories.

So given my limited exposure, which is also from seeing lots of Frazetta book covers, my impression is that with sword and sorcery the sword guy is the good guy and the sorcery/sorcerer is the bad "guy". I was also thinking that in fiction sorcerers are generally bad guys but wizards can go either way.

I could imagine that I might be more likely to enjoy a book if the sword guy had a wizard, magician, healer, etc. as a side kick. (Like a dnd game.)

Using your D&D language, magic users are almost always NPCs in sword and sorcery stories, but not always evil. Take the first Conan movie, for instance (the only one worth watching). There is a good wizard (Mako) and a bad one (James Earl Jones). They just don't wander around on adventures. If the protagonist had a wizard sidekick, it most likely wouldn't be sword and sorcery any longer.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

As mentioned, Henry Kuttner created a Sword & Sorcery hero named Elak of Atlantis.

There's now a new book of short stories featuring this intrepid hero, written by Adrian Cole. This book looks really exciting.

Here's the link to check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M1YJ5QV...v_lig_dp_it_im

I don't know how I feel about continuations. In general, I want to say I prefer to let a character lie when the original author stops writing about them.

On the other hand, I did enjoy the Lancer/Ace Conan collections, though I stopped when REH's name stopped appearing as an author altogether (#10, Conan the Avenger is the last one, I think).

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by issybird

While not quite off-topic, this is a tangent.

This has been a fascinating discussion for me. I love “sword”, as in turn-of-the-last century (or earlier) swashbuckling books, but once you add in sorcery, my eyes glaze over. It takes all kinds!

A tangent worthy of its own thread! Are you a Sabatini fan?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

A tangent worthy of its own thread! Are you a Sabatini fan?

Of course! And Anthony Hope, George Barr McCutcheon, Stanley Weyman….

[Dr. Drib]

I have been remiss:

When mentioning Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and their roguish ways and happy shenanigans - with evil wizards and willing 'maidens' (one may interpret that word in many different ways ) - then one MUST include Cugel The Clever, by Jack Vance.


(Available in the Vance Integral Edition or the old Ace edition.)

And then there is Nift The Lean, by Michael Shea - but that's another post.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by issybird

Of course! And Anthony Hope, George Barr McCutcheon, Stanley Weyman….

If you haven't found him, try John Bloundelle-Burton. Lots available at Project Gutenberg. No one has brought his books to mobileread yet.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

If you haven't found him, try John Bloundelle-Burton. Lots available at Project Gutenberg. No one has brought his books to mobileread yet.

Thanks! Will do.

[Calenorn]

The article linked below provides a nice introduction to the swashbuckling genre. The book described seems great, and the article provides a roll call of the best authors in the field. Happy hunting!

https://www.blackgate.com/2014/05/27...ing-adventure/

[John F]

Isn't that just like swashbuckler fans: they swing in and completely take over a thread.