Saturday, December 26, 2020

2021 Annual ANTHOLOGY and MAGAZINE group read begins Jan 1st!

Sword & Sorcery Group on Goodreads


Our annual group read for Sword & Sorcery Anthologies and Magazines starts now (thru Feb-2021)! 

Please join us as we read new and old anthologies & magazines, the media form that kickstarted the genre.

Great way to discover classic and contemporary authors!

Discuss here/below. Link to Discussion Folder

Please peruse and add to the Poll which we are using as means to communicate books we are reading or discussing. Poll Link

Masthead banner and credits
Tales from the Magician's Skull #5: cover art by Manuel Pérez Clemente (Sanjulián)
Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons cover art by Arik Roper
Savage Scrolls Volume One : Thrilling Tales of Sword-and-Sorcery cover art by Jesus Garcia (to be confirmed)

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Tour Guide - Imaro Series by Saunders

This was posted originally on Black Gate


Masthead 2020 Nov Dec Saunders Soul B

“Who am I? Who is my father? Where is my mother? Why do death and demons follow me wherever I go?” – Imaro in The Quest for Cush
Charles R. Saunders, the originator of Sword & Soul, passed away May this year (2020, Greg Mele covered a tribute for Black Gate). Saunders is most known for his Imaro tales chronicling an African-inspired “Conan the Barbarian” on the fictional continent of Nyumbani. Saunders also wrote of a heroine named Dossouye (separate series), amongst other characters. Over the years, Black Gate has reviewed the entire Imaro series and the book of associated stories called Nyumabi Tales (see list). The Goodreads Sword and Sorcery group honored his memory with a groupread, catalyzing this post. If you are looking for some buddies to share experiences while you read, then please join in (formally the Saunders group read goes through Dec., but discussions will continue beyond). This post serves as a tour guide for the series, clarifying transition from Book#1 to #2 per edition, provides Saunder's own voice (excerpts) to capture the essence of Imaro's Nyumbani, and reviews book availability.

Imaro Series Publication History:

The publication history also follows Imaro's chronology as well. Links to Black Gate reviews included.
  1. Imaro: DAW 1981, Nightshade reprinted 2006 with story changes; Lulu 2014; 2008 Review by Howard Andrew Jones
  2. Imaro II: The Quest for Cush:  DAW 1984, Nightshade reprinted 2006 with story changes; 2008 Review by Ryan Harvey
  3. The Trail of Bohu:  DAW 1985 & Lulu 2009; 2009 Review by Bill Ward
  4. Naama War: Lulu 20102010 Review by Ryan Harvey War  and 2009 coverage Howard Andrew Jones & John O'Neill
  5. Nyumbani Tales: Mvmedia, LLC  2018;  2017 by Fletcher Vredenburgh
  • The Warrior’s Way: unpublished collection mentioned in the 2017 introduction to Nyumbani Tales penned by Saunders (more on this below).

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Imaro: The Trail of Bohu - Review by SE

 

The Trail of Bohu by Charles R. Saunders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Spurred by a Sword & Sorcery groupread honoring this year's passing of Charles R. Saunders, I continued the Imaro Series with The Trail of Bohu. A guide to the series and book availability will be posted on Blackgate.com shortly [link coming].

This third novel is a setup for last: The Naama War. The Trail of Bohu has considerably less action than Imaro and The Quest for Cush: Imaro II (the prior being comprised of short stories and this being the first full-length novel). So far, Saunders has been building up two big plots: (1) Imaro's mysterious, ancestral origin, and (2) the burgeoning war between the united Northern tribes/nations (Cloud Strider and Cushite aligned) and the evil Naamans (Erriten, Mashataan sorceries). Here Saunders delivers mostly on the former, and quite comprehensively; the latter, reserved for the final book.

When he does deliver action, he doesn't hold back. Creatures are wonderfully dark:
"Even in the half-light of dusk, the animate corpses were hideous to behold. Though they were all naked, the bloating of their bodies had advanced to the point that their sex was difficult to determine. Their faces were travesties of humanity: noses split apart, teeth jutting beyond peeling lips; eyes that were nothing more than gelatinous orbs that glimmered with a tinge of green luminescence. Machawai green... The walkingdead gouged at throats, faces, eyes. They attempted no defense against the steel that hacked and slashed at their bodies..."
Saunders provides plenty of Nyumbani (i.e. Africa) lore, culture, and creatures, including mountable rhinoceros and zebras. Glossaries in the back of each book are appreciated, but not necessary. There is one distinct moment which made me snicker, recalling Samuel Jackson's renowned cursing. When questioned by Rabir about what Imaro will do when he catches the titular Bohu, Imaro says: "I will kill the mama-mfuka." I am no linguist to know the etymology of that insult, but it sounded the most contemporary of every Nyumbani term.

My favorite location is the "The Placed of Carved Trees", a mystical grove that Imaro seeks guidance:
"Each of its trees was carved into a gigantic sculpture that was grotesque in form and enigmatic in meaning. At first glance, the sculpted tree-trunks appeared distorted, and even monstrous. Many of the carvings took the shape of bulbous masses of bodies separated by thin, cylindrical stalks that might have been legs. Faces hung from those bodies--faces with misarranged features and distended mouths with protruding teeth, sometimes smiling, sometimes screaming..."
All in all a great stage for an all-out war for the continent of Nyumbani!

View all my reviews

Friday, December 4, 2020

Raising Daughters - Dyscrasia Fiction in Whetstone Magazine Issue 2

Doctor Grave, the golem necromancer from Dyscrasia Fiction, appears in Whetstone #2's RAISING DAUGHTERS. This is a stand-alone tale occurring chronologically after Spawn of Dyscrasia

Read Whetstone #2 now for free online (or download as PDF, click here)! 

"Lindberg's wondrous tale is like peering through a microscope or telescope and discovering an alien world almost entirely non-human, but nevertheless still recognizable: children are always a challenge, but when you create them by untraditional means, you can wind up with far more than you bargained for." - Jason Ray Carney (editor) with Chuck Clark (Assoc. Editor)

Cover Art by Rick McCollum

Issue 2, Winter 2020 CONTENTS:


Editor’s Note                                 Jason Ray Carney
The City of Tombs                        George Jacobs
An Unforgiveable Interruption      D.M. Ritzlin
The Stain on the Skull                   Simon Ruleman
The Augur of Khoalse                   Corey Graham
Dark Meditations                           J. Thomas Howard
The Mortal Essence                       Ulysses Maurer 
Hounds                                          Chuck Clark
Mother of Malevolence                 Chase Folmar 
Raising Daughters                         S.E. Lindberg
The Slain of Talhn                         R. Sagus
Under the Oak                               Zack Taylor
Best Left to Professionals             Jace Phelps
Rolf's Ride                                     Frank Coffman


WHETSTONE is an amateur magazine that seeks to discover, inspire, and publish emerging authors who are enthusiastic about the tradition of "pulp sword and sorcery." Writers in this tradition include (but are not limited to) the following: Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner, David C. Smith, and many more. "Pulp sword and sorcery" emphasizes active protagonists, supernatural menaces, and preindustrial (mostly ancient and medieval) settings. Some "pulp sword and sorcery" straddles the line between historical and fantasy fiction; at WHETSTONE, however, we prefer "secondary world settings," other worlds liberated from the necessity of historical accuracy.  

First released Friday, December 4th, 2020  

Cover art by Rick McCollum 

Whetstone Seal by Bill Cavalier. 

Skull graphic by Gray Moth.  

Webpage: https://whetstonemag.blogspot.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whetstonemag/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SorceryWs 

Discord: https://discord.gg/hJKdkyDuUb  

Editor/Publisher: Jason Ray Carney

Associate Editor: Chuck Clark 

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Shattered Seas Review AND Deep Madness Tour Guide - Review by S.E.

This post was simulcast on Black Gate.com on Nov-28-2020

BG_SS_cover
Cover art by Christopher Shy / Cover design by Byron Leavitt.

Shattered Seas is a toxic dose of Lovecraftian mythos, psychedelic team-exploration (reminiscent of Stark Trek voyages), and survival-horror melee (mutant creatures replacing zombies). It’s a maelstrom of fun if you enjoy horror adventure, losing your mind, and drowning.

Ever want to crack open the gateway into an Otherworld with a few friends? Perhaps you are ambitious and naively want to gain dominion of cosmic powers. Will you be comfortable with mutating forces transforming you into a tentacled mass? Start the madness by searching for the mystical Sphere buried in the ocean near the submerged Kadath Mining facility. Lucas Kane, a marine biologist, is one of your tour guides. Here he observes Kadath, a mining facility with organic qualities (excerpt):

Kadath lit up below them drew his attention and caught his breath. The facility sprawled across the seabed like a sunken metropolis from another world, its illuminated structures pushing defiantly upward into the inky abyss. The station’s domes and towers seemed like the last bastions of light and reason still standing in an endless Stygian wasteland. It was hypnotic, dreamlike, and yet somehow inexplicably solid. Lucas could make out the shuttle tubes running between the three main domes, as well as to the smaller, squarer outposts and middle structures. He could even see the primary enclosed drilling site not far off from the main facility, connected to Dome Three by long, spacious tubes.

This novel was inspired by Diemension Games' Deep Madness, a cooperative sci-fi/horror board game. The novel serves as a stand-alone book as much as it does a gateway into the game narrative. Non-gamers will enjoy it all the same since the key protagonists (Lucas Kane and Connor Durham) are freshly introduced, plus the story is a prequel to the story presented in the game. At the end of this article, there is an embedded movie overviewing the board game. 

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

The Quest For Cush by Charles Saunders - Review by SE

The Quest for Cush by Charles R. Saunders

S.E. rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Who am I? Who is my father? Where is my mother? Why do death and demons follow me wherever I go?” – Imaro in The Quest for Cush

Charles R. Saunders, the originator of Sword & Soul, passed away May this year (2020). He is most known for his Imaro tales chronicling an African-inspired “Conan the Barbarian” on the fictional continent of Nyumbani. Saunders also wrote of a heroine named Dossouye (separate series). The Goodreads Sword and Sorcery group honored his memory with a groupread, catalyzing this review and tour guide into the series:
1) Imaro DAW 1981 (Nightshade reprinted 2006 )
2) Imaro 2: The Quest for Cush DAW 1984 (Nightshade reprinted 2006). reviewed previously)
3) The Trail of Bohu DAW 1985 & 2009
4) Imaro: The Naama War 2010
- Nyumbani Tales 2018, a collection of tales of characters in Imaro’s world
- The Warrior’s Way (mentioned in the 2017 intro. to Nyumbani Tales by Saunders; the current 2020 status is “complicated” according to the esteemed Milton J. Davis, Sword & Soul author & owner of MVmedia, LLC. So, stay tuned.


So where were we?: In the first volume, Imaro evolved from being a fatherless, abandoned child from the Ilyassai tribe… into a vengeful, tribeless Hercules-like figure set on destroying evil sorcery. We learned that his mother, Katisa had been force-married to a shaman named Chitendu. Chitendu was a servant to the Mashataan Demon Gods and was removed from power thanks to Katisa; Chitendu is confronted by Imaro in Book#1 “The Place of Stones”. Katisa was also exiled for her being tainted. Imaro’s biological father is a mystery, who may have been someone other than Chitendu. Katisa is a fascinating figure who deserves more attention (in fact, she is featured in the first story in the Nyumbani Tales collection). What is clear, is that Imaro is very special, akin to the child of a god. His destiny is to confront the Mashataan gods/sorcery run through the Namaa.

#2 The Quest for Cush, i.e., the Fellowship of the Sacred Warrior: Imaro may be the primary hero, but Saunders gifted him a fellowship with two others. First in the party was his love-interest, Tanisha, who grants companionship (she was rescued in Book#1, Chapter 3: Slaves Of The Giant Kings, a story reimagined & replaced with “The Afua” in Nightshade’s edition). Secondly, is the pygmy sage called Pomphis, who is introduced either in DAW’s Imaro Book #1, chapter 5: The City of Madness, or in the introduction of the Nightshade 2006 edition (the same story of “City of Madness” renamed “Mji Ya Wzimu”). Depending on which edition of Imaro #1 and #2 you read, you may miss a key transition. Why move of the “City of Madness”?

Arc & Conflict: Well… the second edition of Imaro#2 captures the full story arc of Pomphis (1) finding Imaro and (2) delivering him to Cush. Imaro 2 : The Quest for Cush retraces Pomphis’s journey backwards toward Cush with the object of his quest found: a sacred outcast warrior. Underscoring every conflict is an epic battle of forces between evil, Mashataan forces (streaming through the land and people of Naama) and their mchawi magic (cast in green auras, which involves tentacles, serpentine mutations reminiscent of Lovecraftian mythos) versus the “good” sorcery (cast in red auras, fueled by the power of tawa from the Cloud Striders, streaming though the people of Cush).



Imaro 2 : The Quest for Cush Contents:
0) “Mji Ya Wzimu” is the first chapter in Nightshade’s 2006 reprint, which is merely a renamed version of ”The City of Madness”, the final chapter from DAW’s Imaro #1. This has Imaro, with Tanisha, meeting Pomphis.

1) “In Mwenni” 100pages: The first seventy pages have the group searching for a ship and a secret artifact containing tawa that Pomphis knows about. Cultural conflict. Frankly, I expected more ties to the death of Pomphis’s mentor (Khabatekh) who was murdered as Pomphis traveled with him through this seaport Kundwa (located in Mwenni). Instead, we get introduced to the Heart of Shihazz, but slowly. Firstly, we have battles in an arena and the coming of an Asian-inspired martial artist named Chang Li. Li’s presence interrupted the “Sword & Soul” vibe but his role reinforced the concept of chi/balance in the universe (ie the struggle between Mashataan and Cloud striders). The last thirty pages kick into high gear, with weird sorcery, a focus on Imaro’s past, and strange creatures:
“The left side was human, although the sin was the marbled gray hue of a corpse left to rot in the sun…The right side was horror. Pale, pitted stone tinged green…Only mchawai, the unimaginable evil power of the Mashataan could have created such a composite monstrosity… Their arms were spread to forestall Imaro from fleeing…Hatred burned hot within him…Shortening the slack of his chain, Imaro swung the weapon overhand, catching the half-man full in the face. The flesh of the human side was torn by the blow, but no blood leaked from the wound…”

2) “In Bana-Gui” 60pages: The trio pass through the remote village of Rendille, stumbling through horrific echoes of the past wars against Mashataan sorcery. Mutated, cursed folk remain, and the chapter reveals their history:
“Against her will, Tanisha’s gaze left that single, sadly beautiful face and slid downward once again. And the gorge rose hot and sick from her stomach, blocking the cry of revulsion that leaped into her throat as she stared at the woman’s body. // Her long neck flowed smoothly into slender shoulders. Her bare breasts were small, cone-shaped, perfect. Beneath those breasts—horror! // A bulbous mass of tissue clothed in dark skin protruded from the woman’s abdomen. Its shape seemed a distorted replica of the buttocks of young child. Jutting from the asymmetrical mass were a pair of legs and a single arm ending in clenched, clawlike fingers…”

3) “On the Bahari Mashiriki” 20pages. Finally, the trio finds a ship for hire. But the storm season approaches and evil forces hunt them. Captain Rabir takes them through storms while the piscine hibi attack:
“Yet for all their sea-spawned strength, ferocity, and swiftness, the hibi could not reach Imaro. Like a leopard ravening among dogs, the warrior carried the battle to the hibi. His arm rose and fell in a dark blur, raining steel on the horde of sea-dwellers. Showers of blood spurted to mingle with the rain of the dhoruba … Shark teeth snapping madly at air, the sea-dwellers leaped and fell, their bodies piling in a grim harvest at Imaro’s feet.”

4)  “In Cush”  23pages: The end answers some questions while preparing us for books #3 and #4 that escalate the conflict. Imaro will go to war with the Mashataan-loving Naamans!

Availability: Click here to go to Saunders’ website to locate books: Where to purchase new Saunders books. Although the first two Imaro books from DAW were reprinted in ~2006 by Nightshade, they are sometimes difficult to track down. Used bookstores are your best bet. Lulu.com still distributes his books, but note: books appear under two different versions of his name:
A) With the "R" ... at Charles R Saunders Lulu
Imaro by Charles R. SaundersThe Trail of Bohu (Imaro, #3) by Charles R. Saunders
B) Without the "R" ... at Charles Saunders Lulu

Saunder’s Passion: An excerpt from Saunders’s Into to Milton Davis’s Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology best reveals the author’s motivation:
“Robert E. Howard and his contemporaries were products of their time. Racism, in the form of white supremacy, was an integral part of the popular culture of the early decades of the twentieth century, and as such it pervaded pulp fiction. As a product of a later time during which the tenets of racism came under vigorous challenge, my enjoyment of fiction from past decades was often compromised by the racial attitudes I encountered in my reading. On some occasions, I simply let it slide. On others, I wrestled with resentment. Then I discovered a way to resolve my dilemma.

Interest in African history and culture surged during the 1960s, and at the same time I was reading sword-and-sorcery and fantasy fiction, I was also absorbing heretofore-unknown information about a continent that was not “dark” as its detractors made it out to be. I realized that this non-stereotypical Africa of history and legend was just as valid a setting for fantasy stories as was the ancient and medieval Europe that served as the common default setting for everything from Conan to Lord of the Rings. A character came into my head then: Imaro, a black man who could stand alongside mythical warrior-heroes like Beowulf and Hercules, as well as fictional creations such as Conan and Kull.” – Charles Saunders




View all my reviews

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Deep Madness Board Game - Tour Guide of scenarios, book, campaigns

Deep Madness Scenario Chronology v8

UPDATED Aug 2021
21 total scenarios (canon) 
+ 1 fan campaign (4 scenarios)  + 1 fan-made expansion set (7 scenarios)

Seth (S.E) Lindberg and Phil Blake

Starting place for Deep Madness:
·       (optional) Read the Shattered Seas novel by Byron Leavitt
o   Many key characters (People of Interest) in the novel are colored purple in the table

·       Note: the Chronology Table below is not necessarily the suggested order of play
·       For newcomers, the suggested playthrough order of Expansions is:
o   Drowning in the Depths (tutorial scenario, provided in Faces of the Sphere/Profundum)
o   Core Box (scenarios 1-8)
o   Endless Nightmares (3 scenarios, any order) & Uncounted Horrors (1 scenario)
o   Other scenarios/campaigns

 

Chronology Table Scope:

The original intent of the table was to organize the chronology of the canon scenarios to further narrative gameplay.

We include a representative fan made campaign (Premonitions of Despair led by Phil Blake and Fabio Faletti) to highlight the community involvement which included feedback/support from Diemension Game (Byron Leavitt sourced PDFs from their master files, DG gave permissions to use their art, and DG encouraged them). Check out the Facebook group, link below.

Exalted Blasphemies: Fans created expansions focused on the Epic monsters (colored red in the table) that did not have scenarios. (Phil Blake championed this and played a role everywhere; graphic design by Fabio Faletti, includes cover art by Chang Yuan, several stories by Seth (S.E.) Lindberg and Sam Parsons to complement Phil Blake’s writing; Oscar Bok and Mark Turner got kudus for playtesting. This was made available for the public Aug 2021.

 Versions of this will be posted in:


Chronology

Expansion Game Title

Chapter/Scenario

Epic Monster  Person of Interest

Character Focus (or those come with the expansion)  Person of Interest

Prequel

Shattered Seas (complements novel of same name)

1: Shattered Worlds  (requires a game tile from Uncounted Horrors)

Lucas Kane (marine biologist)

Pre-Core Story

 

Rise of Dagon

1: Rite of Bile

Ward Phillips (novelist)

Regan Waite (cultist)

Meredith Waite (executive)

2: Virulent Whispers

3: Dagon Rising

Premonitions of Despair

Fan-Generated Campaign

1: Malfunction

Christopher Dalton (mystic)

Lisbeth Gibson (hacker)

Charles Ryan (heavy miner)

Jacob Clarke (relief expert)

Dakota Johnson (officer)

Sophie Brigman (diver)

2: Mutilation

3: Hallucination

4: Exit Wounds (Cthulhu sculpture)

Profundum/The Faces of the Sphere

1: Drowning in the Depths (tutorial)

Same as core story

Core Story

Core Box of Deep Madness

1: Crawling Asphyxia

Arthur Weyland (engineer)

Felicia Armitage (doctor)

Jared Drake (soldier)

Randi Carter (researcher)

Roman Asimov (biochemist)

Samuel Smith (captain)

 

Oracles Betrayal:

Hannah Cobb (little girl)

John Murdock (detective)

Dr. Clarence Branom (psychiatrist)

 

2: Last Shuttle to Hell

3: Bathphobia

4: Through the Looking Glass (William West)

Oracle’s Betrayal

1: Trimming Victims (William West)

2: Collecting Tissue (William West)

3: Lobotomy (William West)

Core Box of Deep Madness

5: Madness Within

6: Lost in the Mist

7: The Horror Beneath (Edgar Kayce)

8: The Substance of Terror

“True Ending”

to Core Story

Uncounted Horrors

1: Another Dawn

Core story characters, plus:

David (pilot)

Pris (secretary)

Dakota Johnson (officer)

Stephen Cooper (physicist)

Charles Ryan (heavy miner)

Jacob Clarke (relief expert)

Amanda Weaver (quartermaster)

Sophie Brigman (diver)

Jon (cat)

Post Core Story

Profundum/The Faces of the Sphere (cross-over to Dawn of Madness board game)

1: Faces of the Sphere

Same as core story + Hannah + Ward Phillips + Jacob Clarke (Visages of them!)

No fixed timeframe

 

Play at anytime

Endless Nightmares

1: Fathoms Dark (Unbound)

Christopher Dalton (mystic)

Emma Kruger (special agent)

Franklyn Christie (navigator)

Amanda Weaver (quartermaster)

Isaiah Wiesenthal (prophet)

Lisbeth Gibson (hacker)

Sophie Brigman (diver)

Scarlet Romanov (special agent)

2: Fevered Dreams (Obscure)

3: Expectant Terror (Nest)

 

 

Exalted Blasphemies

Fan Made Expansions

1: Dimension Sickness (Dimension Rift)

Edgar Kayce (Dimension Sickness)

2: Wisdom of the Mad King (Drifter King)

3: Hunger Pains (Omega Ravenous)

4: Devoured (Devourer of Worlds)

5: Infected Memories (Insidious)

6: The Dreamlands (Spawn of the Sleeper)

7: Purgatory (Penitent and Forsaken)