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)

   

Tour Guide - Imaro Series by Saunders

This was posted originally on Black Gate

“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 2010; 2010 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).

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

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