Annual Anthology Groupread read to go Jan-Feb 2018

Since Sword & Sorcery was largely born through the short-story format, collections are an appropriate way to learn the genre and discover authors. The Sword & Sorcery group is proud to host another two month event this Jan-Feb 2018: 

Join us, Jan 2018 (click here to go to Goodreads) 

Previous Annual Anthology Groupread links: 
2017 Discussion / 2016 Discussion / 2015 discussion / 2014 discussion /2013 discussion

Don’t know where to start? Ask the group for a recommendation, or check out the sampling of Anthologies, old and new, as shown in this group’s bookshelf. You are challenged (invited?) to track any one down and share your journey with the group. Feel welcome to add to the bookshelf if you know how, or ask for help to expand the list.

Poll will be left open" recall, that list is not a competition to select a choice for all...it is a means to publicize the book you suggest OR the book you plan to read
Click to see poll

Web Anthologies Count too!:
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly

Me? I'll be digging into Challenge! Discovery 


Banner Credits: L-->R
Swords Against Darkness -cover art by 2013 Rodrigo Ramos "Cold Whisper"
Skelos I cover art by Gustave Doré; "The Gnarled Monster" 
Challenge! Discovery cover art by V Shane "Deep Forest" 

  

Sword and Sorcery Group on GR: Nov-Dec Topics

Sword and Sorcery Group on Goodreads

Nov-Dec Group read topics/themes are ANY author or cover artists with the below names. Bonus street cred goes to folks who pick books that have both cover artists and author sharing names.

(a) Any William: Like classics by William Hope Hodgson or William Morris?
Any WILLIAM folder link

(b) Any Michael: Anything by Michael Moorcock, or cover art by Michael Whelan. Any other Michael's are fair game too
Any MICHAEL Folder link

Banner Credits L-->R
WILLIAM side: represented by William Blake (1757-1827), poet, artist, printmaker. 
Mortal Sin
The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea 
(center) Ancient of Days

MICHAEL
Michael Moorcock - cover by Michael Whelan for Stormbringer
Michael Moorcock - cover by Michael Whelan for The Sailor on the Seas of Fate

 

 

Sword and Sorcery Group - Poll for Nov-Dec

Sword and Sorcery Group - Poll for Nov-Dec (link)

Vote for the Nov-Dec Groupread theme. We'll do the top two themes, and they'll be based on names of authors and cover artists. 

Bonus street cred goes to folks who pick books that have both cover artists and author sharing names.

Beth: Elizabeth Moon or Elizabeth Bear Catherine: C.L. Moore or anything with a Catherine" Jeffrey Jones cover. Robert:
Robert Lynn Asprin or Robert E. Howard or Robert Gould (did some Elric/MM covers) Julie:J.V. Jones or Boris Vellejo's partner in art : Julie Bell Charles:Charles R. Saunders or Charles Moll (did some Moorcock covers) John: John Jakes plus John Duillo (artist on Conan of the Isles, Conan the Freebooter, Conan the Wanderer) Andrew: Andrew J. Offutt and Howard Andrew Jones Michael: Anything by Michael Moorcock, or cover art by Michael Whelan. Any other Michael's are fair game too William: How about some classics by William Hope Hodgson or William Morris? Raymond: Raymond E. Feist and Ray Bradbury and covers by Raymond Swanland James; James Enge or James A. Moore would work

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Sept-Oct Groupreads: Vikings and Sword-n-Planet

All are welcome to join the Sword & Sorcery Group on Goodreads

Our Sept-Oct 2017 Groupreads Are Set:

Link to Viking Age discussion

Link to Sword-n-Planet discussion

Banner Credits:
Fliers of Antares (Dray Prescot, #8), cover art by Jack Gaughan, Dray Prescot Series #8 book by Alan Burt Akers

Transit to Scorpio coverart Josh Kirby 1975, Dray Prescot #1 book by Alan Burt Akers

Melvyn Grant artist, for 1977 Chris Carlsen (Robert Holdstock) Shadow Of The Wolf

   

Obscure Works Groupread - July Aug on Groupreads

The Sword & Sorcery Group on Goodreads.com 

will become "Obscure"!

Time to unearth arcana! Sword & Sorcery, our group reads for July and August are "OBSCURE WORKS." So we all won't be reading the same books, but we all can search for them, read, discuss, and review them! Let's shed a little light on lost gems.


Discussion Folder for Obscure Books Link - click here to join in! 


Remember the poll? Poll Link for obscure bookst... if you need a goal, try one of those. If you voted for one, read it or discuss why you chose it. Our banner is made from two of those items: 

Heather Gladney's Blood Storm (sequel to Teot's War of The Song of Naga Teot series). Cover by John Jude Palencar 1989

The Book of Paradox by Louise Cooper, cover by Frank Frazetta 1973.

  

Moorcock and Leiber - May-June 2017 Groupreads

Goodreads Sword and Sorcery Group

All are welcome to join us for our May-June Groupreads:

(a) Moorcock - Elric, Corum, pick an eternal champion! Folder Link: 

(b) Leiber - Fafred and the Gray Mouser! - Folder Link

Banner Credits
1974 Michael Moorcock's The Sword and the Stallion Cover art by David McCall Johnston
1974 Michael Moorcock's The Oak and the Ram Cover art by David McCall Johnston
1976 Fritz Leiber's - Zwaarden tegen Magiërs Cover art by Bruce Pennington. (Swords against Wizardry)
1975 Fritz Leiber's Zwaarden in de mist Cover art by Bruce Pennington

    

Sword and Sorcery Groupread poll for May-June 2017

Goodreads Poll

Sword and Sorcery Group

Everyone can vote and partcipate

May-June 2017

May-June Groupread topics (top two usually win)

The Last Magicians by John Jakes Ill Met in Lankhmar and any other Fritz Leiber Shadow by K.J. Parker The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay Dark of the Gods or any other P.C. Hodgell Elric of Melniboné series by Michael Moorcock Wolf of the Steppes: The Complete Cossack Adventures, Volume One or any other Harold Lamb

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Saunders and Gemmell - Mar-Apr 2017 Groupreads

Sword & Sorcery Group Reads on Goodreads.com

Everyone is welcome to participate in the next two-month, two-topic groupreads. The polling was tight, but we have our Mar-Apr Topics selected:

(a) Saunders Folder link

(b) Gemmell Folder link

(The third topic was very close: Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates or Forge of Darkness; those voters are encourages to read those too...perhaps try out the Buddy Read Section.

Banner credits for cover art of books by : Charles R. Saunders and David Gemmell; Cover Artists:
The Quest for Cush (no. 2) 2007 Vince Evans 
Legends of the Drenai Ken Kelly 1990
Sword in the Storm (The Rigante Series, Book 1) 2001, Artist Doug Beekman
The King Beyond the Gate 1995, Louis Royo
Imaro 2006 Vince Evans

     

Any David Gemmell is fair game! Newcomers will likely want to grab hold of Legend. His work is easy to find.

And it's Sword & Soul time! This is for anything Charles R. Saunders wrote. Some of his books are difficult to track down, but they are worth it...and... he has been writing many short stories (those count too for Dossouyediscussion...so if you can't find the books, look into the anthologies he contributed for....list below).

We had a related group read in 2013 Imaro Groupread (link to that discussion)

Finding Books
There is at least one eBook version of Imaro available via Lulu...and ~$20USD version of most of his library; there are two pages.
1) The spotlight page for Charles R Saunders has most (link)
2) The page for Charles Saunders (no "R") has Dossouye available (link)

Imaro
The Quest for Cush
The Trail of Bohu
The Naama War

Dossouye: the Dancers of Mulukau
Dossouye

   
 

Short stories: From his website we have a list of Charles R. Saunders's short stories and the collection they appeared in (link). 

Goodreads Sword and Sorcery Group - Newcomers Guide

Sword and Sorcery Group Homepage (link)

Interested in participating in the Goodreads's Sword and Sorcery group? Click on the above link to join. Here is a starter's guide:

Be civil and leave your inner savage... is our group's mantra.

Who is there and why? Readers, authors, illustrators, and editors discuss Sword & Sorcery books and related media (movies, comics, blogposts, etc.).

Goodread guidelines: This group is a daughter of the parent Goodreads.com which has provided:

Guidelines for leaving Reviews 

...and Guidelines for Authors: 

Spamming / over zealous promotions: If you decide to advertise, please do so at an appropriate frequency after reading the S&S group guidelines 

Discussions: Some confusion is normal for new comers since we have parallel conversations going on simultaneously, and some members bounce between them. Many conversations are spread out over years. Some feedback:

1) Please do initiate conversations!

2) If possible, start conversations in a folder/thread already dedicated to the topic....but don't worry too much. I suggest browsing the ~14 top folders pretty much reveal where to go. Many times members will spawn a deep discussion in the Currently Reading folder; then we try to redirect people to dedicated areas

Here are links to some of the key folders:

Sword and Sorcery Group Homepage
Introduce Self and Get Started

General Discussions 

Writing Dark Fantasy 

Sites, Blogs and other Resources 

Groupreads

Networking 

Book Haul 

Crowdfunding 

Sword & Sorcery in other media 

Note the Search tool... in the right hand side of the screen on the group homepage (above the moderator pictures); that is an easy way to find books/authors/topics of interest to you

Groupreads are staggered: 2 months periods...and two topics each. About half way thru, we'll poll to identify the topics for the next period. Final results are emailed ~1week prior, but the polling status can be seen on the group's homepage at anytime (bottom).

We never delete/archive discussions (Groupread topics or otherwise), so many previous discussions are still available ... and its perfectly fine to continue/resurrect those even if they are years old.

Jan-Feb: Staveley's Unhewn Throne and Anthologies - Groupreads

Jan-Feb 2017 Groupreads Topics have been decided! Please join us in the Sword and Sorcery group on goodreads as we tackle:

(Link to ) Anthologies Folder : Yes this is our annual tradition of delving into new and old short stories that are at the heart of the genre.

(Link to) Staveley's Unhewn Throne Folder : And its time for novel reading too!

Masthead Banner Credits
Representing “Anthologies”: Raphael Lacoste’s cover for the Beneath Ceaseless Skies’s Issue #209, Eighth Anniversary Double-Issue — September 29, 2016. Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #209 by editor Scott H. Andrews

Representing “Unhewn Throne”: Richard Anderson’s cover for Brian Staveley’s The Providence of Fire (second in the Unhewn Throne Series).

  

Jan-Feb Poll for Sword-n-Sorcery Groupread

Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group

Vote now for Jan-Feb Theme(s). Recall, this period we always have an Anthology focus for one theme. This vote would be for a possible second discussion. Click to vote!

Brian Staveley's The Emperor's Blades Scott Oden's A Gathering of Ravens David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus J.R.R. Tolkien's The Children of Húrin Brian Lumley's Hero of Dreams Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind William King's Gotrek & Felix: The First Omnibus

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