Just reviewed on Black Gate: NEW TREASURES: SKALLAGRIM – IN THE VALES OF PAGARNA BY STEPHEN R. BABB (Sept 4, 2022)
Skallagrim – In the Vales of Pagarna (Hidden Crown Press, 373 pages; Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, March 2022). Cover by Walking of Sky Tree
Experience Skallagrim – In the Vales of Pagarna by
Stephen R. Babb in all its forms. This post covers everything to get you
hooked, from a summary, review, excerpts, and links to the complementing albums
from Glass Hammer. Reading Skallagrim feels like you are a witness to the live
version of Frazetta’s “Against the Gods” painting! You actually witness a hero
grab a sword from the sky.
The rest of the book unravels these questions, as Skallagrim
races against time to save the mystery maiden. He’ll wrestle with eldritch,
chthonic creatures, a herd of ghouls, a few necromancers, and an assassin. As
Skallagrim unearths the weird history of Andorath’s Southern Region, we get to
learn about it as he battles. The book stands alone, but did you know that
Stephen R. Babb has been a progressive rocker and theatrical-album-leader for
thirty years (more on Glass Hammer below!). Poems and lyrics infuse the prose.
For the full effect, readers should listen to the complementary Skallagrim
albums. These are not Audio Books. These are thematic rock sets chronicling
Skallagrim’s heroic journey. Embedded below are the opening songs to (1)
and (2). Listen to these! Babb is creating a rich world here.
Want to learn more about the creation of Skallagrim’s world? Check out Oliver Brackenbury’s recent interview with the author on his podcast So I’m Writing a Novel Interview (Aug 22 2022). Babb reveals his influences, from Tolkien, Dunsany, and RE Howard, and discusses how music informs writing (and vice versa). Listening to this I learned that Skallagrim’s world actually catalyzed in Glass Hammer’s 2005 album The Inconsolable Secret (which has tracks called Lirazel, Mog Ruith!), which then inspired the epic poem Lay of Lirazel (2014). To know why those matter, you’ll have to read the book.
Skallagrim: In the Vales of Pagarna reads fast
and blends the Sword & Sorcery style (action-heavy, focused on a lone hero)
with an epic tale (novel form, save-the-world in addition to save-yourself
motivations). Plenty of call-outs and imagery evoke S&S influences,
most obviously, a sorcerous city full of towers called the “Archon the Dreaming
City” (that echoes Elric’s home of Melniboné) and the sentient “screaming”
sword Terminus (that feels like a cousin of Stormbringer). In
any event, Skallagrim is more of its own tale than it is a homage to its dark
fantasy roots. Information flow is deceptively well placed; one of my favorite
chapters was halfway through the novel because it revealed why Skallagrim’s
nickname was Quickhands.
The cover blurb below is a splendid summary; below that are
excerpts and embedded samples of the music.
Skallagrim wakes in the middle of a fight for his life with only the vaguest idea of who he is. Facing an angry mob of murderous cutthroats, he watches helplessly while the love of his life is abducted before his eyes. Finally, with a crushing sense of despair, he realizes he’s going to die without even knowing her name.
But he doesn’t die.
To find the girl and take his revenge upon the fiend who took her, Skallagrim, wounded and exhausted, must endure a journey like no other. He’ll face madmen, ghouls, tentacled horrors, and witches, both foul and fair, as he races toward a final showdown that will have readers on the edge of their seats.
An awe-inspiring tale of adventure, triumph, and tragedy, set in a brutal, unforgiving wilderness and packed with heart-stopping action, Skallagrim – In The Vales Of Pagarna marks the first installment of an outstanding new series.
Weird settings
The forest was weirdly beautiful in a somber, funereal way, like a colossal mausoleum whose joyless vaults were supported by interwoven columns, their vast, mournful chambers hollowed out by the hands of giants. There was a certain thrill to walking in that place with its cool air and ancient trees whose limbs trailed moss like great sweeping beards of grey.
Bloody Action
…geysers of black water shot into the air from a hundred places at once. The plumes sparkled in the weird, flickering light, then seemed to cascade in slow motion in a myriad of diamond-like droplets. From the point at which each geyser had sprung, writhing tentacles sprouted—fiendish bouquets resembling Devil’s Fingers fungus… one such arm, slick and smelly with a coating of gleba, whipped the water directly in front of Skallagrim. He did not remember drawing Terminus, but the sentient sword was in his hand. He swept the blade low, severing the tentacle from the submerged, suberumpent egg from which it had burst. An immediate release or explosion of spores caught Skallagrim off guard, and he coughed painfully—his throat inflamed….
#1 Skallagrim: Dreaming City album – opening
titular track
#2 Skallagrim: Intro the Breach album
(2020) : “He’s Got a Girl” and “Anthem to Andorath”
#3 Due out Oct 2023 (preorder
now), Skallagrim: At the Gate (teaser trailer)
Glass Hammer is
an American progressive rock band from Chattanooga, Tennessee,
created and led by Steve Babb and Fred Schendel. Babb and Schendel, who founded
the band in 1992, are the only constant members in the lineup, having
surrounded themselves by various guest performers
First off, he prefers “Steve” to “Stephen.” Now that that’s
out of the way…
He’s best known as the bassist and co-writer for the
prog-rock group Glass Hammer. A professional musician for most of his life, he
started at the age of twelve as a church pianist. Since then, he has traveled
the US and a handful of other countries in various bands.
Glass Hammer, which he founded, has received critical
acclaim for their twenty-one studio albums, headlined major festivals, and have
become one of the most respected bands of the progressive rock genre.
In 1990, he had the good sense to marry the right girl, come
home from the road, settle down and start a business. Since then, he has busied
himself in the production of numerous albums for songwriters, the recording of
audiobooks, and in the day-to-day tasks required to operate a recording studio
while maintaining the persona of prog-rock star, prolific songwriter, and
lyricist. This last bit, he enjoys to the fullest.
In 2005 he penned the epic poem, The Lay Of Lirazel, which was published in 2014. For that effort he was honored with The Imperishable Flame Award by The North East Tolkien Society.
"There are no plans for Momoa to return. Morgan said that in his mind,The Legend Of Conan not only skips over that film, but also the 1984 sequel that Schwarzenegger starred in. The direct link is to the original, which was directed by John Milius from a script he wrote with Oliver Stone."Deathstalker: Anyway, as we await new flicks, I find myself checking out the old ones I had missed. I do not expect much. There is a stunningly hilarious and through review of the Deathstalker series on cinemassacre.com from 2010 (embedded video below). It dissects the absurdity of the series, even going as far as to quantify the ratio of fight scenes to women's breasts shown per movie. Of course, I have not seen the movies yet, but have just received them by mail and I am mentally prepared now. What is sad is that many of these had great covers by artist Boris Vallejo, which promised to deliver serious Sword & Sorcery. Great marketing I suppose.
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| Boris Vallejo covers for the Deathstalker Series |
 | An Unexpected JourneyDec 14th 2012 (...but can be seen in 2013 )And the rest of the trilogy: Dec 13th 2013: “Desolation of Smaug” Dec 17th 2014: “There and Back Again |
 | 2013 Hammer of the Gods- Facebook Movie Page and Trailer Link I heard about this via the Goodreads Sword and Sorcery group (link). - Action epic sees a passionate young man transform into a brutal warrior as he travels the unforgiving landscape in search of his long lost brother Hakan The Ferrocious, whose people are relying on him to restore order to their kingdom |
 | The Seventh Son Releases ~ Jan 2014From Wikipedia: "The Seventh Son is an upcoming fantasy film based on the first installment in Joseph Delaney's children's dark fantasy novel series The Wardstone Chronicles titled The Spook's Apprentice." |
 | Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage (~2013)Patrick Stewart’s narration may give this some street cred. |
 Likely to be released sometime | Clash of the Titans 3 ~ 2013RELEASE DATES |
 | 300: Rise of an Empire2014 |
 | 47 Ronin
Dec 25th 2013
|
 | Sequel(s) For Solomon Kane (~2014?)According to Fangoria magazine's interview with Michael Basset. FANGORIA: So we can expect a sequel to SOLOMON KANE? BASSETT: We intend to film more of Kane’s adventures. The first one has done very well in festivals around the world; now we have to wait and see how it’s received by a larger audience. Our intention is to make a trilogy, and if everything goes as planned, we will leave for South Africa to start production on part two. |
 | Hunstmans Sequel (2014?) |
 | Legend of Conan (2014)Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as Conan (~2015 "Legend of Conan" movie). Multiple news sources claim it will ignore the silly Conan The Destroyer and poorly produced 2010 Conan reboot (with Jason Momoa, who did okay but not well enough to compensate for other issues)...in other words, the 2015 movie is being designed as a direct sequel to the 1982 Conan the Barbarian. |
 | A Fire and Ice live action movie began being produced in 2012 (and a possible Death Dealer after that?!~). IGN reports this remake of the rotoscoped classic in which Frank Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi teamed up. |
 | God of War, 2014?"300" meets "Clash of the Titans" in this movie adaption of the video game |
 | More Chronicles of Narnia 2014? maybe?… And after that… Narnia V: The Silver Chair is planned. |
Little hope of being made... | Future Release |
 | •Elric movie: Check out Michael Moorcock's blog for details. |
 | Castlevania: Based on Konami's popular vampire games; this movie has been bounced around since before 2009. |
 | •The Power of the Dark Crystal (ever?) Announced in 2005, this sequel to the Dark Crystal (1982) has stumbled, always making some forward progress. |
 | •Bran Mak Morn ???? |
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Books and related material (videos, podcasts & blogposts) about Sword & Sorcery.
"The first three Norse warrior woman Bloodsong novels, in preparation for their ebook omnibus debut, are being enhanced with new and expanded scenes and revised text. The original stories are unchanged, of course, but time is now being spent on them that was not available under publisher deadlines when they were originally written in the pre-Xena 1980s. The cover painting by Boris Vallejo, created for the second Bloodsong novel, shows Bloodsong and her daughter, Guthrun, fighting together against their enemies, and is being used for the omnibus' cover through a new agreement with the artist. Meanwhile, a new Bloodsong novel, Valkyries of Hel, is being written. Altogether now, on three...BLOODSONG LIVES! BLOODSONG AND FREEDOM!"I am always excited to be able to touch base directly with authors--in this case, it was Facebook. As a giddy fan, I copy our communications...and invite you to track down your favorite authors!
 | Bran Mak Morn- by R. E. Howard R.E. Howard's Bran is less famous than his Conan, but Bran is arguably more doomed: he leads a devolving people and culture (the Picts), is embattled by the forces of Rome and must work with dark magic to survive. |
 | Elric of Melniboné - by Michael Moorcock The abject albino prince Elric shares his doom with his dying civilization. Action packed Sword & Sorcery at its finest. (Wiki link) |
 | Kane in Gods in Darkness - by Karl Wagner Loosely based on the biblical Cain cursed not to die, Kane is an immortal warrior and general. The series has an ambiguous sci-fi foundation that hints at alien technology, but despite these undercurrents the Kane series are decidedly fantasy masterworks. Want a doomed hero who has military prowess? Read Kane. |
 | Julian the Apostate in We are all Legends - by Darrell Schweitzer We Are All Legends is a must-read for fans of doomed protagonists. It is Sword and Sorcery for the adult crowd. Darrell Schweitzer tapped into his extensive weird fiction expertise to craft this great string of tales. It mixes the horrific atmosphere of H.P. Lovecraft, with the story telling action of R. E. Howard, with the emotive style of C.A. Smith. (Review Link) |
 | Druss the Legend – by David Gemmell More “Sword” than “Sword & Sorcery”, Gemmell imbued his aging hero Druss with qualities quintessentially legendary. Druss returns from his retreat to protect a mountain fortress from an encroaching barbarian horde. Epic battles abound, and Druss transitions to an respected ghostly status fueling a series of books. |
 | Dilvish, the Damned by Roger Zelazny Zelznay is better known for his The Amber Chronicles series which blended swashbuckling fantasy and a trippy sci-fi world. Zelzany (a native Ohioan) also wrote yarns of a hero returned from the dead which are as satisfying. |
 | Brian Rouwen in The Accursed by Robert Vardeman In 2010, Vardeman recently wrote a novel adaption for the God of War video game series. Turns out he has been writing for decades, and in 1994 he published a series regarding a cursed warrior (I just added this to my to-read queue). This serves as a placeholder for all the other doomed heroes I have yet to discover. |
 | Lord Endenken Lysis in Lords of Dyscrasia- by S. E. Lindberg Looking for a unique dark adventure? Follow Lord Lysis, a doomed protagonist who battles otherworldy evil in the Underworld! (Link to About) |
