S E Lindberg's You Are A Grim Hero - translated into Italian!

You Are A Grim, Italian Hero 

Last April, I wrote a guest post on the Grimdark genre's roots (1930-and-1980).  I was just notified that the post was translated and reposted this month!  Like dark fantasy?  Check out a perspective highlighting Clark Ashton Smith and Fighting Fantasy.

Original Guest Post in English, thanks to an invitation by Francesco La Manno:
 2015-April "You-are-grim-hero" Post on Panopticonitalia-Hyperborea Blog

Now in Italian, thanks to Alessandro Iascy:
Nov-25th 2015 - Blog Post translated into Italian!

Grazie!

Why & How to Read The Zothique Tales:

·         It's an Aficionado’s duty – know the origins of Sword & Sorcery and Grimdark

·         Short Stories – won’t consume much time

·         The stories are awesomely Grimdark

·         Free – available online thanks to Eldritchdark, a fan website run with permission from CAS’s family. The Zothique tales are ordered as they appear in Necrocomicon’s Press 1995 printing of “Clark Ashton Smith’s Tales of Zothique” edited by Will Murray and Steve Behrends (i.e., chronological order of publication). A great review of these was shared by author Ryan Harvey on Blackgate:

Links:

1-      The Empire of the Necromancers - Jan 1932

2-      The Isle of the Torturers July 1932

3-      The Charnel God - Nov 1932

4-      The Dark Eidolon - Dec 1932

5-      The Voyage of King Euvoran  - Jan 1933

6-      The Weaver In The Vault - Mar 1933

7-      The Tomb Spawn - July 1933

8-      The Witchcraft of Ulua - Aug 1933

9-      Xeethra  - Mar 1934

10-    The Book of Vergama - Mar-May 1934

11-   The Last Hieroglyph - Mar-May 1934

12-   Shapes of Adamant- fragment circa 1935 (fragment)

13-   Necromancy In Naat - Feb 1935

14-   The Black Abbot of Puthuum - Spring 1935

15-   The Death of Ilalotha - Mar 1937

16-   The Garden of Adompha - July 1937

17-   Zothique - poem

18-   The Master of The Crabs - Aug 1947

19-   Mandor's Enemy - fragment  (fragment)

20-   Morthylla - 1951-52

High Cough of Silistra - Intense, Sex-Infused Fantasy for Thoughtful Readers

High Couch of Silistra by Janet E. Morris
S. E. Lindberg rating: 5 of 5 stars

Janet E. Morris’s High Couch of Silistra is Intense, Sex-Infused Fantasy for Thoughtful Readers

In 1977, an intellectual female author wrote a debut, fantasy/sci-fi novel featuring a heroine in a dystopic, alien world striving to discover her mysterious past & god-like ancestry; in 2015, her debut novel was reprinted. Some may assume I am referring to Tanith Lee who passed away recently; her 1975 debut The Birthgrave was reprinted in 1977 and this year which I just read/enjoyed/reviewed. However, I am referring to Janet Morris’s 1977 High Couch of Silistra; this reviews her ‘author’s cut’ version, coincidentally released this year. Janet Morris’s style is quite different that Lee’s, though fans of the Birthgrave would certainly devour High Couch.

Intense Sex: One would wrongly assume that High Couch of Silistra is purely a 1970-feminist-movement book; the role of sex, rape, and fertility is posited to make the reader tense. The protagonist Estri is a woman of Silistran origin (alien with human form) and most Silistran’s are reliant on humans to become impregnated, which is a rare event. The culture and expectations of purchased sex, often brutal but sometimes passionate, are constantly present. Somehow, Janet Morris manages to write all this erotic-infused adventure in an intellectual, almost dispassionate voice. This is not shallow romance/soft-pornography. Nor is High Couch of Silistra gratuitous whoring. This is mature-rated, engaging fantasy.

Tension: Without spoiling, note that characters watch their parents have intercourse, men rape other men, and woman lust after men who abuse them. In real life, these situations would appall me. My test for rationalizing my comfort level and reading onward was: if Estri tolerated her predicaments, then so should I. The constant tension between the book’s acceptable behavior and today’s societal norms took me beyond reading the story. It made reading this more than adventure. It made me think. Janet Morris’s intent was to play with controversial sexual and societal themes; she delivered with Estri’s journey, full of codependent genders & races, an intricate alien world, and psychedelic magic.

Cover Art & Interview: In Janet Morris’s 2014 interview on Beauty in Weird Fiction she said that “Human extravagances and limitations are what, for me, Silistra is about, but it is not a series for the erotically-averse, or the intellectually timid.” As a reader/reviewer, I could not agree more with that self-assessment. In that interview she also noted her dislike of the 1977 cover art Boris Vallejo that depicted Estri with a brass bra and Gucci boots. For the author’s cut, she employed artist Roy Mauritsen who presented a more intellectual design for the Silsitra quartet by dividing the Dancing Maenad in (a Roman relief) over the four books (photo by Ana Belén Cantero Paz).


Genre & Theme: This futuristic, dystopian world has science-fiction elements (space/time travel, some technology), but leans toward fantasy (alien beasts with hybrid/mythological designs; sorcery like telepathy/mind reading; fighting that is melee/blade-focused). Ubiquitous themes of procreation, fertility, and “shaping” the world add depth.
The Silstra Quartet seriesThe series continues, the remaining three presumably to be released in the near future (since the covers are designed.)



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Latte with Tom Barczak - Norman Oklahoma 2015

S E Lindberg and Tom Barczak - 2015 Norman - Heroikan's drink lattes

This month I visited Norman OK for the third year in a row as I participate in a consortium on surfactants run by chemical engineering professors at Oklahoma University (IASR). Last year I took the opportunity to track down Tom Barczak whom I interviewed in 2014 and happens to live there. He has a similar poetic/dark style. Apart from our own endeavors (his Evarun and my Dyscrasia Fiction), our short stories appeared together in Heroika 1: Dragon Eaters this year, an anthology which many are proud of; here is a snippet of Ricky L. Brown's review via Amazing Stories Magazine:

Heroika 1: Dragon Eaters is an anthology of well-crafted work with a wide range of entertaining perspectives. Spanning across cultures, centuries, and even the dimensions of time and space, each contribution has its own distinct charm. In essence, this book is a colorful bouquet of bold stories about one of the darkest primal forces in mythological lore...  Published by Perseid Press and edited by Janet Morris, this collection is due to be released on May 25, 2015. There are seventeen tales in all. Though breaking each one down with literary criticism would take multiple reviews to cover thoroughly, it is advised to just pick up a copy and dive right in because odds are pretty good you'll find plenty to enjoy...

In the Legacy of the Great Dragon by S.E. Lindberg, readers will discover another use for the dragons in getting one’s sight back, but here we cross the fine line between man and god, and see how the twisted significance of the word “legacy” can define both... 

Forged by Tom Barczak is a fairytale adventure with good versus evil, eventually allowing readers to discover the hidden magic of dragons that lies in the soul of a young girl and how “love” works its magic in unexpected ways..."

I highly recommend Tom's work. As I reviewed Veil of the Dragon, his style is poetic, and it is timely to note that this prose can now be heard thanks to the beautiful narration by Neil Hellegers. Check out the audible sample on Audible: 

Audible Veil of the Dragon, narrated by Neil Hellegers (link)

Hell Bound - Andrew Weston, Book Tour

The author of Hell Bound (released this Halloween), is on a blog tour! Thanks for guest blogging, Andrew Weston!

So who is he? What is Hell Bound?  Is Daemon Grim coming for us? Below are his own hellish answers, an excerpt, and a book giveaway link! 

First, who is Andrew P. Weston?

Andrew P. Weston is Royal Marine and Police veteran from the UK who now lives on the beautiful Greek island of Kos with his wife, Annette, and their growing family of rescue cats.  An astronomy and law graduate, he is the creator of the international number one bestseller, The IX, and also has the privilege of being a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the British Fantasy Society and the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.  When not writing, Andrew devotes some of his spare time to assisting NASA with one of their remote research projects, and writes educational articles for Astronaut.com and Amazing Stories.   Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon Author

What is Hell Bound?

Hell Bound is part of the Heroes in Hell universe, which is a series of shared world fantasy books, within the genre Bangsian fantasy/horror, created and edited by Janet Morris and written by her, Chris Morris, C. J. Cherryh and others. The first 12 books in the series were published by Baen Books between 1986 and 1989, and stories from the series include both Hugo Award winners and Nebula nominees. Janet continued the series through her own publishing company – Perseid Press – from 2011 onward with, Lawyers in Hell, followed by five more anthologies and a novel since then.

The shared world premise of Heroes in Hell (also called The Damned Saga) is that all the dead wind up together in Hell, where they pick up where they left off when still alive. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy states "In the long series of shared world adventures begun with Heroes in Hell, Hell becomes an arena in which all the interesting people in history can come together to continue the relentless pursuit of their various ends.” Brian Stableford commented that the series "adapted the backcloth of Dantean fantasy as a stage for violent adventures with ironic echoes of infernal comedy.

Hell Bound is simply an extension – a continuation of an ever expanding theme. It follows the exploits of Satan’s chief bounty hunter, the Reaper, as he hunts down fugitives from injustice. Of course, with some of the most infamous souls in all history up to no good, you can only imagine the problems that can and do arise.

When devising the character of Daemon Grim, I thought one of the best ways of integrating him – and indeed his entire crew – into the already established universe, was to ensure their “solo’ adventures run in tandem with what’s happening in the anthologies. So, Grim was introduced to us in Doctors in Hell, where we found him on a special mission to recover something very precious to His Infernal Majesty. Hell Bound begins at the conclusion of that very same mission. The next anthology will pick up several months after Hell Bound. Hell Hounds – the next solo novel – commences where that anthology ends, and sets the scene for the next HIH adventure.

Hell Bound (Heroes in Hell) Blurb

In hell, none of the condemned believes they deserve to be there. And that’s fine, so long as they’re not foolish enough to try and do anything about it. For those that do, there’s always Satan’s Reaper–and chief bounty hunter–Daemon Grim.

Feared throughout the many layers of the underverse, no one in their right mind dares to cross him.

However, when Grim discovers that someone has attempted to evade injustice, and seems hell-bent on gaining access to ancient angelic artifacts proscribed since the time of the original rebellion in heaven, circumstances point to the fact they may be doing just that.

The question is...why?

Thus begins an investigation that leads Grim throughout the many contradictory and baffling levels of the underworld, where he unearths a conspiracy that is not only eating its way like a cancer through the highest echelons of Hellion society, but one which threatens the very stability of Satan’s rule.

As you can imagine, Grim’s response is bloody, brutal, and despicably wicked.

Hell Bound – In hell, everyone can hear you scream...

Excerpt

​

​​Order now via Amazon Hell Bound 
This is the US centric link, but many global Amazon's have it to

Or try this Rafflecopter giveaway (link)

Stealer of Flesh - Review by S.E.

Stealer of Flesh by William King
S.E. rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stealer of Flesh by William King
This short set of tales introduces us to Kormak, a Guardian who is essentially an assassin of dark creatures. He is hunting a Ghul across four tales. This begins a series which extends to at least seven entries. This is Sword & Sorcery with a Warhammer feel. It has a lot of ingredients that I adore: mysterious undead creatures, intelligent banter, gritty warfare. It also had a knack for building up great potential only to not capitalize on it or to nullify it. I'll explain: in chapter one, a very silly quote from a dying character was a forced one-liner quote that was out of place; the second tale builds up a companion for Kormak and then puts her in jeopardy in a very interesting way...but chapter three mentions her in passing; chapter three also lets Kormak and Ghul share minds (I am being obtuse to not spoil) so a weird/interesting bond is formed between hunter and prey...and this is not tapped for the rest of the book; chapter four brings us into some ancient ruins with great history and a finale battle...which ends abruptly and without exploration of the ruins.

I enjoyed much of the plot twists and battles, but in the end I was not sure I really knew Kormak well enough to care about his future adventures. I am confident that William King can spin a great tale, and perhaps the remaining set fleshes out this potential.

1. Stealer of Flesh
2. Defiler of Tombs
3. Weaver of Shadow
4. City of Strife
5. Taker of Skulls
6. Ocean of Fear
7. Born of Darkness





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The Broken Sword AND High Couch of Silistra - Groupreads for Nov-Dec 2015

Please join the Sword & Sorcery group this Nov-Dec to read:

1) The Broken Sword - 1954 by Poul Anderson

2) High Couch of Silistra - 1997 and 2015 by Janet Morris

Of course, we always must have a custom banner made from the covers.  Here are the credits for the montage:

Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword:
1973 Patrick Woodroffe and 1977 Boris Vallejo 1977 (coincidentally)
 

Janet E. Morris's High Couch of Silistra, covers by Boris Vallejo (1977) and Roy Mauritsen (2105; includes "Dancing Maenad in a Roman relief" photo by Ana Belén Cantero Paz)
 
The Author's Cut versions were just released this year. It is interesting to learn of Janet E. Morris's feelings toward the original cover by Boris Vallejo. I interviewed her in 2014 and she said:

"When I saw the Boris High Couch cover for the first time, I was insulted that anyone could have derived the brass bra and Gucci boots image from my work.- JEM 2014

For the 2015 authors' cut, designer/artist Roy Mauritsen took one photo and split it over the four covers ("Dancing Maenad in a Roman relief" photo by Ana Belén Cantero Paz)

 

Seven Princes by John R. Fultz is Epic, Digestible Dark Fantasy.

Seven Princes by John R. Fultz
S.E. rating: 4 of 5 stars

Seven Princes by John R. Fultz is Epic, Digestible Dark Fantasy.

The Author Interview was a nice extra in which Fultz acknowledges the authors who inspired him, namely Clark Ashton Smith, Tanith Lee, and Darrell Schweitzer. I found Fultz’s writing to be more accessible than these authors, but less deep/intellectual (in this work); though poetic language is frequent. Seven Princes reads as a Young Adult version of dark fantasy and pays homage to Lovecraft and Howard in many ways. Most characters are archetypal “good” or “evil.” We learn about the land's history via ~7 princes and 1 princess who all come of age together in a tumultuous time. I found most princes to be indistinguishable (most are honorable warrior types). Gammir of Khyrei is not included in the core seven, but emerges the most developed character, and is arguably a prince too.

The scope is epic in time and geography, but it is not Tolkien like. Do not expect elves, dwarves, or orcs here. Just giants, and colossal serpents, and lots of magic. This is part of the series “Books of the Shaper” and Shaping is sorcery. There is “good” magic and “evil” magic, that involve “shaping” elements; only the “bad” magic is explained (it requires blood; let’s hear it for vampirism and necromancy!), but the good magic just requires thought apparently.

Despite not having a fully explained magic system, the “shaping” in the story was really how the land was shaped over time via cyclical good/evil struggles. The pacing did fluctuate as other reviewers have noted. The opening chapter is a worthy stand-alone short story and is an outstanding foundation for the rest of the book. The last 150pages would have been better if it was stretched out—lots of epic battles that deserved more pages! For a 500page novel, this read very fast. I am compelled to read the next two: Seven Sorcerers and Seven Kings. I recommend this to those sword and sorcery readers who normally read short fiction (avoiding series of thick books).



The seven princes:
1. Fangodrel of Udurum half-human scholar
2. Tadarus of Udurum half-giant warrior prince
3. Vireon of Udurum half-giant warrior prince
(Princess Sharadza of Udurum)... she’s a sorceress
4. Lyrilan of Uurz … a scholar
5. Tyro of Uurz … a human warrior prince
6. Andoses of Shar Dni … a human warrior prince
7. D’zan of Yaskatha … a young human warrior prince

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Anemogram – Engaging, Eerie Mystery

anemogram. by Rebecca Gransden
S.E. rating: 4 of 5 stars

Anemogram – Engaging, Eerie Mystery

All is mysterious in anemogram by Rebecca Gransden: the obscure/cryptic title (technically a graphical display of wind speed), the ghostlike protagonist, and the poetic writing and evolving story. Gransden employs Mystery to drag you into the protagonist’s journey. “She” is a roaming, young girl. Her history and motivations are unclear. Is she a human orphan? A sprite or spirit guide? Angel or devil? The wind itself? Whatever she is, it seems she is out to harvest stories from abject people, but it is equally possible she has chosen us the “reader” to engage.

It is a dark weird tale. The characterization is compelling; strangely, most of the revealing conversations occur during eating. There is a constant tension between innocence and impending darkness which is played expertly, and intellectual readers may consider this as a homage to the classic The Heavenly Christmas Tree by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1876, available online via the Gutenburg project). Keeping this from a 5-star rating, is the denouement. With all the mystery presented, I did not expect to have all things explained, but I did expect more. The climax brings the right characters to the right place… and I really craved about one more chapter’s worth of the journey. This is an ambitious, well done debut novel. I look forward to more from Rebecca Gransden, especially if there is a follow up to anemogram. This is an excellent tale that will appeal to several genre readers: fantasy, mystery, thrillers.

Excerpt:

“…she turned and headed across open wasteland, into the domain of the sun and its cherishing death. She bobbed up and down and held out her white dress, spinning and drawing in the warm air. Her legs were cherubim podgy and she moved like an electrified hamster. The wasteland contoured down a textured valley which in turn vaulted into the distance and away. She stood in its open magnificence, its blanched earth under the blue-white sky of God. Everything in the distance; she would play unseen. She left her giggles behind her as she took off running. The ground flattened like an ancient seabed and she took her little body over it. She forgot her feet as she chased her own arms down. The surrounding landscape stayed static and true as she fed her hunger for abandonment…”

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Reckless Traveler - South American - Magical Mystery Tour - Review by S.E.

Reckless Traveler by Walter Rhein
S.E. Lindberg rating: 5 of 5 stars

A South American - Magical Mystery Tour

"Travel helps separate what is real from what is not. Travel is education without agenda."- Walter Rhein 

Walter Rhein’s introductory chapter to Reckless Traveler, available online and in the eBook preview, trapped me as quick as I glanced at it. I did not set out to read a travel biography, but a chance crossing of a Facebook post had me ensnared. Equally concerned for Walter’s health and excited about what he experienced, I had no choice but to neglect my to-read pile dominated by dark fantasy. My reading mirrored that of the author’s experience. Spending a decade in Peru, initially as short-time tourist one who did not speak the local language, Walter recaps his own entrapment: his muse anchored him in a foreign land.

The author’s style is welcoming; the story is adventurous and peppered with philosophical depth. He accurately portrays the consequences of traveling without a plan, which is fraught with fun and danger. Visa issues and adventure take him to Venezuela and Chile—so he was not bound to Peru. Read this and you encounter: giant cockroaches, being robbed, Machu Picchu, AK47’s, Chilean jails, medical crises, peanut butter, transient friendships, bribery, murder, a race through the mountains, being robbed again…He does not advocate that everyone should actually travel recklessly; the best alternative is to let Walter do the walking and talking…and just follow him via the comfort of this book.

Recommend for all readers. The best way I can communicate Walter Rhein’s voice and the scope of the book is to offer a random array of quotes:

Random Adventurous Snippet (curious-reader traps):

My dreamy recollections came to an abrupt halt when once again I found myself in Ecuador, regarding the ominous line of stern-faced mercenaries with AK-47s.

A kiss is a nice greeting. Getting through the day becomes much easier when dotted with kisses from women you meet.

I woke to find myself staring into the eyes of the world’s largest cockroach.

I rounded the corner and came upon the carnage. The taxi sat by the side of the road, its windshield spattered with orange-red droplets. I looked at the droplets for some time before I realized they were blood.

After thirty seconds, I threw up the tea. “Can we please go to the hospital now?”

My left wrist was scratched. In the place where my watch normally rested was now only a patch of untanned white skin. The guy had stolen my Timex Ironman!

“His name is Ivan. He’s the son of the Yugoslavian ambassador to Perú, and he doesn’t like Americans.”

Its trunk light came on to reveal a crumpled sheet of thick plastic. The driver pushed this aside, to expose, much to my surprise, piles and piles of money.

I paged through my passport and found an entry stamp to Chile. I shook my head. There was something slightly creepy about entering a foreign country without even talking to a border official, but I shrugged it off.

Last to emerge was Alan Garcia, the President of Perú himself.

I received a call from Roberto Carcelen. Roberto is a cross-country skier who became Perú’s first winter Olympian after representing the country at Vancouver and then again at Sochi.

The trick to crossing an Indiana Jones-style suspension bridge is to never look down. Of course, this is impossible, because you must ensure that your feet connect with planks not rotten to the core.

Philosophical Excerpts :
I was suddenly glad for the increased ability to dampen out sensory intrusions. You don’t read words you can’t understand, or eavesdrop on conversations you can’t comprehend.

Therein lay the rub. “They hate it,” I said. “Everybody hates it. When I meet American tourists on the street here, taking ‘appropriate’ two-week vacations, they flash me disapproving stares as they pass by… “Maybe their scorn is only in my imagination,” I admitted. “But in the US these days, or at least where I lived, there are those who will label you as ‘unpatriotic’ for even aspiring to learn a foreign language.”

Living in Perú took the pressure off me financially, and created the freedom to think about things other than how I was going to cover monthly expenses. I felt I had stumbled into a closeout sale on time, and I wanted to purchase as much as I could. But Perú had a dark side too: it was important to keep on your toes.

The funny thing about learning foreign languages is that whenever you make an error in word choice or pronunciation you invariably say something totally inappropriate and probably sexual in nature.

The fact is, altitude can really mess with you, and you must consciously remember not to overexert yourself. Even a slow walking pace is enough to jack your heart rate up to near its maximum capacity. However, you don’t feel as if you are going too hard, which is why you can get yourself into trouble.
The only way to get a true experience is to be your own guide.

It’s liberating to come home and know there won’t be a stack of bills waiting for you. This freedom came with certain inconveniences, but overall the trade worked for me. I liked that I needed to go for a twenty minute walk if I wanted to use the internet; it meant I wouldn’t go online unless I had a true task pending that needed to be taken care of.

I could see how a bilingual readership would make it more challenging for any single entity to control a narrative.

Personally, I’d rather strive for error-riddled greatness than be limited to perfect mediocrity.

On that pinnacle, I realized that, when discussing decision-making, people tend to leave out significant points, the most important being this: Every choice has a consequence; some are good; some are bad; some are positive, but yet represent missed opportunities.





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The Birthgrave – An Adult ‘Coming of Age’ Novel – Dark, Haunting Adventure

The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee
S.E. Lindberg rating: 4 of 5 stars

Haunting Release: The Birthgrave is a coming of age novel of (and by) a female goddess. Tanith Lee’s debut novel is adult oriented, dark fantasy. This one is epic, dosed with poetic horror and battle, and features lots of risky writing (entertaining). The 2015 reprint comes with a haunting introduction written in January, just months before her May death coinciding with the paperback release in the US.

The female narrator quests to free her body/soul from a curse; although suffering from amnesia as she awakens from an active volcano, she learns that she is a goddess among humans… and she knows her ancestors are all mysteriously gone. She is alone, powerful, and yet ignorant and weak. There is plenty of rough sexual encounters, not gratuitous but written more dispassionately than romantically – and seems to toy with the stereotypes of the genre. Marion Zimmer Bradley’s introduction is short yet insightful and touches on this interplay:

Most women in science fiction write from a man’s viewpoint. In most human societies, adventures have been structured for men. Women who wish to write of adventure have had to accept, willy-nilly, this limitation. There seems an unspoken assumption in science fiction that science fiction is usually read by men, or, if it is read by women, it is read by those women who are bored with feminine concerns and wish to escape into the world of fantasy where they can change their internal viewpoint and gender and share the adventurous world of men…

…Here is a woman writer whose protagonist is a woman—yet from the very first she takes her destiny in her own hands, neither slave nor chattel. Her adventures are her own. She is not dragged into them by the men in her life, nor served up to the victor as a sexual reward after the battle. For the first time since C. L. Moore’s warrior-woman, Jirel of Joiry, we see the woman-adventurer in her own right. But this book is not an enormous allegory of women’s liberation, nor an elaborate piece of special pleading. It’s just a big delightful feast of excitement and adventure—Introduction by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Expect Ambitious, Risky Writing that Works Most of the Time: This is a first-person-perspective for 450pages! The content is full of adult psychology and complex mystery, written by a 22yr old! And it is her debut novel! How is that for pioneering? Most of the time, the risk taking pays off. The perspective works as it should, and it was easy to forget (even 400 pages in) that I still did not know “her” proper name---but by then I knew “her” so well a name was not needed. She unfolds a mystery with perfect pacing with periodic ghostly encounters and déjà vu moments. There is plenty of commentary about gender roles across barbaric and civilized cultures, though it steered away from being political commentary thankfully. Tanith Lee’s gift for poetic language is stunning. The book is saturated with efficient characterizations, like the two below:

If I broke into a run to escape them, would they too run to keep up? My eyes grew strange, and everywhere I looked, I seemed to see the glitter of the Knife of Easy Dying. Die, and let them follow me to death if they would. But I was still too new to life to let it go.

…Darak had called them to some council then, on the low hill beyond the houses. Yes, that would be it. A little king on a little throne, lording it because his subjects were smaller than even his smallness.

Avoiding spoilers, I must still note that there is a sudden encounter very late in the novel that seems to shift the genre out of its dark-fantasy-epic mold. Given the 1975 wording and delivery, it would be easy to over emphasize this section. Diehard genre readers feeling sucker-punched may have to sigh or trust my review that ultimately the milieu is consistent. In short order, the story rights its trajectory in a consistent manner.

I really enjoyed reading this experiential novel and am saddened to learn of Tanith Lee’s death. Thankfully, she was a prolific writer and wrote a large library of weird, dark fantasy… which I look forward to delving into. The Birthgrave begins a trilogy; the sequel is Vazkor, Son of Vazkor, and the finale is Quest for the White Witch. The releases come with new covers from artist Bastien Lecouffe Deharme.


Shadowfire book #2 coming

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New Releases and We Are All Legends - Sept-Oct 2015 Groupreads

All Swordsmen (women) and Sorcerers (Sorceresses), please join the Goodreads.com Sword & Sorcery group read in September and October as we tackle: 

1) New Releases (for this genre, anything published after 2000 suffices) 

2) We Are All Legends  

New Release DISCUSSION link  /    We Are All Legends DISCUSSION link

Banner Credits (left to right):
We Are All Legends by Darrell Schweitzer, interior art by Stephen Fabian 1981
Seven Princes by John R. Fultz, cover art by Richard Anderson 2011
King of The Bastards by Brian Keene and Steven Shrewsbury, coverart by 2015 Daniel Kamarudin
Stealer of Flesh by William King, cover art by unknown (2013)

    

Lord Lysis is fighting in GdM's Battle-Off; please support grimdark heroes!

Image modified with permission from Raymond Swanland for GdM.

"Lysis carved into their ranks with Ferrus Eviscamir, its blade slicing only their bones, invisible to metal and flesh and incapable of being parried or blocked...." 

Grimdark Magazine's Battle-Off competition has begun (Aug 2015), and excerpts are rolling in. Please support your fellow Grimdark authors!  Short (<1000 word) entries of epic grim fantasy await your feedback and voting! Please support me and other grimdark authors. The list of entries is just being populated now on Grimdark Magazine's website.

Lords of Dyscrasia's excerpt is battling...

Please support Lord Lysis! (Read & Vote)

Praise for Lords of Dyscrasia:

Black Gate Review of Lords of Dyscrasia - "Lindberg is the real deal, a gifted writer with a strong command of language, and a soaring talent that stretches beyond the verbal: he illustrates his novel with his own wild and weird and excellent drawings. If you like action-packed dark fantasy with bizarre settings, an original premise and clever twist, then add this one to your Must Read List." - Joe Bonadonna, Black Gate contributor and Author, 2015 

ForeWord Clarion Reviews, 5 Stars for Lords of Dyscrasia! "...Outside of the works of Poe and Lovecraft, there are few, if any, novels comparable to [Lords of Dyscrasia]... Beowulf comes to mind both for its epic quality and bloody action... The pace is nearly breathless... Lindberg, who also created more than 50 illustrations and the cover for this book, makes the majority of current popular fantasy fiction read like recipes by comparison. Lords of Dyscrasia is highly recommended, though not for the faint of heart." J. G. Stinson, 2011

Chip Shop Horrors – a dose of entertaining, murderous gluttony

Chip Shop Horrors by Ian Whates
S.E rating: 4 of 5 stars

Chip Shop Horrors – a dose of entertaining, murderous gluttony. Like carry-out food, Chip Shop is quick, tasty, and unhealthy (antagonists and protagonists would agree if they remained in condition to provide feedback). The food fare matches the menu; you are promised horror related to eating and the food industry, and you’ll get it ready-to-go, rolled up in bloody wax paper.

For the US readers, let’s define a Chip Shop (aka Chippy): that’s UK lingo for a carry-out dinner (food truck perhaps) that sells fried fish, potatoes, and other foods. Jan Steward’s Foreword’s is bite-size and worth excerpting here to convey the scope:

“We have a strange relationship with food. There are carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, vegans, fruitarians and people who don’t eat carbs, not to mention those who only eat raw food or avoid dairy, sugar or fat completely. Of course, there are those who can’t afford to eat, can’t find food even if they could afford it or are forced to go without so others can survive. Did I just compare first world life style choices with starvation and the results of famine in other parts of the world? Maybe–but then I did say we have a strange relationship with food.

In many countries now we pay other people to do our cooking for us, with the emphasis on speed and variety, ease and value for money. Except behind that façade there are whole industries of unease, of turkeys kicked like footballs, of people working hand to mouth, of distaste and disgust. Occasionally that discomfort rises to the surface, the drive for profit and effortless combining to produce horrors we work hard to turn our eyes from. In this anthology we explore some of that unease, whether it’s food coming from other worlds or even galaxies, servings of people, sauces to die for or customers who we’d probably not want to think to hard about, these stories will uncover your disgust and your discomfort. But beware, some of these characters are artists, others are demented, yet all are at the heart of what we call fast food.

I hope you never look at a chip shop the same way again." (Jan Steward 2015)

Chip Shop Horrors - Menu
1. Whatsa Mata? by Ian Whates
2. Oi, Oi! Saveloy! by Matthew Sylvester
3. Maria Laxara by Chris Amies
4. The best tasting fish and chips in the county by Greg Smith
5. Discomfort food by Phil Sloman
6. Family secrets by E J Davies
7. Dinner and discontent by Paul Gleed
8. Shut In by David Thomas Moore
9. Salt insult by Shane Porteous
10. Fit for work by Stewart Hotston

The first three have sci-fi/otherworldy elements, with a tribute to the infamous “George Forman grill”, hungry aliens, and otherworldy Maria Laxara (phantom island). Three of the remaining seven plumb the lure of eating the homeless or abject; expect lots of meat pies served from street vendors, with queues (lines) of the hungry, poor, or evil salivating over secret recipes. The food industry has plenty of down-and-out employees and employers, and this collection explores all angles. Porteous kindly breaks the dreary trend with a humorous conflict, and the last adventure is criminal. My favorites were Solman’s Discomfort food and Thomas Moore’s Shut In, since they featured insane characters with splendid, weird styles: these both brought their food to life, so hamburgers and pizza took on character-status in their own right.

Chip Shop Horror is a solid collection recommended for horror fans…or those suspicious of fast-food


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Be Still My Beating Heart! I've Gone "Madder"

Be Still My Beating Heart! I've Gone "Madder"

washed madder roots from Seabury Court, Ohio

No, that's not a heart! It's just a bunch of red roots. This follows a slow churning quest to make my own natural paints (starting ~2011, see other links below),  In 2012, Heidi and I planted some madder, which required 3+ years to grow. 

Out patches' roots have grown quite thick, and the thicker the more red you can make them.  Our alkaline soil helps the color too.  In any event, it's 2015 already, so it was time to harvest some roots.  Doing so kills a portion of an invasive patch, so that's good for maintenance anyway.

What's next? 

Most folks use madder roots to dye fabric....and my mom may convince me to dye some of her alpaca wool, and Heidi will push me to dye some scarf.... but I planned to make red pigments.  To make pigments, I'll use a similar approach to dying: i.e. use the mordant called alum (Potassium Sulfate) as a base ... i.e. I'll dye the powder usually used to bind the dye to fabric (to make a lacca, or lake-pigment, which differs from pigments that have dispersed particles with their own natural color); alternatively, I can mince the roots into a fine powder, then disperse that into a liquid carrier.  

Luckily madder roots is not toxic (some dyes are) and can be dried for later use. There are plenty of fine resource/recipes available, as per my 2011 posts (though I have since become a fan of Jenny Dean too).     

• Sunflower Pollen as Paint Pigment 2013
• Bloody Sorrel and Flowering Woad 2012
• Making Natural Dyes 2011 (discusses dyes vs. pigments)
• Making and Mixing Paints - Medieval vs Digital Technology 2011 (medieval recipes)