Wednesday, January 31, 2024

“The Magical Power of Art” - Foreword and Interview for The Revelations of Zang

Black Gate simulcast Link: THE REVELATIONS OF ZANG BY JOHN R. FULTZ RELEASED BY ROGUES IN THE HOUSE: READ THE FOREWORD AND INTERVIEW (Jan 2024)

The Revelations of Zang by John R. Fultz. The Rogues in the House Podcast (2023). John Molinero cover art.

 

The Rogues in the House Podcast, publishers of the Sword & Sorcery anthologies A Book of Blades Vol I and Vol II, now bring us a re-release of John R. Fultz's The Revelations of Zang (available now in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover). John R. Fultz is no stranger to Black Gate having published in the hardcopy magazine and hosting his Skulls graphic story and two of his short stories on the website. We recently highlighted a 2017 interview with the author on his approach to creating weird worlds that are both beautiful and dark (reposted on Black Gate Dec. 2023). I was honored to provide the Foreword and Interview for the re-release, and provided those here to reveal what you should expect, and why you should read, The Revelations of Zang!

John R. Fultz has a burgeoning library. His published novels include Seven Princes (2012), Seven Kings (2013), and Seven Sorcerers (2013), as well as The Testament of Tall Eagle (2015) and Son of Tall Eagle (2017). His short stories have appeared in Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Weird Tales, Black Gate, Weirdbook, That Is Not Dead, Shattered Shields, Lightspeed, Way of the Wizard, Cthulhu’s Reign, and plenty of other strange places. His story collections include World Beyond Worlds (2021), Darker Than Weird (2023), and The Revelations of Zang (re-released now, 2023)!  Now, we will reveal to you the secret arcana of that last volume...

“The Magical Power of Art” - Foreword and Interview for The Revelations of Zang

The uninitiated may ask: who the hell is Zang? What is s/he going to reveal to me? Well, Zang is not human. It is the larger portion of the ‘Continent,’ a forest mostly; but the land is so rich in character, it might as well be sentient. This foreword reveals what to expect in The Revelations of Zang collection, avoiding spoilers, and it showcases the behind-the-scenes context of the stories and the author’s rich history with creating illustrated and fantastical worlds.

If Karl Edward Wagner rewrote The Worm Ourborus (E.R. Edison, 1922) for fans of The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson, Frank Oz, 1982) you’d get the Zang Cycle experience. It is tough to blend action-packed adventure with weird milieus, with doses of royal intrigue and epic, elder lore. Wagner delivered this well with his Kane character; i.e., in Darkness Weaves (1978), and “Lynortis Reprise (1961). Fultz excels at this too. The Revelations of Zang is an epic fantasy delivered in pulpy bites. All episodes share a single, coherent story-arc; each successive tale unearths a layer of Zang’s history with a single primary protagonist who performs as a lone-wolf or general in a world war. Each sortie radiates heroic-fiction vibes. Indeed, seven of the twelve were written as standalone stories and published in esteemed journals such as Weird Tales and Black Gate print magazines. Each episode delivers a wondrous ‘wow’, so expect twelve climaxes, not one (as one would with a novel).

This collection follows this tradition with seven of its twelve tales published in magazines. Conversely, there are five tales that are only available in the collection and the sequence is greater than the sum of its parts. The pages are saturated with sorcery and fantastical elements, but do not expect classic tropes likes orcs and elves. The creatures here are freshly crafted, often from corpses or alchemical elements. Lending awe to the world’s gods and monsters is Fultz’s style, which portrays them with accessible, poetic flare–descriptions reminiscent of Tanith Lee or Clark Ashton Smith. The pacing is rapid, akin to Michael Moorcock’s Elric tales, who had a knack for creating novels out of his short stories with his Eternal Champion cycles; Sword & Sorcery readers will sense echoes of the Melnibonéans’ adventures as Quill and Taizo, the two main protagonists, journey across the Continent. Incidentally, there are some powerful, ancient jewels herein that reminded me of Elric’s “Jade Man’s Eyes” (1973) journey, or even Kane’s titular Bloodstone adventurehence the call out to The Dark Crystal above. You’ll learn more about the mystery of sacred, divine gems soon enough.

In The Revelations of Zang, Artifice the Quill (writer of the End of Sorcery) and Taizo (a thief of weird renown) are your tour guides, both depicted by cover artist Josh Finney for the first publication of this collection (2013, Fantastic Books). For this 2023 edition from Rogues in the House Podcast, cover artist John Molinero focuses on Quill and beautifully amplifies the demonic conflict the book delivers on. Meta-themes on how art (theater and books) can affect the outcome of warring civilizations are spotlighted–but don’t expect any less bloodshed and horror that one would get while reading Robert E. Howard. As Don Webb notes in his hilarious foreword to Fultz’s Darker Than Weird - Fourteen Tales of Horror (2022) where he terms the Fultzian approach as being a one-two punch combination: “Come for the horror, leave with deeper questions about history and metaphysics”, expect the same from Fultz’s Zang Cycle.

The back cover blurb hints at the deep undercurrents: “The exiled author [Quill]… learns the magical power of art and the art of magical power.” In the opening chapter, the royal sorcerers arrest Artifice the Quill because of his book The End of Sorcery by sending out their Vizarchs (humanoids with silver masks reminiscent of Fultz’s Skulls graphic novel 2010 Black Gate website). Then characters in “The Liberation of Lady Veronique” story explain the power of the written word; first, Veronique explains: “What is the power of a mere fiction that it can inspire such hatred among the powerful and such passion among the powerless”; and Arfos adds later, “The book [The End of Sorcery]… is a tool… to free mens’ minds. To wake them from the false dream woven about their hearts and minds.” Literally, both speak of Quill’s banned tome, but figuratively the fourth wall is breached: by reading The Revelation of Zang we are promised access to arcane secrets.

Well, it would be evil to disclose actual spoilers ahead of the stories, but we can gain a larger appreciation of the muses motivating the tales, and perhaps enjoy the stories even more, knowing context. As I prepared for this Foreword, I took notes with journalistic fervor, reading this collection, and delving into my 2017 interview-with-Fultz and my review of his World Beyond Worlds. Instead of reporting those notes directly, I used that material to craft intense questions and re-interview the author. We’ll have the embodiment of Artifice the Quill, Fultz himself, disclose over a dozen secrets:

 

 Kent Burles' illustration for Black Gate's presentation of "Return of the Quill" depicts a performance of Artifice the Quill's Glimmer Faire, an event that prepares the City of Narr for a mystical rebirth.


SEL: Let’s discuss the origins of the Zang Cycle. The story “The Persecution of Artifice the Quill” (Weird Tales #340, 2006) opens the Zang Cycle. In our 2017 interview (link), when asked about your ‘Weird Fiction role models’, we learned this story catalyzed your publishing journey. Witnessing the Zang Cycle, and your portfolio, grow is exhilarating. Please share insights about this catalyst.

JRF: “The Persecution of Artifice the Quill,” which begins this book, was my first professional sale. Not only did the story appear in Weird Tales #340, but I’m pretty sure it got the cover illustration. A dark and menacing piece by the great Les Edwards, which seems to capture the look of the undead Vizarchs chasing after Artifice in his debut story. So, it’s a milestone story for me. I had been trying for many years to sell a story to Weird Tales, so mission accomplished. They bought two more Zang stories before the mag’s management changed, and the next two were not published there after all. Luckily, I moved the Zang series to John O’Neil’s Black Gate, where he published several more stories. About half the stories in The Revelations of Zang were never published outside of its pages—they were new to the volume when it was first released ten years ago. That includes the climactic novella, “Spilling the Blood of the World,” which winds up thematic threads sewn into the first ten stories. I’m forever grateful that I got to be a part of Weird Tales magazine, even if it was only a single story. It opened a gateway to the rest of my career as a writer.

SEL: Is ‘Zang proper’ just the forest, or the whole Continent? I initially interpreted it as the latter, but I wanted to be sure.

JRF: Zang is one half of a mega-continent, and this half is largely dominated by the ancient Zang Forest (hence the name). The other half, Zin, lies beyond the north/south running mountain range known as the Spine. There may be one or more sleeping gods lying beneath those mountains…but no spoilers. Heh-heh. Most of the stories in The Revelations of Zang take place in the Zang area of “The Continent”—but when Artifice travels abroad with the Glimmer Faire, they do a nice tour of the Zin regions. Only one story in Revelations takes place in Zin, and that is “The Bountiful Essence of the Empty Hand.” RoZ focuses mainly on what’s happening in Zang, including the mystical advance and expansion of the Zang Forest. [However, there is one more story set in Zin, “Where the White Lotus Grows,” and it appears in the Worlds Beyond Worlds collection.]

SEL: To follow that, is “Yael of the Strings” (2014, Shattered Shields; 2021, Worlds Beyond Worlds) a Zang Cycle tale?

JRF: Well, it is a tale set in the World of Zang. So is “The Penitence of the Blade” in that same collection. Neither of these Zang tales is related to The Revelations of Zang story-cycle, they simply share the same world or universe. And you could also consider “Where the White Lotus Grows” to be a Zang tale, although it’s set on the other side of the Continent in Zin (as I mentioned above).

SEL:  Sticking with digging into origins, let’s hit on the bonus tale: “The Vintages of Dream” (first published in Black Gate #15, 2011). This twelfth story is the only one not explicitly in chronological order or even part of the canonical Zang Cycle; it is a fun piece that reveals how elements of Zang (i.e., carnivorous flowers, thievery of magical potions, etc.) developed. It is dedicated to Brian McNaughton (Throne of Bones, Word Fantasy Award-winning book, 1997) whom you must have corresponded with. Can you explain your interaction with him?

JRF: I’m sure I’ve told this story before, but let me just say that Brian was a huge fan of this story. After reading his World Fantasy Award-winning collection The Throne of Bones, I became an instant super-fan. At some point I tried to get “Vintages” published but nobody wanted it. I ended up sending it to Brian, and he even called one mag’s publisher and asked them to buy my story. It didn’t work, but I was astounded that he spoke up on my behalf. Brian said my writing reminded him of Robert E. Howard, which was a huge compliment for a young writer just getting started. When you’re first starting out, you run on pure enthusiasm, and a kind word from an established writer can really keep you going. Such was the case with Brian’s championing of “Vintages.” It would be many years later when the story finally saw the light of day in Black Gate. I really wish Brian had lived a few decades longer so he could give us more stories of his wonderfully weird world Seelura. He was a true modern master of the weird tale.

SEL: McNaughton’s Throne of Bones sequence is ostensibly ghoul-focused but has omnipresent themes regarding being-an-abject-person and misunderstood-artist (perhaps offering more depressing versions of your Quill who instead leans toward being an action hero). As an artist yourself, creating protagonists who are also artists, please discuss how you see artists as heroes?

JRF: Great question. Artists ARE heroes. Like heroes, they have fans. Like heroes, they perform feats of wonder, courage, and bravery. My heroes have always been Artists. (Sorry, Cowboys!) With the Zang stories, I wanted to explore the link between Art and Sorcery. I believe that writing IS magic—I teach writing, and I tell my students the same thing—I believe that all art forms have the capability of altering reality in significant ways that we mostly take for granted. Whether it’s a great novel sweeping you away to another world, a film that transports you somewhere you’ve never been, or simply a painting you could stare at all day, Art is a form of magic. It’s no coincidence that when you write, you have to “spell” each word out. It’s no coincidence that wizards “sing” their spells because music is a power all on its own. Writing itself may be the Original Magic, so wizards draw runes and sigils to concentrate their power. In the Zang stories, Artifice transitions from an ivory-tower “scribe” to a wandering playwright whose sorcery manifests in the transformational performances of the Glimmer Faire. I believe in the power of Art to rewrite reality—to make it better—to transcend the mundane, the organic, and the commonplace. To instill wonder, evoke awe, and elevate human existence. Stop me before I get too deep… Heh-heh. I also have to mention that the other “main” protagonist in Revelations is Taizo of Narr, who is not an artist but a smuggler and a thief. At least that’s how he starts…but again, no spoilers.

SEL: McNaughton intentionally avoided making a map for his Seelura milieu; there was no map for the Zang Cycle/Continent in its first two printings, but there was for your Books of the Shaper trilogy. Given your artistic skills and creativity, you are likely to have had one. Did you have a map of the Continent? If so, do you have thoughts on sharing maps for fantasy worlds?

JRF: Nice of you to point that out! I hadn’t realized it, but I guess I did the same thing that Brian did with Seelura: no map. I have this “mental map” of the World of Zang in my head, but I’ve never drawn it out on paper. With the Books of the Shaper trilogy, the publisher (Orbit) asked me if I wanted to do a map for the novels, so I did a rough and they hired a professional artist to do the final version. It looked great. But I don’t think a map is actually needed for Zang. As Brian said of Seelura, the lack of a map keeps the invented world more mysterious. It’s more like wandering through a dark and shimmering dream without any guideposts or direction. I dig that.

"Oblivion Is the Sweetest Wine" introduced the Zang series secondary lead, a clever thief named Taizo. Black Gate magazine commissioned two great interior pieces by Mark Evans to accompany the story. (left) Syyra, Taizo's erstwhile love interest. (right) The catacombs beneath the spider-worshipping city of Ghoth.

SEL: I’m curious about inspirations for the story  “When the Glimmer Faire Came to the City of the Lonely Eye” (BlackGate.com 2013, available online) that involves Quill adventuring with a troupe of powerful, weird actors led by the stage master & sorcerer Mordeau; they venture into a haunted city with lofty goals and the reaction from the crowd/world is beyond epic. Loved this story. The last time I remember a troupe in adventure fiction would be the Grillards featured in James Silke’s Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer novels (Old Brown John being the stage master); note, the Glimmer Faire is magnitudes more powerful and exciting than the Grillards. Anyway, can you discuss your motivations/muses for creating a theatrical group of heroes?

JRF: As mentioned previously, I wanted to explore the link between Art and Sorcery. So, when Artifice learns to be a playwright (and simultaneously, a sorcerer), it allowed me to explore how the magical power of Drama can literally change the world. I’ve always been a big fan of Shakespeare, and I’d have to say one of the influences for The Glimmer Faire was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The parallels are obvious, what with the Woodfolk musicians being part of the troupe. I wish I could remember more about what inspired the Lonely Eye concept, but I think the title came first, then the plot. I can’t recall anything beyond that, except that I wanted this story to really show how the Faire’s performance could work miracles and wonders—how their High Art transforms an entire community. But in my ongoing quest to avoid spoilers, I will say no more. Except this: Right around the same time I came up with the Glimmer Faire concept (2003), I saw an excellent historical-drama film called The Reckoning that sort of confirmed and inspired my approach. It stars Willem Dafoe and Paul Bettany as members of a medieval troupe of traveling actors. Fascinating movie. highly recommend it.

SEL: In your World Beyond Worlds collection, you have a story dedicated to Kung Fu actor David Carridine, “Where the White Lotus Grows” (Monk Punk, 2011), that harmonizes demon-killing with the ambiance of TV series. In the Zang Cycle, “The Bountiful Essence of the Empty Hand” features a culture seemingly inspired by Kung Fu too. Any connection there? Do you have martial art muses?

JRF: Absolutely. I grew up watching Kung Fu in the 70s. Revisited it in the 90s, and eventually collected all three seasons on DVD in the 2000s. Immensely inspiring show, and it introduced my young mind to Eastern philosophy. It’s still one of my all-time favorite TV shows. I do sometimes wonder how different it would have been if Bruce Lee (who co-created the show) had been allowed to play the main role. That went to Carradine instead, but he knocked it out of the park and became one of the biggest TV stars in the world during the 70s. The tragedy is that David walked away from the show after season three, when its popularity was white-hot, and he would never find that kind of widespread audience again. At least not until 2004, when Quentin Tarantino cast him as “Bill” in KILL BILL. But I also love old-school Shaw Brothers Kung Fu films, and many other directors in the genre. The Five Deadly Venoms has always been a favorite, and a few years back I discovered the seminal genius of Come Drink With Me. I could go on and on about martial arts cinema, but I prefer the movies that are set deep in the past. They could very well be fantasy films set in alternate worlds, and they inspire me in that way. In “Bountiful Essence” I got to explore the Zin side of The Continent, and I wanted to explore a culture somewhat akin to the Shaolin monks of ancient China, but not be limited to historical accuracy or concepts. So, the residents of the Invisible City in “Bountiful Essence” are visited by the Glimmer Faire in its tour of the eastern realms. Later, I wanted to explore the fate of Kantoh, one of the monks introduced in “Bountiful Essence,” so I returned to Zin and wrote “Where the White Lotus Grows.” It only seemed right to dedicate the story to David Carradine, since he inspired me at such an early age with his portrayal of Kwai Chang Caine. I love the martial arts films of Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, and Yang Lu. I also find the show Warrior to be fantastically good and totally inspiring. It’s almost like an answer to my above question since it’s produced by Bruce Lee’s daughter and based on his writings. I can confidently say it’s the best martial arts show since the original Kung Fu, and it’s set in the same time period. Great stuff.

SEL: There seem to be crossovers or tie-ins, such as the Ghothian spiders (that have a dominant focus in “Oblivion Is the Sweetest Wine (Black Gate #12, 2008), but also appear in World Beyond Worlds - ‘Yael of the Strings” (originally published in Shattered Shields (2014)). Less explicitly, the nine Sorcerer Kings and Divine Council of the Zang Cycle seems to resonate with the Seven Sorcerer Kings from the Books of the Shaper trilogy. Does the Zang Cycle spill over to other Fultz Universes?

JRF: No, no—very different concepts, and very different stories. The kings in the novel Seven Kings are not all sorcerers. In fact, only a couple of them are sorcerers if I recall correctly; they are the kings of various nations allied and/or divided by a coming war. That book is a completely different universe, totally unrelated to Zang in any way—except that I wrote both of them. In The Revelations of Zang, there are nine Sorcerer Kings who rule a single city (Narr the Golden) and its surrounding empire. They are “the enemy” of our protagonists because long ago they cast down the Gods of Zang and all their temples, replacing the worship of gods with the worship of themselves. They even refer to themselves as the Divine Council. So, a part of the journey in RoZ is the idea that you can’t really kill the gods, so what if they decide to come back? That’s the kind of thing we call an apocalypse…

SEL: Your Moroquin creatures remind me of fleshy versions of the Garthim (Jim Henson and Frank Oz’s 1982 Dark Crystal movie) which are giant clawed, exoskeletal elite guards/warriors serving the antagonists. Did the Garthim inspire the Moroquin?

JRF: No, but I do enjoy the original Dark Crystal film. At the time there was nothing else like it. I just wanted the Moroquin to be absolutely disgusting brutes—the tools of blind fascism and decadent sorcery. Grotesque and demonic.

SEL: You are an accomplished illustrator. Early in your storytelling career you wrote Primordia for Archaia Studios Press and wrote/illustrated the graphic novel Necromancy/SKULLS, available on Black Gate.com (table of contents here: link). Have you ever drawn Moroquin, Vizarchs, or anything else for the Zang Cycle? Please discuss how drawing informs your writing now. If you have illustrations, can we share?

JRF: Well, thanks for the kind words, but actually I’m an amateur illustrator. I don’t have the skill to do professional illustration, but I’ve always loved to draw. So, I indulge that fancy sometimes. In the case of Primordia, I got the great Roel Wielinga to draw it and he did an amazing job. In the case of Skulls, that was back when I was trying to break into the comics industry and got tired of artists bailing out on pitches and projects. So, I started drawing and inking myself. I learned a lot from doing that, and I think my inking worked better than my pencils. Later, I re-envisioned that story as a web comic and repurposed it to run at Black Gate. I don’t really draw comics anymore. I’d love to write them, however, if the opportunity arises.

SEL: Any other behind-the-scenes context you’d like to share about the Zang Cycle?

JRF: Just that I’m so grateful that the Rogues in the House Podcast crew have decided to publish this second edition of Revelations of Zang. It’s been out of print for several years, so it will be great to make it available again for new readers. The Rogues also found a terrific artist, John Molinero, to paint a brand-new cover for the new edition. It rocks!

SEL: We hope that this collection can be an entry into published Fultz works, or perhaps future ones. On social media, there was a tease about two new novels called the Scaleborn series. Can you discuss future Fultz endeavors?

JRF: All I can say at this point is that the Scaleborn series is looking for a home, and I’ve got the first two books already completed. I’m hoping it will find a publisher before too much longer.


#Weird Beauty Interviews on Black Gate

  1. Darrel Schweitzer THE BEAUTY IN HORROR AND SADNESS: AN INTERVIEW WITH DARRELL SCHWEITZER 2018
  2. Sebastian Jones THE BEAUTY IN LIFE AND DEATH: AN INTERVIEW WITH SEBASTIAN JONES 2018
  3. Charles Gramlich THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE REPELLENT: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES A. GRAMLICH  2019
  4. Anna Smith Spark DISGUST AND DESIRE: AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNA SMITH SPARK  2019
  5. Carol Berg ACCESSIBLE DARK FANTASY: AN INTERVIEW WITH CAROL BERG 2019
  6. Byron Leavitt GOD, DARKNESS, & WONDER: AN INTERVIEW WITH BYRON LEAVITT 2021
  7. Philip Emery THE AESTHETICS OF SWORD & SORCERY: AN INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP EMERY  2021
  8. C. Dean Andersson DEAN ANDERSSON TRIBUTE INTERVIEW AND TOUR GUIDE OF HEL: BLOODSONG AND FREEDOM! (2021 repost of 2014)
  9. Jason Ray Carney SUBLIME, CRUEL BEAUTY: AN INTERVIEW WITH JASON RAY CARNEY (2021)
  10. Stephen Leigh IMMORTAL MUSE BY STEPHEN LEIGH: REVIEW, INTERVIEW, AND PRELUDE TO A SECRET CHAPTER (2021)
  11. John C. Hocking BEAUTIFUL PLAGUES: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN C. HOCKING  (2022)
  12. Matt Stern BEAUTIFUL AND REPULSIVE BUTTERFLIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH M. STERN (2022)
  13. Joe Bonadonna MAKING WEIRD FICTION FUN: GRILLING DORGO THE DOWSER! (2022)
  14. C.S. Friedman.  BEAUTY AND NIGHTMARES ON ALIENS WORLDS: INTERVIEWING C. S. FRIEDMAN (2023)
  15. John R Fultz  BEAUTIFUL DARK WORLDS: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN R. FULTZ (2023 report of 2017 interview)
  16. John R Fultz “The Magical Power of Art” – Foreword and Interview for The Revelations of Zang (2024 Interview)
  17. interviews prior 2018 (i.e., with Janet E. Morris, Richard Lee Byers, Aliya Whitely …and many more) are on S.E. Lindberg’s website

S.E. Lindberg is a Managing Editor at Black Gate, regularly reviewing books and interviewing authors on the topic of “Beauty & Art in Weird-Fantasy Fiction.” He is also the lead moderator of the Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group and an intern for Tales from the Magician’s Skull magazine. As for crafting stories, he has contributed six entries across Perseid Press’s Heroes in Hell and Heroika series, has an entry in Weirdbook Annual #3: Zombies  He independently publishes novels under the banner Dyscrasia Fiction; short stories of Dyscrasia Fiction have appeared in WhetstoneSwords & Sorcery online magazine, Rogues In the House Podcast’s A Book of Blades Vol I and Vol II, DMR’s Terra Incognita, and the 9th issue of Tales From the Magician’s Skull. For several years he has played leading organizational roles for the Gen Con Writers’ Symposium.

 

Saturday, December 9, 2023

NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY MAGAZINE FIRST TWO ISSUES RELEASED

 Posted originally on Black Gate Dec 6, 2023




New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine, Vol. I Issues #1 and #2. Cover art by Caterina Gerbasi (Fall 2023); and Gilead (Winter 2023)

October 2022, Michael Harrington hosted an interview with Oliver Brackenbury on Black Gate; Brackenbury is the editor and champion of New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine. That post coincided with the release of the teaser Issue #0 including short fiction & non-fiction (free in digital format, or priced at cost on Amazon Print-on-Demand, through the New Edge Website). In Feb. 2023 Black Gate announced the magazine’s Kickstarter which succeeded and spurred the creation of the illustrated Issues 1 & 2 that are being released now (Nov 2023).  This post shares the official press release of these issues and adds the Table of Contents for both.  New Edge is setting a strong foundation with these, with illustrations and heavy-hitting authors.

NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY ISSUES 1&2 IMPENDING RELEASE!

New Edge Sword & Sorcery will be releasing issues #1& #2 in mid-November for direct sale through their website. Until then, the new issues are available for pre-order through Backerkit. Those who pre-order issues #1 & #2 will be paying slightly less than final retail prices, all the more reason to run over to the NESS pre-order shop now!

Issue one features an original Elric tale by Michael Moorcock! He joins twenty-three other authors across both issues, such as Canadian horror master Gemma Files, Margaret Killjoy, S&S veteran David C. Smith, Hugo Award-winner Cora Buhlert, Milton Davis, and more. There’s also a tale by Jesús Montalvo, an author from the burgeoning S&S scene south of the US border, translated from its original Spanish by Gonzalo Baeza.

Twenty artists are spread across the two issues, including Morgan King, who directed Lucy Lawless in his 2021 rotoscope-animated Sword & Sorcery film The Spine of Night.

Each issue features seven or eight original stories and four works of non-fiction: one book review, one essay, one in-depth interview, and one historical literary profile of figures like Charles Saunders or Cele Goldsmith. All stories, essays, and profiles are to be paired with two original B&W illustrations.

“Made with love for the classics and an inclusive, boundary-pushing approach to storytelling”, these Sword & Sorcery tales take place in settings inspired by Asian, African, and Central American, as well as European, cultures; featuring prominent disability, neuro-divergent, and LGBTQ+ representation; all while delivering high-quality writing in a wide variety of styles. Sword & Sorcery can be many things and still be Sword & Sorcery.

New Edge Sword & Sorcery #1 & #2 are available in digital, perfect bound softcover, and sewn-stitched hardcover formats which lay flat for ease of reading. Interiors are printed on eighty firm, 100gsm cream paper pages sized at a spacious 8½x11 inches. The hardcovers are also enhanced with bookmark ribbons in colors taken from the gorgeously painted cover art.

Brackenbury has plans for publishing further issues, as well as expanding into book publishing with a line of themed anthologies & novella series. News of future crowdfunding campaigns and more can be found via the New Edge Sword & Sorcery newsletterFacebookInstagramBluesky, and Twitter accounts. To help cut post-crowdfund turnaround in half, the NESS editorial team are already editing stories for next year’s issues.



Example illustrations for New Edge Magazine Vol I, Issue #1

VOLUME I, NUMBER 1 – MMXXIII

Cover art by Caterina Gerbasi

FICTION

CARNIVORA by Kirk A. Johnson, Illustrated by Daniel Vega

COME LAY THE CRONE TO REST by Margaret Killjoy, Illustrated by Gary McCluskey 

SISTER CHAOS – Bryn Hammond, Illustrated by Dan Rempel

CHAK MUUCH – Jesús Montalvo, Translated from Spanish by Gonzalo Baeza, Illustrated by Carlos Castilho

TEARS OF EB by Sarah A. Macklin, Illustrated by Trevor Ngwenya

THE PILLARS OF SILENCE by Prashanth Srivatsa, Illustrated by Hardeep Aujla and Gary McCluskey 

THE FOLK OF THE FOREST – Michael Moorcock, Illustrated by Sapro 

NONFICTION

WHY (NEW EDGE) SWORD & SORCERY? by Brian Murphy, Illustrated by Sara Frazetta 

CELE GOLDSMITH LALLI—MIDWIFE TO THE SECOND SWORD & SORCERY BOOM by Cora Buhlert, Illustrated by Chuah Shih Shin 

FRESH BLOOD AND NEW THUNDER! BRINGING NEW READERS TO SWORD & SORCERY, WITH SOF MAGLIANO – Oliver Brackenbury

REVIEW: WOMAN OF THE WOODS BY MILTON J. DAVIS – Robin Mar

 

VOLUME I, NUMBER 2 – MMXXIII

Cover art by Gilead

FICTION

THE DEMON OF TASHI TZANG by Dariel Quiogue, Illustrated by Aldo Ojeda

FANG by Jacquie Kawaja, Illustrated by Ursa Doom (Björn Magnusson)

REVELSTOKE by Gemma Files, Illustrated by Saprophial

A DEBT FORGOTTEN, A DEBT UNPAID by Jeremy Pak Nelson, Illustrated by Damiano Di Marco

THE EYES OF THE DEMON by J.M. Clarke, Illustrated by Morgan King

WATER, WHICH LAUGHS AT ALL THINGS by T.K. Rex & L. Ann Kinyon, Illustrated by Magda Kulbicka

ATONEMENT FOR A RESURRECTED GOD by David C. Smith, Illustrated by Simon Underwood

HOW MANY DEATHS TILL VENGEANCE? By June Orchid Parker, Illustrated by Matthew Spencer

NONFICTION

NEURODIVERGENCE IN SWORD & SORCERY by Jonathan Olfert, Illustrated by Remco Van Straten

SWORD & SOUL BROTHERS by Milton J. Davis, Illustrated by Chuah Shih Shin

SWORD & SILK: AN INTERVIEW WITH DARIEL QUIOGUE by Oliver Brackenbury

REVIEW: RETURN OF THE SORCERESS BY SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA by Kris Vyas-Myal


Example illustrations for New Edge Magazine Vol I, Issue #2

 

 

Monday, December 4, 2023

Happy Holidays from the Lindbergs - 2023

Happy Holidays 2023 - Card by Heidi Lindberg, 2023

Happy Holidays 2023  

Heidi took the lead again on the annual card. She has a ton of material to choose from, including this cardinal she drew last year from a photograph she took in our backyard (photo below, along with two versions of the timelapse of her drawing in Procreate).

Previous cards (since ~1997) are displayed as a montage, and posts about each one.  



This past year, Connor completed a second rotation of co-oping at the Army Corp of Engineers in Louisville, KY (for his Environmental Engineering degree at the University of Cincinnati). Erin surpassed a year at P&G making Power BI Dashboards! Seth juggled authoring a few short stories outside of work and managed to Chair the Gen Con Writers' Symposium. Heidi continues to create lots of art while serving as a teacher's aide at Lakota.

Best to everyone in 2024. Peace, the Lindbergs


Photography of Cardinal in Hawthorn Tree by Heidi Lindberg


Time-lapse Videos - 30sec version



~6min Timelapse below





Monday, November 20, 2023

Good Vibes from Demons: Re-release and Commentary



Rogue Blades Presents Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology ISBN-13: 9798863079608 (print) ASIN: B0045Y1LMS (Kindle); Cover Artist: Johnney Perkins. Interior Graphics: M.D. Jackson

  • Jason M Waltz (Publisher of RBE/RBF) had dedicated the re-release to Robert Mancebo, author for several Rogue Blade Entertainment anthologies, who sadly passed away in 2023.
  • For this "Good vibes from Reviews" tag, note the response from Robert Mancebo's daughter in the Black Gate commentary. Breathtaking. Reviews and announcements rarely are emotive. Writing and reading is often a solitary hobby, but as Rachel points out, books bring us together in ways often not told.




Here is my mini-review and re-release notice:

In 2010, Black Gate announced Rogue Blades Entertainment Conjures DEMONS. This October 2023, the third edition has been issued and with it a revamped Kindle version! The original Kindle edition lacked a functioning, linked Table of Contents, but that’s all brought up to modern standards. It is dedicated to Robert Mancebo, author for several Rogue Blade Entertainment anthologies, who sadly passed away in 2023.

Jason M Waltz is well known amongst adventure fiction readers, especially the Swords & Sorcery crowd. With his Rogue Blades Entertainment Books and associated Foundation, he’s brought us the epic Return of the Sword (BG review) and then Rage of the Behemoth, and Demons.  He’s edited/published a variety of other anthologies with themes of Weird Noir, Pirates, and Sword & Planet with Lost Empire of Sol (BG review), and splendid nonfiction like Writing Fantasy Heroes (BG review) and recently Robert E. Howard Changed My Life (BG review). He recently ran a successful Kickstarter for another anthology as spotlighted on BG: “Neither Beg Nor Yield – A Sword & Sorcery Anthology with Attitude.” As you await Neither Beg Nor Yield, you’ll want to revisit Demons.

Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology – Blurb

When the gates of Hell open, who stands between Man and the Abyss? From mankind’s infancy, people have huddled in the dark, drawing signs in the air, muttering quiet prayers, quivering with dread at what roams in the night. Demons. Creatures of the Darkness. Evil spirits riding dark winds. And mankind trembled. Yet a few stood, drew steel imbued with magic to hue spirit as well as flesh, and walked out into the night to meet the foes of mortal men. Join the struggle in these 28 masterful tales of adventure and mayhem as heroes, forged as ‎strong as the steel they wield, defy foes from the realms of nightmare.‎

Mini-Review

In Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology, Rogue Blades Entertainment (RBE) delivers what it claims: a sampling of demon stories and adventure. Your chance of finding appealing stories is decent with 28 entries. Chock full of demons, champions, possession, witches, etc.. Kudos to RBE for keeping these tales alive from a 2006 publication (Carnifex Press). The purpose of an anthology is to provide an array of options, allow new readers to explore the genre, allow self-described “veteran readers” to identify new authors, and enable reading in small doses (i.e. great for traveling or parents with small children constantly interrupting their activities). “Demons” delivers this.

For anthologies, we expect to experiment with doses of new material/authors. For me, three stories that emphasized personal demons (or personal challenges) were outstanding. They stuck with me and are worth rereading; my favorites are in bold below in the Table of Contents listing. But you may have your own favorites! Check them out:

Demons: Table of Contents

  • “Foreword” by Armand Rosamilia
  • “The Man with the Webbed Throat” by Steve Moody
  • “Imprisoned” by Carl Walmsley
  • “Toxic” by Steven L. Shrewsbury
  • “Azieran: Bound by Virtue” by Christopher Heath
  • “Bodyguard of the Dead” by C.L. Werner
  • “Kron Darkbow” by Ty Johnston
  • “The Vengeance of Tibor” by Ron Shiflet
  • “The Beast of Lyoness” by Christopher Stires
  • “Fifteen Breaths” by Phil Emery
  • “The Pact” by Jonathan Green
  • “Blood Ties” by Trista Robichaud
  • “Zeerembuk” by Steve Goble
  • “The Fearsome Hunger” by Rob Mancebo
  • “The Furnace” by Sandro G. Franco
  • “The First League Out from Land” by Brian Dolton
  • “The Sacrifice” by Jason Irrgang
  • “Son of the Rock” by Laura J. Underwood
  • “Into Shards” by Murray J.D. Leeder 
  • “Through the Dark” by Darla J. Bowen
  • “Joenna’s Ax” by Elaine Isaak
  • “The Lesser: A Swords of the Daemor Tale” by Patrick Thomas
  • “When the Darkness Grows” by Frederick Tor
  • “Demon Heart” by Bryan Lindenberger
  • “Azieran: Racked upon the Altar of Eeyuu” by Christopher Heath
  • “Born Warriors” by TW Williams
  • “Mistaken Identity” by Robert J. Santa
  • “Box of Bones” by Jonathan Moeller
  • “By Hellish Means” by Bill Ward

 

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Annual Barczak Retreat - 2023



During my annual trip to the IASR surfactant consortium meeting in Norman Oklahoma, well before breakfast was served, I sought out my author/artist friend Tom Barczak (link to prior join-ups) and we snuck in a few minutes of drawing together. 

This time we convened at the newly opened DIAK office, the architecture firm owned by Tom's wife Shannon Barczak. Their clients are mostly indigenous (Native American) communities. Below is a blurb from their website. 

DIAK Architects is a Full-Service Native Woman Owned Architectural Firm, a leading design firm that specializes in producing a wide range of innovative architectural and interior design applications. 

DIAK is an Apsaalooke word, meaning “To make.” To make something, to create something, that wasn’t there before, and to take on the honor and responsibility for its effect on everything and every life that it touches. It is a gift, and a responsibility not to be taken lightly.












Thursday, November 9, 2023

Authors serving the Skull meet at Dingles Irish Pub

 


Had a blast meeting up with fellow Sword and Sorcery authors at the local pub. With Andy Fix and Bill Pearce ... we salute Howard Andrew Jones whom we've admired and perhaps even served as Skull Interns. All hail the Skull!

With Bill Pearce who has a story in Tales from the Magician's Skull issue #11 (link to Gen Con 2023 when we first met),

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

OLD MOON QUARTERLY ISSUE V REVIEW PLUS A KICKSTARTER FOR VII AND VIII

OLD MOON QUARTERLY ISSUE V REVIEW PLUS A KICKSTARTER FOR VII AND VIII

Simulcast on Black Gate magazine Nov 6th, 2023.



Old Moon Quarterly is a magazine of dark fantasy and weird sword-and-sorcery. In the tradition of Clark Ashton Smith, Tanith Lee and Karl Edward Wagner, it contains stories of strange vistas, eldritch beings, and the bloody dispute thereof by both swordsmen and swordswomen. Old Moon Quarterly emerged in 2022 led by Editor-in-Chief Julian Barona, flanked by Assistant Editors Caitlyn Emily Wilcox and Graham Thomas Wilcox. This May 2023, Black Gate reviewed Issue #3 (with an overview of #1 and #2).  True to what the editors promise, the magazine consistently delivers strong doses of weird Sword & Sorcery.

This post reviews Old Moon Quarterly Issue V; shared below is the table of contents with summaries of each story and excerpts (these were selected to avoid spoilers while conveying the feel of each).  As with previous issues, expect stories that push the boundaries of uniqueness, blending poetic writing with horror and adventure. If you read tropes they’ll lean toward the twisted or bizarre.

But first a quick call out to the ongoing Kickstarter for Issues VII & VIII;  This campaign runs now through Nov 31st, 2023 and, if successful, would fund two more issues paying contributors professional rates!


Here is a key blurb from and about the Old Moon Quarterly crew.

Old Moon Quarterly is an award-winning print and digital magazine of sword-and-sorcery and dark fantasy fiction, featuring over 20,000 words of original fiction as well as poetry and original nonfiction. We’ve a love for the classics of the genre and a desire to push for some new, strange takes on our old favorites. And of course, the magazine is made with a particular love and affinity for the eldritch aesthetics and weird storytelling of BerserkBloodborne and Dark Souls.

We’ve published five issues so far, with a sixth issue on the way. Since our inception in June 2022, we’ve increased our pay for authors from 5c a word to 8c a word, making us the only sword-and-sorcery focused fantasy magazine that pays what the SFWA considers a “professional” rate. We firmly believe that dark fantasy and sword-and-sorcery authors deserve a venue where they can receive fair pay for stories that are often very difficult to place in other venues. We started Old Moon Quarterly to give authors that venue.

With the funding from this Kickstarter, we’ll be able to maintain that payrate for issues 7 and 8, which will release in 2024. And not only will we be able to maintain that payrate, we’ll be able to increase the amount of fiction in each issue from 20,000 to 30,000+; we’ll be able to include (for the first time) interior artwork in a classic black-and-white style!

Old Moon Quarterly Issue V: Stories and Poems

1) “Together Under the Wing” by Jonathan Olfert

The perspective and scale of this story are simply huge: the protagonists are mammoths, and they pale in size versus their giant antagonist!  Epic duels drive this revenge tale. Walks-like-a-Rockslide seeks revenge for the death of his mother (Grass-Wisper) by the hands of the ancient Giant King.

The matriarch Grass-Whisper had lived in a grove in the hills, now stomped flat by vast human-like footprints. Her carved tusks lay in cracked-off chunks; they and the blood were all that remained—that, and the huge flint used to skin her before eating. A flint five times the size of the quartz blades bound to his tusks… (p11)

2) Champions Against the Maggot King by K.H. Vaughn

Get ready for some Warhammer/Grimdark-Tolkien fare. The soldier Grath narrates this tale. He details an epic battle against the Maggot King. The titular, heroic champions lead an army of >60 thousand that ride in landships made from living stone, armed with canons, and fueled by elemental sorcery. The champions include the Dwarf Ko Mon who has a lengthy morning-star-like prosthetic, the sword-wielding elf-who-never-smiles lIhar, and their demoness leader Sergeant, the female Sorrow Mai.

A wave of wild men break against the ship. They are pathetic. Pale and soft, but secure in their sense of power, waving their genitals at us as they come. They howl in impotent rage as they die, mowed down by arrows and lances. The ship rolls over them and churns their corpses into dirt. No one will find their bones or mourn their deaths. Where does the Maggot King find them? There must be thousands of them in the dim light of subterranean caves, thinking nothing but their eventual victory.  (p49)

3) “The King’s Two Bodies” poem by Joe Koch

I enjoyed this so much, I read it three times to soak in the words. It is beautiful, but too cryptic to understand on its initial pass.  Two souls with liquid properties are contained within one body. One may exit the vessel via a ritual of exiting the body and filling a cup.

4) “The Origin of Boghounds” by Amelia Gorman

Samphire is a female bounty hunter searching out a snake-oil salesman at the edges of Sichel, the stained city that radiates a New Orleans swamp vibe. She’s not the only bounty hunter seeking a payout. Several other hunters stumble into her and boghounds as they track down their prey while unearthing mysteries and monsters.

Samphire blows out her candle and sips into the dark corner between the headboard and wall. She disappears into the dark sod and crouches down in a knot in the tiny crawlspace, barely fitting with her giant pack of unguents and vinegars. [A boghound] hops silently off the straw, pads over to her and crawls under the bed, looking up at her with those affectionate golden eyes like two stars in the dirty dark. As the dark obscured their faces, Samphire catches voices she’s butted against time and again.  (p56)

5) “Well Met at the Gates of Hell” by David K. Henrickson

An amoral warrior arrives in Hell and is met at the entrance by three antagonists (two humanoids, one not) seeking to duel.  Lots of banter makes this more of a light-hearted read.

In that moment, the newcomer skims the plate he has finally freed from his armor toward the giant’s eyes and throws himself in a roll.

Automatically, the giant flinches away from the spinning metal. ‘Faithless!” he cries out, aiming a blow at the tumbling figure as it dives past.

The newcomer is already inside and below the other’s guard. His blade flashes out in a backhand swing, shearing through the giant’s thigh just above the greave.  (p73)

6)  “A Warning Agaynste Woldes” poem by Zachary Bos

As the title suggests, this poem has an Old Shakespeare tone. It is cryptic like the previous poem. It conveys that nature, and its forests, are a type of temple or church. Be wary of entering the forest, since it is full of fear, faith, and spirits.

7) “The Skull of Ghosts” by Charles Gramlich

Confession: I’m a huge Gramlich fan and frequently seek out his Krieg stories (I interviewed him for Black Gate in 2019, and we discussed his Krieg character). Here the sorcerer-warrior receives a haunting call from “Amma”, so he seeks out his old acquaintance (of the same name) in a plagued city. An evil sorcerer is seeking bodies to possess, and as Krieg starts to put an end to the madness, he learns he’s jumped into a trap.

Krieg slipped to one side, caught the swordman’s hand and twisted. A raw shriek burst from the man’s lips; bones ground audibly together as his blade turned inevitably upward to point at his face.

The assailant’s hood fell back, revealing swarthy skin marked by plague skulls. A topknot of greasy reddish hair invited a hold. Krieg grabbed it, slammed the man’s face forward onto the sword. Once, twice, thrice. Wiping his hand on the man’s cloak, the black-eyed warrior let the body fall like a burden he’d grown tired of… (p87)

 

8) “The Headsman’s Melancholy” by Joseph Andre Thomas

This could easily be a Twilight Zone episode written by Edgar Allen Poe. Executioner Jack meets a robber multiple times on the chopping block. Written as a series of journal entries. The ending is emotive, and a bit abstract, as Jack seeks peace by stopping his profession, leaving town, or pursuing other options. Loved this.

The man screeched laughter as he eviscerated himself, His blood poured down my face, into my mouth. It seeped between my teeth and beneath my tongue.

I screamed.

His smile was no longer cocky, but overjoyed. He reached into his chest cavity and grabbed hold of something, pulled it out. His heart, I realized, still attached to whatever tubes and capillaries govern the viscera. He hung it out above me with one hand… (p129)