Black Gate highlighted Rogues in the House (RitH) podcast in 2022, and in a few years, that crew rapidly expanded with Sword & Sorcery publications that include: A Book of Blades (2022) and A Book of Blades Vol. II (2023), and a collection of John R. Fultz's stories in The Revelations of Zang (2024) This post reviews the newest collection of stories from RitH's own Matthew John released this June: To Walk on Worlds is available now in eBook and paperback. Matthew John is fascinated with adventure fiction and moonlights as a writer and game designer for Monolith in addition to his podcast responsibilities. This post reviews To Walk on Worlds with excerpts.
The back cover indicates Lachmannon may be the protagonist of focus, and this Northman of Kaelta displays clear, Conan-like vibes while featuring in many of the stories as the key barbarian. He rocks, but the everpresent, and more unique character (anti-hero?) across the book is Maxus the Meddler. A "meddler" is a sorcerer, and Maxus gains the god-like power to move (and exploit and dominate) multiple realms; the titular phrase 'To Talk on Worlds' emphasizes that readers will experience Maxus's exploration and machinations. Interior illustrations by Sandy Carruthers feature Maxus most, and he appears physically like Gandalf. So Maxus is phenotypically a wizard, but he is otherwise a bonafide a** hole. In the rare instances Maxus requires assistance from other beings, he does not form a fellowship. He may lure in rogue champions, like Lachmannon, to aid him but he would never consider them a partner. Maxus the Meddler is a splendid character, and it is super fun to witness him gain power and exploit other characters.
The table of contents (below) reveals eleven stories, seven of which were published in popular S&S venues. They read even better together, with four additional stories helping flesh out the land containing the capital city of Pathra, Keal, Vescivius, Spatha, and the Burning Isle. Oddly, perhaps on purpose, every story has an abundance of grinning characters. Matthew Johns's writing style is very accessible, moving at the fast pace one would expect from pulpy fiction.
Most of this content was simulcast on Black Gate June 25, 2024:
CONAN: CITY OF THE DEAD, JOHN C. HOCKING’S LIVING PLAGUE IS ALIVE INSIDE
It’s June of 2024, and Titan Books has just delivered John C. Hocking’s City of the Dead which contains both Conan and the Emerald Lotus (1995, TOR) and its follow-up Conan and the Living Plague—a book lost in the limbo of publishing craziness for ~two decades! Hocking also wrote a bridging novella set in between these two novels called “Black Starlight” (serialized across Conan comics in 2019, and provided assembled as an eBook in 2023 as Conan: Black Starlight: The Heroic Legends Series). Since Titan Books & Heroic Signatures had the rights to publish and print “Black Starlight” separately, it seems like a lost opportunity to have it absent from City of the Dead, but fans are just glad to finally see the Living Plague in print, it is tough to whine about that.
Want to know what the fuss is all about? This post is all about John C. Hocking’s Conan pastiche. It consolidates my reviews from Emerald Lotus and Black Starlight and highlights from my interview-with-Hocking and pre-review of Living Plague (that post contained informational, but distanced comments, about the book since the manuscript was still not available to all… at the time, I was blessed with one of the sacred Perilous World copies by Hocking to read). Read this and you'll have all the excerpts and context needed to lure you into the City of the Dead.
I just finished two Euro-Mediterranean-inspired fantasy novels, and, by
chance, both feature dragons on their beautiful covers. This post showcases
both. Scott Oden's The Doom of Oden wraps up a trilogy (Grimnir
Series) and Howard Andrew Jones' Lord of a Shattered Land begins
a five-book series (Hanuvar Chronicles). Each offer anti-Roman
myths/legends, Oden's Grimnir overtly calls out Rome (and then introduces loads
of Nordic fantasy) and HAJ's Hanuvar's primary antagonist is the Dervan Empire
(obviously inspired by the Roman Empire). In the spirit of Robert E. Howard's
Conan, who roamed the Euro-Mediterranan continue of Hyboria, these both
continue a tradition with a unique flair. These series are not to be missed!
Both are veteran authors with respect for history and historical fiction
(HAJ is known for his Harold Lamb series editing and Oden
for his bibliography that includes The White Lion, The Lion of
Cairo, Men of Bronze, and Memnon). Here they write sagas
about veteran protagonists. Don't expect coming-of-age stories or epic fantasy,
five-character parties either. These provide the classic Sword & Sorcery
approach: the protagonists may have sidekicks, but they operate primarily on
their own, and they are already equipped with experience/skills/power from
page-one. So the pace is fast and focused.
Both Lord of a Shattered Land and The Doom of
Odin blend history with fantasy but each provides significant doses of
myth/sorcery, so these are not alternate history novels. Each
protagonist is motivated by their respective family too: HAJ's Hanuvar is
human, and since he is a displaced general managing to survive as his society
is destroyed by Derva (Rome), he operates like a secret agent going rogue
behind enemy lines to rescue other stragglers and family members. Oden's
Grimnir is inhuman, more of a manifestation of Beowulf's Grendel's kin, and
whereas the first two books had Grimnir apart from his estranged family, this
last installment showcases loads of family drama (i.e., think family reunion on
the scale of Ragnarok, aka, the end of the world, with Rome hosting part of the
picnic).
This post provides
brief reviews, book blurbs, and excerpts. Read on and battle Rome and ancient
Gods!
Hanuvar is a fictionalized general (an incarnation of Hannibal of Carthage) who tangles with the Roman-like Dervani who have invaded his homeland. Expect espionage thriller sorties, gladiator battles, and sorcery-saturated climaxes in each chapter to balance all the melee. Lord of a Shattered Land (Aug 2023) kicks off a 5 book series from Baen, followed by City of Marble and Blood (Oct 2023), and Shadow of the Smoking Mountain (Oct 2024), (#4 and #5 to be revealed later).
Lord of a Shattered Land Cover Blurb
When their walls were breached at last, the people of Volanus fought block by block, house by house, until most fell with sword in hand. Less than a thousand survivors were led away in chains.
The city’s treasuries were looted, its temples defiled, and then, to sate their emperor’s thirst for vengeance, the mages of the Dervan Empire cursed Volanus and sowed its fields with salt. They committed only one error: the greatest Volani general yet lived.
Against the might of a vast empire, Hanuvar had only an aging sword arm, a lifetime of wisdom… and the greatest military mind in the world, set upon a single goal. No matter where they’d been sent, from the festering capital to the furthest outpost of the Dervan Empire, Hanuvar would find his people. Every last one of them. And he would set them free.
Worst of all, a magical attack had left Hanuvar with a lingering curse that might change him forever, or lead him to an early grave…
Lord of a Shattered features fourteen episodes chronicling Hanuvar's
undercover investigations and travels. The settings and delivery are
reminiscent of Richard L Tierney's Simon of Gitta (Black Gate review) who
was posed as an enemy of sorcerous Rome (the character Simon was loosely
modeled after the biblical magus, and was motivated by vengeance.)
Hanuvar is driven more to save his people than to cause further harm, but
bloodshed follows him everywhere. HAJ's delivery is splendidly smooth, whether he is describing body horror or humorous situations--at times evoking Leiber's Lanhmar ambiance. You
likely have seen some of his stories, since seven of the fourteen
episodes/chapters were published in similar form by reappearing here with
slight editing to close out a story arc:
Excerpt: Vivid, clever,
James-Bond-Like Melee
"His opponents were spread out, and while the circumstance was far from ideal, it might not get better. Hanuvar dashed from the brush and slammed the antlered man’s head with his spear haft. This knocked his foe’s deer-hood askew and set him reeling drunkenly. Hanuvar closed and struck him across the throat with the heel of his hand.
Antler-head sank to his knees, gasping for breath.
Hanuvar grasped his cheeks, pushed the severed finger through his teeth, and clamped the man’s jaw shut. “Swallow,” he ordered into his ear, the spear blade against his neck.
The man’s throat moved, he pushed at Hanuvar’s arm with shaking fingers . . . then swallowed as the spear blade pricked him."
Excerpt: Weird, Sorcerous,
X-Files-Like Predicaments
"Arcella lay there, at least what was left of her. Her dress had been rent down the front, and her skinless, hairless body lay wet and glistening, the lidless eyes rendered enormous. Unlike the other bodies, her internal organs still lay in their places. The reek was overwhelming.
Even Hanuvar was stunned by the scene, for he could think of no ordinary means by which the woman could have screamed and then been rendered skinless in the scant moment since they had raced to find her."
The City of Marble and Blood (already out) continues Hanuvar's
grand adventures!
Ymir’s balls! Oden's trilogy comes to an end. This was initiated with A Gathering
of Ravens (reviewed by Flecther Vredenburgh on Black Gate)
to be followed by Twilight of
the Gods. Read those first to become a cheerleader of
Grimnir. The milieu is reminiscent of Poul Anderson’s Viking
Age The Broken Sword, being full of Dane’s and Celtic faeries and
Norse myths. Oden's style is more readable than that classic, but is still
saturated with just the right amount of call-outs to geographies and history to
blur the lines between fantasy and history. This is no historical fantasy, but
the foundation of history is so well played the fantasy feels “real.” Equally
balanced are the sorceries of Celtic witches, Norse deities, and Christian
beliefs. All supernatural “sides” of faith conflict here. All are presented as real,
though some are being superseded. So who is the orc protagonist
employed by Scott Oden to redeem the Orc culture? He is Grimnir...Grendel’s
brother, as named by some. The lady ÉtaÃn, a servant of the Christian God, the
Nailed One, and unlikely companion of him describes him:
“He is called Grimnir… the last of his kind, one of the kaunar—known to your people as fomóraig, to mine as orcnéas, and to the Northmen as skrælingar. In the time I’ve known him, he has been ever a fomenter of trouble, a murderer, and as cruel a bastard… I can vouch neither for his honesty nor his morals, as he is bereft of both. And while he did kidnap me, threaten me with death, mock my faith, and expose me to the hates of a forgotten world, he also saved my life …” from A Gathering of Ravens
His name suits him since he might as well be
carrying a flagstaff with the contemporary “Grimdark subgenre” splayed upon it.
Yet his predicament and motivations are as compelling as any vigilante hero.
How best to end the series other than (a) meeting Grimnir's estranged family
[i.e., the paternal Bálegyr] while (b) ushering in Ragnarok? This last
installment takes us to mindbending travel between ancient Rome and
Nastrond/Yggdrasil (i.e. Nordic Otherworlds that Oden can explain better than
me). Granted Rome is only part of the landscape here; readers should expect
more time in the Nordic realms.
The Doom of Odin: A Novel (Grimnir
Series Book 3) Blurb:
To the Danes, he is skraelingr; to the English, he is orcnéas; to the Irish, he is fomoraig. He is Corpse-maker and Life-quencher, the Bringer of Night, the Son of the Wolf and Brother of the Serpent. He is Grimnir, and he is the last of his kind—the last in a long line of monsters who have plagued humanity since the Elder Days.
Drawn from his lair by a thirst for vengeance against the Dane who slew his brother, Grimnir emerges into a world that’s changed. A new faith has arisen. The Old Ways are dying, and their followers retreating into the shadows; even still, Grimnir’s vengeance cannot be denied.
Taking a young Christian hostage to be his guide, Grimnir embarks on a journey that takes him from the hinterlands of Denmark, where the wisdom of the ancient dwarves has given way to madness, to the war-torn heart of southern England, where the spirits of the land make violence on one another. And thence to the green shores of Ireland and the Viking stronghold of Dubhlinn, where his enemy awaits.
But, unless Grimnir can set aside his hatreds, his dream of retribution will come to nothing. For Dubhlinn is set to be the site of a reckoning—the Old Ways versus the New—and Grimnir, the last of his kind left to plague mankind, must choose: stand with the Christian King of Ireland and see his vengeance done or stand against him and see it slip away?
Grimdark Battles Infused with Norse
Mythology
Excerpt 1:
Grimnir hacked slivers from the skrælingr’s club; over his shoulder, he saw the shuffling kaunr—that straight-legged bastard with a beard like tarry weeds—moving into his blind side. Snarling, Grimnir deflected another blow from the skrælingr’s knotty club, then drove the hilt of his long-seax into the idiot’s teeth. Once. Twice. Blood spurted from the wreckage of his nose and mouth. A third blow snapped the skrælingr’s head back. The club slipped from his nerveless fingers. A fourth crushing blow sent him crumpling to the ground with a broken neck.
Excerpt 2:
Grimnir never let him finish...With a serpentine hiss, the son of Bálegyr snapped his arm forward, driving the blade of his spear into the point of the kaunr’s bearded chin. His drawn breath, meant for the boastful recitation of his deeds, turned into a death-rattle as the spearhead plowed through bone and teeth; it cut through the muscle of his tongue and the soft flesh of his palate, splitting his face from jaw to brow. Blood spewed from the spear-cleft ruin.
I have a mission to meet the authors my stories share anthologies with ("selfie" tag), and for Perseid Presses' Heroika and Heroes in Hell Series, I've cornered a bunch in Chicago, Indianapolis, New Orlean, Norman OK, and now Atlanta! Beth Patterson, Charles Gramlich, Joe Bonadonna, Jack William Finley, Tom Barzcak ... and now Milton Davis!
Just ran into one of my inspirational role models for writing and publishing Milton Davis (in this case, I was in Atlanta for an American Chemical Society Green Chemistry convention...which is cool because Milton has been a formulation chemist for decades).
"Omari Ket is a rogue warrior, not a spy, but he is as suave, cunning, and as lethal as any Secret Agent Man. ‘Agency’ is a term for the capacity of a character to act independently, and Omari is an Agency onto himself: he reports to no one. Omari is a ladies’ man in a dog-eat-dog world. If you like a cut-throat, libertine, action-oriented protagonist, then you are ‘Eda Blessed.’"
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Simulcast on BLACKGATE.com: HORROR AND BEAUTY IN EDGAR RICE BURROUGH’S WORK: AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT ALLEN LUPTON
We have an ongoing series at Black Gate on the topic of “Beauty in Weird Fiction” where we corner an author and query them about their muses and methods to make ‘repulsive things' become ‘attractive to readers.’ Previous subjects have included Darrell Schweitzer, Anna Smith Spark, Carol Berg, C.S. Friedman, John R. Fultz, and John C. Hocking (whose Conan and the Living Plague novel is finally due out this June 2024, so you should read that too to get psyched). Anyway, see the full list of interviews at the end of this post.
This interview focuses on the legendary Edgar Rice Burroughs and an aficionado of his work, Robert Allen Lupton. The latter has published an amazing 2000 articles on www.erbzine.com, the Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site. Robert Allen Lupton is also a writer of 200 short stories, four novels, and six collections of adventure fiction, so this forum serves as a great opportunity to learn about past and present storytelling with a touch of horror in it.
2024 Gen Con Writers Symposium (GCWS) Programming (Aug 1-4) was just unveiled, so you can add events to your wishlist for purchasing (which opens Sunday May 19th). Check out the broader details on my last post and Black Gate.com (see the end of this post for key registration links for each track). The GCWS website has even more to offer.
This post focuses on my schedule:
Writing the Beautiful Nasty
[this feeds into my BlackGate/com interview series on "Beauty in Weird/Horror Fiction"]. Join our panel of experts as they explore writing scary or repulsive matters in attractive and beautiful ways within the complex realms of horror. Featuring: S.E. Lindberg, Akis Linardos, C. S. E. Cooney, Jason Ray Carney, Jeri "Red" Shepherd
Sword & Sorcery for Contemporary Audiences Friday10:00 AM EDT
Join our panel of writers as they discuss Sword & Sorcery for a modern world: what does it look like, what could it look like, and what's out there to devour. Featuring: S.E. Lindberg, Dedren Snead, Howard Andrew Jones, Jason Ray Carney, Sarah Sharp
Pulp Fiction for Contemporary Audiences
Join our panel of writers as they discuss pulp fiction for a modern world: what does it look like, what could it look like, and what's out there to devour. Featuring: S.E. Lindberg, Gini Koch, Howard Andrew Jones, Jason Ray Carney, Richard Lee Byers
Join our panel of authors as writer and host S.E. Lindberg asks each about the inspirations and challenges behind their new books, games, and works. This fun experience back from last year by request!
(Session A) Thurs 12:00 PM EDT Annye Driscoll (Maker Fishmeal), Briana Lawrence, Gini Koch
(Session B)
(Session C)
(Session D)
(Session E)
(Session F)
(Session G)
Writers' Symposium 2024 Programming
If you have already purchased your ticket to Gen Con, you can now select which events you would like to attend. Our Gen Con Writers’ Symposium events are designed for writers, but everyone is welcome, and we hope you will consider our events. The opportunity to hear the perspective of writers of games, roleplaying, books, multimedia – we think is core fandom. We are offering over 170 events, including ~80 free panels, ~60 classes (workshops), >20 signings, and special and interactive Events (like an open mic poetry event, a D&D session and Meet & Greet with the authors).
Download the Full Program in PDF here (link).
Interested in a specific topic? Sign up for them all, as many will fill up quickly! Prefiltered GenCon-Registration Links for each track (hashtags) are below:
#gcws – All our events
#writing – Nuts and bolts of the craft
#editing – Perspectives on editing work, designed for writers
#worldbuilding – Crafting the space for your words
#writerlife – About being a writer, as a person
#genre – Discussion on specific genres
#career – Managing business elements of writing over time
#videogames – Topics related to digital games
#tabletop – Topics related to tabletop gaming
#poetry – Topics related to speculative poetry
#visual – Graphic writing
#tech – Technical tools related to writing
#publishing – Topics related to publishing
#nonfiction – Topics related to nonfiction
#marketing – Promoting your work
#classroom – Instructor-led, classroom-type events
#event – Featured GCWS events
#qna – Question & Answer (Q&A) events
#signing – Signing opportunities
#interaction – Interactive opportunities
#experience – An immersive experience with writers