Dark Muse News: JANGAR! Beastlord of Muu – #1 and 2

 Simulcast on Blackgate.com: Dark Muse News: JANGAR! Beastlord of Muu – #1 and 2

 

Jangar! by Logan D. Whitney, Issues #1 and #2, Cliffhanger Press, 2026. Cover art by Mike Hoffman

Dark Muse News has been a fan of Rogues in the House podcast and their books (i.e., A Book of Blades Vol I and Vol II); one of those rogues is Logan D. Whitney. This June and July, he released the initial entries of an expected six chronicling his lone jungle warrior: Jangar! These are fantastic, compact adventures that somehow balance immediate crazy challenges (i.e., save a princess from a sacrificial ritual, and survive gladiator combat viewed by cannibalistic harpies) with the more chronic concerns (seeking vengeance for the slaughter of family members, and overcoming the decline of civilization).

Beyond being inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs and R.E. Howard, the author specifically tips his hat to Lin Carter's "Things of Lemuria," Cozzy (Gung Ho Geeks reviewer), and Steve Dilks' "Guthar."Logan D. Whitney explains his character in the introduction:

Jangar himself is an obvious take on the child-raised-by-wild-animals genre that includes Mowgli from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book and Ki-Gor from the pulp magazine Jungle Stories. Even the name Jangar is a very slight variation on Robert Moore Williams’ “Jongor”, an Australian dinosaur-riding jungle man from the pages of Fantastic Adventures. The following story is actually inspired by the very first Tarzan novel that I read, Tarzan and the Lost Empire.

Prior being introduced to him, Jangar was raised with sabretooth tigers. He grows into a beast master; well, the series title actually calls him "Beastlord of Muu", so move over Dar and your black panther, Jangar usurps you (referencing the classic 1982 S&S movie Beast Master). Jangar has a feline sister-in-law named "Shassa" who seeks vengeance for the slaughtering of their parents. And Muu is the milieu they live in, or the continent they live on. With jungles and growing over ruined civilizations, it is ripe with mystic history and weird biology. There are abundant hybrids here, from bird-men and ape-men, and alien-mind-brain things.

Beyond the pulpy inspirations, JANGAR! Slaves of the Mind Mage and JANGAR! Citadel of the Winged Queen evoke vibes of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek (with contacting, negotiating, and combating alien entities as in “Return to Tomorrow” from Star Trek, 1968) and mythical melee as per Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion harpies from Jason and the Argonauts (1963).

In the JANGAR! Beastlord of Muu series, the wonder of old-school adventure cinema collides with the untamed imagination of modern pulp fantasy. Key takeaway: Jangar! is genuine fun, readily digestible, and ripe with character-heavy pulp goodness.

Read this to learn more about the first two installments, read excerpts, learn where the series is going, and get answers from the author in a short Q&A session.

Tarzan-sized thrills, sword-and-sorcery fury, and monsters worthy of the silver screen — welcome to the world of Jangar!

LEFT: “Return to Tomorrow,”  Star Trek season 2, episode 19 (aired February 9, 1968); RIGHT: Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion harpies from Jason and the Argonauts (1963).

Book Blurbs & Jangar's Journey

#1 JANGAR! - SLAVES OF THE MIND MAGE

Before the dawn of known civilization, upon the primeval continent of Muu, JANGAR seeks vengeance for the slaying of his adoptive family, but finds cosmic horror instead. Fleeing the gnashing teeth of a living god and its tribe of devoted ape-men, priestess YALA in tow, the jungle-born wildman discovers eldritch secrets brooding in the darkest corners of his forest home. Might and mind must do battle beneath the crumbling dome of an extraterrestrial temple, where the fate of an ancient Earth sways in the balance. But for JANGAR, feral warrior of a lost world, survival is not an option. It is a way of life. Experience a pulse-pounding homage to the golden age of pulp! If you crave the epic adventure of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan and the lurid, sorcerous worlds of Lin Carter’s Thongor, look no further than the lost world of JANGAR!

#2 JANGAR! - CITADEL OF THE WINGED QUEEN

Before the dawn of known civilization, upon the primeval continent of Muu, JANGAR seeks vengeance for the slaying of his adoptive family, but finds himself a captive instead. While tracking his sabertooth sister, SHASSA, through the trackless jungle on the trail of mighty GOR-GOM, the beast man who'd slain his family, JANGAR is ambushed from above and swept away to an arena of horror. Blood-feuds must be settled and set aside if anyone is to survive the machinations of the WINGED QUEEN! But for JANGAR, feral warrior of a lost world, survival is not an option. It is a way of life.

#3: JANGAR! Crimes of the Serpentmancer - In progress

#4-#6:  The SIXTH release will be included in an omnibus edition available in classic MASS MARKET PAPERBACK!

Excerpts showcasing Antagonists

Ur-Men described as ape-men, are introduced performing a ritual in a jungle

Broad-shouldered half-men pranced wildly about a central fire to the drummer’s hideous beat. Others brandished crude instruments of murder in the thick jungle air, hooting and howling with savage lust. There were women, too, and children, all entranced by the throbbing sound. Near the fire, there gesticulated the black shadow of a dread witch-man, strange song slipping from drooling, fanged lips. In one hand, he waved a gnarled stick crowned in a shriveled human head. In the other, he clutched a horn....

Tyrannosaurus God, "Thok"

The reptilian giant stood on two legs, thick as boles, its three-toed feet hideously clawed. Atop a stout neck, the monstrous head was little more than a set of colossal jaws. Beady eyes roved the cheering mass, alive with ophidian intellect. Into the darkness stretched its bulk, tapering to a point at the end of a swishing tail. Strangest of all, however, were the pair of vestigial arms sprouting from the creature’s heaving chest.

Zaarthaax, a child of Qarn

Gone was the mighty idol of human perfection. In its place drifted silently a misshapen travesty of flesh. Nowhere did Yala find the finely molded frame she saw before. In its stead was a weak, half-born frame floating limply above a raised dais. Frail limbs hung lank from a vaguely human shape, useless and weak. Atop the pliant trunk squatted an unseemly, bloated cranium wrapped in pulsating veins. Whatever features its face bore were partially hidden by the obscene mass of brain space.

Bird-men

The creature before him was neither bird nor man, but some unseemly amalgamation of each. Gracile limbs sprouted from a well-muscled trunk, but the comparison to humankind ended there. Its legs were spindly and scaled, ending in the hooked talons of a harpy. Broad, feathered wings unfurled from the abomination's naked back. It leered at Jangar with black, beady eyes set deep within the sockets of a bald, ungainly head. The misshapen cranium bobbed uncannily atop a thin, sinuous neck. Where a man’s mouth might have been, a snout tapered instead into a cruelly curved beak.

Queen Sumiia

She was slender, yet alluringly ample. Long, fiery hair ran down the length of her back, swishing just below a shapely rear. Her breasts heaved beneath a thin, white garment. Then, as the woman stretched out thin arms to silence her subjects, Jangar realized it was no garment at all, but downy feathers covering her entire human-like body.  There was no beak like the others, but soft, curving lips and dark, sensuous eyes. Neither did her legs taper to predatory talons. Still, an expanse of colorfully feathered wings spread from between her naked shoulders.

Pit Dweller (a titanic Sarlacc-pit/Dune-sandworm amalgam)

The earth began to churn, transforming the central arena into a viscous whirlpool of sodden sand. Thick, coiled loops of pinkish, elastic flesh writhed just beneath the roil. A slick coat of translucent slime shimmered across the cords of unseemly, pliant flesh. The dead men were swept into the eddy with a hideous sucking sound. A sickening, satisfied burble issued forth from the drain. A long, breathless space passed where all was terribly silent. Then, as a sudden geyser, a font of blood and bone ejected forth from the pit. The entire flock erupted in a wild cheer, flinging themselves from the seats...  From the frothing sand squirmed a visage of primordial nightmare. A great fleshy trunk twisted upward like wriggling innards. At the bole’s blunted end were no eyes, nor recognizable features of any sort save a gaping, tooth-filled maw. From what steaming mire this half-formed abomination might have crawled, neither combatant could guess.

Pulpy-Vibe Excerpts

Brutal Melee

Jangar jumped aside on spring-trap legs. Then, tracking the keening blade through empty space, he latched onto the swordsman’s forearm with an iron grip.

The Jackal yelped in surprise. He tried to tug away his sword arm, but found Jangar’s grasp unshakable.

Then, with both hands, Jangar snapped Rohzam’s arm like a dry branch.

The desert-dweller screamed, equal parts shock and pain. The bone in his sword arm was broken cleanly in twain. The sword he’d held so confidently fell silent to the sand.

Jungle Code

All death had a purpose, a place in the jungle’s natural order. Slaying for sport, for lust, was an aberration.

Poignant Despair

I descend from a pure line of noble royalty, long-lived and nigh ageless. My people, however, breed as do any other living thing. With each subsequent brood, a new deformity is revealed. With each generation, a new horror.

Feline Warfare

The axe swung a deadly arc, but the warrior could not strike fast enough. With the swipe of her paw, she separated the weapon from his hand, rending jagged wounds across his arm.

The human hardly had time to scream as Shassa sank her teeth into the meat of his naked shoulder. Her flanks impulsively shuddered at the pleasurable sensation of her fangs sheathing deep into the trunk of her prey. The taste of a successful kill flooded her senses, drenching her tongue. She relished the scent of it filling her nostrils.

Had this been a hunt, she’d have dragged the limp corpse to some hideaway tree and taken her time to feast.

As it were, there was no time...

Q&A with L.D. Whitney

How has your archeology expertise informed your fiction? Presumably it has for Savage or Honor Among Rogues?

I really try to lean into my experience in archaeology, as well as history and geography, when writing adventures in a grounded reality. I think it’s important to give each setting and story a sense of reality. At its heart, I believe adventure should inspire readers to go out, see the world, experience new things, and have adventures of their own. Dropping in tantalizing cultural and historical tidbits is not just a way of using my education, but to hopefully inspire readers to dig a little further. Savage, hopefully to be released in November, took a lot research about Tibetan culture and geography, as well as Victorian espionage. Of course, it is an H. Rider Haggard-style adventure through and through, so I don’t want to get bogged down in details. Hopefully there is just enough in there for good flavor.

Should we expect tomb-raiding... I mean excavation... of ruins by Jangar?

Jangar! is the one place I put basically zero research. Jangar and his world are full-blown products of my most unbridled imagination, more often paying homage to the authors, stories, and characters that influenced me. That said, the fourth Jangar story is both, "Hoard of the Cyclops King,” is both a treasure hunt adventure and an homage to Ray Harryhausen films like The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. I think its going to be a good capstone to the paperback of the first four novelettes.

Is 6 volumes a set thing, or just a prediction for a volume? What can we expect out of Jangar's journey into book form?

I had originally imagined a run of six Jangar! stories in a single paperback, but as the scope of each story grew to roughly 10k words, I realized that the mass market paperback version would end up pretty unwieldy. I am a faithful devotee of back-pocket-sized reading material, and I want to keep it that way. So the first paperback release will include 4 complete novelettes, plus a map and some interior art. The silver lining, though, is that it lets me expand the last two stories into full-length novellas that will release in paperback and eBook simultaneously.

About L.D. Whitney

Logan D. Whitney is an author, archaeologist, and educator. He dwells in the High Desert with his wife, daughter, and two dogs. He is the author of Honor Among Rogues, A Crooked Mile, and JANGAR! Beastlord of Muu.

❖  instagram.com/cliffhangerpress

❖  ldwhitney.substack.com

---

S.E. Lindberg is a Managing Editor at Blackgate.com, regularly reviewing books, interviewing authors on ‘Beauty & Art in Weird-Fantasy Fiction’, and running Dark Muse News. He has taken lead roles organizing the Gen Con Writers’ Symposium (2021-2023) and the Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group; he even interned for Tales from the Magician’s Skull magazine and is an Assistant Editor for Battleborn magazine. As for crafting stories, he has contributed eight entries across Perseid Press’s Heroes in Hell and Heroika series, and has an entry in Weirdbook Annual #3: Zombies. He independently publishes novels under the banner Dyscrasia Fiction®; short stories of these have appeared in Whetstone and Swords & Sorcery online magazine, Rogues In the House Podcast’s A Book of Blades (Vol. I and Vol. II), DMR’s Terra Incognita, Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Savage Realms Magazine, and Michael Stackpole’s S&S Chain Story 2 Project.

 

  

Author Phil Emery reviews Grave's Daughters

Author Phil Emery reviews Grave's Daughters

Goodreads Review Link

This is breathtaking stuff.

I remember that I first came cross ‘Raising Daughters’ in Whetstone magazine some time ago and was immediately taken with its physicality and imagistic vigour. I’ve never come across such a rich evocation of the chthonic: verbal Doré on steroids! And with uncompromising pace! Lindberg proves here that a well-chosen evocative name can replace description, might even be said to be description. Also he combines (particularly) biological and other scientific terminology with subtle fantasy diction and syntax – and makes it work! I’m happy to say that the other stories in the book threw more of the same at me.

‘Run, Fry, or Die!’ also added more technical goodies. The girls’ modern dialogue threw diglossia registers into the mix and upped the ‘macabre’ ante. I should say that word (which is actually used it in this story) has a particular sense for me that you won’t find exactly in any dictionary definition: for me the macabre tone is a particular combination of horror and irony. It’s humorous if darkly humorous. A distanced though not emotionless humour. A literary danse macabre. The girls’ dialogue juxtaposed with Grave’s more formal idiolect is one way the writer pulls this off. A macabre tone can absorb the differences. This is one of the ways the reader’s experience of the stories varies. (More of this below.) Those with more plot and character involvement have less of a macabre feel to me.

But I have to say that lines like “with good posture they sat in attendance” in ‘Embracing Ember’ the subtle underlying irony is never entirely absent, at least for me.

With a cycle of standalone stories, whether read singly or all at once, repetition of information needs to be subtle, and reading the Graves sequence together as I’ve just done shows how to do this. There are any number of ways a good writer can avoid that potential pitfall through sly variations of tone and viewpoint.

And speaking of variation, ‘Breaching Earth’s Womb’ continues to offer a different register of distance, a different viewpoint. Less ironic, more plot-driven than earlier pieces in this collection. It seems to me that plot gains in prominence as the stories advance until...

‘Two Queens, One Hive’ – This is the dramatic and stylistic high point of the book for me! A perfect example of blend of sfnal and fantasy diction. (Thanks to the author’s science background?) The ironic element falls away as plot and milieu merge just about seamlessly. I get the impression Lindberg really let himself go on this one. As a collection the intensity culminates here – and how! Though emotionally it progresses... And for me this points up a friction between a novel-length story and a set of individual stand-alone fictions. ‘Forging Independence’ worried and still worries me. The change of gear is mechanically unavoidable, but it suffered for me after ‘Two Queens’: it almost seemed slight, a kind of afterword under the shadow of the previous section. This is where the reader, this reader at least, is at a disadvantage experiencing to stories book-style in quick succession. What worries me is that I can’t see any way around this. I’ll have to go back after some time has elapsed and reread it as a standalone piece, which is how it appeared in the first place.

But if the physical drama peaked with ‘Two Queens’, the emotional progression continued with ‘Immolating Ember’. Switching to Ember’s viewpoint certainly developed her.

And finally, the novelette-length of the ninth section ties everything together fittingly. I see this is almost the only part not previously published, so I’m guessing that this section was written solely with the collection in mind. I’m also guessing that if it had been intended as a stand-alone piece it would’ve been structured a little differently? Perhaps giving more or less focus to the characters Ignarion and Echo and Helen? But it certainly capitalizes on the emotional momentum built through the previous sections.

Infects your brain and worms its way into your psyche - Beauty in Ruins Review of Grave's Daughter

Beauty in Ruins

 of 5 stars

Dark fantasy that infects your brain and worms its way into your psyche

Dyscrasia is a world of living stone, monstrous insects, and slithering slugs that seem to have crawled out of a pulp horror fever dream. At the heart of the story is Doktor Grave, a golem alchemist (and occult mad scientist) who fashions three elemental daughters to carry on his legacy. There's both magic and art to his act of creation, just as there's both horror and wonder to be found in his creations. Comprised of new chapters and previously published stories, the book is a gloriously strange mixture of dark fantasy, Gothic horror, and dysfunctional family drama. It's a book that effortlessly switches from subterranean games of hide-and-seek to brutal, ichor-filled battles with insectoid creatures. I love books that dare to be different, and the entire Dyscrasia saga is very much its own beast.

What makes the story work is the relationship between Grave and his daughters. Melanie, Leech, and Ember are wonderfully peculiar creations, each with her own personality, ambitions, and decidedly questionable ideas about how the world should work. Although created to be a part of the world, they are well aware that they stand outside it, and their disdain (or, rather, disregard) for much of it leads them to have very different interactions with humanity. One treats them as erotic playthings, one works to save them, and one severs herself from them, preferring the company of monsters. Ember started as my favorite of the three, but by the end, it was Melanie who I wanted to see thrive the most.

Their rivalries and clashes give the book much of its dramatic momentum, but Grave’s struggle is what holds it all together. Here we have a golem who wants a family, who seems to care deeply about his daughters, yet who knows nothing of how to raise them. There’s a sad sort of humor in watching him struggle with mundane problems of supernatural children. Beneath blood, sorcery, and the grotesque lurks a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of family, independence, and legacy.

Lindberg’s worldbuilding is a major reason this book stands out. Although there are familiar elements to it, the whole is something genuinely unique. Medicine, biology, mythology, and sorcery are woven together into a setting that's as intriguing as it is bizarre (albeit with a convincing internal logic). And then there’s the writing, which Lindberg imbues with a distinctive voice, making Dyscrasia such a memorable place to visit. His descriptions are rich, his imagery often startling, and his command of language gives even the most disturbing scenes a bizarre kind of beauty.

As I've said about the others in this series, this is not a book I would recommend rushing through. The prose rewards attention, and some of its best pleasures come from lingering over an image, appreciating an unusual turn of phrase, or realizing how a seemingly bizarre detail fits into the larger mythology. Unapologetically strange, richly imagined, beautifully written, and unconcerned with fitting neatly into a familiar genre, Grave's Daughters doesn’t rely on weirdness for its own sake. For readers who enjoy exploring the stranger corners of speculative fiction, Lindberg’s wonderfully warped universe is well worth visiting.

Dark Muse News: Sword & Sorcery Chain Story (#29-#32)

 Simulcast on BLACK GATE: Dark Muse News: Sword & Sorcery Chain Story (#29-#32)

In August 2025, we hailed the emergence of a second Chain Story project championed by Michael A. Stackpole. This is a Sword & Sorcery-focused, contagious set of connected (“chained”) stories.

Each is:

• A standalone tale
• Readable in any order
• Free to read! (for at least three months from its posting date)
• Interconnected via a theme involving a Crown

We round up groups every several weeks, but check the Chain Story website for the latest. Here we highlight the latest set of five, Episodes 29-32.

#32 "Devourer of Crowns" by Jason M. Waltz and S.E. Lindberg

Lord Direk struggles to contain the shadow cursing his body when the meddling of unknown entities brings him into contact with the suspicious Doktor Grave. Their shared fascination with the jewels of Tarru-syn may offer Direk deliverance—or be his damnation. Can these strangers from different worlds dare to rely on each other long enough to defeat their common enemy? Will alchemy and will-power be enough to save them from being devoured by the treasures they seek?"

31 Why Crimson Cora Hates Wizards Luana Saitta

The Ionaian Basin is atwitter with the capture of its scourge, Crimson Cora! Is this the final hour for the dreaded pirate queen? Brought low by the ruthless commander Pallidus, she is left to die upon the shores of a desolate island. Now the tide is rising and demons from the depths hunger for flesh! How will she get outta this pickle, before she becomes a seaside lunch?

30 The Architect of Flesh Alina Lee

There are terrible things waiting in the Badlands.Rowan Grim returns. In this tale, she finds herself tracking down a workshop of an old enemy of her lost people, the demon known as the Architect of Flesh. What she finds there is more than she expected, and answers to questions she'd not thought to ask. There is more to what she has become than she assumes.

29 A Dangerous Place Michael Stackpole

Myrk is a mouse who spends most of his time trying not to be seen. However, a mission he sees as urgent causes him to leave The Academy and plunge headlong into a forest which, as all mice know, is a dangerous place for a mouse. And dangerous indeed it proves, as an act of kindness reveals him to one of the deadliest enemies a mouse could ever meet.

Previous Black Gate posts have chronicled groups of the growing chain:

• The Chain Story 2 – Sword and Sorcery – Episodes 1 – 3 (Aug 2025)
• The Chain Story 2 – Sword and Sorcery – Episodes 4 – 8  (Oct 2025)
• The Chain Story 2 – Sword and Sorcery – Episodes 9 – 13 (Nov 2025)
• The Chain Story 2 — Sword and Sorcery – Episodes 14 – 18 (Feb 2026)
• The Chain Story 2 — Sword and Sorcery — Episodes 19-23 (May 2026)
• The Chain Story 2 — Sword and Sorcery — Episodes 24-28 (May 2026)

Entry	Chain_Post_Date	Story (Link to Free version)	Author(s)	Abstract
32	August 19, 2026	Devourer of Crowns	Jason M. Waltz and S.E. Lindberg	Lord Direk struggles to contain the shadow cursing his body when the meddling of unknown entities brings him into contact with the suspicious Doktor Grave. Their shared fascination with the jewels of Tarru-syn may offer Direk deliverance—or be his damnation. Can these strangers from different worlds dare to rely on each other long enough to defeat their common enemy? Will alchemy and will-power be enough to save them from being devoured by the treasures they seek?
31	August 5, 2026	Why Crimson Cora Hates Wizards	Luana Saitta	The Ionaian Basin is atwitter with the capture of its scourge, Crimson Cora! Is this the final hour for the dreaded pirate queen? Brought low by the ruthless commander Pallidus, she is left to die upon the shores of a desolate island. Now the tide is rising and demons from the depths hunger for flesh! How will she get outta this pickle, before she becomes a seaside lunch?
30	July 22, 2026	The Architect of Flesh	Alina Lee	There are terrible things waiting in the Badlands.Rowan Grim returns. In this tale, she finds herself tracking down a workshop of an old enemy of her lost people, the demon known as the Architect of Flesh. What she finds there is more than she expected, and answers to questions she'd not thought to ask. There is more to what she has become than she assumes.
29	July 8, 2026	A Dangerous Place	Michael Stackpole	Myrk is a mouse who spends most of his time trying not to be seen. However, a mission he sees as urgent causes him to leave The Academy and plunge headlong into a forest which, as all mice know, is a dangerous place for a mouse. And dangerous indeed it proves, as an act of kindness reveals him to one of the deadliest enemies a mouse could ever meet.
28	June 24th, 2026	Damage And Alatra In The Tower of True Love	Bryan Young, Jason Fry, Luke Chmilenko	Damage and Alatra are opposites in every way. thrown together as a gladiator pair and bound by the interaction of their talents so that they can't be more than four paces apart. Together, they must navigate the perils of the Blood Crown and a dangerous world marked by brutality and sorcery. In the The Tower of True Love, they get a break from the gladiator pits and have been loaned out to protect a traveling caravan. In their travels, they stumble across a mysterious tower that could prove a vulnerability to their employ and are forced to investigate. They get far more than they bargained for when they discover the tower is cursed and they must complete a series of mystical tests to survive.
27	June 10, 2026	The Krells of Tancras Moor	Michael Stackpole	Enemies destroyed Black Morgan of Aldare’s life through deception and guile. They tricked him into shattering everything, everyone, he loved. Their only failure was in letting him live. And now he is stalking them, intent on putting an end to their evil.
26	May 27, 2026	The Evil Eye	James D. Mills	Gora Younger, the First Son of the Chieftain is exiled from his village in the Great Cave after vainly pursuing his betrothed, who left him to live beneath the sky. After years sealed away in the dark, Gora is summoned home to investigate a demonic presence that has taken the tribe’s best warriors and afflicted the Chieftain with a strange malady, slowly turning his flesh to stone. Diving into uncharted depths alongside a healer from a strange city, Gora must dispel a curse that has long shackled his people… and his soul.
25	May 27, 2026	PIGBORNE	Thomas Grayfson	Captain Malion is one of the last defenders of Genlina, an animal kingdom reduced to feral instinct by the sapphire of Tarru-Syn. As his mission into the Nexus Dimension unravels and his comrades are irrevocably transformed, he must decide what he is willing to sacrifice to reclaim his world. A grimdark animal fantasy in the spirit of Redwall, Pigborne is a brutal tale of loyalty and ruin.
24	May 13, 2026	Chain Story Project: Duel at High Moon	Alina Lee	Rowan Grim’s fearful hunger is sated, at least for a bit, so her only desire is for a hot meal, a warm bath, deep sleep and perhaps a dream. Galant’s Gultch looks like the town that can provide all that and even a little whiskey. But there are forces in the town which see her as something more than a weary traveler. They think she will sate a hunger they have. And, under the Scarlet Moon, the truth of the matter will be revealed.
23	March 25, 2026	A Feast For Pan	James D. Mills	IN THE WASTES, ALL ARE FODDER FOR PAN. In a return to the world of SOIL and Ashen Rider, Hromgir and Arvid of Clan Sparrow are on the run after a raid gone wrong. Braving the frozen wastes of the northern coast, they must reach the mountain pass to escape the Wystran riders close on their heels. Hiding from the riders, they take shelter in the depths of a strange cave, unearthing otherworldly horrors better left buried....
22	March 11, 2026	Abhartach’s Castle	Aaron Canton	A trio of student witches head off on a dangerous adventure to obtain a powerful artifact—aiming to retrieve it and keep it out of the hands of sinister forces. Unexpectedly they meet opposition in the form of a classmate they’d once all considered a friend, but who has become a most dangerous foe.
21	February 25, 2026	Into The Badlands	Alina Lee	Rowan Grim’s world is one which is long on places you don’t want to travel to, and few people return from. But what is out there draws her, and she willingly embraces the challenges which have devoured so many others.
20	February 9, 2026	The Hunt For Violet Shatterwing	Bryan Young	Now returned to Nightfall Forest, and in the company of the fox bard Ashley, Pip finds the hamlet of Riveroak ablaze. The mouse knight, his war cat, and companion race to quench the fires and hunt the leader of the crow cult, intent on putting an end to her evil.
19	January 28, 2026	Of Crowns & Consequences	Jason M. Waltz	Direk, wielder of the magickal sword Retribution, has been dispatched to destroy an old enemy at the behest of his King. In his pursuit he encounters a newly awakened power which challenges his knowledge of the world, and threatens to up end all he knows to be true.
18	January 19, 2026	The Sapphire and the Sorceress	Bryan Young	As with all good heroes, Pip does not shrink from danger and adventure. Still, there are times when it would be good to relax at home. But Pip is far from home, and is searching for a powerful sorceress who can help him on his way.
17	January 14, 2026	Terror Above Icehenge	Malcolm T. North	To reach her, however, he’ll have to venture through the Chaos Realm and, as every true hero knows if you undertake that journey lightly, it will end quickly. But Pip has no choice, and therein our adventure begins.
16	December 31, 2025	Demonfire: A Tale of Shintaro Oba	C. L. Werner	A forbidden ritual conducted in secret, bathed in blood and death enables a demon to grasp unimaginable power—the power to destroy all enemies and raise himself above all others.
15	December 24, 2025	In The Land of the Giants,	Bryan Young	A Samurai, whose duty calls for him to hunt down such a creature. A destiny he must pursue even as the world burns around him.
14	December 10, 2025	Blight	Katherine Monasterio	Forest Ranger Hazel Boncliff is a Green Speaker, a person with the magical ability to commune with plants. When the king summons Hazel and her assistant to the capital to heal the strange blight affecting his hunting grounds, she’s reluctant to help—least of all because he’s insisting his inexperienced secretary go along for the journey. But with a reward she can’t refuse and the blight’s effects more harrowing by the moment, she’ll take all the help she can get.
13	November 26, 2025	Ice Hawk’s Aerie,	Bryan Young	A chance meeting in the dark forest. A tale of woe and injustice. Pip Strongpaw, the last of the fabled Great Catriders, must once again wield the runed-sword Feathersbane, to end the chilling menace threatening to destroy the hamlet of Riveroak. A menace of sorcerous origins against which even the bravest of heroes may not prevail.
12	November 12, 2025	Blood for the River	Michael Stackpole	Chased into a swamp by homicidal cultists, Kellach and Serinna encounter a fire mage who saves their lives, and then leads them on an adventure that is sure to get them killed.
11	October 14, 2025	Of Nightmares & Jewels	Robert Greenberger	Something drew the mage onward, always toward the northwest, through restless evenings and dark dreams of ill portent. Yet when Jareth’s traveling companion, the swordswoman Talin, asks him why, he has no idea. And then they reached a tiny town at the edge of nowhere, wherein lurked an evil with roots sunk deep in times beyond remembering; an evil that has chosen their visit as a time to awaken.
10	October 14, 2025	The Cursed Cuff	Aaron Rosenberg	She came to them spinning a tale of woe. An army of undead lay siege to the Manor she called home. She had barely escaped and sough adventurers brave enough to free her people. But to do that Birr Blackjaw and his companions would have to wrest an ancient artifact from the hands of a cult leader who had his own army, and a hellish pet none could hope to defeat.
9	October 1, 2025	The Monastery Plot	Bryan Young	Shield Maiden and legendary sleuth Sister Agatha, accompanied by her faithful initiate, Brother Dominguez, sought to enjoy peace and quiet at  the Monastery of St. Maryam.Despite their desires, they soon find themselves investigating twin murders. Murders which become all that much more bizarre when the name Tarru-Syn turns up, and their search leads them into the very bowels of the earth, to face a foe from beyond their reality.
8	September 24, 2025	On Memories	Michael Stackpole	Dancillius Hrekt is fairly new to the world of Monster Fighting. All he wants to do is to make a good impression with his peers.  And all they want is for  him and his best friend to die.
7	September 10, 2025	The Village of Morvoss	Thomas Grayfson	In this new Kavion adventure, our tormented knight clings to the last threads of family and sanity as he navigates the mysterious Village of Morvoss. Haunted by fractured memories, he must confront the darkness around him—and within.
6	August 27, 2025	Fragment of a Sorcerous Crown	Joan Marie Verba	In this tale from the Chronicles of the Library of Sorcery, the sorcerers investigate a dangerous magical artifact of mysterious origin. Can the sorcerers uncover the truth?Sorcerer Serena is called to investigate an enormous, carnivorous plant. She finds that a mysterious magical artifact is behind the phenomenon. To find out where the artifact came from and what its properties might be, she consults the Library of Sorcery, where she uncovers the answers, but not on the Library shelves. Can the artifact be banished from the sorcerous regions before it becomes a more deathly threat?
5	August 13, 2025	Grave's Brood	S.E. Lindberg	Doktor Grave sends Brood to recover a crown from the Red Orchard, only for Brood to find it is the source of a bloody plague caused by Grave’s experiments. Facing vampiric plants and their loyal clan, Brood must confront his past and question whether he can trust Grave or escape the nightmare himself.
4	July 28, 2025	Shard of Song	Rigel Ailur	Two wizards search desperately for a way to stave off a vicious magical-musical attack before the dragons succumb.  A powerful relic ancient beyond memory calls to them, but do they dare use it?
3	July 16, 2025	Forest of the Fallen Colossus	Bryan Young	A dying robber hands Laila and Zaki a mysterious artifact in the middle of a fae-haunted wood. “Danger,” the robber manages before dying. Suddenly sister and brother find themselves safeguarding an unwanted gift—on the run for their lives in the Forest of the Fallen Colossus.
2	July 3, 2025	Death Grip	Michael Stackpole	The man hadn’t died easily.A smoking hole sat where his heart should have been. Terror twisted his features, and he clutched an emerald reeking of magick as if would somehow save him. Neryon and Magistrate-Martial Logan find themselves in a race to find the killer before he has a chance to harvest more victims. But, with the amount of power used on his first target, there was a big gulf between finding and stopping; and no guarantee he wouldn’t kill them, too.
1	July 3, 2025	Blade of the Storm Witch	Robert E. Vardeman	Her vengeance became elemental! The Conqueror-King's minion murdered her pirate husband.  The Lady Rennata was condemned to follow him into a watery grave—until wind and wave swept her to a magical blade that commands all of Nature.

 

 

 

S.E. Lindberg is a Managing Editor at Blackgate.com, regularly reviewing books, interviewing authors on ‘Beauty & Art in Weird-Fantasy Fiction’, and running Dark Muse News. He has taken lead roles organizing the Gen Con Writers’ Symposium (2021-2023) and the Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group; he even interned for Tales from the Magician’s Skull magazine and is an Assistant Editor for Battleborn magazine. As for crafting stories, he has contributed eight entries across Perseid Press’s Heroes in Hell and Heroika series, and has an entry in Weirdbook Annual #3: Zombies. He independently publishes novels under the banner Dyscrasia Fiction®; short stories of these have appeared in Whetstone and Swords & Sorcery online magazine, Rogues In the House Podcast’s A Book of Blades (Vol. I and Vol. II), DMR’s Terra Incognita, Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Savage Realms Magazine, and Michael Stackpole’s S&S Chain Story 2 Project.

Dark Muse News: Heart of Vengeance & Other Tales of Azatlán by Gregory Mele - Review

Simulcast on Black Gate [Oct 9th 2026]: Dark Muse News: Heart of Vengeance & Other Tales of Azatlán by Gregory Mele – Review

Heart of Vengeance & Other Tales of Azatlán by Gregory Mele (Obsidian & Bronze Ltd , Aug 2026, 280 pages). Cover Art by Mark Smylie.

 

Mele’s Meso-American Mysteries, Melee & Mayhem Awaits

Gregory Mele brings swordplay, sorcery, and the dark gods of a lost Meso-American world vividly to life in his Heart of Vengeance & Other Tales of Azatlán (Obsidian & Bronze Ltd.); it is a thrilling collection of occult mysteries, brutal battles, and weird adventures where the dead rarely stay dead. Dark Muse News jumped on it became public in August 2026 (available in several places; check out the author’s website). It has 14 stories, 4 original and 10 published previously in various magazines.  Their connection? All share characters, deities, and the land of Tehanuwak (map below).  Sprucing up the milieu are fourteen full-page illustrations by Luigi Castellani, Nicole Allen, Gary McCluskey, Justin Pfeil, and Mark Smylie. Logan Dustin Whitney (Sword and Sorcery author and Rogue in the House member) assisted on cover design. The esteemed S&S champion David C. Smith penned the Foreword, who admits to getting nightmares from Mele’s Sipan.

“May you have such dreams after reading these great stories.”  David C. Smith’s Foreword

The author’s martial arts background shines through! To emphasize how mesmerizing these battles are, we provide Excerpts below. Readers may take note of the careful details regarding spacing between combatants and timing of attacks. Greg Mele is more than a practitioner of the arts, but a historian of sorts, having written several books on historic weaponry (In the Service of Mars: Proceedings from the Western Martial Arts Workshop 1999-2009, Volume I and Volume 2, and Flowers of Battle, Volume III: Florius de Arte Luctandi (Complete Martial Works of Fiore Dei Liberi, a Master-At-Arms).

Expect more too! Having read Heart of Vengeance & Other Tales of Aztalan, I hunger for more (and fantasized about taking a vacation to Meso-America so I could reread this collection closer to suitable ambience). Thankfully, Mele expressed in his introduction, “there is enough material for almost two more volumes, all from the ‘Wanderings of Sarrumos-cycle.”

For now, read! This post showcases the book’s structure, includes tons of must-read excerpts, and samples of the interior illustrations.

Back Cover Summary

Tehanuwak, the Land of Obsidian and Bronze, is a sweeping vista of ancient city-states steaming jungles of the deep south and vast grasslands ruled by camelops-riding, bison and mammoth-hunting warrior nomads in unmapped north. But its heartlands are ruled by the Three Empires, each proud and ambitious, bu none more so than that of Azatlán, City of the White Hearth. Ruled by the Naakali, a race of foreign conquerors whose distant homeland was lost beneath the Great Ice, Azatlán’s legions push ever outward, seeking to bring more of the world beneath the yoke of the Living Sun.

Even in Azatlán, life is not easy. Tehanuwak is a beautiful, diverse land, but it is not a gentle place. These are the lands of feathered serpents and ancient ruins long reclaimed by jungle vines. War is everywhere, both within and without human civilization. The bones of fallen cities litter the land, decaying monuments to forgotten greatness. Monsters created by vengeful powers hunt those who wander alone. Far to the north, the Great Ice grinds south, strange creatures migrating southward out of its path, including beasts not entirely mortal. Demons dwell in the Dark Between the Stars, ever pressing against the barriers erected by the Sun and His sister the Moon long ago. Should they ever pierce it, they will descend on the mortal world like locusts upon a field. The gods defend Their creation, but They grow weary and hungry in Their eternal vigilance, and that hunger can only be satiated with mortal blood.

In this collection of sword & sorcery, dark fantasy, occult detectives and weird fiction readers are given a panorama of a lost Bronze Age world, inspired by the legends and civilizations of Mesoamerica, the American Southwest and the ancient Near-East. Readers of Robert E. Howard, David Gemmel, andMiles Cameron will find something to love.

Map by Eli Kurtz – Mythic Gazetteer

Heart of Vengeance & Other Tales of Azatlán Structure:

Section / Genre

• “Creation of the Fifth World” – 1x Story + Map / Myth
• #1 Tales from the Journals of Ométl Five-Rabbit – 3x Stories / Occult Detective
• #2 Tales of the Borderlands – 4x Stories / Sword & Sorcery 
• #3 Tales of the Underworld  – 6x Stories / Weird Sword & Sorcery
• Glossary

Opening Myth

“Creation of the Fifth World” is an original, yet-unpublished story. Being a solid myth, it lays the foundation for the collection. The deities presented pervade all the stories, with Xatanatchoa (the Mother-Father of Nightmares) taking a primary role in the first section and Xokolatl (Lord of Death) in the third. Some are ubiquitous, like Hatûm’s represented by the sun whose burning shield begins its descent.

“Xatanatchoa was both Male and Female, and ejaculating semen into Her many mouths, becoming pregnant. From this act, and from continuous mating with Her own offspring, She gave birth to all living things… But Xatanatchoa’s passions were not yet abated. She mated with Her own shadow, from which was born a misshapen race of night creatures who cannot abide the light of day. Mating again and again with the strongest, and most horrific of Her own offspring, the Fecund One continued to sire monstrosities, each more terrible than the last.” – “Creation of the Fifth World” excerpt.

Deities and their Manifestation & Key Appearances

• Xatanatchoa — primordial Mother-Father of Monstrous Life — focus of Section 1
• Kouranós — Time/Fate Destiny, “Written on the Brow”
• Hatûm — Sun/Courage Imperial religion, warriors, sacrifice
• Atâna — Moon/Wisdom Moon Court, women, warriors, “Feast of the Hidden Moon”
• Ktuunlós — Sea entity
• Nanuwatta — Night/Abyss Stars, darkness, cosmic boundary
• Xokolatl — Death — entire Section 3: Underworld Cycle

Mark Smylie artist

“Khalkeos, my employer, often likens my head’s thickness to a stone’s, but it proved a poor match for actual granite.” – Ométl character

Section #1: Tales from the Journals of Ométl Five-Rabbit

These are “occult detective” stories in a sword-and-sorcery world. These feature a duo with Khalkeos, a sorcerous inquisitor, and Ométl, his mixed-race warrior/bodyguard narrator, a skeptical, practical warrior who gets pushed into increasingly bizarre supernatural situations. Khalkeos and Ométl are hilarious together. Avoiding spoilers, watch out for their ‘crocodile dung’ predicaments. Anyway, Khalkeos investigates supernatural crimes, disappearances, hauntings, necromancy, and occult conspiracies, while Ométl provides the grounded warrior’s perspective and leads the way through the front lines of the crime scenes. The mysteries begin as seemingly mundane crimes or political problems before revealing the supernatural with gusto. The tone and adventure are reminiscent of Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser style.

• “Shadows of a Forgotten Queen” previously appeared in Tales from the Magician’s Skull #6 (2021)
• “Feast of the Hidden Moon” previously appeared in Crimson Quill Quarterly #7 (Sept 2025)
• “The Headhunter of Taltopék” previously appeared in Crimson Quill Quarterly #9 (Jan 2026)

“I think the man we dispatched was actually happier to be traveling with a headless corpse than continuing with us.” – Ométl character

Section #2: Tales of the Borderlands

This section shifts dramatically away from the detective format. Expect classic Sword & Sorcery survival in the vein of Robert E. Howard-style adventure. Protagonists are thrown into dangerous situations, encountering monsters, hostile peoples, supernatural forces, and then have to fight, escape, endure, or outwit crazy odds. These are journeys from the northern border of the Empire to the pearl beds of Kaketzewán and eventually the distant Sea Isles.  The “Salt Tears” is a unique take on pearl diving that will haunt readers.

• “Kai-Chilam’s Judgment” first time in this collection.
• “Salt Tears” previously appeared in Whetstone #5 (2022)
• “Bride-Price, Twice-Paid” previously appeared in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #65 (2025)
• “The Colossi of Zakatla” previously appeared in Anvil: Iron Age Magazine #5 (2026)

Section #3: Tales of the Underworld

The section follows Siwakalpa, a tepatiani (“spirit-healer”), and Sipan, an aging priest of Xokolatl, Lord Death.  The Siwalkalpa tales echo the original Ométl tales with a mystery flare, but she is more erotic and employs sorcery instead of a weapon. The mysteries she solves all involve ghosts. Expect lots of phantasms here, tormenting the living or being hunted across realms. These stories lean more toward Clark Ashton Smith than R.E. Howard. Rather than simply asking, “How do I defeat this monster?” these stories tend to ask, “What does death even mean and what happens when the boundary between the living and dead breaks down?”

• “The Very Small People” previously appeared in Schlock! Magazine (October 2025)
• “Old Ghosts” previously appeared in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #49 (2021)
• “Obsidian Butterfly” first time in this collection.
• “Written on the Brow” first time in this collection.
• “The Heart of Vengeance” first appeared in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #44 (2020), and then in Die By the Sword, Volume 1, DMR Books (2023)
• “Servant of the Black Wind” first appeared in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #39 (2019) and then in We Who Are About to Die: An Anthology of Sacrifice, Rogue Blades Press (2022)

A sampling of books regarding historic melee arts by Greg Mele (a.k.a. Gregory D. Mele)

Excerpts

Mele’s Mesoamerican Melee – the author’s practice and study of martial arts shines through

Blood, or its facsimile, gushed, drenching my face; my attacker stumbled back with an altogether inhuman hiss. Monstrous, bat-like wings flared outward, blocking the moonlight. Scrambling to my feet, I saw now what had mauled and hunted the young priestess, though I had no name for it beyond demon. Its face was both anthropoid and pantherine, but the eyes held a malignant intelligence that was clearly mannish, while the body was some blasphemy of man, reptile, beast and bat, made all the more horrible by a random mingling of hair and scales, and the massive, membranous wings it bore.

---

I would have to cripple it again and try to flee before it regained its feet. I immediately went after the sickle arm again, as it was the demon’s greatest weapon. Unfortunately, it was no longer dysfunctional, and the demon parried my blow on that thick, horny forearm, then slashed at me. I barely dodged, and cut at it again, this time at the softer-looking elbow; again it parried, and the claw hand raked my ribs. I gasped in pain and thrust it through the heart.

It seems it didn’t have one, as nothing happened, other than I was now inside its grasp with my sword constrained. Too close for the sickle arm to disembowel me, I was not too close for the arms to crush me, as the restored tongue writhed toward my throat.

---

As Kai-Ch’ilam spiraled forward, mouth opening wide, the diver flexed his strong legs, kicking out sinuous as an eel, stroking with one hand. Just as the great fish reached him, the youth glided beneath it, his skin scraping against the pebbly hide, the tail fin flicking, striking him painfully as he pushed free and turned, once more spread-eagled, almost motionless. With a great surge the monster folded on itself and drove towards him once more, mouth shut now, long, blunted snout driving faster through the water than before. Along the rail the men saw little but whorls of water and impressionistic shadows of man and shark dueling below.

… Driving his cloth-wrapped left arm into the open maw, he wedged it against one of the jaw hinges, as one might a wild dog or wolf, and drove his obsidian knife to the hilt in its greyish belly, ripping viciously upward, then drew the knife free and repeated the blow, up and in behind one set of gills. The sea-jaguar was no dog, however, and the jaws squeezed down with tremendous force, crushing bone, driving even more air from now burning lungs.

---

Club and axe met straight on, forehand blow to forehand blow, crescent blade hooking over carved wood, but Atsál lacked the strength to wrench the bigger man’s weapon free from his grasp. Pushing Chipota’s weapon arm with his left hand, he fouled the man’s knife thrust and broke free, chopping backhanded at his neck. The blow was hasty, the axe too short; he scored only a tear in the feather-cloak and a thin red line of blood on a broad shoulder.

Chipota’s backswing was better placed, the club’s heavy rootball head catching Atsál just above the hip, knocking him back, which, ironically saved him from the knife-thrust driving at his face. The young warrior remained standing, but his breath came in gasps, and he knew ribs were broken. Slipping farther back he drew his own knife with his left hand.

…With a howl, the other man hurled his knife. Atsál tried twisting aside, but his hip failed him. The knife struck as his leg buckled, sinking into his thigh. He crumpled, felt his back strike something hard, and realized he lay splayed against the base of the Long Face. Chipota bore down on him, war-club gripped in both hands. Atsál willed himself to rise, failed, and the club was striking down at his skull. Gripping his axe in both hands, left hand beneath the head, he parried between his hands, grunting in pain at the force of the standing man’s blow. A foot lashed out, stomping his belly, broken rib howling, driving the wind and the fight from him. Atsál looked up into those rage-maddened eyes, saw the club lifted on high, heard Chipota’s triumphant war-howl.

Mark Smylie artist

 

Confrontations with Death

A circle of beheaded corpses, all women, lay strewn across the floor, their blood pooling across the flags. Lord Sennedjem, hands, arms and chest spattered red, shrank against the vault’s far wall, his eyes staring wide in horror at the luminescent figure of a woman whose long, ornately dressed blue-black hair was crowned with a tall, gold diadem with a large heliotrope bloodstone at its center, surmounted by a fan of white owl-feathers. Her jade and turquoise jewels were the emblems of royalty and her costume, elegant yet scandalous, suggested an antiquity far greater than the memory of any living creature. At the nobleman’s feet lay the leaf-bladed sword…

…I had long since drawn my sword, and good thing, for the headless corpses were gaining their feet now, tottering, but becoming steadier by the moment. Still lying scattered about the vault, seven disembodied sets of eyes scanned the room, and finding their slayer, seemed to guide their headless bodies towards him. Reanimated hands flexed, opening and closing as if to test their newly gained strength. A faint, luminous cloud of mist enveloped the monstrously animated dead, directing those lifeless hands towards Lord Sennedjem

---

…blood, or its facsimile, gushed, drenching my face; my attacker stumbled back with an altogether inhuman hiss. Monstrous, bat-like wings flared outward, blocking the moonlight.

Scrambling to my feet, I saw now what had mauled and hunted the young priestess, though I had no name for it beyond demon. Its face was both anthropoid and pantherine, but the eyes held a malignant intelligence that was clearly mannish, while the body was some blasphemy of man, reptile, beast and bat, made all the more horrible by a random mingling of hair and scales, and the massive, membranous wings it bore.

---

I stared in horrified bewilderment as I took in the blood-splattered scene. The vault was octagonal; as large as the shrine above but made oppressive by the low ceiling and the horrible, blood-stained idol that dominated the far wall. Its subject was an aged and yet pregnant woman, what parts of Her were woman at all. Nearly skeletal limbs, claw-like hands and breasts hanging flaccid from endless birthing. About her swollen belly was a skirt of writhing snakes and a necklace made of human hearts, hands, and skulls. A cadaverous, crone’s face, was surmounted on either side, by two facing serpents, and a long, alligator’s tail curled around Her clawed feet: Xatanatchoa, the Dark Grandmother, Source of Life and Mother of Nightmares.

 

Greg Mele (link to author page) 

About the Author Gregory D. Mele has had a passion for sword & sorcery and historical fiction for most of his life. An early love of dinosaurs led him to dragons, and from dragons…well, the rest should be obvious. From Robin Hood to Conan, Elric to Aragorn, Captain Blood to King Arthur, if there were swords being swung, he was probably reading it.   While a student at the University of Illinois in the early 1990s, he discovered that there was a vast collection of surviving technical works on fighting with the sword, rapier, lance and axe. Sword in one hand, book in the other, he never looked back. Since the late 90s, his passion has been the reconstruction and preservation of armizare, a martial art developed over 600 years ago by the famed Italian master-at-arms Fiore dei Liberi. He has become an internationally known researcher and author on the subject, via his work with the Chicago Swordplay Guild, which he founded in 1999, and Freelance Academy Press, a publisher in the fields of martial arts, arms and armour, chivalry, historical arts and Greg lives with his very tolerant family in the Chicago suburbs.

 

Artists: Left to Right, Gary McCluskey; Justin Pfeil, Gary McCluskey

 

 

---

S.E. Lindberg is a Managing Editor at Blackgate.com, regularly reviewing books, interviewing authors on ‘Beauty & Art in Weird-Fantasy Fiction’, and running Dark Muse News. He has taken lead roles organizing the Gen Con Writers’ Symposium (2021-2023) and the Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group; he even interned for Tales from the Magician’s Skull magazine and is an Assistant Editor for Battleborn magazine. As for crafting stories, he has contributed eight entries across Perseid Press’s Heroes in Hell and Heroika series, and has an entry in Weirdbook Annual #3: Zombies. He independently publishes novels under the banner Dyscrasia Fiction®; short stories of these have appeared in Whetstone and Swords & Sorcery online magazine, Rogues In the House Podcast’s A Book of Blades (Vol. I and Vol. II), DMR’s Terra Incognita, Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Savage Realms Magazine, and Michael Stackpole’s S&S Chain Story 2 Project.

 

Dark Muse News: An Introduction to Warhammer Quest – Darkwater

Simulcast on Black Gate: Dark Muse News: An Introduction to Warhammer Quest – Darkwater

Games Workshop's Warhammer Quest: Darkwater, Agents of the Order Azyr expansion, and White Dwarf Issues #520 and #527 (featuring expansion material)

Delving into the drowning Jade Abbey

This January, Dark Muse News began preparing for Warhammer Quest: Darkwater. Back then, I had just finished clicking the miniatures together (link to post). Finally, this post follows to cover an introductory foray into Warhammer Quests: Darkwater (2025) the latest cooperative dungeon crawler in Games Workshop's lineup.

The original was released in 1995, and the series had a resurgence with Silver Tower in 2016, then Shadows Over Hammerhal (2017), Blackstone Fortress (2018), Cursed City (2021): and Lost Relics (2022). Unlike the skirmish and mega-battles that Warhammer is known for, these Quest games are cooperative (i.e., all players are on the same team fighting together against the game board). They have pre-generated character cards with stats and asymmetrical/unique actions. Expect lots of dice rolling and flipping of map tiles during exploration phases to reveal the sprawling dungeon.

Immolating Ember - Narrated by Moose Matson on Youtube

"Immolating Ember" appeared in Savage Realms Monthly July 2025.

It was then narrated by Savage Realms Monthlys own Moose Matson (audible link):  
Savage Realms Monthly July 2025

And now, it is available as a free story on YouTube! See the embedded video or go to Youtube!



Like Moose's voice? Get the whole issue!  

Like the story too?  Then consider getting Grave's Daughters since "Immolating Ember" appears as Chapter VIII (frontispiece below from C. Aaron Kreader), and the other chapters fill in her rise to power and her fate after.

SAVAGE REALMS MONTHLY