Sword and Sorcery Group - Poll for Nov-Dec

Sword and Sorcery Group - Poll for Nov-Dec (link)

Vote for the Nov-Dec Groupread theme. We'll do the top two themes, and they'll be based on names of authors and cover artists. 

Bonus street cred goes to folks who pick books that have both cover artists and author sharing names.

Beth: Elizabeth Moon or Elizabeth Bear Catherine: C.L. Moore or anything with a Catherine" Jeffrey Jones cover. Robert:
Robert Lynn Asprin or Robert E. Howard or Robert Gould (did some Elric/MM covers) Julie:J.V. Jones or Boris Vellejo's partner in art : Julie Bell Charles:Charles R. Saunders or Charles Moll (did some Moorcock covers) John: John Jakes plus John Duillo (artist on Conan of the Isles, Conan the Freebooter, Conan the Wanderer) Andrew: Andrew J. Offutt and Howard Andrew Jones Michael: Anything by Michael Moorcock, or cover art by Michael Whelan. Any other Michael's are fair game too William: How about some classics by William Hope Hodgson or William Morris? Raymond: Raymond E. Feist and Ray Bradbury and covers by Raymond Swanland James; James Enge or James A. Moore would work

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Helen's Daimones - available now!

Helen's Daimones is on Kindle and Paperback!

Helen’s Daimones – the gateway novella for Dyscrasia Fiction. Helen and Sharon are orphans haunted by supernatural diseases, insects, and storms. They are your tour guides in this entry-way novella into Dyscrasia Fiction which explores the choices humans and their gods make as a disease corrupts their souls, shared blood and creative energies. In Helen’s Daimones, guardian angels are among the demons chasing the girls. When all appear grotesquely inhuman, which ones should they trust to save them?

Cover Art by Daniel Landerman 
Cover art creation to be blogged shortly.

Praise for Dyscrasia Fiction

Black Gate Magazine raves: “Lindberg is the real deal, a gifted writer with a strong command of language,” Joe Bonadonna

Foreword Clarion, 5/5 Stars: “[Lords of Dyscrasia] is highly recommended, though not for the faint of heart…” Reviewer Janine Stinson

Beauty in Ruins: “[Spawn of Dyscrasia is] as much a horror novel as it is a fantasy novel, but it’s in that clash of genres that Lindberg distinguishes himself. [Spawn of Dyscrasia is] a gorgeous, textured, intricately layered story.” — Reviewer Bob Milne

Dyscrasia Fiction story chronology (publication year):

• Lords of Dyscrasia (2011)
• Helen’s Daimones (2017)  <<<<< New to the Underworld? Start here!
• Spawn of Dyscrasia (2014)
• Helen’s Storm (working title)

John R. Fultz Interview by S.E. Lindberg

Reposted on Black Gate Dec. 2023: BEAUTIFUL DARK WORLDS: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN R. FULTZ

Berserker - 1977 Grimdark with a dose of testosterone

Shadow Of The Wolf by Chris Carlsen
S.E. rating: 4 of 5 stars

Viking Age: The Sword and Sorcery group on Goodreads had a Viking Age theme, for fans of books like The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson or Scott Oden's newly released A Gathering of Ravens ...or C. Dean Andersson's Bloodsong! — Hel X 3. I went after 1970’s Berserker series.

Availability: The Berserker series was originally published in 1977-79 under pseudonym Chris Carlsen (real name Robert Holdstock). Since 2014, it has been available as an omnibus paperback edition under Holdstock: Berserker SF Gateway Omnibus: The Shadow of the Wolf, The Bull Chief, The Horned Warrior. Melvyn Grant was the cover artist for the originals, which represent the books well with Sword and Sorcery flare ala Frazetta..

1. Shadow Of The Wolf 1977
2. The Bull Chief 1977
3. The Horned Warrior 1979

1977 Grimdark!: This reads fast and drips testosterone. Monstrous possession ala lycanthropy is prominent, but here it is Odin’s ursine Berserker spirit in the spotlight. Like Jeckyl-n-hide, Harald Swiftax is cursed to relent his body to a bear-entity that is less chivalrous than himself. The Berserker in him is bestial, without empathy, and blood thirsty. This is Harald’s story, from being cursed to struggling to break it. The book is geared toward all the good and bad of stereotypical masculinity. It features mostly men (save for one screaming-hot witch who bares all); it has plenty of gore-rich melee, one overtly gratuitous, drawn-out sex scene, and a few lesser rape scenes.

The milieu is filled with supernatural forces from Nordic gods, Celtic witches, and even Lovecraftian Old Ones. Overall, entertaining. It’s like riding a wolf or bear at a rodeo (animal choices intentional). Pacing alternates from easy-going/trope-filled village pillaging to high octane savagery and horror. Several story lines had the potential to be over-the-top epic, but were left hanging or deflated. One or two moments seemed either contrived [(i.e., Harald’s tense-confrontation with other Berserker’s in Urlsgarde, followed instantly with him not caring and getting drunk)] or inconsistent [ [ (Harald and Diedre’s “relationship” seemed to diminish Elena’s impact…and given that Diedre needed an immortal… then she should have mated with a Berserker form)].

That said, there is still some great story telling employed. Most of the mysteries are resolved. The title “Shadow of the wolf” eventually makes sense. It is part of a trilogy; some mysteries remain (i.e., exactly why was Swiftax or his family targeted by Odin’s curse?)

Death Dealer Sigurd Gotthelm is a great secondary character who wears a cursed horned helmet and is reminiscent of Frazetta's Death Dealer (though arguably more interesting than the James Silke's presentation of the Death Dealer in Prisoner of the Horned Helmet 1998’s Gath of Baal). Frazetta painted the original in 1973, so perhaps that was in inspiration for Gotthelm. I hope there is more of him in the subsequent books. I have no idea where the next two installments will take me, but I own the next one and am jumping in.

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More Than Human - Bundle Promo

"More Than Human- eBook Bundle"

A. L. Butcher, fellow Heroika: Dragon Eater author and Light Beyond the Storm Author (Sex & Sorcery novel reviewed by S.E.) is in a real jam.... or bundle. She has has two novels in this set of 11 eBooks.

Currently just $6 for the whole set. It's like buying an anthology. A great way to discover new authors.

11 Books (currently for under ~$6) 

Amazon.com / Kobo Barnes And Noble / Bundlerabbit.com / Goodreads

To save. To guard. To heal.

Beloved people, precious things, and sacred spaces move our hearts and inspire us to defend them.

In these tales of redemption and rescue, more-than-human heroes stand forth as champions to protect all that is worthy of protection.

Walk with these elves, imps, wizards, dryads, gods, and guardians as they subdue demons, free the enslaved, preserve the world, comfort the exiled, and cross swords with the dark. Read and revel in their triumphs and tribulations.

The Shining Citadel – A. L. Butcher

Technological Angel – Barbara G. Tarn

Needle-Green – Debbie Mumford

The Cartographer's Daughter – Karen L. Abrahamson

Serpent’s Foe – J.M. Ney-Grimm

The Crystal Courtesan – Karen L. Abrahamson

The First Book of Old Mermaids Tales – Kim Antieau

The Guardians - Book 1 – Don Viecelli

Love Apidae (A Recumon Story) – Michael R. E. Adams

The Flat Above the Wynd – Alexandra Brandt

The Kitchen Imps and Other Dark Tales – A. L. Butcher

Sept-Oct Groupreads: Vikings and Sword-n-Planet

All are welcome to join the Sword & Sorcery Group on Goodreads

Our Sept-Oct 2017 Groupreads Are Set:

Link to Viking Age discussion

Link to Sword-n-Planet discussion

Banner Credits:
Fliers of Antares (Dray Prescot, #8), cover art by Jack Gaughan, Dray Prescot Series #8 book by Alan Burt Akers

Transit to Scorpio coverart Josh Kirby 1975, Dray Prescot #1 book by Alan Burt Akers

Melvyn Grant artist, for 1977 Chris Carlsen (Robert Holdstock) Shadow Of The Wolf

   

A Gathering of Ravens - Review by SE

A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden
S.E. rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Gathering of Ravens delivers an Orc with serious depth, and he carries a bloody seax too.

“Since young adulthood, I’ve wanted to write a book about Orcs—those foot soldiers of evil first revealed to us in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. I wanted to write it from the Orcs’ point of view. And I wanted to redeem them.” – Scott Oden, Author’s Note from A Gathering of Ravens

Scott Oden did not want to “write about a redeeming orc,” or the “redemption of an orc.” Rather, the author set out to present an orc that was not shallow, zombie-like drone (ala Tolkien, and most of high fantasy novels stereotype).

The milieu in A Gathering of Ravens is reminiscent of Poul Anderson’s Viking Age The Broken Sword, being full of Dane’s and Celtic faeries and Norse myths. The 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 faiths 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 Grendel’s brother, as named by some. The lady Étaín, 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 …”

Grimnir is a brutal bastard. 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 compelling as any vigilante hero. Way to deliver on your muse, Scott Oden!




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