Alchemical Muses for Hell and Heroika

Perseid Press Author Spotlight on

 S.E. Lindberg: April 15th, 2021

With the release of Mystics in Hell,  Perseid Press is rotating a spotlight on its authors. This week it's on me, eh gad! I wanted to capture my post here as well, adding some extra links and ensuring my blog has a record of how I infuse Alchemy into the Heroes in Hell and Heroika series: 

Alchemical Muses:

Strange muses have had inspired my creativity for decades. I’m fascinated with the intersection of science, art, and spirituality (alchemy essentially) and have turned toward writing as a medium to learn. Since 2014, I’ve also interviewed authors on the topic Beauty in Weird Fiction to explore how others approached such inspirations (for this crowd, I recommend Death Panelists, when is it O.K. to go to hell?). By education and trade, I am actually a chemist. For Perseid Press, I’ve contributed five alchemy-inspired tales to date (three for the Heroes in Hell series and two for Heroika).

Alchemy in Heroes in Hell:

I’ve adopted the duo of Howard Carter (renowned archaeologist and looter of King Tutankhamun’s tomb) and Ernst Haeckel (discredited evolutionist and original ‘ecologist’) as tour guides. Their motives contrast: Carter adores material, artificial wealth as much as Haeckel is fascinated with nature’s riches. They roam the Egyptian world of the dead, Duat. Their story arc continues in the just-released Mystics in Hell.

1)     “Curse of the Pharaohs” in Pirates in Hell

·       In the Egyptian realm of the dead of Duat, many pharaohs wait to be judged by Anubis; yet, he has been in absentia for centuries. As the piratical Sea People threaten to come ashore, the meddling duo of Carter and Haeckel unearth Anubis’s Hall of Two Truths. Eleven anxious Rameses risk leaving the shoreline unprotected to chance judgment (and a chance to exit Duat!). Read this teaser interview to learn more: Ernest Haeckel Interview (Hell Week 2017, Pirates in Hell).

2)     “Lovers Sans Phalli” in Lovers in Hell

·       Surviving Pirates in Hell’s “Curse of the Pharaohs”, the lovers Hatshepsut and Senenmut depart Duat toward hell proper, Anubis having removed their hearts and broken their toy phallus. They find Osiris, missing the penis he requires to retake the realm from Satan’s influence. Carter and Haeckel quest with the Egyptians, seeking to make everyone whole again by stealing genitalia from the Undertaker’s Mortuary. Listen to this teaser interrogation of Carter and Haeckel as higher powers seek out the location of a stolen artifact: the phallus of the Egyptian god of rejuvenation: Osiris. Hell Week 2018 – A Day in the Life of Haeckel and Carter.

3)     “Fool’s Gold? in Mystics in Hell

·       The Egyptian god of mysticism, Thoth, seeks conspirators to retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone; with it, Thoth could usurp Satan’s control of the realm of Duat. Taking up the charge is Carter and Haeckel. They discover that King Midas’s alchemical ability to transmute flesh into gold relies on the stolen Philosopher’s Stone, and Midas is producing hell’s new gastro-currency: buttcoin. Yes, rejoice, there is a gold-rush in hell! Mine for a price. At your own risk.

Alchemy in Heroika:

For this series, I track the mystical Emerald Tablet (a.k.a., the Philosopher’s Stone) through time. Read these and experience the birth of chemical warfare. You’ll see that Thoth and Osiris make appearances here too.

1)      “Legacy of the Great Dragon” in Heroika 1:Dragon Eaters

·       Legacy of the Great Dragon fictionalizes the Hermetic Tradition, presenting the “Divine Pymander–Great Dragon” as being the sun-eating Apep serpent of Egyptian antiquity (a dragon who ate the sun each day from under the horizon, in the underworld). Thoth, physician of the gods (the Father of Alchemy), helps Horus to find power to avenge the death of his father, Osiris, at the hands of Set. This is a wild piece, with a cosmically huge dragon and gods fighting inside of it.  Learn more: Library of Erana Interview.

2)     “The Naked Daemon” in Heroika 2:  Skirmishers

·       “The Naked Daemon” pits the mystic Apollonius of Tyana (deceased ~100 CE) against zealots who destroy what remains of the Alexandria Library. In life, his principles had been aligned with those of the pacifist gymnosophists (a.k.a. naked philosophers); hundreds of years past his death, Apollonius finds himself reborn as a daemon empowered with Hermes’s Emerald Tablet. He observes the Roman oppression over pagan scholars and is challenged with an urgent need to defend knowledge. Will Apollonius rationalize war by unleashing the power of alchemy to do harm? Will he become an angel or demon? How will alchemy transform The Naked Demon? Learn more: Heroika: Skirmishers – Witness the Birth of Alchemical Warfare! 

 

S.E. Lindberg Bio:

S.E. Lindberg resides near Cincinnati, Ohio working as a microscopist, employing scientific and artistic skills to understand the manufacturing of products analogous to medieval paints. Two decades of practicing chemistry, combined with a passion for the Sword & Sorcery genre, spurs him to write graphic adventure fictionalizing the alchemical humors (including his independently published “Dyscrasia Fiction” series). With Perseid Press, he writes weird tales infused with history and alchemy (Heroika: Dragon Eaters & Skirmishers, Pirates in Hell, Lovers in Hell, Mystics in Hell). S.E. Lindberg is a Managing Editor at Black Gate and co-moderates the Sword & Sorcery group on Goodreads.

  S.E.’s Amazon Page   /    Perseid Press Author Page  /   Sword & Sorcery Group on Goodreads

Eda Blessed: A Ki Khanga Adventure - Review By SE

Eda Blessed: A Ki Khanga Adventure by Milton J. Davis

SE rating: 5 of 5 stars

Omari Ket, an Agency of One

Eda Blessed: A Ki Khanga Adventure is all about Omari Ket. The collection chronicles his rise from street-rat to god-marked mercenary (a Mikijen). “Agency” is a term for the capacity of a character to act independently, and Omari Ket is an Agency onto himself. He is as suave, cunning, and as lethal as James Bond, but Omari reports to no one, really; he is a survivor more than a spy, so he approximates a Han Solo rogue who is happy to join a large melee (for a price). And woman-in-power and upper-classes adore him! He’s the bad boy of action.

Why the call-outs to Bond and Solo (and not Conan)? I wanted to emphasize that Omari Ket feels like a non-stereotypical Sword & Sorcery hero. In fact, his testosterone-rich aura is expected from a Secret Agent Man. Omari is not a spy, but he is a ladies’ man in a dog-eat-dog world. If you like a cut-throat, libertine, action-oriented protagonist then try this out. You’ll enjoy the action set in an alternative African continent called Ki Kanga.

Omari earns a role in the band of mystical Mikijen mercenaries granting him Ngisimaugi tattoos; these enable his boldness and ability for his body to rejuvenate. He confronts all sorts of conflicts, from tomb raiding, chaotic skirmishes, and battles with strange centaur-like creatures that are “amalgam of man and beast; their bodies that of the great grass antelopes, their torsos man-like, their heads crowned with horns.”

Omari appears to be an anagram for Imaro, the original Sword & Soul champion created by Charles Saunders (that alternative Africa was called Nyumbani). The author of Eda Blessed, Milton Davis, is a Black Speculative fiction writer and owner of MVmedia, LLC, a publishing company specializing in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Sword and Soul…including Saunder’s works. Milton writes other characters as well, in other universes, including the Changa's Safari series (Changa is an action hero of historic Africa), who has a polar opposite personality to Omari).

More Ki Khanga: Ki Khanga has its own anthology (Ki-Khanga: The Anthology) and RPG game world to immerse yourself in. Read the books, then play the world. There are other spinoffs too, including two with leading heroines Priestess of nKu and The Bene's Daughter: A Ki Khanga Novel. And Eda Blessed II (~10 more tales) is due out imminently (Spring 2021)

Contents (Eda Blessed I)
-Kept
-A Better Deal
-Second Chance
-The Skin Man (Originally published in Skelos II)
-The Ngola’s Promise
-Assassin’s Choice
-Old Habits (Originally published in Griots: Sisters of the Spear)
-Simple Math (Originally published in the Ki-Khanga: The Anthology)

View all my reviews

Sword & Sorcery Group Poll for May-June 2021 Group-Read Topics

 Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group

Join us May-June for our 2-month, 2-topic Group-Read.  Currently, we are homing in on topics! Vote!

Poll

Voting to select group-read topics for the May-June period. Usually, top 2 topics get a focus for 2 months.

Sorcery Against Caesar: The Complete Simon of Gitta Short Stories, Richard L. Tierney's Simon of Gitta is accessible now. Up for weird adventure, anyone?
Bard, or the series, by Keith John Taylor has been suggested a few times. Ebook are available now, I think. ,
Conan Pastiche: like Conan the Rebel, Conan: Sword of Skelos Conan and the Emerald Lotus
Non-Fiction S&S i.e. biographies of REH like Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery, Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography, or Renegades and Rogues: The Life and Legacy of Robert E. Howard, or any of the pen pal letters between REH and other others.
Fresh Meat from RBFScott Oden Presents The Lost Empire of Sol: A Shared World Anthology of Sword & Planet Tales. Tons of great authors in this one.
Fresh Meat from Pulp Hero Press: Lots to choose from. Here are some: Adrian Cole's The Dream Lords Book One : Rebellion, Joe Bonadonna's Mad Shadows III: The Heroes of Echo Gate, Jason Ray Carney's Rakefire and Other Stories
Fresh Meat: Coming in April: John R. Fultz's Worlds Beyond Worlds
https://dmrbooks.com/test-blog/2021/3/25/coming-in-april-worlds-beyond-worlds-the-short-fiction-of-john-r-fultz

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“Behind the Scenes with Skull & Friends”

Saturday 2/27 at 10AM EST. ~1 hour. 
 “Behind the Scenes with Skull & Friends.” 

• UPDATE: Seth earned his title of "Dread Cymist" (chemist)
• UPDATE #2: John O'Neill confesses he does not own Legend of Zagor

...reposted from Goodman Games website.

Join us Saturday, February 27 at 10:00 am EST on Goodman Games Official Twitch Channel

"The exalted Skull, lord of all things sword & sorcery, has sent a selection of his minions and interns to satiate the mortal desire for sword & sorcery discussion while they breathlessly await issue #6 of his magazine of superlative greatness.

Join Chief Editorial Minion and interns #12, 34, and 657 to learn more about the ongoing open call for sword & sorcery fiction, tips and tricks for writing great fiction, and just a good discussion of what books we’ve been reading. Intern #78 will fill in if any other interns meet their demise prior to screen time."

Mar-Apr 2021 Group Reads: Nostalgia And Appendix N: Eldritch Roots of D&D

Sword & Sorcery Group On Goodreads Our Spring 2021 (March-April) groupreads will have a "rebirth" theme to our two topics. Please join us! Nostalgia TOPIC FOLDER: Share, reread, and review the books that lured you into the Sword & Sorcery genre. Appendix N: Eldritch Roots FOLDER LINK. The anthology "Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons" exhibits the weird roots of Sword & Sorcery, and was a hot topic delayed from our Jan-Feb Anthology topic (book release was moved to late Feb). Banner Credits, L --> R The Book of Three - Art by Don Maitz 1976 The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - Richard Corben 1983 Dragons of Spring Dawning, by Larry Elmore 1985 Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons -Arik Roper 2020

Tears and Crimson Velvet - Guest Post by A. L. Butcher

Today we host a guest blog from fellow Heroika and Heroes in Hell author, A. L. Butcher. She has a new entry out now for her Legacy of the Mask series of short stories (Historical Fantasy). Tears and Crimson Velvet is the sequel to Echoes of a Song, and you'll hear from a key protagonist in this guest post.  This is also part of a blog tour via Silver Dagger Book Tours and includes a giveaway (info/ below).

A L Butcher's character Lise Giry gets interviewed. Learn more about the character, and the historical fantasy exhibited in the award-winning Legacy of the Mask short story series:

Lise Giry, how did you find yourself in your current predicament/on your current adventure?

Years ago, I took pity on a young man – he was caged like a beast, beaten, starved. He was a prisoner, because of the face he wore. Never had I seen the like of him – thin and wiry, ugly as the devil, but his voice… oh that voice. The moment I heard Erik sing my soul rejoiced, for it was a heavenly sound. No mortal should be able to sing like that – not even the greatest of the Opera singers. It was so full of joy, and yet so terribly sorrowful. That day I heard the Angel of Music and brought the Angel of Death to my door.

Can a man be an Angel and a devil in one? Yes. He is the best of men, and the worst.

I found him in my husband’s barn, cold, bleeding and desperate. I should have turned him in, but I did not. I brought him food, tended his wounds and clothed him. I could not know than how that act of Christian goodness would shape my life. I could not know who he would become, or indeed, who I would become. No one had ever been kind to him. His life was pain, darkness, hatred and fear. Poor Erik.

Erik was my secret, my first lie. After my husband died, I was left with nothing, my stepchildren saw to that. My daughter and I would have starved, but ‘opportunities’ appeared, like working at the Opera House. I thought about him, not every day. Not then. I wondered what had happened to the frightened boy I had helped, sometimes I heard fantastic stories about a wizard who built palaces for kings, and sang like no one else.

What is your moral code? How does it compare with the general moral code of your area?

I was raised as a Catholic. France is a religious country, and it is expected one follows the teachings of Jesus. I pray to God, he doesn’t listen, but I pray nonetheless. Do I believe, truly? I believe in angels – for I have met one. He is terrible, enchanting, captivating and mysterious. I used to believe no one is beyond redemption, no one is truly damned – and now I question that. I have spoken with an angel in hell, a man truly damned.

To others I am the prim and proper dance mistress of the Opera Populaire in Paris. I live quietly, I tell no tales, do not gossip, attend Mass and don’t flaunt my body – although at my age that would be a sin indeed.

In truth I live a lie and have done for many years. The secrets I keep could bring a man to the executioner or could have saved a man’s life. The truth I know is not that of others.

How many crimes have you committed?

I have harboured a murderer, fed him, clothed him. I have remained silent whilst the bodies pile up. I have been complicit in extortion, theft, deceit, and even kidnap.

Sins – many of those have been committed. Every day he lives. Every day I live.

What is your greatest achievement? 

My daughter, Meg. She is a talented dancer, and despite our hardships and our strange life she has done well.

What is your greatest failure? 

I could not save his soul.

If you could live your life again would you make the same choices? 

Yes.

Have you ever loved/been loved? 

I loved my father, I loved my husband, in a way, and I loved Erik.

Tell us about your family. I have a daughter Meg. 

My other children are with their father in heaven. I have no family other than that.

How does your society deal with those on the edges? Do you approve of this?

Those who are poor, infirm or disfigured often find themselves at the mercy of others. There are those who are different, feared, hated for no reason other than they ARE different. I wonder what Erik would have become if he had not bore the face he had. If a man lives in shadows, he becomes a ghost.

Women, especially widows, often find life a struggle. It’s a man’s world – and we must conform or be outcast. Many resort to crime to feed hungry bellies, I have seen failed dancers, abandoned my patrons, often pregnant, starving in the streets or selling their bodies for bread.

Giveaway & Blog Tour

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

• $20 Amazon giftcard,
• Free Audible edition of both books (UK, US, DE),
• Signed print copy (or large print - winners choice) of either book,
• Free copy of Kitchen Imps and Other Dark Tales (fantasy) in either ebook, signed print edition or audible.
• 1 winner each!

 About the Author

British-born A. L. Butcher is an avid reader and creator of worlds, a poet, and a dreamer, a lover of science, natural history, history, and monkeys. Her prose has been described as 'dark and gritty' and her poetry as 'evocative'. She writes with a sure and sometimes erotic sensibility of things that might have been, never were, but could be.

Alex is the author of the Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles and the Tales of Erana lyrical fantasy series. She also has several short stories in the fantasy, fantasy romance genres with occasional forays into gothic style horror, including the Legacy of the Mask series. With a background in politics, classical studies, ancient history and myth, her affinities bring an eclectic and unique flavour in her work, mixing reality and dream in alchemical proportions that bring her characters and worlds to life.

She also curates speculative fiction themed book bundles on BundleRabbit - for the most part the Here Be Series

Alex is also proud to be a writer for Perseid Press where her work features in Heroika: Dragon Eaters, Heroika Skirmishers - where she was editor and cover designer as well as writer; and Lovers in Hell - part of the acclaimed Heroes in Hell series. http://www.theperseidpress.com/
Awards: Outside the Walls, co-written with Diana L. Wicker received a Chill with a Book Reader's Award in 2017.

Website  * Blog * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

 

Sword & Sorcery Groupread Poll - Mar-Apr 2021

Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group  

Poll

Polling for group-read topics for March-April. Please write in your ideas. Usually, top two topics get a spotlight.

Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons had a postponed release to late Feb, but was supposed to an Anthology Read topic. Why not give it focus in March?

Nostalgia (i.e., mid-life crisis topics); How about we all revisit the books that got us into S&S. I list some of mine as examples, but to each their own. And yes, I am in my late forties and do stare at my old books in my library, but I am not having a crisis yet.
Sorcery Against Caesar: The Complete Simon of Gitta Short Stories, Richard L. Tierney's Simon of Gitta is accessible now. Up for weird adventure, anyone?
Bard, or the series, by Keith John Taylor has been suggested a few times. Ebook are available now, I think.

Manly Wade Wellman' Cahena: A Dream of the Past looks interesting. We could read anything by him,

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