Review of Swords and Sorceries, Volume 6
I won't rate this review, since I'm in it. But I will say, as a fan of the genre, I would not be disappointed if I'd bought this collection instead of getting a contributor copy. Here's my take, then, on Swords and Sorceries – Tales of Heroic Fantasy, Volume 6 (Amazon associate link) from Parallel Universe Publications, edited by David A. Riley (340 pages, paperback, published May, 2023).
Table of Contents:
- Introduction by David A. Riley
- 'Land of the Dead' by Dev Agarwal
- 'The House of Bones' by Carson Ray
- 'Threnody of Ghosts' by Phil Emery
- 'Wardark and the Siren Queen' by Craig Herbertson
- 'Otrim' by Lyndon Perry
- 'Gods, Men, and Nephilim' by David Dubrow
- 'Golden Witch of Adzelgar' by Scott McCloskey
- 'Raiding the Graveyard of Lost Ships' by Tais Teng
- 'A Place of Ghosts' by Andrew Darlington
- 'Those Who Wear Their White Hair Proudly' by Lauren C. Teffeau
- 'Trails for Treasure' by Harry Elliott
- 'God of the Dreaming Isles' by Adrian Cole
Opening the collection is the editor's introduction of each of the authors. Most of the biographies, I assume, were provided by the contributors, but Riley adds a bit of commentary and ties the notes together in a comprehensive preface. I'm used to searching the appendices for author bios, so this was a nice change of pace, to be introduced to the writers ahead of reading their stories.
The first tale, “Land of the Dead,” is by Dev Agarwal whose hero, Baron Simeon (the Stone Snake), is captured, travels to the land of the dead, only to awaken in a stupor, finding himself facing a powerful opponent in a gladiator style fight to the death. This is the first Stone Snake tale I've read and it does feel like an episode in his and Princess Irene's ongoing quest to return home. Which is not a bad thing, per se. A lot of S&S tales are serial adventures within an overarching quest. It was easy to deduce that, in a previous tale, the Princess was abducted; and Agarwal's series evidently recounts the main characters' travels and plans to be reunited with the Emperor. A solid stand-alone installment in the author's fantasy universe, and one that will likely prompt a reader unfamiliar with Baron Simeon to track down more of his escapades.
Next up, “The House of Bones” by Carson Ray, features the swordsman Knox as he tracks down a Doctor Grim, an evil practitioner of the dark (and gruesome) arts of torture. This is a chilling tale well told – from Knox's clever entrance into the dungeon in order to complete his mission to his horrifying exit. This hero is one I'd like to get to know more about, and while I enjoyed this story, I wasn't completely sure what to think of him. Perhaps this is the slight downside to writing stories in a series – fans of the hero know the backstory, but new readers might be missing a bit of characterization. Still, a solid telling and a pretty gripping one at that.
I have to admit, I didn't quite get Phil Emery's “Threnody of Ghosts.” First, I had to look up the word threnody. This tells you more about me than the author, obviously. Also 'about me' – I'm not that well-versed in poetry; and this story certainly has a literary and lyrical quality to it that was, unfortunately, lost on me. I'm more of a traditionally-told tale type of reader – and I did enjoy the stand-off between Zain and the Banshees – but I was uncertain as to the story's conclusion and just what it all meant.
“Wardark and the Siren Queen” by Craig Herbertson is a novelet and well-placed in this volume. I was a bit confused at the beginning as to the parallel story lines and their times and settings, but eventually figured it out. As Riley mentions in the introduction, Wardark is a reiver, “doomed by the sorcerer Xianthus on a perilous quest where he must face the Siren Queen and the knights of the evil King Smaragd.” This is a battle heavy tale, full of action and derring-do as our hero leads his men to overcome their enemies. It climaxes with a shocking but satisfying ending, albeit with an expected 'there's more adventures to come' epilogue foreshadowing an eventual showdown between Wardark and Xianthus.
David Dubrow's “Gods, Men, and Nephilim” has a Celtic setting with a Pax Romana flavor. The premise is intriguing and the storytelling delivers – our heroes are Palaemon, an ex-Legionnaire, and his sister Abelia, a conduit and priestess for the water god, Tiberinus. They are (again from the intro by Riley) “tasked with killing a necromancer who just happens to be the son of a god!” Along the way they meet a Naphil who has a quest of his own to fulfill. It's a complicated plot that resolves in a surprising way, and points to a larger spiritual reality behind the gods and goddesses of the Roman pantheon. Very creative and one of my favorites, though the ending is not what one might expect from what purports to be a 'simple' quest tale. (At 40 pages this novelet is the longest in the book, I believe.)
In “Golden Witch of Adzelgar” by Scott McCloskey we have a first-person tale of a long-dead champion of the Ysir, the horsemaidens and sword wielders of an ancient people. An overconfident witch named Cyrilia, along with a bumbling lackey named Bartho, resurrects the revenant, invoking a rite that is supposed to bind the warrior to Cyrilia's purposes, to defend her people. As another reviewer put it, the champion's appellation of 'Blood of Ten Thousand' and 'End of Days' “should have been taken as a hint” as to what kind of help this dead-now-alive woman of the Ysir would provide. An exciting, action-packed story with some otherworldly twists, intriguing characters, and thought-provoking ending. Another favorite.
A second story in this volume I didn't quite understand was Tais Teng's “Raiding the Graveyard of Lost Ships.” It's set in Clark Ashton Smith's far-future world of Zothique, the Earth's final continent. Queen Desmei and her assassin accomplice, Avende, meet up with a sorcerer named Hamarid who is to assist them in plundering the Graveyard of Lost Ships. Some trickery and double-crossing ensue, but I wasn't able to grasp who the real villain was. In the end, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to admire or despise Desmei. When I read such stories, I never blame the author, I just assume I missed some important, though subtle, clues the writer has woven into the story which other readers, I'm sure, will get.
Another story that features a hero (well, in this case, an assassin) with previously published adventures is “A Place of Ghosts” by Andrew Darlington. I'd not read any of the author's other 'Eternal Assassin' stories so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought this one pretty good. When I found out the backstory (by contacting Andrew directly), I liked the premise even more. Not all of his stories that feature this character are sword and sorcery. Since the assassin is a supernatural/immortal being, he moves from one host body to the next, living through the centuries, experiencing tales from every age and epoch. I'll have to track down more Darlington's Eternal Assassin stories.
The only reprint in this volume, I think, is Lauren C. Teffeau's “Those Who Wear Their White Hair Proudly.” Intriguing premise, though I didn't particularly warm to the idea that young girls are basically kidnapped to form the next generation of guardians. I would think being chosen for the task of fighting dragons would be an honor and the village would celebrate young Sidika's new path. Plus, I wish I understood the background mythos a bit more in order to cheer for the young warrior in training. Yet for this 'coming of age' story, the author chose this narrative path. (As a fellow writer, it's frustrating to hear others say something like: “If I were writing this story, I would do such and such...” but I'm not the writer, Lauren Teffeau is. So I'm not telling the author to do such and such, lol. All I can say is that it didn't quite work for me as a reader, but others will have different opinions, I'm sure.) Still, the ending turned out to be pretty satisfying and the storytelling was solid.
A good 'band of brothers' tale is “Trails for Treasure” by Harry Elliott, though one of the band is a female warrior who befriends a young woman runaway who is determined to return to her village to set things right. With the prospect of silver, one of the team, Gul by name, reluctantly agrees. With a bit of humor, great character chemistry, an adventurous plot, a tense fight scene or two, and an encounter with a giant, Elliott has provided us a strong story traditionally told. A good tale placed in a good spot in the anthology.
Conclusion: I'd definitely recommend Swords and Sorceries, Volume 6 for fans of the genre.
P.S. I had the privilege of editing my own sword and sorcery anthology in 2023 titled, Swords & Heroes (Amazon associate link). This collection contains tales by two writers appearing in PUP's Volume 6: Adrian Cole and editor David A. Riley. Here's my blurb.
Swords & Heroes – A Sword and Sorcery Anthology – features 12 exciting tales of heroic adventure from some of the best writers in the genre today. Included are stories by Charles Gramlich, Gustavo Bondoni, Michael T. Burke, Teel James Glenn, Tom Doolan, Nancy Hansen, Tim Hanlon, Frank Sawielijew, Cliff Hamrick, J. Thomas Howard, David A. Riley, and Adrian Cole; along with a foreword by Jason M Waltz as well as a roundtable discussion of the current state of sword and sorcery.
No comments:
Post a Comment