It’s that time again, folks. I’m taking a break from my ongoing reread of Glen Cook’s Black Company (6 books down, 4 to go!) to give you an update on the latest heroic fantasy short fiction. First, as usual, there’re the monthly two stories from Curtis Ellett’s Swords and Sorcery Magazine. The other source of stories this July is a collection from Howie Bentley. Most of the stories are reprints I’ve reviewed before, but there are some new things I’ll…
Issue 63 of Swords and Sorcery opens with a story set in the waning days of the twelve Etruscan cities and the waxing of Rome. “For the Light” by Gustavo Bondoni is a fairly original work, using a setting rarely seen in heroic fantasy. The Etruscans trust their fate to the god whose representative wins a consecrated chariot race. If Mania, goddess of death, wins, she has promised to raise an army of walking corpses. To prevent this abomination, Semni Apatru…
Whelp, it’s well into December and I’m only getting to the November roundup now. My apologies, and here goes. Last month, I promised I’d let you know about Fantasy Scroll #3. Despite its name and its side-of-a-van-worthy covers, the magazine continues to be mostly science fiction or non-heroic fantasy. When you buy something with a cover like the one to the left of this paragraph (<—), and you don’t get a lot of swordplay, demons, and wizards, you might feel…