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The Sword & Sorcery Panel Podcast

The Sword & Sorcery Panel Podcast

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Team Black Gate: Editor John O'Neill, Contributing Editor Editor Bill Ward, James Enge, Rouge Blades editor Jason Waltz, Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones, John R. Fultz, and Ryan Harvey
Team Black Gate at WFC 2010: Editor John O'Neill, Contributing Editor Bill Ward, blogger James Enge, Rogue Blades editor Jason Waltz, Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones, blogger John R. Fultz, and blogger Ryan Harvey.

At the 2010 World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, Ohio, author and publicist Jaym Gates assembled the world’s greatest literary minds together to discuss Sword & Sorcery. Meaning me, plus some other guys.

In a moment of foresight for which future generations will doubtless be profoundly gratefully, Jaym and SF Signal‘s Patrick Hester recorded all the brilliant insights (plus what those other guys said) on state of the art podcast equipment. SF Signal has now published the entire podcast in three parts.

Participants included moderator Jaym Gates, Howard Andrew Jones (author of The Desert of Souls), Black Gate blogger and Writers of the Future winner Ryan Harvey, BG Contributing Editor Bill Ward, World Fantasy Award nominee James Enge, Rogue Blades publisher and editor Jason M. Waltz, Tome of the Undergates author Sam Sykes, Seven Princes author and BG blogger John R. Fultz, The Sword-Edged Blonde author Alex Bledsoe, fan Matthew Wuertz, and literary genius and future leader of the free world John O’Neill.

The far-ranging panel covered the roots of sword & sorcery, the classic canon, what makes a story S&S, and much more. It runs for roughly 90 minutes, ’cause all those other guys wouldn’t shut up. SF Signal has thoughtfully broken it into three podcasts, so the concentrated literary brilliance won’t make your head explode.

They are here: Part I, Part II, and Part III.  Caution: professional authors on a closed course. Do not attempt conversation like this at home.

Robert E. Howard: The Poet and the Girl with the Golden Hair and Eyes like the Deep Grey Sea

Robert E. Howard: The Poet and the Girl with the Golden Hair and Eyes like the Deep Grey Sea

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andtheirmemoryHistory, reincarnation, bloody battles, a fierce and barbaric people, and great acts of courage! Robert E. Howard’s poem “An Echo From the Iron Harp” has all that and more.

It is a tale that echoes across centuries as the ghosts of the Cimbri and their battles with the Roman legions haunt a poet who dreams of a love from ages lost in time:

Shadows and echoes haunt my dreams
with dim and subtle pain,
With the faded fire of a lost desire,
like a ghost on a moonlit plain.
In the pallid mist of death-like sleep
she comes again to me:
I see the gleam of her golden hair
and her eyes like the deep grey sea.

But she’s more than this description. Howard has created many strong female characters, among them: Dark Agnes in Sword Woman; the “Queen of the Black Coast,” Bêlit; Valeria in “Red Nails”; and Red Sonya, the heroine of “Shadow of the Vulture.”

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Tachyon Announces Contents of The Sword & Sorcery Anthology

Tachyon Announces Contents of The Sword & Sorcery Anthology

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sword-and-sorcery-anthologyOur friend Jacob Weisman at Tachyon Publications has announced the contents of his long-awaited new book, The Sword & Sorcery Anthology.

The 432-page trade paperback will contain classic tales of S&S from Robert E. Howard, George R.R. Martin, Fritz Leiber, C.L. Moore, Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance, Karl Edward Wagner, Poul Anderson, David Drake, and others — including an original tale from Nift the Lean author Michael Shea:

Terrifying barbarians, cunning mages, and daring heroes run rampant through these exceptional classics of the exciting sword & sorcery genre. From Robert E. Howard to Jane Yolen, this fast-paced anthology is a chronological gathering of influential, inventive, and entertaining fantasy adventure stories. In “Tower of the Elephant,” Conan takes up jewel thievery but, as is his wont, proves far better with his sword. “The Flamer Bringers” finds anti-hero Elric infiltrating a band of bloodthirsty mercenaries and outwitting a powerful sorcerer. “Become a Warrior” is the unexpected tale of a child who loses all she holds dear, only to gain unforeseen power and unlikely revenge. Further entries come from early sword & sorcery legends such as Jack Vance and Catherine Louise (who wrote as C. L.) Moore, the next wave of talents including Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock, and modern trendsetters like Karl Edward Wagner and David Drake. An original story from Michael Shea rounds out this essential anthology, which will particularly appeal to fans of action-oriented fantasy titles such as The Lord of the Rings and the Song of Fire and Ice series.

The Sword & Sorcery Anthology is edited by David G. Hartwell and Jacob Weisman. It will be released on June 1, 2012 by Tachyon Publications, and priced at $15.95. Read complete details here.

Art of the Genre: The 5 Moods of Conan

Art of the Genre: The 5 Moods of Conan

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A Whimsical Conan... certainly one of his moods!
A Whimsical Conan... certainly one of his moods!

In October I had a chance to head down to San Diego for World Fantasy Con. It was a good time, if not even in the same ballpark as great, and when I travelled back to L.A. I was filled with many a great topic to take on in 2012 for Art of the Genre.

I penned a list, jotting down ideas, but perhaps my favorite hadn’t come from my mind but that of Michael Stackpole as we lunched one afternoon with fellow author Nathan Long. Our lengthy discussion went to Conan, as any good fantasy discussion should at some point, as Mike had very recently penned the novel adaptation of the newest Conan reboot. [Note: My only regret here was that John R. Fultz wasn’t a part of this conversation]

I couldn’t help but ask a question that I know the bulk of Howard fans did, ‘What the hell happened?” Now, because of various journalistic integrity issues I can’t get into specifics, but will attest it was a fun and informative conversation.

The most intriguing thing inside the movie debate was Mike telling us that it [the movie] was originally intended to be a trilogy featuring Belit and the Black Coast. Mike, wonderful licensed adaptive writer that he is, had been charged with writing Belit’s back story for the books that had her and Conan freebooting and pirating the shipping lanes of Stygia.

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Updated Blood and Thunder Portends Good Start to 2012 for Robert E. Howard Fans

Updated Blood and Thunder Portends Good Start to 2012 for Robert E. Howard Fans

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blood-and-thunder-2nd-edition2011 hasn’t been the kindest year for fans of Robert E. Howard. January saw the end of the fine Del Rey series of Howard originals with the publication of the 11th and final volume Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures  (sigh). In August we got a crummy new film purporting to be REH’s Conan that resembles no story the Texan ever wrote, and is currently sporting a woeful 22% “rotten” rating over at Rotten Tomatoes (still think you can tell a better story than REH, Marcus Nispel?)

But the waning days of 2011 have brought a bit of good cheer to brighten the day of Howard fans everywhere: News of the publication of a new and improved second edition of the REH biography Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard by Mark Finn.

Monkeybrain books published the first edition of the Blood and Thunder in 2006 in paperback; the second edition is being published in a limited run of 150 hardcover copies by the Robert E. Howard Foundation at a cost of $50 ($45 for members of the foundation). You can pre-order it now and it’s expected to ship by the end of January 2012. Here’s a description from the REH Foundation webpage:

Alongside the success of “Conan the Barbarian” was a neatly packaged, sound byte biography of a tortured young man, full of volcanic rages, playing at war inside his head, while the citizens in the small town of Cross Plains laughed at him behind his back—a man so undone by his circumstances and so strangely devoted to his mother that, on her deathbed, he pre-empted seeing her die by committing suicide.

In Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard, author Mark Finn dispels many of those old, outdated myths that have grown up around Howard and his fictional creations. Armed with twenty-five years of research and a wealth of historical documents, Finn paints a very different picture from the one that millions of fans of Conan have been sold throughout the years.

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Art of the Genre: Magic Kingdom for Sale — Sold

Art of the Genre: Magic Kingdom for Sale — Sold

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Uh... can I see inside that fortress please?
Uh... can I see inside that fortress please?

First off, no, this has nothing to do with Terry Brooks…

So I recently saw Conan 3D 2011… and yeah I know what you’re thinking, but I’m not going to go into that because it’s been beaten to death elsewhere, and certainly here on Black Gate. Still, I had to wonder after seeing it, what did the world of Hyboria get for its 2011 dollar?

Considering the movie reviews and box office receipts, whatever the cost for art direction it was far too much. As I watched, I contemplated the words of John Fultz and his thoughts concerning the imagery of the movie when he said… wait, I’m going to go look this up so John can’t complain I misquoted him… Ok, here we go…

The Hyborian Age has never looked so wondrous, splendid, and believable on screen. From the virgin wilderness and Cimmerian villages to the decadent, sprawling cities, the vast monasteries, and the ancient citadels with skull-shaped caves, the movie simply looks fantastic. The costuming too is spot-on and suitably grimy, evocative, and well-designed. Same goes for the props: swords, spears, armor, ships, etc.

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Swords and Sorcery at its Pinnacle: A Look Back at The Fantastic Swordsmen

Swords and Sorcery at its Pinnacle: A Look Back at The Fantastic Swordsmen

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the-fantastic-swordsmen

For those who put entertainment first, heroic fantasy offers it in its purest form.
          — L. Sprague de Camp, The Fantastic Swordsmen

Although many of its foundational writers had already sailed into the west, swords and sorcery reached a Weird peak in the 1960s. In 1961 Fritz Leiber coined the term “swords and sorcery” in the journal Ancalagon. The Swordsmen and Sorcerer’s Guild of America (can I get a membership, please?) began the first of its secretive meetings. And the Lancer published, L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter-edited Conan series with its splendid Frank Frazetta covers was everywhere. These were heady times for the genre. Although the mass-produced works of the era can still be readily found and enjoyed today, I can only imagine when books like The Swords of Lankhmar could be found in drugstore wire spinner racks and the like.

In that strange time of tie-dye and Tolkien, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the pages of paperback books, Pyramid Books published four swords and sorcery anthologies. Edited by fantasy/science fiction author L. Sprague de Camp, the series began with Swords and Sorcery (1963) and concluded with 1970’s Warlocks and Warriors.

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IT’S ONLY PULP: A Fair and Balanced Review of CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011)

IT’S ONLY PULP: A Fair and Balanced Review of CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011)

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conan2Friends, Bloggers, Conan Fans, lend me your ears! I come not to defend the new CONAN movie, but to present an informal overview that examines what works and what doesn’t work. To begin, I’ve seen a lot better movies … and I’ve seen a LOT worse movies.

First, let’s consider the source: Robert E. Howard is a largely respected fantasy author by today’s standards. However, that was not the case in the 20s and 30s when he was publishing his lurid pulp adventure stories in WEIRD TALES and similar pulp magazines of the time. In Howard’s day, pulp fiction was considered “trash,” and it was treated accordingly. Sex and violence were common ingredients in a good pulp tale, and Howard’s work is definitely full of both. However, what was considered obscene in the Pulp Era seems rather tame compared to the graphic sex and violence we see in today’s media. You can look at this in two ways: Either we as a society have gotten less uptight about certain subjects, or we have become a more depraved society. It’s all a matter of perspective. And as many philosphers will tell you, perspective is reality.

The new CONAN THE BARBARIAN film isn’t exactly a remake, but it does borrow its revenge motif from the original (and superior) John Milius CONAN film from 1982. That was NOT a Howard plot point. The Conan of Howard’s tales is not pursuing vengeance for his slain father, his slain mother, or his slain village. However, he would certainly have not been above bringing bloody and thunderous vengeance to anybody who wronged him. It simply was not his driving ambition, as it is in the movies.

Before I talk about the movie’s failings, let me first say what works about it: The visuals. Marcus Nispel’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN is a visual triumph. The Hyborian Age has never looked so wondrous, splendid, and believable on screen. From the virgin wilderness and Cimmerian villages to the decadent, sprawling cities, the vast monastaries, and the ancient citadels with skull-shaped caves, the movie simply looks fantastic. The costuming too is spot-on and suitably grimy, evocative, and well-designed. Same goes for the props: swords, spears, armor, ships, etc.

It all LOOKS fantastic. But looks aren’t everything…

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Some Thoughts on the Eve of Conan the Barbarian

Some Thoughts on the Eve of Conan the Barbarian

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conan-2011-movie-posterI’ve refrained from talking about Conan the Barbarian (2011) until now, despite my love for Robert E. Howard’s works. But now that we’re poised on the eve of its U.S. release, I thought I’d weigh in with my personal hopes—and fears—regarding the film.

The bottom line for me is this: I’m going to do what the studio execs want, which is opening my wallet and seeing the movie. And I might even consider it money well spent. That said, the updates I’ve followed up to this point (your ultimate source is Al Harron’s Conan the Movie Blog) don’t leave me with great expectations.

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Sword Noir: A Role-playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery

Sword Noir: A Role-playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery

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conan-cityImagine Conan in Shadizar, meeting with a beautiful woman calling herself Fortuna who pays him to find Thuris, the man who kidnapped her younger sister. Conan accepts the woman’s coin but finds himself in the middle of double and triple crosses as Fortuna — known as Brigid the Bold in the underworld — seeks for the Falcon of Maltus along with her betrayed confederates, Jubliex Cairo, Wilmer the Younger, and Gutmar.

Think of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser hired by the powerful merchant Sternwood to scare ne’er-do-well Geiger away from the merchant’s daughter Carmen, only to be caught up in blackmail, murder, kidnapping, and family secrets.

Yes, those were the plots of The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep using three of the iconic characters of sword & sorcery. That’s what I’d call Sword Noir, and that’s what I called the role-playing game I just published, subtitled A Role-playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery.

Sword Noir is a game now, but it started as something a little more than a conceit and little less than a genre. Basically, I attempted to give some kind of short-hand to the stories I wrote.

sword-noirAs usual, the kind of stories I was reading and writing bled into the kind of games I was playing, and this took me down a path I did not expect. I ended cobbling together a system that was purpose built to play “sword noir.” In order to do that, I had to define the term.

This is what I came up with: Characters’ morals are shifting at best and absent at worst. The atmosphere is dark and hope is frail or completely absent. Violence is deadly and fast.

The characters are good at what they do, but they are specialists. Trust is the most valued of commodities – life is the cheapest.

Grim leaders weave labyrinthine plots which entangle innocents. Magic exists and can be powerful, but it takes extreme dedication to learn, extorts a horrible price, and is slow to conjure.

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