A Book of Blades, Copyright 2022 by Rouges in the HousePodcast: 226 pages.

A Book of Blades is subtitled “A Sword & SorceryAnthology.” It contains 15 stories as well as a very brief introduction byMatthew John, and an Artist’s Portfolio. This is one of the most entertainingcollections of S&S stories I’ve read in a long time. The quality isconsistently high in every instance and I definitely give it 5 stars. Below isa listing of the stories with my brief comments about each.

“By the Sword,” by John C. Hocking: I only knew of Hockingfrom his Conan pastiche, Conan and the Emerald Lotus, but I’ve never read it.After reading this tale I’ll have to pick up more of Hocking’s work. A storyfull of blood and thunder, and with a poignant ending that strongly engaged me.

“Ghost Song,” Chuck Clark: Turkael is a young hunter of histribe but it is he who must face a sorcerer shapeshifter. Something in thistale reminded me of the character Imaro as created by the late CharlesSaunders, and that’s a fine compliment.

“Last of the Swamp Tribe,” by L.D. Whitney: There’s a bit of“Beastmaster” in this. Man and wolf face their enemies together. Greywind isthe wolf and made an excellent character.

“Wanna Bet?,” by T.A. Markitan: A mage hires two warriors tohelp him rob a ruin, but there’s a hidden agenda. And secrets within secrets.The denouement turns on an interesting character reveal.

“The Serpent’s Heart,” by Howard Andrew Jones: A ship iswrecked by a sea monster and its crew set adrift. They are rescued by anothership, which is pursuing the monster. But of course there are secrets. Thescenes aboard the “rescuing” ship are beautifully rendered and very creepy.Jones has recently had a couple of S&S books released and after this I’llcertainly pick them up.

“How They Fall,” by Angeline B. Adams and Remco van Straten:This is really a character study rather than a story, but it works because it’svery well written and also quite short. It creates a melancholy mood that growsstronger throughout.

“The Breath of Death,” by Jason M. Waltz: Starting thisstory was a little jarring stylistically compared to the previous tales, andthat’s because it was written in present tense. Present tense can bringimmediacy to a story, and it does so here. It can also be risky at longerlengths, but Waltz judged the length just right. I was engaged. 

“Embracing Ember,” by S.E. Lindberg: Lindberg is anexcellent prose stylist, and maybe my favorite one working in the fantasy fieldtoday. This is a story from his Dyscrasia universe, a fully realized but quitebizarre world. The world building is incredible but Lindberg doesn’t stint oncharacter development either. Fully realized, but most unusual. Very much of atreat.

“The Curse of Wine,” by J.M. Clarke: Kyembe wakes up from adrunk to find that he’s been robbed. Bad idea. A short tale but very engaging.

“The Gift of Gallah,” by Matthew John: I enjoy tales ofaging warriors. When they’re well done. And this one is well done. Anotherpoignant ending.

“Crawl,” by Scott Oden: Oden is well known for the bloodyaction of his stories, but in this one he stretches his wings a little more.There is action, but the tale turns primarily on character and on historicalresonance. It’s a kind of retelling of European history against the backdrop ofChristianity’s spread. One really feels for the underdogs here.

“The Spine of Virens Imber,” by Nathaniel Webb: Shar theSpearmen is an indomitable warrior, which is not unusual in sword and sorcery.But the character is very well done and the writing strong. A fine piece.

“The City of the Screaming Pillars,” by Cora Buhlert: Wehave an ensemble cast here, and they’re after treasure in an abandoned city ofthe desert. A cursed city. Robert E. Howard strengthened his fantasy worlds bybringing in horror elements, and Buhlert mines a similar ground here to verygood effect.

“Two Silvers for a Song of Blood,” by Jason Ray Carney:Carney is a fellow academic and I’ve worked with him before on The Dark ManJournal. That’s nonfiction and I haven’t previously read his fiction. Not allacademics can write blood and thunder but Carney masters it and gives his“Barbarian-like” character some intriguing extra layers. Best title goes tothis one as well.

“The Blood of Old Shard,” by John R. Fultz: I’ll definitelywant to read more by Fultz. This was a great story to end the anthology onbecause it’s certainly one of the strongest tales among a grouping of strongpieces. Gnori is a great hero and, again, we have a most poignant ending thatleft me wanting more. A good way to end a book.

So, to finish, I truly liked every story in this book, whichis not a common experience for me actually. Nothing weak here, and I recommendthem all. But, the three that hit me the hardest personally were the pieces byLindberg, Carney, and Fultz.