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Simon of Gitta
Scroll of Thoth: Simon Magus and the Great Old Ones- Twelve Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos
Richard Tierney is known for his weird poetry, his heroic fantasy in the tradition of Robert E. Howard, and a critical essay in which he emphasizes the role of August Derleth in elaborating the Cthulhu Mythos. He has a sophisticated take on how to write fiction based on the H. P. Lovecraft Mythos, tapping into Lovecraft's Gnostic tendencies as well as his cosmic nihilism. The 12 tales in this collection feature Simon Magus, the famous heretic and Gnostic from the early days of Christianity. Magus meets up with Shub-Niggurath (the evil goddess), searches for the Ring of Set, and has several other dark adventures. Tierney is a fine writer with a special gift for evocative descriptions of place, and he puts more effort into characterization than is typical for modern Mythos stories. Robert Price, as editor, provides a plenitude of background materials. In his inimitably witty way, Price compares Tierney to other Lovecraftian writers and places his fiction in a rich historical, religious, and mythological context. --Fiona Webster, Horror editor
369 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1997
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January 6, 2015
Chaosium collection of Tierney's Simon Magus stories. These stories are terrific and Price is in his element as he clearly knows quite a bit about Gnosticism and Bible Age Rome. These are Howard-style swords and sorcery written by a better writer. Tierney makes ton of callbacks to Howard stories accepting his Hyboria and Atlantis time lines and using them to add depth and continuity to his own work. For example, many of the stories take place in Egypt and many of the ancient mysteries arise from Stygia. The stories are arranged in chronological order and read like an episodic novel. Price is good about pointing out the gaps left by stories not included in the collection.
12/27/2012 - The Sword of Spartacus - Richard L. Tierney - The Scroll of Thoth
First, chronologically, of the Simon Magus stories. A Samaritan wizard named Tages seeks revenge against the Romans for the bloody suppression of Spartacus' slave rebellion.
Tages comes to a town outside of Rome with his students Diothenes and Menander. Diothenes buys the services of two gladiators: Simon of Gitta and Marcus Pugio, a Roman citizen. That night, Tages comes to Simon as if in a dream and tells the tale of Spartacus and the slave rebellion. Tages is apparently over 150 years old and was in the rebellion and saw how the Romans crucified the slaves who survived the final battle. Tages tells Simon that he has the sword of Spartacus and wants Simon to use it in the ring the next day. In the fight, Simon finds himself channeling Spartacus and ends up enacting a powerful ritual as Tages' puppet. He cuts out the heart of the Roman gladiator and the ritual causes the destruction of the amphitheater, killing thousands of Romans.
1/8/2013 - The Fire of Mazda - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon of Gitta survived the collapse of the amphitheater in The Sword of Spartacus and took up with his new mentor Diothenes. In this story Diothenes is working with Junius, a Roman senator who wishes to depose hated emperor Tiberius. They plan a dark ritual which will offend the gods and drive them to take vengeance on Tiberius. The ritual involves a young girl named Helen who is a True Soul, a fragment of the Ultimate God. She must be killed by another True Soul in this case Simon. As the story progresses, Simon and Helen realize they are soul mates and instantly fall in love. Simon runs off but is recognized by some citizens as the gladiator from the aphitheater collapse.
Simon returns home to rescue Helen with the help of Menander. Diothenes uses a puppet spell to make Simon perform the ritual anyway but it is stopped at the last minute by Junius who has second thoughts about the whole thing. Meanwhile a mob has arrived calling for Simon's head. Junius and household and Simon's crew bail while Diothenes wails about the gods coming to take their revenge over the flubbed ritual. Diothenes successfully redirects their wrath at the crowd and the heroes escape.
1/10/2013 - The Seed of the Star God - Robert L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon has been studying sorcery under Daramos in Parthia (Persia). There he learns that his beloved Helen is dead. He swear vengeance and travels to Atium near Rome to find out what happened. There Junius' servant Ambronius tells Simon that Helen's sister Ilione had been removed from her evil father Prodikos and brought to Atium. Eventually Prodikos came looking for is daughters. Helen killed herself rather than submit to her fathers sorcery. Prodikos took Ilione back to Ephesos.
Simon went to Ephesos to exact his revenge and hopefully rescue Ilione. He spent a long time on the road and net up with Diothones and Menander in Ephesos. Hilarity ensues as Simon busts up Prodikos' ritual to mate with his daughter and bring through shupnikkurat. He slays Prodikos, stops the ritual and saves the girl who takes up with Menander.
1/10/2013 - The Blade of the Slayer - Robert L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Story takes place while Simon is traveling between Rome and Ephesos. He finds himself near he ancient ruins of the city of Enoch where a wizard has trapped an ancient warrior. Simon is chased by bandits. While hiding the wizard gives up Simon to the bandits. Simon needs a weapon so he steals the one from the ancient warrior, incidentaly waking him up. The two slay the bandits. The warrior announces himself as Cain (the Cain, yes), who has been cursed to immortality and being a slaying asshole.
1/13/2013 - The Soul of Kephri - Robert L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon of Gitta finds himself a pawn in an elaborate prophecy to ensure the coming of the Soul of Kephri which in this tale is essentially the Phoenix. He is opposed by emperor Tiberius who sends his astrologer Thrasyllus to summon the dark lord Megroth. The whole thing comes together in ruined Heliopolis as Simon defeats Megroth and allows the Phoenix to bring a new dose of hope to humankind. The story includes call backs to the Conan story,The Phoenix on the Sword including the eponymous sword which is a rusted relic at the time of this story.
1/14/2013 - The Ring of Set - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Emperor Tiberius buys the Thoth-Amon's ring at an auction. Simon tries to outbid him and fails, warning the emperor that the ring will be his death. Tiberius takes the ring and Simon tries to take it from him, an act that lands him in prison. Simon escapes prison and tracks the emperor to his villa. There he finds the emperor is already dying from the ring's curse. Simon liberates the ring from Tiberius' dead hand and carries it back to the Egyptian temple of Ptah for safe keeping.
1/15/2013 - The Worm of Urakhu - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon Magus finds himself looking west into the Libyan desert. He has recently returned the Ring of Set to it's rightful place in the Temple of Ptah in Thebes(?) and now Emperor Gaius (Tiberius' successor) is out to get him and get the ring back. To this end the emperor has sent a Syrian mercenary along with an entire Roman cohort to fetch Simon.
Simon heads out into the desert to get away from the soldiers and eventually comes across an ancient Stygian temple tended by a beautiful sorceress. She explains how she is the priestess of Shaddam-El (Shudde-Mel) and how Simon is destined to be her groom who will produce the heir to the temple. Simon wants none of that and is saved when the Syrian and a hand-picked squad of Romans arrives to kick his ass. A fight ensues and the Romans are killed along with the Priestess but not before she summons the worm. Lots of Romans die screaming as the Dune-like worm thing comes up and slaughters them all leaving a big, black scorch mark of melted sand.
1/15/2013 - Curse of the Crocodile - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
The next story with a "Dune" like feel, this time complete with grossly fat villain and his creepy nephew. Simon comes back to Memphis to warn the priest of Ptah that Emperor Gaius has sent a new governor, some Roman soldiers and a bunch of crocodile priests of Sebek. Apparently, there is an ancient lost temple to Sebek under the temple of Ptah originally built by the Stygians (or the Khemites, or Hyksos, I forget).
Anyway, the plan is to sacrifice a bunch of virgins to Sebek and call upon the god to do bad things. If the ritual is flubbed however, the god will come down and slay everyone concerned. Simon and the high priest of Ptah (who is also a bad ass) manage to screw up the ceremony and Sebek chews up all the worshipers. Simon's great moment comes when he replaces one of the virgins (a particularly tall one) with the fat guy's nephew on the sacrificial altar. He had a bag over his head so one can understand the mistake.
1/16/2013 - The Treasure of Horemkhu - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
The high priest Menophar is coerced by an ambitious and evil Roman to lead him to the treasure in the ancient pre-human temple under the sphinx. Simon is already there dealing with some bandits. Before the Romans arrive, Simon meets up with some Greek hedonists who are partying at the sphinx Catella and Spargos. The Greeks know something of the ancient history but have no idea about the temple. Enter the Romans who slay all the Greeks' friends and servants, the remaining bandits, and anyone else around who isn't important to the story. They tie up Spargos and Simon, and take Menophar and Catella into the sphinx. Menophar leads the Romans deep into the earth when they finally arrive in the deepest levels. Meanwhile Simon escapes his bonds, kills his guards and with Spargos follows the Romans down into the temple. Once down there, the Romans realize this is the one night where the ancient dead rise up and party in the temple. Mummies galore and the Romans have a fight on their hands. Simon, Menophar, Spargos and Catella barely escape just as the giant paw of Horemkhu reaches in to scoop up the interlopers.
1/21/2013 - The Scroll of Thoth - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Emperor Gaius wants to live forever and plans to use the Scroll of Thoth (as in the Stygian sorcerer) to do it. Meanwhile, various Romans plan his demise. Simon sneaks in to steal the scroll and triggers the events that lead to the Roman praetorians to kill the emperor. Lots of sneaky thiefery stuff in this one.
1/23/2013 - The Dragons of Mons Fractus - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon is in Gaul among the Helvetii looking for Pontius Pilate. It appears that after killing Jesus Pilate saw to it that Diothenes died as well. Simon has been chasing clues to Pilate's whereabouts and interviews an old Roman who was responsible for seeing to Pilate's exile after Claudius took power. Pilate ended up in the Alps apparently where he wouldn't keep killing people. Pilate is a vampire now as it turns out. Simon hooks up with Gallic woman named Gretchen and together they travel up into the mountains of her homeland. Along the way they are attacked by Pilate and Simon is barely able to drive him off but not before Gretchen is bitten. Simon and Gretchen make their way to her village where they run into her husband Brennus (doh!) and the ancient druid Karanoch. Karanoch fills Simon in on some details and the hero heads up into the mountains after Pilate. Karanoch gave Simon a dragon stone and told him some words to say over it. Simon did and two young people appeared but Simon believed they were apparitions.
Simon soon gets into a desperate fight with Pilate and is almost killed. Simon falls off a ledge and wakes up in a cave. There he sees two serpent people who quickly morph back into the guise of young Greeks. They are friendly to Simon and promise to teach him many things if he would choose to stay with them for a while. Simon agrees but not until he kills Pilate. The serpent people enchant his dragon stone which Simon uses to summon up Pilate so he can kill him. Simon then stays with the Serpent people awhile.
1/26/2013 - The Pillars of Melkarth - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
The sorcerer Mattan plans to take over the world, starting with Tyre. He is going to do it by sacrificing children who are "true souls" to Melkarth. In the Prologue he does just that and Tierney establishes a relationship with Amran the Phoenician merchant who procures the kids.
Helen is back as an acolyte or the Goddess. Mattan takes her among a bunch of other kids for sacrifice to his fire god Ku-Thuga. Simon enlists the aid of a deep one hybrid priest of Dagon. They and a bunch of deep ones invade the temple of Melkarth to retrieve the kids. Fire and water mix and boom. Simon and Helen are finally reunited.
12/27/2012 - The Sword of Spartacus - Richard L. Tierney - The Scroll of Thoth
First, chronologically, of the Simon Magus stories. A Samaritan wizard named Tages seeks revenge against the Romans for the bloody suppression of Spartacus' slave rebellion.
Tages comes to a town outside of Rome with his students Diothenes and Menander. Diothenes buys the services of two gladiators: Simon of Gitta and Marcus Pugio, a Roman citizen. That night, Tages comes to Simon as if in a dream and tells the tale of Spartacus and the slave rebellion. Tages is apparently over 150 years old and was in the rebellion and saw how the Romans crucified the slaves who survived the final battle. Tages tells Simon that he has the sword of Spartacus and wants Simon to use it in the ring the next day. In the fight, Simon finds himself channeling Spartacus and ends up enacting a powerful ritual as Tages' puppet. He cuts out the heart of the Roman gladiator and the ritual causes the destruction of the amphitheater, killing thousands of Romans.
1/8/2013 - The Fire of Mazda - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon of Gitta survived the collapse of the amphitheater in The Sword of Spartacus and took up with his new mentor Diothenes. In this story Diothenes is working with Junius, a Roman senator who wishes to depose hated emperor Tiberius. They plan a dark ritual which will offend the gods and drive them to take vengeance on Tiberius. The ritual involves a young girl named Helen who is a True Soul, a fragment of the Ultimate God. She must be killed by another True Soul in this case Simon. As the story progresses, Simon and Helen realize they are soul mates and instantly fall in love. Simon runs off but is recognized by some citizens as the gladiator from the aphitheater collapse.
Simon returns home to rescue Helen with the help of Menander. Diothenes uses a puppet spell to make Simon perform the ritual anyway but it is stopped at the last minute by Junius who has second thoughts about the whole thing. Meanwhile a mob has arrived calling for Simon's head. Junius and household and Simon's crew bail while Diothenes wails about the gods coming to take their revenge over the flubbed ritual. Diothenes successfully redirects their wrath at the crowd and the heroes escape.
1/10/2013 - The Seed of the Star God - Robert L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon has been studying sorcery under Daramos in Parthia (Persia). There he learns that his beloved Helen is dead. He swear vengeance and travels to Atium near Rome to find out what happened. There Junius' servant Ambronius tells Simon that Helen's sister Ilione had been removed from her evil father Prodikos and brought to Atium. Eventually Prodikos came looking for is daughters. Helen killed herself rather than submit to her fathers sorcery. Prodikos took Ilione back to Ephesos.
Simon went to Ephesos to exact his revenge and hopefully rescue Ilione. He spent a long time on the road and net up with Diothones and Menander in Ephesos. Hilarity ensues as Simon busts up Prodikos' ritual to mate with his daughter and bring through shupnikkurat. He slays Prodikos, stops the ritual and saves the girl who takes up with Menander.
1/10/2013 - The Blade of the Slayer - Robert L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Story takes place while Simon is traveling between Rome and Ephesos. He finds himself near he ancient ruins of the city of Enoch where a wizard has trapped an ancient warrior. Simon is chased by bandits. While hiding the wizard gives up Simon to the bandits. Simon needs a weapon so he steals the one from the ancient warrior, incidentaly waking him up. The two slay the bandits. The warrior announces himself as Cain (the Cain, yes), who has been cursed to immortality and being a slaying asshole.
1/13/2013 - The Soul of Kephri - Robert L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon of Gitta finds himself a pawn in an elaborate prophecy to ensure the coming of the Soul of Kephri which in this tale is essentially the Phoenix. He is opposed by emperor Tiberius who sends his astrologer Thrasyllus to summon the dark lord Megroth. The whole thing comes together in ruined Heliopolis as Simon defeats Megroth and allows the Phoenix to bring a new dose of hope to humankind. The story includes call backs to the Conan story,The Phoenix on the Sword including the eponymous sword which is a rusted relic at the time of this story.
1/14/2013 - The Ring of Set - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Emperor Tiberius buys the Thoth-Amon's ring at an auction. Simon tries to outbid him and fails, warning the emperor that the ring will be his death. Tiberius takes the ring and Simon tries to take it from him, an act that lands him in prison. Simon escapes prison and tracks the emperor to his villa. There he finds the emperor is already dying from the ring's curse. Simon liberates the ring from Tiberius' dead hand and carries it back to the Egyptian temple of Ptah for safe keeping.
1/15/2013 - The Worm of Urakhu - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon Magus finds himself looking west into the Libyan desert. He has recently returned the Ring of Set to it's rightful place in the Temple of Ptah in Thebes(?) and now Emperor Gaius (Tiberius' successor) is out to get him and get the ring back. To this end the emperor has sent a Syrian mercenary along with an entire Roman cohort to fetch Simon.
Simon heads out into the desert to get away from the soldiers and eventually comes across an ancient Stygian temple tended by a beautiful sorceress. She explains how she is the priestess of Shaddam-El (Shudde-Mel) and how Simon is destined to be her groom who will produce the heir to the temple. Simon wants none of that and is saved when the Syrian and a hand-picked squad of Romans arrives to kick his ass. A fight ensues and the Romans are killed along with the Priestess but not before she summons the worm. Lots of Romans die screaming as the Dune-like worm thing comes up and slaughters them all leaving a big, black scorch mark of melted sand.
1/15/2013 - Curse of the Crocodile - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
The next story with a "Dune" like feel, this time complete with grossly fat villain and his creepy nephew. Simon comes back to Memphis to warn the priest of Ptah that Emperor Gaius has sent a new governor, some Roman soldiers and a bunch of crocodile priests of Sebek. Apparently, there is an ancient lost temple to Sebek under the temple of Ptah originally built by the Stygians (or the Khemites, or Hyksos, I forget).
Anyway, the plan is to sacrifice a bunch of virgins to Sebek and call upon the god to do bad things. If the ritual is flubbed however, the god will come down and slay everyone concerned. Simon and the high priest of Ptah (who is also a bad ass) manage to screw up the ceremony and Sebek chews up all the worshipers. Simon's great moment comes when he replaces one of the virgins (a particularly tall one) with the fat guy's nephew on the sacrificial altar. He had a bag over his head so one can understand the mistake.
1/16/2013 - The Treasure of Horemkhu - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
The high priest Menophar is coerced by an ambitious and evil Roman to lead him to the treasure in the ancient pre-human temple under the sphinx. Simon is already there dealing with some bandits. Before the Romans arrive, Simon meets up with some Greek hedonists who are partying at the sphinx Catella and Spargos. The Greeks know something of the ancient history but have no idea about the temple. Enter the Romans who slay all the Greeks' friends and servants, the remaining bandits, and anyone else around who isn't important to the story. They tie up Spargos and Simon, and take Menophar and Catella into the sphinx. Menophar leads the Romans deep into the earth when they finally arrive in the deepest levels. Meanwhile Simon escapes his bonds, kills his guards and with Spargos follows the Romans down into the temple. Once down there, the Romans realize this is the one night where the ancient dead rise up and party in the temple. Mummies galore and the Romans have a fight on their hands. Simon, Menophar, Spargos and Catella barely escape just as the giant paw of Horemkhu reaches in to scoop up the interlopers.
1/21/2013 - The Scroll of Thoth - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Emperor Gaius wants to live forever and plans to use the Scroll of Thoth (as in the Stygian sorcerer) to do it. Meanwhile, various Romans plan his demise. Simon sneaks in to steal the scroll and triggers the events that lead to the Roman praetorians to kill the emperor. Lots of sneaky thiefery stuff in this one.
1/23/2013 - The Dragons of Mons Fractus - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
Simon is in Gaul among the Helvetii looking for Pontius Pilate. It appears that after killing Jesus Pilate saw to it that Diothenes died as well. Simon has been chasing clues to Pilate's whereabouts and interviews an old Roman who was responsible for seeing to Pilate's exile after Claudius took power. Pilate ended up in the Alps apparently where he wouldn't keep killing people. Pilate is a vampire now as it turns out. Simon hooks up with Gallic woman named Gretchen and together they travel up into the mountains of her homeland. Along the way they are attacked by Pilate and Simon is barely able to drive him off but not before Gretchen is bitten. Simon and Gretchen make their way to her village where they run into her husband Brennus (doh!) and the ancient druid Karanoch. Karanoch fills Simon in on some details and the hero heads up into the mountains after Pilate. Karanoch gave Simon a dragon stone and told him some words to say over it. Simon did and two young people appeared but Simon believed they were apparitions.
Simon soon gets into a desperate fight with Pilate and is almost killed. Simon falls off a ledge and wakes up in a cave. There he sees two serpent people who quickly morph back into the guise of young Greeks. They are friendly to Simon and promise to teach him many things if he would choose to stay with them for a while. Simon agrees but not until he kills Pilate. The serpent people enchant his dragon stone which Simon uses to summon up Pilate so he can kill him. Simon then stays with the Serpent people awhile.
1/26/2013 - The Pillars of Melkarth - Richard L. Tierney - Scroll of Thoth
The sorcerer Mattan plans to take over the world, starting with Tyre. He is going to do it by sacrificing children who are "true souls" to Melkarth. In the Prologue he does just that and Tierney establishes a relationship with Amran the Phoenician merchant who procures the kids.
Helen is back as an acolyte or the Goddess. Mattan takes her among a bunch of other kids for sacrifice to his fire god Ku-Thuga. Simon enlists the aid of a deep one hybrid priest of Dagon. They and a bunch of deep ones invade the temple of Melkarth to retrieve the kids. Fire and water mix and boom. Simon and Helen are finally reunited.
April 10, 2022
Review posted on Black Gate April 10th, 2022
https://www.blackgate.com/2022/04/03/...
Greg Mele recently paid tribute to Richard L. Tierney at Black Gate. That memorial post covers the author’s life and bibliography very well, so check that out
https://www.blackgate.com/2022/02/06/...
Tierney co-authored books with David C. Smith will be echoed here. The Goodreads S&S group is hosting a two-month group read of his work presently (March-April 2022), which spurred me to read The Scroll of Thoth: Simon Magus and the Great Old Ones: Twelve Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos.
That book lingered way too long on my shelf. It was packaged as horror influenced by history, with a mage protagonist; however, having read it now, I argue that it is more Fantasy than Horror or Historical Fiction. If assigning genre categories floats your boat, then Sword & Sorcery is more accurate.
As the post title indicates with “Sica and Sorcery,” Simon often fights with a Thracian long-dagger/short-sword called a sica, and evil sorcery abounds. With cover art by H. E. Fassel (below), Scroll of Thoth has all twelve Tierney-written, short stories tracking Simon of Gitta with comprehensive essays from Robert M Price for each; he covers both the actual history drawn from, as well as the Lovecraftian and Howardian (REH) mythos call-outs. The collection was published by Chaosium in 1997 and inspired (or augmented) their Call of Cthulhu role-playing game; in 2009, the Cthulhu Invictus campaign (6th ed) released, and that, in turn, spawned a 2015 collection of similar “Sica and Sorcery” (Tierney did not contribute, but Robert M. Price did).
With Sorcery Against Caesar: The Complete Simon of Gitta Short Stories(cover art above by Steven Gilberts, Pickman’s Press 2020), readers are treated to all 12 stories and essays in Scroll of Thoth (with an abridged version of the introduction), plus 4 more tales that are pastiche or co-authored tales (also with contextual essays). Pickman’s Press also released a novel-length Simon of Gitta adventure penned by Tierney called Drums of Chaos (originally published in 2008, available now with cover art by Zach McCain, published 2021), which would have been too big to include with the short stories. In short, both Sorcery Against Caesar and Drums of Chaos are available in print and electronic form. This review covers the short stories, but Drums of Chaos is included in the tour guide below. According to the essays by Price, even more Simon of Gitta stories were planned but, unfortunately, are left in limbo.
Sorcery Against Caesar: The Complete Simon of Gitta Short Stories, official blurb:
A REBEL AGAINST ROME.
Simon of Gitta, an escaped slave turned magician, roves the Roman Empire battling dark magic and demons, all the while pursued by Caesar’s soldiers. Join Simon as he flees across the ancient world evading cultists and Legionaries, outwitting sorcerers and Centurions, and fighting gladiators and gods, even the deities of the Cthulhu Mythos. Yet all these foes cannot prepare him for his greatest challenge: the pursuit of his lost soul-mate Helen, a love so deep even death can’t stand in its way for long.
Who is Simon of Gitta?
For the non-history and non-religious folk, Simon is actually a biblical character. The Christian Bible’s Acts of the Apostle presents him as a Samaritan magus. Tierney presents Simon similarly, a mage hailing from Tyre (modern-day Lebanon), but has his heroic origins emerge from being an enslaved gladiator. Essentially, Tierney rebranded Simon as genuinely as Karl Edward Wagner did the biblical Cain (with his Kane tales); in fact, Tierney emphasized this by having the characters meet in the “The Blade of the Slayer” story.
Having excelled at fighting, Tierney’s Simon is skilled at the sica and hand-to-hand combat. The first tale “The Sword of Spartacus” has him escaping the pits and starting his studies as a mage. Frankly, he casts few spells himself. He does ally with many other active mages (his mentors), and he applies his knowledge of the arts frequently (low-level actions like casting illusions and enhancing disguises, letting his companions do the heavy spellcasting). Even though a mage describes his character well, he is much more of a rogue gladiator/fighter. Simon’s companions are more sorcery-focused and include the mages Dositheus and Menophar, and even a raven named Carbo.
“…I studied the arts of the mages at Persepolis, but before that I was trained as a gladiator — sold into the profession by the Romans, who slew my parents in Samaria because they could not pay the taxes imposed on them by a corrupt regime. I escaped, after two years of fighting for my life — of spilling blood for the Roman mob —!” The character Simon explains
Simon is completely fascinated with two goals: (1) seeking revenge against Rome, and (2) seeking out his love named Helen. The villains are usually Roman Emperors like Tiberius, Claudius, and Gaius (aka Caligula), or they are subordinates or Senators seeking more power. The antagonists are constantly summoning eldritch gods with grand rituals that are completely over the top, and wonderful (we are talking’ coliseums full of sacrifices’ and ‘mating rituals with Star Gods’!). As Simon ventures, he learns his True Spirit has existed beyond/before his current life and that he is always paired with the same female companion who also pervades time; this approach reminded me of Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion with a love interest. Even though each short story is stand-alone, these two themes persist across all.
Style
Sorcery Against Caesar really is a splendid mashup of history from Ancient Roman times, with lore from Judaism, Zoroastrianism, polytheistic Etruscan & Egyptian religions, and more… all equally weighted with Lovecraftian Mythos, Robert E, Howard’s Hyborian Age history, and even lore from David C. Smith’s Attluma cycle. For most readers, there will be instances in which determining which gods are based on historical deities or fictional ones will be difficult (for me it started right away with the summoning of Tuchulcha in the first story; that daemon is based on Etruscan myths, not a Lovecraftian Elder). Like Lovecraft, Tierney reinforces a pseudo-real mythos by referencing faux books like the Necronomicon with reverence; here we have the Sapientia Magorum written by Ostanes, the titular Scroll of Thoth, and the Tomb Texts of Ani.
For the Howard fans, you will enjoy entire stories that build on Conan’s first story “The Phoenix on the Sword.” Both the Ring of Set mentioned therein as well as the Phoenix on the Sword get full stories; also for the Kull of Atlantis fans, delight in the “The Dragons of Mons Fractus” tale that features Pontius Pilate exhibiting Vlad the Impaler vibes along with Valusian serpent people. “The Scroll of Thoth” reinforces the Pain Lords from the Red Sonja Books (co-authored by Tierney and David C. Smith).
Even though there is a ton of sorcery, most of it is redirected toward evil Emperors, Simon usually is not the sorcerer. He is a fighter who hangs out with friendly sorcerers while taking down the evil ones. The fight scenes and action reminded me of Howard’s action-packed Sword & Sorcery. Anyway, don’t expect dry history or old-style, meandering pre-pulp gothic horror. Expect (a) bloody melee, (b) fantastical sorcery, and (c) links to Howardian and other fictional mythos. Excerpts below the Tour Guide reinforce these.
Roman-inspired adventure by Chaosium and related Call of Cthulhu content
Table of Contents (and Chronological Tour Guide of Simon’s Tales)
* content in Sorcery Against Ceaser (i.e., not in Scroll of Thoth). All stories by Richard L. Tierney unless noted.
“Sword of the Avatar” Introduction (by Robert M. Price); the unabridged version is in The Scroll of Thoth.
“The Sword of Spartacus” first published in Swords Against Darkness #3 (Zebra Books, 1978).
“The Fire of Mazda” first published in Orion’s Child #1 (May-June 1984).
“The Seed of the Star-God” first published in Crypt of Cthulhu #24 (Lammas 1984).
“The Blade of the Slayer first published in Pulse-Pounding Adventure Stories #1 (December 1986).
* “The Throne of Achamoth” by Richard L. Tierney & Robert M. Price, first published in Weirdbook #21 (Autumn 1985).
Drums of Chaos is a separate novel-length, Simon of Gitta adventure by Tierney (originally published in 2008, available now via Pickman’s Press 2021, 415pages) that occurs chronologically after “The Throne of Achamoth.” Here’s the blurb (cover below):
CAN A HANDFUL OF HEROES STOP AN APOCALYPSE CENTURIES IN THE MAKING?
Escaped gladiator-slave Simon of Gitta returns to Judea — during the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth — on a mission to avenge the deaths of his parents, seeking revenge in blood against the Roman officials who committed the murders and sold Simon into slavery. But as Simon travels the Holy Lands with his mentor Dositheus and their students Menander and llione, they gradually become entangled in a complex occult plot designed to call down a monstrous alien entity to herald a new aeon on Earth. The mysterious time traveler John Taggart (from Tierney’s The Winds of Zarr) also becomes involved with Simon as their separate quests converge toward a common goal of saving all life on Earth from extinction.
But can a handful of travelers really thwart a covert scheme backed by the power of the Roman Empire? As the apocalyptic supernatural events slowly unfold, Simon and his allies are in a race against time to prevent the devastation of the world. Using mystery cults and early Christian Gnosticism as his vehicle, with meticulously researched Roman history and Biblical scholarship, this is author Richard Tierney’s magnum opus: an epic Lovecraftian alternate history dark fantasy novel that features Tierney’s most famous characters, Simon of Gitta and John Taggart. This novel will appeal to fans of historical fantasy and sword & sorcery fiction in the vein of Robert E. Howard, and the elements of cosmic horror and the Cthulhu Mythos will satisfy many fans of H.P. Lovecraft.
* “The Emerald Tablet” by Robert M. Price; first published in Strange Sorcery #24, Rainfall Books (August 2017).
“The Soul of Kephri” first published in Space & Time #66 (Summer 1984).
“The Ring of Set” first published in Swords Against Darkness #1 (Zebra Books, 1977).
“The Worm of Urakhu” first published in Weirdbook #23 (December 1988).
“The Curse of the Crocodile” first published in Crypt of Cthulhu #47 (Roodmas 1987).
“The Treasure of Horemkhu” first published in Pulse-Pounding Adventure Stories #2 (December 1987).
* “The Secret of Nephren-Ka” by Robert Price, published first in The Mighty Warriors (Ulthar Press, 2018).
“The Scroll of Thoth” first published in Swords Against Darkness #2 (Zebra Books, 1977).
“The Dragons of Mons Fractus” first published in Weirdbook #19 (Spring 1984).
* “The Wedding of Sheila-Na-Gog” by Richard L. Tierney & Glenn Rahman, first published in Crypt of Cthulhu #29 (Candlemas 1985).
“The Pillars of Melkarth Vengeance Quest” first published in Space & Time #78 (Summer 1990).
* “Vengeance Quest” poem, originally published in The Cimmerian #7 (October 2004).
More Simon of Gitta from Tierney?
Robert M. Price writes in the essay for “The Pillars of Melkarth” this context hinting at an unpublished, but already written, novel, and several other tales that likely were never finished:
Readers may notice a large time lapse between the events of “The Pillars of Melkarth” (spring equinox, A.D. 50) and those of the previous story set in A.D. 42. This is because those years were taken up with the events of the novels Path of the Dragon (forthcoming from Pickman’s Press) in A.D. 42 and The Gardens of Lucullus (Sidecar Preservation Society, 2001) in A.D. 48. Other stories were planned during this time period as well. Richard Tierney intended some German adventures in A.D. 46 – 47, as well as entertaining another collaboration with Glenn Rahman on a pair of novels set on the western Roman frontier, one centered on the Claudian invasion of Britain, the other involving the Picts in Scotland. Sadly, none of these stories were ever written — yet.
Drums of Chaos (cover art by Zach McCain) Pickman’s Press, 2021
Excerpts. Expect:
A) Lots of “Sick” Sica Melee
Simon roared and struck out; his fist cracked sharply against the face of the nearest guard, who flopped to the cobbles without a cry. Quick as a panther he crouched and whirled, barely in time to avoid a murderous blow from a second guard’s staff; his sharp-bladed sica, already in hand, shore through the guard’s neck as Simon completed his whirl, and the man went down with a dying gurgle.
and…
The door was only large enough for two abreast and Simon met the first two with steel, expertly parrying, slashing, stabbing. One collapsed mortally wounded from a sword-thrust in the guts; the other leaped back, suddenly fearful, but was pushed forward again by the surging mob — to die instantly on the point of the sica. Simon howled with mad rage, swinging and thrusting; a bludgeon glanced heavily off his left shoulder and a knife-point nicked his flank, but three more of his enemies went down with blood gushing. A pike ripped his tunic and gashed the side of his ribcage; he roared and smote in return, cleaving a snarling face with his sword. Fierce exultation suddenly filled him; if he must die, this was how he preferred it, fighting and slaying Romans to the very end —
B) Unraveling Emperor Plans to Meddle with Cosmic Sorcery
“I think I know what you learned. Tiberius’ purge of his enemies is no secret, and Carbo recently brought me another message from Senator Junius, who has been recalled from exile in Lesbos to house arrest in Rome. The senator told me about Prodikos and his daughters, and I have learned much more here in Ephesos.”
Simon stopped eating. “What have you learned of Prodikos?”
“Much, Simon, but mainly that in this city renowned for its sorcerers, he is the most powerful and feared of them all.”
A serving-girl entered with an amphora of wine, and Dositheus ceased speaking. When she had gone Simon filled his goblet. “Go on,” he said.
“Prodikos had several children by various slave women, but all were sons save Helen and Ilione. These sons he long ago sold into slavery, but his daughters he kept — for an evil purpose, as it turns out. Simon, it is no mere incestuous lust that drives Prodikos. He means to force Ilione to join with him in a monstrous ritual that shall release forces this world has not seen since it emerged from the last great darkness of the All-Night.”…
… “The rite of the Impregnation and the Slaying — an act of sympathetic magic that shall cause the seed of the Star-god to unite with the Great Mother, thereby generating a horrendous spawn that will overwhelm this world.”
Simon gripped his goblet tensely. His scalp tingled as he recalled reading of just such a black ritual in the Sapientia Magorum of the ancient Persian magus Ostanes. “Gods of Hades! How could the girl’s own father even think of such perverse madness —?”
Dositheus drew a deep breath. ‘‘He may no longer be her true father, Simon. Have you not read of Sakkuth, King of Night, and his evil Master?”
Simon felt the tingling extend down his spine. Sakkuth the King, servitor of Kaiwan the Star-god — both evil beings cursed by the ancient prophets yet still furtively worshipped by sorcerers in his own native Samaria…
“The wizards of Acheron and Stygia and even older civilization cycles knew them by other names,” Dositheus went on. “To the nations of primal Attluma they were Kossuth and Assatur. It is said that every thousand years Sakkuth attempts to destroy civilization, and that he succeeds unless powerful magic is used to stop him. It was he who plunged the world into the All-Night after the Atlantean and Hyborian cataclysms. And to initiate such times, his master Kaiwan, who dwells amid the stars near the Eye of Taurus, sends to earth his seed to unite with the Great Mother, thereby enabling her to spawn the Thousand Abominations that will overwhelm the world.”
C) An Abundance of R.E. Howard Hyborian Age References
Instantly the sword hilt in his hands shrilled with a supernatural energy, and a blade of golden light sprang forth — a blade that must, Simon somehow knew, be equal in length to the sword blade when it was first wielded ages ago by the Aquilonian King!
“The Phoenix!” gasped Nephere, falling to his knees. “The soul of civilization — the hope of mankind…”
The great bird — if bird it was — had wheeled about and was now settling down, flapping its wide and glittering pinions, coming to rest atop the ancient pyramidal stone behind the flaming altar. It perched there and folded its wings, gazing down upon the flames where — so Nephere had said — its parent had just been cremated.
Simon could only stare in awe. He suddenly realized that he had never known true beauty before. He had seen vast mountain landscapes that had taken his breath away, and many fire-emblazoned sunsets, and had known a number of beautiful women — even one that had shared with him and the fallen gods his own soul-nature. But never, until now, had he felt the presence of the very Soul of Beauty.
Yet, despite the mood that was upon him, despite the lingering chords of celestial music in his heart, he could still see actual, objective features of the being. It was about the size and shape of a large eagle, and this fact had doubtless formed the basis of the legends that had surrounded it. But it was no bird, Simon knew — nor any creature of earth or its environs. Those scales or feathers, gleaming like a thousand luminous gems, only slightly resembled the scales or feathers of earthly creatures; that gently curved bill, glowing like translucent pearl, only resembled something between the beaks of ibis and eagle; the golden spray of filaments about its head and throat only resembled the inferior crowns and gorgets of earthly kings and queens. And the great eyes, round and limpid and swirling with obscure colors, bright with transcendent life and supermundane intelligence — these resembled nothing he had ever seen…
https://www.blackgate.com/2022/04/03/...
Greg Mele recently paid tribute to Richard L. Tierney at Black Gate. That memorial post covers the author’s life and bibliography very well, so check that out
https://www.blackgate.com/2022/02/06/...
Tierney co-authored books with David C. Smith will be echoed here. The Goodreads S&S group is hosting a two-month group read of his work presently (March-April 2022), which spurred me to read The Scroll of Thoth: Simon Magus and the Great Old Ones: Twelve Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos.
That book lingered way too long on my shelf. It was packaged as horror influenced by history, with a mage protagonist; however, having read it now, I argue that it is more Fantasy than Horror or Historical Fiction. If assigning genre categories floats your boat, then Sword & Sorcery is more accurate.
As the post title indicates with “Sica and Sorcery,” Simon often fights with a Thracian long-dagger/short-sword called a sica, and evil sorcery abounds. With cover art by H. E. Fassel (below), Scroll of Thoth has all twelve Tierney-written, short stories tracking Simon of Gitta with comprehensive essays from Robert M Price for each; he covers both the actual history drawn from, as well as the Lovecraftian and Howardian (REH) mythos call-outs. The collection was published by Chaosium in 1997 and inspired (or augmented) their Call of Cthulhu role-playing game; in 2009, the Cthulhu Invictus campaign (6th ed) released, and that, in turn, spawned a 2015 collection of similar “Sica and Sorcery” (Tierney did not contribute, but Robert M. Price did).
With Sorcery Against Caesar: The Complete Simon of Gitta Short Stories(cover art above by Steven Gilberts, Pickman’s Press 2020), readers are treated to all 12 stories and essays in Scroll of Thoth (with an abridged version of the introduction), plus 4 more tales that are pastiche or co-authored tales (also with contextual essays). Pickman’s Press also released a novel-length Simon of Gitta adventure penned by Tierney called Drums of Chaos (originally published in 2008, available now with cover art by Zach McCain, published 2021), which would have been too big to include with the short stories. In short, both Sorcery Against Caesar and Drums of Chaos are available in print and electronic form. This review covers the short stories, but Drums of Chaos is included in the tour guide below. According to the essays by Price, even more Simon of Gitta stories were planned but, unfortunately, are left in limbo.
Sorcery Against Caesar: The Complete Simon of Gitta Short Stories, official blurb:
A REBEL AGAINST ROME.
Simon of Gitta, an escaped slave turned magician, roves the Roman Empire battling dark magic and demons, all the while pursued by Caesar’s soldiers. Join Simon as he flees across the ancient world evading cultists and Legionaries, outwitting sorcerers and Centurions, and fighting gladiators and gods, even the deities of the Cthulhu Mythos. Yet all these foes cannot prepare him for his greatest challenge: the pursuit of his lost soul-mate Helen, a love so deep even death can’t stand in its way for long.
Who is Simon of Gitta?
For the non-history and non-religious folk, Simon is actually a biblical character. The Christian Bible’s Acts of the Apostle presents him as a Samaritan magus. Tierney presents Simon similarly, a mage hailing from Tyre (modern-day Lebanon), but has his heroic origins emerge from being an enslaved gladiator. Essentially, Tierney rebranded Simon as genuinely as Karl Edward Wagner did the biblical Cain (with his Kane tales); in fact, Tierney emphasized this by having the characters meet in the “The Blade of the Slayer” story.
Having excelled at fighting, Tierney’s Simon is skilled at the sica and hand-to-hand combat. The first tale “The Sword of Spartacus” has him escaping the pits and starting his studies as a mage. Frankly, he casts few spells himself. He does ally with many other active mages (his mentors), and he applies his knowledge of the arts frequently (low-level actions like casting illusions and enhancing disguises, letting his companions do the heavy spellcasting). Even though a mage describes his character well, he is much more of a rogue gladiator/fighter. Simon’s companions are more sorcery-focused and include the mages Dositheus and Menophar, and even a raven named Carbo.
“…I studied the arts of the mages at Persepolis, but before that I was trained as a gladiator — sold into the profession by the Romans, who slew my parents in Samaria because they could not pay the taxes imposed on them by a corrupt regime. I escaped, after two years of fighting for my life — of spilling blood for the Roman mob —!” The character Simon explains
Simon is completely fascinated with two goals: (1) seeking revenge against Rome, and (2) seeking out his love named Helen. The villains are usually Roman Emperors like Tiberius, Claudius, and Gaius (aka Caligula), or they are subordinates or Senators seeking more power. The antagonists are constantly summoning eldritch gods with grand rituals that are completely over the top, and wonderful (we are talking’ coliseums full of sacrifices’ and ‘mating rituals with Star Gods’!). As Simon ventures, he learns his True Spirit has existed beyond/before his current life and that he is always paired with the same female companion who also pervades time; this approach reminded me of Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion with a love interest. Even though each short story is stand-alone, these two themes persist across all.
Style
Sorcery Against Caesar really is a splendid mashup of history from Ancient Roman times, with lore from Judaism, Zoroastrianism, polytheistic Etruscan & Egyptian religions, and more… all equally weighted with Lovecraftian Mythos, Robert E, Howard’s Hyborian Age history, and even lore from David C. Smith’s Attluma cycle. For most readers, there will be instances in which determining which gods are based on historical deities or fictional ones will be difficult (for me it started right away with the summoning of Tuchulcha in the first story; that daemon is based on Etruscan myths, not a Lovecraftian Elder). Like Lovecraft, Tierney reinforces a pseudo-real mythos by referencing faux books like the Necronomicon with reverence; here we have the Sapientia Magorum written by Ostanes, the titular Scroll of Thoth, and the Tomb Texts of Ani.
For the Howard fans, you will enjoy entire stories that build on Conan’s first story “The Phoenix on the Sword.” Both the Ring of Set mentioned therein as well as the Phoenix on the Sword get full stories; also for the Kull of Atlantis fans, delight in the “The Dragons of Mons Fractus” tale that features Pontius Pilate exhibiting Vlad the Impaler vibes along with Valusian serpent people. “The Scroll of Thoth” reinforces the Pain Lords from the Red Sonja Books (co-authored by Tierney and David C. Smith).
Even though there is a ton of sorcery, most of it is redirected toward evil Emperors, Simon usually is not the sorcerer. He is a fighter who hangs out with friendly sorcerers while taking down the evil ones. The fight scenes and action reminded me of Howard’s action-packed Sword & Sorcery. Anyway, don’t expect dry history or old-style, meandering pre-pulp gothic horror. Expect (a) bloody melee, (b) fantastical sorcery, and (c) links to Howardian and other fictional mythos. Excerpts below the Tour Guide reinforce these.
Roman-inspired adventure by Chaosium and related Call of Cthulhu content
Table of Contents (and Chronological Tour Guide of Simon’s Tales)
* content in Sorcery Against Ceaser (i.e., not in Scroll of Thoth). All stories by Richard L. Tierney unless noted.
“Sword of the Avatar” Introduction (by Robert M. Price); the unabridged version is in The Scroll of Thoth.
“The Sword of Spartacus” first published in Swords Against Darkness #3 (Zebra Books, 1978).
“The Fire of Mazda” first published in Orion’s Child #1 (May-June 1984).
“The Seed of the Star-God” first published in Crypt of Cthulhu #24 (Lammas 1984).
“The Blade of the Slayer first published in Pulse-Pounding Adventure Stories #1 (December 1986).
* “The Throne of Achamoth” by Richard L. Tierney & Robert M. Price, first published in Weirdbook #21 (Autumn 1985).
Drums of Chaos is a separate novel-length, Simon of Gitta adventure by Tierney (originally published in 2008, available now via Pickman’s Press 2021, 415pages) that occurs chronologically after “The Throne of Achamoth.” Here’s the blurb (cover below):
CAN A HANDFUL OF HEROES STOP AN APOCALYPSE CENTURIES IN THE MAKING?
Escaped gladiator-slave Simon of Gitta returns to Judea — during the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth — on a mission to avenge the deaths of his parents, seeking revenge in blood against the Roman officials who committed the murders and sold Simon into slavery. But as Simon travels the Holy Lands with his mentor Dositheus and their students Menander and llione, they gradually become entangled in a complex occult plot designed to call down a monstrous alien entity to herald a new aeon on Earth. The mysterious time traveler John Taggart (from Tierney’s The Winds of Zarr) also becomes involved with Simon as their separate quests converge toward a common goal of saving all life on Earth from extinction.
But can a handful of travelers really thwart a covert scheme backed by the power of the Roman Empire? As the apocalyptic supernatural events slowly unfold, Simon and his allies are in a race against time to prevent the devastation of the world. Using mystery cults and early Christian Gnosticism as his vehicle, with meticulously researched Roman history and Biblical scholarship, this is author Richard Tierney’s magnum opus: an epic Lovecraftian alternate history dark fantasy novel that features Tierney’s most famous characters, Simon of Gitta and John Taggart. This novel will appeal to fans of historical fantasy and sword & sorcery fiction in the vein of Robert E. Howard, and the elements of cosmic horror and the Cthulhu Mythos will satisfy many fans of H.P. Lovecraft.
* “The Emerald Tablet” by Robert M. Price; first published in Strange Sorcery #24, Rainfall Books (August 2017).
“The Soul of Kephri” first published in Space & Time #66 (Summer 1984).
“The Ring of Set” first published in Swords Against Darkness #1 (Zebra Books, 1977).
“The Worm of Urakhu” first published in Weirdbook #23 (December 1988).
“The Curse of the Crocodile” first published in Crypt of Cthulhu #47 (Roodmas 1987).
“The Treasure of Horemkhu” first published in Pulse-Pounding Adventure Stories #2 (December 1987).
* “The Secret of Nephren-Ka” by Robert Price, published first in The Mighty Warriors (Ulthar Press, 2018).
“The Scroll of Thoth” first published in Swords Against Darkness #2 (Zebra Books, 1977).
“The Dragons of Mons Fractus” first published in Weirdbook #19 (Spring 1984).
* “The Wedding of Sheila-Na-Gog” by Richard L. Tierney & Glenn Rahman, first published in Crypt of Cthulhu #29 (Candlemas 1985).
“The Pillars of Melkarth Vengeance Quest” first published in Space & Time #78 (Summer 1990).
* “Vengeance Quest” poem, originally published in The Cimmerian #7 (October 2004).
More Simon of Gitta from Tierney?
Robert M. Price writes in the essay for “The Pillars of Melkarth” this context hinting at an unpublished, but already written, novel, and several other tales that likely were never finished:
Readers may notice a large time lapse between the events of “The Pillars of Melkarth” (spring equinox, A.D. 50) and those of the previous story set in A.D. 42. This is because those years were taken up with the events of the novels Path of the Dragon (forthcoming from Pickman’s Press) in A.D. 42 and The Gardens of Lucullus (Sidecar Preservation Society, 2001) in A.D. 48. Other stories were planned during this time period as well. Richard Tierney intended some German adventures in A.D. 46 – 47, as well as entertaining another collaboration with Glenn Rahman on a pair of novels set on the western Roman frontier, one centered on the Claudian invasion of Britain, the other involving the Picts in Scotland. Sadly, none of these stories were ever written — yet.
Drums of Chaos (cover art by Zach McCain) Pickman’s Press, 2021
Excerpts. Expect:
A) Lots of “Sick” Sica Melee
Simon roared and struck out; his fist cracked sharply against the face of the nearest guard, who flopped to the cobbles without a cry. Quick as a panther he crouched and whirled, barely in time to avoid a murderous blow from a second guard’s staff; his sharp-bladed sica, already in hand, shore through the guard’s neck as Simon completed his whirl, and the man went down with a dying gurgle.
and…
The door was only large enough for two abreast and Simon met the first two with steel, expertly parrying, slashing, stabbing. One collapsed mortally wounded from a sword-thrust in the guts; the other leaped back, suddenly fearful, but was pushed forward again by the surging mob — to die instantly on the point of the sica. Simon howled with mad rage, swinging and thrusting; a bludgeon glanced heavily off his left shoulder and a knife-point nicked his flank, but three more of his enemies went down with blood gushing. A pike ripped his tunic and gashed the side of his ribcage; he roared and smote in return, cleaving a snarling face with his sword. Fierce exultation suddenly filled him; if he must die, this was how he preferred it, fighting and slaying Romans to the very end —
B) Unraveling Emperor Plans to Meddle with Cosmic Sorcery
“I think I know what you learned. Tiberius’ purge of his enemies is no secret, and Carbo recently brought me another message from Senator Junius, who has been recalled from exile in Lesbos to house arrest in Rome. The senator told me about Prodikos and his daughters, and I have learned much more here in Ephesos.”
Simon stopped eating. “What have you learned of Prodikos?”
“Much, Simon, but mainly that in this city renowned for its sorcerers, he is the most powerful and feared of them all.”
A serving-girl entered with an amphora of wine, and Dositheus ceased speaking. When she had gone Simon filled his goblet. “Go on,” he said.
“Prodikos had several children by various slave women, but all were sons save Helen and Ilione. These sons he long ago sold into slavery, but his daughters he kept — for an evil purpose, as it turns out. Simon, it is no mere incestuous lust that drives Prodikos. He means to force Ilione to join with him in a monstrous ritual that shall release forces this world has not seen since it emerged from the last great darkness of the All-Night.”…
… “The rite of the Impregnation and the Slaying — an act of sympathetic magic that shall cause the seed of the Star-god to unite with the Great Mother, thereby generating a horrendous spawn that will overwhelm this world.”
Simon gripped his goblet tensely. His scalp tingled as he recalled reading of just such a black ritual in the Sapientia Magorum of the ancient Persian magus Ostanes. “Gods of Hades! How could the girl’s own father even think of such perverse madness —?”
Dositheus drew a deep breath. ‘‘He may no longer be her true father, Simon. Have you not read of Sakkuth, King of Night, and his evil Master?”
Simon felt the tingling extend down his spine. Sakkuth the King, servitor of Kaiwan the Star-god — both evil beings cursed by the ancient prophets yet still furtively worshipped by sorcerers in his own native Samaria…
“The wizards of Acheron and Stygia and even older civilization cycles knew them by other names,” Dositheus went on. “To the nations of primal Attluma they were Kossuth and Assatur. It is said that every thousand years Sakkuth attempts to destroy civilization, and that he succeeds unless powerful magic is used to stop him. It was he who plunged the world into the All-Night after the Atlantean and Hyborian cataclysms. And to initiate such times, his master Kaiwan, who dwells amid the stars near the Eye of Taurus, sends to earth his seed to unite with the Great Mother, thereby enabling her to spawn the Thousand Abominations that will overwhelm the world.”
C) An Abundance of R.E. Howard Hyborian Age References
Instantly the sword hilt in his hands shrilled with a supernatural energy, and a blade of golden light sprang forth — a blade that must, Simon somehow knew, be equal in length to the sword blade when it was first wielded ages ago by the Aquilonian King!
“The Phoenix!” gasped Nephere, falling to his knees. “The soul of civilization — the hope of mankind…”
The great bird — if bird it was — had wheeled about and was now settling down, flapping its wide and glittering pinions, coming to rest atop the ancient pyramidal stone behind the flaming altar. It perched there and folded its wings, gazing down upon the flames where — so Nephere had said — its parent had just been cremated.
Simon could only stare in awe. He suddenly realized that he had never known true beauty before. He had seen vast mountain landscapes that had taken his breath away, and many fire-emblazoned sunsets, and had known a number of beautiful women — even one that had shared with him and the fallen gods his own soul-nature. But never, until now, had he felt the presence of the very Soul of Beauty.
Yet, despite the mood that was upon him, despite the lingering chords of celestial music in his heart, he could still see actual, objective features of the being. It was about the size and shape of a large eagle, and this fact had doubtless formed the basis of the legends that had surrounded it. But it was no bird, Simon knew — nor any creature of earth or its environs. Those scales or feathers, gleaming like a thousand luminous gems, only slightly resembled the scales or feathers of earthly creatures; that gently curved bill, glowing like translucent pearl, only resembled something between the beaks of ibis and eagle; the golden spray of filaments about its head and throat only resembled the inferior crowns and gorgets of earthly kings and queens. And the great eyes, round and limpid and swirling with obscure colors, bright with transcendent life and supermundane intelligence — these resembled nothing he had ever seen…
July 10, 2022
It is impossible for me to understate how much I loved Tierney's not-nearly-well-enough-known stories of Simon of Gitta, which are the closest heir to heroic adventure-meets-Lovecraftian horror since Robert E. Howard's death. Lots of authors get that sort of tagline, but Tierney is the real deal.
When August Derleth coined the term Cthulhu Mythos, he radically changed Lovecraft's vision to a good vs evil cosmic war between the "good" Elder Gods and the "evil" Great Old Ones. Tierney, in his Simon Magus (the magician from the Acts of the Apostles who fights a magical duel with Peter), fixed and "reconciled" this problem through the lens of Christian Gnosticism. Simon of Gitta is not based on the historical Simon, but rather his portrayal by Jack Palance in the Silver Chalice (he even looks like Palance) a Samaritan gladiator slowly turned magician who find himself thrust in the Mythos in which there are Primal Gods or Archons, who defend sentient life because they feed off of the pain of its suffering and the Old Ones, who exist in such an alien, extra-dimensional relationship to it, that they wish the world cleared of life for their own, alien purposes.
Set during the time of Christ (literally), the stories are great sword and sandals adventures and also have periodic winks and nods to every thing from Karl Edward Wagner's stories of Kane (aka Cain), to Dune to...the Empire Strikes Back. The fusing of Gnosticism and the Mythos works seamlessly, and Tierney's setting is vivid, along with a lead character who is both heroic yet far from flawless.
When August Derleth coined the term Cthulhu Mythos, he radically changed Lovecraft's vision to a good vs evil cosmic war between the "good" Elder Gods and the "evil" Great Old Ones. Tierney, in his Simon Magus (the magician from the Acts of the Apostles who fights a magical duel with Peter), fixed and "reconciled" this problem through the lens of Christian Gnosticism. Simon of Gitta is not based on the historical Simon, but rather his portrayal by Jack Palance in the Silver Chalice (he even looks like Palance) a Samaritan gladiator slowly turned magician who find himself thrust in the Mythos in which there are Primal Gods or Archons, who defend sentient life because they feed off of the pain of its suffering and the Old Ones, who exist in such an alien, extra-dimensional relationship to it, that they wish the world cleared of life for their own, alien purposes.
Set during the time of Christ (literally), the stories are great sword and sandals adventures and also have periodic winks and nods to every thing from Karl Edward Wagner's stories of Kane (aka Cain), to Dune to...the Empire Strikes Back. The fusing of Gnosticism and the Mythos works seamlessly, and Tierney's setting is vivid, along with a lead character who is both heroic yet far from flawless.
Want to read
April 13, 2013From the two "Simon of Gitta" stories I've read (presented in the S.A.D. series), I'm expecting Tierney's Sword-and-Sorcery anti-hero pitted against dark gods, while hunting ancient relics.
So far, Robert M. Price's introduction is not only informative on the Simon Magus stories' significance within the Cthulhu Mythos, restoring "Lovecraft's fearful nihilism". It also offers a scholarly, Gnostic, interpretation of the persons and events surrounding the "esoteric legend".
As a side note, Tierney was impressed with Jack Palance's performance as Simon Magus (in The Silver Chalice) and lent his physique to his character:
So far, Robert M. Price's introduction is not only informative on the Simon Magus stories' significance within the Cthulhu Mythos, restoring "Lovecraft's fearful nihilism". It also offers a scholarly, Gnostic, interpretation of the persons and events surrounding the "esoteric legend".
As a side note, Tierney was impressed with Jack Palance's performance as Simon Magus (in The Silver Chalice) and lent his physique to his character:
August 19, 2022
From 1978 to 1990 I ran a hobby shop. We specialized in gaming supplies. One of the major RPGs that I ran was Call of Cthulhu. At the time I did not know about these books from the game publisher Chaosium. What a missed set of game plots. This volume was a long read because of the notes I took. While I do not live where there is a gaming group in CofC, I still collect data for the game. The stories in this volume are very good. All short tales set in ACE30 to ACE50 centered in Rome and the middle east. Simon of Gitta is a gladiator who has the soul of the ancients. He learns the arts of illusion and magic to gain a living after fleeing Rome but he also serves various sorcerers and learns much of their true magic. As he travels thwarting Roman interests and corruption he studies and becomes more of a wizard that he admits. All of the tales touch either lightly on the themes created by Lovecraft and Derleth or a bit more heavily into their writings. But they never cross into horror only as they center of a character who is almost immune to the traditional mythos maddness. The author Tierney is one of the writers who has expanded the mythos and added his own touches while merging the Lovecraft original mythos with parts of the Derleth version.
If you do not want to delve into the more academic aspects of the mythos, just read the stories without all of the background material. They stand alone as short tales of suspense with a tinge of horror. Just not as heavily as provided by Lovecraft.
If you do not want to delve into the more academic aspects of the mythos, just read the stories without all of the background material. They stand alone as short tales of suspense with a tinge of horror. Just not as heavily as provided by Lovecraft.
May 25, 2014
This was the most enjoyable of the Chaosium books I've read. Robert M. Price does a great job explaining the background of the stories, which tie together the Cthulhu Mythos, Robert E. Howard's alternate history from Conan, and Gnosticism. Can't recommend this one enough.
February 12, 2016
A collection of stories based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. These are, to me, only slightly better than the original Lovecraft stories. Just not a fan of his writings. Not recommended
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