A Book of Blades: Volume II: Rogues in the House Podcast Presents

The Book of Blades #2

by L.D. Whitney, Kirk A. Johnson, Steve Dilks

Within this tome are buried the blades of warriors, thieves, and wizards. Tales of their deeds, glories, and triumphs shall ring throughout the ages.

Rogues in the House Podcast has gathered the best tales of Sword & Sorcery from across the community.

Here, brave adventurers will discover tales of daring and adventure, of dark sorcery and bloody combat, all penned by members of the burgeoning Sword & Sorcery Community. Returning authors John R. Fultz, Jason Ray Carney, and Charles Clark are joined by new addtions like J. Thomas Howard, Bryn Hammond, and legendary Kirk A. Johnson. Journey across distant, unremembered lands with these and many more!

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery

213 pages, Hardcover

Published June 28, 2023

Reviews

[Jim Kuenzli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice anthology with sword and sorcery and dark fantasy type stories. I have read a few elsewhere. There were a couple of bad ones in here. So, overall, 4 stars. The good outweighed the bad and I enjoyed reading this. Recommend!

[Ben Duerksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overall improvement from the first volume. More consistent editing, and more consistently solid stories. As with any edited collection there are sure to be a couple of weak spots, and this one is no different, but there were more than a few standouts that well compensated for any I thought were lesser works. Particular standouts for me were from Scott Oden, Jason Carney, Matt John, JM Clarke, Kirk Johnson, and entries from John Fultz and Steve Dilks that are reprints from elsewhere, though for Dilks it’s a slightly different draft than the original.

[James T · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of blades returns to once again bring an eclectic mix of sword and sorcery tales. Like the first volume it’s strength lies in the variety of styles and flavors provided. Maybe all won’t click with you but to the collection’s credit the net of what it pulls in provides a more diverse set of stories than your average S&S anthology, which depending on your editor you know what your in for. Which isn’t inherently a bad thing. All this a roundabout way of saying a book of blade volume II has a lot of very different feelings stories in it.

Overall, they’re all good but it’s really the last two that pushed it to a 5 star read for me. John R Fultz’s darkly romantic story Return of the Quill is beautifully written and it’s gothic tale is really captivating.

The Horror From the Stars by Steve Dilks is a must read for any contemporary sword and sorcery fan. I read the earlier printed version and returning to it was reminded of just how splendid a tale it is. It is pure blood pumping sword and sorcery. The distilled essence of the genre. I can’t wait for a full Bohun novel or anthology. You need to read this story whether it’s here or in PuP S&S vol 1. Don’t sleep on it.

Another story that really was the essence of the genre was Cries from A Sleeping City by Matthew John. It’s just got the flavor down exactly right creating the perfect mixture of action, horror, lust. Just wonderfully written and told. Would make for a heck of a prologue to a full length novel. (though the story is self-contained it could foreshadow a greater narrative.) loved it.

I thought both the opener and second story were strong as well. Chuck Clark’s Turkael returns with an action packed story that blends Sword and Sorcery with SF in a loving homage to the Tower of the Elephant.

T.A. Markitan’s Wolves of the Winter Road has a classic dark fantasy horror vibe. Fans of the Witcher short stories will probably dig this.

One last story that struck me was Ceremony by ZS Reynolds. It also got the blood flowing. Just a classic heavy metal style yarn. Really enjoyed it. Nice focus on horror.

Anyway, it’s quite a mixture of flavors and maybe not all will be yours but I think the ones that stand out to your particular taste will really resonate.

And man that Steve Dilks story is a must read.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some contributions are reprints from other venues and I was slightly disappointed that the artwork didn’t directly tie to the included stories, A Book of Blades: Volume II feels like an enthusiastic labor of love. Brisk action is the hallmark of these stories, and there’s more than enough here to justify the purchase for fans of Sword & Sorcery fantasy.

Read my full review at Grimdark Magazine!

[Julie Bozza]

Awesome story "Goat Against the City God" by Bryn Hammond. I'll come back later for the others!

[David Malaski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought book II would have a hard time matching the first issue but this anthology was top notch sword and sorcery. The tales were mostly grim and fast paced. Give it a try.

[Nicholas Ahlhelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most anthologies, it's a mix of very good, average, and bad. Fortunately, it leans to very good more often than not.

[Javier A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

'A Book of Blades: Volume II' contains an assortment of excellent Sword and Sorcery tales, both recent and brand new. The Rogues in the House podcast, who've put this together, have stated that their goal was to collect the very best of what contemporary S&S has to offer in this anthology, and one would be hard pressed to say they have not done so.

There's no lack of variety in the short stories from this Anthology, and they're all of the utmost quality. I particularly enjoyed 'The White Tower' by Charles Clark, 'The Toe of Pergendu' by Jason Ray Carney, 'Something Oath-like' by Oliver Brackenbury, and 'The Horror from The Stars' by Steve Dilks, which most pleased my palate.

I did notice some missing text in Jason Ray Carney's author introduction, where at the very end it states "Additionally, his fiction has appeared in various" and ends at that. There may be more such minor errors, but I did not spot them.

Any fan of S&S should be picking this up. Some of the stories contained within are reprints, but the new material more than justifies the purchase.

[Riccardo Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of stories following on from the first collection.
Think it ends strong, the J M Clarke, Kirk A Johnson, John R Fultz and Steve Dilks stories are brilliant and year a bigger world and adventure, leave the reader wanting more.
Matthew John, Oliver Brackenbury, T A Martian and Scott Oden stories also really strong.