Broadswords Battle-Axes Barbarians

by Brian Berry, David Irons, Coy Hall

Broadswords Battle-Axes Barbarians is a collection of sword and sorcery stories influenced from the pages of Weird Tales to the golden days of 1980s cinema. In this book you will find bloody battles, corpse armies, evil sorcerers, cursed treasure, invincible warriors, shadow kings and queens, assassins, and much more! Now pick up a sword, grab a jack of ale, and immerse yourself in the adventure!

279 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 12, 2024

Reviews

[Jim Kuenzli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good collection of sword and sorcery tales with the last being more of a Solomon Kane type. It was the longest story, and probably one of the best. Well worth a read.

[Sarah Huntington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me get one thing out of the way, I hate swords and sorcery tales. Hate them. Except, maybe I don't. I'm confused now because I loved this! I only got it because a couple of my favourite authors have stories in this anthology and I didn't want to miss those. I read all of the tales and I loved every one. They're all very different and unexpected too. My personal favourites were Rider in the Widow Lands by Coy Hall was expert level amazing. Anaid by Damien Casey, which for me, was a remarkable saga of Paganism and the power of women versus the onslaught of Christianity. I may be wrong about that, a person could perhaps see it differently. I saw metaphors and sword action. Lair of the Drolloks by Jack Rascal was great and Goblin by Judith Sonnet. But as I said, each story was fantastic and completely enjoyable. It was all a huge amount of fun and fantasy too. I have my beady eyes on Slaughterhouse Press now because I know I will get to read a brilliant anthology whenever they release one.

[Thomas Hobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of stories. However, Invader from the Sphere is a reprint. I read this in June 2023.

[M.C. August · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun collection of sword and sorcery tales. Not a weak story in the lot and each exudes brawn and smarts like their leads. Another banger of a release from Slaughterhouse Press.

[Robert Jenner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inconsistent Quality

This anthology is decidedly a mixed bag of stories that are ostensibly in the sword and sorcery genre, but some definitely get it right better than others. "Lair of the Drolloks" by Jack Rascal is a solid, entertaining story. One or two entries are so gory and disgusting that they verge on self-parody, although maybe that was the point. There are a lot of homages to classic authors and themes. One story, "Invader from the Sphere" by Brian G. Berry, is very Solomon Kane-esque, and Berry does a decent job echoing Robert E. Howard. On the other hand, "Anaid" by Damien Casey, was literally Wonder Woman vs. Jesus, for some reason. Definitely over my head. Many of the authors write like they understand the basic ingredients of sword and sorcery well enough, but they haven't had quite enough trial and error experience to work out the exact measurements yet. Honestly the best thing about the book, aside from "Drolloks", is the cover. Your mileage may vary.