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Old Moon Quarterly, Volume 7: A Magazine of Dark Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery
Morlock, son of Merlin, rides a donkey’s corpse into the burning web of Usli, giant spider and foe of entropy. A sword, bereft of its beloved mistress, recounts for us its quest for their reunion. After the great wars, a goddess washes ashore an island. Its inhabitants, spurred by a mind more murderous than their own, seek to butcher her.
Read these stories, and others, each penned by a modern master of dark fantasy and sword-and-sorcery short fiction in VOLUME 7 of OLD MOON QUARTERLY.
Read these stories, and others, each penned by a modern master of dark fantasy and sword-and-sorcery short fiction in VOLUME 7 of OLD MOON QUARTERLY.
129 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 14, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 17, 2024
H.R. Laurence's "The Torrent of Souls" has an opening line that is one of the best I've ever read. An absolute delight that I shall reserve for you to read on your own. Go get this magazine to read it. By itself it will reward your expenditure of money, time, and literary pursuit. All the rest that accompanies it, from its own story to the other tales, the intro and the closing review, are bonus. Oh, and an excellent opening blurb from a renowned publisher provides quite the treat!
OMQ established a set of particulars that defined them and effectively portrayed what they were, what they stood for, what they wanted and wanted to be known for publishing. This issue defies some of that, or at least how I took some of that. All I know is that at first, while I wanted to write for them, appear in their pages, I was concerned I could not write what they wanted. This Dark Souls/Dead Souls/Soulslike style seemed to elude me and I worried. From Jonathan Olfert's "The Last Line" (iss 2) to Graham Wilcox' "The Feast of Saint Ottmer" (iss 3) - which I actually held as my target, my ideal, for what OMQ is and wanted me to write - a kernel of idea and hope began to grow.
I have not read the issues between then and now. This Iss 7 seems different. I'm not feeling the same vibes I did, especially from Wilcox' story. Costa's attempt ("Of Decadence a Child") is insufficient and incomplete. Evans' "Lessons from Aulis" holds the ephemeral otherness but not much of the passionate power. "In Her Waters, Raging" from Lora Gray is cool and has the passion and power, but I don't buy magazines for the poetry, sorry. "Bleed Me in the Water" (Piper) is...an incoherent wish-fulfillment splatterfest. "The Last Gift" from Mills is a bittersweet melancholy tale that yet leaves one both uplifted and lessoned...but not a style of story I could read much more of in quantity or length. John's "Last Day on the Farm" brings the horrific well and displays both of his titular characters in his current on-going series; it's bloody and dark and dangerous, closer to that Olfert story than the Wilcox, but definitely fitting within these pages. Two attempts at being literary, speculative writing about speculative things within in speculative genres, sort of work, though more for the magazine than myself. The Voorhis poem with footnotes thing is an interesting approach; I enjoyed the notes more than the prose poem, but as a whole it was meh. Tobler's reminiscent story from the POV of the sword was definitely romantic, sort of gothic, in spirit seemingly a fit, but in power and passion? And Enge's Morlock always brings the wyrd and the cleverness, though as both age they get more esoteric and epic and thus lessen in appeal for my reading tastes.
Wilcox closes the issue with a great review that actually just might inspire me to finally read that particular book. All in all, I'm going to tell people to read Laurence's story, so that makes this a recommendation. I'm going with 1 star for name, heritage, and package; 1 star for Laurence; and 1 star for all the rest.
OMQ established a set of particulars that defined them and effectively portrayed what they were, what they stood for, what they wanted and wanted to be known for publishing. This issue defies some of that, or at least how I took some of that. All I know is that at first, while I wanted to write for them, appear in their pages, I was concerned I could not write what they wanted. This Dark Souls/Dead Souls/Soulslike style seemed to elude me and I worried. From Jonathan Olfert's "The Last Line" (iss 2) to Graham Wilcox' "The Feast of Saint Ottmer" (iss 3) - which I actually held as my target, my ideal, for what OMQ is and wanted me to write - a kernel of idea and hope began to grow.
I have not read the issues between then and now. This Iss 7 seems different. I'm not feeling the same vibes I did, especially from Wilcox' story. Costa's attempt ("Of Decadence a Child") is insufficient and incomplete. Evans' "Lessons from Aulis" holds the ephemeral otherness but not much of the passionate power. "In Her Waters, Raging" from Lora Gray is cool and has the passion and power, but I don't buy magazines for the poetry, sorry. "Bleed Me in the Water" (Piper) is...an incoherent wish-fulfillment splatterfest. "The Last Gift" from Mills is a bittersweet melancholy tale that yet leaves one both uplifted and lessoned...but not a style of story I could read much more of in quantity or length. John's "Last Day on the Farm" brings the horrific well and displays both of his titular characters in his current on-going series; it's bloody and dark and dangerous, closer to that Olfert story than the Wilcox, but definitely fitting within these pages. Two attempts at being literary, speculative writing about speculative things within in speculative genres, sort of work, though more for the magazine than myself. The Voorhis poem with footnotes thing is an interesting approach; I enjoyed the notes more than the prose poem, but as a whole it was meh. Tobler's reminiscent story from the POV of the sword was definitely romantic, sort of gothic, in spirit seemingly a fit, but in power and passion? And Enge's Morlock always brings the wyrd and the cleverness, though as both age they get more esoteric and epic and thus lessen in appeal for my reading tastes.
Wilcox closes the issue with a great review that actually just might inspire me to finally read that particular book. All in all, I'm going to tell people to read Laurence's story, so that makes this a recommendation. I'm going with 1 star for name, heritage, and package; 1 star for Laurence; and 1 star for all the rest.
October 20, 2024
Old Moon Hasn’t disappointed for the last several books. This was a smorgasbord of writing styles and content. The perfect October read for fans of dark fantasy, supernatural works, sword and sorcery, or stories with a touch of macabre mystery. Highly recommend!
October 14, 2025
I really enjoyed how ambitious this issue was. Some of that ambition was more formal in approach (see Callie Voorhis’ extensively footnoted prose poem Footnotes On Only Forever, or Monica Joyce Evans’ Greek-mythology-meets-groundhogs-day Lessons From Aulis). Some of it was more traditional in structure but was shooting for the moon in terms of its prose and scope (The Torrent of Souls by HR Laurence) or just in general weirdness (Of Decadence A Child by David Costa, and James Enge’s Ember Eyed). Not every entry here worked for me, but even the ones I didn’t enjoy I still came away from them with the feeling of “damn they were really trying something there.”
Two big highlights for me this issue. The first was The Last Gift by Jason Mills, a beautifully written story that genuinely had me cheering as Mills assembles all the pieces of his tale together like a puzzle at the end to show how his protagonist wins the day. The second was Stolen By Moonlight, Betrothed By Sun by E. Catherine Tobler, a surprisingly moving story told from the pov of a living sword that’s in love with, and still pining for, its former bearer.
This isn’t the most enjoyable issue of Old Moon, but it is the most ambitious. Everyone involved here is taking very big swings, and that’s a huge plus in my book.
Two big highlights for me this issue. The first was The Last Gift by Jason Mills, a beautifully written story that genuinely had me cheering as Mills assembles all the pieces of his tale together like a puzzle at the end to show how his protagonist wins the day. The second was Stolen By Moonlight, Betrothed By Sun by E. Catherine Tobler, a surprisingly moving story told from the pov of a living sword that’s in love with, and still pining for, its former bearer.
This isn’t the most enjoyable issue of Old Moon, but it is the most ambitious. Everyone involved here is taking very big swings, and that’s a huge plus in my book.
July 15, 2025
OMQ lives by that old Howard Hawks adage that a good movie is three great scenes and no bad ones, and kudos to them for maintaining that year after year.
"The Last Gift" was the standout to me here, with its fabular structure done up in a classic sword & sorcery coating. Very rare that one of these gets me misty-eyed - kudos, Jason Mills, whoever you are!
"Torrent of Souls" manages to take a well-worn trope (guy gets hired out of a rowdy tavern) and infuse it with something more philosophical and even somewhat fatalistic.
Always a pleasure to read Matthew John's good meat & potatoes action/horror stuff, and "Last Day at the Farm" was no exception.
I don't think I've said this before, but I very much enjoy Graham Wilcox's editorial voice to the point that I find the intros just as much a delight to read as any of the prose following it. His review of Worm Ouroboros made me laugh, as he used the very same turn of phrase in writing that I had in my thoughts: "E.R. Eddison committed to the bit".
"The Last Gift" was the standout to me here, with its fabular structure done up in a classic sword & sorcery coating. Very rare that one of these gets me misty-eyed - kudos, Jason Mills, whoever you are!
"Torrent of Souls" manages to take a well-worn trope (guy gets hired out of a rowdy tavern) and infuse it with something more philosophical and even somewhat fatalistic.
Always a pleasure to read Matthew John's good meat & potatoes action/horror stuff, and "Last Day at the Farm" was no exception.
I don't think I've said this before, but I very much enjoy Graham Wilcox's editorial voice to the point that I find the intros just as much a delight to read as any of the prose following it. His review of Worm Ouroboros made me laugh, as he used the very same turn of phrase in writing that I had in my thoughts: "E.R. Eddison committed to the bit".
October 1, 2026
man what the fuck is up with goodreads on desktop rn good lord. i had to open this in a different browser for the page to load so i could even leave a review.
ANYWAY. extremely solid collection, with what may be some of my favorite OMQ pieces to date. i most enjoyed the first three -- "the ember-eyed," "stolen by moonlight, betrothed by sun," and "the torrent of souls" -- but with the exception of the one poem there was no piece in here i did not enjoy; nor is this a fault of the poem, i simply just. do not like most poetry. "footnotes on 'only forever,' the grey witch's last poem" was such an interesting read-- i had to work through it a handful of times, once reading it as intended, then just the story without footnotes, and then once more through, but i had a lot of fun picking through it. very unusual structure to find in a magazine such as this, but i enjoyed it and furthermore greatly appreciated its inclusion. the same can be said for "lessons from aulis," a sort of groundhog day tale of clytemnestra's murder of agamemnon from alternating POVs (including also iphigenia and cassandra) that i enjoyed MUCH more than i expected from the opening notes.
that being said, "last day on the farm" ended on a slightly more rote note than i personally prefer (although i did enjoy it, it just packed less punch than some of the other pieces), and "of decadence a child" fell unfortunately flat for me. i feel like there's a delicate balance we need to strike for a story like this to work, and this leaned too hard into the "trying too hard" direction for me. i respect the commitment to the bit but i think in this case it could have been stripped back some.
ANYWAY. extremely solid collection, with what may be some of my favorite OMQ pieces to date. i most enjoyed the first three -- "the ember-eyed," "stolen by moonlight, betrothed by sun," and "the torrent of souls" -- but with the exception of the one poem there was no piece in here i did not enjoy; nor is this a fault of the poem, i simply just. do not like most poetry. "footnotes on 'only forever,' the grey witch's last poem" was such an interesting read-- i had to work through it a handful of times, once reading it as intended, then just the story without footnotes, and then once more through, but i had a lot of fun picking through it. very unusual structure to find in a magazine such as this, but i enjoyed it and furthermore greatly appreciated its inclusion. the same can be said for "lessons from aulis," a sort of groundhog day tale of clytemnestra's murder of agamemnon from alternating POVs (including also iphigenia and cassandra) that i enjoyed MUCH more than i expected from the opening notes.
that being said, "last day on the farm" ended on a slightly more rote note than i personally prefer (although i did enjoy it, it just packed less punch than some of the other pieces), and "of decadence a child" fell unfortunately flat for me. i feel like there's a delicate balance we need to strike for a story like this to work, and this leaned too hard into the "trying too hard" direction for me. i respect the commitment to the bit but i think in this case it could have been stripped back some.
November 1, 2024
Once again, a solid collection of short, dark tales to read. I am glad I found this magazine, lots of characters, worlds, and authors I want to explore. Check it out.
May 19, 2025
Old Moon Quarterly once again brings us adventure tales—and this time some quieter stories as well—that deliver on readers' expectations for dark aesthetics, dire conflicts, and not a small helping of violence. I had mixed feelings at times while reading this volume but found myself ultimately pleased. Not every single story was to my taste, yet this would hardly be a realistic expectation for an anthology, would it? Many stories here did more than just entertain; the more conventionally plotted ones are written with better-than-average prose and put forward sufficient stakes. The illuminated title pages and illustrations are delightful, as always. What I really want to highlight, however, is the literary experimentation (at least for sword & sorcery and dark fantasy tales) that seems to be a key feature of this volume. I do think this volume sags just a bit in the middle, but Tobler's and Piper's pieces were delightful, and the last few pieces especially convinced me to round my rating up. (I'd give this volume 4.5 stars if I could rate this with more nuance.)
I'm not the first to comment on volume VII's lean towards the experimental—see this review published by Spiral Tower Press—but I regard this largely as a good thing. (This experimentation didn't feel equally successful in all cases, as is natural with experimentation. See the reviews of individual stories and poems below.) This volume sticks largely to its genre lineage with respect to settings and conflicts while exhibiting refreshing turns (at times) with respect to characters and prose. I can see how a reader who goes into this volume expecting raucous fantasy adventure yarns will be disappointed at times, yet it's not lacking in the darkness of its dark fantasy, and I, for one, prefer elevated prose and more adventurous writing to formulaic fantasy. I would like to see more along these lines from future Old Moon issues.
What follows is a spoiler-light overview of the individual pieces:
Unfortunately, Enge's "The Ember-Eyed" didn't quite work for me; I take this to be a matter of taste more than anything else. I do feel that the early fight/chase scene is a strong one, but the story gets a bit bogged down in its own backstory. Some of the more fantastical elements, while probably fun for another reader, strained my suspension of disbelief overmuch. I say this with some regret, as I quite liked the first Morlock story I read, "Evil Honey" back in OMQ vol. III, for its skillful use of its more absurd elements to make its darker turns all the more harrowing. I do remain interested in seeing what other trouble Morock gets into/will get into in other stories.
Tobler's story "Stolen By Moonlight, Betrothed By Sun" is fundamentally a romance—not in the sense of the tropey, airport newsstand fantasy novel, but in that attachment and love lost are really the keystones of the story. (This is also the only sort of romance-type story I can readily imagine fitting in an OMQ volume.) And as usual, Tobler's prose is a pleasure to read. I'll mention Piper's story alongside this one, as passions and yearnings drive both plots. Tobler's is more sweetly romantic and nostalgic, whereas Piper's "Bleed Me in the Water" is plump with a carnal desire for revenge (and arguably other carnal desires, too). Both stories also make use of their narrators' limited perspectives to enrich their plots and are welcome experiments in writing craft for a literary scene that's usually somewhat allergic to such experimentation.
Laurence's tale "The Torrent of Souls" exhibits more conventional S&S/heroic fantasy plotting, for sure, but Laurence brings a viscerality and stark mortality to his stories that makes him exactly the right author of such tales. I already felt this upon encountering his story "The Iron Serpent" in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly; while "The Torrent of Souls" doesn't quite measure up to the aforementioned piece, it's still an enjoyable read that further affirms my view of Laurie's work. Here, readers get to properly dwell on a certain character's demise in sharp detail, and the story's underworld journey sequence is a vivid, wild ride.
Voorhis' poem "Footnotes on 'Only Forever,' The Grey Witch's Last Poem" is replete with, well, footnotes that flesh out its own history and make its characters concrete. Somehow, this didn't work for me as well as I'd expect. I normally quite enjoy seeing speculative fiction settings with insider commentary on the setting itself; it can be tantalizing to see how the inhabitants of a world see their own world. Perhaps what went wrong (in my view alone) is that the extensive background provided in the poem's errata caused me to experience an emotional remove from the verse itself as I was caught up in analyzing the contents.
Mills' "The Last Gift" and John's "Last Day on the Farm" are the most conventionally plotted ones in this volume, following well-worn treads in S&S and fantasy adventure storytelling. That said, they are both nicely executed, in part by giving us characters we can care about. I could see these fitting, and being well received, in more traditional publications like Heroic Fantasy Quarterly and Swords & Sorcery Magazine.
Costa's "Of Decadence a Child" features vivid prose yet admittedly feels black-and-white at times. That said, it is a little more experimental with the (thoroughly dark) slay-the-beast fantasy quest format, opening with quite a bit of religious ritual and preaching that sets the protagonist and his community apart as a beacon on a hill overlooking a terrible wasteland wracked with the Deadly Sins. (The scenery in this piece dredged up the darker episodes of The Pilgrim's Progress from the deep recesses of my childhood mind, though Costa's writing is more self-aware.) The narration borders on being over-the-top at times, yet the intensity does fit the protagonist's interiority and the stakes as he sees them. The story eventually departs from the aforementioned fantasy quest formula, too, with an ending that's written with a surprising flourish.
Gray's poem "In Her Waters, Raging" is powerful and lovely in its prose and all the better for its brevity—it delivers a quick, condensed emotional punch rather than being drawn out. I also think there's nowhere near enough fantasy writing that properly reckons with the ethics of warfare, namely participants' responsibility in it; Gray's poem is a fine addition to this body of literature. (For readers who want an entire novel that does this with even more nuance, I'd point them to Anna Smith Spark's A Woman of the SwordA Woman of the Sword.) I expect that real poetry aficionados—I do not count myself as one, only as a dabbler—would get even more out of Gray's piece.
In "Lessons from Aulis," Evans' present tense, multiple-POV, timeline-hopping story is perhaps the furthest literary departure from classic S&S—and it's all the richer for it. The onset reminds me very much of June Orchid Parker's "How Many Deaths Till Revenge?" in New Edge Sword & Sorcery issue 2, both in their premises and in the ways that their cyclical violence amplifies the stories' underlying strong, bitter emotions. All of this makes "Of Decadence a Child" a strong choice of a closing piece for the volume (not including the review of The Worm Ouroboros ); I quite enjoyed this story and will keep an eye out for more of Evans' work.
The review of The Worm Ouroboros opens with a fair bit of summary, though I suppose this is fitting for an early 20th-century piece as confounding as The Worm Ouroboros. Overall, though, this review scratches a key itch of mine and addresses some questions about premodernity-as-seen-in-literature I often ponder as I draft my own fiction. I wholeheartedly agree with Wilcox that fantasy (really, any fiction) is best not when it adheres to our values but when it commits to its own. (I'll only add the caveat that characters in a medieval-like setting need not be flatly medieval in their values and morals; diversity of thought and ethics has always existed, everywhere, every-when.) I think Wilcox is right, too, to blame the publishing industry at least as much as readers themselves for the over-sanitized, Whedonized fantasy writing we see rather often at present.
I'm not the first to comment on volume VII's lean towards the experimental—see this review published by Spiral Tower Press—but I regard this largely as a good thing. (This experimentation didn't feel equally successful in all cases, as is natural with experimentation. See the reviews of individual stories and poems below.) This volume sticks largely to its genre lineage with respect to settings and conflicts while exhibiting refreshing turns (at times) with respect to characters and prose. I can see how a reader who goes into this volume expecting raucous fantasy adventure yarns will be disappointed at times, yet it's not lacking in the darkness of its dark fantasy, and I, for one, prefer elevated prose and more adventurous writing to formulaic fantasy. I would like to see more along these lines from future Old Moon issues.
What follows is a spoiler-light overview of the individual pieces:
Unfortunately, Enge's "The Ember-Eyed" didn't quite work for me; I take this to be a matter of taste more than anything else. I do feel that the early fight/chase scene is a strong one, but the story gets a bit bogged down in its own backstory. Some of the more fantastical elements, while probably fun for another reader, strained my suspension of disbelief overmuch. I say this with some regret, as I quite liked the first Morlock story I read, "Evil Honey" back in OMQ vol. III, for its skillful use of its more absurd elements to make its darker turns all the more harrowing. I do remain interested in seeing what other trouble Morock gets into/will get into in other stories.
Tobler's story "Stolen By Moonlight, Betrothed By Sun" is fundamentally a romance—not in the sense of the tropey, airport newsstand fantasy novel, but in that attachment and love lost are really the keystones of the story. (This is also the only sort of romance-type story I can readily imagine fitting in an OMQ volume.) And as usual, Tobler's prose is a pleasure to read. I'll mention Piper's story alongside this one, as passions and yearnings drive both plots. Tobler's is more sweetly romantic and nostalgic, whereas Piper's "Bleed Me in the Water" is plump with a carnal desire for revenge (and arguably other carnal desires, too). Both stories also make use of their narrators' limited perspectives to enrich their plots and are welcome experiments in writing craft for a literary scene that's usually somewhat allergic to such experimentation.
Laurence's tale "The Torrent of Souls" exhibits more conventional S&S/heroic fantasy plotting, for sure, but Laurence brings a viscerality and stark mortality to his stories that makes him exactly the right author of such tales. I already felt this upon encountering his story "The Iron Serpent" in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly; while "The Torrent of Souls" doesn't quite measure up to the aforementioned piece, it's still an enjoyable read that further affirms my view of Laurie's work. Here, readers get to properly dwell on a certain character's demise in sharp detail, and the story's underworld journey sequence is a vivid, wild ride.
Voorhis' poem "Footnotes on 'Only Forever,' The Grey Witch's Last Poem" is replete with, well, footnotes that flesh out its own history and make its characters concrete. Somehow, this didn't work for me as well as I'd expect. I normally quite enjoy seeing speculative fiction settings with insider commentary on the setting itself; it can be tantalizing to see how the inhabitants of a world see their own world. Perhaps what went wrong (in my view alone) is that the extensive background provided in the poem's errata caused me to experience an emotional remove from the verse itself as I was caught up in analyzing the contents.
Mills' "The Last Gift" and John's "Last Day on the Farm" are the most conventionally plotted ones in this volume, following well-worn treads in S&S and fantasy adventure storytelling. That said, they are both nicely executed, in part by giving us characters we can care about. I could see these fitting, and being well received, in more traditional publications like Heroic Fantasy Quarterly and Swords & Sorcery Magazine.
Costa's "Of Decadence a Child" features vivid prose yet admittedly feels black-and-white at times. That said, it is a little more experimental with the (thoroughly dark) slay-the-beast fantasy quest format, opening with quite a bit of religious ritual and preaching that sets the protagonist and his community apart as a beacon on a hill overlooking a terrible wasteland wracked with the Deadly Sins. (The scenery in this piece dredged up the darker episodes of The Pilgrim's Progress from the deep recesses of my childhood mind, though Costa's writing is more self-aware.) The narration borders on being over-the-top at times, yet the intensity does fit the protagonist's interiority and the stakes as he sees them. The story eventually departs from the aforementioned fantasy quest formula, too, with an ending that's written with a surprising flourish.
Gray's poem "In Her Waters, Raging" is powerful and lovely in its prose and all the better for its brevity—it delivers a quick, condensed emotional punch rather than being drawn out. I also think there's nowhere near enough fantasy writing that properly reckons with the ethics of warfare, namely participants' responsibility in it; Gray's poem is a fine addition to this body of literature. (For readers who want an entire novel that does this with even more nuance, I'd point them to Anna Smith Spark's A Woman of the SwordA Woman of the Sword.) I expect that real poetry aficionados—I do not count myself as one, only as a dabbler—would get even more out of Gray's piece.
In "Lessons from Aulis," Evans' present tense, multiple-POV, timeline-hopping story is perhaps the furthest literary departure from classic S&S—and it's all the richer for it. The onset reminds me very much of June Orchid Parker's "How Many Deaths Till Revenge?" in New Edge Sword & Sorcery issue 2, both in their premises and in the ways that their cyclical violence amplifies the stories' underlying strong, bitter emotions. All of this makes "Of Decadence a Child" a strong choice of a closing piece for the volume (not including the review of The Worm Ouroboros ); I quite enjoyed this story and will keep an eye out for more of Evans' work.
The review of The Worm Ouroboros opens with a fair bit of summary, though I suppose this is fitting for an early 20th-century piece as confounding as The Worm Ouroboros. Overall, though, this review scratches a key itch of mine and addresses some questions about premodernity-as-seen-in-literature I often ponder as I draft my own fiction. I wholeheartedly agree with Wilcox that fantasy (really, any fiction) is best not when it adheres to our values but when it commits to its own. (I'll only add the caveat that characters in a medieval-like setting need not be flatly medieval in their values and morals; diversity of thought and ethics has always existed, everywhere, every-when.) I think Wilcox is right, too, to blame the publishing industry at least as much as readers themselves for the over-sanitized, Whedonized fantasy writing we see rather often at present.
December 17, 2024
Also published here: https://spiraltowerpress.blogspot.com...
I supported Old Moon Quarterly for their 7th and 8th issues. I’ve been reading the magazine since Issue 2 (I had a story in that issue). I recently finished Issue 7 and really enjoyed it. I’m reluctant to make generalizations about the issue because the stories are so different, but I think some careful observations can be made. This issue is not generically consistent--and that’s not a fault. I’m not sure what happened between Issues 3 and 6, but the editors now seem more willing to publish works that test the conventions of established genres, specifically highly conventionalized genres like sword and sorcery. There are some stories written in a conventional narrative style, but there are also some decidedly experimental works. I’ll touch on those shortly. In essence, this was an eclectic and artistically ambitious issue. Old Moon Quarterly doesn’t seem interested in merely publishing more of the same.
The introduction, attributed to the Editors, is interesting. It reads like old-school literary history, circa 1940. The prose style is a little overwrought, but it combines aesthetic analysis with social commentary and revs you up for the reading to come. In other words, it’s an effective introduction.
The first story, “The Ember-eyed,” by James Enge, is a phantasmagoric, visual fever dream. The main character, Morlock Ambrosius, has been appearing in S&S magazine pages for years, as well as in his own novels and anthologies. I first encountered Morlock in Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery (2010), and I’ve been following Enge’s work since. Several of his Morlock stories appear in Tales from the Magician’s Skull. This story is epic in scope, featuring god-like intelligences, major quests, and cosmic struggles. The main character arguably asserts himself against that scale. One aspect of sword and sorcery is that the stakes aren’t usually that high. Here, we see a character on the verge of transforming from a sword and sorcery protagonist into an epic fantasy protagonist--yet he decides not to take up the mythical call. I really enjoyed this story.
The second story, “Stolen by Moonlight, Betrothed by Sun,” by E. Catherine Tobler, is one of the experimental pieces I mentioned. It’s written in the first person from the perspective of an ancient sword that is in love with its bearer. The writing is lyrical, artful, even romantic. The plot structure doesn’t proceed in a conventional way. There is no clear conflict, no resolution--mostly a series of reflections and introspective vignettes that chart the slow but steady trek of the sword back to its beloved wielder. I applaud Tobler, whose talent is on display here, and I applaud the editors, who boldly chose this story. After reading it, I kept thinking about it. I wouldn’t, however, say this was traditionally entertaining. I approached it expecting a fantasy adventure, and that’s not the spirit you should bring to this piece. This is more an artful, experimental work with fantasy-adventure trappings.
The third story, “The Torrent of Souls,” by H.R. Laurence, was my favorite. It’s also the most conventionally plotted adventure fantasy in the issue. There’s a clear protagonist, a clear conflict, forward momentum to the climax and resolution, and a rich cast of atmospheric and interesting characters. Laurence renders a very immersive environment, and there are some gorgeous images. Here’s an example: “The corpse-horse galloped upon nothing. Something huge moved in the clouds beneath, a shimmering black gleam writhing through the gaps in the stratus like a sea serpent, its coils emerging and submerging in roiling, tumultuous mist […].” This is so cool: a flying zombie horse riding across the clouds at night. Some might say this is puerile. They’re partially right. But if they think the puerility of this image is a problem, then they don’t get it.
The next work, “Footnotes on ‘Only Forever,’ the Grey Witch’s Last Poem,” was another experimental piece. As the title suggests, it consists mostly of footnotes, echoing the structure of Nabokov’s Pale Fire. Alas, this one didn’t work for me. It’s lyrical, and there’s clear talent on display, but it felt too delicate and often overwrought. I appreciate the editors taking a chance on this, and I respect Carlie Voorhis for writing outside the box. I’m just one reader, and my tastes run more conventional when it comes to fantasy. Chalk it up to a mismatch between writer, text, and reader. (Side note: I loved Pale Fire, so the experimental form itself wasn’t the issue.)
Next was “The Last Gift,” by Jason Mills. This was a gorgeous, emotional story that actually made me wipe away a tear near the end. Next to Laurence’s, this was my second favorite. Mills’s story, about wanderers pursued by a djinn that assumes various challenging forms, conveys deep humanity and even wisdom. I’m not sure how old Mills is, but this seems written by someone who has thought about life, its brevity, and what it all might mean. I want my nephew to read this and hopefully learn something from it. This is ambitious fantasy, not just in terms of literary art but also in terms of its potential to teach.
Next was “Last Day on the Farm,” perhaps the most skillfully written from a craft perspective, by Matthew John. John is a talented writer. You can tell he understands the pacing of adventure fantasy--the necessary beats—and how to modulate introspection, horror, action, and wonder. This is a roller coaster of a story that grips you from start to finish. Lachmannon, the main character, appears in John’s anthology To Walk on Worlds and elsewhere. Honestly, this read like some of the best Black Library fiction I’ve encountered. It has the grim darkness of the Warhammer Old World and the vividness of a writer like C.L. Werner. I would say that readers with little patience for experimental fiction might want to start with this story and John’s other work.
“Bleed Me in the Water” by Hailey Piper was a strange story about an evil, vindictive witch who plots to kill an entire village by inciting them to attack a sea goddess. I had trouble identifying with the protagonist. It was never clear why she was so hateful or why she wanted to kill everyone in the village. I’m okay with villain-heroes, but I need to sympathize with them on some level. I’m afraid I might have missed something, because the protagonist just came off as a psychopath attacking innocent people. When I finished the story, I didn’t know what to think.
“Of Decadence a Child” by David Costa was entertaining and skillfully written, but it leaned toward style over substance. The main character is a sort of holy crusader disgusted by the fallen world. He goes on a tenacious quest to kill a monster, and he does. I think this piece was more a lyrical study, an attempt to render a richly textured world, rather than to tell an original story.
“In Her Waters, Raging,” by Lora Gray, is a beautiful free verse poem with evocative imagery featuring a sea-hag or selkie--some sort of water spirit that kills the wayward.
“Lessons from Aulis” by Monica Joyce Evans reminded me of John Barth’s postmodernist experimental novel Chimera (1972). I didn’t care for Chimera, and I’m afraid my associations with that novel shaded my understanding of this story. Also, this was the one piece that felt out of place. It’s a postmodernist re-telling of an established Greek myth. With respect to Joyce (who is, once again, clearly talented), genres are contracts between readers and writers. I think it’s a stretch to call this a fantasy.
The issue ends with a literary review essay by Graham Thomas Wilcox, one of the editors. His writing style here was strange--intentionally anachronistic, as if adopting the persona of a Victorian sage. I appreciated the cultural commentary. He seemed to critique contemporary fantasy fiction for being too conventional and praised E.R. Eddison for his anachronism and distinctiveness. Perhaps the style was a meta-commentary, an attempt to harmonize with Eddison.
Overall, this was one of the best reading experiences I’ve had in 2024. Old Moon Quarterly, I understand, emerged from sword and sorcery fandom, and I’m starting to wonder if that genre is holding it back. The magazine clearly shows more interest in experimental fantasy and artful prose--something that’s the opposite of pulp fantasy. I’m looking forward to Issue 8 and future issues. The contributors, editors, and publishers should be proud of their uncompromising vision and artistic authenticity.
I supported Old Moon Quarterly for their 7th and 8th issues. I’ve been reading the magazine since Issue 2 (I had a story in that issue). I recently finished Issue 7 and really enjoyed it. I’m reluctant to make generalizations about the issue because the stories are so different, but I think some careful observations can be made. This issue is not generically consistent--and that’s not a fault. I’m not sure what happened between Issues 3 and 6, but the editors now seem more willing to publish works that test the conventions of established genres, specifically highly conventionalized genres like sword and sorcery. There are some stories written in a conventional narrative style, but there are also some decidedly experimental works. I’ll touch on those shortly. In essence, this was an eclectic and artistically ambitious issue. Old Moon Quarterly doesn’t seem interested in merely publishing more of the same.
The introduction, attributed to the Editors, is interesting. It reads like old-school literary history, circa 1940. The prose style is a little overwrought, but it combines aesthetic analysis with social commentary and revs you up for the reading to come. In other words, it’s an effective introduction.
The first story, “The Ember-eyed,” by James Enge, is a phantasmagoric, visual fever dream. The main character, Morlock Ambrosius, has been appearing in S&S magazine pages for years, as well as in his own novels and anthologies. I first encountered Morlock in Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery (2010), and I’ve been following Enge’s work since. Several of his Morlock stories appear in Tales from the Magician’s Skull. This story is epic in scope, featuring god-like intelligences, major quests, and cosmic struggles. The main character arguably asserts himself against that scale. One aspect of sword and sorcery is that the stakes aren’t usually that high. Here, we see a character on the verge of transforming from a sword and sorcery protagonist into an epic fantasy protagonist--yet he decides not to take up the mythical call. I really enjoyed this story.
The second story, “Stolen by Moonlight, Betrothed by Sun,” by E. Catherine Tobler, is one of the experimental pieces I mentioned. It’s written in the first person from the perspective of an ancient sword that is in love with its bearer. The writing is lyrical, artful, even romantic. The plot structure doesn’t proceed in a conventional way. There is no clear conflict, no resolution--mostly a series of reflections and introspective vignettes that chart the slow but steady trek of the sword back to its beloved wielder. I applaud Tobler, whose talent is on display here, and I applaud the editors, who boldly chose this story. After reading it, I kept thinking about it. I wouldn’t, however, say this was traditionally entertaining. I approached it expecting a fantasy adventure, and that’s not the spirit you should bring to this piece. This is more an artful, experimental work with fantasy-adventure trappings.
The third story, “The Torrent of Souls,” by H.R. Laurence, was my favorite. It’s also the most conventionally plotted adventure fantasy in the issue. There’s a clear protagonist, a clear conflict, forward momentum to the climax and resolution, and a rich cast of atmospheric and interesting characters. Laurence renders a very immersive environment, and there are some gorgeous images. Here’s an example: “The corpse-horse galloped upon nothing. Something huge moved in the clouds beneath, a shimmering black gleam writhing through the gaps in the stratus like a sea serpent, its coils emerging and submerging in roiling, tumultuous mist […].” This is so cool: a flying zombie horse riding across the clouds at night. Some might say this is puerile. They’re partially right. But if they think the puerility of this image is a problem, then they don’t get it.
The next work, “Footnotes on ‘Only Forever,’ the Grey Witch’s Last Poem,” was another experimental piece. As the title suggests, it consists mostly of footnotes, echoing the structure of Nabokov’s Pale Fire. Alas, this one didn’t work for me. It’s lyrical, and there’s clear talent on display, but it felt too delicate and often overwrought. I appreciate the editors taking a chance on this, and I respect Carlie Voorhis for writing outside the box. I’m just one reader, and my tastes run more conventional when it comes to fantasy. Chalk it up to a mismatch between writer, text, and reader. (Side note: I loved Pale Fire, so the experimental form itself wasn’t the issue.)
Next was “The Last Gift,” by Jason Mills. This was a gorgeous, emotional story that actually made me wipe away a tear near the end. Next to Laurence’s, this was my second favorite. Mills’s story, about wanderers pursued by a djinn that assumes various challenging forms, conveys deep humanity and even wisdom. I’m not sure how old Mills is, but this seems written by someone who has thought about life, its brevity, and what it all might mean. I want my nephew to read this and hopefully learn something from it. This is ambitious fantasy, not just in terms of literary art but also in terms of its potential to teach.
Next was “Last Day on the Farm,” perhaps the most skillfully written from a craft perspective, by Matthew John. John is a talented writer. You can tell he understands the pacing of adventure fantasy--the necessary beats—and how to modulate introspection, horror, action, and wonder. This is a roller coaster of a story that grips you from start to finish. Lachmannon, the main character, appears in John’s anthology To Walk on Worlds and elsewhere. Honestly, this read like some of the best Black Library fiction I’ve encountered. It has the grim darkness of the Warhammer Old World and the vividness of a writer like C.L. Werner. I would say that readers with little patience for experimental fiction might want to start with this story and John’s other work.
“Bleed Me in the Water” by Hailey Piper was a strange story about an evil, vindictive witch who plots to kill an entire village by inciting them to attack a sea goddess. I had trouble identifying with the protagonist. It was never clear why she was so hateful or why she wanted to kill everyone in the village. I’m okay with villain-heroes, but I need to sympathize with them on some level. I’m afraid I might have missed something, because the protagonist just came off as a psychopath attacking innocent people. When I finished the story, I didn’t know what to think.
“Of Decadence a Child” by David Costa was entertaining and skillfully written, but it leaned toward style over substance. The main character is a sort of holy crusader disgusted by the fallen world. He goes on a tenacious quest to kill a monster, and he does. I think this piece was more a lyrical study, an attempt to render a richly textured world, rather than to tell an original story.
“In Her Waters, Raging,” by Lora Gray, is a beautiful free verse poem with evocative imagery featuring a sea-hag or selkie--some sort of water spirit that kills the wayward.
“Lessons from Aulis” by Monica Joyce Evans reminded me of John Barth’s postmodernist experimental novel Chimera (1972). I didn’t care for Chimera, and I’m afraid my associations with that novel shaded my understanding of this story. Also, this was the one piece that felt out of place. It’s a postmodernist re-telling of an established Greek myth. With respect to Joyce (who is, once again, clearly talented), genres are contracts between readers and writers. I think it’s a stretch to call this a fantasy.
The issue ends with a literary review essay by Graham Thomas Wilcox, one of the editors. His writing style here was strange--intentionally anachronistic, as if adopting the persona of a Victorian sage. I appreciated the cultural commentary. He seemed to critique contemporary fantasy fiction for being too conventional and praised E.R. Eddison for his anachronism and distinctiveness. Perhaps the style was a meta-commentary, an attempt to harmonize with Eddison.
Overall, this was one of the best reading experiences I’ve had in 2024. Old Moon Quarterly, I understand, emerged from sword and sorcery fandom, and I’m starting to wonder if that genre is holding it back. The magazine clearly shows more interest in experimental fantasy and artful prose--something that’s the opposite of pulp fantasy. I’m looking forward to Issue 8 and future issues. The contributors, editors, and publishers should be proud of their uncompromising vision and artistic authenticity.
July 4, 2025
Old Moon Quarterly Volume 7 is another strong installment of one of the best dark fantasy fiction magazines around. With high quality stories, an extended page count, and the addition of interior artwork, the benefits of their original Kickstarter campaign are visible on the page.
Read my full review at Grimdark Magazine!
Read my full review at Grimdark Magazine!
May 6, 2025
A tad rounded up, but this was actually a surprisingly solid mix of stories, defintely a couple cuts above the usual zine quality. And "Lessons from Aulis" are a knock-out.
June 20, 2025
I’m having a wonderful time in Elfland.
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