Swords of Steel

Swords of Steel #1

by D.M. Ritzlin (Editor), Byron A. Roberts, E.C. Hellwell

Mighty-thewed barbarians... Vengeful lords of chaos... Desolate devil-haunted ruins... Carnage-soaked battlefields... Forbidden spells of great power... All these you will find in the works of authors of heroic fantasy as well as heavy metal musicians. But modern fantasy has been plagued with convoluted plots and series without end. Who better to return traditional fantasy to its former glory than the heavy metal bards?

SWORDS OF STEEL is an anthology of fantastic and horrific adventure stories, each penned by a heavy metal musician. Members of such bands as Bal-Sagoth, Manilla Road, Twisted Tower Dire, Cauldron Born, Solstice, and more — proving their talent for the written word as well as song — cut through the modern wasteland, wielding literary SWORDS OF STEEL.

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Anthologies, Music, Short Stories

254 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 21, 2015

About the author

D.M. Ritzlin founded DMR Books in 2015 with the aim of revitalizing sword-and-sorcery literature. DMR’s publications include reprints of classic material by authors such as Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, as well as brand-new collections and anthologies by some of the finest fantasy writers active today.

A collection of his own stories, Necromancy in Nilztiria, was released in October 2020.
Nilztiria is a world of adventure and strangeness, peopled by lusty heroes and callous villains. The thirteen sword-and-sorcery stories presented in Necromancy in Nilztiria place the emphasis on sorcery and mix in a touch of gallows humor.

For more information on all of his projects, visit dmrbooks.com.

Reviews

[Jason Waltz · Rating 2 out of 5]

well, another challenge to review. it's difficult when you read a book you wanted to read, were excited to read, loved the cover art and description, wanted to enjoy and like, and just don't. the best thing about this title is its jaw-droppingly impressive cover art. followed strongly by the idea of its concept, that of a collection of sword and sorcery tales from various heavy & death metal artists. the idea. I should have anticipated the actual delivery, most of it so overburdened with dense purple prose it felt like Barney leapt from every page to bash me about the ears with a giant purple crayon and push purple grapes up my nostrils, into my ears and pour grape Crush in my eyes. tidbits of greatness throughout, perhaps the best to be found in the foreword and the final tale.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't win them all.

Reviewing an anthology can be difficult. I wanted to love this one--I had high expectations, but they might have been too high.

So the concept is very cool: Metal musicians writing Swords and Sorcery. This coupled with the excellent cover art led me to purchase and read this one. What I found within was a mixed bag.

My favorites were: Into the Dawn Of Storms--even though it's part one and incomplete in this volume, The Riddle Master, and Vengeance of the Insane God. So the anthology begins strong and ends strong.

Some others I enjoyed were: The Mirror Beguiling, and Blue Mistress.

The rest have their merits but I didn't care for them. I don't dig poems. Generally I don't dig flash pieces. All Will Be Righted on Samhain is a good story but I think it works better in The Snake-Man's Bane. And finally Eve's Grave; I couldn't read this one because of the language. It is so thick with purple prose. You would get an A+ from the teacher though.

So read it for the tent poles and expand your horizons with the rest.

[SHUiZMZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough read, some stories better than others. I really liked the final story, VENGEANCE OF THE INSANE GOD by Jason Tarpey. Very bloody, gory, and what I felt was the best writing in the whole book.

[A.L. Hornbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a good assortment of heroic fantasy here with sword and sorcery, which are pretty much the same thing. Some stories are better than others, but as a collection of stories written by heavy metal musicians its pretty incredible.
Individually many stories are 3-4, and the average would probably make my ratings stay at 3, but the 4 star stories really make it a better compilation in the long run.

[James T · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first and last two stories are pretty good. The rest are a mixed bag. Jason Tarpey's is definitely the stand out. Worth getting for that one alone.

[Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some decent stuff here and there -- most of the authors are heavy metal musicians, so are used to writing OTT lyrics -- but honestly, this feels mostly like fanfic schlock.