Heroic Fantasy Short Stories

by Philippa Semper (Foreword), Zach Chapman (Contributor), Joanna Michal Hoyt (Contributor)

Somewhere between epic historical fantasy, sword and sorcery and Tolkien-esque fantasy exists a thick vein of storytelling that would make Robert E Howard and H.G. Wells proud. Following the great success of our Gothic & Fantasy deluxe edition short story compilations, we present a compilation of savage swordplay, and high magic, of daring deeds and gaudy battles, in a blazing mix of classic and brand new writing, with authors from the US, Canada, and the UK.

Classic authors include: Clark Ashton Smith, John Buchan, Snorri Sturluson, Homer, A. Merritt, Geoffrey Chaucer, Andrew Lang, Howard Pyle, William Morris, Eric Rücker Eddison, with the text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and extracts from Beowulf, The Nibelungenlied and The Song of Roland.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Mythology

480 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 2017

Reviews

[Keri Sparks · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had a lot more older stories in it than what I was expecting. I was thinking it would be filled with new authors or more modern writers, but a fair amount of the stories were chapters or parts of an older full sized novel. I'm not complaining. I did get introduced to William Morris which I would like to try out his novels. I love his title The World Beyond the Wood. Even if I end up being disappointed by the full novel, the title is incredibly encouraging in creativity.

[Rachel Feeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mix of classics and modern, lesser-known authors. I’ve had a new appreciation for short fiction lately, and these tales have been nice story snacks, with most clocking in at 8-20 pages.However, if you’re serious about diving into Beowulf, the Song of Roland, etc, I’d look for another edition with friendlier formatting.

[Emmy van der Heyden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice stories, but I did think it could be better if they put the entire stories in the book. Sometimes they just included a chapter of a story instead of the actual story and in my opinion, if the story is too long to actually include it in the book, then do not include it, but choose another one. Apart from that, I enjoyed reading it.

[Eleanor Murrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

The spirit of Tolkien inhabits the pages of this book. It is full of those wonderful motifs beloved by him- battles, sword-play, and defeating monstrous threats. It has the feel of traditional story-telling, although the stories are originally told.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good stories, a mix of classical and current.

[Megan]

DNS 10/30/23

[Asia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some really good stories but would be better if they didn’t suddenly stop and say here’s a link for the rest, and then I followed the link and it didn’t take me to the rest of the story, but to where you buy more copies of the book. But it does have some great stories, but more so makes me want to find some of those stories in other sources, -some of them being classics.