The Infernal Bargain and Other Stories

by D.M. Ritzlin (Editor)

DMR Books proudly presents this collection of fantasy adventure fiction by some of our finest authors. Some tales are from our previous releases, others are from upcoming books, and a few you won't find anywhere else. Stories included are:

* “The Infernal Bargain” by D.M. Ritzlin
* “Thannhausefeer’s Guest” by Howie K. Bentley
* “Into the Dawn of Storms” by Byron A. Roberts
* “Grumfobbler” by Gael DeRoane
* “The Mountains Have Eyes and the Woods Have Teeth” by Harry Piper
* “The Sapphire Goddess” by Nictzin Dyalhis
* “The Gift of the Ob-men” by Schuyler Hernstrom
* “The Thief of Forthe” by Clifford Ball
* “Black Genesis” by Mark Taverna
* “Adventure in Lemuria” by Frederick Arnold Kummer, Jr.
* “The Heaviest Sword” by Geoff Blackwell

Genres: Sword and Sorcery, Fantasy

ebook

Published January 1, 2019

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

[Jim Kuenzli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is available for free on the DMR website. I forgot I downloaded this to my ipad years ago. This is an excellent sampling of stories by DMR books authors. Almost all of the stories appear in DMR books, so it’s a great sampler if you want to read some really good stuff, and are new to DMR. I had a good time re-reading these stories. A couple were new to me. A good mix of new stories and old pulp reprints. Recommend!

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection contains ten sword and sorcery adventures. Some were crisply enjoyable. Some were sombre and violent. Some were pulp hackworks. And some were scintillating excerpts of bigger works.
Overall, this is a good sampler in terms of the resurgent sword and sorcery genre.
Recommended.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a sampler pack: at least one is explicitly an excerpt ("Grumfobbler"), and most others are either obvious part-of-a-series or make reference to the author's contributions to other collections from this publisher. But as to be allowed for something that was free at the time.

The mix does combine new authors with classic works, and the difference can be striking, comparing the horrific twist and frank giving-birth-to-horrors of "Black Genesis" with the older and more conservative (and more overwritten) "The Thief of Forthe" and "Adventure in Lemuria".

In particular I need to look up more of Gael DeRoane, whose "Grumfobbler" was a good take on a Jack Vance style, as well as Mark Taverna's "Black Genesis" and Geoff Blackwell's "The Heaviest Sword".

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Available free to mailing list subscribers, this promotional collection offers a sampling of the works by authors published by DMR Books. Most of the stories fall firmly in the sword & sorcery sub-genre of pulp fantasy. While not all of the stories left a strong impression on me, there were a number of standouts.

The books starts off strong with the title story by publisher D.M. Ritzlin himself. A muscular wanderer named Avok encounters a treacherous sorcerer and, but for his strength and wits, nearly finds himself the prey of a demon. A pretty traditional S&S tale, but an enjoyable one.

"Thannhausefeer's Guest" is another strong story. In this viking-themed tale, a shipwrecked man finds himself drawn into a gladiatorial competition to entertain a giant cannibal. While a bit on the dour side, the story is vividly written and atmospheric.

"Into the Dawn of Storms" is more of a vignette than a self-contained story, but the situation it presents—an Elizabethan ship captain named Caleb Blackthorne receiving ominous portents from famous occultist Doctor John Dee—is intriguing enough to tempt me to seek out the complete book.

"The Gift of the Ob-Men" by Schuyler Hernstrom is a nicely weird sword & sorcery tale, also serving as the source of the title for Hernstrom's solo anthology, "The Eye of Sounnu." This story is one of the highlights of both books, seamlessly blending science fiction and fantasy.

Much like "The Infernal Bargain," "Adventure in Lemuria" is another fairly traditional sword & sorcery adventure, this time complete with a strange cult, human sacrifice, and an evil temptress. The protagonist is ostensibly from Crete, but historical and cultural details are fairly light, seemingly more for spice than to ground the story in our world.

The book concludes with "The Heaviest Sword," a horror story set in feudal Japan. This story is quite brief and vaguely sketched, but the Japanese flavor set it apart from the many Eurocentric stories in the book. I'd happily read more Japan-themed stories by Geoff Blackwell, but so far his output seems rather sparse and his Internet presence minimal.

Overall, this book offers a solid look at the kind of stories offered by DMR Books. It has encouraged me to research some of the authors further, but the anthology itself is harmed a bit by the presence of a couple novel excerpts that don't work particularly well independently. Most of the stories are by modern writers, so the inclusion of "The Sapphire Goddess" (1934) and "The Thief of Forthe" (1937) from the pages of Weird Tales also strike a bit of an odd note. That being said, this collection succeeds as a free sampler of DMR Books' output and is worth a read for sword & sorcery fans.

[WhitePillMedia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great taste of what DMR offers. My favorites from this collection were Thanhausefeer's Guest, The Mountains have eyes and the woods have teeth, Black Genesis, and I also liked the Thief of Forthe. I would say Black Genesis was my favorite of them all. Truly excellent. Mark Taverna and Harry Piper are my favorite writers from DMR so far.

[Andrew Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slew of demons among the living and the dead, most of these stories present a dark and barbaric environment, even among the so-called civilized savages, with some more sinister than others. Ritzlin, DeRoane, Dyalhis give us a fantasty setting of almost dream-like quality, though Ritzlin's is dark and dangerous. My favorites are the brutal ones with characters to cheer for. I could not get into DeRoane's, seeming like it was written for adolescent readers with adult content. I also didn't find a continued interest in Roberts' tale.

The Infernal Bargain by D. M. Ritzlin
Cytheran Avok Kur Storn, Ennek Taar, and the Demstropux will have no love lost between either of them. One is a hermit among the soul-cleaving beaches of an island of solitude, the second is an adventurer in peril, and the last is a demon of the moon Uzz with the authority to take souls. Avok and Demstropux may have many more adventures and reapings of souls before they meet again to settle a score. 4/5

Thannhausefeer’s Guest by Howie K. Bentley
The wyles of beauty and carnal acts to attain its satisfaction are as dangerous as the drive for man to garner acclaim, gold, lust, and respect. The giant, Thannhausefeer, desires human flesh in a number of ways, from sustenance, to entertainment through battle, and within a reversed Oedipal set up. A grim tale playing off of the Fenrir/one-eyed Odin mythology, I enjoyed the dark fleeting romance of recent ghosts and avenging werewolves. The giant and his daughter/lover, Lydiana, make for a dark and hopeless environment on the Isle of Bones, but the secondary characters, like the Executioner and the black-haired servants, add to the menacing atmosphere and the depressing solitude of slavery, imprisonment, and abuse. Amnesiac Manannan gets a few bouts in with Lydiana and cleaves a few heads in the giant’s competition for one reigning champion, while also having visions of a pale-skinned, wolf-tatted beauty. The fleeting imagery of a love lost between Argantyr Faoladh (of Tuath de Danaan, and King Fenris of Skaldavia) and Friona who was raided from her land by the giant (abused, tortured, and killed), is macabre and romantic, a ghost story for the ages. 5/5

Into the Dawn of Storms by Byron A. Roberts
Caleb Blackthorne, quite handy with a sword, seems to be a reincarnation of another formidable swordswman, one who has battled a machination of a mysterious woman who may be a star-god. Or not. Much wasn’t revealed though Doctor Dee was able to start Caleb off on a new journey to find out answers as to why he is having a dream of his past life and his battle with this mysterious woman’s golem-type creature with a soul. 3.5/5

Grumfobbler by Gael DeRoane
Seeking the Road to Infinity, Aran Dyfar, of Vandor ("The Blessed Circle" plateau city), meets a traveling trio in a swampy area of talking animals and cannibal elves. The tale was a whacky set up and seems to be of an adolescent telling but this excerpt ends with talk of Ixian's man-on-man exotic dreams and Wanjihar's aggressive threat to bed Aran if he doesn't consent to it first. I won't be seeking out this novel. 1/5

The Mountains Have Eyes and the Woods Have Teeth by Harry Piper
"Divine sanction was a comforting notion for men complicit in the kind of acts Edrik had ordered so freely in pursuit of victory".
As any good empire does, Edrik the Great's empire sought to rule other lands and conquer. One man's land is not his own when the elite can take it from him. Passing the lion-bannered empire to his next in line, Edrik the Home-Burner, rebellions rise up on occasion. But the Wolf is uniting the peasants in a way no others have. When a wolf shows no fear to a lion, and plays the lion's emotions back to him, the haughty tend to get annoyed with having themselves used against themselves. Repent or the land will humble you. 5/5

The Sapphire Goddess by Nictzin Dyalhis
"Magician, do more, and talk less!"
Bored with life on Earth and seeking a non-suicidal outlet, our unnamed narrator finds himself consciously transported to Octolan into a melee of dwarfian Vulmin violence, back-to-back with King Karan's commander, Zarf the Proscribed. Queen Mehul-Ira and King Karan of the Chrysolite Throne have both gone missing from the evil machinations of sorcerer Djl Grm and Octolan has fallen to vampyres, ghouls, and evil all about. A journey to restore memories and Good, the fellas trek a vast red desert, among ghosts of the Sea of dead, among demons and vampyres of the Mountains of Horror, a haunted city of ruin and succubi-type rulers, of the Altar of Skulls and stoned acolytes. An array of characters abound: Hybrid Baron Koto of the Red Wilderness, evil sorcerer Agnor Halit, a king Elemental demon, a dead Princess of Hell, cannibal dwarves, an amnesiac Earthman, a beautiful woman driving magicians mad, etc. 5/5

The Gift of the Ob-Men by Schuyler Hernstrom
A village in a vale. A ruined city to the west. Grasslands and dark forests separating the two with all manners of ghoul, ghask, and un-wolf stalking for prey. Sounnu is exiled for busting up an unknown temple-ruin idol, scaring the pious yet godless traditionalist villagers of priestesses, shamans, and warriors. The women are forced into the priesthood (symbolic, it would seem, of toxic movements of modern day) and the men are castigated for the warrior ways by shamans (symbolic, it would seem, of toxic politicians and activists of modern day). Gifted with a third-eye by the Og-Men (magical mushroom men) who want their vale land back, Sounnu must go up against the last city-man, a cannibalistic Maneon with a metal Servitor, and his own tribe who envies his freedom and his ancient family sword. The tale speaks on mans forgotten gods, their pursuits of self, and the vicious cycle of going back to the basics of foraging and hunting after all cities ruin themselves, and the re-emergence of mankind through an all-father and a goddess, this time being Sounnu and Sila. The cycle of rise and fall. It may be a futuristic tale in its era of rebuild though it plays out like an ancient sword-and-sorcery bit. I do question, though, if the use of "It is finished" by a god-obsessed flesh-eater is a testament against Jesus or no relation at all. 4/5

The Thief of Forthe by Clifford Ball
Karlk is a "man" of science. Of sorts. A magician that wants more freedom to experiment in his arts. Rald is a faithless prince-among-thieves, more barbaric than the sorcerous Karlk but just as clever and thoughtful. With no love to lose between the two, a bargain is made to benefit them both with stealing the kingdom of Forthe, currently under the rule of King Thrall of the Ebon Dynasty. Will it be prayers to gods or disbelief in their existence? Will it be securing the diamond necklace of the Ancient King or securing the life of the intriguing Thrine? Will it be patriotism or selfishness? Apes? Man? Demons? 5/5

Black Genesis by Mark Taverna
"The name of Red Horn would carry into the future, but it would belong to a very different people."
The native Red Horn People not only compete with the settling of the seemingly peaceful Grass-eaters, they maneuver within themselves the arrival of a dark wizard who advances their weaponry, their offspring, and their women, in macabre ways. They also reconcile with their own warring and enslaving nature, their traditional murderous conquests of weaker tribes. Tribalism. Science. Civilization. Cannibalism. Sorcery. Murder. Slavery. Carnivore. Herbivore. First Men. New Men. It's all just another reason to hate your neighbor. When a corrupted intellect has the means and the manipulation to pit the people against themselves, the past and the future is "blood and fire and conquest". 5/5

Adventure in Lemuria by Frederick Arnold Kummer, Jr.
"The Wanderer has yet to make his last journey! Too long has the dust and the dirt of city streets clogged my nostrils! The blue line of the horizon calls ..."
Khor the Wanderer, with wanderlust and adventure in his eyes, along with Heklos the double-headed axe, hails from across the oceans at Crete, and finds himself in Mu (short for Lemuria), in the midst of a power struggle for the usurped throne, between siblings Jador and witch-queen Lalath, between True God Narayama and sinister Molech the Evil One. 5/5
Chapter I: Battle In the Grove
Chapter II: Lalath
Chapter III: The Bull God

The Heaviest Sword by Geoff Blackwell
In a backwater farming community, a fuedal Lord sends in his Commander, Mashiro, to investigate a revolutionary uprising.Neithwr the farmers nor the hired samurai know how abusive Mashiro can be, causing slaughter to ensue. Samurai Jin must reconcile with the acts of his fellow countrymen and the ghosts that haunt his demons. 4/5