Savage Realms Monthly, May 2021

Savage Realms Monthly #4

by William Miller (Editor), Willard Black, Victor H. Rodriguez

Sword and Sorcery Fans Rejoice!

Discover a world of shining steel and deadly sorcery where larger than life heroes do battle with the forces of evil. This is sword and sorcery at its finest! There is never a dull moment in the pages of Savage Realms. If you yearn for the days of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and L. Sprague de Camp, look no further. The latest issue of Savage Realms features another installment of Redgar and Natali along with a tale by the talented Victor H. Rodriguez and new comer Chad Wilson.

"Fantastic Sword and Sorcery Action!"

"I hope for a long future for this fun monthly magazine."

"If you need your fix of larger than life, sword wielding hero’s and damsels in distress, look no further!"

Fans of Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter, Clark Ashton Smith, and Karl Edward Wagner will love this new fantasy fiction adventure magazine.

Genres: Sword and Sorcery, Fantasy

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2021

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Savage Realms returns with three new stories by authors Willard Black, Chad Wilson, and Victor H. Rodriguez. It appears that the April issue never materialized or came together, so look no further. This is issue four.

Willard Black continues his ongoing adventures of Redgar and Natali. Exhausted, in need of supplies and rest, our protagonists stumble into a town in the grips of a plague. Circumstances lead the duo to decide to stay; each pursuing different objectives, they both discover this isn't some natural occurrence.

In this story both characters ruminate about each other and question the influence each is exerting on the other. Slightly more is revealed about Natali, but it still doesn't make a whole picture. This story concerns more sorcery than swords.

Chad Wilson shines with his story, Crawling in the Dark. This was my favorite of the issue.

A chance meeting on the road between a family and a warrior. A monster has been taking children and livestock from a nearby village and to save their daughter the family flees. Brock sets out to see what can be done. He arrives to a town in celebration. It seems a traveling mercenary has slain the beast. When Brock tallies the missing and compares it to the size of the deceased monster, the math doesn't add up. From the nearby wood vengeance comes crawling from the dark.

The third and last story was Uncertain Treasure by Victor H. Rodriguez. A thief has been coerced to assist a sorceress in a dangerous theft. Who is really in control?

I just couldn't seem to click with this one. The writing was fine, it just wasn't my thing. The full circle ending was a nice touch though.

Remember that Savage Realms keeps the door open for submissions and that fans sometimes make the best authors. Who better than someone who loves the medium? I cannot wait to read your story within these pages.

[James T · Rating 4 out of 5]

SRM is back after a missed month. Was it worth the wait? For sure.

Willard Black is back with his serialized Redgar stories. I think this is the best Redgar story to date. You could argue they’re a bit derivative, but I still like them quite a bit. This one in particular was very well done. Maybe it’s a bit like Kirkland Signature Conan, but I’ll take it. Hope to see many more. His writing is definitely comfort food for S&S fans.

Crawling in the Dark by Chad Wilson is an earnest and positive tale. I liked it. Solid author interview, it’s interesting because his take on the genre seems very different from most of the other people writing in it’s resurgence.

Finally Uncertain Treasure from Victor Rodriguez. I liked this one quite a bit too. It’s a first person perspective and has a different tone than you would expect in a sword and sorcery yarn. Think Gray Mouser but with a NOIR style?

Glad the magazine is back…hope to see more soon!

[Roy Bayfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great issue

Solid work by Savage Realms mag stoking the flaming furnace of the sword and sorcery revival. Long may it thrive.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This online magazine doesn't exactly offer the finest literature, but its pulpy adventure fun and sometimes you find a real gem, like the first story by Willard Black about a mystical plague. The other stories are entertaining and full of swords and sorcery in the style of Conan, and this magazine is well worth looking at each month for short fun stories.

[Dale Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a short delay, Savage Realms Monthly returns with this, the 4th issue.

The page count for this was 92 pages (minus the few pages of author interviews). For $9.99 not too bad of a price...especially for a boutique produced magazine. The covers continue to be excellent and the overall presentation of the book is a good one. Still having a little issue with proofreading as there are a few punctuation and grammatical issues that could be addressed by a good final read through before publication but nothing to throw me to off kilter.

This issues three stories:
THE REVENANT KING by Williard Black - Chapter 4 in the ongoing serial story of Redgar the Hathor and Natali, priestess, healer, and a Keeper of the Sacred Flame. A town is suffering from what looks like a plague one-by-one the citizens are dying. But, what looks like a plague may actually be the effect of a betrayed soul seeking its rest.

CRAWLING IN THE DARK by Chad Wilson - A wandering warrior finds that a braggart's words are actually a cover for his ignorance. An ignorance that may destroy an entire community.

UNCERTAIN TREASURE by Victor H. Rodriguez - Compulsion is a terrible thing as a Sorceress and a Barbarian thief find to their dismay and reward. The only question is, whose compulsion IS it?

[Jason Waltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

SRM delivers!

Cantankerous Willard Black may be, but that boy can storytell, damn! Another terrific Redgar tale opens and owns this issue. I sure hope Black puts out a Redgar collection, as I'd read it instantly. I did really enjoy Wilson's interview, it complimented his decent story well. Nice twist to Rodriguez' tale, though not a fan of the writing style.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another issue of the short sword & sorcery anthology Savage Realms.”The Revenant King”, continuing and adding to the legends and adventures of Redgar and Natali is the longest and majority of this collection. As usual, it’s well written and a delight to see how their characters are developing. The story itself hits well with COVID still strong everywhere being a plague tale which ought to have some resonance these days. It has a fine cord of the super natural, macabre which is apropos of course, with some fine goulish talk of bones and rotting flesh amidst specters and sorcery of course. There is also some fine, spicy talk here to who want a touch of S & S style romance with the addition of a new character, Alekka, whom might serve as a rival for Natali and an employer, lover for Redgar. Overall, while I really liked this story, I felt like it missed a few key strokes here and there yet was still strong. For instance, *spoiler* the undead menace is Alekka’s father-this us present but looses nearly all of its emotional and symbiological fire, being instead a mere plot impetus to sort things were it might have been more. *end spoiler* that said there’s obviously many ways to write a story and different writers will harp on different things. I hope we get more of this story in the next issue! Onwards then…”Crawling in the Dark” was a creature feature tale of hubris and responsibility. It was a good piece, but coming after the epic fury of the last work it felt a bit flat. Being far shorter the characters were naturally less developed and with all due respect to the author I don’t know if I really felt the horror of the spiders as much as I might have. “Uncertain Treasure” was a very strong and very short piece. The world depicted is interesting and mesmerizing in its intrigue ridden matriarchal mechanizations, though we are only given a brief view. I absolutely adored the name Zofie and it always shows that there are more names under the imaginary stars than all our christianing. Hard to discuss it with out giving spoilers, but I will say that despite the shortness of this work all three characters had resonance and I certainly left this story with sparks of horror after what happens…let’s just say I wasn’t rooting for the protagonist, but so it goes. In any event, I would be delighted to read more of this writers work or/and for him to write more tales in this world. Overall, it’s a short, inexpensive, and fun little anthology.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Savage Realms Monthly is a fun series of snappy sword and sorcery tales written in the thunderous, cutthroat style of the classics like Conan, Fafhrd, Kane and Elric. It's nice to read between long epic fantasy sagas that can take several weeks to read. These anthologies can easily be read in a single sitting. Good old fashioned fun.

[Michael Sigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Revenant King" by Willard Black 4/5
"Crawling in the Dark" by Chad Wilson 4/5
"Uncertain Treasure" by Victor H. Rodriguez 3/5

[Gary Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories

This book as with the previous issues is a collection of short stories, the first one is either a continuation of the story with Redgar and Natali or the end.

The next story has to deal with spiders, so if you aren't to fond of them, well.........

The last story is told from the first person perspective, not really the kind of stories I read, but it was good and has an interesting twist.

There are a couple of typos, but I would recommend this book to others that enjoy S&S and have read the previous months

[Rubin Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sword and Sorcery

Another Great assortment of savage tales this magazine does not disappoint especially
The Revenant king featuring Redgar and Natali who are quickly becoming my favorites

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favourite issue yet

I look forward to the next issue so it will be beaten. Black's continue to entertain. Rodriguez is great in it's straight to the point S&S. Wilson would read again.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Stuff

Another solid Three short Sword and Sorcery tales including the continuing Redgar and Natali series, with further development of both characters, and, of course, violent mayhem. Check it out.

[Andrew Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 1 - Book 2 - Book 3 - Book 4 - Book 5 - Book 6

Redgar and Natali are back and still encountering the darkness of different environments. Brock is a traveling mercenary but you won't get a high body count on his tale. "Marek" is a follower and a survivor who will do what it takes to ... follow and survive? 'The Revenant King' is my favorite here, as I'm looking forward to seeing the couples' journey play out. I'd have to read more of Wilson's 'Brock' tales to get a good feel for the landscape, as I can appreciate his zeal to do what is right, but I get the impression that Wilson isn't wanting to revive a R. E. Howard feel for sword-and-sorcery. Rodriguez's noirish tale is a quick gritty run but I didn't necessarily cheer for anyone.

THE REVENANT KING by Willard Black - Redgar and Natali. One is skilled in combat, the other in science and magic (or whatever the era calls it). Making their way through a brutal landscape, they witness the slaughter of their convoy, only to end up in a plague-ridden hamlet called Agossa, where the "backwater' Vangols tribe reside with an Ashurian tribe countess looking down upon them. The bonding of warriors bring brute strength in the face of aggressors while the wits of a trained scholar faces off against revenants from a haunted crypt.

CRAWLING IN THE DARK by Chad Wilson - The weather is fair when everyone under the canopy helps a neighbor in need. Tremestin's forest is haunted and the children of the town are vanishing at an alarming rate. Mercenary Verin has the gumption, he thinks, to fix it but Brock is the unsung brute that can never get enough action. I can appreciate the lack of all out evil men here, with the threat to the community being something the people should band together and fight, but you still can't beat taking on evil men and women who are tyrants or manipulators of the populace. In the author's interview, he brings up and old critique of Howard's Conan that I don't feel I've seen: that Howard's depictions of women and non-white cultures are controversial. Usually, the controversy comes from the critic, not the stories. Howard's usage in his Conan stories speaks of many nations, of different colors, but he doesn't spend the time degrading them. Howard's writing of cultures is grand and realistic, showcasing all the societies as having seedy underbellies and innocents caught up in them. Modern writing also holds very controversial and demeaning prejudices of white and non-white representations that Howard's writing holds no relation to. Howard has also been referred to as a feminist though I wouldn't group him with modern feminine, more classic. He very much presented women in stories and letters to friends in strong and important statutes, whether they were Good or Evil, in need of help, or of saving Conan from a knife in the back.

UNCERTAIN TREASURE by Victor H. Rodriguez - Zofie is one of many powerful sorcerous Matriarchs of the area who wants the Wrack dagger hidden in Magda Odenmir's tower. "Marek" is a professional thief (and a murderer) just looking to provide for his family up north. Of leaders and followers, old and young, there isn't much certainty in the soul but you can guarantee a knife in the back.