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Whetstone #4
Whetstone: Amateur Magazine of Pulp Sword and Sorcery Issue Four
WHETSTONE is an amateur magazine that seeks to discover, inspire, and publish emerging authors who are enthusiastic about the tradition of "pulp sword and sorcery." Writers in this tradition include (but are not limited to) the following: Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner, and many more. "Pulp sword and sorcery" emphasizes active protagonists, supernatural menaces, and preindustrial (mostly ancient and medieval) settings. Some "pulp sword and sorcery" straddles the line between historical and fantasy fiction; at Whetstone, however, we prefer "secondary world settings" and other worlds liberated from the necessity of historical accuracy.
104 pages, PDF
Published December 3, 2021
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Jason Ray Carney
40 books78 followersJason Ray Carney, Ph.D. is a lecturer in popular literature and creative writing at Christopher Newport University; he is the author of the academic book, *Weird Tales of Modernity: The Ephemerality of the Ordinary in the Stories of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and H.P. Lovecraft* (McFarland 2019) and the sword and sorcery collection, *Rakefire and Other Stories* (Pulp Hero Press 2020). He co-edits the academic journal, *The Dark Man: The Journal of Robert E. Howard and Pulp Studies* and is the editor of *Whetstone: Amateur Magazine of Pulp Sword and Sorcery.* He is the area chair of the "Pulp Studies" section of the Popular Culture Association.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 4, 2021
Spiral Tower Press returns with another issue of their flagship magazine Whetstone! As always the 'Amateur' in the title belies the quality. If you're new to this magazine, I'd start with issue 3. This new issue is great but didn't quite resonate as much with me as #3. But veterans of the magazine, don't worry this is still very good, and a lot of testing the boundaries of the genre. So, those seeking more than just rehashes of the classics will be happy with the inclusion of new flavors.
Also, there's a great forward, and I generally hate forwards. Plus new designs for the story titles that really make the magazine pop!
There's 15 stories, all of which are solid but I'll just highlight a few that really struck a chord with me.
A Boarding Action by Nathaniel Webb almost feels like Hornblower meets Conan, and if that doesn't sound cool to you I'm not quite sure why you dig genre fiction.
Chuck Clark's Kyla-Selin. As always, Chuck's writing is just fantastic. Turkael returns for the 4th time with his first win. Love it, hope DMR or somebody does a Turkael anthology someday.
The Eldest Edda is a poem, I'm normally not into poetry, but there's something amazing about an Edda that takes place in a Tavern.
Cat and Mouse by Luke E. Dodd. For those unfamiliar, he's one of the hosts of the long running REH themed Cromcast. I really like the way his writing flows. Hope he becomes a repeat contributor to the the magazine and S&S revival scene in general.
Wolfskin an Pale King by Brad Elison was pretty awesome. It's pretty classic S&S but with Gaelic mythology theme, and quite an interesting protagonist. A christian werewolf woman barbarian? Definitely, classic formula for the story but very original protagonist.
In Dust and Dead Desire By Michael Burke. Man when I think Sword and Sorcery this is EXACTLY what I want. This is the flavor of the genre that is perfection to me. It's just that perfect blend of adventure, mythical beauty, swashbuckle, high adventure, but also the darker and more atavistic notes. Flawless. Absolutely my favorite. I need to read more by this gentlemen.
Lastly, I'll mention Terror and Talon by Mario Caric. It's a purely primordial tale with a deeply emotional twist. Very cool.
Anyways, Whetstone returns again with content that is far too good to be called amateur or given out for free. I really hope they do a printed omnibus someday. These are stories I'd love to have on the shelf and revisit in the comfort of a chair and on printed page, not on my computer screen.
Check it out!
Also, there's a great forward, and I generally hate forwards. Plus new designs for the story titles that really make the magazine pop!
There's 15 stories, all of which are solid but I'll just highlight a few that really struck a chord with me.
A Boarding Action by Nathaniel Webb almost feels like Hornblower meets Conan, and if that doesn't sound cool to you I'm not quite sure why you dig genre fiction.
Chuck Clark's Kyla-Selin. As always, Chuck's writing is just fantastic. Turkael returns for the 4th time with his first win. Love it, hope DMR or somebody does a Turkael anthology someday.
The Eldest Edda is a poem, I'm normally not into poetry, but there's something amazing about an Edda that takes place in a Tavern.
Cat and Mouse by Luke E. Dodd. For those unfamiliar, he's one of the hosts of the long running REH themed Cromcast. I really like the way his writing flows. Hope he becomes a repeat contributor to the the magazine and S&S revival scene in general.
Wolfskin an Pale King by Brad Elison was pretty awesome. It's pretty classic S&S but with Gaelic mythology theme, and quite an interesting protagonist. A christian werewolf woman barbarian? Definitely, classic formula for the story but very original protagonist.
In Dust and Dead Desire By Michael Burke. Man when I think Sword and Sorcery this is EXACTLY what I want. This is the flavor of the genre that is perfection to me. It's just that perfect blend of adventure, mythical beauty, swashbuckle, high adventure, but also the darker and more atavistic notes. Flawless. Absolutely my favorite. I need to read more by this gentlemen.
Lastly, I'll mention Terror and Talon by Mario Caric. It's a purely primordial tale with a deeply emotional twist. Very cool.
Anyways, Whetstone returns again with content that is far too good to be called amateur or given out for free. I really hope they do a printed omnibus someday. These are stories I'd love to have on the shelf and revisit in the comfort of a chair and on printed page, not on my computer screen.
Check it out!
January 8, 2022
Once more, WHETSTONE delivers the S&S of entertaining reading. What began as a rougher issue was quickly forgotten with the majority of the last half's exciting storytelling. WHETSTONE has remained consistent in its story selection, sharing a smorgasbord of S&S styles and themes. The sheer mass of quality overwhelms the less desirable choices in every issue, making them far more reliable than many an anthology claiming to contain S&S.
April 20, 2025
14 short sword and sorcery stories bring a lot of variety in this 104 page free zine. It makes me want to dig out some old issues of Amra and compare. I would like to see a little more traditional type S & S. More snippy dialogue, more fighting men and women against seemingly impossible odds. But I can’t complain, because most stories in here were good.
February 21, 2022
My grading per story;
A Chance Burden : 3/5
A Boarding Action : 2/5
The Princess’s Plunge Pool : 2/5
Siz Heads for Gullahm Khullgosh : 3/5
Kyla-Selin : 3/5
The Beast Mistress : 4/5
The Phoenician : 4/5 (Though story looks more like a historical fiction to me, lacking certain “fantastic” elements)
The Eldest Edda : 3/5
Cat and Mouse : 1/5 (Narration was very confusing to me)
Wolfskin and Pale Kings : 2/5
In Dust and Dead Desire : 3/5
The Symbol on the Ring : 4/5 (my favorite one in this collection)
Terror and Talon : 2/5
The Assault on Mourengrad : 4/5
Muse and the Monstrous : 3/5
Some thoughts about stories;
* I do not understand why some authors prefer way long portrayal of characters / places in a short story ? While a well-executed description when needed does not stand out much and works as intended, overdoing so certainly bores readers, at least likes of me.
* What is the notion of an undead mercenary ? Why does an animated corpse need money anyway ?
* Frankly speaking, I did not understand who is who at the story “Cat and Mouse”. So I gave up reading at some point.
Conclusion;
I found the stories bit shorter to tell their tales, especially when some of them contain long-ish portrayals. Still some stories are entertaining and might lead to longer stories or maybe even novels. I suggest the word count per story might be raised to increase the quality of stories.
It is a free magazine anyway, you can always download and try it yourself, which I would suggest you do so.
A Chance Burden : 3/5
A Boarding Action : 2/5
The Princess’s Plunge Pool : 2/5
Siz Heads for Gullahm Khullgosh : 3/5
Kyla-Selin : 3/5
The Beast Mistress : 4/5
The Phoenician : 4/5 (Though story looks more like a historical fiction to me, lacking certain “fantastic” elements)
The Eldest Edda : 3/5
Cat and Mouse : 1/5 (Narration was very confusing to me)
Wolfskin and Pale Kings : 2/5
In Dust and Dead Desire : 3/5
The Symbol on the Ring : 4/5 (my favorite one in this collection)
Terror and Talon : 2/5
The Assault on Mourengrad : 4/5
Muse and the Monstrous : 3/5
Some thoughts about stories;
* I do not understand why some authors prefer way long portrayal of characters / places in a short story ? While a well-executed description when needed does not stand out much and works as intended, overdoing so certainly bores readers, at least likes of me.
* What is the notion of an undead mercenary ? Why does an animated corpse need money anyway ?
* Frankly speaking, I did not understand who is who at the story “Cat and Mouse”. So I gave up reading at some point.
Conclusion;
I found the stories bit shorter to tell their tales, especially when some of them contain long-ish portrayals. Still some stories are entertaining and might lead to longer stories or maybe even novels. I suggest the word count per story might be raised to increase the quality of stories.
It is a free magazine anyway, you can always download and try it yourself, which I would suggest you do so.
May 24, 2022
I began reading this anthology from Spiral Tower Press in January, about a month after it was released. Typically, I keep it on my phone and casually read it when I find myself with a few minutes to kill between life's hectic escapades. In this instance it took much longer than normal. In fact, it took over four months. The reasons for this are threefold.
First, the word count of the stories often seems to stifle them. Some authors overcome this hurtle and I blaze through their stories, but others...not so much. I'm fine with the short fiction I read being episodic, but some of these stories are just instances in a proposed larger tapestry.
Second, and this is wholly a personal preference, stories that are more art than story I would much rather not read. Also, stories that bring the strange and weird to the Nth power are also a no from me. In fact, both of these reasons greatly contributed to me putting this anthology on indefinite hold.
Third, my attention was diverted to other books that caught my fancy. I'm always guilty of hopping from one book to another, but this desire heightens when I'm not enjoying what I'm reading.
Now don't go and assume that I didn't enjoy this anthology. Parts of it were very enjoyable for me, and I greatly appreciate what the editors at Whetstone are doing. I look forward to issue five.
First, the word count of the stories often seems to stifle them. Some authors overcome this hurtle and I blaze through their stories, but others...not so much. I'm fine with the short fiction I read being episodic, but some of these stories are just instances in a proposed larger tapestry.
Second, and this is wholly a personal preference, stories that are more art than story I would much rather not read. Also, stories that bring the strange and weird to the Nth power are also a no from me. In fact, both of these reasons greatly contributed to me putting this anthology on indefinite hold.
Third, my attention was diverted to other books that caught my fancy. I'm always guilty of hopping from one book to another, but this desire heightens when I'm not enjoying what I'm reading.
Now don't go and assume that I didn't enjoy this anthology. Parts of it were very enjoyable for me, and I greatly appreciate what the editors at Whetstone are doing. I look forward to issue five.
August 19, 2023
Issue four of Whetstone has fourteen short sword and sorcery tales and one poem, delivering another nice variety of tales.
April 14, 2022
Review to follow.
December 6, 2021
Brian Murphy, author of Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery, reflects on the importance of small, independent fanzines in his “Introduction” to the latest issue of Whetstone. Specifically discussing Amra, Murphy argues that zines of this kind, now part of another era, function as a kind of “gathering place” that brings together authors and fans. These print gathering places have helped authors establish themselves. Even in the digital age, technology’s presence in our lives only intensified with the pandemic, online gathering places still serve an important role in the life of the author, especially the amatuer or up-and-coming author. Whetstone is one online gathering place, Murphy believes.
If you haven’t yet read any of the previous three issues of Whetstone, I recommend you do. Not only is the cover art consistently fantastic, but it acts as a kind of call back to the fantasy art of the 1970s, when print fanzines were still commonplace. Each issue contains at least 10 stories and all are free to download and read from their website: https://whetstonemag.blogspot.com/p/i...
Jake Kelly, a native of Cleveland, OH and fixture in the poster and mural art scene there, designed the cover art for Whetstone 4. Perched atop a pile of debris and bodies, a warrior woman sneers at something out of frame. She holds a polearm with three monsters’ heads run through. The high contrast black and white art deserves multiple viewings, as each time the viewer finds some new intriguing detail that hints to this world’s ruined state.
This issue contains 15 stories and offers a variety of approaches to the sword and sorcery genre. A few standouts for me were B. Harlan Crawford’s “Six Heads for Gullahm-Khullgosh,” “The Symbol on the Ring'' by Cole Burgett, and “Muse and the Monstrous” by Chase Folmar. Briefly, Crawford’s story has strong Lovecraftian elements as the protagonist, Seanai of Ibak, battles the mad, twisted form of Gullahm-Khullgosh in a hellish dreamscape at the same time Seanai’s body is physically threatened. Burgett’s story is more fun, giving the reader a taste of what can happen when a thief is a little too good, and not picky, and what he pick-pockets. Finally, Folmar’s story is a kind of cautionary tale for the wealthy, who do not think too much about strange women who help them place their bets on fighters.
This publication is a quintessential labor of love for both the continued presence of the sword and sorcery genre and the community who reads and writes it. As a gathering place, I recommend you find time to spend there.
If you haven’t yet read any of the previous three issues of Whetstone, I recommend you do. Not only is the cover art consistently fantastic, but it acts as a kind of call back to the fantasy art of the 1970s, when print fanzines were still commonplace. Each issue contains at least 10 stories and all are free to download and read from their website: https://whetstonemag.blogspot.com/p/i...
Jake Kelly, a native of Cleveland, OH and fixture in the poster and mural art scene there, designed the cover art for Whetstone 4. Perched atop a pile of debris and bodies, a warrior woman sneers at something out of frame. She holds a polearm with three monsters’ heads run through. The high contrast black and white art deserves multiple viewings, as each time the viewer finds some new intriguing detail that hints to this world’s ruined state.
This issue contains 15 stories and offers a variety of approaches to the sword and sorcery genre. A few standouts for me were B. Harlan Crawford’s “Six Heads for Gullahm-Khullgosh,” “The Symbol on the Ring'' by Cole Burgett, and “Muse and the Monstrous” by Chase Folmar. Briefly, Crawford’s story has strong Lovecraftian elements as the protagonist, Seanai of Ibak, battles the mad, twisted form of Gullahm-Khullgosh in a hellish dreamscape at the same time Seanai’s body is physically threatened. Burgett’s story is more fun, giving the reader a taste of what can happen when a thief is a little too good, and not picky, and what he pick-pockets. Finally, Folmar’s story is a kind of cautionary tale for the wealthy, who do not think too much about strange women who help them place their bets on fighters.
This publication is a quintessential labor of love for both the continued presence of the sword and sorcery genre and the community who reads and writes it. As a gathering place, I recommend you find time to spend there.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews