Weird Tales Magazine No. 366: Sword & Sorcery Issue

by Kevin J. Anderson

Tales of blood, magic, and steel by masters of the craft! Stories, essays, and poetry

Kevin J. Anderson
Bruce Boston
Greg Cox
Dana Fredsti & David Fitzgerald
Neil Gaiman
Teel James Glenn
Maxwell I. Gold
Howard Andrew Jones
Brian W. Matthews
Greg Mollin
Michael Moorcock
James A. Moore
Weston Ochse
Marguerite Reed
Charles R. Rutledge
Jane Yolen

Genres: Fantasy

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[Jason Waltz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was bizarre. Art was odd, selections were odd. Howard Andrew Jones saves this with hands down the best piece. His story garners 2 of the 3 stars.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another solid 3.5
I’ve always maintained that I have a strained relationship with fantasy-but the truth is, I probably don’t read enough of it to make that claim. I LOVE Tolkien (LOTR, The Silmarillion, all of it), but his stuff feels so high and mythic that it exists in a sphere all its own (I’ve heard people call it “High Fantasy”, which makes me think of the distinction from old High German and Low German, and I rather like the language analogy). Le Guin’s Earthsea is the closest thing I’ll ever utter near Tolkien’s name. But beyond that? I’ve somehow dodged names like Sanderson, Brooks, Jordan, etc.-and I think the rise of “romantasy” may have warped my sense of what the genre even is anymore.
So, I went backwards. This issue is a tribute to “Sword and Sorcery”-the dark, pulpy, sometimes grimy ancestor of modern fantasy (thanks in large part to the works of Robert E. Howard). -and honestly? I liked it. The tone is weird and bloody and dark (maybe even GRIMDARK! Note to self: get around to reading Joe Abercrombie no matter how much the internet tells you not to). I wasn’t always sold on some of the characters in these stories, mostly because of modern sensibilities, and there were some moments I rolled my eyes a little, but overall I was entertained, and most times I got to that point of being “over it”, it got dark and weird and pulled me back in.
Again, there’s also a mix of essays, poetry and interviews! It was really cool; I really like the set up of this magazine. Some of the standouts for me:

"Cold Ice, Red Blood" by Kevin J. Anderson
"Guardian of the Sapphire Sword" by Greg Cox (I enjoyed the perspective of this one, basically from the "monster's" POV, the D&D side characters were annoying though).
"Temm the Riven" by Brian W. Matthews
"Sword & Sorcery: Weird Tales and Beyond" by Charles Rutledge (Great essay about Robert Howard and the development of S&S, re-read from "100 Years of Weird")
"An Interview with Michael Moorcock" by Weston Ochse
"On Michael Moorcock" by Neil Gaiman

I listened to the audio version, and while it was fantastic, due to some rights issues they had to leave out the Michael Moorcock story which was a bummer, because I was most looking forward to reading him (since I never have). If that’s a deal breaker, seek out a physical or e-book version.
Final verdict: This issue made me rethink my assumptions about fantasy a bit. If this is the spirit that sword and sorcery brings to the table-strange magic, doomed heroes, fast pacing, moral gray zones-then maybe I’m more of a fantasy reader than I thought. Or at least the kind that likes his wizards cursed and his swords…cursed-er? Anyway, if I’ve learned anything from this experience it’s that it’s high time I read through all of Conan the Barbarian, and give Howard his due.

[Craig Russo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh. The actual stories were great. There was just too much non-story stuff.

[Mike Perschon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of Sword and Sorcery stories, essays, and poems. There was only one weak story, and even that was mildly entertaining. Recommended for those who prefer their fantasy with some edge.

[Jim N · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining issue with a good mix of stories and articles. It definitely scratched my S&S itch.

[mabuse cast · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty solid collection of Sword & Sorcery stories,essays,poems, and a new interview with author Michael Moorcock! It has its fair share of stories that are just fine as you might expect from a collection like this but there are some real gems here that outweigh the just average ones!

P.S. The audiobook version of this issue does not include the new Michael Moorcock story due to rights issues so if you want that story get the physical version of this issue!

[Matthew Bane · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 out of 5

Very entertaining. Some of the stories are so good I didn't want them to end.

The interview with Morecock was a nice touch. I haven't read anything from him before, but it sounds like I really need to.

[Marty Solotki · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much to choose from in this! Lots of action and adventure, and some good history of the genre.

[Ace McGee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduced me to Howard Andrew Jones