Swords Against Darkness IΙΙ

Swords Against Darkness #3

by Andrew J. Offutt

9 • Foreword (Swords Against Darkness III) • essay by Andrew J. Offutt
14 • The Pit of Wings • [Ryre] • shortstory by Ramsey Campbell
34 • The Sword of Spartacus • [Simon of Gitta] • novelette by Richard L. Tierney
58 • Servitude • (1976) • shortstory by Wayne Hooks
72 • Descales' Skull • (1973) • shortstory by David C. Smith
90 • In the Balance • shortstory by Tanith Lee
97 • Tower of Darkness • (1975) • novelette by David Madison
125 • The Mantichore • shortstory by David Drake
143 • Revenant • poem by Kathleen Resch
146 • Rite of Kings • shortstory by Jon DeCles
162 • The Mating Web • shortstory by Robert E. Vardeman
182 • The Guest of Dzinganji • [Kardios] • shortstory by Manly Wade Wellman
201 • The Hag • shortstory by Darrell Schweitzer
218 • A Kingdom Won • [Nalcon] • novelette by Geo. W. Proctor
256 • Swordslinger • shortstory by M. A. Wahil
270 • On Thud and Blunder • essay by Poul Anderson

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthologies, Sword and Sorcery, Dungeons and Dragons

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Andrew Jefferson Offutt was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He wrote as Andrew J. Offutt, A.J. Offutt, and Andy Offut. His normal byline, andrew j. offutt, had his name in all lower-case letters. His son is the author Chris Offutt.

Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story And Gone Tomorrow in If. Despite this early sale, he didn't consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story Blacksword to Galaxy in 1959. His first novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970.

Offutt published numerous novels and short stories, including many in the Thieves World series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which featured his best known character, the thief Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His Iron Lords series likewise was popular. He also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard, one on Howard's best known character, Conan, and one on a lesser known character, Cormac mac Art.

As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint.

Offutt also wrote a large number of pornographic works under twelve different pseudonyms, not all of them identified. Those known include John Cleve, J.X. Williams, and Jeff Douglas. His main works in this area are the science fiction Spaceways series, most of whose volumes were written in collaboration, and the historical Crusader series.

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

It felt like this installment had more than the usual share of new authors, usually drawn from small-press magazines and the like. Some, like David C Smith, went on to a writing career, but many have only his or her piece here or little else professionally.

In particular, David Madison's "Tower of Darkness". With more conventional characters, this would have been finely crafted but unremarkable. But Madison peoples it with Diana and Marcus, whose gender roles, if not reversed, are bent quite a bit, resulting in a new and interesting dynamic. There's several stories with these characters, none of which are generally available. I'm curious how the dynamic plays out.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, not quite as strong as the first volume in the series, but still a very good work. I was just starting to write when this series came out and I wanted desperately to crack this market but ended up never completing a story that I thought suitable until the last volume had published.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third in the series of swords & sorcery anthologies edited by andrew j. offutt is not quite as strong as the earlier books, but it still contains some good stories. These books date from the time when S & S was a separate and definable sub-genre of fantasy, before the field was swamped by countless series of novels based on games of one type or another. Each story is accompanied by introductory comments from offutt, and it's clear that he was sincere in his love of the field. There's also an essay by Poul Anderson, but I it didn't impress me too much. My favorites are the stories by David Drake, Darrell Schweitzer, Ramsey Campbell, Tanith Lee, and Manly Wade Wellman.

[Heiki Eesmaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd say one of the weakest named entries in Appendix N. Which is understandable considering it is essentially a fan fiction collection. I did enjoy the second entry much more; I am not a big short story reader, which should explain part of my low enthusiasm.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of stories, including sword-and-sorcery tales by Ramsey Campbell, David Drake, Tanith Lee and Darrell Schweitzer (the first in his grim, powerful Sir Julian series). A satisfactory reread.