Swords & Dark Magic

Morlock Ambrosius #3.5 - The Singing Spear

by Jonathan Strahan (Editor), Lou Anders (Editor), Steven Erikson

A truly breathtaking new anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, Swords & Dark Magic offers stunning new tales of sword and sorcery action, romance, and dark adventure written by some of the most respected, bestselling fantasy writers working today—from  Joe Abercrombie to Gene Wolfe. An all-new Elric novella from the legendary Michael Moorcock and a new visit to Majipoor courtesy of the inimitable Robert Silverberg are just two of the treasures offered in Swords & Dark Magic—a fantasy lover’s dream.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthologies, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

546 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 22, 2010

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall rating: 3.1325 stars. No laughing. This was computed quite mathematically and stuff.

☢ Friendly Warning: I bought this anthology because



Just so you know.

Okay, for those of you who have lives and don't have the time/can't be bothered to read the most fascinating reviews I painstakingly wrote for every bloody shrimping story in this anthology, here is the long and short of it:

❣ You really really really want to read:
✔ Tides Elba by Glen Cook DUH .
✔ Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson (no, this is not a joke).
✔ Two Lions, a Witch and a War-Robe by Tanith Lee.
✔ Red Pearls by Michael Moorcock.

❉ You might want to read:
✔ A Rich Full Week by K. J. Parker.
✔ In the Stacks by Scott Lynch (not a joke either).

☠ You do not want to read:
✘ Everything else.





① Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson: 4.5 stars
➼ Series: this story is not part of the Malazan series per se, but it takes place in the Malazan world.

Let's do some quick maths, shall we?

Dark stuff + yummy demons + kick ass chicks + foul language + non-stop action + evisceration + scrumptious fights + chopped off limbs =



I rest my case.

P.S. Goats rock.

ETA: just finished reading Gardens of the Silly Moon. No comment.



② Tides Elba by Glen Cook: 8 stars
➼ Series: The Black Company, #1.2

The mostest awesomest mercenaries in the history of mostest awesomest mercenaries !!! My grumpy boyfriend Croaker!!! One-Eye, Goblin, Otto, Hagop, Silent, Elmo, the Captain…most of my babies are here!!! A game of tonks with a very unexpected outcome!!! Oxymorons!!! Shrimp!!! Stupendelicious dialogues!!! And just like that, I'm home!!!!!!!





③ Blood Sport by Gene Wolfe: 2 stars

If there was supposed to be a point to this delightfully entertaining story, there is a slight possibility that I might have missed it quite entirely. Maybe.



④ The Singing Spear by James Enge: 2.5 stars
➼ Series: Morlock Ambrosius.

A drunk magician and a spear that sings. Wow. I can barely contain my excitement right now. This is too much. I think I'm about to have a heart attack or something. Halp.



⑤ A Wizard in Wiscezan by C.J. Cherryh: 2 stars

Young wizard apprentice, blah blah blah, been there read that, blah blah blah, couldn't care less couldn't care less couldn't care less, blah blah blah, bored bored bored, bye bye bye.



⑥ A Rich Full Week by K. J. Parker: 3.88 stars

A "philosopher" + undead type people not zombies. Big difference. Because zombies suck and stuff + slightly awesome magic + a little horror =





⑦ A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet by Garth Nix: 2.5 stars
➼ Series: Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz.

Quick Garth Nix maths: this short story + Sabriel =



Because too light. Because too diet. Because too decaf. Because ever so slightly boring and stuff. Also, in this particular Suitable Present case: "beautiful attendant" (please allow me to eyeroll my little self death) + bloody shrimping silly puppet (of all things) = I don't think so.

Bye now.



⑧ Red Pearls by Michael Moorcock: 4.5 stars
➼ Series: The Elric Saga.

Disclaimer: I'd never heard of Michael Moorcock before reading this story. Yeah yeah yeah, I'm slightly challenged in the Fantasy department, I know. Please feel free to sue me and all that crap.

Elric of Melniboné, where the fishing fish have you been all my subaquatic life?! Do you realize I want to do the infamous Poof! Gone! Harem! on you already? After reading only a tiny little adventure of yours?! And despite your albinistic features?! Hey, no offense to my Little Albino Barnacles, but I like my slaves boyfriends on the darker skin-darker hair side and stuff His Furriness doesn't count, obviously. This is kinda sorta unheard of, you know. But I guess it can be scientifically explained by the fact that:

a)You're slightly hot.
b)Your moral compass seem to be a little on the fished up side.
c)You're slightly hot.
d)Your sword is slightly hot and yes, I do mean your "sword." Not your, you know, "sword" and stuff .
e)You're slightly hot.
f)Your girlfriend is slightly hot. She's got pretty huge harem potential, too.
g)You're slightly hot.

QED and stuff. Also: ships and pirates and dragons, oh my!

Now let's dance.





⑨ The Deification of Dal Balmore by Tim Lebbon: 2 stars
➼ A story set in the world of Lebbon's Echo City novel.

I just finished reading this one. It was fascinating. I loved it.



Just kidding.

Sooooooo, I must have read this story really, really wrong, because everyone else seems to think it's slightly wondrous. So either I have despicably despicable book taste or I'm the only one who read this right. Which seems highly probable, come to think of it. Because I'm always right even when I'm not wrong all the time. But anyway. There was some lovely fighting and blood shedding here, which was pretty cool and stuff, but I didn't like the priestess chick female lead, which was pretty not cool. That Dal Balmore guy could have been delicious material, but he wasn't, so that was pretty not cool as well. Also, to the hilarious people who thought this story was beautifully dark:



I love you too, People of the Despicable Book Taste (PotDBT™)!

Bye now!



⑩ Dark Times at the Midnight Market by Robert Silverberg: 2.5 stars
➼ A story set in the world of Silverberg's Majipoor series.

This one is a refreshingly captivating story about love potions. Hahahahaha. Just kidding. Okay, so it is really a story about love potions but refreshingly captivating it was most certainly not. I mean, come on, bloody shrimping love potions? Seriously? Was this story written 30 years ago or something? Anyway, apart from that Silly Lurve Brew Thing (SLBT™), the story was not badly written. It was revoltingly light, slightly somewhat a little predictable and Deadly Land of Meh (DLoM™) material, but other than that, it was fairly survivable. To be disgustingly honest, the world was pretty intriguing and there were some cool creatures frolicking around. Does that mean I want to give Silverberg's Majipoor series a try? Hahahahaha. I think not. I may have masochistic tendencies but I don't have a death wish. Yet.



Don't ask.



⑪ The Undefiled by Greg Keyes: 1 star

Okay so I should have loved this one because it's dark and violent and stuff. BUT:

1)Everyone else seems to think it's pretty fantastic, ergo I obviously didn't. It's so sad to see other people read so many books wrong all the time.

2)I must be really weird and severely old-fashioned, because I don't find jokes about rape funny.





⑫ Hew the Tintmaster by Michael Shea: 2 stars
➼ A story based on Jack Vance's Cugel the Clever character, from his Dying Earth series.

Was I supposed to like this one, too? Yeah, I think I was supposed to like this one, too. Guess what? I didn't like it. Oops. The premise isn't bad (if a bit light and silly), but the writing nearly killed me here. Why? Because never-ending descriptions and flowery language of death. Such hardcore stuff should be outlawed, if you ask me.





⑬ In the Stacks by Scott Lynch: 3.99 stars

Ah, Scott Lynch, aka The Author Who Doesn't Know What Concise Means (TGWDKWCM™) the beloved author of one of my mostest favoritest books ever. Such a glorious surprise it was to find a most wondrous story of his in this anthology! I do love the smell of DNF in the morning, so it was with eager anticipation that I started reading what I expected to be a mind-numbingly tedious tale. What a total, complete rip-off. I actually *whispers* liked this one! I bloody shrimping *whispers* enjoyed reading it! This cannot be, Mr Lynch! This will not do! This was supposed to be the cure to my insomnia, not something that *whispers* kept me awake!



You tell him, Lady Catherine! Such shameful behavior cannot and will not be condoned!

So the frightfully awful truth is this: yes, as much as it pains my beautifully serrated pincers to admit it, I kinda sorta *whispers* didn't think this was totally crappy. What the fish is wrong with me? Pretty sure I have some kind of weird, deadly disease or something. That's the only logical explanation for this sad display of despicable book taste. But anyway. I thought this story was not *whispers* entirely unworthy of being read because:

✔ Coolest sentient library ever.
✔ Vocabuvores FTW! I want to kidnap adopt them all. Pretty sure they'd get on really well with my murderous babies. All of them together, such a beautifully lethal army they would make. Just the thought of it makes me go all tingly inside and stuff.
✔ Engaging cast of characters. Most of them are disgustingly young and I must admit there is quite the revolting YA feel here, but I survived anyway ← yet another proof that something is really really wrong with poor little me.
✔ Fun, entertaining stuff ← that specific enough for you? Good.

So yeah, you might want to read this one. Because, it's, you know, *whispers* not too thoroughly crappy and stuff.



⑭ Two Lions, a Witch and a War-Robe by Tanith Lee: 4.5 stars

This one kinda sorta made me feel like a bunch of boozy, hyper Sherlocked Boys on acid.



Shake that booty, you pickled chaps!

Yeah, that is most certainly me while I was reading this moderately enjoyable story here I have pretty smooth and sexy moves, right? . Why? Because:

Two deliciously sarcastic and beautifully unflappable sword-wielding dudes.
+
Severed limbs aplenty (heads, hands, ears, you name it! Yay!).
+
Ha ha ha material.
+
Sorcery/magic/whatever.
+
A witch and stuff.
+
A wardrobe war-robe and stuff *waves at C.S. Lewis*
+
Lions (no tiger or bears or Currans though) and stuff.
=



Told you I had super smooth and sexy moves.



⑮ The Sea Troll's Daughter by Caitlín R. Kiernan: 2 stars

I think Kiernan might have found the cure to insomnia here.





⑯ The Fool Jobs by Joe Abercrombrie: 2.25 stars
➼ A story set in the world of Abercrombie's First Law series.

Ah, The First Law, what a glorious series. I loved The Blade Itself SO much. It really is one of my top 100,000,000 mostest favoritest books of all times and stuff.



Yes, I'm hilarious, I know. Anyway, I didn't love this one as nearly as much as I didn't love The Blade Itself. Why? Because:

1/It tries too bloody shrimping hard to be funny. Ergo, it isn't. Also, if I want to read about an awesome band of most wondrous mercenaries a ragtag bunch of brutes, and chuckle & giggle & chortle at their most delicious dialogues, I'll reread the Black Company of Dazzling Scrumptiousness (BCoDS™), thank thee kindly.

2/This thing doesn't know if it wants to be funny or dark. Ergo, it's neither. First it's all, "laugh at my story, it's deliriously humorous!" And I'm like…

. Then it's all, "be in awe of my story, it's all slaughterish and bloody!" And I'm like…

.

But worry not, Mr Abercrombie! It's definitely not me you, it's quite obviously you me!



The end.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decidedly non-Tolkienesque collection of sorcery, swords and morally challenged heroes characters roughly moving through bleak, dreary landscapes and encountering death, violence and other sordid nastiness. This is MY kind of fantasy (i.e., the unkind variety).

Within these unhallowed pages, you will find no hairy-footed hobbits smoking pipe-weed; no pompous, effeminate Elves residing in trees and baking bread; and no melancholy kings proclaiming in Shakespearean patois. 

You must look elsewhere for those. 

This is all grim, moorcockian anti-heroes and gritty world's that have bloomed from the fertile soil of the likes of Anderson's The Broken Sword. This is the dark side of fantasy...and it lights up my happy so much more than the fluffy fantasists like Jordan and Brooks ever could. 

As with most anthologies, the quality level is not uniform and there are some stories that didn't exactly stir my joystick. Ironically, several of these less than inspiring tales were the product of the more established contributors. For example, Tanith Lee's punny  "Two Lions, A Witch And The War-Robe" is  limp and lifeless and Glen Cook's Black Company story, "Tides Elbe," felt like it was intended to fill out the page count of the collection and left me bored and drowsy.

However, there were far more standouts than washouts and I found a number of absolute gems in this collection. Here are my favorites, each of which get an easy 5 stars from me: 

THE CROP'S CREAM:

 - "In the Stacks" by Scott Lynch: Simply brilliant. Dark but whimsical and tension-filled but funny, this story concerns a young wizard and a brutal final exam involving a unique library containing millions of magical books. These grimoires are semi-sentient and the power they contain can "leak" from the pages making the library a wondrous but treacherous place to visit.  This is a superbly delicious piece of writing that further cements my opinion of Lynch as one of the best writers in the business right now. Now if only he would finish the next Locke Lamora novel. 

 - "Fools Job" by Joe Abercrombie: This guy apparently can do no wrong in my eyes as he has spun another master-piece of gray morality, black humor and buckets full of the red liquid of life. This twisted, funny tale is set in the same world as Abercrombie's other novels and introduces characters that make their presence felt in  The Heroes. You could call it a prequel of sorts and it is an ass kicker. 

 - "The Undefiled" by Greg Keyes: Despite my enormous love for the stories by Lynch and Abercrombie, this may be my favorite of the whole collection. It is easily the darkest and most disturbing tale in the anthology. Bleak and deeply moving, this story burrowed into my brain and has stayed there more than any other. This is subversive fantasy at its best. 

 - "The Deification of Dal Bamore" by Tim Lebbon: This story introduces the world of his novel Echo City and is another dark slice of awesome. Wonderful, unique world-building and a terrific magic system. This was my first encounter with Tim Lebbon and I look forward to reading more of his work.

 - "Goats of Glory" by Steven Erikson: in the running for best story in the collection, this story is similar in style and tone to Joe Abercrombie's piece. While Joe, in my opinion, has superior prose chops, Erikson shows he can be his equal in story-telling as this is a humdinger involving  a group of veteran soldiers spending the night in a "not so abandoned" castle. Here is the opening paragraph:

Five riders drew rein in the pass. Slumped in their saddles, they studied the valley sprawled out below them. A narrow river cut a jagged scar down the middle of a broad floodplain. A weathered wooden bridge sagged across the narrow span, and beyond it squatted a score of buildings, gray as the dust hovering above the dirt tracks wending between them.

 Great characters, great action and a jaw-dropping gut shot of an ending. 


 - "A Rich Full Week" by K.J. Parker: I loved this. An unsual piece that takes a fresh, unique look at the zombie mythos. Sad and moving and terrific. 

 - "Hew the Tintmaster" by Michael Shea: a great sorbet of lighter, more humorous fare, this is story takes place in Jack Vance's Dying Earth and features everyones favorite scoundrel, Cugel the Clever (though in a supporting role). Shea does a great job bringing a Vancian style and tone to his story and this was a lot of fun. I  won't spoil the reveal, but it has a very < b>important place in the Dying Earth canon. 

The rest of the pieces are at least three stars worthy of reading with 4 stars worth of honorable mention going to "Red Pearls" by Michael Moorcock (an Elric tale) and "Dark Times at the Midnight Market" by Robert Silverberg (a Majipoor tale).

 Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable collection of scarred men, brutal magics and perverse and pervasive nastiness. Me likes. 

4.0 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

[Scott Hitchcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've read both Malazan and the Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas this reads about halfway in between. The gore and macabre humor of B&KB but the soldier comraderie of Malazan. By far my favorite short story by Erikson.

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five riders, slumped in their saddles, rode five battered, beaten-down horses into a village.
It almost has that signature beginning of a really bad joke, right?
But then you see whose name is behind such beginning and you realize that, no matter the pun, this is anything but a joke.

Goats of Glory is the first short story in Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery anthology by Jonathan Strahan.
It's the story about five members of a company called Rams, company that in distant past had thousands of warriors, but now is diminished to only these five surviving members, who jokingly call themselves as Goats.
But, once again, as they enter a sleepy hamlet of Glory, while folk eagerly prepares five new barrows, they'll prove to be anything but a joke.

“Seen yourself lately? Say, anytime in the last thirty years?”

Great story, likable characters, raw cynical humor - everything we already love Erikson for can be found in this short story.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

At 517 pages, Swords & Dark Magic is quite a load, even as an anthology. I confess, there were a number of these that I grew impatient with and just skipped. I either didn't like the tone or approach, and/or felt that I'd been there and done that story-wise. It's interesting looking at the reviews for this book, since a number of reviewers, ones I really respect, are all over the place as far as what they like. So maybe this collection is more a success than I thought, since folks did find work that met their expectations as far Sword & Sorcery.

Me? I tend to like such stories best when they cast a spell via language and exotic (and ominous) imagery. Old school would have me liking Clark Ashton Smith, which is why I liked Gene Wolfe's "Bloodsport." Wolfe can be very frustrating to read, but this one worked for me. Close behind, is the blood & guts action pieces, like Robert E. Howard's Conan stories. So with that in mind, I found common company in Scott Erikson's "Goats of Glory," and Tim Lebbon's "Deification of Dal Bamore." A few comments on the stories below:

"Goats of Glory," by Scott Erikson. Good siege story, that reverses expectations. Might be the most wickedly fun story in this collection. Great placement by the editors.

"Tides Elba," by Glenn Cook. Skipped it. A lot of people like Cook, but I've yet to get traction with his voice. As always, I just feel like I'm reading a thinly cloaked story about a platoon of modern day soldiers. I suppose that's the point, but the result is that I don't feel I'm really reading Fantasy.

"Bloodsport," by Gene Wolfe. Reality blurs. Mysterious, poetic, mythic. I liked this story quite a bit. Don't ask what it's about, because I'm not sure I can answer the question. But with it's language, it just doesn't seem to matter.

"The Singing Spear," by James Enge. It's OK. But how many stories have you read about drunk magicians (gunfighters, soldiers, etc.), pulling it together for one more duel? The story line seemed tired to me. You can always Make It New, but I'm not sure Enge did so.

"A Wizard in Wiscezan," by C.J. Cherryh. In general, I like Cherryh's distinctive voice. But here, while I was on board for most of the story, the ending felt rushed. I was disappointed.

"A Rich Full Week," by K.J. Parker. I've not read Parker before, but I liked this one, but for unexpected reasons. Fantasy often employs horror elements within its stories, but here I think you have a Horror story ( a zombie type thing), with a few Fantasy trappings (magicians). And it's a good Horror story. I'll say no more.

"A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet," by Garth Nix. My first Nix read. I liked this one quite a bit. I'm no fan of humorous fantasy, so this one had to clear that bar from the get-go. There are a number of stories in this anthology that follow a similar path, but this is the only one I liked. A wounded knight recovers in a castle, with a beautiful attendant, a loyal puppet, and a book he should probably leave alone. Fun stuff.

"Red Pearls," by Michael Moorcock. An Elric novella. That alone is probably enough of a reason to pick up this collection. If you're an Elric fan, you won't be disappointed.

"The Deification of Dal Bamore," by Tim Lebbon. I've read a few of Lebbon's Horror efforts, and found them OK. He seems much more comfortable with Blood & Guts Fantasy. I liked this one a lot. Rebels, Black Magic, an Empire trying to hold on, and Street Fighting Men. Good stuff.

"Dark Times at the Midnight Market," by Robert Silverberg. Skipped it.

"The Undefiled," by Greg Keyes. The darkest story in the collection. I've not read Keyes before, but this one impressed me. Really dark.

"Hew the Tintmaster," by Michael Shea. For the most part I thought Shea did a good job recreating Vance's world. But then Cugel shows up. I come fairly recent reading of Vance's Cugel, a very distinctive character, who devolves before your eyes. One of the great anti-heroes in any fiction. Shea does nothing with him. He would of been better off not including him. I thought the story fizzled at the end (though it opens wonderfully). A disappointment.

"In the Stacks," by Scott Lynch. Skipped it. Couldn't get into it. A lot of people seem to like this one, so maybe I'll revisit it again one these years.

"Two Lions, A Witch, and a War-robe," by Tanith Lee. Skipped it. But at this point Fantasy fatigue was starting to set in. Of the skipped stories, this is the one I'm most likely to try again. I was kind of turned off by the C.S. Lewis reference. (I'm not a Narnia fan.)

"The Sea Troll's Daughter," by Caitlin Kiernan. I'm a big fan of this writer, but I was kind of disappointed with this one. Kiernan is clearly mining Beowulf, and some other old tales, trying to come up with something new. The result seemed to be a kind of subversive hodge podge that just didn't click. But with Kiernan, you always have the language as a fall back.

"Thieves of Daring," by Bill Willingham. I think this is the shortest story in the collection, and without doubt the most unnecessary. Very slight.

"The Fool Jobs," by Joe Abercrombie. A crusty and varied group of thieves gather...and that's as far I got, since by this point I had grown bored with the collection. I figure this will be slotted along side Erickson & Lebbon, but I need a break...

Oh, and all of this starts off with a pretty good Introductory essay by the editors.

[Mayim de Vries]

I read only:

1. Goats of Glory (Steven Erikson) because of the ultimate order. Yessir! ★★★☆☆

2. In the stacks (Scott Lynch) and my visits to the library will never be the same. (Also, I want a pet vocabuvore). ★★★★★

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the back of the cover says ‘Seventeen Original Tales of Sword and Sorcery penned by Masters Old and New’ and then goes on to mention Glen Cook and the Black Company, Michael Moorcock and Elric, Steven Erikson and Malazan, Gene Wolfe, Robert Silverberg and Majipoor, KJ Parker, Scott Lynch, Joe Abercrombie and others, most readers would need little persuading to pick this one up.

Furthermore, when the two editors are known as a couple of the best in the business currently, you would expect a healthy selection of the best tales from the best.

Consequently, the beginning boded well. Their introduction to Sword and Sorcery is well written and informative, pointing out the origins of the subgenre and the current re-emergence of interest in it.

So far, so good. However, having eagerly sat down to read the actual stories, it was a different reaction. The first three stories in the collection – by Erikson, Cook and Wolfe respectively - were extremely disappointing, to the point where I seriously thought I had made a major mistake in reading it.

However, the fourth, by James Enge, was an improvement and the next by stalwart CJ Cherryh began to make me feel happier. Things started to look better. KJ Parker’s tale was a joy and Moorcock’s Elric was a triumph. Halfway through the book I was feeling much happier, though there were still stories that left me unimpressed. By the end I was glad I had read it, though it was not the triumph of the genre I had hoped it was going to be when I started.

The nature of story collections is that there are bound to be stories that you like better than others. Usually though I can say whether I liked the collection or not. Silverberg’s Legends, for example, published in 1998, and its sequel Legends II (2003) had the same intent as this, to showcase the best Fantasy and had some unusual yet interesting choices that made me read more of some authors I had not read.

Here, with the same aim, there were no authors I had not encountered before and all of whom previously I would’ve said were good, but the overriding cumulative impression in the end here is much less positive.

What worried me most is that this book was not the book I had hoped would be definitive. I was hoping that this was the one that would allow me to say to others, ‘Here you are. This is the book that tells you why I read Fantasy. It is a collection of great stories from some of the best writers in the field today. Read it and you will want to read more.’ It should’ve been, but isn’t.

There are stories there I liked, for a variety of reasons. It was wonderful to revisit old favourites such as Elric and Majipoor, it was also great to read tales from some of the new – Scott Lynch’s tale of a magical library gone awry was great, so too Joe Abercrombie’s The Fool Jobs (which augurs well for the new book soon) – but there were far too many that, despite me wanting to like them, left me feeling at the end that I had wasted my time.

A curate’s egg then, and, for me, a disappointingly uneven read. There is a lot to like, but you may not find the journey totally acceptable.

Having said that, Rob Bedford reviewing for the Sacramento/ San Francisco Book Review liked it.

Think this may be one that divides readers. I’m going to be interested in reading what others think.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is copy 102 of 500 signed and numbered copies.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've reviewed each section of this anthology on it's own merits, then gave my thoughts of the whole at the end.

Introduction: Check Your Dark Lord at the Door by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan: An intro this anthology that purports (as the title suggests) that this is a collection of new Sword & Sorcery, with a mix some classics. A claim I found highly dubious, though commendable. Nonetheless with names like Moorcock, Cook, Erikson and Abercrombie amongst the list I was really looking forward to a fun and varied anthology. Let’s see how it fares.

Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson: This is one of the stories I was anticipating most. I am a fan of Erikson’s work, at least what I have read, and he is a local boy so I like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Well I will say that the story has the aesthetics of Sword & Sorcery, at its basest. Swords, check, sorcery, check, booze, check, carousing, check, violence and gore, double check. What it lacks however is the introspection and dark imagery we glean from the masters of the genre like Howard’s Conan, Moorcock’s Elric, Wagner’s Kane or Leiber’s Fahfrd and the Gray Mouser. It is sorely missed. The prose was simple and without flourish. To me it felt like the story was missing its soul, its essence. Though not terrible by any means, it may be my least favourite of the collection. The anthology starts of on a weak foot… but sometimes it’s better to start from the bottom anyway. What else do we have in store?

Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company by Glen Cook: Mr. Cook is another author I was quite looking forward to reading, as I had enjoyed The Black Company novel (though it has been a while). This story seems to be a direct prequel to his first novel in the Black Company series. I don’t consider his work to be Sword & Sorcery, as it too does not quite have the same feel of the aforementioned authors, but it is dark fantasy. And this story delivered pretty much exactly what I had expected. A fast paced, violent and somewhat morally ambiguous story, with touches of dark humour.

Bloodsport by Gene Wolfe: This was an interesting story, unique amongst the bunch. Wolfe was an author, whom though familiar with, I had yet to read his works. I feel like this was a good introduction. Again not exactly Sword & Sorcery in the traditional sense (seeing a trend here?), but it does feature certain elements. The prose itself had a very old feel to it, a step removed from epics or medieval romances, and the story itself had some similarities to those kinds of tales too. It is a dark story with hints of romance, and an original idea that plays on an old classic game of strategy. Unlike Erikson story this one tended to have less of the aesthetic of Sword & Sorcery, but more of the feel. As the story features some dark imaginative ideas, and a bit of character introspection, but lacked much of the gore, violence or even sorcery.

The Singing Spear by James Enge: I’d never heard of James Enge before reading this anthology. And that’s the beauty of a good anthology; reading works from familiar authors, exploring works of authors only heard of, and being introduced to new authors altogether. And I have to say this story, more so than any other (save perhaps Moorcock’s Elric tale) is the epitome of Sword & Sorcery. Dark fantastic imagery, brooding introspective main characters, booze, swords, sorcery and violence. Most of all it’s his prose, it hearkens to the masters of the genre. It reminded me most of Leiber’s works, as opposed to say Howard, Wagner or Moorcock, as it has touches of humour throughout instead of a strictly serious plot. A fantastic new discovery.

A Wizard in Wiscezan by C.J. Cherryh: Like many of the authors on the list, and Cherryh being one of them, I was familiar with their works, but had yet to actually read anything by them. And this was an interesting inclusion in this anthology. The story felt markedly different than the rest of the stories, as does the way it’s told and prose. Yet it doesn’t strike me as wholly unique either. It has more of a high fantasy feel to it than previous entries in the anthology; a young boy learning to be a magician, set on a daunting task. Ultimately feels more like the beginning of a larger quest than a sole short story, and it makes me wonder if this is connected a larger work from C.J. Cherryh. Enjoyable and a good intro to her works, but it feels like it’s just a small part of a much more epic whole.

A Rich Full Week by K.J. Parker: Another author I’d heard of, but hadn’t yet read, though Parker specifically had really piqued my interest so I was quite excited to get to this tale. And I must say it was quite unique. Somewhat dark, yet humorous. The story revolves around a young priest (or something like one), the undead and some strange magicks. It’s has a distinctly earthly feel to it, despite the subject matter. Parker’s prose, though not necessarily florid has a certain wry charm to it that I quite enjoyed. And again, maybe not strictly Sword & Sorcery, but I feel like it’s only maybe a step removed.

A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet by Garth Nix: Nix is another one those authors whom I’d heard of, but had yet to read. And this, I think, was a great introduction. This was a fun little story, different than others in the anthology, but more akin to traditional Sword & Sorcery than others, though perhaps not quite as dark. Like Cherryh’s story I found this one had a feel of being part of a larger scope, like this story was just one amongst many. Though it felt like it was an instalment in a larger collection of similar instalments (think Conan collections) as opposed to Cherryh’s which felt like a small section of one grand storyline.

Red Pearls: An Elric Story by Michael Moorcock: This is the story I had been looking forward to the most. One of the original propagators of Sword & Sorcery, Michael Moorcock has been one of, if not, my favourite authors for a long time. His Elric series instantly captured my imagination with his beautiful dark imagery and inventive stories and character. And this story easily lives up to his classics. It continues where Elric’s story left off with Moorcock’s beautiful prose, morally ambiguous (at best) main character, and twisting tales full of fast paced action. This time on an ill-fated journey to the world below, the underside of his own known world, to claim the White Sword. I may be biased, but this well could be the best instalment in this anthology (though one or two later ones give Moorcock a run for his money) and it, along with the aforementioned The Singing Spear, completely epitomize what Sword & Sorcery is.

The Deification of Dal Bamore: A Tale From Echo City by Time Lebbon: This is one dark story. I mean really dark. Filled with gore, violence and torture. The main character is, at best, an anti-hero. The story has as much in common with splatterpunk horror as it does with dark fantasy and Sword & Sorcery fiction. And you know what? That’s okay. I like this story. Very unique in its style and execution. I’d seen Lebbon’s name bandied about a bit, like others, but never in relation to fantasy fiction, and I must say this caught my interest. Of the authors of old Sword & Sorcery the only one I would truly liken this work to would be Karl Edward Wagner, whose works were also unremittingly dark, though slightly less horrific. After this story I’m interested in reading some of his longer fiction.

Dark Times at Midnight Market by Robert Silverberg: I don’t really have much to say about this one. I appreciate Silverberg’s contribution to the genre (sort of anyway) but I don’t think that this story, part of the Majipoor chronicles, really fits with the collection. It felt more like he was added based on his name. The story is more of a sci-fi story than fantasy. Admittedly perhaps more in the science fantasy sort of style, as it does feature sorcery (that’s half the battle, right?). But the story is just insipid and shallow too. Not my cup of tea. I will say I prefer his prose to Erikson’s in the first instalment in this anthology, but at least Erikson’s story felt like it had some thought and originality to it. This just felt like a throw away.

The Undefiled by Greg Keyes: Keyes is another of the major authors in this anthology I had really been anticipating reading. And I wasn’t disappointed. A suitably dark yet original story filled with violence and sorcery. The tone of prose felt distinctly modern, yet the subject matter and format (recurring characters on a new quests) hearkened to a more traditional Sword & Sorcery style. Like Nix’s story it felt like this is part of a larger series of adventures. I feel like this story was a perfect example of “The new Sword & Sorcery” that the editors had been hoping for.

Hew The Tintmaster by Michael Shea: Like Silverberg’s instalment this is somewhat of a science fantasy story. Unlike like Silverberg’s story this one felt more fantastic, and was much more enjoyable. It is a bit of a pastiche of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series, though Cugel, Vance’s character, mostly shows up as a cameo. Overall it was a fun adventure with an original plot and characters and fun execution. Shea’s tone was reminiscent of an older style (which makes sense since he’s been writing since the 70’s) and definitely had a touch of Jack Vance to it. Beautiful imagery.

In the Stacks by Scott Lynch: This was another author and story I had been really looking forward to reading. First time exploring Lynch’s works, and I must say… I was blown away. I found his style and subject matter somewhat reminiscent of Patrick Rothfuss, but perhaps even more fluid. The story about a group of young wizards on a quest to return books in a living library was fun, original and exciting. This is the only story, so far, that gave Red Pearls a run for its money. Though it’s not really much like Sword & Sorcery, definitely more akin to high fantasy, but the quick pace and self-encapsulated story does have some similarities to the shorter works more common in S&S.

Two Lions, A Witch and a War-Robe by Tanith Lee: Though I have yet to read an full length stories of Lee’s work, I have read a couple of her shorter works in various anthologies, and she never disappoints. Same goes for here. Like her works in other anthologies (even ones mostly dedicated to S&S) her works aren’t exactly Sword & Sorcery, though this one is actually probably a step closer than others I have read from her. Swordplay, sorcery, booze and quests, pretty much spot one. Though not a terribly dark story compared to other S&S stories, or even most other stories in this anthology. The story itself starts out simple enough, but as it develops it takes a life of its own. The characters are really rather non-descript, but have a certain wit and charm that makes them enjoyable nonetheless. Add to the mix some fantastic wordplay for a title and we get another hit for Tanith Lee.

The Sea Troll’s Daughter by Caitlin Kiernan: Like Lebbon I’ve mostly seen Kiernan’s name associated with horror works. Unlike Lebbon it’s normally associated more with weird works than the gorier splatterpunk side of horror. But also like Lebbon her fantasy fiction in this anthology is fresh, original, and very enjoyable. It checks off all the boxes for Sword & Sorcery, booze, carousing, violence, swords, sorcery (sort of), beautiful prose and dark imagery with a troubled protagonist. Yet it also hearkens to an older style, both in subject and execution, it is more reminiscent of Beowulf than Conan, and yet… with a distinctly feminine twist. Like Keyes story this is the new Sword & Sorcery that the editors were searching for.

Thieves of Daring by Bill Willingham: I am familiar with Bill’s comic works, Fables and Shadowpact, and enjoyed what I’d read of both. But this was my first time reading his strictly written work. It’s the shortest tale in the anthology, and as such doesn’t get a lot of chance to develop, and feels somewhat cut short. Nonetheless this is a direct tribute to works from Leiber or Howard and was still a solid instalment in the anthology, if not wholly original.

The Fools Job by Joe Abercrombie: Saving best for last? Maybe. I have been a big Abercrombie kick recently. I just love his dark humor, descriptive violence and enjoyable yet flawed characters. And this shorter work hits all those marks, it also mostly hits all the pre-requisites for Sword & Sorcery, well at least it has the swords and the sorcery… Actually it reminded me most of Glen Cook’s works. A band on a mission, high in danger, low in details. There is a couple references to some of Abercrombie’s other characters, but mostly this story is completely self-contained. A great way to finish off this anthology.

Now for my thoughts overall. Did this anthology succeed in achieving what the editors set out to do? Not really. We discover some new Sword & Sorcery styled stories and authors, and we do get the chance to re-visit some classic authors of the genre (or at least on the peripheries of the genre, like Wolfe or Silverberg). But a lot of it is simply not Sword & Sorcery, or has little to do with its progenitors. Had it been titled New Heroic Fantasy, I would have said that the editors knocked it out of the park in that respect, as undoubtedly that’s what nearly all these stories are. But what really matters to me is if it was enjoyable. And that it was. And you know what? I’m kind of happy it wasn’t all strictly Leiber, Howard and Moorcock clones, I prefer to have some variety. Even when looking back at older anthologies in the genre, like Swords Against Darkness or Flashing Swords!, many of the best works within were not simple Conan clones, like those of say Lin Carter or Andrew Offut, but instead it was the more unique works like those of Tanith Lee and Charles De Lint or authors venturing beyond their comfort zones like Ramsey Campbell or Brian Lumley.
4.5/5

[Wealhtheow · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of sword and sorcery stories. Mostly written by dudes, and mostly uninspired or poorly written. They're all quite stylized: these are clearly authors who have either developed their authorial voices or are aping other, very distinct voices.

I kinda enjoyed:
Steven Erikson, "Goats of Glory": A pitiful village is excited by the approach of a ragtag band of soldiers, but fully expects them all to die when they announce they'll be sleeping in the nearby haunted ruins. The combat writing is fierce and fun, with characterization aplenty and clarity in terms of who does what to whom. I didn't like anything outside of the fighting, though; the characters felt too self-consciously grim and blase.

James Enge, "The Singing Spear": a famed Maker of magical items is faced with a difficult choice when one of his most powerful creations falls into the hands of a common highwayman.

KJ Parker's "A Rich Full Week": The stand-out of the collection, because it's such a refreshing and weird take on wizards, the undead, and magic in general. A wizard (who isn't a wizard, by his own standards, but a philosopher trained in mental energies) is called to a small village to settle the unquiet dead. But he finds that the undead that he faces was once a Brother of his own Order, which makes his job rather more complicated than expected. Creepy and spooky, with great description.

Scott Lynch's "In the Stacks": this story is why I picked the book up in the first place. I'm so desperate for more of Lynch's work! This story, in which wizards must venture into their school's magical library as their year-end test, is enjoyable but not nearly so much as his Gentlemen Bastards series. Still, the characters are unique and memorable (my personal favorite: Inappropriate Levity Bronzeclaw, a gigantic lizard named for his percieved character flaw, whose ability to bite people's heads off more than makes up for his mediocre wizardry) and the adventure is a fun read. Great, clever ending.

Caitlin Kiernan's "The Sea Troll's Daughter": Basically the first half of Beowulf, but with peasants instead of kings and a strong, brave, usually-drunk and very female Beowulf. I liked this particular remimagining better than most I've read. It has an earthy quality, with characters who read like humans instead of archetypes. (Also, it's a delight to read about queer heroes and monsters and tavern-maids.)

Joe Abercrombie's "The Fool Jobs": A band of mercenaries try to steal a magical item from a local village. The characters' voices and personalities are so distinct that they come clearly and memorably through after only a few pages. Not much in the way of plot, but I didn't miss it because I was too busy enjoying the characters and their banter.

I did not enjoy:
Glen Cook's "Tides Elba": the Black Company has an adventure. Maybe if I'd read a Black Company book before this I'd have appreciated seeing old characters again, but as it was this read like a badly done parody of (quoting from the back cover here) "grim humor mixed with gritty violence." Over long, and the dialog consists entirely of each character trying to be wittily grim and failing.

Gene Wolfe's "Bloodsport": a cool concept paired with poor execution. Gladiators who portrayed chess pieces decide to maintain civilization when the empire that enslaved them starts to crumble. But the writing is in an overwrought style I dislike ("Above stands the All High, and below lies Pandemonium. Choose your road and keep to it, for if you stray from it, you may encounter such as I. Fare you well! We shall not meet again.")

CJ Cherryh's "A Wizard in Wiscezan": a young apprentice to a fading wizard is the only one who might be able to defeat a powerful dark wizard. This felt weirdly lightweight, like it was the prequel to Tewk&Willem's adventures and I was already supposed to care about them. Is that true? I dunno, but I just didn't feel invested in this story. I did like the magical maze the wizards hide in.

Garth Nix's "A suitable present for a sorcerous puppet": Another tale of Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz, who travel the world banishing gods. I actually quite like Hereward and Fitz, who have a comraderie reminiscent of Aubrey&Maturin, and Nix's magic systems are always fantastically innovative. Buuut this one just didn't capture me.

Time Lebbon's "The Deification of Dal Bamore" is actually really interesting, world-building-wise, but it's so relentlessly gorey, and all the characters so unpleasant, that I found it tiring to get through. A priestess is tasked with escorting a magician (for magic is forbidden) to the wall to be publically executed.

Greg Keyes's "The Undefiled": A man is possessed by a serial-killing god. Generally, it makes his life (and the lives of those who encounter him) a living hell, but when he's tasked with retrieving a magical sword, his psychotic passenger proves to be his best defense. The god already possessing him fights with the god that possesses the sword, which prevents the usual slaughter&rape that the sword-god commits when it gets a host. Again, the idea is good but the writing is not. People are always grating out harsh chuckles and having lithe curves cloaked in shadow.

Michael Shea's "Hew the Tintmaster": an unmemorable quest, complete with artifically flowery dialog and descriptions that don't really make sense.

Tanith Lee's "Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe": two wandering adventurers are tasked with finding the False Prince's missing war-robe. Told in a stiff, old-fashioned style rather like Malory's tales of Arthur. Just not to my taste.

Bill Willingham's "Thieves of Daring": This isn't a story, it's the first three pages of one. Such a rip-off.

So terrible:
Michael Moorcock's "Red Pearls: An Elric Story": so bad I started reading sections aloud to my partner so we could cackle together about it. I've never read an Elric story before; is Moorcock always so weirdly in love with him? Every page contains another seventeen descriptions of how beautiful his body is and how manly his brain and brawn. So many adjectives in so many run-on sentences! Here's a randomly chosen sample of the "extremely beautiful black-haired Princess Nauhaduar of Uyt" thinking about her lovah (which she does constantly): "...even if the albino were to abandon her, she would never regret knowing him or, as she suspected, loving him. Kinslayer and traitor he might be, it had never mattered to her what he was or what she risked. Dark and light were inextricably combined in this strange half-human creature whose ancestors had ruled the world before her own race emerged from the mud of creation, whose terrible sword, now rolled in rough cloth and skin and stowed in the lower locker, seemed possessed of its own dark intelligence. She knew she should be afraid of it, as of him, and part of her reexperienced the horror she had already witnessed once, there in the forsts of mysterious Soom, but the rest of her was drawn by curiosity to know more about the sword's properties and the moody prince who carried it." A few randomly chosen descriptions of Elric from a single paragraph: "hard, wonderful pale and vibrant body," "his urgent, alien body" "the doomed prince of ruins" "the albino sorcerer". The whole thing is just too ridiculous and overwrought.

Robert Silverberg's "Dark Times at the Midnight Market": An aristocrat commissions a love potion from a down-on-his-luck magician. But then, after the love potion works, it is turned against the magician! It's not presented as a terrible, creepy story, but as a humorous twist. Hahah, rape is so clever and funny. >:(

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a very solid anthology. Only two stories would I consider not worth my time - Silverberg's "Dark Times at the Midnight Market" and Willingham's "Thieves of Daring" - and some were very good.

"Goats of Glory," Steven Erikson. I'm an Erikson groupie so he'd have to stumble pretty badly to get a bad review from me. The story revolves around the moral compromises a village makes to survive, and the demon-fighting skills of Captain Skint and her company. Nothing profound but an entertaining story.

"Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company," Glen Cook. This is probably some of Cook's best writing I've seen since the "final" book of The Black Company (Soldiers Live). In those books, Croaker periodically mentions that he glosses over the less savory activities of the Company, activities that would get them hauled before the International Criminal Court if committed here. This is a tale of one of those activities, and it's disturbing and distressing to those of us who like and respect Croaker and his companions.

"Bloodsport," Gene Wolfe. Not bad. It's the usual Wolfe story where you have to read it several times to figure out exactly what's happening (and even then... :-)

"The Singing Spear," James Enge. I'm not familiar with this author but the story was decent, with an interesting twist regarding the spear of the title.

"A Wizard of Wiscezan," C.J. Cherryh. This is another good piece of writing from an author whose last few novels have disappointed. It turns on a young wizard learning to trust himself and it satisfies.

"A Rich Full Week," K.J. Parker. I tried reading Parker's Engineer trilogy without success so I wasn't really expecting much from this story. Which isn't to say I didn't like it; I'm not, however, rushing out to pick up more of the author's work.

"A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet," Garth Nix. Not memorable but enjoyable enough while reading.

"Red Pearls: An Elric Story," Michael Moorcock. I haven't been keeping up with the Elric saga since Stormbringer largely because it was becoming to "meta" for my tastes, despite the fact that Moorcock's depiction of the eternal struggle between Law and Chaos was becoming more nuanced. However, this is a good episode from the doomed Melnibonean's life.

"The Deification of Dal Bamore: A Tale from Echo City," Tim Lebbon. Interesting tale about the conflict between a dominant religion and some "heretics." Neither side is particularly attractive.

"Dark Times at the Midnight Market," Robert Silverberg. I took a dislike to Majipoor Chronicles when I was a teen, and my distaste for Silverberg continues. This is a tired old story about love potions and their dangers whose ending was visible before the first paragraph ended.

"The Undefiled," Greg Keyes. I don't enjoy reading about Keyes' Fool Wolf character so this story wasn't particularly enjoyable to read in that respect but otherwise, it's a decent tale.

"Hew the Tintmaster," Michael Shea. If this is an "official" Cugel the Cudgel story then the only advice I can give Mr. Shea is don't try to be Jack Vance and leave the Dying Earth in peace. The tale itself is not bad if not memorable but it's most definitely NOT Vance (or even really Vancian in flavor).

"In the Stacks," Scott Lynch. For whatever reason the whole Locke Lamora craze has not afflicted me and, after reading this tale, I remain uninfected. Again, the story isn't badly written or unentertaining but it didn't impress me.

"Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe," Tanith Lee. Lee is a wonderful writer and this is another example of her talents. Despite the title, there's more Jack Vance than C.S. Lewis about the tale of two maybe half-brothers and a cursed prince (certainly more Vance here than in Shea's story). A good collection solely of Lee's stories is Red as Blood.

"The Sea Troll's Daughter," Caitlin R. Kiernan. Kiernan is another author I count mysef a groupie of so expect little objectivity here. I liked the story. Not least because it reminded me of a fairy tale I wrote for my nieces a few Christmases ago (which you can read on GR here).

"Thieves of Daring," Bill Willingham. This story just really annoyed me.

"The Fool Jobs," Joe Abercrombie. With qualifications, I liked Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy so I expected to and wasn't disappointed in liking this tale. Another example of a good if not long-term memorable story.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy sword and sorcery, and some of my favorite authors contributed to this anthology, so it's win all over.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wiggles around in the Sword and Sorcery label, fortunately sampling from both gritty/grimdark and from lighter fare. The entire collection is excellent, nonetheless.

For my favorite, I'd have to name Scott Lynch's "In the Stacks", which posits a multiversal/multiworld fantasy, at the center of which is a straight take on the Unseen University and it's enormous, semi-sentient library. The protagonists' goal: return a book and get out alive. It was rich with invention and a bit of whimsy without being silly.

"Thieves of Daring" was incredibly compressed, ditching the preamble where we meet the idiots about to raid a wizard's palace, and ditching the end as well. It has been reduced to the very climax, where Septavian goes from being in a really bad situation to being in a horrible one.

"A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet": I need to look up more stories about Sir Hereward and his magical puppet companion Mister Fitz. Unfortunately those appear to be spread all over the place.

"The Singing Spear" shows a moment where the master Maker, Morlock Ambrosius, turns the corner on his self-destructive drinking. The situation is brilliantly conceived: Morlock originally left the cursed weapon at the bottom of a trap-filled tomb with a warning on the door. This, of course, attracted the usual crowd of greedy idiots. So what should he do now?

"The Fool Jobs" was remarkable for the way that Joe Abercrombie manages the action sequences, which were both dynamic, brutal, and completely comprehensible. I sort of saw the twist ending coming, but that didn't detract from watching the disaster unfold as every single thing goes spectacularly poorly.

[Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do not read or buy this book! No unless you want to read about body fluids including urine, pus, open sores, and feces. I was excited to hear this past spring that there would be a new sword-and-sorcery fiction anthology from the big press. I really enjoyed Andrew Offutt’s Swords Against Darkness and Page & Reinhardt’s Heroic Fantasy back in the day and was hoping this would be the start of a new era.
The first warning sign was the cover. The cover painting for the trade paperback edition is just horrible. I have seen small press books that looked way better. The second warning was “The New Sword and Sorcery” phrase under the title. Whenever something is called “new,” watch out.
The introduction is entitled “Check Your Dark Lord at the Door,” which will infuriate some Tolkien fans. The editors think that sword-and-sorcery is smaller scale than high fantasy. I could argue against that citing Hour of the Dragon as an example. There is a very fast mini-history of the sub-genre where Karl Edward Wagner is not mentioned while Andre Norton and Marion Zimmer Bradley are.
“Steven Erikson” has written humongous doorstop fantasy novels that I have not read. I don’t like never ending series and I generally don’t like novels that go over the 100,00 word mark. This is the first Erickson that I have read. “Goats of Glory” has a small group of soldiers wandering into a village off the beaten track. Glenn Cook’s “Black Company” series has had its influence and impact. I would describe Cook and also this Erikson story as “military fantasy” more than “sword and sorcery.” Just like if you read enough science fiction, you can subtly differentiate between space opera and military science fiction, military fantasy has split off and become a separate animal from sword and sorcery. I would present that we now have a new sub-genre that could be called “military fantasy” that is unique and different enough from sword and sorcery to warrant its own designation. Some of Erikson’s soldiers are women. I have a problem with this. Destroy our modern world and women are going to be back to what they did before the industrial revolution. “Erikson” is supposedly has a background in archaeology and anthropology, but he presents very up to date correct gender attitudes. Characters have names such as Snotty, Dullbreath, and Swillman. Here is some typical Erikson prose: “The place stank of pig shit and the flies buzzed thick as black smoke.”
The soldiers are lured to spend the night in an abandoned fortress. Turns out, the fortress is infested with demons. Actually a great idea but–less would have been more. The characters wipe out hundreds of demons in the fighting. The horror effect is markedly diminished. I think a more suspenseful story could have been written.

Glen Cook has been a very influential writer for about the past 25 years. It all started with the story “Raker” in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (August 1982), where he introduced the Black Company. Cook expanded “Raker” into The Black Company, the story of a motley group of mercenaries amidst a huge sorcerous war in a fantasy world. It is no coincidence that Cook served in a Marine Recon unit. Perhaps we should call this “jarhead fantasy.” Cook’s prose for this series is very stripped down with little in the way of adjectives being used. He reminds me of the way that “Paul Cain” attempted to take the hard-boiled crime story to sparse extreme in the mid-1930s. The Black Company books are rather dialogue driven for my tastes.
“Tides Elba” is an episode wherein the Black Company has to track down a descendent of the Dominator who about to mate with another of his descendents. The resulting child would have been a vessel into which the Dominator could project his soul. The story is disturbing with the revelation at the end while getting there is a chore.
Cook is in many ways the godfather for many of the authors for this anthology.

The inclusion of Gene Wolfe does raise the level of attention for this book. Wolfe is considered a writer’s writer. I have never really warmed up to Wolfe. I read his Book of the New Sun years back and my response was I had read this before by Clark Ashton Smith and Jack Vance. I did like Wolfe’s story in Cross Plains Universe though. “Bloodsport” is in the first person. The story starts out relating the participation in something called The Game, which is sort of like real life chess with people. After one game, the town is attacked by “Hunas” who are described just like the historical Huns. Valorius, the narrating knight, and a female pawn escape, and organize a band of fugitives into a small resistance force. That section ends abruptly, Valorius and Lurn the pawn travel to the mountains where the Game originated. An enchanted mountain meadow is found where Lurn is armed and crowned as a queen. Valorius then kills her in a fight and that is how the story ends.

James Enge is a relative newcomer. He got his start with a series in Black Gate magazine about Morlock Ambrosius the Maker. Enge has said Roger Zelazny and Jack Vance were big influences I also see Michael Moorcock in the mix. There is a spear with a demon trapped within it. Enge’s prose on one hand attempts the urbanity of Fritz Leiber or Jack Vance but juxtaposed is anachronistic sounding dialogue such as “You killed my bartender!” The character shows a Jack Vance influence, the plot coupons are from Michael Moorcock. There is a certain vibe of older sword and sorcery to give a sense of déjà vu all over again.

C. J. Cherryh’s “A Wizard in Wiscezan” uses the same world that she used for “A Thief in Korianth” way back in 1981 for Flashing Swords #5. Cherryh is an old pro going back 35 years with D.A.W. Books. She has produced a competent if not overly engrossing tale of infiltration into the keep and assassination of a usurper and his wizard by means of an illusionist.

“A Rich Full Week” by K. J. Parker is written in first person and is a good case of what I think is so wrong with fantasy of the past 20 years. The story is dialogue driven. With a few minor changes, the story could be set in suburbia. The dialogue is mostly inane, takes up space, and does little to propel the story. Read some Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler if you are going to write a first person story with mostly dialogue.

Garth Nix is an Australian writer of young adult novels whom I am unfamiliar with. “A Suitable Present For a Sorcerous Puppet” is a story that has an interesting idea if not high octane in execution. It is clever with a recuperating knight accidentally coming across an ancient curse.

To put things in context, a book containing a Michael Moorcock story in 2010 would be like having a new C. L. Moore Jirel story in 1982. Moorcock’s “Red Pearls” is the keystone story or rather novella for this book. Moorcock brings nothing particularly new in this Elric story but then again, there has been little really new about Elric since the original ten stories in Science Fantasy 1961-1964. There is more multi-dimensional hokum but I have to say this is one of the better Elric stories of the past 20+ years.


I can remember about six years ago, John Pelan of Midnight House Press telling me of some horror writers who wanted to write sword and sorcery. I remember Tim Lebbon’s name from that conversation. Lebbon has been writing some novels with a fantasy setting. “The Deification of Dal Bamore” is in the same world as Echo City Falls (2010). To set the tone, here is some Lebbon prose:
“Bamore is hanging upside down from the ceiling. He is streaked with blood and feces. Beneath him, there is a large bowl collecting all fluids that leak from him.”
There is torture and then a prolonged street fight while on the way for a crucifixion. Something I have noted, Echo City is not described at all. I have no idea what it looks like as there was no description given.

Robert Silverberg has written some of my favorite space opera and adventure science fiction. He has a story “Dark Times At the Midnight Market” set on his planet of Majipoor. It is a “cute” story that elicits a chuckle. The story is nothing major, but competently done and in contrast in tone to most of the other stories in this book.

Sooner or later, a serial killer sword and sorcery story was bound to happen. Greg Keyes’ “The Undefiled” has Fool Wolf possessed by a spirit or godlet who makes him do very bad things. The same idea in Robert Bloch’s classic “Enoch.” Keyes’ has a habit of not explaining things very well in portions of the story and also jumping a scene before it is finished using innuendo for the reader to fill in. The problem is the innuendo is rather nebulous.

I have been reading Michael Shea since Nifft the Lean came out in the early 80s. He is one of those writers that you have to concentrate in order to get everything. You will miss something if you don’t. “Hew the Tintmaster” is starts out in the world of Nifft. Bront the Inexorable teams up with Hew the Tintmaster (i.e. house painter) on a quest for a wizard who is paying handsomely. They are sent to Jack Vance’s Dying Earth and then meet Cugel the Clever. Remember that Shea got his start with A Quest for Simbalis featuring Cugel. In some ways, Bront and Hew are the most conventional sword and sorcery characters up to now in this book. They are also the most heroic in their own way.

I was waiting for a Harry Potter sword and sorcery story to happen and Scott Lynch’s “In the Stacks” is that story. If you like Harry Potter, you will like this story. Set in a library with a wizard pupil who decides to go mega maniacal.

Tanith Lee has been in Swords Against Darkness, Heroic Fantasy, and the paperback Weird Tales. A friend of mine thinks of her as closest thing to a modern Clark Ashton Smith. “Two Lions, A Witch, And the War-Robe” is typical Tanith Lee. The story is very fantastic as is often typical with Lee. This story would not be out of place in one of her old collections such as The Gorgon.

Caitlin R. Kiernan is another horror writer now moving into sword and sorcery. “The Sea Troll’s Daughter” is probably the worst story in this anthology. The story begins after the action is over. The dialogue is top-notch:
“Why, you ungrateful, two-faced gaggle of sheep-fuckers.”
A sword woman amazon kills a sea-troll terrorizing the town. The story starts with her after the fight. The narrative is about drinking and lesbian seduction of a bar-maid. Keep “Caitlin” Kiernan the hell away from the sword and sorcery genre.

Bill Willingham’s “Thieves of Daring” reads as sort of homage to Fritz Leiber. It is an entertaining enough vignette. He keeps up the suspense and the reader interested. I hope Willingham keeps it up and writes longer works of fiction.

Joe Abercrombie has been getting a fair amount of press. I have known people who like him, know others who don’t like his fiction at all. This is my first introduction. “The Fool Jobs” has a sort of Dirty Dozen meets Deliverance with swords plot. The characters are all unlikable, which is probably the point. The writing is matter of fact with a little description to paint a depressing landscape. Get Abercrombie a thesaurus as “fucking” seems to be every tenth word he uses.
“Cause it’s my fucking job to fucking tell you to the fucking thing is why, Yon fucking Cumber,” or “Use your cock as a spoon.”

Somebody has a potty mouth. I will say that Abercrombie can write an action scene. I just can’t say reading him is the most pleasurable experience.

So there you have it, the first sword and sorcery anthology in a while. The last anthology I can think of is Swords Against the Millennium from the turn of the century.
First impression– disappointment. My own name for the book is Swords and Excrement. If this is the new sword and sorcery, I want no part of it. I can remember reading Page & Reinhardt’s Heroic Fantasy and the enjoyment and entertainment I got during a rather bad time in my life. I actually dreaded reading this book each night before too long. I couldn’t wait to be done.

The editors have no background in sword and sorcery that I know of. Lou Anders seems to have the most background in Star Trek and Star Wars books and magazines. Jonathan Strahan has edited (new) space opera anthologies. They might have ideas brought in from other sub-genres.
You can divide the book into three categories– the D.A.W. Fantasy Reader (Shea, Cherryh, Lee, and Moorcock), uninteresting writing (Nix) and the scatological.

If you are going to write sword and sorcery, you have to engage in landscaping. Landscaping is a term used in conjunction to Zane Gray’s description of the West. The author has to do some background painting with words. Sword and sorcery is not a modern day thriller with swords. One of my gripes with Glenn Cook’s Black Company series is the utter lack of any detail. There are too many stories where you have no idea of regarding the architecture, clothing or costumes, weapons etc. Describe the kind of swords used for example. You don’t have to do an info dump, but some detail goes a long way. My own personal opinion is dialogue driven stories don’t work in sword and sorcery. This isn’t a T.V. show.
The better sword and sorcery writers who came out of the 1970s got their start in the small press. They started out writing short stories, then novelettes. A few then made the jump to mass market paperbacks that were generally 80,000 words long. Now it is backwards, the writers of the past ten to twenty years start out writing 700 page novels for seemingly never ending series. They have no concept of economy. You can stretch out a novel with lots of dialogue. In a 15,000 word story, you have to move it along and talking is not the way to do it.

Readers in the past have been attracted to the glitter, pageantry, and Technicolor of sword and sorcery. Replacing it with mud, feces, and urine is not a good business plan for growing the genre. I told a published author about this book. He thinks that maybe our lives are so easy now that getting covered in excrement is about as horrible as some writers can imagine. As one friend of mine said, just because someone has to take a dump does not mean it has to be shown. There was not one conventional heroic story in this book.
If you are going to write about a barbarian serial killer, have the gonadal fortitude to channel a little Brett Easton Ellis and show a serial killer in action.
Horror writers– sword and sorcery is not horror. Changing the scene from cars to horses and from guns to swords does not make for automatically a good sword and sorcery story. REHupan Rick McCollum has made a convincing case that the gothic element is key in classic sword and sorcery over horror. There is a difference.

[Zan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Strahan and Anders put together an absolutely stacked collection of modern fantasy heroes, turning them loose on broadly, Sword and Sorcery, and have ended up with a cracking collection of excellent stories. Despite the fairly irritating introduction (it does the "But THIS stuff is Not your TOLKIEN'S FANTASY" nonsense that. We get it. Booze and Tits. Okay.) (However it does serve as a good summary of the history of S&S) pitch sounding more flat than it should, there's a great amount of variety here, crossing styles, genre, settings, and more. Lots of Rogues and Scoundrels, bloody fights, Demons, and more - there's nothing you're going to miss out on. Honestly, only one or two (of *seventeen*!) stories are any less than great.

I came into this primarily to finally read Steven Erikson's Goats of Glory (which is good and fun), but after being shocked by the absolutely stacked roster assembled (Erikson. Cook. Wolfe. Cherryh. Moorcock. Silverberg. Abercrombie. And more!), the stories I ended up enjoying the most were often those from authors I'm *not* familiar with - either in name or reputation. The Sea Troll's Daughter by Caitlin Kiernan is quasi-Beowulf monsterslaying, except things don't go well for the town. And I'll join in calling The Deification of Dal Bamore the best story here - An Abercrombie-esque story of political upheaval, torture, violence, and god. I'm not familiar with Lebbon, but I'll absolutely be checking his other works out soon.

So yeah, to make things short, if you like S&S or any of these authors at all, get this. It's great.

Quick reviews:

Goats of Glory - Erikson - 4
A little simple for Erikson, but the twist is fun. Great writing, good characters, slightly empty.

Tides Elba - Cook - 3
I've already read (and hated) the book this was eventually turned into, but in short story format it dodges a lot of what made that novel terrible. It's alright, but not as good as older Cook.

Bloodsport - Wolfe - 4.5
I don't get the hate, this is beautifully written.

The Singing Spear - Enge - 3.5
A little too simple and obvious, but written well, and Morlock has enough character to at least make me curious about picking up Enge's other work.

A Wizard in Wiscezan - Cherryh - 4.5
One of the best in the bunch. Great setting, great scenario with a lot of character to it.

A Rich Full Week - Parker - 4.5
My first Parker, and it will absolutely not be my last - there's so much character and tone conveyed so simply, all of it a joy to read, and the ending is one of the better ones in the book, leaving you with a good bit to think about.

A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet - Nix - 3
Weaker showing from Nix, there's good ideas here, but it seems too wrapped up/neat to really be more than a fine story.

Red Pearls - Moorcock - 2.5
Sadly, the most disappointing story in the collection comes from legend Moorcock, but dang man, the pacing here is dismal, there's like 4 extra plots for no reason, and the eventual main one we're supposed to care about is the dullest of the bunch.

The Deification of Dal Bamore - Lebbon - 5
Already mentioned, but this is incredibly good.

Dark Times at the Midnight Market - Silverberg - 4.5
My first Silverberg, and won't be my last. One of the best works of setting in the collection, even though basically everything takes place in one room.

The Undefiled - Keyes - 4
I know Greg Keyes from Star Wars, so having him pop in with the nastiest story of a heroic rape monster was a hell of a shock. It works great though.

Hew the Tintmaster - Shea - 3
Cool ideas/scenes, but a little too far up its own ass to connect

In the Stacks - Lynch - 4.5
Many of these stories I'd love to have been expanded, none more so than this one - This has such a cool setting, *far* more than enough for a full book. Sad there isn't more.

Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe - Lee - 3.5
At first I was really enjoying this, and then I don't even know what was going on in the second half. Feels like it was written just for the pun title at some point. Great start though.

The Sea Troll's Daughter - Kiernan - 4.5
Again, mentioned already, but this one is excellent.

Theives of Daring - Willingham - 3
The shortest in the collection by far, there isn't enough here to really make it worth your time, but the idea is cool. Could've been much more.

The Fool Jobs - Abercrombie - 4
Great work from Abercrombie, short heist story, lots nasty characters, tons of great violence.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy* · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://bookslifewine.com/swords-dark-...

2.5 stars rounded down to 2 stars!

I have to think about this one. My original read was compared to [older] readings of MZBs Sword & Sorceress anthology - which is how I was lead to Fantasy - and it was a let down in comparison.

Now that all of my MZB reads have been tainted with the knowledge of what a horrible person she was, I want to say that the anthology should be free from her taint. She was not the author, she was the editor.

I want to say that - which would keep the rating/review for THIS anthology the same. But I have a terrible feeling that [an unwanted re-read] would increase this book's rating. By at least a .5 star.

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery is an excellent new anthology of original short fantasy fiction, featuring an impressive mixture of established genre masters and newer, highly talented authors. The book’s introduction, by editors Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan, does an excellent job defining the sword & sorcery sub-genre and placing it in its historical context. This is an interesting read for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of the genre and doesn’t have a copy of John Clute and John Grant’s The Encyclopedia of Fantasy handy, but the main value of any anthology lies in the stories, and in that area it doesn’t disappoint in the slightest.

Most of the stories in Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery are good, several are great, and even the few less successful entries are still interesting and well worth the time spent to read them, often because they are less impressive stories by otherwise very impressive and famous authors, such as Steven Erikson, Glen Cook and Gene Wolfe. If those authors had brought their top game to the table here, this anthology would be nothing less than a must-own, but as it is, it’s still an excellent collection.

Here are a few of my favorite stories, in order of their appearance in the anthology:

* K.J. Parker’s “ A Rich Full Week” has to be one of the strangest zombie tales ever, and definitely features the most reasonable undead you’ll ever find. I enjoyed the way this story put a new, metaphorical twist on the traditional “zombies eating brains,” as well as its smart-alec main character.
* Michael Moorcock’s “Red Pearls”. Put plainly and simply, if you are a fan of the seminal ELRIC OF MELNIBONÉ series, you must read this story. It adds an (as far as I know) entirely new side to the novels’ world, and even though it’s not the strongest story in the anthology, for that reason alone it’s a must-read for fans.
* Tim Lebbon’s “The Deification of Dal Bamore” is a dark and disturbing story of religion and magic. It’s is an excellent teaser for the author’s forthcoming novel, Echo City, which shares its setting.
* Robert Silverberg’s “Dark Times at the Midnight Market” (set in the MAJIPOOR universe) is an old-fashioned and utterly charming tale about the effects of a love potion. The ending is a bit predictable, but what comes before has a Jack Vance-like charm I really enjoyed.
* Greg Keyes’ “The Undefiled” offers a dark, mysterious view on godhood and possession, and is one of the most intriguing stories in the anthology.
* Michael Shea’s “Hew the Tintmaster” is listed as a “fully authorized new Cugel the Clever adventure,” and if you’re at all familiar with Cugel, that’s probably enough to get you very excited. When Michael Shea describes his main character (Bront the Inexorable) as having “shoulders as muscled as a titanoplod’s thigh,” and has Cugel introduce himself as an “itinerant entrepreneur,” you know that Jack Vance’s famous character is in very good hands here. This is probably my favorite story in the anthology, although...
* ... Scott Lynch’s “In the Stacks” is a very close competitor. If (like me) you were hoping for Locke Lamora, you’ll be disappointed, but fortunately “In the Stacks” is just as entertaining as the author’s GENTLEMAN BASTARDS novels. This story, about students venturing into a magical library that resembles a significantly less friendly version of Terry Pratchett’s Unseen University library, is simply a blast to read.
* Caitlin R. Kiernan’s “The Sea Troll’s Daughter” is a beautifully told story and maybe the purest actual “sword & sorcery” tale in the anthology.
* Joe Abercrombie’s “The Fool Jobs” is a perfectly entertaining, smoothly told story that ends the anthology on a high note. If (like me) you haven’t had the chance to try the author’s novels yet, you’ll probably feel very motivated to do so, especially after this story’s hilarious ending.

If you happen to have any friends who are under the impression that all fantasy is elfy-welfy, gauzy, long-winded fluff, this showcase of tight, gritty, hard-edged and occasionally very funny fantasy fiction is a great way to rectify their misapprehensions. It’s also a great anthology to get started with some of the genre’s major authors and find out about newer, noteworthy writers. Despite a few disappointing entries by otherwise excellent authors, the overall quality of Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery is very high. Recommended.

[Silver Keeper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The majority of the short stories has swords and dangerous spells, but I cannot say they are true examples of the sword and sorcery subgenre. It's strange. The anthology is good but as a generic fantasy one. The title is a bit deceptive.
Authors and stories are not introduced in the best ways. I would like to read better introductions to the stories linked to other novels (Elric, Malazan, First Law, ecc).

Highlights:

Blood Sport by Gene Wolfe
The less "sword and sorcery" one but also my favourite of the lot. Ambiguous, full of mysteries, oniric, tragic, multifaceted. A very good "trip".

A Rich Full Week by K.J. Parker
An undead that reminded me of the vampires from old folk tales, plus a cool magic system with "mental battles" more like some cyberspace heist.

In the Stacks by Scott Lynch
Simple plot and characters but a cool setting: in a academy for wizards, there is a library with so many grimoires that the place is like a weird contaminated and half-living zone. Some students have to get into it to put books back in their place as part of their studies.
No less strange than certain radioactive zones like in Stalker. Brilliant fauna.

The Sea Troll's Daughter by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Feminist "Beowulf-like" setting, with a stranger lesbian who slayed a troll but the village does not reward her while the remains rot and ancient warnings return. Humor, some grotesque events, nordic flavour with a modern view.

I bought it because of Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson, but this time I must honour others.

[Andrew Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding, solid and consistent collection of short stories that utterly hits the spot when in need of fix sword and sorcery, and I desperately needed one! It also introduced me to some new authors I will certain explore more of! Highly, highly recommended!

Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson ... Brilliant short story. Honestly, I enjoyed this more than some of his longer (much longer) work! A much diminished mercenary band, once known as The 'Rams' is devastated to the extent of now merely being The 'Goats'. The band stays overnight in a village called Glory, a strange ruinous place. Sparsely populated with a haunting, crumbling keep on a hill. Of course there's a secret hidden there. The goats discover it and then do what they do best. Well written, fast paced and well characterised. I loved it! 5/5

Tides Elba by Glen Cook ... I was at a disadvantage with this having not read any of his work before. Sadly this was less a short story and more like an episode in a long running drama. (It doesn't pretend to be anything different). Negativity, for me they were lots of characters I have no idea about. I don't know them any better or care about them more than I did before I started. However, I imagine that if the names Croaker, Elmo and One-Eye mean anything to you you'll love this. I merely liked it. Though I am encouraged to dig a bit deeper into his work! 3.5/5

Bloodsport by Gene Wolfe ... this may not be everyone's cup of tea and I've debated with myself whether it's mine. Wolfe writes in a highly symbolic way, here the symbolism includes (and this is my difficulty with him I'm never actually sure if I've got it right),

A game of (something like, but not) chess, or is it checkers (draughts) with pieces being 'queened' (chess) and 'kinged' (checkers).
The battle between light and darkness, though both pieces have both light and dark colouring.
The battle between the sexes, maybe there is a slight reference to Adam and Eve.

I'm not sure the narrator, Valorius is entirely reliable in the yarn he spins, but I enjoyed it because it continues to live with me. I think the depth of the imagination and the mysteries I'm left with make it more than worth the effort. 3/5

The Singing Spear by James Enge ... After the mind stretching of Bloodsport this was a welcome, satisfying, straightforward, fast paced 'sword and sorcery' story worthy of the pulp fiction writers that inspired this collection. I found anti-hero, Morlock highly likeable - a flawed drunk with a big heart. I will track down more by Enge. Excellent 4.5/5

A Wizard in Wiscezan by C.J.Cherryh ... This great story that is reminiscent of many of the great plot lines from the pulps, particularly R.E. Howard's 'A Witch shall be Born'. A city state lost, a demon holding the power behind the throne, mercs walking the streets and rightful rulers attempting to regain the throne. I really liked the characters, they were fully developed and well drawn especially for a short story, as was the history and locations of the city. A great story from a true pro of the genre - Highly recommended 5/5

A Rich Full Week by K.J. Parker ... Really fascinating, atmospheric short story in a similar vain to Robert E Howard's Solomon Kane. The characters are very different but the gothic world of ghosts and religion, procession and sword play is very reminiscent. On the strength of this very cleverly written piece I've bought some of his other work. I'm looking forward to the twists and turns in his other stories. Outstanding. 5/5

A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous puppet by Garth Nix ... Another straight forward Sword and Sorcery story and I loved it for that. The brilliant thing about short stories for me are the dives taken into the imagination. The fantasy ideas developed in over just a few thousand words (less than an hour to read) that catapult me in to the Unknown. I love action and I like to understand or have some inkling of the motivations of the characters. This ticked all those boxes. Great imagination, great characters, great plot, great world building (an incredible achievement in a short piece like this) and great action. I loved it! 4/5

Red Pearls An Elric Story by Michael Moorlock. In contrast with Tides Elba where I was at a disadvantage not having read Cook before, here I felt no disadvantage at having read no Elric. In the course of the yarn I felt I had some strange understanding of Elric and his history and its place in this novella. I throughly enjoyed it. There are some great tensions here within the characters that I felt worked really well a solid 4.5/5

The Deification of Dal Bamore: A Tale from Echo City by Tim Lebbon ... Great fast paced sorry told from the confines of a carriage! It reminded me of an old movie 55 Days At Peking. As hordes of locals attempt to seize a prisoner sentenced to death. There are initially shades of the Crucifixion of Jesus, but will it end that same way? Very good, thought provoking story with plenty of action! 4/5

Dark Times At The Midnight Market by Robert Silverberg ... Another terrific story, 10 stories done and not a single dud. In this story, set in a struggling magic shop there is romance, magic and a humorous pay off that I loved. Silverberg is a super short story writer, he writes vividly with humour and compassion. Lovely 4/5

The Undefiled by Greg Keyes ... Sadly the first, and to my mind, the only dud in the entire book. Within days I have forgotten most of it. Except it left me cold. A story of possession, rape and child murder with an unlikeable protagonist who spends most of the story conversing with an even more odorous demon within him. Of all the stories so far this would be one I won't read again. A shame because I thought his two Elder Scrolls books were ok. 1.5/5

Hew The Tintmaster by Michael Shea ... For this story I bought the book! I was not disappointed. I love Jack Vance's Cugel the Clever. He's like an old friend to me and when he turned up in this story I had goose bumps! Shea is not Vance, and the story is not told from Cugel's perspective but he does a great job of the Vancian world. Three believable heroes and wow what an ending! Great story 4.5/5

In the Stacks by Scott Lynch ... The imagination of this story frankly blew me away. A living library, exotic monsters, magic and sword play. Librarians in this are the toughest of the tough and bravest of the brave. A group of students of a magical university I order to move up the school must see first hand all that is required in Locating, extracting and returning living library books. Books infused with eons of magical energy. I really like Lynch's style. It's fast, action orientated and vivid. My favourite short story of the book! 5/5

Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe by Tanith Lee ... Not much cross over with C.S Lewis apart from the title and perhaps the underlying narrative about redemption and the power of fear. A quest story that is well written. I found it very enjoyable! 4/5

The Sea Troll's Daughter by Caitlin R. Kiernan ... A great story with a flawed but interesting and likeable lead character called Malmury, however, the hero of the story is someone else entirely! Almost all the males in the story are foul, lying cheating types, but the women are superb! Great, and enjoyable, reminded me of way too many hours spent in Skyrim! 5/5

Thieves of Daring by Bill Willingham ... Good but way to short! Nice ideas which I would have loved to see developed! 2.5/5

The Fool Jobs by Joe Abercrombie ... Final story is a corker. Another mercenary story but nicely done and I enjoyed it immensely. Abercrombie writes well and the characters were interesting. A strong finisher! 4.5/5

An absolutely superb anthology some perfect stories, some nearly perfect, and only a couple of duffers! 5/5

[Bryan Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years ago i used to love short story collections. I would consume them as fast as I could find them. I seem to have lost that love of them, but occasionally a story really does stand out. In this case though, I would say the stories are all likeable but not amazing.

I bought the book because of my completionism tendencies and it contained a short story in the Malazan world. It was the story of the final five remnants of a mercenary group (the Rams) that we've never heard of leaving the site of their war that we've never heard of (the demon plains) and finding themselves in a quiet village that we've never heard of (Glory). And then what happens to them and the villagers after that. The story was fun and enjoyable, but it really does not tie into the rest of the Malazan novels at all.

I was pleased to discover that this also contained a Black Company short story from Glenn Cook. That is another series that I tend to obsess over. It was a very short story, but it was fun to visit Croaker again in an out of the way assignment and a petty squabble between the Lady and one of her Taken lieutenants.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of fantasy stories from different authors, serving, in some cases as peeking hole into their vast literary worlds. Few stories were pretty good, some dark, some funny, some with interesting ideas. But majority is average, few even below average. Not great not terrible, pretty good read for public transport

[Shane Findlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*. The stories that really did anything for me were written by Abercrombie, Parker and Cook.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple good stories (Enge and Parker stand out) but overall disappointing. In some cases, such as Ericson, whom I've not read prior, it may be that the author is simply not to my taste, but several I had liked before and didn't enjoy here.

[Murphy C · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are several good stories in the anthology, and several that are passable efforts, and a couple that definitely are stories (the nicest thing I can say about those). My favorite reads were the stories by Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, James Inge, Garth Nix, and a latter-day Majipoor story by personal favorite, Robert Silverberg. I skipped the Moorcock novella because, at some point, I'm going to go back to the first Elric novels and read them in order.

[CHIP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man this just makes me want to drop everything and continue my malazan reread

[Wombat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intro
So this is a little different from my normal fare. I generally dislike short stories as they feel unfinished. Or perhaps I dislike unfinished short stories? But anyway, I think my prejudices will show up in my rankings. I generally demand a story: somebody wants something, challenges to get that want, and then success or failure. I can see that this kind of structure is much easier to achieve in longer narrative, but there are some short stories that actually did it for me.
Another thing I'm considering - would I want to read other stories by the same author? So.. onto the stories!

Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson: 3/5
OK, I've only read the first of the Malazan books, so I cant tell if this fits somewhere in amongst that series' world, but it really felt like it does :) This seems like a classic horror story - the isolated townfolk wary of strangers, the unwelcome strangers who look on the locals as hicks, and the mysterious "haunted house" that the strangers are herded towards... Great setup, and I started to care about the locals! Then the "reveal" which was pretty mediocre and a final twist that didn't really feel like a twist (as it didn't change anything of importance in the story)...
An enjoyable ride, but the "climax" felt like treading water as there was nothing really at stake....

Tides Elba by Glen Cook: 4/5
Oh I love the stories of the Black Company, and getting back with Croaker and his cohorts felt like snuggling up in front of a warm fire... with the smelly Taken "Limper" for company... This was a tiny complete story that could be from any time of the Company's service to the Lady: while on garrison the company is ordered to uncover a rebel leader and take her prisoner... but Limper is playing his own games and the troops need to outsmart him while following orders.
More of a character study, with a bit of mystery thrown in. But there was a distinct goal, problems and complications, and a distinct outcome... and it makes me want to go back and read the Chronicles once again!

Bloodsport by Gene Wolf: 1/5
Huh?
Seemed interesting - a society built around what sounded like a fancy game of chess using real people as pieces, following the story of a knight and a pawn... I didn't quite get the point perhaps? Everything seems, in the end, to be pointless? I've not read Gene Wolf before, and this story makes me hesitant to want to try...

The Singing Spear by James Enge: 5/5
Why have I never heard of this author before! I loved this tale of a suicidal-alcoholic mage who just wants to drown his sorrows, but his own creation (said Singing Spear) comes back to haunt him (and interrupt his drinking). At turns hilarious, tragic, horrific, and full of tension!
Now I need to find more! Morlock the maker was an awesome character that I want to read more about!

A Wizard in Wiscezan by C.J. Cherryh: 3/5
An interesting little tale about an apprentice magician, down on his luck, and his big test going up against a demon... and his only magic is a knack for illusions.
A fun read, with a nice "magic system" that made for some great tension, but the characterisation is a little dry.

A Rich Full Week by K.J. Parker: 5/5
Wow. Another completely unknown (to e) author, and a fantastic story. About a travelling "wizard" (who calls himself a philosopher and scientist), who goes on rounds fixing problems in various farms and towns. This one is a problem with a dead man who doesn't want to stay dead... It felt straight out of norse mythology - a Draugr - complete with the swelling, strength, and conversations. But the "magic" and reference to schooling and testing.. This was fantastic! It is the "The Witcher" but with less cynicism.
I need to read more! I hope there are other stories about this setting, and the magical Order.

A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet by Garth Nix: 2/5
Hmmm.. Nod a bad yarn. A Knight convalescing in a nunnery with a "sorcerous puppet" as his companion. There were some good parts, but the writing felt a little heavy on Important Capitalised Names of Important Places... At least Sir Hereward and his (failed) attempts to hit on the young nun were a bit of needed levity.

Red Pearls by Michael Moorcock: 3/5
Hey, Elric! Yep, we're back in what feels like a classic tale of Elric. Here he is travelling with his companion Moonglum as they pay a visit to "the other side of the world".... literally, as they go over the edge in a special boat. Everything screams classic Elric to me in this story - from the use of slightly archaic words to the overly dramatic descriptions. Basically he's headed to visit a relative to collect the "white sword", law-following version of his own Stormbringer chaos-sword. But as always he gets dragged into a local problem and his family oaths bind him into a less than optimal path.
I'd probably give it more, but it feels a little too familiar to all the other Elric stories. (which isn't necessarily a bad thing...) This is also the longest of the stories in this book so far...

The Deification of Dal Balmore by Tim Lebbon: 2/5
This felt like a "fantasy retelling" of the Jesus parable... told from the point of view of the Officials. A rebel leader captured and tortured for 3 days - who has a mythic power over life and death, and who needs to be publicly killed to avoid his followers thinking him a god... But this has a neat twist :)
The writing wasn't awesome, but did the job, and the characters were similarly serviceable.

Dark Times at the Midnight Market by Robert Silverberg: 4/5
Ah, this was awesome - but hey, its Silverberg! This is a cute tale about an alchemist - a seller of potions and magic items - who gets caught up in plots of the powerful. I REALLY felt for the poor little guy (really, knee high) and his two headed partner. Offered stupid sums of money to make a love potion, and dealing with an arrogant noble who cant make up his mind what, exactly, he wants the potion to do.
Awesome writing, and full of little details that just make this a joy to read.

The Undefiled by Greg keys: 2/5
An interesting story, well written. I suppose this is the kind of thing a short story aims for - except the characters felt a little hollow... i just didn't really care about the main character as he didn't seem to care about a whole lot other than himself. He's possessed by a spirit that makes him go crazy (like a were-wolf, but without the physical changes... i think) and he seems to want to rid himself of the riding-spirit, but gets involved in some local trouble and wanders off on an assigned quest so he might "save the girl"... but he doesn't really like the girl or care much for what happens to her, and nothing is keeping him there other than "hey, i'm curious about this whole thing"...
Better motivations might make this otherwise great story even better.

Hew the Tintmaster by Michael Shea: 0/5
No. Just no.
I started reading a few pages, and the writing is just terrible. Overly flowery, ornate, and just pure description for pages... and again with the Important Capitalised Words of Importance... DNF (very rare for me)

In the Stacks by Scott Lynch: 4/5
Oh boy. Why do I love the idea of magical libraries? I guess it started with Discworld and the Unseen University's library.. But this story takes it to another level. The library in question is like an aggressive tardis - bigger on the inside, and full of strange magical creatures that do not like you interfering with the books. This story is about a group of students who have to return books...
I love it!
Only problem (although a fairly big sized one) is that the characters are hard to distinguish at times. But I would read a whole series about Lazlo the apprentice magician and the great library :)

Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe by Tanith Lee: 2/5
Ok. I don't really know why this rubbed me the wrong way. Its a nice little tale of two men caught up in magical misdeeds - it felt very "swords & sorcery", but once again we hit the problem of motivation. The two men are just going about their business when set upon by "town guards" who are more criminal than anything else, and so are ensorcelled to undertake a quest...
I think that there is my issue. Neither of the main character want to be there, and don't care about the outcome of said quest other than "i get to survive" and are both very flippant about everything...
But that being said, it is a well written tale that is clever and well rounded - shame about our main characters though.

The Sea Troll's Daughter by Caitlín R. Kiernan: 3/5
This was fun. A nice twist on a hoary old trope. A monster-hunter comes to town claiming to have killed the local threat, the Sea Troll... but with no proof. Then arguments and accusations begin. Then the relatives show up :)
It kept hinting at the expected, then taking the story in a different direction. Our (initially unnamed) heroine seems awesome, but then descends into a drunken stupor, but the rest of the townfolk carry the story. One of the few non-single-PoV short stories, but it works.

Thieves of Daring by Bill Willingham: 2/5
At first this reminded me of some old Conan stories, and I got excited. But once again we fall to the old problem of "where is the story?" which annoys me. This is about a bunch of local yahoos who decide to steal from a magicians house, and we're dropped in just as people are dying. Who are these people again and why should I care? To make it worse the ending isn't, it is just open ended and made me think that this is a chapter excerpt - maybe chapter 4 or 5 in a bigger book.
On the other hand, it is REALLY well written to remind me of R.E. Howard's works. Makes me want to see if this author has done anything longer...

The Fools Jobs by Joe Abercrombie: 5/5
Ahh, Mr Abercrombie you never fail to delight. This is (I think) a bit of a prequel to "The Heroes" where we meet Craw and his band of named going on a raiding expedition against a little hold in the middle of nowhere - apparently seeking a treasure for the sorceress, but no one knows what it is they are really looking for "You'll know it when you see it"...
I adore the characterisation, especially Craw (with his tired outlook on life) and Whirrun (who is too earnest for words).
After reading this I want to go back and read all of Abercrombie's book again!

Other Thoughts
Wow. I am so glad I read this book! Some of these are astounding writing that I feel the need to chase down a whole slew of authors i've never read before. A couple of these were not so good, but on the whole this has given me a new appreciation for short stories!

[Sorcered · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only finished this book because I had nothing else to read during my hospital stint. Yes, it was THAT average. Actually, I loved three of the stories (Scott Lynch's In The Stacks, James Enge's The Singing Spear and K.J.Parker's A Rich Full Week), but there were oh so many humdrum efforts (and a few just plain bad ones) that i just can't recommend it.

In publication order:

1. Goats of Glory (Steven Erikson) - Feels like the beginning of a novel, not a standalone story. Standard "group of veteran warriors fight against demons" story, some humor. 3/10

2. Tides Elba (Glen Cook) - Disjointed, broken mess of a story relevant only to people already familiar with Cook's The Black Company. Way too boring and soap opera to me. 4/10

3. Bloodsport (Gene Wolfe) - Pretentious little story whose ending was obvious from the beginning. After all, what makes the pawn special in chess? 4/10

4. The Singing Spear (James Enge) - Who knew alcoholic wizards are fun? 8/10

5. A Wizard In Wiscezan (C.J. Cherryh) - Frustrated with this one. Love Cherryh' style, liked the characters, but the story is simply just a beginning. Bad wizard vs old weakened wizard and his ragtag band of orphans. 6/10

6. A Rich Full Week (K. J. Parker) - A story that felt like two disjointed stories melting into a brilliant idea (on magic as literally exploring one's psyche) that somehow melted into not so much brilliant as obvious. Still liked it. 7/10

7. A Suitable Present For A Sorcerous Puppet (Garth Nix) - Wounded knight trapped in a tower alongside a young nun fights a demon while his robot servant dillies dallies. Some humor, but it still felt pointless. Might work better as an introductory chapter of a novel. 5/10

8. Red Pearls (Michael Moorcock) - I so wanted to like this one :( but i can' get past Moorcock's turgid, paid-by-the-word style and the predictability of the story. Some nice images here and there, though. 5/10

9. The Deification of Dal Bamore (Ted Lebbon) - Another disappointing story with interesting premise and characters (religion vs rebels)... and a weak ending. Or a good ending that I just didn't like. I'm not sure. Still, at least it has more balls than some of the other stories in here. 6/10

10. Dark Times At The Midnight Market (Robert Silverberg) - Another huge name, another small story relying on a punch line. Well, at least I laughed, but I like jokes short, not 50-pages long. 5/10

11. The Undefiled (Greg Keyes) - Beautifully written, interesting theme (native american folklore + possession by demons) treated a tad more slowly that I expected. 6/10

12. Hew the Tintmaster (Michael Shea) - Bored me out of my mind, despite continuous efforts at humor. I had to stop reading and start reading again several times - couldn't connect to the characters, couldn't care about them... in the end, it wasn't worth the time. 4/10

13. In The Stacks (Scott Lynch) - Great premise perfectly executed (what if putting LOTS of magical tomes together leads to a diffuse, yet powerful, magical conscience?). Fun story, well written, with combat and a good ending twist. 9/10

14. Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe (Tanith Lee) - Old-school storytelling, which I like. Unless it has too much poetry and philosophy and forced moralizing, which makes it a damn fable, which I dislike. 5/10

15. The Sea Troll's Daughter (Caitlin R. Kiernan) - Humans are evil. They ask heroes to kill monsters then don't intend to pay the just rewards. Sometimes, humans are punished. Unless they love the heroes. Yes, another moralizing tale, this time with lesbians. 5/10

16. Thieves of Daring (Bill Willingham) - An unfinished story. As in, really unfinished. I bet Willingham was thinking "I got my hero in a lose-lose situation, what do I do now? Wait, I have a brilliant idea! I'll do exactly nothing! Let readers imagine whatever they want!" Well, that's not brilliant, that's cheap. 1/10

17. The Fool Jobs (Joe Abercrombie) - Too many dark-gritty-realistic-take-it-like-a-true-man stories in this book (Erikson, Cook, Lebbon, and now this one). This one could have happened on the Moon - it's THAT generic. And that abysmal ending was supposed to be funny? Dear Lord. At least I finished it easily, Abercrombie can write. Still, only 5/10.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of famous authors and lots of good stories, really you can't go wrong with this one

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this had some decent stories. I'd say the ones I enjoyed the most were the ones by Scott Lynch and Tanith Lee.

Stephen Erikson, "Goats of Glory" - couldn't get into it, skipped.

Glen Cook, "Tides Elba" - not bad although I felt like not ever having read any of the Black Company books was a slight hindrance. Very testosterone-oriented.

Gene Wolfe, "Bloodsport" - interesting concept, the writing was kind of ... heavy, bordering on turgid?

James Enge, "The Singing Spear" - was okay. The story intro had some interesting comments taken from an interview that Enge did with Fantasy Book Critic about how "twenty-first-century literary fiction is looking to refresh itself at the wells of genre."

C.J. Cherryh, "A Wizard in Wiczesan" - not bad, not great. I lost patience in the middle of the story. As much as I love some of her work, I wish C.J. Cherryh would stop making her characters use the same atypical expressions. When you've read enough of her fiction it's as if she'd jumped off the page and hold up a sign that said, Hi, I'm C.J. Cherryh, I'm right here.

K.J. Parker, "A Rich Full Week" - meh. Didn't finish.

Garth Nix, "A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet" - mildly amusing.

Michael Moorcock, "Red Pearls" - okay, genre classic/genre co-creator - whatever. Elric is still whiny. In the introduction to this collection the editors even called him an angsty teenager. Okay, but as far as I can tell he never actually outgrows that. So annoying. (I'm probably being unfair here. But I've never been able to finish a book or story about Elric, because of the whininess.)

Michael Shea, "Hew the Tintmaster" - amusing setting, overall story concept ... enh.

Tim Lebban, "The Deification of Dal Balmore" - meh. I can do without torture fics tyvm.

Scott Lynch, "In the Stacks" - amusing, with a cute concept. I liked this better than I liked his novels from the same setting. Though the d'name-starting-with-consonant surnames still make me wince. (Kari Sperring's Living With Ghosts is another offender in this regard IIRC and ... call me excessively francophilic, but I just don't like it.)

Tanith Lee, "Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe." Mildly entertaining send-up of various quest tropes. In tone, kind of like a cross between Jane Yolen and Ysabeau Wilce.

There were other stories in here ... I either read them and they didn't really register, or I started and they weren't interesting enough to continue.

[Dušan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isprva sam hteo da procitam samo Aberkrombijevu pricu, The Fool Jobs. Onda videh neka od imena u antologiji (Glen Cook, Steven Erickson, Scott Lynch, Michael Moorcock), i posto volim kratku formu, odlucih da procitam sve. I da li sam se pokajao? Ne bih rekao, ali nisam nesto ni odusevljen zbirkom. Dosta prica mi nije ostavilo neki utisak. Prve dve, od Eriksona i Cooka, koje volim da citam, nisu nista posebno. Cookova je zapravo solidna, ali za nekog ko je citao Black Company ne donosi nista novo. Samo jedna mala, beznacajna epizoda iz njihovog ratovanja na severu. U jednom trenutku, posle 20-30 posto procitanih strana, sam razmisljao da batalim zbirku, no ipak mi je drago sto nisam, jer mi se kasnije par prica dopalo. Navescu ukratko neke:
Prva je Singing Spear, od James Engea, o nevoljnom junaku, macevaocu i master makeru preglupog imena, Morlock Ambrosius.
Druga, mozda i najbolja je, A Rich Full Week, od pisca pod pseudonimom K.J. Parker, koja govori o jednoj radnoj nedelji jednog ne posebno nadarenog clana reda putujucih "carobnjaka", kako ih neuk narod naziva. Jako zanimljiva prica, bez ikakve borbe i fizickih okrsaja, sa par zanimljivih obrta.
Red Pearls od Moorcocka otkriva neke nove stvari o istoriji Melniboneaca, i standardno za Murkoka, ima dobre ideje iako malo jeftin stil pisanja.
Tu su i dve ne potpuno ozbiljne pricice, A Suitable Present for A Sorcerous Puppet i Dark Times at the Midnight Market, sa zanimljivim settinzima i solidnim humorom.
Dopala mi se i In the Stacks, od Scott Lyncha, i drago mi je videti nesto van sveta Gentleman Bastardsa. Iako mozda deluje kao jos jedna prica o carobnjackom univerzitetu, jako su mi se svidele neke ideje oko Zive Biblioteke.
I za kraj, Abercrombie standardno dobar. Taman sam pomislio da ce me prvi put razocarati.
Sve u svemu, nekoliko dobrih prici, vecina prosecnih, par bezveze. Nije lose za neko epizodno citanje kad se ne moze odvojiti puno vremena ili uporedo cita neki roman.