Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion

The Swords & Sorcery League broke the sad news, that Andrew J. Offutt passed away.

Read the obituary from Locus Magazine:

" Writer Andrew Offutt, 78, died April 30, 2013. Offutt wrote and edited more than 75 books, including fantasy, SF, and erotica. He was twice president of SFWA, serving from 1976-78. [...] In the ’70s and ’80s he wrote several novels about Robert E. Howard’s characters Conan and Cormac Mac Art, and contributed significantly to the Thieves’ World shared universe in the ’80s and ’90s. He also edited several volumes of the Swords Against Darkness anthology series in the late ’70s. "

Sorry to hear this. I've read many, many of Offut's books over the years.

I'm moved to sadness to hear this. Andy was a dynamic creative force in the fields of fantasy and sf. Already a respected author by the time I was cutting my teeth in publishing. He will be missed, but his noble body of work validates his memory forever.

Sad news, indeed.

'Shadowspawn' from the Thieves' World series was one of my favourite characters. I also had the privilege of sharing a ToC with him in Rage of the Behemoth. He was one of those S&S authors I grew up reading. RIP.

Very sad to hear this. I remember first seeing Offutt is various SF anthos (he was in the second Dangerous Visions), and he was the guy that 'always wrote his name in lower case letters.' I think Harlan even had something to say about that in one of his forewords.

I really like what I've read of the Swords Against Darkness antho series, and between that and a great many more Thieves World books I've got a lot of Offutt in my future.

Like Bruce I was also honored to be in Rage of the Behemoth with Andy.

Andy and most of the rest of us from Thieves' World knew that Hanse Shadowspawn was Andy and Andy was Hanse. So... Joy to you, Andy/Hanse, and everlasting glory -- Tempus and the Sacred Band of Stepsons

That's really unfortunate to hear. The Swords Against Darkness anthologies had some of my favourite stories, and introduced me to a lot of diffferent authors.