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

This is for folks looking forward, read & share contemporary Sword & Sorcery books.

What suffices? Perhaps anything published after 2010.... but we can have a healthy debate on what contemporary means.


Fresh / New / Contemporary Sword & Sorcery (published "recently)

It's hard to have a healthy debate when really, any line is essentially arbitrary. 0:)

But 2010 is as good as any.

Adult sword and sorcery.
Beneath the Silver Rose

Penance of Pride

Sundered Journey


Book #4 WIP

Let's see, some recommendations:

NPCs by Drew Hayes

Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia

Nobody Likes a Goblin by Ben Hatke (Yes, it's a picture book)

Also, of course Treachery And Spells 0:)

Mary wrote: "Let's see, some recommendations:

NPCs by Drew Hayes

Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia

[book:Nobody Likes a Goblin|25689038..."I
Nobody likes a Goblin is entertaining; my son loves it.

SHADOW OF THE BARBARIAShadow of the Barbarian: A Legend Will RiseN by John Thane. I was blown away when I read this. Brand new Sword and Sorcery spontaneous and fresh.

I nominate Scott Oden’s Lion of Cairo and A Gathering of Ravens. Scott writes with vigor and color- his work definitely carries the influence of Robert E Howard.

Or...Steven Shrewsbury. Or William King. Or Steve Dilks. Oh, and John R Fultz. Also, David C Smith and Joe Bonadonna recently co-wrote an awesome S&S Pirate Adventure-Waters Of Darkness.

Is it out of order to suggest one's own books?

Martin wrote: "Is it out of order to suggest one's own books?"

Well, it wasn't the intent to start a "self-promotion groupread", but I'm interested in what you have Martin. I suggest you follow Mary''s lead and ....
(a) Pick one one your new favorites (would it be your Nandor Tales?)
(b) also suggest (better yet, read and share about) a few other "new" S&S books that are not yours.

Richard wrote: "Nobody likes a Goblin is entertaining; my son loves it.

I wondered about that. Because when reading through and comparing it to certain D&D tropes, I wasn't certain that a child would appreciate it without catching the allusions.

But it's certainly fun with them.

I've just read Orconomics: A Satire a S & S adventure with comic elements which I Iiked a lot

Then there's the first of my Nandor Tales books, a non-epic fantasy adventure with a thread of romance Exile

I picked Kings of the Wyld as it came recommended to me from a trusted source. I just started last night. I’m also offering my apologies for not chiming in on this group sooner. I have been a member for some time.

Clint wrote: "I picked Kings of the Wyld as it came recommended to me from a trusted source. I just started last night. I’m also offering my apologies for not chiming in on this group sooner. I have been a membe..."

Clint wrote: "I picked Kings of the Wyld as it came recommended to me from a trusted source. I just started last night. I’m also offering my apologies for not chiming in on this group sooner. I have been a membe..."

Thankfully, our group is too laid back to know about Clint's delinquent commenting... so he is in the clear from guilt. Except.... I would like to hear/see your review on Kings of the Wyld (so don't go away).

I am going to give Unsheathed: An Epic Fantasy Collection a try.

S.E. wrote: "Clint wrote: "I picked Kings of the Wyld as it came recommended to me from a trusted source. I just started last night. I’m also offering my apologies for not chiming in on this group sooner. I hav..."

Kings of the Wyld is a very fun read. I look forward to the sequel, Bloody Rose

I'm sorta cheating, as I started Kings of the Wyld a month ago 😁

That anthology looks cool Seth!

Jason M wrote: "I'm sorta cheating, as I started Kings of the Wyld a month ago 😁... That anthology looks cool Seth!"

Yep, Unsheathed: An Epic Fantasy Collection is cool.

Just reviewed: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here's my top summary:

Unsheathed: An Epic Fantasy Collection is high quality Sword & Sorcery by nine contemporary authors. The anthology is varied in tone and style, and will delight new fans (who may like lit-RPG fare) as well as aged veterans looking for weird pulp. I picked this up as part of a S&S Groupread on Goodreads which had the theme of "New vs 'N'" (N being the infamous Appendix N list from Gary Gygax.

All were fun, but two of these resonated with me. The first was by Charles Allen Gramlich, whose writing lured me to this collection (having read his Harvest of War and Bitter Steel: Tales and Poems of Epic Fantasy and others). The second was by Jay Erickson whose Lydia/Gwendolyn Locke stood out in design & delivery.

Mary wrote: "Let's see, some recommendations:

NPCs by Drew Hayes
"

NPCs does have one thing that's a bit annoying: (view spoiler)[it drops "this is an RPG world" for quite a bit, though it does remember before the end (hide spoiler)]. The later books in the series actually improve on it.

Mary wrote: "Let's see, some recommendations:

NPCs by Drew Hayes
"

NPCs does have one thing that's a bit annoying: (view spoiler)[it drops "this is an RPG world" for quite a bit, though it does remember before the end (hide spoiler)]. The later books in the series actually improve on it.

Spoiler alert: I enjoyed this, so much more than I thought I would.

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm just starting Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk, which I do believe was first published in 2010 ...

Just devoured a newer weird fiction journal (all about HPL and CAS, so one step removed from REH),

It's called The Audient Void No. 5, and was real fun. I think it is just print for now, and they sell out.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished Shadow's Son and moved into the second in the series, Shadow's Lure. And Shadow's Lure came out in 2011, so it definitely qualifies … :)

I am currently reading The Mighty Warriors edited by Robert M Price. This is a collection of short stories of old and known characters; a collection of pastiches.

Just read The Witch of the Sands by Peter Fugazzotto.

Solid military/horror.... fans of Glen Cook would love it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Good Deeds Gone Unpunished by Rich Burlew

Do not read this without reading the main series. There's one scene in particular where you will be left going huh?

But -- adventure! Monsters! Heroes!

Just finished this The Blighted City which might appeal to S&S fans. It is a non-epic fantasy adventure about a quest into a ruined city to recover a gem that goes terribly (but interestingly) wrong.

Oooh the Blighted City looks like my cup of tea

Jack wrote: "I finished up Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria series. He originally published them as six separate books starting in 2008, but Orbit republished them as three two-book omnibuses (omnibi?) from 2011-12..."

Be sure to read the three prequel books too. The Rose and the Thorn, The Crown Tower, and The Death of Dulgath.

The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter is available on audible.

Trying out Weapon of Flesh by Chris A. Jackson (2005, so its kinda new). Met him at Gencon. A fellow scientist (biologist) and dark fantasy writer.

Seth, that's been in my TBR pile for a few years, I'll be interested to see what you say, Seth.

Jason M wrote: "Seth, that's been in my TBR pile for a few years, I'll be interested to see what you say, Seth."

Will do! First 50pages has been very engaging, so it's on a good trajectory.

I think it kind of sort of counts … My current book: Hard in Hightown.

(The genesis of this one is … complicated. It's a tie-in from the computer RPG Dragon Age 2, as written by one of the in-game characters, the dwarf (Varric Tethras). As you play the game, you occasionally find pages from a manuscript he's been working on -- a sort of hard-boiled noir detective story set in the city of Kirkwall (the setting for DA2), and possibly commenting obliquely on some of the characters or events in the game as you're playing it. For this book, they used those pages as the basis (not sure if they added to them or not) and created a 72 page illustrated book version.)

I met author Chris A. Jackson at the Gencon Writer's Symposium 2018, and bought his Weapon of Flesh and Death Mask books (cool covers & dark fantasy, woo hoo). He has been writing for Paizo lately.

Just wrapped up Weapon of Flesh. It's a solid start to a 6 book series featuring teenage assassins.

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...