Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion
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Where do I enlist? All jokes aside, thanks for sharing. I’m a diehard S&S fan and I am thankful for the outlets that popped up in the past few years for the publication of new S&S.I spread the word as much as I can, but I hesitantly do so on social media outlets that rhyme with Vase Hook. So many of the “S&S” groups there are not to my taste. I’m not a prude, but the jiggle-jiggle of the 80’s Barbarian with a fur mankini is not the stuff I’m looking for.
I don’t consider myself a political person, I avoid the muck as much as possible, but I tire of reading comments such as “If it’s Woke, it’s Broke”. It misses the whole point of avoiding stagnation. I have no desire to deny people the right to read whatever the Hell they want, I make questionable choices myself—AND I have zero intention of giving them up; however, no change, no gain.
When I read the article, I found myself excited again for the future of Sword and Sorcery. Scott Oden's blog post and Howard Andrew Jones' movement eloquently expressed how I've felt about Sword and Sorcery for some time. I'm so looking forward to seeing what comes of it.
A sword & sorcery resurgence has been sort of bubbling under the surface for the past 15-20 years. It seems like previously isolated S&S authors are becoming increasingly connected through venues like this Goodreads group and the Whetstone zine Discord server (feel free to message me if you need an invite) and things are picking up steam.
I love, love old-school, pulpy S&S, make mine extra cheesy please. And we can still have it like that today by merely excising the racial/sexist content and stick with the fun and games of the story. Frankly, that stuff added nothing to the yarns and won’t be missed by most readers anyway. S&S as a genre isn’t problematic, only certain small and insignificant (to the story) aspects were. As the genre evolves and moves on, I can can still have my cake and eat it too, because New Edge S&S tastes great and it’s good for you; long live S&S!
Hey all!So I'm working with Howard Andrew Jones to create a first draft of a document that'd be kind of a "New Edge Sword & Sorcery Manifesto", combining a flexible (think Brian Murphy) definition of S&S with a simple philosophy including principles of inclusion*, and mutual-support, and a plan of ACTION to help raise awareness of creators both classic & contemporary, draw in new readers, and shake off the frustrating stigmas which make things difficult with selling to larger publishers or attracting new readers.
It's all very new (like, a week old), and yet also very much about naming and unifying something that's been building for at least the fifteen years since HAJ coined the term. More as this story develops!
But yes, if you want to check out the big brainstorming conversation as it happens, come to the Whetstone Discord #new-edge-project channel.
*Inclusion doesn't mean "No white guys" or whatever. By definition, that'd be EXclusion.
S.E. wrote: "Phil, thanks for sharing that."Come on down! https://discord.gg/ezEMRD4
Look for the #new-edge-project channel.
This goes for anybody else interested, of course.
This is quite brilliant. If they could successfully do away with the racism and sexism, without going full p.c., like Wizards of the Coast has, outlawing evil races and all that nonsense, then the genre would be all the better for it.
I just joined Discord, but I confess I have no idea from looking at the landing page whether one types messages or whether it is like Zoom. I Zoom with friends regularly, so I'm familiar with that.I feel that I should confess that I am now a few months into writing a book to be called Writing Sword-and-Sorcery Fiction. It was my publisher's idea, and since I have been writing in the genre since 1971, it feels like a good fit. Sounds as though I am in general agreement with what is being said here regarding the New Edge. My take, though, will likely annoy many readers (although we should share as many voices as possible over time, right?) because I do not play D&D (I only found out last year what Appendix N is!), dislike dragons, make a strong distinction between hf and s&s, and am about as old school as one could be. That said, the more new voices as possible that we have from every direction sounds good to me, so long as the writing is good. I like quality writing and try to do the best I can myself.
I expect I'll have the book finished this summer, and my idea was to share the final draft to get feedback from some of the editors and writers I mention in the text, many of whom I'm sure are on this Goodreads site. I dislike doing such projects in the dark; I prefer to be transparent.
This is Dave Smith, by the way. I think that that is the name that will come up once I post this.
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@David Smith, I concur with Seth. I look forward to it
J.W. wrote: "This is quite brilliant. If they could successfully do away with the racism and sexism, without going full p.c., like Wizards of the Coast has, outlawing evil races and all that nonsense, then the ..."Hi David!
My name is Oliver. I'm working with Howard Andrew Jones and a bunch of other folk on the Whetstone Discord to organize this thing. I'd love to help you get used to using Discord - which can be used for Zoom style video calls but is mostly something like a classic web forum that moves in real time - so you can participate more fully.
Feel free to email me at soimwritinganovel@gmail.com and I'll walk you through it, if you like.
@David - Excited to read your book, sir!
concur with all the folks here David! Oliver is a great resource and the people on the Whetstone discord are a fantastic bunch
@David SmithLooking forward to your new story in the upcoming DMR release Terra Incognita.
@ David Smith Always looking forward to all S&S related projects you (and anyone else on this board) is associated with + more. Just a few hours ago supported the Kickstarter for Schuyler Hernstrom for his upcoming newer shinier version release of Thune's Vision, an incredible S&S/Sword and Planet collection. And seconding Oliver as your go to man for Discord. That sh__ is confusing!
Hey, thank you all very much for the good thoughts and for championing Oliver. I am going to contact him now.I also have ordered Thune's Vision and am looking forward to it.
Thanks again, everyone. Hope my story in Terra Incognita meets with your approval.
David wrote: "I just joined Discord, but I confess I have no idea from looking at the landing page whether one types messages or whether it is like Zoom. I Zoom with friends regularly, so I'm familiar with that...."Add me to the voices roaring for your book.
David, really looking forward to your new book. It's about time someone wrote a book on writing sword and sorcery. Been waiting for one for years!
https://scottoden.wordpress.com/2022/...It feels like there's something exciting brewing in the world of sword & sorcery, so I wrote a guest post for Scott Oden's blog with my take on it.
@Oliver, I read your post yesterday and enjoyed it. I’m a lurker on the Discord channel. I don’t have any good ideas to add to the discussion, but I’m glad the discussion is being had.
Clint wrote: "@Oliver, I read your post yesterday and enjoyed it. I’m a lurker on the Discord channel. I don’t have any good ideas to add to the discussion, but I’m glad the discussion is being had."Hi Clint, nice to meet you! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the article, it's really appreciated. Zero pressure, but if you want to contribute yet don't feel like you have any ideas to suggest (yet???), then sharing the post is a great way to help (and, of course, also greatly appreciated).
@Oliver, I did share the post. My only contributions, other than reading, consist of spreading the word to my limited audience and leaving reviews on Amazon and here
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Count me in :) I'll be using the term New Edge Sword and Sorcery in my next press releases.
Steve
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Here's the link for the New Edge Facebook page. Join up and tell your friends.
Stephen wrote: "https://www.facebook.com/groups/13717...Here's the link for the New Edge Facebook page. Join up and tell your friends."
There's also an Instagram for the more visually inclined! Please do pass around to anybody you think may enjoy it - https://www.instagram.com/newedgeswor...
Jirel of Joiry is back for her first story in 85 years!Oh yes, in partnership with the estate of C.L.Moore, we're bringing her back, and this is only the first big announcement for our NESS 2024 crowdfund!
Please follow this link up to learn more, and sign up to follow our crowdfunding campaign:
https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_act...
I’m excited for new Jirel stories, it’s awesome that Moore’s fire is burning on. NESS is part of the January/February Group Anthology read.
Clint wrote: "I’m excited for new Jirel stories, it’s awesome that Moore’s fire is burning on. NESS is part of the January/February Group Anthology read."Oh really? Awesome! Are you reading a particular issue (if so, which?) or all three that have been released so far?
But yes, I always wanted more Jirel and it feels amazing to be able to help make that actually happen. I've read Molly Tanzer's story, as it's written already, and I think she nailed the balancing act of doing something new, while evoking Moore's stories, doing something old fans will love, and making it a great introduction to the character for newbies.
It also feels like a great launching pad for yet more stories, so who knows what the future may hold?
The goal is to create and promote new sword & sorcery that celebrates the best aspects of the sub-genre while leaving some of the more retrograde ones in the past.
It's early days yet, but Scott Oden has released a blog post that summarizes what the nascent movement is all about. We have a lot of active S&S writers here as well as readers, so I think it's worth checking out.
The article is called Putting a NEW EDGE on an Old Blade.
scottoden.wordpress.com/2022/04/20/pu...