Summer of Sword and Sorcery: It's A Wrap

Looking back, here's how I would rank my readings (by author)

Karl Edward Wagner.  Wagner wins the day.  These were the best of the stories I read over the summer, both gritty, dark and violent, but also evocatively supernatural, with magic that felt like magic.  Lovecraftian monsters and full of suspense as well.

Fritz Leiber.  Leiber is a very close second.  The polish and professionalism of his writing, and the wit and humor make these stories really stand out.  Plus Fafhrd and the Mouser are great characters.

Robert E. Howard. Howard is the undisputed (by me) king of this kind of fiction (of which he is largely the original architect - sorry, Sprague/Carter - it wasn't Dunsany, William Morris or Homer), and his best stories just burn off the page.  I mostly stuck to unread/less-remembered Conan's this go-around, and, while good, none of my favorites were on the racks this summer.

Michael Moorcock. Moorcock is a bit of a bring-down from my teenage years.  The tales I read ranged from brilliant ("The Dreaming City") to inspired-pulpy (most of the others).  That's not to say they were bad - there's good imagination and some fine writing here, and of course Elric is a standout and original character.  But it's not quite the gold I thought it was at 17.

Jack Vance.  I read The Dying Earth at 17 as well and thought it was phenomenal.  This time around I'm still impressed by its imagination and lovely writing, though I'm less floored by it.  You can't have my copy, though.

Thieve's World books. I really liked these in my HS years and the best parts and characters still hold up pretty well, though what impresses me most is the gritty setting and the fact that the most impressive and memorable characters are not fierce warriors or magicians or nobility, but poverty-stricken and powerless ones who get by on wits and ingenuity.

C.L. Moore. I first read Jirel of Joiry when I was around 20 and (again) was pretty knocked out by it and (again) am a bit less so now, but still impressed.  Moore was a fine writer and Jirel is a female hero who's all woman.  These adventures often deal more with thoughts, feelings, and spiritual experiences which are just as fearsome as the monsters and evil swordsmen who populate most s`n's.  

Andre Norton. I'm very fond of Norton's Witch World books (as well as others) even though I sometimes find her writing hard to follow and the stories exceedingly compressed, as if a longer and slightly more relaxed telling would serve them better.  Nonetheless she was always imaginative, original, and thoughtful.

Leigh Brackett. Sword of Rhiannon is the first Brackett I've ever read, and while it didn't blow me away, I'm still intrigued enough to seek out some more.

Gardner Fox.  Although one story was fairly fine, overall I'd have to say Fox's Kothar left me cold, and I don't plan on investing and more time on the sequels.

Lin Carter.  I've long had this weird, perverse desire to read some of Carter's fantasy novels, even though their notoriously not-that-great.  This one proves the rule.  I think my desire has been cured.

Summer of Sword and Sorcery Week 11

"The Dream of the Sorceress" by A.E. Van Vogt.  Alten Stulwig, a sleazy (though tame by Sanctuary standards I suppose) herbalist finds himself in the bizarre position of getting on the wrong side of the conquering god, Vashanka.  Funny in an odd way, thanks to Van Vogt's dry, sometimes choppy, sometimes elegant style.  I liked it.

"Black God's Shadow" by C.L. Moore. This was the sequel to "Black God's Kiss", and tells of Jirel's latest trip into Hell(?), this time to find some kind of redemption for her foe from the first tale.  Moore's vision of Hell is not one of fire and brimstone, but of dark, solitude, and mystery.  The story is more metaphysical than action-oriented, which is not in and of itself a problem, but this time out I think Moore gets lost in Jirel's feelings and thoughts to her own detriment.  Not a bad one, just lacking.

"Shadow's Pawn" by Andrew Offut.  Hanse Shadowspawn again finds himself in over his head when a number of enchanted, and dangerous, items make their way into Sanctuary.  This tale is a bit choppy and feels like it needs some editing, but the humor is there and the enchanted items and their powers are given a gritty, realistic feel which I really liked.

"The Sustenance of Hoak" by Ramsey Campbell.  Campbell is best known as the author of numerous horror stories (and several novels) which are introspective, subtle, and at times flat-out surreal.  Therefore he's hardly the type one would expect to take on s&s, but - he's also a child of the pulps, and it seems he did so, with a series of stories in Offut's Swords Against Darkness volumes, of which this was the first.  It's not bad, as Ryre, a mercenary who's left his battles in search of a fabled treasure, finds himself in a secluded fortified town that like something out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  There's a lot of grim mindset, gloopy Lovecraftian horror, and an unusual hero for s&s - Ryre is a skilled mercenary, tough and smart, but in now way superhuman.  It's no classic but I find myself intrigued enough that I will probably track down more Ryre stories.

"The Bleak Shore" by Fritz Leiber.  One of the earliest of the F&GM stories written, one of the first I read, one of most evocative, and one of the weirdest.  Faf and the GM, after a strange encounter at The Silver Eel, their favorite dive, head out on a boat to a remote location, seemingly under some kind of hypnotic spell.  An evocative story, as I said, but somehow I'm missing something here...

"Claws in the Night" by Fritz Leiber. Interestingly, this one, with its gangs of thieving birds terrorizing Lankhmar, made me think of a Batman comics story (given that DC put out a Fafhrd/Mouser comic in the early 70's - a pretty good one I might add, its a surprise this one was not among the stories adapted). However, instead of the Penguin, F&GM find themselves up against a reincarnated goddess.  Full of humor, suspense, and unresolved mystery, this one's one of the best.

"Isle of the Torturers" by Clark Ashton Smith.  A side trip as this project winds down.  Most of Smith's stories skirt the edges of s`n's, as this one surely does.  But I remembered "Isle" from the time when I read all of Smith's stuff in college, and chose it for revisit.  As is usual, its a dark little tale with a fatalistic sting at the end, as the king of Yoros, having left behind his kingdom, devastated by plague, finds himself held prisoner on an island of extremely creative sadists.  As always Smith's best qualities are his wicked imagination and what I once read described as his "acidic" writing.  Does that mean lysergic, or caustic?  Either, or both, could apply.

"Sea Magic" by Fritz Leiber.  The Knight and Knave of Swords, the final F&GM collection, has been sitting on my shelves since 1988 and this is the first time I've cracked it.  This tale, originally published in 1977, is a vignette, but it shows Leiber undiminished, as Fafhrd finds himself in a knotty situation with a refugee from Simorgya, the Sunken Land.

"Reflections for the Winter of My Soul" by Karl Edward Wagner.  One of my favorites sword-and-sorcery tales, one of my favorite Wagner tales, and easily one of my favorite (spoiler!) werewolf tales.  Kane finds himself snowbound in a castle with a retinue of oddballs, a madman, and the aforementioned werewolf.  A suspenseful game of Ten Little Indians ensues.  Superb!

Summer of Sword and Sorcery Week 10

"The Price of Pain-Ease" by Fritz Leiber.  Fafhrd and the Mouser steal a house, but find themselves haunted by the literal ghosts of their deceased lovers.  Ridding themselves of these ghosts means putting themselves in the service of Sheelba of the Eyeless Face and Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, and a trip to the Shadowlands, to steal the mask of Death (him?)self.  One of the funniest of the F/M stories and as usual up to Leiber's high standards.

"Bazaar of the Bizarre" by Fritz Leiber. F & M are tasked to thwart the plans of The Devourers, extraterrestrial merchants who use illusions to make worthless junk look like prized goods and their plan to get Trump re-elected decimate the world of Nehwon.  Funny, as usual, with an exciting battle with The Devourers automaton guard, and again as usual for Leiber, witty and well-written.

"Caravan of Forgotten Dreams" aka "The Flame Bringer" by Michael Moorcock.  Elric, now happily married and settled down to the life of an idle fruit, is summoned back action, and his old ways, when a Genghis Khan like barbarian horde threatens the Young Kingdoms.  Sraightforward pulp sword and sorcery action, with Moorcock's usual solid writing.

"Black God's Kiss" by C.L. Moore.  The first of the "Jirel" stories.  In this one, Joiry having been taken by Guillaume, bad-guy extraordinaire, Jirel journeys into a dark underworld to find a weapon terrifying enough to not only take out her foe, but let him damn well know he's been taken out.  She finds it - but the use of it comes at a terrible cost.  Pretty excellent stuff.

"Goddess" by David Drake. Drake, before he became known for his military sci-fi, was a horror writer with a particularly hardboiled, bare-knuckled approach.  His sword and sorcery was equally tuff, and it shows here as "hero" Samlor hil Samt explores the underground tunnels beneath a temple, which serve as the capstone to a much darker gods' demesne.  Strong stuff.   

"Hellsgarde" by C.L. Moore.  The last of the "Jirel" stories, and one that I remembered made a strong impression.  It still does, as Jirel is drawn to a crumbling, haunted castle and its sinister inhabitants, and finds herself dealing both with malevolent ghosts, and something else that may be far worse.  That and an evil (hehehe) ending.  A small classic, this.

"The Phoenix on the Sword" by Robert E. Howard.  The first "Conan" story, and proof of what I've long held - that it isn't Conan himself but the settings, atmosphere, and Howard's powerful writing that makes these stories shine.  Conan is barely even a character here - we learn more about Cimmeria than we do about him.  But the tale is steeped in the supernatural, as Conas receives aid from a ghost to fight off a demon - barely described, and yet palpably chilling in its presence.  That's the reason this caught on.

"Mirage" by Karl Edward Wagner. On the run again, Kane stumbles into the ruins of a ghoul-haunted, burned-out fortress, and then into a hallucinatory sojourn among the less-than-alive.  Not exactly full of surprises per se, but in no way predictable - particularly in the denouement.  I think this is the least compelling of the Kane stories I've read this summer, but that only means its excellent instead of awesome.

Summer of Sword and Sorcery Week 9

 "Spiders of the Purple Mage" by Philip Jose Farmer.  Kicking off the second volume of "Thieve's World" tales, Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn, Farmer's epic tells of the quest to retrieve some treasure and enact divine vengeance on a rogue priest of the goddess Weda Krizhtawn (who requires her followers to cover themselves in butter); said quest undertaken by Shmee, a low level priest of WK, and Masha, an almost penniless midwife who lives in horrific poverty with kids, mom, and an alcoholic husband.  Illusions, spiders of all sizes, and unusual magic.  This is one fun, lively, fast-moving read, made especially memorable by its humor and strong characterization.  It occurs to me re-reading these that a hallmark of "Thieve's World" stories, at least so far, is that, where most sword-and-sorcery tales deal with characters who have, and wield, considerable power, most of the characters that appear in the stories I've re-read are characters who are nominally, virtually, or actually powerless figures who discover power of their own - Ilyra is a fortune-teller; Hanse a competent but overconfident thief and lover, Myrtis runs a brothel (her power is considerable, but very subtle), and Masha is the almost at the rock-bottom of the social ladder.  Conversely, Jubal, who's closer to a typical s&s hero, finds himself in a situation that his forceful physical power can't actually resolve.  Might I add also, most of these characters are women.  Interesting indeed. 

"The Dark Land" by C.L. Moore.  I read the Jirel of Joiry collection in my twenties and was really impressed by it.  Although more recent encounters with the stories have left me slightly less whelmed, I still find them very well-written and featuring an excellent lead character in Jirel, a woman warrior who's all woman and all warrior.  "The Dark Land" though evocative, is lesser Jirel, I think.  Here she's spirited off into another reality by a sinister character named Pav, who's apparently more (and less) than he seems, and becomes part of a metaphysical battle, rather than swordplay, that's interesting and effective but leaves a lesser payoff.

"The Unholy Grail" by Fritz Leiber.  This is a tale of the youth of the Gray Mouser, then known only as "Mouse", and, as it begins, a young nobody apprenticed to a wizard whom only he considers powerful.  When the wizard is offed by a local Republican corrupt noble, "Mouse" seeks his revenge - how he gets it is mostly a tale of wits and blind luck.  But the Mouser is already an appealing character, even as an impetuous youth, and Leiber's writing is as sharp as ever.

"Sing A Last Song of Valdese" by Karl Edward Wagner.  The "Kane" stories are as much supernatural horror as they are swordplay, and this one, the first "Kane" I ever read, in fact, puts the emphasis on it, as a group of travelers end up stuck in a remote inn on a dark night, debating, listening to the songs of a dwarfish bard, and finally swapping spooky tales of the region - including some about Kane.  Said tales turn out to be all too true.  Not unlike a fantasy version of Conor McPherson's The Weir. 

"Misericorde" by Karl Edward Wagner.  Kane is enlisted to take out a family of degenerates, a job which he willingly accepts and goes about with singular skill.  The result is as suspenseful game of Ten Little Indians as Kane stalks the scumbags through their castle one by one.  But there's more to it than that, as the tale takes some dark and unexpected twists.  Excellent stuff!

Summer of Sword and Sorcery Week 8

Web of the Witch World by Andre Norton.  I don't think Norton's Witch World books are widely read anymore, which is a shame being as they're pretty cool.  As was often the case in the era, they mix sci-fi technology (in this case the alien race the Kolder, the villains of the piece) and magic (the psychic powers of the titular witches, which ranges from classic EPS to full-on sorcery).  This is the second book in the series, the sequel to Witch World, and it picks up so immediately on the heels of book one that they might as well be under one cover (and they are, in my copy).  Like its predecessor, I found it a little hard to follow at times with all its twists and turns, and the somewhat rushed feel that often appears in Norton, and I found it more interesting in retrospect than in the immediate moment.  It definitely reads more like a chapter in a series, rather than a standalone novel (which, of course, it is).  I like Judith Tarr's observation: "This is not your standard medievalist fantasy. It’s like a mashup of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, classic swords and sorcery, political intrigue, and a little inarticulate romance. Simon and Jaelithe are not demonstrative, but they are deeply bonded—emotionally and magically. It’s that bond that carries through everything that happens, and ends up saving them all."  As always, Norton's characters are more human, not superheroic, and there are good male and female characters (much of the plot deals with hero Simon Tregarth's fears when his wife, Jaelithe suddenly begins to manifest magical powers previously thought to have been lost), and both Simon and Jaelithe undergo growth and transformation in the course of the novel.

"Two Suns Setting" by Karl Edward Wagner. Kane, having left his most recent HQ under the usual suspicious circumstances, encounters a giant, one of the last of a dying race, and helps his new friend in the quest for an artifact he hopes will restore glory to his people.  This tale gives us a slightly more sympathetic Kane (though he does at one point wonder if it would be in his best interests to betray the big guy) and has a slightly bittersweet quality that's unusual for an s&s tale.  Highlight: Kane and the giant debate the virtues of the human race vs the races which preceded them.

Summer of Sword and Sorcery Week 7

The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett. I think this is Brackett's most famous sword-and-planet book, a melding of Burroughs-ian Martian adventure (the story takes place in the prehistoric age of Mars, a mars more closely resembling Barsoom than Bradbury) and fantasy-like sci fi. Matt Carse, a Martian colonist (Earthling in origin) finds himself exploring an ancient tomb on Mars, having acquired the legendary sword of the title, whence he finds himself tossed back in time to a lush, green Mars populated by several human and humanoid races, including sinister snake-like Dhuvians.  He becomes a war leader, a hero, and a rather uncertain demi-god in a war for the dominance of old Mars.  

All in all Sword is a pretty fun read; definitely pulpy, and Burroughs-influenced,  but with Brackett's own mix of science and sorcery and some unusual characters, such as the cruel warrior princess Ywain, and Borghaz, Carse's fat semi-comic-relief sidekick.  This was a big improvement after last week's unfortunate pulp bottom-scrapings - this is pulp grande.  It's also short!  This is my first Brackett novel and yeah, I definitely will be checking out others.

Summer of Sword and Sorcery: Week 6

The Enchantress of World's End by Lin Carter.  I don't quite know what to say about this one. For awhile I thought I might actually like it, somewhat in spite of itself, but in the end I was disappointed. There are a couple of potentially interesting characters (a fussy woman warrior and a cranky wizard who keeps his face hidden behind a perpetual cloud of shifting mists, and a tiger-man) but no one is developed along the way, except possibly Phaida, a rescued sex-slave, who starts out as an extreme gay stereotype but then becomes a red-blooded hetero once given the chance. Main hero Ganelon Silvermane is as uninteresting as they come, and the whole book is tongue-in-cheek, suggesting Carter took none of it in any way seriously.  Some of the humor is amusing at first (I kind of liked the city of Chx, which is Moral Majority central by day and a den of iniquity after dark - our heroes get arrested for failing to debauch themselves sufficiently) but this bizarre Vance/Smith/Oz mashup wears out its welcome fast. Carter seems never to have taken his own fiction very seriously; he wrote as if it were a hobby for him, and it shows in everything I've read (I pushed myself through most of his Lovecraft-inspired stuff a couple years ago, and of course read most of his Conan pastiches as a kid).  And that was his downfall.  Whatever talent he might or might not have had fell by the wayside as he ground out clever but amateurish tales for small change and (I guess) his own amusement.

Kothar - Barbarian Swordsman by Gardner F. Fox.  Honestly I'd never have picked this up if it hadn't been for the highly positive review on the Appendix N Podcast, which stressed so strongly that Kothar was largely a tongue-in-cheek parody of Conan, rather than a mere shamelessly derivative rip.  Wellll... while I did find Kothar at times amusing, the parodic aspects really didn't jump out at me.  It seemed merely derivative.  Like Jakes' "Brak the Barbarian" stories, there's an empty, all-but personality-less hero, who's big, tough and a barbarian, not one of these namby-pamby city fags (we are constantly reminded of how Kothar is not an ordinary, civilized man, and how mighty his thews are, and of his yellow mane)(to be fair Howard does this a bit too much as well).  There's a Hyboran-like backdrop, with exotic place names dropped left-and-right, but unlike in Howard's stories, the backdrop never resonates, never comes alive.  

Fox writes better than Jakes did, and his monsters are imaginative, but they're still just there for Kothar to knock over with his magic sword, Frostfire.

But then...

Kothar is, strictly speaking, made up of three novellas.  The first "Sword of the Sorceror", which tells of how Kothar got his magic sword, does feature an evocative lich.  The second, "Treasure of the Labyrinth" is nothing special but does have a surprising kick of a twist ending.  But the third, "The Woman in the Witch Wood" is actually damn good!  

It's not so much that "Woman in the Witch Wood" is so much better plotted or written (Fox's writing is never actually bad) or that it rises above any of the aforementioned problems.  Its just that Fox genuinely seems engaged here.  The story actually resonates, has at least one unexpected (and one fully-expected) twist that are pulled off with some aplomb, and some of that humor does poke through, particularly in a moment when Kothar damns himself for an idiot for always playing the hero.  Also the big K shows some intelligence here for a change.  "Woman in the Witch Wood" is good enough as a standalone to have a place in the ranks of my favorite sword-and-sorcery tales.  So the book is by no means a total loss, even though I doubt I'll read any more of Fox's Kothar opus.