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Post by Jason Aiken on Sept 18, 2022 19:05:34 GMT -5
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Post by Char-Vell on Dec 16, 2022 14:31:22 GMT -5
Just in time for Christmas. Download it HERE.
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Post by Von K on Jan 22, 2023 13:28:37 GMT -5
Here's another article I encountered on DMR Books weekly roundup, from Bill Ward over on the Goodman Games blog. Kudos to Goodman Games for standing with the ORC alliance. Archetypes of Adventure: Conan and Elric
by Bill Ward
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Post by Von K on Jan 22, 2023 15:37:47 GMT -5
Just in time for Christmas. Download it HERE. Thanks Char-Vell. Managed to miss this when I was here earlier. Look forward to checking it out.
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Post by Von K on Jun 27, 2023 20:19:37 GMT -5
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Post by darthgall on Jun 28, 2023 14:10:20 GMT -5
Randomly picked up a book at the library b/c I liked the cover art and man it's pushing lots of S&S buttons for me. Strictly S&S? Maybe not 100% but it has LOTS of S&S DNA in it.
The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
A retired pirate gets recruited by a wealthy widow to pull one last job by recovering a kidnapped granddaughter. A trope? Sure, but it's good. The part that hooked me: an informant gets paid money to give information about the villain. The villain, obsessed with loyalty, made his minions sign magical pacts with him, and before the meeting with the informant is over, the informant's magically choked to death on the very money he was paid for the betrayal. That qualifies as the dark and sinister magic that marks S&S. Also, mystery, investigations, backstabs, a jailbreak... evidence of a giant snake to boot...
The setting is (pre gunpowder) Indian ocean, with the pirate ship running around to different nations and islands, and encountering all sorts of religions and races. Honestly it seems like Amina could be a contemporary of Dabir & Asim, the duo from my favorite historical S&S, the Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones.
Another quality shared with Desert of Souls, the prose in this book is clean and to the point; very easy to read and know exactly what's happening.
Maybe I'm extra delighted b/c it was so good and I just picked it up on a whim, but I've liked it so much I bought the audiobook.
Full disclosure I haven't finished yet, maybe the ending will be badly bungled but so far I'm really enjoying it!
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Post by Von K on Jun 28, 2023 15:39:55 GMT -5
Randomly picked up a book at the library b/c I liked the cover art and man it's pushing lots of S&S buttons for me. Strictly S&S? Maybe not 100% but it has LOTS of S&S DNA in it. The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty A retired pirate gets recruited by a wealthy widow to pull one last job by recovering a kidnapped granddaughter. A trope? Sure, but it's good. The part that hooked me: an informant gets paid money to give information about the villain. The villain, obsessed with loyalty, made his minions sign magical pacts with him, and before the meeting with the informant is over, the informant's magically choked to death on the very money he was paid for the betrayal. That qualifies as the dark and sinister magic that marks S&S. Also, mystery, investigations, backstabs, a jailbreak... evidence of a giant snake to boot... The setting is (pre gunpowder) Indian ocean, with the pirate ship running around to different nations and islands, and encountering all sorts of religions and races. Honestly it seems like Amina could be a contemporary of Dabir & Asim, the duo from my favorite historical S&S, the Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones. Another quality shared with Desert of Souls, the prose in this book is clean and to the point; very easy to read and know exactly what's happening. Maybe I'm extra delighted b/c it was so good and I just picked it up on a whim, but I've liked it so much I bought the audiobook. Full disclosure I haven't finished yet, maybe the ending will be badly bungled but so far I'm really enjoying it! Thanks for the recommendation Darthgaul. It's being marketed as Historical Fantasy, which seems a bit closer to it's actual vibe than S+S but that's still damn close. Hard to say without a read but maybe it actually is S+S being marketed as Historical Fantasy?
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Post by Char-Vell on Jun 29, 2023 15:42:42 GMT -5
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Post by darthgall on Jun 30, 2023 10:18:18 GMT -5
Randomly picked up a book at the library b/c I liked the cover art and man it's pushing lots of S&S buttons for me. Strictly S&S? Maybe not 100% but it has LOTS of S&S DNA in it. The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty A retired pirate gets recruited by a wealthy widow to pull one last job by recovering a kidnapped granddaughter. A trope? Sure, but it's good. The part that hooked me: an informant gets paid money to give information about the villain. The villain, obsessed with loyalty, made his minions sign magical pacts with him, and before the meeting with the informant is over, the informant's magically choked to death on the very money he was paid for the betrayal. That qualifies as the dark and sinister magic that marks S&S. Also, mystery, investigations, backstabs, a jailbreak... evidence of a giant snake to boot... The setting is (pre gunpowder) Indian ocean, with the pirate ship running around to different nations and islands, and encountering all sorts of religions and races. Honestly it seems like Amina could be a contemporary of Dabir & Asim, the duo from my favorite historical S&S, the Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones. Another quality shared with Desert of Souls, the prose in this book is clean and to the point; very easy to read and know exactly what's happening. Maybe I'm extra delighted b/c it was so good and I just picked it up on a whim, but I've liked it so much I bought the audiobook. Full disclosure I haven't finished yet, maybe the ending will be badly bungled but so far I'm really enjoying it! Thanks for the recommendation Darthgaul. It's being marketed as Historical Fantasy, which seems a bit closer to it's actual vibe than S+S but that's still damn close. Hard to say without a read but maybe it actually is S+S being marketed as Historical Fantasy? Yes historical fantasy. Probably not quite enough physical fights to qualify as S&S. But I've read lots of "historical fantasy" where the fantasy part is bordering on Harry Potter-levels of magic, which is too much seasoning for my palate. This book is not that, the magic here is dark, scary and bloody, which (to me at least) is VERY S&S. Also I like a sense of legitimate wonder in my historic fantasy. Parts of book take place on the island of Socotra which I'd never heard of read about, so that was a cool discovery... look up a "dragon blood tree" - a thing that actually exists in the real world which I'd never heard of!
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Post by cromfelge on Jul 6, 2023 1:48:20 GMT -5
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Post by darthgall on Jul 6, 2023 13:49:56 GMT -5
Something about claiming Crom is "the first barbarian in comics history!" makes me dubious...
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Post by garbanzo on Jul 10, 2023 16:14:43 GMT -5
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Post by Jason Aiken on Jul 14, 2023 17:11:09 GMT -5
If anyone is a fan of, or just curious, about the Thieves' World series, there is a Facebook group that's conducting ongoing discussion threads: www.facebook.com/groups/200064170376448I've read the first two and enjoyed what I read. Especially David Drake's contribution.
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Post by almuric on Jul 27, 2023 17:16:30 GMT -5
Steve Diamond and Larry Correia interview Howard Andrew Jones, author of the upcoming Lord of a Shattered Land on the Writer Dojo and talk about Sword and Sorcery.
Larry does a certain quote in the preamble . . .
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Post by Von K on Jul 27, 2023 18:14:30 GMT -5
Steve Diamond and Larry Correia interview Howard Andrew Jones, author of the upcoming Lord of a Shattered Land on the Writer Dojo and talk about Sword and Sorcery. Larry does a certain quote in the preamble . . . Fantastic interview and great to see Sword and Sorcery under discussion! Thanks Almuric!
Lots of great advice over at the Dojo, especially for anyone interested in advice from the practical working end of writing. Well worth checking out.
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