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Post by emerald on Dec 8, 2016 13:17:43 GMT -5
Fletcher Vredenburgh lays out an engaging look at the appeal of Sword & Sorcery fiction at Black Gate. Here... www.blackgate.com/2016/12/06/why-swords-sorcery/It's good stuff and the brawny comments sections is worth going through as well. My brow still darkens a bit when I see a few folk here and there going on about how S&S is great because it's just so much Fun! . Well, yeah, but... I shouldn't get hung up on it, but there's a shuddersome power to the best S&S that resonates like ancient myth. So it beats Fun, which I tend to equate with, say, knocking back a few drinks, playing frisbee or going fishing, all hollow.
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Post by themirrorthief on Dec 8, 2016 14:30:29 GMT -5
good stuff, it was interesting to read...even some of that wry humor stuff thrown in there. I thought it was funny in a sense. good one
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Dec 8, 2016 14:36:54 GMT -5
I think one of the reasons S&S is often looked down upon, especially by people that read 'literate' fantasy, is that it is so direct. There are no wasted words. Many S&S/Pulp authors have the talent for vividly describing whole swaths of world building and action with a handful of choice words. The reader is allowed and required to fill in the missing details. For me this echoes myth building since most mythology is made up of fragments and speculation.
More wordy fantasy can be good, but sometimes this need to describe in minute detail every stone and nuance can be extremely tiring and possibly patronising since the author feels so much detail is required for the reader.
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Post by thedarkman on Dec 8, 2016 15:21:37 GMT -5
Fletcher Vredenburgh lays out an engaging look at the appeal of Sword & Sorcery fiction at Black Gate. Here... www.blackgate.com/2016/12/06/why-swords-sorcery/It's good stuff and the brawny comments sections is worth going through as well. My brow still darkens a bit when I see a few folk here and there going on about how S&S is great because it's just so much Fun! . Well, yeah, but... I shouldn't get hung up on it, but there's a shuddersome power to the best S&S that resonates like ancient myth. So it beats Fun, which I tend to equate with, say, knocking back a few drinks, playing frisbee or going fishing, all hollow. Agreed! For me, the grim, horrific aspects of the best S&S is what makes it different and better than "fun" fantasy. Just look at the best work of Howard, Wagner, Anderson, Saunders, Smith and so on. It's awesome because it's dark, grim and bloody. There is plenty of room out there for lighter, whimsical type "fun" fantasy, but generally not for me. I like my coffee black, my whiskey straight and my S&S dark.
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Post by emerald on Dec 8, 2016 16:20:41 GMT -5
"I like my coffee black, my whiskey straight and my S&S dark."
Aw hell yeah, Dark Man. Words of iron.
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Post by thedarkman on Dec 8, 2016 17:20:46 GMT -5
Speaking of dark, I've been listening to The Broken Sword on audio book while I do housework (I know, not exactly bad-ass), and you wanna talk dark, bloody and doom-drenched! Poul understood the Northern Thing and the power of the Sagas like no other.
And for anyone looking for new hard hitting, dark and bloody S&S, grab Scott Oden's A Gathering of Ravens this coming summer. Scott gets it, and writes about the sword song as well as REH! This is real S&S.
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Post by trescuinge on Dec 13, 2016 22:02:15 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Dec 22, 2016 20:30:59 GMT -5
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Post by salant on Dec 28, 2016 19:39:35 GMT -5
Speaking of dark, I've been listening to The Broken Sword on audio book while I do housework (I know, not exactly bad-ass), and you wanna talk dark, bloody and doom-drenched! Poul understood the Northern Thing and the power of the Sagas like no other. And for anyone looking for new hard hitting, dark and bloody S&S, grab Scott Oden's A Gathering of Ravens this coming summer. Scott gets it, and writes about the sword song as well as REH! This is real S&S. Oden's A GATHERING OF RAVENS is already earning praise over at www.goodreads.com/book/show/31450847-a-gathering-of-ravens
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Post by deuce on Dec 29, 2016 23:40:20 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Jan 1, 2017 15:25:48 GMT -5
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Post by robp on Jan 2, 2017 4:43:18 GMT -5
I got this one for Xmas and just started it - it's great, thanks for the heads up!
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Post by deuce on Jan 5, 2017 14:59:23 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Jan 6, 2017 17:36:59 GMT -5
>>>>>>>>>BREAKING NEWS<<<<<<<<< Robert M. Price: "My forthcoming anthology The Mighty Warriors is a tribute to these great collections [like The Mighty Swordsmen]. It will boast a Bruce Timm cover, a Steranko pastiche featuring Thongor. New tales of Thongor, Elak, Imaro, Oron, Gonji, Simon of Gitta and others."
Adrian Cole: "Robert Price will be bringing out a tribute anthology to this beast, The Mighty Warriors, which will include a host of favorite characters, including Elak of Atlantis, creation of a young Henry Kuttner, this time from my own humble pen."Don't know about y'all, but that sounds mighty promising. Here's the classic anthology (with a Steranko cover) they're referencing:
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Post by emerald on Jan 6, 2017 22:52:53 GMT -5
>>>>>>>>>BREAKING NEWS<<<<<<<<< Robert M. Price: "My forthcoming anthology The Mighty Warriors is a tribute to these great collections [like The Mighty Swordsmen]. It will boast a Bruce Timm cover, a Steranko pastiche featuring Thongor. New tales of Thongor, Elak, Imaro, Oron, Gonji, Simon of Gitta and others."
Don't know about y'all, but that sounds mighty promising. Now this really does sound promising. Old school heroes in force. Is Taylor's Bard in there? Any Brak, Kothar, Ryre or Cugel? Is Mr. Price publishing this one himself? When might we see it? No matter. I won't miss it.
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