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Swords of Steel

Swords of Steel is a paperback anthology of fantasy and horror adventure stories written by heavy metal musicians. Authors include members of such bands as Manilla Road, Bal-Sagoth, Cauldron Born, Twisted Tower Dire, Solstice, Borrowed Time, Eternal Champion, and Gatekeeper.

Contents:
"Introduction" by David C. Smith
"Into the Dawn of Storms" by Byron A. Roberts
"The Riddle Master" by E.C. Hellwell
"The Mirror Beguiling" by James Ashbey
"Dream Death" (poem) by Sean Weingartner
"All Will Be Righted on Samhain" by Howie K. Bentley and David C. Smith
"Headbanging Warriors" (non-fiction essay) by M Harold Page
"Journey in Somnamblia" by Jean-Pierre Abboud
"Eve's Grave" by Scott Waldrop
"Stygian Dusk and Black Lotus Slumber" (prose poem) by Howie K. Bentley
"Blue Mistress" by Jeffrey Black
"Vengeance of the Insane God" by Jason Tarpey

Release date: February 21, 2015
Classic Size: 6.5" x 4.25", 254 pages SOLD OUT

For the Swords of Steel Omnibus Edition, click here.

Reviews:
”Everyone involved has a clear and abundant love for the genre and its history… Ritzlin set out to recreate a 1970s-style anthology akin to Lin Carter’s Flashing Swords! or Andrew Offutt’s Swords Against Darkness, and has succeeded.” (Fletcher Vredenburgh, Black Gate)

“I have to keep reminding myself that sword and sorcery fiction of the second decade of the 21st Century is not 1930s pulp sword and sorcery, or even 1970s sword and sorcery fiction. Often, the new stories strike me as being on the lighter side. This is not the case with Swords of Steel. If you will pardon the pun, these stories are heavier than what I have been reading the past few years… The authors in Swords of Steel are not afraid of a masculine vibe and not afraid to indulge in gratuitous violence and cosmic horror. It is refreshing to see.” (Morgan Holmes, Castalia House)

“As a fan of weird fiction, science fiction, and classic Gothic/horror, I enjoyed a lot of these stories because they have engaging themes, imaginative locales and heroes, and they do not feel too much like throwbacks or rehashes banking on the appeal of nostalgia (which I was wary of going into the book). All Will Be Righted on Samhain and The Mirror Beguiling, along with the closing piece, Vengeance of the Insane God, are particularly intense, flow well, and resolve satisfyingly without being predictable. For these reasons, I highly recommend this book to any fan of fiction.” (Corey M., Death Metal Underground)