A. Merritt's landmark heroic fantasy novel, The Ship of Ishtar, still resonates a solid century after its first publication. Since that time, it has inspired classic tales from the likes of Robert E. Howard, Leigh Brackett and Michael Moorcock.
Read MoreThere are various things about S&S that appealed to me but a big one is the outsider protagonists. Conan is often alone against a dangerous world. That feeling is something I understand. Another thing I like about it is the sense of adventure which is rare in modern society.
Read MoreLord Dunsany spearheaded a new phase in the evolution of fantasy literature, telling mythic tales of awe and wonder. J.R. R. Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, C.L. Moore, Henry Kuttner, Manly Wade Wellman, Fletcher Pratt, Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. Le Guin, Gene Wolfe, Neil Gaiman, Michael Swanwick and George R.R. Martin were all influenced by Dunsany to one degree or another.
Read MoreIt seemed to me that I should revisit my old essay for The Cimmerian blog, “The Sword-and-Sorcery Legacy of Clark Ashton Smith”. While recognition of Klarkash-Ton as the co-founder of Sword-and-Sorcery has increased since I wrote that essay in 2010—most notably in Brian Murphy’s excellent Flame and Crimson—it appears to me that Smith’s influence on the S&S genre is still very undervalued.
Read MoreDungeons and Dragons has become a household name. It is firmly embedded in our pop culture. Whether you have played the game or not, you are aware of it. Within its pages, co-creator Gary Gygax shared a list of stories that inspired him. This list is known as Appendix N.
Read MoreEdgar Rice Burroughs was one of the most successful authors of the twentieth century. He also influenced sword and sorcery authors such as Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore, Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock.
Read MoreAfter examining some of Robert E Howard’s approaches to opening a yarn, in part two it’s time for a snapshot overview to show how other famous pulp and Swords and Sorcery authors have also used these eight opening elements to great effect.
Read MoreCatherine Lucille "C.L." Moore was born on this date in 1911. To celebrate, I thought it might be cool to take a look at how her fellow authors in the Lovecraft Circle felt about her fiction.
Read MoreIn the spirit of Samhain which just passed, I would like to talk about one of my favorite ghost stories of all-time – Hellsgarde by C.L. Moore. This tale will be one of the main concepts that my band Eternal Winter will be covering on our upcoming album, Archaic Lore Enshrined: Songs of Savage Swords and Dark Mysticism. As the lyricist of the group, I recently had to become heavily immersed in the story, in order to pen some descriptive words to the coinciding epic that will appear on the release.
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