DMR Books Winter Sale
We’re going to close out 2025 by offering a wide variety of our titles at 25% (or more) for the rest of the year.
Read MoreWhen Conan Met Elric: A Sword & Sorcery Milestone (Part One)
Yesterday was Michael Moorcock’s birthday. Today, I tell the tale of when I first encountered Moorcock and Elric of Melniboné. It was a landmark in my Sword-and-Sorcery journey.
Read MoreA. Merritt and The Ship of Ishtar
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 MoreWhy I Read Sword and Sorcery (And Why You Should Too)
There 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 MoreA Fantastic Chapter for Conan and Sword-and-Sorcery
The late 1960s and early ‘70s were peak sword-and-sorcery. The Lancer Conan Saga was at its zenith of popularity, eventually selling by some estimates upwards of 10 million copies. And as the ‘60s gave way to the ‘70s a struggling magazine was about to get a signal boost from S&S’s mightiest hero.
Read MoreThe Sword and Sorcery Legacy of Donald A. Wollheim: Part Three
Donald A. Wollheim debuted—or ‘broke out’—Tanith Lee’s various S&S/heroic fantasy works, Moorcock’s Elric and Dorian Hawkmoon, Saunders’ Imaro and Dossouye and Shea’s Nifft the Lean. In other words, most of the major sword-and-sorcery protagonists of the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Read MoreStarting 2022 with Michael Moorcock’s The Swords Trilogy
In honor of Michael Moorcock’s 82nd birthday in December and 60+ years of Elric, I decided a read from his Eternal Champion oeuvre was in order, and so turned to perhaps my favorite incarnation—Corum Jhaelen Irsei, as featured in The Swords Trilogy (1977, Berkley Medallion).
Read MoreGiving Thanks for Poul Anderson
During his fifty-year career, Poul Anderson wrote numerous classics—major and minor—that fans of SFF should be thankful for. In my opinion, Poul is quite possibly the greatest science fiction author to ever pound a keyboard. He is also one of the finest fantasy authors to ever spin a yarn.
Read MoreP. Craig Russell Turns 70
P. Craig Russell is an artist with a nearly half-century career in comics. His renditions of Killraven, Elric, Doctor Strange and Sandman are considered iconic, if not definitive. Russell has collaborated with the likes of Roy Thomas, Neil Gaiman and Michael Moorcock during his illustrious career.
Read MoreThe Fiftieth Anniversary of DAW Books
Today marked the anniversary of the passing of Donald A. Wollheim. Today also marks—perhaps exactly, perhaps within a few weeks at most—the founding of DAW Books by Wollheim in 1971. Throughout the 1970s and well into the 1980s, DAW Books kept the pulp aesthetic alive, publishing far more sword-and-sorcery and sword-and-planet than its competitors.
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