Few authors have channeled “The Northern Thing” quite like the great Poul Anderson. The ancient Norse myths and Sagas ran strong in his Scandinavian blood, even when he was writing reams of science-fiction set in the vast reaches of space. At various points in his career the seven-time Hugo winner returned to Mimir’s Well for another draught of cold Northern waters, including 1997’s War of the Gods.
Read MoreNowadays the concept of fantasy or sci-fi authors writing stories in a shared setting is nothing out of the ordinary. The Thieves’ World and Wild Cards series come to mind, or, for a more recent example, the Eldritch Earth stories that appeared in Cirsova. But before any of those there was Shanadu.
Read MoreYesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the death of John Severin, legendary artist for EC and Marvel comics. His career spanned eight decades. He did war and horror comics, Westerns and Sword-and-Sorcery. Some of his final work was for Mike Mignoia’s Witchfinder series. A true legend in comics art.
Read MoreThis week: Karl Edward Wagner, Poul Anderson, Elric, Conan, Richard L. Tierney, Valkyries, werewolves, and more.
Read MoreThree unique anthologies all published within the last thirteen months with a fourth volume on the way this year. Parallel Universe continues to publish heroic adventures in strange worlds by authors of growing renown.
Read MoreFrom the point of view of pulp fans, Alfred Coppel is an interesting writer. He made a transition, first from the pulps to the SF digests, then to bestsellerdom. It’s an article of faith that pulp writers had the best stories. Coppel not only had the best stories but was a magnificently gifted writer.
Read MoreWallace was one of the originators of the 'thriller' genre, cranking them out at pulp speed. He dominated the British literary market for several years. Edgar would go on to live large and then help script one of the most iconic films of the twentieth century.
Read MoreLet us not forget that it shows very poor taste to ladle out an adaptation that exhibits a plethora of uninteresting alterations. To make this adaption terribly dissimilar from the original Lovecraft story, such adulteration could be considered bad form. Not every movie from long ago was perfect, but greater disillusionment and disappointment is to be expected from movies these days.
Read MoreOverall, I have to rate this year's Guest Bloggerama as being the strongest since its inception. The 'killer elite' from the last four years--Brian Murphy, Daniel J. Davis, Chris L. Adams and Robert M. Price, is nearly the same. Meanwhile, each and every guest blogger turned in a great post. This might be the strongest Bloggerama yet.
Read MoreTwo years ago DMR Books released the first Renegade Swords anthology. With stories by Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Manly Wade Wellman and more, it was an instant smash hit. The second volume, featuring stories by Michael Moorcock and Karl Edward Wagner, appeared a year later. And now, Renegade Swords III is on its way!
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