The old adage about not judging a book by its cover is sage advice. What I discovered wasn't in fact strictly science fiction but a varied collection of stories that feature an out of this world or alien presence. In fact, the variety of stories harkens back to the days of the pulps.
Read MoreThe Lost World is a classic adventure novel. The genesis of the novel stemmed from a talk given by Col. P. H. Fawcett in 1911. Fawcett had described a plateau on the Brazil-Bolivia border and tracks of unknown origin.
Read More“I absorb many different influences and filter those through my own perspective, interests, life questions and emotions. The inspiration for stories usually comes from some evocative image or emotion that comes into my mind.”
Read MoreRecently there has been a fair amount of discussion about the definition of Sword and Sorcery, and about “new” S&S, i.e. a kind of new wave S&S. As a writer of S&S I thought I’d give my simple views on the subject, and how I have approach it over the years.
Read MoreThis week: Elric, Kull, Thieves’ World, A. Merritt, Clark Ashton Smith, Crypt of Cthulhu, and more.
Read MoreIn Starslayer: The Log of the Jolly Roger, Mike Grell created a sword-swingin’, blaster-slingin’ Celtic Space Pirate for the ages.
Read MoreMost readers of Sword and Sorcery are fans of Keith Taylor’s Bard series of stories and novels set in historical Post-Roman Britain. They are indeed some of the best S&S tales to come out of the late '70s/early '80s, but some folks might not know of some of his other heroic fantasy/S&S works that came later. I’m talking about The Danans trilogy of Historical Fantasy, published in the late '80s and early '90s.
Read MoreI had the chance to read Leigh Brackett’s “Lord of the Earthquake” and almost immediately was struck by a number of parallels between it and her later The Sword of Rhiannon. “Lord of the Earthquake”, published in June 1941 issue of Science Fiction, concerns godhood, time-travel and the lost continent of Mu.
Read MoreThe pulps were mass produced for a growing, increasingly literate middle class, and reflected their readers’ values. Indeed, working-class sensibilities underlay many pulps, particularly the Western, crime, and sword and sorcery stories, where murder, corruption, and deceit are found out and punished.
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