SPITTLEDRUM, the Four-eyed Demon, has scoured the internet for new eyes: four sword-and-sorcery gems. Illustration provided by Mustafa Bekir.
This is the first post of what will be a regular feature, a curated list of old and new digital resources for amateur sword and sorcery writers and readers; it will occasionally provide short reviews where appropriate. -JRC
Classic Blog Post: Conan and The Fan Fic Writers of Doom, by Howard Andrew Jones. "You can fit the sum total of all the Conan that Howard wrote (including some fragments and rejected stories) into one large hardback. That’s not a lot of fiction about such a great character, and so for decades people have been trying to create new tales of adventure starring Conan, mostly because they wanted MORE!"
Podcast: Appendix N Book Club (Episode 74): Andrew J. Offutt’s "Swords Against Darkness" with special guest Brian Murphy "Brian Murphy joins us to discuss Andrew J. Offutt's "Swords Against Darkness," reading fantasy fiction as a kid, writing about swords and sorcery, second generation sword and sorcery authors, the understated prose of Poul Anderson, O. Henry’s sword and sorcery, multiclass characters, the collected Ryre stories, elves and dwarves in swords and sorcery, sword and planet, and much more!"
Reddit Community: /r/Cimmeria Robert E. Howard Reading Club "We are reading through all of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories in order of publication, and this time it's 'The Scarlet Citadel.' In two weeks on August 15 we start the next one 'The Tower of the Elephant.' Join the conversation!"
New Sword and Sorcery Fiction: Swords and Sorcery Magazine: In the House of Vezzanius, by Davide Mana. "It was the thieves’ dance that had often allowed her to walk through houses where masters and servants were asleep, or minding their chores, like a ghost, unseen and unheard. Past a trunk under an old carpet, past a wooden mannequin on which a sharp blade had outlined the major organs, and stabbed them, she came to the trap door leading down." This is an intriguing story about a rogue who strays into a wizard's study at her peril.
