![]() Saunders stands out as one of the best ‘third wave’ sword-and-sorcery authors, shining the pulp and fantasy traditions in American publishing through the lens of African history and legend to create a fresh classic of the genre. #Wandering willows murfee seriesFrom the twain’s first real adventure “The Jewels in the Forest,” to absolutely legendary tales like “The Seven Black Priests’ and “Bazaar of the Bizarre,” this is probably the best single volume introduction to the series, featuring some of its strongest stories.Ĭharles Saunder’s Imaro, the first book in a sadly overlooked series with a publishing history almost as perilous as the adventures it describes. Howard specifically wrote the book to introduce new audiences to his Cimmerian, and over the course of the novel Conan revisits his past as a mercenary, pirate, and wandering adventurer in a quest to regain his kingdom and foil the plot of an evil sorcerer.įritz Leiber’s Swords Against Death features wall-to-wall classic stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, with a couple of connecting tales to round them out. Howard’s only Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon (also published as Conan the Conqueror). One of the best introductions to sword-and-sorcery is Robert E. Moreover, it is deeply philosophical, a dark and sometimes cynical meditation on the nature of history, time, violence, and the extent to which peace is precious but always ephemeral. Smith’s sword and sorcery is so distinct in its unapologetic sincerity and artistic ambition: it is a gothic fantasy tale of an unambitious warrior who is thrust into historical centrality. I consider Smith one of the great 1970s and 80s sword and sorcery writers alongside Karl Edward Wagner and Charles Saunders. I’ve read it three times and have learned more each time.ĭavid C. It really is a “must read” for every fan of the genre and the new sword and sorcery work being written. Over them stood poplars and willows, inter- spersed with street wells and pumps. Finally, the villain, the Sorcerer Firouz, is quite memorable, a true archetype for the genre.īrian Murphy’s Flame and Crimson is a gift, a long needed history of the genre that gives cohesive shape to the tradition: it begins with its origins, proceeds through its development in pulp fiction, analyzes its codification in 1960s fanzines, and relates its renaissance and decline in the 1970s and 80s. The General Butler was con- tinued by Molly Murphy for some years after. The prose is crystal clear, the plotting is tight, and the action scenes are enthralling. ![]() This first novel of Asim and Dabir takes place in a Arabian Nights version of Medieval Baghdad and evokes some of the similar sword and sorcery duo dynamics of Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. I think Howard Andrew Jones’ The Desert of Souls needs to be mentioned because Howard is not just an expert on sword and sorcery literature but also one of its great practitioners. ![]()
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