Reception
Fletcher Vredenburgh on blackgate.com finds the Ryre stories the highlights of the book, "pit[ting] a fierce wandering soldier against a variety of human villains and disturbing, original monsters," with "[e]ach story ... remarkably dark and creepy, and serv[ing] as a potent reminder that the line between S&S and horror can be very thin. In each case the central idea is one that he deemed too outrageous for the real-world horror he was writing at the time." Vredenburgh regards the other two Tond tales as "somewhat dreamy stories ... redolent of Clark Ashton Smith's stories ... but neither is particularly memorable." He considers the collection a "gem of a book." [6]
Matt Cowan, noting that Campbell "has gained his fame primarily as a horror writer," regards the collection as "a rare treat to see how he handled [fantasy]," and "lov[ed] every minute of it." He calls the first four stories, featuring Ryre, "by far my favorites in the book," and "was sad to be done with [them]." [2]
Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber is one of the fathers of sword and sorcery and coined the term.
Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awards. Three of his novels have been adapted into films.
Karl Edward Wagner was an American writer, poet, editor, and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. He wrote numerous dark fantasy and horror stories. As an editor, he created a three-volume set of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian fiction restored to its original form as written, and edited the long-running and genre-defining The Year's Best Horror Stories series for DAW Books. His Carcosa publishing company issued four volumes of the best stories by some of the major authors of the so-called Golden Age pulp magazines. He is possibly best known for his creation of a series of stories featuring the character Kane, the Mystic Swordsman.
Byron Roberts, also known as Byron A. Roberts, is the vocalist/lyricist and founder of the British symphonic extreme metal band Bal-Sagoth. He is also the author of "The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor" book series published by DMR Books, as well as the author of several short stories and poems which have been published in various fantasy and horror fiction anthologies. Originally hailing from Yorkshire, England, and also holding full Canadian citizenship due to many years spent living in Ontario and Quebec, Roberts graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with an Honours Degree in English, writing his final year thesis on the genres of pulp fantasy, science fiction and horror, and more specifically the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Roberts originated Bal-Sagoth's concept and writes all the lyrics for the band, having performed the vocals on all six Bal-Sagoth albums to date as well as the band's 1993 demo.
David Claude Smith Jr. is an American author of fantasy, horror, and suspense fiction, medical editor, and essayist. He writes as David C. Smith. He is best known for his heroic fantasy novels, including his collaborations with Richard L. Tierney featuring characters created by Robert E. Howard, notably six novels featuring Red Sonja. He is definitely very much still alive.
Swords Against Death is a fantasy short story collection by American writer Fritz Leiber, first published in 1970 and featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the second volume of the complete seven volume edition of the collected stories devoted to the characters. It is an expansion of Leiber's earlier collection Two Sought Adventure, issued by Gnome Press during 1957. The earlier collection contained seven of the ten stories of Swords Against Death, plus an "Induction" omitted from the expanded edition, which was instead republished in its companion volume, Swords and Deviltry (1970). Swords Against Death was first published in paperback during 1970 by Ace Books, which reprinted the title numerous times through August 1990; later paperback editions were issued by ibooks (2003) and Dark Horse (2007). It has been published in the United Kingdom by New English Library (1972), Mayflower Books (1979) and Grafton (1986). The first hardcover edition was issued by Gregg Press during December 1977. The book has also been gathered together with others of the series into various omnibus editions; The Three of Swords (1989), Ill Met in Lankhmar (1995), The First Book of Lankhmar (2001), and Lankhmar (2008).
Swords Against Wizardry is a fantasy short story collection, first published 1968, by Fritz Leiber and Harry Fischer, featuring their sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Fischer's contribution was limited to ten thousand words of The Lords of Quarmall. The book is chronologically the fourth volume of the complete seven-volume edition of the collected stories devoted to the characters. It was first published in paperback format during 1968 by Ace Books company, which reprinted the title numerous times up to October 1990; later paperback editions were issued by ibooks (2003) and Dark Horse (2007). It has been published in the United Kingdom by Grafton (1986). The first hardcover edition was issued by Gregg Press during December 1977.
Heroes and Horrors is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer Fritz Leiber, edited by Stuart David Schiff and illustrated by Tim Kirk. It was first published in hardcover in December 1978 by Whispers Press, and in paperback in August 1980 by Pocket Books. The paperback edition omits the illustrations.
We Are All Legends is a collection of fantasy short stories by American writer Darrell Schweitzer featuring his sword and sorcery hero Sir Julian. The book was edited by Hank Stine and illustrated by Stephen Fabian, and features an introduction by L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published as a trade paperback by The Donning Company in 1981. It was reprinted by Starmount House in 1988, Borgo Press in 1989 and Wildside Press in 1999.
Kellory the Warlock is a fix-up fantasy novel by American writer Lin Carter, the third book of the Chronicles of Kylix series. Its seven episodic chapters were originally written as short stories, but only one, "In the Valley of Silence," had been previously published. The book was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in April 1984. It was reissued in hardcover and trade paperback by Wildside Press in October 2007, and in trade paperback and ebook by the same publisher in April 2016.
The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories is a collection of sword and sorcery and other fantasy short stories by American writer Clifford Ball. It was first published in paperback and ebook by DMR Books in March 2018.
The Sapphire Goddess: The Fantasies of Nictzin Dyalhis is a collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories by American writer Nictzin Dyalhis. It was first published in by DMR Books, appearing in paperback in March 2018, and as an ebook in June of the same year.
Savage Scrolls, Volume One: Thrilling Tales of Sword-and-Sorcery is an anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by Jason Ray Carney. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Pulp Hero Press in November 2020, and takes its title from Savage Scrolls, Volume One: Scholarship from the Hyborian Age (2017), an earlier volume of literary criticism by Fred Blosser from the same publisher. Each was projected to be the first in a series; no further volumes of the Blosser title were forthcoming, but a second volume of the Carney title "is already in the works," with at least four projected in all.
Renegade Swords is an anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by D. M. Ritzlin. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by DMR Books in March 2020.
DMR Books is a Chicago-based small publisher active since 2015. The press was founded by D. M. Ritzlin. It is primarily a paperback and ebook publisher specializing in "fantasy, horror, and adventure fiction in the traditions of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and other classic writers of the pulp era."
Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! #6 is an anthology of fantasy stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by Robert M. Price. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Pulp Hero Press in July 2020, but was delisted by the publisher shortly after publication. A second edition with substantially different content was published in hardcover and trade paperback by Timaios Press in January 2021.
The Empress of Dreams is a collection of fantasy short stories by British author Tanith Lee. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by DMR Books in February 2021.
Swordsmen in the Sky is an anthology of science fantasy short stories, edited by Donald A. Wollheim. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1964. The book has been translated into German.
Renegade Swords II is an anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by D. M. Ritzlin. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by DMR Books in February 2021.
Planetary Adventures is an anthology of Sword and Planet short stories edited by D. M. Ritzlin, the first in a trio of adventure anthologies, each focusing on a different genre. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by DMR Books in June 2021.
