Sword and Sorcery is an offshoot of the Fantasy genre. Some say it’s a sub-genre, some consider it a genre unto itself. Sword and Sorcery can be epitomized by the characters created by Robert E. Howard — Conan the Barbarian, Kull of Atlantis and Solomon Kane. However, Sword and Sorcery as a genre has also expanded to embrace writers such as Michael Moorcock and his anti-hero of the genre, Elric of Melniboné.
But the genre seemed to have peaked in the late seventies and early eighties. Since then it has had little more than a niche fandom. But that’s starting to change. The genre has been receiving a renewed interest with publications like Tales from the Wizard’s Skull and Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
But there is one publisher who wants to take things even further. Oliver Brackenberry is looking to put a new edge on the old sword and sorcery genre.
He believes that his magazine, New Edge Sword & Sorcery is just the venue to do that. He has gathered around him a group of extremely talented writers and artists including Sword and Sorcery legend Michael Moorcok and Morgan King, director of the animated Sword and Sorcery film SPINE OF NIGHT.
Each issue will feature seven original stories and four works of non-fiction: one book review, one essay, one in-depth interview, and one historical literary profile of figures like Charles Saunders or Cele Goldsmith. All stories, essays, and the profiles will be paired with at least one original black and white illustration.
Publishing a magazine is hard, particularly in the online age, but Brackenberry has high hopes that his magazine will fill a niche that is hungry for traditional sword and sorcery but with a modern twist.
Brackenbury, promises the magazine is “Made with love for the classics and an inclusive, boundary-pushing approach to storytelling”, delivering high quality writing and art in a wide variety of styles. “Sword & Sorcery can be many things and still be Sword & Sorcery.” New Edge Sword & Sorceryy will be available in digital, perfect bound softcover, and sewn-stitched hardcover formats. Stretch goals also include bookmark ribbons and foil embossing for the hardcover editions.
The legendary Michael Moorcock will have a brand new, original story featured in issue #1. He joins twenty other fiction & non-fiction authors, such as Canadian horror master Gemma Files, Margaret Killjoy, David C. Smith, Hugo Award-winner Cora Buhlert, Milton Davis, and more. There will also be a tale by Jesús Montalvo, an author from the burgeoning S&S scene south of the US border, translated from its original Spanish.
But the question that I had was: How did Brackenberry get Michael Moorcock to agree to be part of it?
“Luck, daring, and more luck,” Brackenberry says. “Luck that I knew someone with his email, then I dared to ask, then I got very lucky when he said yes. I wish it was a more complicated and compelling story, but….that’s what happened!”
New Edge Sword & Sorcery has just launched a thirty-day crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to produce issues #1 & 2. The target release for these two issues will be some time in the Fall of 2023. If the Kickstarter succeeds, Brackenbury has plans for publishing further issues, themed special issues, and eventually expanding into books, with a line of anthologies & novellas.
First day backers will receive an exclusive bookmark featuring original art which will never be shared or used anywhere else. All the more reason to hurry over and back the campaign!
For more information — or to check out a free digital version of issue #0 of the magazine — visit www.newedgeswordandsorcery.com,
Source: Auto Draft
