Sword & Sorcery has become a term of derision since the 1980s. There are good reasons for this but much of that derision is out of ignorance. The barbarian baby has been thrown out with the Hyborian bath water. This blog will outline the history of S&S, its major players, its ups and downs, and […]
James Bond themes: love ‘em or not, they’re an indisputable part of a long-lived franchise. SF or not, who cares? Steve talks about his favourites.
Two new speculative fiction books have been released in Spanish: La canción de Bêlit, an exploration of a lost period in the history of Robert E, Howard’s Conan the Barbarian; and Transcrepuscular, which considers a possible evolutionary symbiosis between humanity and nature, exposing our ethnocenrtic view of the world.
An overview of the rules of the 2017 Domingo Santos Award for short stories and the launch of “Ambition to the Light of the Moon” by Robert E. Howard.
The first issue of Skelos is sure to please (if that’s the right word) fans of dark fantasy.
An all-new follow-up to Steve’s Ace Doubles columns. He’s doubled up with laughter, because he’s doubling his Ace writings!
The first issue of a new Spanish language fantasy magazine, Iron and Bones, has been released, and Cixin Liu, author of the 2015 Hugo Award winning novel The Three Body Problem, will appear in Barcelona.
Even if you don’t recognize the name, you know who Roy G. Krenkel is.
Ken Kelly: NOT a Frazetta wannabe, as Mr. Jackson is quick to point out
Fanzines reviewed: GRUE (#29 & 28), published 1956/1958. About forty years ago Harry Warner Jr. described Grennell as “the forgotten fan.” Yet only twenty-five years earlier (in the early fifties) he’d been widely respected and renowned among fans worldwide. With his sense of humour and innovative publishing techniques, Grennell, who lived in Fond du Lac, […]
Since 1966, the average length of Hugo nominated novels has more than doubled…
Two new reviews by Steve: the new Michael Moorcock book and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Are they worth it? You bet they are!
You don’t have to be “manly” to paint “manly”.
Steve begins a series of columns examining Amazing Stories’ first full year of publishing!
Earlier this year, Hardy showed his versatility with a very different type of historical fantasy, “Red Shadows, Green Hell”.
Depictions of Conan have evolved over the years, from Emshwiller to Brundage to Arnold and now, to Jackson.
The Hugos are upon us. RK gives you even more (and better reasons) to join up and vote!
An interview with Robert MacAnthony, founder of the new speculative fiction small press Long Count Press.
Conan, from Weird Tales to remakes – with a dash or two of Frazetta thrown in for verisimilitude.
Ahh nostalgia. For a book series? Certainly, so long as its the tete-beche wonder of the Ace Double. Two books in one! Steve waxes eloquent on a reading experience that is sadly largely forgotten.
Notable and award winning authors talk about what’s on their science fiction reading list.
In order to understand what makes really good science fiction and fantasy art, you have to look at a few pieces of bad science fiction and fantasy art.
Worldcon both met and fell short of my expectations.
LoneStarCon 3 promises to be one of the truly landmark events in the history of science fiction. Something so magnificent owes a great debt to San Antonio Fandom
Discussions of what is and what is not Sword & Sorcery can be a thorny proposition. On the one hand S&S is largely no different than epic Fantasy (ala Tolkien) except in scope or tone. On the other side is a branch of Science Fantasy known as Sword & Planet, and to many is called […]
As mentioned in an earlier post, L. Sprague de Camp attempted to turn Sword & Sorcery down a logical, Science Fictional route (ala John W. Campbell’s Unknown) with his Pusadian stories, but in this he failed largely because of his other activities in Fantasy: the Gnome Press release of Conan in hard cover. Gnome Press […]
The library of Alexandria was the largest and most comprehensive repository of knowledge in the ancient world. In 46 AD (according to some sources) it burned. Countless scrolls went up in flames, in some cases the only copies of famous texts were lost to history. The destruction of the library at Alexamdria is considered to […]
There’s a new book out I’d like to recommend to anyone who’s a fan of pulp fiction– or anyone who just appreciates good writing. My friend Fred Blosser, known in some parts as an authority on Robert E. Howard, among other things, has published SLAMMIN’ PULP HERO STORIES, a collection of fiction he’s written over […]
In September 1937 an English Don named John Ronald Reuel Tolkien published a children’s book called The Hobbit. Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan, had been dead for fifteen months. In 1950 Gnome Press published the first Conan stories in hard cover. July 1954, Tolkien begins publishing a second version of his mythology, but […]
Two things happened in 1950. One: L. Sprague de Camp read his first Conan story. And two: L. Sprague de Camp would try to direct Sword & Sorcery down another track altogether. Those two don’t really make much sense. Didn’t L. Sprague de Camp become the editor/posthumous collaborator of Robert E. Howard? It went something like […]
