Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Greg Hersom

Neither Beg Nor Yield: Stories With S & S Attitude

Neither Beg Nor Yield: Stories With S&S Attitude by Jason M. Waltz (editor) & M.D. Jackson (illustrator)

I don’t know how aware SFF fandom is, but sword & sorcery has had a resurgence of late. Jason M. Waltz and most of the authors featured in Neither Beg Nor Yield have been champions of this subgenre, some for the past quarter century. Mr. Waltz first published sword & sorcery and other great heroic and weird fiction with Flashing Swords Press and later under his own micro-press, Rogue Blades Entertainment.

Conan: Blood of the Serpent: Conan is back, Baby!!!

Conan: Blood of the Serpent by S.M. Stirling

To say I was thrilled to discover a new Conan novel is the understatement of my year or maybe even decade. Conan of Cimmeria, barbarian, thief, warrior, outlaw, mercenary, reaver, king, Robert E. Howard’s legendary hero, the one who made him the father of Sword and Sorcery has returned. Conan is back, Baby!

Conan, and REH, not to mention ERB’s Tarzan, are not only what made me into a bookworm, but transformed me into the total fantasy geek I am today.

January 11th, 2023. Greg Hersom´s rating: 4.5 | S.M. Stirling | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Bloody Rose: An excellent sequel

Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames

On the face of it, Bloody Rose (2018) is a lot like Kings of the Wyld, the first novel in Nicholas Eames‘ THE BAND series: it’s still following the original’s fun premise (i.e. “questing bands are basically just rock bands, complete with touring and groupies”), and it boasts much of the same humor, heart, and hard-rock-cafe sensibility. It also carries on the tradition of being, you know, awfully good. But there are some notable changes lurking under the surface.

October 8th, 2018. Tim Scheidler and Greg Hersom´s rating: 4.5 | Nicholas Eames | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Kings of the Wyld: Getting the band back together

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

When Clay Cooper returns home from work to find his old friend, Gabriel, waiting on him, he knows something is wrong. He learns that Gabe’s headstrong daughter has run off to be a mercenary and ended up in a city besieged by an overwhelming horde of monsters. Gabe is now desperate to get their “band,” Saga, back together and go save her. Saga used to be the most famous mercenary band ever. Tales of Slowhand Clay, Golden Gabe, Arcandius Moog, Matrick Skulldrummer, and Ganelon are still told in the pubs throughout the kingdom to this day.

April 24th, 2018. Greg Hersom and Tim Scheidler´s rating: 5 | Nicholas Eames | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |

A Storm of Swords: Might be the best in the series

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

When George R.R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords (2000) begins, the War of the Five Kings has just ended, and it looks like the Lannisters have won the realm. They control King’s Landing, Westeros’ capital city, as well as the fifteen-year-old King Joffrey. Stannis Baratheon is in retreat, and their remaining foes, the Starks and the Greyjoys, have turned on each other rather than allying against a common enemy. Basically, the bad guys have won, but A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE isn’t over.

December 14th, 2017. Ryan Skardal, Greg Hersom, Jason Golomb and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | George R.R. Martin | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |

Red Sister: Magic nuns. Need we say more?

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

Mark Lawrence‘s previous six novels have been interesting and unique in their own ways, but have also formed part of a recognizable corner of the genre. That is, Lawrence’s name often appears alongside those of Joe Abercrombie and R. Scott Bakker on lists with titles like “So You’ve Just Finished A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE — What Next?” This isn’t to say that the books set in Lawrence’s Broken Empire aped George R.R.

A Gathering of Ravens: If Robert E. Howard and Poul Anderson collaborated on a novel…

A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden

Grimnir is a monster, literally. The Norse call him skraelingr. To the Irish, he is the fomoraig, and to the English he is an orcneas. Born and raised to do war, for and against the old gods. Immortal, they spend their endless lives, longing for glory in the final battle of Ragnarok.

So Grimnir’s disposition is already brutal, but to add to it, he’s the very last of his kind. To say he’s a pissed-off is a gross understatement.

Prince of Fools: A slick, well-crafted buddy adventure fantasy

Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence

Prince Jalan Kendeth is the black sheep of the family. A self-confessed untrustworthy scoundrel and coward who has taken every advantage of the life of luxury that comes with being royalty, he is perfectly content with his life as it is and has no plans to change or inclination for greater things. However, when he crosses paths with a courageous Viking named Snorri, Jal discovers that he may have been destined to stand against an undead evil. Snorri is returning north to rescue his family and,

March 31st, 2017. Greg Hersom and Tim Scheidler´s rating: 5 | Mark Lawrence | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Almuric: Overwhelming storytelling gusto

Almuric by Robert E. Howard

It is truly remarkable how much work pulp author Robert E. Howard managed to accomplish during his brief 30 years of life. Indeed, a look at his bibliography, on a certain Wiki site, should surely flabbergast any reader who knows the Texan writer only as the creator of Conan the Cimmerian, King Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane and, essentially, the entire genre known as Sword & Sorcery. Hundreds upon hundreds of titles can be found there, in such variegated categories as boxing,

The Builders: A delightfully unexpected mash-up

The Builders by Daniel Polansky

I’m a huge fan of Daniel Polansky‘s LOW TOWN series, so I might have claimed that I wouldn’t have bought The Builders if he hadn’t written it, but that’s not completely honest because there is something appealing about a story that features personified animals. I’m sure I’m not the only adult man who hasn’t outgrown them.

As it turned out, this novella is one the wildest stories I’ve ever read. I can’t explain it any better than to quote what other authors and reviewers have already said:

“The Wild Bunch meets Watership Down.” ~John Hornor Jacobs

“Nobody does dark like Polansky.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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