Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Rob Rhodes

20 Heroes: Shaman

This the third installment in our Heroes series, written by our own Robert Rhodes. The art is courtesy of Aiko Rudell.

One night, when I was a child, the Red God walked into my dreams. He laid his burning hand on my shoulder and led me to the borderland where the world of men and beasts ends and the lush vale of his kingdom begins. Together, we stood beside the river of death – a mamba of swift, dark water scaled with countless stars, one for each soul who has crossed between the worlds.

February 8th, 2010. Rob Rhodes | 20 Heroes | 6 comments |

The Innkeeper’s Song: A vivid, bittersweet dream… but of what?

The Innkeeper’s Song by Peter S. Beagle

The Innkeeper’s Songis a one-volume fantasy for mature readers that is by turns (or even simultaneously) lyrical and maddening. Lyrical because much of its language is, in contemporary fantasy, on par with only Patricia McKillip and Guy Gavriel Kay. Maddening because — despite the full-throttle beginning, intricately woven characters and a world made wondrous without a map or long descriptions but simply by names and prosaic brushstrokes — the promise of the beginning and middle absolutely fizzles to a all-but-incomprehensible anti-climax in which none of the characters’

The Paladin: Oriental fantasy

The Paladin by C.J. Cherryh

The Paladin is a stand-alone novel set in the China of an alternative world. It’s more of an alternative history than a fantasy — there are no mythical creatures or magic here, although superstitions of both remain. The story falls into two parts. In the first, a stubborn girl seeking vengeance for her murdered family arrives at the mountain home of an exiled hermit who was the greatest warlord in the Empire prior to the death of the old emperor and the takeover by an evil regent.

20 Heroes: Remy

This the second installment in our Heroes series, written by our own Robert Rhodes. The art is courtesy of Yoni Danziger.

It is not the first night he has waited on a rain-slick roof in the Lily Quarter, his chest braced on the knobby spine of a gargoyle, between whose curving horns he watches another mansion’s diamond-paned windows. It is cheap entertainment — after days when his long fingers have lightened purses or pockets, or evenings when the theaters offer nothing he does not know by rote — to espy Cassant’s lords in their paneled studies,

January 25th, 2010. Rob Rhodes | 20 Heroes | 5 comments |

Heir of Autumn: Flawed but compelling debut

Heir of Autumn by Giles Carwyn & Todd Fahnestock

I started Heir of Autumn with skepticism because (1) it’s a first novel (2) by two guys who’ve been friends since high school (3) that begins with a nubile young woman fondling herself as part of her sorcerous training. A few times during the first few chapters, I considered returning it to the library and writing it off as another botched heroic fantasy epic.

Fortunately, I read on.

The bulk of the story occurs in the fabled city-state of Ohndarien,

January 16th, 2010. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 4 | Giles Carwyn | SFF Reviews | no comments |

20 Heroes: Siltanen

Today we begin a series of series of sketches of 20 original fantasy heroes who have been conceived in the mind of our own Robert Rhodes. Rob’s fiction has appeared in several venues and he has been named a finalist in The L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. We’re proud of Rob and pleased to publish his work. We’ll also showcase several works of art which Rob has chosen to accompany his sketches. Be sure to visit the artists’ websites to see more of their portfolios.

We hope you’ll enjoy this series (please let us know by commenting).

January 11th, 2010. Rob Rhodes | 20 Heroes | 9 comments |

The Magician and the Fool: A post-modern fever dream

The Magician and the Fool by Barth Anderson

Jeremiah Rosemont is a far-fallen academic star, an art historian with specialized knowledge of — and uncanny experience with — tarot decks. Having exiled himself from the United States, he finds his wanderings through Nicaragua interrupted one night by the mysterious delivery of a plane ticket to Rome. There, he stumbles into a maelstrom of occult forces and figures gathering around a deck of uncertain origin and powers. Another figure with links to the deck is the Boy King, a vagrant in Minneapolis with strange and formidable talents.

The Ebb Tide: Engaging, Beautiful, Thin

The Ebb Tide by James P. Blaylock

19th-century London. A quiet evening among more or less renowned gentleman, including the gifted scientist-explorer Langdon St. Ives, at their favorite tavern is interrupted by word that a map to a missing mysterious device has been found. In no time, as chronicled by St. Ives’s cohort Jack Owlesby, the group sets off to claim the map and device, racing against the shadowy figure of St. Ives’s nemesis, Ignacio Narbondo (now known as Dr. Frosticos).

The first new tale of St. Ives in nearly two decades,

October 3rd, 2009. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 3 | James P. Blaylock | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Swords and Deviltry: Adventure, male camaraderie, easy women

Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber

Brilliance Audio and Audible Frontiers have recently produced audio versions of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, so it seemed like a great time for me to finally read them. Within two minutes of putting Swords and Deviltry on my MP3 player and pressing play, I was completely enthralled. The first part of the novel (which is really a compilation of short stories) tells the tale of Fafhrd’s liberation from the taboos, close-mindedness, and “icy morality” of his mother and clan (and the girl he got pregnant) in the northern wastes.

Lord of Silence: Decent sword-and-sorcery mystery

Lord of Silence by Mark Chadbourn

For millennia, the great city of Idriss, City of Lights, has stood almost completely isolated from the world. Bordered by a seemingly endless forest from which few return, the city has relied for protection on its walls and the bravery of its soldiers, such as the elite Crimson Hunt. But when the beloved warrior Mellias, the leader of the Hunt, is found brutally murdered — the first victim of a strange and elusive killer — the city’s fate falls into the hands of the Huntsman Vidar.

September 2nd, 2009. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 3 | Mark Chadbourn | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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