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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you are a fan of old school Sword & Sorcery this is a collection not to be missed, June 22, 2010
This review is from: Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery (Paperback)
With Swords & Dark Magic editors Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan have amassed an all-original collection of Sword and Sorcery from both new and long established masters of the genre. Overall the volume doesn't disappoint. There are a few ruts which didn't take off for me, but for those that did work well made this a memorable volume. What surprised me most was the pacing of many of the stories. What I'd call the old school authors seem to go for more of a slow build-up while the newer entrants for the most part vie to grab you from the first page with action. Now on to some of the highlights.
"Goats of Glory" by Steven Erikson - A very slow moving story for the most part. I was getting bored until the magic part finally got introduced and at that point I was hooked. Demon hordes are a bunch of pushovers when a group of warriors comes out of the mountains. A very satisfying ending with good action in the last third.
"Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company" by Glen Cook - The Company is on a bit of a lull as they have been stationed in one city without anyone to battle for months. When all of a sudden they are again tossed into the machinations of their betters. Definitely one of the better Black Company shorts I've read as it shows they are more than just the brawn and have got brains to back it up. Croaker keeps his usual tone and aplomb as the company figures out away to solve the heart of the matter without getting their own throats cut.
"Bloodsport" by Gene Wolfe - In some ways this reminds me a lot of a GRRM Dunk & Egg story without Egg. A new Knight is made to play the games of their sovereign, but when the games are over and all else is lost they strive to better the world around them and give themselves a purpose. The world is left vague as Wolfe wants you to connect and care for the characters more, which he succeeds at adequately. Quite good, but felt unfinished.
"The Singing Spear" by James Enge - This was one of my favorites in the collection. It was over before I wanted it to end. Just the right amount of action and humor and wonderfully paced. You don't mess with a mad Wizard's bartender and live to tell the tale. I'll definitely have to get to the copy of Blood of Ambrose I bought a while back soon. Enge has created quite a memorable character I'd like to explore a bit more.
"A Rich Full Week" by K. J. Parker - A zombie Sword & Sorcery tale with a Priestly Philosopher cum Wizard. As with most Parker stories she goes for a different angle than most would as the Philosopher doubts himself yet is still able to project the persona he needs to to survive and get the job done and get the walking deadman. Very good inner dialogue.
"A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet" by Garth Nix - The first Nix I've read and what an inventive world he has here which we just get a peek at. Sir Hereward a injured knight is recuperating as his puppet manservant is off exploring the area they are staying in. The knight wants to get a present for his puppet man Mister Fitz, which leads to a nice battle with a treacherous demon. I definitely want to check out some more Nix now. Nix also has a free story with the same characters available online, which precedes this one.
"Red Pearls: An Elric Story" by Michael Moorcock - Big literary confession time. I can't remember ever reading an Elric story before in novel or short form. That will be changing since "Red Pearls" introduced me to an amazingly weird world and leading character. I'm not sure where it falls in the pantheon of Elric stories and I have a feeling it fills in a gap that fans have wanted, but nonetheless it was easy to follow and certainly gave you a good flavor for what Moorcock is known for.
"In the Stacks" by Scott Lynch - Hands down the best story in the volume. Lynch's imagination is in top form as Wizards in training must venture into the bowels of an ancient magical library to return books to their proper stations. In some ways this is what we'd get if Jasper Fforde decided to go for more of a traditional Fantasy tale. Splendid and just plain fun. The prose and characters are as always well done and this shows the gentler side of Lynch.
"The Sea Troll's Daughter" by Caitlin R Kiernan - For some reason this is one of the stories that is most staying in my mind and I'm having a hard time pinning down why that is. It is a story that shows heroes are not always the best people as the heroine in this case has a drinking and attitude problem. In a juxtaposition the Sea Troll's daughter comes off more humane than that of the heroine although it has a bit of a non-ending.
"The Fool Jobs" by Joe Abercrombie - As always Abercrombie does an amazing job at introducing an unusual cast of characters and putting them in a very awkward situation as they search for a magical something, but what that magical something is is not at all clear. This takes place in the North of the First Law world with Craw who some of you may remember unless you blinked. Great twist of an ending like only Abercrombie can do, but I do think his work is more suited to long form. Or it could just be "The Fool Job"s feel too much like a prelude of what is to come in The Heroes. Which in essence it is.
If you are a fan of old school Sword & Sorcery this is a collection not to be missed. It is filled with everything S & S lovers want: action, magic, grey characters, and evil baddies. A few key stories brings this up a few notches in the anthology pantheon with the Nix, Enge, and Lynch being the biggest standouts. As for the goal of being a definitive look at Sword & Sorcery it missed the mark, but not by much. A few of these deserve inclusion in one of the Years Best Anthologies at the least. I give Swords & Dark Magic 8 out of 10 hats. Overall, I'll have to throw some curses at Anders and Strahan for putting such a good anthology together and exposing me to so many authors I've been meaning to try, some for more than a decade, and by extension making me buy a few books by these authors.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible!, July 23, 2010
This review is from: Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery (Paperback)
This review was posted a short time ago at Elitist Book Reviews. Go check out the blog for additional reviews.
***The Review***
It's really not an exaggeration when we say SWORDS & DARK MAGIC was easily one of our most anticipated titles of the year. In fact, that doesn't even say enough. Edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, this collection, to us, was like the Holy Grail of short story anthologies. Why? The first three stories in the collection, in the order they appear: Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, Gene Wolf. Yeah. That's just the first three stories.
Sheesh.
First we need to get something out of the way, and yeah it's a tad petty. The subtitle of the collection is "The New Sword & Sorcery". Honestly, this isn't a fair or accurate subtitle. Don't get us wrong, there are plenty of swords and plenty of sorcery to be found amidst these 500+ pages of awesomeness, but there isn't anything groundbreaking here. There isn't anything here that is re-inventing the genre. No, the subtitle should have been something more like "New Tales in Sword & Sorcery".
Now that that is out of the way, let's talk about the anthology.
It is fantastic. Are there weak stories here? Yeah. The thing about short fiction anthologies, however, is that you have a collection that appeals to a variety. As we stated earlier, the anthology starts with stories by Steven Erikson, Glen Cook, and Gene Wolfe. Then you have James Enge, C.J. Cherryh, K. J. Parker, Garth Nix and a guy named Michael Moorcock. But see, we aren't done yet. Then you move on to Tim Lebbon, Robert Silverberg (maybe you've heard of him?), Greg Keyes, Michael Shea, Scott Lynch, Tanith Lee, Caitlin R Kiernan, Bill Willingham, and ending the collection with Joe Abercrombie. If you can't find something to LOVE here, you have issues. You see, for every story we felt weak and mediocre, there was another story (or two) that were just unbelievable. The good stories were SO GOOD, that any runts in the litter could be easily forgiven.
So, which stories did we like the best? The stories we mention below won't surprise you; you DO know our tastes quite well after all.
The Deification of Dal Bamore -- Tim Lebbon
A grim tale of sorcery and revolution. Lebbon's descriptions are so clear. All the is happening here a criminal--a possible martyr to a cause--is being escorted to receive a token trial followed by execution. Things go deliciously out of control, of course. Makes us want to brush up on our Tim Lebbon. Such good stuff here.
Dark Times at the Midnight Market -- Robert Silverberg
Really all we should have to say is, "It's a Silverberg story. Of course it is awesome." Even then, it was surprising how much we enjoyed this story. "The Midnight Market" is a Majipoor tale. To some, that will be enough to know whether you will like it or not. To the rest, the Midnight Market is a place where essentially anything can be acquired...though right now it is going through a bit of a recession. This story is all about the comedy. It is timed and executed with perfection.
The Singing Spear -- James Enge
One of the best stories in the collection. Enge is so absurdly underrated. His character Morlock Ambrosius is a man of legend. A sorcerer of unparalleled power. And, uh, a complete drunk. "The Singing Spear" is a tale about what Morlock does when his bartender is killed. Enge is freaking terrific. This story will make you want to read more of his stuff. We suggest starting with BLOOD OF AMBROSE.
Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company -- Glen Cook
An all new Black Company story? Featuring Croaker? This story begins with our beloved cast of characters realizing things have been far too good lately. In their experience, that is never a good thing. Balance and all that. Everything you like about Cook is in this story. He is one of our favorite writers. Ever.
Goats of Glory -- Steven Erikson
You knew it was gonna be on here. It starts a tad slow, but when it gets going, it gets GOING. Five soldiers wander into the town Glory. The gravedigger sees them coming and begins digging five graves. In true Erikson fashion, we get great humor mixed with amazingly described action. We loved this story. The ending was absolutely PERFECT. Was this the best story in the collection? Almost. It pains Steve to admit it, but there was one story that topped even this treasure.
The Fool Jobs -- Joe Abercrombie
If this is what we get to see in Joe's upcoming THE HEROES, we are going to be in heaven. The main character? Craw. You may or may not remember him from the First Law Trilogy. Craw, along with a...colorful...cast of characters are sent into a small town to get something. They don't know what though. They'll know it when they see it. Seriously. Humor and action. A seriously incredible story. Was this the best story in the collection? Almost. You know how much Nick loves Abercrombie. But even he had one story above it.
(Fanning yourselves in anticipation yet?)
In the Stacks -- Scott Lynch
The. Best. Story. There was no debate. No arguing. Lynch's "In the Stacks" is just a freaking masterpiece. Not nearly as irreverent as his other works, yet just as imaginative. It takes place in a wizard's school. The students, as a final exam in their current year of schooling, must return a library book. Really. The library, of course, is violent and sentient. We feel that people forget just how good an author Lynch is. This story will remind you. And make you want to re-read LOCKE LAMORA and RED SEAS. And make you salivate in anticipation for his next book. Unreal.
So there you have it. Just because we didn't mention the story you were eying doesn't mean it wasn't good. Moorcock's was great. Parker's was actually good as well. As was Wolfe's. We just don't have time to talk about all of them.
This is a collection that should be on every shelf. The main problem with it? It makes us want the next novel by these authors now...no, make that YESTERDAY.
As a final note, we want to mention the introduction to the collection, "Check Your Dark Lord at the Door" by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan. This is the history of Sword & Sorcery that everyone should know. Serious kudos to these guys for taking the time to show where the genre came from, and then for giving us this terrific collection.
Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: Yup. Though not as prevalent as in the author's full length novels, there is still a significant amount.
Violence: Hello? Sword & Sorcery? Of course there is violence. It is almost always crazy awesome too.
Sex: Talked about, joked about, and alluded too. But never shown.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heavier on the "sorcery" than the "sword" but still great!, July 26, 2010
As the title suggests, Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders have gathered seventeen new and original sword & sorcery tales in this anthology. The stories are written by a variety of successful authors, bringing to play a broad range of styles and themes. I'm a huge fan of sword & sorcery (it's what got me into fantasy). So I was extremely eager to get my hands on this book.
I did find Swords and Dark Magic to be heavier on the "sorcery" than the "sword," more so than is my preference. (Like the greatest S&S hero, Conan the Cimmerian, I subscribe to the belief that when the gods breathed life into mankind, we were given the gift of strength and the secret of steel. So, there is no sorcerer or demonspawn that cannot be beaten by brute strength or a sharp blade.) Regardless, my enjoyment was no less for it. I was absolutely thrilled when I read the dedication, which pays homage to the masters:
"For Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, and Michael Moorcock, the great literary swordsmen who made it all possible."
I believe that an anthology is only as good as its introduction, and the one in this book proves my point. The editors detail the birth of S&S and pay respect to the authors noted in the dedication along with the very few others, C. L. Moore and Clark Ashton Smith, who were there at the beginning. This is followed by shout-outs to Lin Carter, L. Sprague deCamp, Andre Norton, and Charles Saunders, who picked up the torch decades after. These authors, especially Howard, have been too long overlooked for their role in creating the genre that was practically the whole of fantasy before Tolkien.
Due to sheer laziness, I usually opt not to review each story of an anthology individually. But since I've been belly-aching about the lack of sword & sorcery in mainstream publishing for years, I feel obligated to make an exception. Well.., somewhat of an exception. Instead of a synopsis, I briefly note my take on each. (I don't want to overdo things.) Not every tale is a winner, but those that are make up for the others and then some.
*Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson -- I had to flip pages back and forth a few times to keep track of who is who, but the grittiness and action are pure Erikson; a great choice to get things rolling.
*Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company byGlen Cook -- This story is all "plotting-n-scheming" without the action one expects in S&S. Still, Cook's dialog, which is what always stood out in his BLACK COMPANY tales, is as clever as ever, making for a fun read.
*Bloodsport by Gene Wolfe -- I hadn't read Wolfe before, but with his reputation I expected more than this mediocre story. I'd venture to say this is far from Wolfe's best.
*The Singing Spear by James Enge -- This story features Enge's hero, MORLOCK AMBROSE a.k.a. Morlock the Maker. About a page in and I knew this would be one of my favorites. I immediately purchased the first book in Enge's series about Morlock, Blood of Ambrose, when I finished this story. Need I say more?
*A Wizard in Wiscezan by C. J. Cherryh -- I'm not a fan of Cherryh, but she created charismatic characters here that brought the story to life.
*A Rich Full Week by K. J. Parker -- This is a tale about a wizard -or a student of natural philosophy, specializing in mental energies, telepathy, telekinesis, indirect vision or science not yet figured out. Parker seemed to pattern his brotherhood of "wizards" after the medieval Catholic Church to create a very captivating story.
*A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet by Garth Nix -- This is a whimsical and comedic tale that proved entertaining despite not really being something I'd pick to read as a whole book on its own...
*Red Pearls: An Elric Story by Michael Moorcock -- This book wouldn't have been complete without a story by the only living author mentioned in the dedication. However, the last half of this story tends to drag. That aside, Elric still proves to be as interesting a character as he's always been.
*The Deification of Dal Bamore: A Tale from Echo City by Tim Lebbon -- The only book I've read by Lebbon was Dusk and I didn't really like it. So I never gave him a try again. This dark and gripping story in the setting of his upcoming new series has got me re-thinking that decision.
*Dark Times at the Midnight Market by Robert Silverberg -- This is a tale from the world of MAJIPOOR which is the setting for Silverberg's popular series. I never read those stories because they have too many bizarre creatures for my taste. So I was amazed when this tale, weird creatures and all, proved to be such a good time.
*The Undefiled by Greg Keyes -- Keyes' THE KINGDOMS OF THORN AND BONE series is high on my to-be-read-list but, unfortunately, this story just didn't do it for me. Maybe a re-read is in order because I just didn't quite follow it all.
*Hew the Tintmaster by Michael Shea -- This is the much-anticipated tale that features Cugel the Clever, the infamous character from Jack Vance's DYING EARTH. Vance fans will be very pleased. It was my introduction to this world and if Shea writes it like Vance does, the DYING EARTH books just got moved up on my TBR list.
*In the Stacks by Scott Lynch -- I'm sure many will like this one, but I was disappointed. I'm tired of the whole enchanted school for wizards, or whatever, thing, and it's been a long wait for another GENTLEMAN BASTARD story. So I was hoping for something more like that series.
*Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-robe by Tanith Lee -- Not a bad addition, but the first half of it was much better than the second.
*The Sea Troll's Daughter by Caitlin R. Kiernan -- I had no idea this would be another one of my favorites until the very end, which blew me away.
*Thieves of Daring by Bill Willingham -- It's more along the lines of traditional S&S. Sadly, it fell flat.
*The Fool Jobs by Joe Abercrombie -- If you're a fan of Abercrombie like I am, I'm betting this will be your very favorite too. It's raw, gritty, dark, and funny; straight-up Abercrombie.
Swords and Dark Magic is a must-have for fellow sword & sorcery fans and just the thing to support our cause. For readers new to S&S, you won't find a better introduction and it's the perfect book to round out your fantasy collection.
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