Sketching out a new Sword & Sorcery world, I found this immensely helpful to read again.
https://udan-adan.blogspot.com/2017/11/localism-adventure-as-microclimate.html
Heroes traveling the world and regularly fighting monsters in fantasy adventure stories never made much sense to me. It works for games that are all about enjoying the action of dungeon crawling, but the idea just doesn't hold up when you try to get into character personality and motivation.
The risks and costs are just in no sensible relationship to any possible gains. The only people who would plausibly become adventurers would be completely insane lunatics.
What if an 80s Sword & Sorcery villainous sorcerer lord didn't look like Ming the Merciless, Morticia Adams, or Jaffar and would instead be written with a very different image in mind?
What if you had a tale in which the evil sorcerer would have been played by Rutger Hauer? Or Christopher Walken? Or Wallace Shawn?
Download link for this year’s Free Comic Book Day issue of Conan
https://titan-comics.com/news/download-the-conan-fcbd-issue-here/
Capsule Review Archive – John the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman
https://write.as/robinmarx/capsule-review-archive-john-the-balladeer-by-manly-wade-wellman
Interesting take I've come across:
John Wick is Sword & Sorcery translated into a new setting.
It certainly has the spirit.
My review of Conan the Barbarian #19 just went up at Grimdark Magazine!
I’ve been lukewarm on some of Doug Braithwaite’s art on the past, but he turned some amazing work here.
(As always, boosts are appreciated!)
https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/review-conan-the-barbarian-19/
#BookReview #Books @bookstodon #Comics @comics #Conan #SwordAndSorcery @fantasy #Fantasy
I think the first step to making a Sword & Sorcery setting something new and creative is to come up with idea what it is about.
If it is not Blood for the Blood God! Loot for the Loot Throne!, then what is it about?
Which reminds me of...
https://alecworley.substack.com/p/evolve-or-die-is-this-the-end-for
One unfortunate realization I just had about the #IronKaendor concept is that it doesn't have a single original idea yet. It's the most generic, everything set to default #SwordAndSorcery setting anyone could make at this point.
Überhaupt, liebe #Phantastik #Fantasy #SwordAndSorcery Bubble: #MichaelMoorcock ist auch Pionier und Klassiker einer queeren Phantastik — so zumindest meine Lesart seiner ›alchemistischen‹ Leidenschaft für’s Ausloten, Übertreten, Verwischen und allgemein Spielen mit Geschlechterrollen. Im Kosmos eines Erz-Phantasten wie Moorcock sind Mann, Frau sowie Geheimnisse und Spektrum dazwischen wie Buchstaben für seine Formulierungen.
#ProgressivePhantastik
"A great poet is greater than any king." - Robert E.Howard. By This Axe I Rule!
"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing. " - Robert E.Howard, The Tower of the Elephant
It's here! My standalone fantasy, Memories of Sorcery and Sand, is here!
I'm thrilled to be able to finally put it in your hands.
If you like stories in which not all is what is seems and everyone has secrets or told lies (or both), check it out at your favorite online store. Available as ebook, paperback, and as hardcover too!
https://books2read.com/MoSS
* * *
Two worlds. One woman. No memories.
At twenty-two, Saeryn has scars she can’t explain and a three year memory gap. An exotic family vacation away from her fractured past is meant to help her regain balance… except that the desert sands are calling to her with an eerie familiarity, and Malatrius—a stranger met by anything but chance—claims to know what happened during the times she can’t remember.
But to trust Malatrius’s words means believing in sorcery and traveling to another world. It also means putting her future in the hands of her father’s longtime rival who has reasons to hate them both, because with every restored memory Saeryn realizes that not only did Past Saeryn keep secrets from both Malatrius and her father—she’d also made a choice that could threaten the desperate scheme she’d risked her life for.
And now Saeryn faces the same choice once more.
Losing her life will be a minor inconvenience, but losing her memories again could be the end of her.
Memories of Sorcery and Sand is a standalone character driven fantasy with dual timelines and told both in 1st and 3rd POV. If you like books that slowly unveil their mysteries and secrets, get your copy now!
* * *
And if you're unsure whether the book is for you, read the first chapters to find out.
https://authorjm.com/memories-of-sorcery-and-sand/memories-of-sorcery-and-sand-sample-chapters
Add to Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223815464-memories-of-sorcery-and-sand
One day! Memories of Sorcery and Sand is coming out tomorrow, and the first reviews are in already.
Preorder your copy: https://books2read.com/MoSS
Book Challenge DAY 2: 20 books that have had an impact on who you are. One book a day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just #BookCovers.
#20books #20books20days #BookCover #CoverIllustration #Cover_Art #Book #Books #Art #SpeculativeFiction #ConanTheBarbarian #RobertEHoward
#SwordAndSorcery #HeroicFantasy #Fantasy #LancerBooks #FrankFrazetta #LSpragueDeCamp #LinCarter #PaperbackCovers #Paperbacks #PaperbackBooks #PulpHero #PulpMagazine #WeirdTales #PulpArt
If you're waiting for the sword and sorcery portal fantasy family drama mystery, namely Memories of Sorcery and Sand, the book's coming out in just 4 days. Until then, here's a non-spoilery quote.
Preorder: https://books2read.com/MoSS
Read sample: https://authorjm.com/memories-of-sorcery-and-sand/memories-of-sorcery-and-sand-sample-chapters
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