Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion

A pilot group-read is in being organized (Dec 2012). Please see the Poll and vote!
Link to Poll

2013 Jan-Feb Group Read is in progress.

Please note the masthead(title image for this group) is appropriately drawn from popular Anthology covers. Here are the artists and cover credits:

Johnney Perkins and Didier Normand
Rage of the Behemoth and Return of the Sword


Frank Frazetta
Flashing Swords! #1 and Flashing Swords! #1 (two different editions)

All, it looks like Sword & Mythos is our next theme for Mar-Apr 2013 (poll still open).

Please help define the scope of this, by chiming in on the thread:
What is Sword and Mtythos?

Okay, thanks!

Mar-April 2013 Group Reads: We have two!

a) Campbells’ Ryre Character - Link
Note ~4 of these tales were printed individually in the Swords Against Darkness anthologies, and the entire set is available from Necropress.com (affordable, but shipping is not instantaneous and has some extra hurdles for non-US based members); see the disucussion thread for more details.

b) Sword and Mythos Theme-Link

Thematic Read = Sword and Mythos: What is this theme of Sword and Mythos? Many members interpreted this option in the poll as any books with a “Lovecraftian Cthulhu” Mythos flare. That said, the idea of the group read is to encourage discussion, and some interpret “Mythos” as anything emphasizing Myth: Discussion Thread on Sword and Mythos.

Bookshelf Examples: Feel welcome to browse for some member-identified Sword and Mythos books (and tag your own selections): Sword and Mythos Bookshelf

Masthead Banner: Photo Section with Bookcover Credits
The banner is a montage of relevant covers. Here are the credits:
(as cover parts appear from left to right) : Artist / Book

Bob Eggleton: Brian Lumley's Sorcery in Shad: Tales of the Primal Land
Bruce Pennington: Clark Ashton Smith's,Lost Worlds: Volume 2: Atlantis, Hyperborea, Xiccarph and Others
Michael Whelan: H.P. Lovecraft's The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre
Ken Kelly: Robert E. Howard's The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard: Wings in the Night
Frank Frazetta: R.E.Howard's Bran Mak Morn
Stephen Fabian: R.E. Howard's (2004)Robert E. Howard's Weird Works Volume 1: Shadow Kingdoms

I'm psyched for this group read.

David wrote: "I'm psyched for this group read."
David, Hop on over to the Sword and Mythos Group read area and share us what book(s) you plan to tackle. Cheers-Seth

Consolidating the recent poll results into one, we arrive at the May-June 2013 Group read; which will be any:

"Vintage Sword & Sorcery with a Lankhmar Emphasis.". Any S&S related work published between 1910 and 1970 should work...with an emphasis (default topic) on Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar series.

Check out both (1) the Vintage-Lankhmar Discussion Thread
...and (2) the banner-montage to inspire the groupread:


Credits go to the original cover artists from books authored by (or inspired by) Fritz Leiber:
Background: artist Jeffrey Catherine Jones covers to the 1970 editions of...
Swords and Deviltry
Swords Against Wizardry
Swords against Death


Foreground: Fafred and Gray Mouser depictions from Left to Right:
1- Mike Mignola: Farewell to Lankhmar
2- Clyde Caldwell: Tales of Lankhmar
3- Michael Whelan: Swords and Ice Magic
4- Mike Mignola:Lean Times in Lankhmar

Another fantastic banner S.E.

Hey, you stole my words -- but as long as a Jason says 'em all's good!

Another spectacular banner Seth!

Two Group Reads for July-August 2013:

1) Jack Vance: With the recent passing of Jack Vance , we’ll reflect on his work this Summer (July-August): Link to Jack Vance Groupread. An ideal time to read/discuss The Dying Earth series.

2) To-Read Pile: A second group read with the theme of “Anything in your own To-Read pile.” The perfect excuse to read your ever-growing To-Read pile. Choose a Sword & Sorcery book from there, then confess why you haven't read it sooner here: Link to To-Read Groupread!

Masthead: As always, the masthead image for the group reflects these.
The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga, Rhialto The Marvellous


Montage created from these covers, credits go to artist (L to R)
Unknown ,1950; Jack Gaughan, 1966; Kevin Johnson, 1983; Stephen E. Fabian, 1984

The Sword & Sorcery Goodreads Group for Sept-Oct advertise two topics: (1) Imaro by Charles R. Saunders ...:Link to discussion here

And (2) Review-Starved Sword & Sorcery books. Link to that discussion here

The masthead (banner) is a montage of Saunder coverart.

Credits, from Left to Right:
"Imaro" Coverart by Ken Kelly 1981 / "Imaro II Quest for the Cush 1984" coverart by James Gurney / "Dossouye" coverart by Mshindo Kuumba 2008
,

Another fantastic masthead, Seth. Well done, sir.

Jason wrote: "Another fantastic masthead, Seth. Well done, sir."

Thanks, Jason. It is fun to play mix-master with fantastic art.

All Sword & Sorcery Groupies, the poll is done and the Groupreads for Nov-Dec 2013 are:
1) Obscure Books: Link = https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
2) And Karl Edward Wagner's Kane, Link to groupread here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


Banner is a montage of coverart; artist credits.

Frank Frazetta's work shown:
Bloodstone, 1975
Dark Crusade, 1976
Night Winds, 1978



Ken Kelly's cover for the Nightshade edition of:
Gods in Darkness: The Complete Novels of Kane, 2002.

Suh-weeeeeeet banner sir! I'm in, making my selection today.

Very nice work on the banner, Seth, as usual. Well done.

I am reading Death Angel's Shadow (I've read Bloodstone & Dark Crusade. Interestingly enough and previously unknown to me, the opening short actually follows Dark Crusade, a neat point of synchronicity I must say). 5 pages in and I'm already loving me some Kane.

Heroine Female Lead & Anthology Groupread: The poll results equilibrated enough to call these topics. This is the first time a write-in vote won, which is pretty cool. The concurrent group reads will start Jan-1st 2014 and run through the end of Feb (two months for two topics).


L to R credits for the Jan-Feb 2014 Banner
Character // Artist // Title // Author(s) // Year
1) Red Sonja // Jenny Frison // Red Sonja Volume 1: Queen Of Plagues // Gail Simone, and Walter Geovani // 2013, 2014
2) Bloodsong // Boris Vallejo // Warrior Beast from Hel (2013 3Book release =Bloodsong! — Hel X 3 Trilogy) aka Werebeasts of Hel // Asa Drake aka C. Dean Andersson // 1986
3) Aella // Dsbenix Digital Entertainment, Ximphonic Versus: Oblivium Sic Sempiternum (Xing Xin and Endro Gatotkaca) // Sword Sisters: A Red Reaper Novel // Tara Cardinal,Alex Bledsoe // 2013
4) Jirel // Arnold Tsang // Black God's Kiss // C.L. Moore // 2007
5) Dossouye // Mshindo Kumba // Dossouye: the Dancers of Mulukau // Charles R. Saunders// 2011



Other heroine books of interest that almost made in the banner:
- author:Jason E. Thummel|5248308], The Bladewitch, released 2013
-Milton Davis, Griots: Sisters of the Spear, 2013

Nice banners.

Seth,
As always, you've done an excellent job and skillfully pulled together images that evoke the spirit and drive of the topic at hand. I appreciate all the work that you put in for the group. Well done, sir.

Yes, another awesome banner Seth - you are quite talented at this :) And thanks for the nod to RBE with the Aella inclusion!

Jason M wrote: "Yes, another awesome banner Seth - you are quite talented at this :) And thanks for the nod to RBE with the Aella inclusion!"

Jason M...and Jason E, thanks! It is always fun making the banner. It is also fun leaning about new authors/perspectives and interacting with the die-hard Sword & Sorcery folk during the group reads. Without this group I would have assumed that heroines were not a huge focus area; but that is not the case considering the number of ongoing series and re-releases. I look forward to the discussion.

Looking for suggestions for the Mar-Apr 2014 Groupreads
Two month duration, two concurrent topics. Any suggestions?

In other words, what do you want to see in the Masthead banner (our image banners always reflect the Group read themes).?

Any responce here will inform a poll to be issued shortly (~Feb 7th).

Current Group Reads are running thru Feb-28th 2014
1) Heroines -link
2) Anthologies -link

How about an artist theme, like Frazetta, Whelan, Kelly, Maitz, or Jones? Pick one artist and only read books with their covers.

Tom, great idea! That is a lead option now.

I was mulling over the notion of extending the Heroine theme too... Toward any female author.

Groupread Topic(s) for Mar-Apr 2014. Usually we have two topics for two months, but that is dependent on feedback. Vote to steer the discussion!
1) Cover-Artist Theme: Tom had a great suggestion in the forum: Frazetta, Whelan, Kelly, Maitz, or Jones? Pick one artist and only read books with their covers.
2) Female Authors: Extending the Heroine theme might be fun too...toward any female author.
3) Write-in suggestions always welcome.

LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/8...

I just voted in the March/April poll. For May/June, have we officially done any sword & planet?

Joseph wrote: "I just voted in the March/April poll. For May/June, have we officially done any sword & planet?"

Nope, Sword & Planet hasn't been covered yet. Want to "write-it" in?

S.E. wrote: "Nope, Sword & Planet hasn't been covered yet. Want to "write-it" in?"

I thought about it, but I like the choices we have listed currently; plus it'll probably be closer to May by the time a hole opens up in my reading schedule ...

Joseph, we"ll keep Sword and Planet on the radar then!

Groupreads Mar-Apr 2014
Topic 1) Any book with Michael Whelan Coverart :
Discussion Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

These links will help identify books:
- http://www.michaelwhelan.com/gallery/...
- http://www.paperbackfantasies.jjelmqu...

Topic 2) Any Female Author:
Discussion Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...



The Masthead Banner features three Whelan paintings made for Female Authors:
The Dreaming Tree for C.J. Cherryh
Crown of Shadows for C.S. Friedman
All the Weyrs of Pern for Anne McCaffrey



From the illustrator's website:

WEYRWORLD (1990) Pern#11: Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 27" x 36" This cover art for ALL THE WEYRS OF PERN by Anne McCaffrey is a wonderful dragon image for both the story and the dragon fan who hasn't read the book. After the huge success of THE WHITE DRAGON the Pern series was growing, but when it was time for Book 7 Michael had a scheduling conflict. He had to base his painting on Anne's notes since she hadn't finished the manuscript. They both planned on him showing the dragon in the cargo hold of the abandoned spaceship, but Michael told her about this image that came to him in a dream. She liked it so much, she wrote it into her story. This was to be his last cover for the Pern series, but in 2013 Michael was able to use his and Anne's "cargo hold" idea in his cover painting for DRAGONWRITER, A TRIBUTE TO ANNE MCCAFFREY AND PERN.

TREE OF JEWELS AND SWORDS (1983) Acrylic on Illustration Board - 30" x 22" A very popular Whelan cover for C. J. Cherryh from the 1980's and recently reissued for the cover of her 1997 compilation called THE DREAMING TREE.

CROWN OF SHADOWS (1995) Acrylic on Panel - 28" x 22" Cover art for the third book in the Coldfire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman. Gerald Tarrant, the tragic anti-hero whose prolonged life dominates the storyline, is prominently featured in the foreground of this stunning illustration. The power of Whelan's palette dominates, from the striking acidic greens to the regal black and gold, and once again he framed the main character with trees.

Fantastic banner as usual, Seth. Well done.

That is cool.

Voting for the May-Jun group read has begun.
With 30 votes submitted, we have "Sword and Planet" taking the lead over a mega-tie: second place has 5 topics each with 4 votes.

Vote to steer the discussion! Write-in suggestions always welcome (enter in the "Your Choice" field).

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/8...

All, the top two winners for May-Jun 2014 are pretty big topics:
primary winner = Sword & Planet
runner up = Vintage Howard

I propose we just take Sword & Planet for this next round (thus deviate from our tradition of two topics for two months). We could reserve Howard for July-Aug (or make it highlighted choice in a new poll). Any Objections?


Poll here = https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

How strict are we going to be with the Sword & Planet definition? I was thinking about revisiting some Leigh Brackett, and she's also sort of space opera. Sometimes she's one, sometimes she's the other, sometimes she's both...

...incidentally, I should have been dropping by more often. Those banners are excellent. Looks like I probably missed some good discussions, as well!

I'll try to be involved in some of the next ones.

Howard wrote: "How strict are we going to be with the Sword & Planet definition? I was thinking about revisiting some Leigh Brackett, and she's also sort of space opera. Sometimes she's one, sometimes she's the o..."

I'd say we're pretty relaxed. And I was also thinking this would be a good excuse to finally crack open one of my Haffner Brackett collections.

this would be a good excuse to finally crack open one of my Haffner Brackett collections.

Ah, a man after my own heart. Those are some of the prize jewels of my book collection.

Howard wrote: "...incidentally, I should have been dropping by more often. Those banners are excellent. Looks like I probably missed some good discussions, as well! I'll try to be involved in some of the next o..."

Howard, thanks man re: the Banners. Actually I started making the banner for May-June Read and had too much material for both "Sword and Planet" and "Vintage Howard"...which prompted me to consider doing one of these mega-topics.

As Joseph said, we are completely relaxed. Coming from the last Groupread, I just was introduced to Cherryh's Morgaine and wanted to read Book #2: Well of Shiuan (it has some sci-fi elements and alien worlds enough for me to consider it Sword & Planet).

I would enjoy hearing your perspective about Leigh Brackett since I haven't read much of her work. So the informal groupread "rule" is to read just about anything loosely connected to the thematic topic, but please touch base to inform other readers via discussion/review/etc.

Definitely both of these are topics right up my alley. Brackett certainly fits in with sword and planet fiction, especially with the Eric John Stark stories. Space Opera and S & P have a lot in common anyway.

Charles wrote: "Definitely both of these are topics right up my alley. Brackett certainly fits in with sword and planet fiction, especially with the Eric John Stark stories. Space Opera and S & P have a lot in com..."

Hey Charles. I've really enjoyed your traditional Sword & Sorcery but have yet to try your Swords of Talera: Book One of the Talera Cycle. This groupread would be a fine time for me and others to adventure on Talera.

Looking forward to your input on "Sword & Planet" works.

Swords of Talera is really right in the center of the Swords & Planet genre. The sequels bring in a little more sword & sorcery elements although they still stay in the S & P tradition. I had a lot of fun writing them. S & P is about the purest adventure writing you can get.

Picked up a copy of Warrior of Llarn by Gardner F Fox a few weeks ago. I think this book will be my S&P read for next month.

Warrior of Llarn is the first of two Llarn books. The second is Thief of Llarn. I have both. Thief was better as I remember, but I also read it when I was quite a bit younger.

All (Charles, Howardm Joseph, S.Wagenaar, etc.),

Okay, it seems that the idea of having one theme for May-June-2014 of Sword and Planet is okay. I started a Discussion Thread for Sword & Planet...so please continue discussing there!

Discussion Thread for Sword & Planet
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

May-June Groupread: Sword and Planet: Only one topic for the next two months, but it is big.

Discussion Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...




Here is the banner! AllFrank Frazetta coverart of John Carter and Barsoom!
Thuvia, Maid of Mars / The Chessmen of Mars
A Princess of Mars
The Gods of Mars / The Warlord of Mars
The Mastermind of Mars and A Fighting Man of MarsTestament: The Life and Art of Frank Frazetta



Background elements from:

S.E. wrote: "my perspective on Brackett...."

She's one of my top ten favorite writers, ever. Here's a brief intro I wrote over at Black Gate about her a year or two back: http://www.blackgate.com/2012/07/04/l...

I'll try to steal more time later to get you more reasons why.

Howard wrote: "S.E. wrote: "my perspective on Brackett...." She's one of my top ten favorite writers, ever. Here's a brief intro I wrote over at Black Gate about her a year or two back: http://www.blackgate.com/..."

Thanks for sharing Howard. Nice post. I need to read more Brackett. I happen to like ice cream too. Perhaps you or others can suggest a good starting point for her books...The Sword of Rhiannon, or The Hounds of Skaith, or Sea-Kings of Mars...? Don't answer yet/here....I'll repost this under the Groupread.