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

Take the sword-and-sorcery of Robert E. Howard and paint it liberally with the exotic colors of "A Thousnd and One Nights," and perhaps a dash of Rafael Sabatini. This will give you an approximation of what to expect from "The Desert of Souls."

If that description does not sound like a fun read to you, I pity you.

Ordinarily, I would devour a book like this in a night or two. The vagaries of life slowed me down a lot as I read this, but I think it says a lot about the strength of the plotting and characters that I was able to jump right back in after being forced to skip reading for a few nights.

There is plenty of action, and big magic, but the strengths of this book are in the characters of Dabir the scholar and Asim the man of arms, and in the romanticized Muslim background. This novel is both a hardening back to the great days of sword-and-sorcery, and a step forward for the genre. I look forward to reading the second novel in this series, "The Bones of the Old Ones."

Jack wrote: "Fun review, sounds like a winner. Added to my list to read soon."

I agree with Steve as per my review of The Bones of the Old Ones. I also like Steve's writing and still crave for more "Mask Oath" stories.

Thanks, S.E.! I am shopping an historical pirate thriller novel now, and working on a sequel. Not sure when I will get back to Faceless Sons.

Steve wrote: "Thanks, S.E.! I am shopping an historical pirate thriller novel now, and working on a sequel. Not sure when I will get back to Faceless Sons."

I'm patient, but I pledge to keep harping. A historical pirate thriller sounds very interesting. Are you already done with a manuscript...just looking for a publisher?

I have a complete manuscript. I sent a query to an agent, who asked to see sample chapters. After reading the sample, he asked for the entire MS, which he has now. So I am kind of a nervous wreck, lol.

Steve, best of luck to you and your nerves. If things go well, feel welcome to spread the word. And if not, we can provide therapy of some sort. Given your expertise in beer, you should be drinking in any case! Which brew calms nerves ?

Thanks, Seth. I find porters and stouts to be the most relaxing brews, lol.

I've read both of the books by Jones and enjoyed them. I always enjoy writers that are influenced by Robert E. Howard.

Holy carp do I love Dabir and Asim! I stumbled into these awhile ago and saw someone mention they were like REH meets Sinbad, and it was totally on point. I have done my best to collect everything about the pair but I know I'm missing a couple short stories somewhere. I've pestered Howard a couple times to write a third book for purely selfish reasons.

L.D. wrote: "Holy carp do I love Dabir and Asim! I stumbled into these awhile ago and saw someone mention they were like REH meets Sinbad, and it was totally on point. I have done my best to collect everything ..."
Thank you very much for the kind words! I'm so glad you enjoy the characters.

I'm working on a biblio page for the two to make tracking down their stories more simple. I also have three more of their adventures circulating right now. Sooner or later I hope to have enough for a second e-collection.

As for that novel, well, the market wanted it less than a few readers who really dig them. But I will likely finish at least one more. Originally about ten were planned, but, well, that whole market thing... I wonder if they'd fare better today.