James Enge has graced the pages of Black Gate, Flashing Swords, and Every Day Fiction with his tales of the crooked, cantankerous, bibulous wizard named Morlock Ambrosious.  I even had the privilege of sharing the table of contents with Enge in The Return of the Sword. I simply love his Morlock stories. And now there will be more, much more.

Enge recently sold two Morlock novels to Pyr Books, a rapidly rising publisher of science fiction and fantasy with works from authors like Michael Moorcock, Mike Resnick, Charles Coleman Finlay, Joe Abercrombie, Alan Dean Foster, Gardner Dozois, and Jack Dann, among others.  According to the SFScope announcement, the first Morlock installment is slated for the first half of 2009, and I cannot wait.

There’s a pretty flattering review of The Return of the Sword and “What Heroes Leave Behind” up at Black Gate magazine’s website.  Made me smile big.

I just started reading Thieves’ World again yesterday, and strangely enough, the original editor of the series, Robert Lynn Asprin, passed away on the same day. Quite a shame, especially since he was only 61. His obituary has been posted in several places–here’s one of them.

Although the shared universe or shared world concept has existed for quite a while in the world of fiction, Thieves’ World, to my knowledge, is the first shared world short fiction anthology to really gain popularity. Its success spawned a host of others, such as Magic in Ithkar, Liavek, Merovingen Nights, and Wild Cards, which is still going strong today under the editorial direction of George R. R. Martin. In the small press world, Carinvah House has taken a shot at the shared universe concept with its forthcoming anthology Infinity Swords. I’m sure there are others I’m neglecting.

In addition to a dozen anthologies and seven official novels, the Thieves’ World franchise has also given birth to several spin-off novels and collections, a table top role-playing game, and a series of graphic novels. Last I heard, someone had even purchased the movie rights.

My goal is to read all 12 of the Thieves’ World volumes this summer, and maybe dive into the novels. It will be my little tribute to a major piece of the considerable fantasy legacy Asprin left behind.

EDIT: I failed to mention the additional two anthologies edited by Lynn Abbey in 2002 and 2004. Yeah, I’ll read those, too.

Book reviewer and author Amber Stults has selected “The Weald Maiden’s Will,” a story of mine published in March in Every Day Fiction, as the featured “Story of the Month” for May. Quite an honor!

If you’d like to know what she said about it, you can read her comments here.

The verdict is in: Critics and readers like The Return of the Sword!

Check out some of the latest reviews at these online venues:

• The Fix Short Fiction Review
  
• BlogCritics Magazine
• The Star Road

Heroic fantasy fiction gets a bad rap.

Unfortunately, as is the case with so many other things, it is often defined by its lowest common denominator. To make matters worse, the true definition of heroic fantasy is not always clear, so other brands of fantasy, whether well written or not, are folded into the same rubric, thereby muddling the whole issue.

According to L. Sprague DeCamp, heroic fantasy includes stories of:

“action and adventure laid in a more or less imaginary world, where magic works and where modern science and technology have not yet been discovered. The setting may…be this Earth as it is conceived to have been long ago, or as it will be in the remote future, or it may be another planet or another dimension. Such a story combines the color and dash of the historical costume romance with the atavistic supernatural thrills of the weird, occult, or ghost story. When well done, it provides the purest fun of fiction of any kind.”

Heroic fantasy is not only fun; it’s tried and true. It can be traced back to mythology, to Gilgamesh and The Iliad and the Norse Sagas–tales that have truly stood the test of time. Or, as Jessica Amanda Salmonson writes in her terrific essay, Enjoying Heroic Fantasy:

“…heroic fantasy is an ancient form of story-telling that survives to this day in good & bad varieties. To me, the combination of beauty & horror that is heroic fantasy’s ideal makes it the most noble & valuable of all literatures.”

So it’s a shame when thousands of years of great storytelling are forgotten in the face of one piece of fictional trash, and that the worst of a sub-genre can become its definition to so many readers. Fortunately, there’s proof against such accusations.

For instance, as Salmonson writes:

“Someone is apt to be saying about now that heroic fantasy includes some of the worst popular writing to have appeared in the fantasy & science fiction field generally. I hear that red-herring a lot, from people who give Hugos & Nebulas to books I wouldn’t wipe my ass with.”

Need more proof? Then I turn your attention to The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure, 330 pages, 20 tales of heroic fantasy at its finest, edited by Jason Waltz of Flashing Swords Press. This anthology is crammed with creative plots, inspired storytelling, and original characters, all wrapped in the action, adventure, and excitement that traditionally define the genre. It’s a new brand of heroic fantasy, and is, I think, exactly what Salmonson refers to here:

“Heroic fantasy is, for me, a celebration of life’s brief, transient joys & sorrows. When it is done well, the language has a high level of beauty…”

If you don’t believe me, see for yourself. Information about all the great authors and how to purchase the anthology can be found here. Need a trial run? Here’s an excerpt from James Enge’s “The Red Worm’s Way,” a magnificent tale with a truly enjoyable character, Morlock Ambrosius:

Morlock’s interest in gold was slight indeed; he made it by the boxful whenever he needed some, which was not often. But, as a maker of things, he had once had some interest in coins. He glanced instinctively at the discs in her hands.

They were of a type new to him. Each design was different, and some were horrible – he could see headless corpses and hanged men on a few of the gold cartwheels she held out to him. The coins might be solid and perhaps they were gold, but he doubted they were good in any generally accepted meaning of the word. They stank of evil magic.

He was about to say as much when one of the coins, showing what appeared to be a crow or raven wearing a crown, winked at him. It could have been a trick of the light, but he didn’t think so.

“What will you take for that one?” he asked, pointing at the crow-coin.

Guile entered the eyes of the grieving woman. “That is an especially valuable one, sir. They say the Crow King will do any service for the person who holds this coin.”

Morlock grunted skeptically and said, “How much for it?”

“I am not selling these coins, sir. I’m offering them to pay for a service. You cannot buy this coin; you may earn it.”

“By keeping the Strigae from chewing up your husband’s corpse tonight.”

“Please do not speak so disrespectfully of the Sisters of the Red Worm (I summon them not!). But that is the general idea.”

Morlock thought idly about knocking her down, taking the coin and running away with it. But his conversation with the woman had drawn a crowd of interested listeners; he doubted he would get away clean. Besides, stealing magical gold often had unintended consequences. On the other hand, he could just say, “No,” and walk away. But it occurred to him that he wasn’t going to do that.

“All right,” he said. “Keep the others; I just want that coin with the crow.”

“I will give it to you tomorrow morning.”

“If I keep your husband’s corpse intact.”

“Oh no. Not at all. If you stay on watch through the night I will give you the coin, even if the Unnamed Ones violate poor Thelyphron. But . . .”

“But?”

“Our law says that whatever parts are missing from a dead body after a vigil must be made up by the watcher.”

“So if poor Thelyphron’s nose is missing in the morning, he will be buried with mine? Likewise liver or testicles?”

“Yes. That is only fair, wouldn’t you say?”

Morlock considered the question briefly. “No. Where do I stand, or sit, this wake?”

]]> http://nihawkins.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/return-of-the-sword-blog-tour-defending-heroes/feed/ http://nihawkins.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/story-in-top-25-at-edf/ http://nihawkins.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/story-in-top-25-at-edf/#comments Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:34:27 +0000 Nik Hawkins http://nihawkins.wordpress.com/?p=47

“The Weald Maiden’s Will” is bouncing around the Top 25 Stories list at Every Day Fiction. It’s been hovering around 15 (of about 240 stories and counting) for a while now, but I’m sure it will get booted as more and more great stories grace the site and the publication’s popularity grows. So I’ll enjoy this while it lasts.

According to their site: “The current top 25 stories list is generated by a script that is based on unique views, comments, star rating, incoming links, popularity and divination.”

OddCon. Shorthand for “Odyssey Convention.”

Kage Baker, a guest of honor at this Madison, Wis. event devoted to science fiction and fantasy, was of the opinion that the name stems from the work of the first among fantasy authors–that long-winded, highly imaginative Greek named Homer. And so she treated the crowd to a spectacular epic poem of her journey to the Badger State. Very entertaining.

But another guest of honor, George R. R. Martin of A Song of Ice and Fire fame, thought the title originated with the people it brings together. Addressing the gathering of sci-fi and fantasy authors, editors, agents, publishers, dealers, gamers, and–last but not least–fans, he said, “After all, we are all a little odd.”

Maybe so. Where else can someone say the following without anyone batting an eye: “Being a member of a medieval history group, I get to know what it’s like to run up and down the stairs in a long cape, because it will happen from time to time.”

This comes from one of the many conversations I overheard on the day I attended the convention (my first ever). But at OddCon, these conversations are the norm. Oddness, you see, is all relative.

Maybe in the context of society at large, the folks at OddCon are odd. I would say unabashedly odd, and genuinely convivial (and therein lies the name). And because of all this, I had a pretty good Saturday.

Got to see Martin in person. The guy looks like Santa Claus, which is fitting, because every time I crack open something he’s written, it’s like Christmas. Loved his speech on the demise of the reader in which he cited some frightening stats on the reading habits of Americans. (Encourage others to read, everyone, because we’re a dying breed!)

Some other highlights:

• Got to hear author Patrick Rothfuss expound upon writing, pre-industrial prostitution, and conjuring up a world from the ether.
• I learned about the medieval game of shin-kicking from Baker (no, I’m not shitting you).
• Met a lot of interesting people in the sci-fi and fantasy literary field.
• I particularly enjoyed E. E. Knight’s readings from unpublished works in his Age of Fire and Vampire Earth series. I’ll be buying the first installments of both.
• Joined Jason Waltz in getting a little more exposure for Return of the Sword (though he did all the work), and even signed a few autographs, which was a trip (though I don’t think these people realized I was actually detracting from the value of their books).

All in all, an odd, good time.

Every Day Fiction was mentioned in a recent Wall Street Journal article about things worth checking out on the web. Not bad for an e-zine that’s been around less than a year. Here’s a big pat on the back for the crew at EDF and all of the effort they put into their publication–a truly 24/7/365 operation.

The Wall Street Journal article quotes Katie Rose’s story “The Milk Man’s Offer,” a quirky little piece of fiction that I thoroughly enjoyed.

My story, “The Weald Maiden’s Will,” appeared in Every Day Fiction on March 5. I’m proud to be a part of it.

Like Jeff Draper, another fantasy author is kindly posting a running review of The Return of the Sword as he reads the stories. If you’re inclined, swing on over to I Dream of Dragons, the website of fantasy author Bryan Hitchcock, to learn a little about the stories in the anthology and read his review of “What Heroes Leave Behind.”

And if you’re in to fiction about superheroes, you might want to check out Hitchcock’s story in Lords of Justice, by Carnifex Press.