Author Archives: Keith West

A Review of The Last Great Hero: The Age of Heroes

The Last Great Hero: The Age of Heroes
Scott J. Robinson
ebook, 184 pages, $2.99 Amazon Smashwords

I’d like to start this review by thanking Scott Robinson for the review copy of The Age of Heroes. This novel was different from your typical fantasy, and that’s a good thing. I have to wonder if the fact that the author is from Australia has something to do with that. The Australian authors I’ve read in the last year or so have been doing some things that I find refreshing and different from what I’ve seen from American and British authors.

Rawk is a hero, the greatest. He’s 55 years old, and he’s about to find out that it’s time to grow up. Over the course of a little more than a week, Rawk discovers that maybe being the greatest living hero isn’t such a good thing, especially if he wants to continue the living part. Continue reading →

A Saint Patrick’s Day Observance, Robert E. Howard Style

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Swords of the North
Robert E. Howard
The Robert E. Howard Foundation Press
$50 nonmember, $45 members

Robert E. Howard was enamored of the Celts, so I thought I would look at a pair of stories featuring his Irish pirate, Cormac Mac Art. Cormac is an Irishman who has been banished from the Emerald Isle. He’s thrown his lot in with a group of Vikings led by Wulfhere, a giant of a man. Cormac resembles a Conan prototype in the way he is described. He’s got the haircut, and whereas the rest of the Norsemen are bearded, or at least mustached, Cormac is clean shaven.

These two stories are straight historical fiction without any fantastic elements. They’re still solid pieces of writing, full of battle and carnage, with a few twists thrown in. Continue reading →

RIP Sir Terry Pratchett (1948-2015)

Weirdbook Press Release and Cover Reveal

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Weirdbook editor Douglas Draa has kindly sent me the press release announcing the revival of Weirdbook along with a copy the cover of the next issue, the first under his editorship. He was fortunate enough to acquire an unpublished piece of art by Stephen Fabian. That’s it on the right.

The press release is below. Some of you will be glad to know the magazine is open to submissions.

Weirdbook Press Release

After a more than 17 year hiatus, Weirdbook is returning!

David A. Riley and Douglas Draa are, under Paul Ganley’s stewardship, reviving the legendary magazine.

Their intention is to offer the finest in Weird, Horror, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Sword Sorcery, and even odd fiction.

The debut issue #31 will appear in August 2015.

In keeping with Weirdbook’s long tradition, the first revival issue will present a never before published cover by none other than Mr. Stephen Fabian himself.

Submissions are now open!

http://weirdbook-magazine.com/submissions/

http://weirdbookmagazine.blogspot.de/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Weirdbook-Magazine/1404780626497530

David A. Riley: Publisher and Senior Editor
Douglas Draa: Managing and Fiction Editor
Paul Ganley: Editor emeritus
David A. Riley is a Horror author and publisher and Douglas Draa is an author and former on-line editor for Weird Tales Magazine.

Weirdbook is Back!

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Douglas Draa (formerly of Weird Tales) announced yesterday that Weirdbook is returning. Weirdbook was an annual publication which ran from 1968 to 1997. The artists and writers who appeared there reads like a who’s who of fantasy and horror writers and artists of the late 20th century.

Draa will be the fiction and managing editor and David A. Riley will be the senior editor and publisher. Draa and Riley have gotten the blessing Weirdbook founder Paul Ganley for the relaunch.

Here’s what Draa had to say about the editorial policy:

As far as content goes, we plan on offering the best genre fiction available. This includes weird, horror, weird SF, dark fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, and everything in between.

Our goal is to ENTERTAIN and not to impress the critics.

Now a magazine with an editorial policy like that is one I can get behind.

Weirdbook‘s blog is here and Facebook page is here. I don’t know when Weirdbook will be open to submissions, but I’ll post an announcement when it is.

The first post on the blog is entitled “The Start of Something Beautiful: Weirdbook is back.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Lovecraft Letter to Publisher of Weird Tales

Larry Niven Named SFWA Grand Master

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And about time, too. Niven is one of the most influential authors of science fiction and fantasy of the last century. He’s written or cowritten such classics as Ringworld and The Mote in God’s Eye. My most recent reviews of his books are The Goliath Stone with Matthew Joseph Harrington (review here) and Bowl of Heaven with Gregory Benford (review here; really need to read Shipstar).

Niven will be presented with the Award at the Nebula Awards Banquet this Junes. For more details, the SFWA press release is here.

Adventures Fantastic would like to offer Mr. Niven congratulations on being named a Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master. Well done, sir. Well done.

Dark Screams Volume 2 is a Solid Horror Anthology

A Review of “The Blood Month” by Paul Finch

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Medi-Evil Book 1
Paul Finch
Brentwood Press
ebook $2.99 Kindle
B&N doesn’t show a listing of the book, even though I bought my copy through them.

So yesterday Paul McNamee posted about a short story by Paul Finch, “Damned Ranker.” I’ve got the anthology it appeared in (somewhere) but haven’t read it. I intended to, but ended up reading something else by Finch. In the conversation Paul and I had in his comments, he mentioned he’d like to see more historical fiction by him.

Which brought me to Darker Ages. It’s a small hardcover collection of two historical fantasy novellas, published in 2004 by Sarob Press. It’s long out of print. I don’t recall where I picked my copy up, but I know it was an intentional purchase. I’d read After Shocks, Finch’s first collection of ghost stories from Ash-Tree Press. (I reviewed a story from his second collection.)

Darker Ages looked especially intriguing, and I’m not sure why I didn’t read it when I bought it, but for some reason I didn’t. The book ended up on a shelf out of the way. I decided to read the first story, “The Blood Month”, which has since been reprinted in Medi-Evil Book 1.

This is a viking story with a surprising depth to it. It opens with King Olaf Haraldsson’s defeat at the Battle of Stiklestad. Finch does a great job describing the battle. His descriptions of combat reminded me a little of Robert E. Howard’s. Continue reading →

Howard and Lovecraft Letters A Means to Freedom Out of Print Tomorrow

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Hippocampus Press sent out an email yesterday saying that the last day to purchase A Means to Freedom, the collected correspondence of H. P. Lovercraft and Robert E. Howard will be tomorrow. After that, licensing agreements expire, and the book will be out of print and available only on the secondary market. Where it will be much more expensive. Here’s what they said.

Due to low stock and the end of our license term, the last day to purchase A MEANS TO FREEDOM: THE LETTERS OF H. P. LOVECRAFT AND ROBERT E. HOWARD will be Saturday, February 28th. After that date, this work will only be available on the secondary market, and not from Hippocampus Press. It’s been a good run and we have probably reached the intended audience, so a future reprint is unlikely.

So if you were planning on buying a copy, act fast. Or be prepared to shell out the bucks later.