Author Archives: Keith West

Report on Howard Days, Part 1: Thursday and Friday

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HDs2015 Long Banner SmallRobert E. Howard Days 2015 has come to an end.  And while I have enjoyed them all, this has probably been the one I’ve enjoyed the most.  There are a number of things that came together to make this one of the most enjoyable Howard Days for me.  The weather couldn’t have been better.  The high temperatures were in the low 90s, which means it was warm but not really hot, especially since there was a breeze and the humidity wasn’t too bad. Continue reading →

I am a Man; I’m not a Bot

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I couldn’t resist; the muse the Devil Vox Day my medication the Illuminati Tor Books made me write this:

I am a man; I’m not a bot,
Even though that’s what you thought.
You loudly yell that I am racist,
Such a statement has no basis.
That I discriminate by gender,
(For which your evidence is slender.)
And that word you use for “fear”,
I doubt your understanding’s clear.
But the part that’s most offensive,
and should make you apprehensive,
to neo-nazis you compare me,
and I might add, quite unfairly.
And so I’ll take my books by Tor,
And I’ll toss them out the door.

Blogging Conan: Rogues in the House

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Coming of ConanThe Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
Robert E. Howard
Paperback $18
Kindle $11.84  Nook $13.99

“Rogues in the House” may have been among the earlier tales of the wandering Cimmerian that Robert E. Howard wrote, but it is one of the best.  I reread it last night to get in the mood for Howard Days, and found it to be compelling and exciting, even though I knew everything that was going to happen.

Sometimes it’s good to go back and reread something when you know all the plot twists the author is going to throw at you.  Doing so give you a greater appreciation of the author’s skill and technique.  Note:  There will be spoilers. Continue reading →

Howard Days 2015 is Almost Upon Us

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Robert E. Howard fenceIt’s Tuesday evening as I write this and in 48 hours, I’ll be in Cross Plains for Howard Days 2015, which officially kicks off on Friday.  I’ll provide a report next week.  In the meantime, I thought I would inquire as to what any of you any of you might like me to pay particular attention to.  The theme this year is the relationship between Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft.

Anyway, if you can’t make it and like me to report on something in particular, please let me know.

Geez Lou-eez, Will the Stupidity Never Stop?

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idiot klubSo there’s this idiot individual who wrote this piece for The Guardian calling for a year in which no new books by men be published, only books by women.  (If you read through the entire piece, I suggest you invest in a platter of cheese first.  It will go well with all the whine.)  And I thought the Tempest in a Chamberpot proposal was ridiculous.

Apparently she’s really serious.  Continue reading →

It’s Time to Vote on the Awards Shortlist

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The awards I’m talking about, of course, are the David Gemmell Awards.  As I’m sure you know, there are three.  The Legend Award for the best novel of the year.  The Morningstar Award for best fantasy debut novel.  And the Ravenheart Award for best fantasy book cover.

abercrombie-half-a-king-203x300I’ll post the short lists below after a few comments.  I’m going to read as many of these as I can, especially among the Morningstar candidates (with one exception, which I’m not going to touch).

The Legend Award is another matter.  The reason is that most of the Legend nominees are parts of series, and they’re not the first installment.  The exception is Joe Abercrombie’s Half a King, which I started reading last night.  I intend to read some of the others, but I may not make it by the deadline as I haven’t read the books that precede them.

And regarding the other award that’s generating some attention, I’ll try to read as many of the nominees for that one as possible.  I’ll read all of the short fiction nominees (that I haven’t already read) and will blog about some of them.  The same is true for Best Related Work.  Again, with one exception, I’ll try to get to as many of the novel nominees as I can, although as soon as my attention starts to drift, I’ll move on.

Here are the Gemmell nominees.  Voting closes on July 17. Continue reading →

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Q24

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timthumb.phpAnd so we come to another issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. This was one of the strongest (and grimmest) issues I’ve seen in a while. There are three pieces of fiction along with two poems and a great illustration by Serbian artist Vuc Kostic.  His dark style is a perfect fit for the stories contained herein. Continue reading →

Envisioning the Feminine Future

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Feminine FutureThe Feminine Future: Early Science Fiction by Women Writers
Mike Ashley
Dover Thrift Editions
ebook and print both $4.50
Amazon B&N

So in a previous post, I wrote about forgotten women writers from the early days of the science fiction pulps.  While I was reading Partners in Wonder (the book under discussion in that post), I came across a review of The Feminine Future.  Several of the stories in the latter were specifically singled out by Eric Leif Davin in the former.

I immediately picked it up.  It didn’t cover quite the same ground as Partners in Wonder, which looked at women authors in the early pulps.  In other words, the time period it was concerned with began in 1926, when Hugo Gernsback launched the first pulp devoted entirely to science fiction, Amazing Stories.

Science fiction had of course existed long before then, although it was called scientific romance.  (I find it interesting that scientific romances were considered respectable, science fiction was, and at times still is, viewed as trash.)  Mike Ashley doesn’t confine himself to the pulp era.  He gathers stories from women writers going back to the popular fiction magazines of the late 1800s.

Here’s what the book includes: Continue reading →

RIP, Tanith Lee (1947-2015)

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Tanith LeeFantasy author Tanith Lee passed away on Sunday, May 24 at the age of 67.

Lee was the author of a number of works, many containing a strong erotic component.  Her works include The Birthgrave Trilogy, The Flat Earth Series, The Wars of Vis, Red as Blood or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer, The Secret Books of Venus and many other works.   Her writing is characterized by lush, descriptive prose.  Lee’s work has won both the British Fantasy Award (Death’s Master, 1983) and the World Fantasy Award (“The gorgon”, 1983; “Elle Est Trois, (La Mort)”, 1984).  In 2013 Tanith Lee was awarded the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award.