A Look at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly 37

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It’s been out for a while, but some of you may have missed it.  The latest issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly has a solid lineup of great fiction.

Before we get to that, though. allow me remind you that HFQ has a Patreon page where you can support the publication.  If you enjoy what you find there, show them a little tangible appreciation.

Now on to the fiction.

The first story is “Paladin of Golata” by P. Djeli Clark.  Teffe is an orphan who survives by scavenging the dead on battlefields.  One day he chances upon a dying paladin who has one final battle to fight.  Teffe becomes a reluctant recruit and discovers there’s a life possible for him beyond his wildest dreams.

Christopher Chupik is a writer to watch.  His story here, “The Forest of Bones“, concerns a wandering knight who has to face a giant protected by sorcery who is preying on the nearby countryside.  Solid adventure fantasy about a hero who isn’t afraid to put himself at risk to protect others.

In “The Blitz of Din Barham“, Cameron Johnston gives us dragons.  Not just one or two, but a whole family of them intent on devastating a city.  When the all the practitioners of magic fail to come up with a successful strategy, it falls to the apprentice of one to think outside the box.

Adrian Simmons gives us “What Clev Yun Would Want to Tell”.  This is a little different than what we usually see in HFQ, but it packs a powerful punch about people who aren’t willing to change in order to survive.

There are also poems by Adele Gardner, David Barber, and Ngo Binh Anh Khoa.

All in all, a solid issue of fantasy entertainment.

Sail Before The Devil’s Wind

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The Devil’s Wind
Steve Goble
Seventh Street Books
print $15.99
ebook $9.99

I’d like to thank Seventh Street Books for sending me the review copy of this novel.

About this time last year, Steve Goble’s first novel, The Bloody Black Flag, hit shelves.  I loved it.  Spider John is back, and if anything, The Devil’s Wind is better than The Bloody Black Flag.

Here’s the setup.  Spider John and the few surviving members of the crew we met in The Bloody Flag are trying to escape Jamaica. Spider John just wants to return to Nantuckett and his wife and son, whom he hasn’t seen in about eight years.  (I have to wonder what he will find if/when he manages to make it back.  Will she have been faithfully waiting for him to return, or will she have assumed he either died at sea or abandoned them and consequently remarried?  We’ll have to wait and see.)

Spider John and his friends sign on to a merchant ship heading where they want to go.  He thinks he’s through with life on the account.  Sadly, life on the account isn’t through with him.  It isn’t long before trouble rears its head. Continue reading →

A Plethora of Birthdays

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This will be a short post, as I am visiting family. They are between internet providers and won’t get the bew service until Tuesday. I’m typing this on my phone, which is a bit slow. I’ll add more photos and illustrations and maybe a liyttle more biographical detail when I return from my wanderings in the cyber wilderness. I’d also like to thank Deuce Richardson for the heads-up on the birthdays, as I have been distracted with travel today.

A number of my favorite writers were born today, September 1.

First, one of the greatest, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Born in 1875, Burroughs created some of the most iconic characters in modern literature, including Tarzan and John Carter. Continue reading →

August of Alderdice: The Slayer

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The Slayer
James Alderdice
print $9.99
ebook $2.99

Robert E. Howard wrote a handful of straight historical yarns before he decided to rewrite history in the guise of fantasy.  The Slayer is in much the same vein as Howard’s historicals, although there’s a bit of fantasy involved in some of them.  This a collection contains four historical fantasy stories, the two longest centered around the the Fourth Crusade.  The central character is a Viking mercenary named Tyr who has taken up service on the side of the Crusaders.  The other two tales take place later in his life.

In “The Dogs of War”, Tyr helps breach the outer defenses of Constantinople.  In “Whispers of the Goddess”, he’s inside the walls on a mission from his employer, only to get caught up in machinations both human and divine.  “Hel Awaits” concerns vengeance against a caliph and a rescue from a harem.  “Sailing to Valhalla” takes place after Tyr has settled down and become a father and is trying to establish his own homestead.

Alderdice (AKA David J. West) handles the characters and historical events in a way that makes it look easy.  The combat is bloody and visceral.  Most of the supporting cast in the stories dealing with Constantinople are actual historical figures.  The dialogue comes across as natural and believable, unlike in some novels where the character seem to be reading off of a script.

The Slayer isn’t a long book, but it’s a good collection that should appeal to all fans of heroic fantasy and historical fiction.  I haven’t seen many stories about the Crusades lately, and you can never have too many Viking books.  Check this one out.

You’re Offended?

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I’m gonna rant.

There was a post the other day that I’m not going to link to because I don’t want to give the site the clicks.  Fortunately someone archived it.

TL;DR version:

The author, one Matt Mikalatos, laments that rereading a childhood favorite (The Once and Future King by T. H. White) didn’t live up to his expectations, specifically there were some things said that he found to be racially insensitive.  I’ve never read the book, so I can’t say for sure.  He’s specific enough that I’m willing to give him the benefit of doubt. Continue reading →

Pre-Tolkien Fantasy: “Black Heart and White Heart: A Zulu Idyll”

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Tales Before Tolkien
Douglas A. Anderson, ed.
Print $16.00
Ebook $4.99

Deuce Richardson has been encouraging me to read H. Rider Haggard for quite a while.  I’ve been intending to, and this story provided me with the perfect chance.

This story is more historical than fantasy, but there are some fantastic elements.  It takes place just before the Zulu uprising of January 1879.  Philip Hadden is a ne’er-do-well who is working as a trader.  When he kills a man in a fight, he is forced to flee into Zulu territory.

This isn’t the wisest of moves. Continue reading →

Back to the Grindstone

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Classes start tomorrow.  I’ve spent much of the last week trying to get things organized. We had a faculty member come down with a health issue that will prevent him from teaching this semester.  We were already understaffed.  I get to teach an additional class.  (I’m being compensated, and it will let me try some changes we’re wanting to make with a small group before implementing them on a large scale.)

I answer directly to the department chair.  He was recently promoted to associate dean.  I’ll find out who my new boss is sometime tomorrow when the interim is announced.

There’s been several of types of drama I won’t go into except to say some of the biggest prima donnas and divas aren’t in the entertainment industry.  They’re in academia.

Ilya Repin, Barge Haulers on the Volga, 1870-1873

Hopefully, this semester won’t feel like I’m one of the  Volga Boatmen.

I’ve done almost no writing for the past five months.  I’ve found I need a pretty consistent schedule to stay productive.  I intend to eat better, exercise more, and go to bed earlier.  Part of the problem has been that by the time I get a few free minutes to write, it’s so late, I can hardly put two words together.  My son will have band until 6:00 after school (if they get out on time, which isn’t a guarantee). Rather than taking him home and then back in the evening, I’ll just stay at work until time to pick him up.  Then I’m home for the evening most nights.  This will help.  I’ve got several short novels and novellas in various stages of completion I want to try to finish up and publish this fall.

As for the blog, I’ll try to post something every week.  I’ll also try not to let it turn into a birthday blog, although I’ll keep doing those posts.  I’m not going to accept many requests to review things.  That has started to look like work.  I’ll post about things I’ve read, although they’ll be mini reviews more than full length reviews.  And occasionally I’ll rant about something stupid that happens in the field.

So that’s how things stand and what I’m planning on doing for the next few months.

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly Patreon

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Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is running a Patreon.If you’ve been a reader of this blog for very long, you know I review the publication on a regular basis.  In fact, their new issue recently dropped, and I’ve got a review planned to run later in the week.  (Adrian, I apologize for not getting it up sooner.  Things have been…interesting.  But that’s the subject of tomorrow’s post.)

When you think about it, HFQ has really pulled off something amazing.  For over a decade now, they’ve provided three stories plus poetry and art every quarter.  If they’ve missed an issue, I’m not aware of it.

And the really amazing thing is that they’ve done it for free.  All the issues are archived.  They don’t charge a thing.  I wish they would make ebook editions available so that I could download them to whichever ereader I’m using.  I would gladly pay for such a thing.

If you enjoy HFQ, consider pledging.  If the enjoyment you get from reading has value to you, show that in a tangible way.

 

Bea Mahaffey at 98

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Eric Frank Russell and Bea Mahaffey. Photo by Norman Shorrock.

Bea Mahaffey was born on August 24, 1926.  She passes away in 1987.  Ms. Mahaffey was active in early fandom and was an assistant editor for Ray Palmer after he left Amazing Stories to from Clark Publications.

I realize it may come as a shock to some people that there were female editors in the early 50s.   They seem to think women didn’t become involved in science fiction and fantasy and smash The Patriarchy until [insert arbitrary recent date here].  I spoke to that issue in this post. Not that it did a lot of good.  Some people just don’t listen.  Not regular readers of this blog, of course.  They’re on top of things.

Mahaffey worked with Palmer on Other Worlds, where she is credited as being the person who actually purchased Eric Frank Russell’s classic story “Dear Devil”.  If she had done nothing else in the field, she should be remembered for this.  Mahaffey is also credited as being co-editor with Palmer on Science Stories, Universe Science Fiction, and Mystic Magazine.  Financial considerations forced Palmer to end her employment in 1956.

Bea Mahaffey was quite popular with the male fans of the day.  Legend has it that both male and female attendance at fan gatherings increased when she was there.  The men attended to keep an eye on Bea, and their wives attended to keep an eye on them.  That may or may not be true, but I’m inclined to think it is to at least some extent.  Mike Resnick and Barry Malzberg got in trouble a few years ago when they wrote favorably about Bea Mahaffey’s looks in the SFWA Bulletin.  Personally, I think beauty and achievement should be recognized.

In conclusion, Bea Mahaffey had a impact on the field of the fantastic.

Ray Bradbury at 98

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On this date in 1920, August 22, Ray Bradbury was born.  He was one of the greatest writers of the fantastic of the last 100 years.

I came to Bradbury early.  He was one of the first adult writers I read.  When I was in 5th grade, we had a guest in my reading class one day.  The man was there to read us a Bradbury story.  He described Bradbury as a science fiction writer but  then went on to tell us that what he was going to read wasn’t science fiction.  He read “The Screaming Woman” to us.  Continue reading →