Monthly Archives: August 2018

August of Alderdice: The Slayer

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?

16 Replies

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”

16 Replies

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

2 Replies

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

2 Replies

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

4 Replies

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

10 Replies

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 →

Pre-Tolkien Fantasy: H. P. Lovecraft in Observance of His Birthday

8 Replies

H. P. Lovecraft

I’d intended to post my next review for the Pre-Tolkien Fantasy Challenge over the weekend, but I was a lazy bum. Since today is Lovecraft’s birthday (also my mother-in-law’s), I postponed that post to discuss Lovecraft and Tolkien in general terms.

First, their similarities. They are arguably the two most influential writers of the fantastic of the previous century. Their influence is considerable decades after their deaths. Much of what is written in fantasy today, especially in the epic fantasy, multiple volume “trilogy” format is a reaction/rebellion to Tolkien. Much Lovecraftian fiction is in reaction to Lovecraft’s work, whether stylistically or in response to some attitude Lovecraft held. Continue reading →

A Look at Monsters by James Alderdice

Pre-Tolkien Fantasy: “The Folk of the Mountain Door” by William Morris

4 Replies

Tales Before Tolkien
Douglas A. Anderson, ed.
trade paperback $16
ebook $4.99

Yeah, okay, this may be cheating a bit, but if we’re going to be looking at stories that preceded The Lord of the Rings and may have inspired Tolkien, why not start here?

I’m going to look at two stories in this book, one by William Morris and the other by H. Rider Haggard in an upcoming post. For the third, I’ll read something from another source by a different author. There’s been a lot of interest in Lord Dunsany, so I’ll probably let others focus on his stories.

For this post, I’m going to look at a piece of short fiction by William Morris, “The Folk of the Mountain Door”. There will be minor spoilers. Continue reading →

Adventures Fantastic

Reviews, Views, & Occasional News