New Release: Stars of the North
Sasha Witchblood is back in five new pulp fantasy fairy tales! Read More …
Robert E. Howard
Unlovely, Dark, and Deep
How I built the setting of The Sugar House, which is now also available for Nook. Read More …
The Sugar House
My new collection of pulp fantasy fairy tales has been released! Read More …
The laughter of heroes
Cavaliers of Mars is about the contrast between the sadness of a dying world and the frantic vitality of its last renaissance. So there’s a sense of melancholy to it, as well as a reckless energy and a sense of laughter at the morbid and absurd. That laughter is a trait of the better sort Read More …
Slim White Arms: Female Archetypes in Early Sword and Sorcery
Good, bad, and almost never ugly. Let’s talk about the agency and archetypes of women in early sword and sorcery. Read More …
The Encounter with the Uncanny
The encounter with the uncanny is a core device of sword and sorcery fiction. How does it show the shared heritage of swords with horror? Read More …
Where to start with Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Suggested reading for those new to Fritz Leiber’s most beloved heroes. Read More …
Swords Against Systems
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition: Finally, a D&D that does Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser right. Give me the jug, and I’ll give you the builds. Read More …
Anniversary of the Sack of Rome
Relevant to my last few entries, today is the anniversary of the sack of Rome by Alaric and the Visigoths. The Visigoths departed after their sack. Perhaps Conan would have been happier if he’d done the same thing. When King Numedides lay dead at my feet and I tore the crown from his gory head Read More …
Sword and sorcery monsters in gaming
Sword and sorcery monsters represent an encounter with the uncanny. Conan doesn’t typically fight through hordes of monsters the way he does hordes of men, nor do Clark Ashton Smith’s various heroes. Even where Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser confront monsters with steel, they only once or twice battle them in a horde. Elric is Read More …