Anthologies
Where are your heroes? Are they trapped inside the stories in your head? Are you ready to share them, to brag of them, to tell of their deeds and battles, their daring and sacrifice? Are you a storyteller ready to write the tales of your own heroes? Fantasy heroes endure. They are embedded in our cultural fabric, dwarfing other literary figures and the mere men and women of history. Achilles and Odysseus, Gilgamesh and Beowulf. King Arthur and Robin Hood, Macbeth and Sherlock Holmes, Conan and Luke Skywalker. They dominate our legends, and tower over popular culture. The stories we tell each other begin and end with fantasy heroes, and the 21st Century is as thoroughly captivated with them as ever. From Batman to Gandalf, Harry Potter to Tyrion Lannister, the heroes of fantasy speak to—and for—whole generations. But what makes a fantasy hero? How do the best writers create them, and bring them to life on the page? In WRITING FANTASY HEROES some of the most successful fantasy writers of our time—including Steven Erikson, Brandon Sanderson, Janet Morris, Cecelia Holland, Orson Scott Card, Paul Kearney, and Glen Cook—pull back the curtain to reveal the secrets of creating heroes that live and breathe, and steal readers' hearts. Whether you're an aspiring writer or simply a reader who loves great fantasy and strong characters, this book is for you.
Ghosts. Gaslight. Gears. Welcome to a wondrous age of steam where pirates, rust, and syphilis aren’t all you need to worry about. Ghosts abound! In this hissing and clanking steampunk anthology, there are moments that science just can’t explain. All the mechanical geniuses scratch their heads and whisper words of ghosts and powers, of spirits and demons. Possessed automatons take on lives of their own. Superstitious pilots take all necessary precautions. Avant-garde machinists harness the spirits to power their creations. Revenge-minded ghosts stalk haunted gasworks. This is a mechanized playground for the souls of the dead. Again and again, the spirit world proves itself inspiring and dangerous, useful and annoying. In rich steampunk worlds, chock full of gizmos and gadgets aplenty, these are the stories that go bump, clatter, boom in the night. Authors: Siobhan Carroll, Folly Blaine & Randy Henderson, Jessica Corra, Howard Andrew Jones, Emily C. Skaftun, Elsa S. Henry, Eddy Webb, Nayad Monroe, Jonah Buck, Erika Holt, Wendy Nikel, Parker Goodreau, Christopher Paul Carey, T. Mike McCurley, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Richard Dansky, Nick Mamatas, Spencer Ellsworth, Liane Merciel, Richard Pett, James Lowder, Cat Hellisen.
The Ghost Archipelago has returned. A vast island chain, covered in the ruins of ancient and otherworldly civilizations, the Archipelago appears every few centuries, far out in the southern ocean. At such times, pirates, adventurers, wizards, and legendary heroes all descend upon the islands in the hopes of finding lost treasures and powerful artefacts. A few, drawn by the blood of their ancestors, search for the fabled Crystal Pool, whose waters grant abilities far beyond those of normal men. It is only the bravest, however, who venture into the islands, for they are filled with numerous deadly threats. Cannibal tribes, sorcerous snake-men, and poisonous water-beasts all inhabit the island ruins, guarding their treasure hordes and setting traps for the unwary. This fiction anthology contains nine stories of adventure set in the Ghost Archipelago.
Pirates & Crusaders, ahoy! Hoist your banners, unsheathe your blades, kiss your crosses, and search for booty across the seas and the sands! More of the age of steel than shot and no fantastical elements, this is a lineup of the strongest of swashbuckling historical adventures. Gritty, dangerous, and bloody tales of the past, realistic without being nihilistic. The anthology kicks off with a rousing foreword by swashbuckling and sword-and-sorcery guru Howard Andrew Jones. This is followed by 3 sections of adventure: 7 tales each of pirates and crusaders, and 3 tales combining the two. Sections contain stories by current bestselling authors, up-and-coming authors, and classic tales from 1910. Epic verse and song round out each section of historical action. There's never been anything like this. It's a massive tome of piratical and crusading adventure you'll be delighted to read! Includes: Daniel Amatiello, Jennifer Rachel Baumer, Eadwine Brown, W.D. Clifton, Hermann Contractus of Reichenau, Commander E. Hamilton Currey, R.N., David R. Downing, Jeff Draper, Teel James Glenn, Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Howard Andrew Jones, L.E.L., Kate Martin, KT Morley, Alex Ness, Henry Ram, Daniel R. Robichaud, J. Stewart, Kate Dickinson Sweetser, Keith Taylor, Carl Walmsley, and C.L. Werner.
Join us for a feast! Step into a roadside diner run by witches. Attend a banquet with aliens who are as crass as they are brutal. Eat oysters on the half shell with a pair of conjurers, or scratch out a meal with warring pilots marooned on a desolate planet. Pity the ghost who must cook her way to freedom, and mourn with the warrior who seeks a final delicacy for his lost love. Search the far reaches of space for sustenance or descend into a hellscape of culinary horrors. In this volume, food is the star! Fantasy and science fiction authors Paige L. Christie, Diana A. Hart, A.L. Tompkins, Esther Friesner, Derrick Boden, Andy Duncan, Chaz Brenchley, Howard Andrew Jones, Mike Jack Stoumbos, R.S. Belcher, Mia Moss, Gini Koch, D.B. Jackson, Jason Palmatier, and Gabriela Santiago have prepared a GALACTIC STEW that will entice and tantalize, nourish the imagination, and sate the most ravenous of literary appetites. But beware! These dishes are not what they seem…
PRAISE FOR THE AUTHORS “The entertainment value, and the hints of even greater revelations about the past of the iconic characters, and the world, make me very interested in how Howard Andrew Jones continues the story.” — TOR “Kaaron Warren proves that horror fiction can do more than just deliver disturbing imagery and violence. It can also compel us to confront our own assumptions and moral principles, to look outside the ordinary.” — LOCUS “Lancelot Schaubert’s words have an immediacy, a potency, an intimacy that grab the reader by the collar and say, ‘Listen, this is important!’ Probing the bones and gristle of humanity, Lancelot’s subjects challenge, but also offer insights into redemption if only we will stop and pay attention.” — Erika Robuck, bestselling author of Hemingway’s Girl ABOUT: Once more, my friends and colleagues and I have banded together to compose literature connecting astronomy and mythology: to write Of Gods & Globes II. Each one of us chose a name that connected astronomy (science fiction) and mythology (fantasy) such as “Janus” and wrote forth. But why on Earth — or off Earth — would we do such a thing? Well for starters, in his introduction to Bernard Silvestrus’s Cosmographia, Winthrop Wetherbee III (which, let’s be honest, is a doozy of a name but PERFECT for anyone destined to study and teach Latin) said that the thinkers of the classical and middle ages offered up: The idea the events of earthly life were governed and predetermined by the orderly disposition and activity of the heavenly bodies and could, in part, be foreknown through the careful analysis of celestial phenomena… Adelhard of Bath, in the De eodem et diverso, extols the power of the Arts to guide the soul in its earthly journey; they teach her to recognize her special relation to the rest of creation, to know the nature and intuit the divine pattern of the universe. For the soul’s basic affinity is with the divine rationes of things… Man, like the universe, lives and moves through the interplay of rational and irrational forces… which evokes preoccupation with the archetypal implications of myth and the themes of classic literature. We had such a successful launch last time that we decided to come together and write even more stories around this theme. We have continuations on a couple of new universes, hilarious new additions, heartbreaking horror stories, and flirtatious little romps. In the spirit of drawing on themes of myth and classic literature and of the tidal influence of the constellations, I rounded up sci-fi and fantasy writers to write about cosmic influence. The fantasy writers took a more mythological approach, speaking of the symbolic (or perhaps godly) Mercury and Mars and Neptune. The sci-fi writers tell you what it’s like to live on Jupiter and Uranus. All of them, though, speak of the influence of what one writer called “the music of the spheres.” These are stories Of Gods and Globes. They’re quite the ride: I enjoy each of these stories differently. They made me laugh and cry and chilled me to the bone with terror and one of them made me long for a home that… well for a home I don’t think I’ve ever been to before. Come fly with us. Let’s fly. Let’s fly away. Or, if you prefer, to appeal from Sinatra to Sinatra: Fly me to the moon Let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like On Jupiter and Mars… Fill my heart with song And let me sing forevermore You are all I long for All I worship and adore… — Lancelot Schaubert Brooklyn, New York 2020
terra incognita : unknown territory: an unexplored country or field of knowledge —Merriam Webster You are holding a ticket in your hands. A ticket for a voyage of thrills, wonder, and discovery as seven of today's top fantasists, each one a master of Heroic Fantasy, transport you to lands beyond your imagination. Lands of fantasy and adventure. And the only passport needed is your imagination. David C. Smith's courageous rebels under the leadership of the undying warrior Akram must form an alliance with an ancient race to overthrow murderous usurpers, along with their necromantic masters, who are hellbent on destroying their kingdom in an insane attempt to conquer the world. Adrian Cole transports a group of explorers to a Lovecraftian netherworld of no return. Or is there, if one is courageous enough? S.E. Lindberg gives us a distant world where two alien sisters, who were created in the image of man, wage a war against each other to determine the future of their world. J. Thomas Howard reveals the harsh realities of ancient Eire, Samhain, and the war between the Fomorians and Tuatha Dé Danann. Milton Davis introduces us to a young man, barely past boyhood, who has to brave great dangers on his own to seek the help of ancient allies who may no longer exist. John C. Hocking regales with the plight of a young archivist who is forced at swordpoint to travel into a parallel world full of horrors from a time long forgotten. Howard Andrew Jones sets sail into adventure with a group of sea-going merchants and their passengers. Many of them are not who they seem to be and only reveal their true selves once a sunken kingdom from the bottom of the sea launches an attack against the travelers.
A brand new sword & sorcery short fiction magazine featuring brand new fiction, articles, interviews, reviews, and original illustrations! Learn more at www.newedgeswordandsorcery.com Stories include: The Curse of the Horsetail Banner by Dariel R.A. Quiogue The Ember Inside by Remco van Straten & Angeline B. Adams Old Moon Over Irukad by David C. Smith The Beast of the Shadow Gum Trees by T,K. Rex Vapors of Zinai by J.M. Clarke The Grief-Note of Vultures by Bryn Hammond Articles include: The Origin of the New Edge by Howard Andrew Jones C.L. Moore and Jirel of Joiry: The First Lady of Sword & Sorcery by Cora Buhlert Sword & Soul - An Interview with Milton Davis The Outsider in Sword & Sorcery by Brian Murphy Gender Performativity in Howard's "Sword Woman" by Nicole Emmelhainz The Obanaax and Other Tales of Heroes and Horrors, a review by Robin Marx What is New Edge Sword & Sorcery? by Oliver Brackenbury