Sensor Sweep: Babylon-5, Beowulf, Mirkwood Manual, A. E. van Vogt
Monday , 18, September 2023 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentMyth (Dark Worlds Quarterly): Whether you call him Siegfried (in the German The Nibelungenlied) or Sigurd (the Völsunga saga, and the Poetic Edda), it doesn’t really matter. He fights the dragon Fafnir and wins. It is one of the classic myths that lies behind much of Sword & Sorcery. In the original tale, Siegfried is raised by the dwarf smith, Mime, and later slays the dragon. Bathing in its blood, he becomes impenetrable.
Fantasy (Sprague de Camp Fan): This is the third Brandon Sanderson novel
I’ve reviewed here. I feel a bit guilty (however minutely) in promoting him instead of the more struggling authors I see posting on Facebook pages that I’m a member of. But, dammit, Warbreaker is a great read and REH fans need to know that!
Weird Tales (Tellers of Weird Tales): Although he did not receive credit in the table of contents, Clark Ashton Smith had, in the issue of July/August 1923, the first verse in Weird Tales. The first of his two poems in that issue is entitled “The Red Moon.” You will find it on page 48. Read More
Back around 1997 or 1998, Howard A. Jones contacted me on the internet. I was the official editor of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association at the time. People would seek me out on how I could help them sell their Conan pastiche novel to Tor Books or get on the syndicated Conan T.V. show of the time.
Howard was a pleasant surprise as he was (probably still is) the world’s greatest Harold Lamb fan. At the time he told me he wanted to do for Harold Lamb what Glenn Lord had done for Robert E. Howard. Howard A. Jones managed to get Lamb back into print with University of Nebraska Press, Bison Books around fifteen years ago. Get yourself a copy of Swords From the West by Harold Lamb and read it.
He has become a published writer with three Pathfinder novels, the Ring Sword Trilogy, and two novels and a collection in the “Chronicle of Sword and Sand” series. Read More
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 16 September 2023
Saturday , 16, September 2023 Uncategorized 1 CommentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
Cirsova #16 / Fall 2023 – edited by P. Alexander
Tales of heroic adventure and daring suspense that include:
Krallenburg is beset by a werewolf! Can witchhunter Friedrich Rosch stop the monstrous curse before the town succumbs to siege by Protestant mercenaries!?
Kat has a daring plan to trap Rhygir’s forces, baiting them into a bend in the river where they themselves risk being cut off! Can Kat and Mangos hold their lines and catch Rhygir outside of Alness before his reinforcements are able to arrive?!
Jesus Dunn Jr. plans to do away with his abusive father… And there are no wit-nesses, except for the strange Goth girl who has started following him around!
In a ghoulish tale that drives to madness, the blasphemous corpse wizard Lord Tryphon, cheater of death, must make his grim way to the revelry of Dionysus!
…and more!
Deadman Walking – C. B. Titus
In the wasteland, you do whatever you can to survive…
Even after the bombs fell, even after countries unleashed weapons beyond imagination on one another, even after lawlessness became the norm, people still expect their mail.
As a deadman, I’m uniquely suited to deliver it.
Rads don’t bother me, and people who try to hurt me typically wind up dead. Sure, humans may not like dealing with a face like mine, but hey, it’s not like you’ve got many options here in the wastes.
Now in the middle of my route I’ve come upon a new Job, and maybe the opportunity to start thriving instead of surviving.
Galaxy Unstable (Forgotten Galaxy #2) – M. R. Forbes
Left stranded, his starship’s life support failing, Caleb initiates a distress signal, hoping that help will arrive before his time is up. Only the response to his plea isn’t what he had in mind…
Assuming command of an infamous pirate vessel, Caleb sets his sights on shaping the unruly and unpredictable crew into a skilled fighting force. It won’t be easy, but if Caleb wants to prevent the Legion from cementing their tyrannical grip on the galaxy, he’ll need to knuckle up, double down, and risk everything to make it happen.
Or see humanity enslaved.
Forever. Read More
Sensor Sweep: Godzilla, Thane, Barry Sadler, Jack Williamson
Monday , 11, September 2023 Sensor Sweep 2 CommentsRPG (Arbiter of Worlds): This week marks the 24th episode of my series of instructional videos about how to be a better gamemaster. In this week’s video, I discuss how to mash up your favorite RPG system with another system to make a unique hybrid game. Car Wars + Traveller yields Driver. Cyberpunk + Runequest yields Runepunk. It’s time to smash the system!
H. P. Lovecraft (Giant Freakin Robot): Horror has proven to be one of
Hollywood’s most profitable genres, and every year, a new low-budget film comes out and dominates the box office for weeks, if not months, at a time. A major, big-budget H.P. Lovecraft production has yet to happen, even though Cthulhu is one of pop culture’s most popular monsters, so what’s the problem?
Cinema (Godzilla Movies): As we await the new trailer for Godzilla Minus One (2023), dropping tonight, the teaser for the trailer revealed some interesting hints at the movie’s story. Here’s some of the biggest reveals so far: 1947? A message to the Prime Minister of Japan is dated, “10 February, 1947.” Although we’ve known for some time that the film would take place immediately after the post-war in the late 1940s, this is the first time we’ve been given a definitive year as to when the film takes place. Read More
7th Century Britain is not your normal setting for an historical novel. A. B. Higginson’s Wulfhere is the only one I can think of. Wulfhere was a five part serial in the pulp magazine Adventure in mid-1920.
Higginson was a Canadian with a military background. Wulfhere was his only published work. Sort of like Arthur A. Nelson, another writer who had one novel in Adventure, the sublime lost Viking city in Africa Wings of Danger.
Wulfhere begins with three men in a snowstorm coming across a hut inhabited by an old man. He is Edbert, of the royal family of East Anglia. He tells the travelers his tale while they are snowed in. Read More
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 8 September, 2023
Saturday , 9, September 2023 Uncategorized Leave a commentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
Combat Frame XSeed Illustrated Tech Guide II – Brian Neimeier
Space is a graveyard
Meet the advanced war machines fighting for the fate of Earth!
Get the official specs on every Ynzu War era CF, plus fighters, ships, and more!
Learn the stories behind the mechs and pilots of the post-future!
See your favorite combat frames illustrated in gorgeous full color!
Access top secret weapon intel you won’t find anywhere else!
Put the secrets of every UCP, Ynzu, and PAX mech right at your fingertips.
Read the tech guide now!
Gemini Outsider (Gemini Man #3) – J. D. Cowan and Thomas Plutarch
Set in the world of Heroes Unleashed, and as relayed by Thomas Plutarch, this is the story of the Gemini Man! Join Matthew White and Jason Vermilion as they are given ancient artifacts that thrust them into the world of heroes. Now they must traverse unfamiliar worlds, fight uncompromising villains, and face magic of the like no one has yet seen before. This is the story of Castor and Pollux, the two warriors who would become the Gemini Man!
Matthew and Jason have finally escaped the forces on their tail. But all is not what it seems in the quaint town of Riverview. Hidden monsters and psycho killers emerge from the shadows to drag them back into the void. A madman closes in! But can they even fight back without their powers?
Guardians of the Twilight Lands (Books of Unexpected Enlightenment #6) – L. Jagi Lamplighter
An old enemy returns!
With the Heer of Dunderberg dead, Rachel Griffin is determined to save her beloved Roanoke Academy before time runs out, but to do this, a new covenant must be forged with the island’s fairies. On top of this, an old enemy has escaped and might reappear any moment
Rachel has learned not to wish on stars, but what should she do when she yearns for help? She is troubled by other questions, too: Where do the dead go? What became of her beloved late grandfather? Most annoying of all, with such a wonderful boyfriend, how can she be in love with two boys?
As her fourteenth birthday approaches, the answer to these questions awaits her, along with wonders such as she has never seen.
But there are terrible things ahead, too.
Hear, O Earth! (A Prayer for Earthrise #1) – Daniel Arenson
They came from beyond.
From beyond the galaxy. From beyond human understanding. They came with one mission.
To kill us all.
Some call them aliens. Others call them gods. Their tentacles grip worlds. Their malice destroys civilizations. They’ve crushed a million planets.
And now they crave Earth.
Marco and Addy, veterans of the Alien Wars, are retired. They fought for many years. They saved Earth many times. Now they’re raising their children in a peaceful forest. They’ve earned this peace.
But Earth needs them. More than ever.
Because a war is coming. A war unlike any before. A war that can devour our very galaxy.
The enemy is almost here.
From the shadows of despair, heroes will rise. Heroes will sound the cry of our world, the prayer of our people. “Hear, O Earth! We will live!” Read More
This is a guest post from Jared:
Outlaws of the Marsh is one of four classic Chinese epics. The most famous of these four epics is probably Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. Numerous international video games are based on this novel about the tripartite civil war that ended the Han dynasty. A runner-up to Three Kingdoms (as it is also called) is Journey to the West, featuring Sun Wukong, the monkey king. Numerous movies and television series are based on this epic some of which can be found on several streaming services like Amazon Prime and Hulu. The least famous of the epics is Dream of Red Chamber, a family saga about a noble Chinese family. Outlaws of the Marsh, despite the lack of international fame, remains a Chinese favorite that readers of standard historical fiction would enjoy for many reasons. Read More
Sensor Sweep: Lawrence Watt-Evans, Dax the Damned, Harold Lamb, Companion Rules
Monday , 4, September 2023 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentTolkien (Quillette): Fantasy is more popular than ever, and this is the direct consequence of Tolkien’s success. But the genre has survived by adapting, and in an age of secularism, that process has involved evaporating the religious themes Tolkien cared about so deeply.
Pulp (Pulp Flakes): Robert Reeves, the author of the Cellini Smith stories in
Black Mask, is a mysterious character. The veil of mystery around Reeves starts with his life. He seems to appear out of nowhere in the magazines, showing no evidence of newspaper work or other professions connected to the publishing business. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why did he stop writing so soon?
Fiction (Ken Lizzi): It was the Darrell K. Sweet cover that lured me to the first book, The Lure of the Basilisk. This introduced me to the world of Lawrence Watt-Evans’ The Lords of Dûs tetralogy and his unique character, Garth the Overman. The overmen were, it seems, magically created genetic mutations of men, made larger, stronger, less emotional, and with certain other physical traits including a second opposable thumb, thicker skin, and Halloween mask facial features. Read More
Charles Hoffman has been one of the most perceptive writers on Robert E. Howard’s fiction. His “Conan the Existentialist” has been reprinted three times after its original appearance in Amra #61 in 1974. He has had non-fiction pieces in The Dark Man, Crypt of Cthulhu, Spectrum, The Cimmerian, and The Robert E. Howard Reader.
He co-wrote with Marc Cerasini The Starmont Reader’s Guide to Robert E. Howard in 1986, expanded as Robert E. Howard: A Closer Look. That book had a profound influence on me. Charles Hoffman is always able to find something new when he looks at Howard, Lovecraft, or horror fiction.
He has a new collection of essays: Beyond the Black Stranger and Others. New essays on Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft. Read More
Blog Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 1 September, 2023
Saturday , 2, September 2023 Uncategorized Leave a commentEvery week, the Castalia House Blog spotlights some of the many new releases in independent, pulp, and web novel-influenced science fiction and fantasy.
Before Us (The Abyss #2) – Nathan Hystad
They came from below but were they also here Before Us?
Wyatt survived the initial destruction, but he’s lost someone important to him. While he fights to distract himself from harsh realities, he ventures for the rendezvous point, eager to reconnect with his past.
Blaze and his son, Luke, travel south, deeper into Mexico, in an effort to shut the remaining Rings off at the Nu-En facility. But Alan’s odd behavior and sordid past leave many questions unanswered.
Luna discovers just how strong she can be, and treks across the deadly country with her new friend. While reluctant to trust anyone, Luna finds she has no choice.
BRASS, Inc. (The Phoenix Initiative #7) – William S. Frisbee
Rick Walker is a veteran, but he’s also the newest scout sniper with BRASS, Inc., the finest scout sniper company in the Mercenary Guild. They infiltrate undetected to identify and terminate targets, then exfiltrate after delivering surgical destruction. Assault troopers love to have them paving the way and clearing obstacles because BRASS gives them the edge.
When Ben’s Bravos took on the mission to rescue a scientist held in a jungle fortress, therefore, there was only one company to call to scout the objective—BRASS, Inc. Though newly assembled, Rick’s team was hired to provide the recon and firepower needed to ensure the Bravos could pull off their seemingly impossible mission.
To do that, though, Rick will have to show he has what it takes, even though everyone—including the woman he loves—expects him to fail. And when everything starts to go wrong, and it appears the Bravos have a traitor in their ranks, he finds himself the only one at the objective. And if he doesn’t succeed, everyone—including himself—is going to die.
Just another day as a scout sniper. BRASS (Balls) Included.
Light Unto Another World #9 – Yakov Merkin
In wartime, where great powers are concerned, there are often dark secrets, buried just below the surface.
Uncovering those secrets is important, but it is often dangerous, in more than one way.
Especially when those secrets are directly related to your own past.
Fresh off just barely turning a devious enemy plot on its head, Uriel and his team are back in action.
However, almost immediately, a new wrinkle is thrown their way, when they discover a girl who was altered and turned into a shapeshifter, just like Setzell.
While Setzell is overjoyed to find someone else like her, the new arrival sets off a chain of events that will see Uriel and his team facing down their vilest foes yet, with the lives of people they care about on the line.
The Thracians were one of the great barbarian peoples of ancient history. The Greeks lived in fear of invading hordes of Thracian warriors. Later, they were the backbone of Macedonian and other Hellenistic monarchies armies. Herod of Judea employed them. Spartacus was a Thracian.
Chris Webber’s The Gods of Battle (Pen & Sword, 2011) is an examination of the Thracians at war 1500 B.C. to AD 150. We know so little about the Thracians including their language. Everything written about them were by outsiders.
Webber reconstructs the Thracians at war. Their society has been described more than once as being like Heroic Era Greece. Thrace was never unified but remained divided under various tribes. The Odrysai did briefly have a large state that is the closest thing to the unified Thrace. Read More