The arrival of the electronic format of text and print on demand has allowed a flourishing of the small press. Niche genres that the Big 5 would not look at can be presented economically.
Savage Realms April 2024 is if I am correct, the 28th issue of the magazine. I salute their hard work the past three years. A friend of mine who published a very good non-fiction small press publication in the 00s said to me that “A magazine is a ravenous beast that has to be fed.”
This isusse is 72 pages in length; 5 x 8 inches in print form. There is a half page welcome from the editor.
“Tomb of the Old Master” by W. E. Wertenberger has two veterans of the (East) Roman Empire’s Varangian Guard stranded on the coast of North Africa. The have plans to get to Europe when the ship are on is taken by a massive black ship. The captives are taken to a land unknown to be slaves. There is a Cthulhu type creature there. This was one hallucigenic story.
“The Apiarist” by Damon Cairns is more in the Clark Ashton Smith/Tanith Lee side of fantasy. A sadistic duke gets him comeuppance from the son of his victims.
“A Payment in Plague” by Mario Caric has the investigation of a plague that has struck a village and enrirons after the death of a local hero.
Savage Realms has a mix of different sorts of stories. Luckily, no stories about getting in touch with your feelings which happens all to often.
Checking the ISFDB, Wertenberger and Caric are building bibliographies of their fiction. This appears to be Cairns first story.
There is something to be said for a pubication on the shorter side that you can knock off in a short amount of time.
Cost is $2.99 for e-text or $9.99 if you get the magazine in phyical print form.
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