Відео

Grew up with these books. Of all the cities of Faërun, I feel a strong kinship with the people of Phlan. To this day, I still remember the passage where the demon had taken the shape of a bard to lure the people to their doom and everyone followed him. But when the procession arrived at the gates of Phlan, Tarl Desanea stood between them and the closed doors and made clear that no one would cross them. Very powerful and evocative writing imo.

How do you read so many books so fast dayum

👍🏼

They should never have tried to stretch this out into a trilogy.

Obligatory comment* -T

Just realizing how far behind I am on your videos. 😅 -T

When you're done with Eaters of the Dead, you need to watch The 13th Warrior, if you haven't yet.

I've just revisited this old favourite as well. I really enjoyed EC's take on the central conflict - in another author's hands, the noble savages trope would surely have felt stale, but here it somehow works, and the humans aren't really demonised either. The fortuitous appearance of Arilyn's ancestor seemed a bit too contrived, though. Also, maybe it's just me but I can't make out at all what you're saying about "eldritch" around 3:33.

This seems written for today!

This sounds intriguing! Thanks for sharing

I love the Dark Sun setting but I DNF'd the series after this book. Great review and I agree completely.

It's a shame most academics have lost their creativity 😢. I think I remember you mentioning the Vikings fighting Mayans book before and it definitely sounds like an interesting one!

I remember this because I really disliked the main character.

Just finished I’ll Met in Lankhmar

Bummer, I thought this was a book about us

I'm in a very similar mood for likely very similar reasons. In fact I think I'm going to go back and even reread Lord of the Rings (not S&S but escapism and fantasy).

Pauli Kidd, and not a guy, though the book was published before it was known.

Does it say Sargon was a Babylonian or worshipped Ishtar or something? Also missed opportunity to show the Ishtar Gate sadge. Seems interesting at least!

Great review! I have had this on my TBR for a long time. I need to make some time to read it. I am a big fan of Abraham Merritt's writing.

My kind of video

I re read this every year at this time of year. Influenced my own work.

Here that guys go read sword and sorcery to cope with reality

You could tell? Really?

Rejoice, for we have Clark Ashton Smith & C. L. Moore rep! Huzzah!

Cool. I picked this up at my local used book store. Looking forward to it.

Oops, I thought this was older than 2004 haha

Ursula LeGuin's Earth Sea series? Great video.

Excellent review. Tim Bloom mentioned: Oh, stop.

I read Wilcox’ story in Old Moon Vol III. Love his style and language. I’m looking for more of his romantic grimdark work.

Well done without spoilers. I read a lot of Harrison as a kid, stuff like his "Stainless Steel Rat" series and his a bit more serious "Deathworld" series. He is big on action and comedy. SSR is very comedic and over the top.

Who is this Timaeus guy and what fool would ever have him in a livestream book discussion? My word!

14:08 It's true. You really have to read Nine Princes of Amber to get a feel for the world Zelazny created. Incidentally, that led me to reading my favorite yearly Halloween re-read, A Night in the Lonesome October. Which is not Swords and Sorcery at all, but it's a very charming dark fantasy tale about eldritch powers, those who aid them, and those who fight against them. And it's told by a dog. Lots of fun.

This is the best example of what happens when writer(s) who know what they're doing use Norse mythology and viking culture. Lots of leeway to work with, but I've always loved the way they brought Norse paganism to life in a way that was totally believable. A big influence on me and my series. It's been so long since I read it though-I wonder what the scene is you're thinking of as reminiscent of Burden to Bear!

I picked this up at Half Price a while ago. Not sure why - if it was the description or saw it referenced somewhere. Havent reas it yet as I think it is part of a series? Read a lot of Harrison a long time ago. Bill the Galactic Space hero is similar to Phules Company and kind of silly. Stainless Steel Rat series is kind of a heist, I think. West of Eden is about the dinosaurs evolved too and are the dominant species who bioengineer everything. I think they were dect reads but it was probably 30 years ago before high school.

Awesome breakdown. I mentioned this book only recently when I went on a mini rant in my Anthony Ryan video about writers throwing out creativity and imagination when they decide to write Viking fiction - as in, this is a series that proves you can do interesting things with that particular fantasy trope. Glad to see it get some love on here!

Claire does have a secret identity and a costume, and is trying to save her community, which makes it feel like a superhero story.

Have you read Dhalgren by chance? I'm curious to try Babel-17, but don't know if I can handle another fever dream screw fest like that one.

Some interesting books per usual. I second reading Middle English. I started reading that Book Raf was talking about in your discord. Even if it is about those bigoted Mormons I've been enjoying it.

Kirstein! Haunting of Hill House is weird. I still need to read the read-along posts in Reactor, to understand it better. It's certainly not what my expected, but I think the themes are common to Jackson's work, so maybe it's just my unfamiliarity with it. And I have the authorized sequel by Elizabeth Hand ready.

Lovin' all the Clark Ashton Smith love. His Tale of Satampras Zeiros story is his primary s&s story, and is a buddy thief story, written 10 years before Leiber's Fafhrd and the grey mouser. Hippocampus press has many themed Smith collections, and nightshade has a 5 volume set of all his fiction

I'm gonna need you to stop sir. My TBR is already out of hand.

I really quite enjoyed this book, and I loved how it explored homelessness. I had a chance to talk with her about it when I met her this year at a Con.

Not an urban fantasy fan typically, but this actually sounds super interesting and unique! Never heard of this one!

This sounds awesome! I hadn't heard of it before, I think.

"I'm not sure I've ever stated anything like that before." Sounds like winning to me. When pressed on type of fantasy by someone familiar with the subgenres, I call it "Epic Sword and Sorcery." Thanks for reading, and for being someone who gets all the little easter eggs!

Dang, I missed it. But by happy chance I was reading Conan.

This was fun. Where/when did it start?

I think an important part of this genre is a touch of horror; a touch of the darkness,

Indeed, what is best in life Liam? Happy sword and sorcery day!

How apropos that this holiday coincides with my birthday! All is right with the universe! Gotta go read some Conan!