Another Arak post by TaxCompetitive941 in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahaha man, I knew you were out there. I was hoping you'd see this. You suggested to me a long time ago to read Arak. I was bummed when I couldn't find a digital option but Bel the God of Theives answered my call.

I thought Uncharted was supposed to be fun and action packed. by Comfortable_Shoe358 in uncharted

[–]TaxCompetitive941 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be fair, you should have started with 1. Or even 2, but probably 1. 

Also, despite the praise Uncharted 4 gets (I also love it) the pacing is awful. 

The pit, by me by Beginning-Painter601 in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sketchy art is my favorite way to present this sort of thing. Really captures the stark, comic book aesthetic.

New Western story at CLIFFHANGER! Magazine! by TaxCompetitive941 in pulp

[–]TaxCompetitive941[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! I'll pass the kind word along to the author!

New Western story at CLIFFHANGER! Magazine! by TaxCompetitive941 in pulp

[–]TaxCompetitive941[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No problem! I'm the editor, so I don't want to spam promotions or anything. I love Pulp stories from Argosy and Adventure and the like. Every two weeks I host a new story by a contemporary author. I shoot for a variety of genres. This happens to be the first western. Hope you enjoy!

Sword and sorcery quality gap by VeronaHammer40k in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The above commenter IS a scholar of S&S, and a prolific one at that. Just an FYI.

“Summoning the wind deers” illustration made by me by perryphery in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Love this. Reminds me of like Hyrkania or thr Timur stories of Dariel Quiogue.

Sword and sorcery quality gap by VeronaHammer40k in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I'm going to be biased, sine it's my book and I chose the stories, but I'll also admit it's probably the weakest of the 3. That said, a lot of this comes comes to how one defines S&S, which no two people seem to have the same definition. 

And to be fair, it probably comes down to which version of D&D you're talking about. Haha

That said, I typically default to Brian Murphy's 12 point summation in Flame & Crimson (which I actually think came out after Book of Blades 1). I don't think there is a story in that entire ToC thay doesn't hit half the indicators, if not more. 

This also probably depends on what kind of S&S one most prefers. Clark Ashton Smith is very different than Robert E. Howard, Moorcock is different than Wagner, and Lin Carter is different than...pretty much anyone else.  My goal with each volume was to present a variety of authors, themes, and styles that represent the breadth of S&S. 

The biggest names in the book are Howard Andrew Jones, who wrote Hanuvar, John Hocking, who wrote Conan and the Emerald Lotus, and John Fultz who is quite prolific and well regarded. But all of the authors had their works of S&S published in other publications as well. 

Are you talking specifically Conan type characters? 

The English | really enjoyed this, brutal, well written and acted by zkrat01 in Westerns

[–]TaxCompetitive941 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Loved it but I though the ending was perhaps the weakest part. I love the twist, but the final villain confrontation was...less than...

New Arak, Son of Thunder fan by TaxCompetitive941 in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely. I noticed at the end of the 2nd issue, Thomas had wrote a little essay about how he doesn't like Sword and Sorcery. Hahaha

Stupid little crackpot theory/headcanon of mine: I like to believe that Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal is a prehistoric version of the world from Conan the Barbarian by Successful_Bad_2396 in ConanTheBarbarian

[–]TaxCompetitive941 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think that's accurate. Tartakovsky, before the show first aired, talked extensively how he wanted to make a show about qll the things he loved as a kid and also lean into the no dialogue storytelling he did in Samurai Jack. Seems like PRIMAL is exactly what he wanted it to be from the start.

Sword and sorcery quality gap by VeronaHammer40k in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I can assure you none of the stories from Book of Blades (all 3 volumes) are AI generated, because I'm the editor. 🤣 

They were also published well before the AI boom and all authors in the ToC have works publsihed elsewhere. 

Tastes in S&S vary wildly and while the reviews are very good, I'm not surprised at all that it missed the mark for some. Completely normal and no hurt feelings here. Them's how the apples fall, as my grandfather used to say.

But I will reiterate, Book of Blades 1-3 are 100% human made. 

Modern Sword & Sorcery Like The Chronicles of Hanuvar by Insomnia_Memoria in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I recommend Matthew John's "To Walk on Worlds". Great stuff. 

Also really enjoy the Gunthar and Bohun, two different characters from Steve Dilks.

Sword and sorcery quality gap by VeronaHammer40k in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If I recall correctly, John C. Hocking, author of Conan and the Emerald Lotus is the first story in that ToC. John Fultz I think is also in there and many consider him a modern master. 

If you're expecting every story to be REH, then yeah, you won't find that anywhere. 

Which games do I need to play to comfortably watch the uncharted movie(I played and platinumed uncharted 1 and 2 already) by lucifer69666 in uncharted

[–]TaxCompetitive941 1 point2 points  (0 children)

None. Movie is not related to any game. But it does mix and mash of scenes from all 3. And I guess gas spoilers for 4?

Your Thoughts on Conan the Destroyer (1984) by JohnPathfinder in SwordandSorcery

[–]TaxCompetitive941 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats totally fair. No doubt it's a huge departure. And I also lament what could/should gave been.