Heroic Fantasy Quarterly made a big splash this month with the arrival of the long-awaited anthology of their first few years, The Best Of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Volume 1.

But while that’s been grabbing the headlines, don’t forget that HFQ is one of the most reliable regular sources of new adventure fantasy, and that they just released their 26th quarterly issue. This one contains short stories by Robert Zoltan, Jon Byrne, and J.R. Restrick, and poetry by Mary Soon Lee, Eliza Victoria, and Ann Keith. Here’s the complete fiction TOC:

“The Voice of the Green Flame,” by J.R. Restrick. In a besieged city a king must make horrid decisions and plume ancient horrors. This story is S&S/Weird Fiction at its finest!

“Beggar’s Belief,” by Jon Byrne. Life among the dregs of society is not easy by any stretch, but there are those who master the difficulties and eke out their living. Among the dangers they face, one rises high above the rest — hope.

“The Blue Lamp,” by Robert Zoltan. Adventure fiction in the classic style, Zoltan’s tale will take you from the mundane and into a world of magic and mystery not seen since the glory days of the pulps.

Poems this issue are:

An Oracle, by Ann Kieth. A flight of fancy, a dream, and an excellent bit of verse.

The Royal Doors, by Eliza Victoria. A rich man’s war is often a poor man’s fight.

A Tale at Bedtime, by Mary Soon Lee. Following-up on Dragonslayer in #issue 25, Ms. Lee is back with a poem of luck and power and unlucky who have power.

The issue also contains banner art by Lucas Durham and staff reports — including the welcome news that the talented Barbara Barrett joined the HFQ editorial team in July.

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is an ezine dedicated to publishing short works of heroic fantasy. It is edited by Adrian Simmons, David Farney, William Ledbetter, and James Frederick William Rowe, and published four times a year in July, October, January, and April. Issues are posted to the website, and are completely free.

We last covered HFQ with issue #25.

See all the details on issue #26 here.

Our Late November Fantasy Magazine Rack is here. See all of our recent fantasy magazine coverage here.