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Author: Charles Gramlich

The Imaro Saga by Charles Saunders

The Imaro Saga by Charles Saunders

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The Imaro trilogy by Charles Saunders, all from DAW Books: Imaro (November 1981), The Quest for Cush (February 1984) and The Trail of Bohu (October 1985). Covers: Ken Kelly and James Gurney

Charles Saunders (1946 – 2020) was one of two men who established a sub-genre of Sword & Sorcery that has come to be called Sword & Soul. The other was Samuel Delany (1942 – ). Saunders was born in the USA but moved to Canada as a conscientious objector after being drafted for Vietnam. He became a journalist and wrote a lot of nonfiction, much of it dealing with the lives of Blacks in Canada.

Around 1974, Saunders created a fictionalized Africa called Nyumbani and began writing S&S stories set there about a hero named Imaro. These were published in a small magazine but the first one was reprinted by Lin Carter in his 1975 edition of Year’s Best Fantasy. By 1981, some of these stories had been connected into novel form and were published as Imaro, by DAW books (Ken Kelly cover). Two more books followed, The Quest for Cush (1984) and The Trail of Bohu (1985), both with excellent and more appropriate-to-the-character covers by James Gurney.

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Warlocks and Warriors: Two Sword & Sorcery Anthologies edited by L. Sprague De Camp and Douglas Hill

Warlocks and Warriors: Two Sword & Sorcery Anthologies edited by L. Sprague De Camp and Douglas Hill

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Warlocks and Warriors, edited by L. Sprague De Camp
(Berkley Medallion, January 1971). Cover by Jim Steranko

Warlocks and Warriors (1970) was edited by L. Sprague De Camp, who did quite a few anthologies around this time while also busy editing and rewriting Robert E. Howard’s Conan tales. It’s certainly a good collection, and quite varied, though not all these fit the heroic fantasy label associated with the collection. Certainly, not all are Sword & Sorcery (S&S). The cover is by the great Jim Steranko.

The anthology contains:

An intro by de Camp
“Turutal” by Ray Capella
“The Gods of Niom Parma” by Lin Carter
“The Hills of the Dead” by Robert E. Howard (a Solomon Kane tale)
“Thunder in the Dawn” by Henry Kuttner (Elak of Atlantis)
“Thieves’ House” by Fritz Leiber (Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser)
“Black God’s Kiss” by C. L. Moore (Jirel of Joiry)
“Chu-Bu and Sheemish” by Lord Dunsany
“The Master of the Crabs” by Clark Ashton Smith (Zothique)
“The Valley of the Spiders” by H. G. Wells
“The Bells of Shoredan” by Roger Zelazny (Dilvish)

The Ray Capella story, “Tutural,” is set in Robert Howard’s Hyborian Age but is not about Conan or a “Clonan.” One might consider it fan work but it’s quite well written. Capella’s full name was Raul Garcia-Capella (1933 – 2010), and you’ll sometimes see his work under just Raul Capella.

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A Swashbuckling Anthology: Swordsmen and Supermen, edited by Donald M. Grant

A Swashbuckling Anthology: Swordsmen and Supermen, edited by Donald M. Grant

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Swordsmen and Supermen (Centaur Press, February 1972). Cover by Virgil Finlay

Swordsmen and Supermen 1972, subtitled “Swashbuckling Fantastic Anthology.” From Centaur Press, edited by Donald M. Grant. Cover from Virgil Finlay. This was linked to Centaur Press’s Time-Lost series of books but I’m not sure it quite fit that or the “swashbuckling” subtitle. It’s a strange mishmash of material, including three old reprints and two new stories (from ’72).

It starts off with a Robert E. Howard story, but it’s one of his humorous westerns featuring Breckinridge Elkins called “Meet Cap’n Kidd.” It’s a funny tale but not really the type of fantasy one associates with Swordsmen.

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Avon Fantasy Reader, edited by Donald A. Wollheim

Avon Fantasy Reader, edited by Donald A. Wollheim

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A complete set (18 issues) of Avon Fantasy Reader, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and published 1947-1952

Donald A. Wollheim edited a magazine between the years 1947 to 1952 called Avon Fantasy Reader for Avon Publishers. There were 18 issues, publishing mostly reprints.

Erik Mona reviewed the first issue of Avon Fantasy Reader for Black Gate back in 2023.

I’ve never seen a copy of any of these, but in the late 1960s, George Ernsberger selected some of the best stories from the magazine for two paperback volumes. I believe there were only two. Here are some quick looks at the paperbacks, which I own and have read.

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The Sword & Sorcery of John Jakes: Brak the Barbarian

The Sword & Sorcery of John Jakes: Brak the Barbarian

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Brak the Barbarian paperbacks by John Jakes

When you mention John Jakes (1932 – 2023) to the average reader, they’ll probably come back with, “The Kent Family Chronicles guy?” or “the guy who wrote that North and South trilogy they made that mini-series from?”

I have some of those books but I’ve never read them. I know John Jakes, and probably most of you do, from Brak the Barbarian. There are 5 books.

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Marvel’s Conan The Barbarian

Marvel’s Conan The Barbarian

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Conan the Barbarian #4 & 5, by Roy Thomas and Barry Barry Windsor-Smith
(Marvel Comics, April and May 1971). Covers by Barry Windsor-Smith

I don’t systematically collect comic book materials but I pick up Edgar Rice Burroughs or Robert E. Howard related stuff when I see it. Found all three of the Marvel paperbacks above at various book sales.

Conan the Barbarian: The Official Marvel Comics Adaptation of the Movie stayed true to the movie plot. Being a Howard purist, I wasn’t a big fan of the movie when it came out, but it’s grown on me over time. I just don’t really think of it as a Howard Conan movie. Earl Norem did the cover for this one, based on movie images.

The Stan Lee Presents Conan volumes are in color. I don’t have Volume 1 and likely won’t be getting it since it lists at 250 bucks on Amazon, but here are 2 and 3, which I bought for a buck or so. Both were written by Roy Thomas (1940 – ) and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith (1949 – ).

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Two More Sword & Sorcery Anthologies: Savage Heroes edited by Eric Pendragon, and Heroic Fantasy, edited by Gerald W. Page and Hank Reinhardt

Two More Sword & Sorcery Anthologies: Savage Heroes edited by Eric Pendragon, and Heroic Fantasy, edited by Gerald W. Page and Hank Reinhardt

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Savage Heroes (Star, February 1977). Cover by Les Edwards

A couple more Sword & Sorcery anthology reviews: first up is Savage Heroes (Subtitled Tales of Sorcery & Black Magic) (1977), from British Publisher Star, edited by Eric Pendragon and illustrated by the great Jim Pitts, who is still working today. The cover looks to have been done by Les Edwards, however.

It contains stories by C. L. Moore (Jirel), Henry Kuttner (Elak), Clark Ashton Smith, Clifford Ball, Ramsey Campbell, Daphne Castell, Karl Edward Wagner (Kane), David Drake, and Robert E. Howard. The REH tale is “The Temple of the Abomination,” a Cormac Mac Art tale.

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A Sword and Planet Quiz

A Sword and Planet Quiz

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Can you match the fantasy world on the left with its creator on the right?

Kregen _________ 1. John Norman
Magira _________ 2. Edmond Hamilton
Newhon  ________ 3. Gardner F. Fox
Janus __________ 4. Charles Allen Gramlich
Ur_____________ 5. Jack Vance
Amber__________ 6. Adrian Cole
Skaith__________ 7. Leigh Brackett
Gor  ___________ 8. Fritz Leiber
Kaldar _________ 9. Alan Burt Akers
Tschai_________ 10. Edgar Rice Burroughs
Talera _________ 11. Andre Norton
Barsoom _______ 12. Roger Zelazny
Llarn __________ 13. Hugh Walker
Ghandor  _______ 14. Robert E. Howard
Almuric  ________ 15. Del Dowdell

Answers are here. Good luck!

A Fine Sword & Sorcery Anthology: The Spell of Seven, edited by L. Sprague de Camp

A Fine Sword & Sorcery Anthology: The Spell of Seven, edited by L. Sprague de Camp

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The Spell of Seven (Pyramid Books, June 1965). Cover by Virgil Finlay

L. Sprague de Camp was a major player in the paperback Sword & Sorcery boom of the 1960s. I had the good fortune to meet him and his wife; both were urbane and erudite. I was able to correspond with him while in the ranks of REHupa, the Robert E. Howard United Press Association. De Camp’s role in promoting Robert E. Howard — and his own work with it — is not without controversary, which I’ll address.

But not today. De Camp was also a popular and successful fiction writer, both fantasy and SF, and even nonfiction. I’ll address those aspects in time, but today I’ll just bring some of his editing work into focus. He edited a number of fine Sword & Sorcery anthologies, most of which featured REH. These include Swords & Sorcery, The Spell of Seven, Warlocks and Warriors, and The Fantastic Swordsmen. I have two copies of The Spell of Seven and will discuss it first.

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Classics of Sword & Sorcery: Echoes of Valor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner

Classics of Sword & Sorcery: Echoes of Valor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner

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Paperback editions of all three volumes of Echoes of Valor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner (Tor Books, February 1987, February 1991, and September 1991). Covers by Ken Kelly, Rick Berry, and Rick Berry

The three book Echoes of Valor anthology series from TOR was edited by Karl Edward Wagner, who wrote excellent Sword & Sorcery tales himself, and could recognize good ones when he saw them. These were not anthologies of new stories, but reprints. Each contained a Robert E. Howard tale. Here are some capsule reviews.

Echoes of Valor (1987, Cover Ken Kelly)

Contains one story each by Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, and Henry Kuttner. Howard’s story is “The Black Stranger.” It’s a Conan tale but wasn’t published in REH’s lifetime. He rewrote it as a pirate tale featuring Black Vulmea called “Swords of the Red Brotherhood.” It still didn’t sell. Long after Howard’s death, L. Sprague de Camp rewrote it as “The Treasure of Tranicos” and it was published. It didn’t really need the rewrite in my opinion, so who knows why it wasn’t published initially.

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