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The Sword & Sorcery of Robert Holdstock: The Berserker Series

The Sword & Sorcery of Robert Holdstock: The Berserker Series

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Robert Holdstock’s Berserker Series, published under the name Chris Carlsen. Sphere Books, 1977-1979. Covers by Melvyn Grant

A series that I wanted but had a difficult time getting was the Berserker series by Chris Carlsen. There are three books, all from Sphere Books, published in 1977, 1977, & 1979 respectively. I finally got the last one and just finished reading it. The series is:

1. Shadow of the Wolf (August 1977)
2. The Bull Chief (October 1977)
3. The Horned Warrior (1979)

ISFDB lists Melvyn Grant as the cover artist on #1 and 3, and I’m pretty sure book 2 is by him as well. These books are pot boiling, action pulp style Sword & Sorcery novels, and it was quite a surprise when I found out Chris Carlsen was really Robert Holdstock (1948 – 2009).

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Dark Muse News: Anna Smith Spark’s A Sword of Bronze and Ashes

Dark Muse News: Anna Smith Spark’s A Sword of Bronze and Ashes

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A Sword of Bronze and Ashes, September 12, 2023, FLAME TREE PRESS (Cover illustration by Broci)

Welcome to more Dark Muse News. This post reviews Anna Smith Spark’s A Sword of Bronze and Ashes. It was released in September 2023 (Flame Tree Press, cover illustration by Broci) and is the first book of the series The Making of This World: Ruined. The sequel, A Sword of Gold and Ruin, was recently published in October, 2025.

Anna Smith Spark is known as the Queen of Grimdark, a moniker she acquired with her Empires of Dust series. You can expect the same poetic brutality here.  Her style and approach are very unique but are reminiscent of Tanith Lee. Literary wording may keep you distanced as a reader, but the raw emotion expressed throughout is so real that it makes the fantasy feel real, too.  We interviewed Anna Smith Spark in 2019 – Disgust and Desire as part of our Beauty in Weird Fiction series, where she revealed all sorts of muses and inspirations. That year, we hosted a Q&A Session at Gen Con; there, she, John O’Neill, and I showed off our footwear (link); Anna’s footwear won hands down!
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The Conan novels of John Maddox Roberts

The Conan novels of John Maddox Roberts

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The Conan novels of John Maddox Roberts (Tor Books, 1985-1995). Covers by Boris, Ken Kelly, and Julie Bell

The name John Maddox Roberts (1947 – ) first came to my attention as a writer of Conan sword & sorcery pastiches from Tor. He wrote eight, and when I talk to other REH fans Roberts’ name is almost always listed near the top of the Conan pastiche writers.

Of the pastiches that were published by Tor between 1982 and 2004, I’d have to agree, although I like the earlier pastiches by Andy Offutt and Karl Edward Wagner better.

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Dave Hook on The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe

Dave Hook on The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe

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The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories (Pocket Books, June 1980). Cover by Don Maitz)

It’s still January, which means I haven’t yet abandoned my ambitious New Year’s Resolution to get caught up on my favorite blogs. I started with Rich Horton’s excellent Strange at Ecbatan, and this week I’ve been spending time at Dave Hook’s book blog A Deep Look by Dave Hook.

As the name implies, Dave spends his time on his reviews, with deep dives that usually include a lot of biographical information and entertaining anecdotes. His recent reviews include looks at David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer’s groundbreaking 2002 anthology The Hard SF Renaissance, Alastair Reynolds’ 2021 collection Belladonna Nights and Other Stories, and a long-forgotten SF anthology from 1954, Sam Moskowitz’s Editor’s Choice in Science Fiction.

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The Problem of the Invincible Warrior: Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer by James Silke

The Problem of the Invincible Warrior: Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer by James Silke

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Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer, Volumes 1-4, by James Silke (Tor Books, 1988-1990). Covers by Frank Frazetta

James Silke (1931 – ) is something of a renaissance man in the arts. He’s a visual artist and prose writer, a set and costume designer, photographer, and comic book guy. Most people who I meet recognize him as a comic artist/writer, although I’ve never read any of his graphic stuff.

I’ve seen a few of the movies he’s worked on, including King Solomon’s Mines and The Barbarians. My only experience with Silke’s writing is the four Sword & Sorcery books in the Frank Frazetta Death Dealer series.

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The Lost History of a Strange Planet Earth: Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods? and the Pseudoscience Bestsellers of the 1970s

The Lost History of a Strange Planet Earth: Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods? and the Pseudoscience Bestsellers of the 1970s

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Chariots of the Gods? by Erich von Däniken (Bantam Books, 1971)

In my last post, I mentioned Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods? to introduce a Ken Bulmer (as Manning Norvil) heroic fantasy trilogy. When I first read Chariots, as an imaginative young lad of 13 or so, I believed he was on to something, and I went looking for more “exposes” of hidden history.

Boy did I find them. The book’s success, which appeared in German in 1968 and in English in 1971, spawned a TV movie In Search of Ancient Astronauts (1973), which was hosted by Rod Serling. And almost immediately other and related books and films began to appear.

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The Sword & Sorcery of Manning Norvil, aka Kenneth Bulmer

The Sword & Sorcery of Manning Norvil, aka Kenneth Bulmer

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The Odan the Half-God trilogy by Manning Norvil, aka Kenneth Bulmer: Dream Chariots, Whetted Bronze, and Crown of the Sword God (DAW Books, October 1977, March 1978, and June 1980), Covers: Richard Clifton-Dey, Michael Whelan, Richard Hescox

The infamous Chariots of the Gods was written by Erich von Däniken (1935), who died last week. Von Däniken was a Swiss author, and Chariots of the Gods was published in German in 1968. It was issued in English from Bantam in 1971, and I read it shortly thereafter, though I don’t remember where I got the copy. I would have been 13 or 14.

Von Däniken claimed early humans were visited by alien astronauts who provided them with the technology and knowledge to construct pyramids and landing fields and other megalithic structures. I believed it for several years, until further research indicated that he just made it up. Later, I found out von Däniken had a long history of theft and fraud and found myself quite angry at him for fooling me.

Fast forward to 1977, the year I graduated high school and Star Wars became a thing. Ken Bulmer, a British author who I’d never heard of at that time, used the ancient astronaut theory as a jumping off point for a trilogy of wonderful tales about Odan the Half-God, the son of a mortal woman and a space god. Odan becomes a sword and sorcery hero.

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Rich Horton on The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O’Keefe

Rich Horton on The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O’Keefe

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The Devoured Worlds trilogy by Megan E. O’Keefe: The Blighted Stars, The Fractured Dark, and
The Bound Worlds (Orbit, May 23, 2023, September 26, 2023, and June 25, 2024). Covers by Jaime Jones

It’s January 17, and I’m doing a fairly good job on at least one of my New Year’s resolutions — catching up on some of my favorite blogs. I started with Rich Horton’s excellent Strange at Ecbatan, a review site that covers a delightfully eclectic mix of old and new books, from one of the most knowledgeable and astute readers we have. Rich’s most recent review was Howard Andrew Jones’ terrific debut novel The Desert of Souls, a piece resurrected from my first website, the sadly now defunct SF Site.

Back in September Rich discussed The Blighted Stars, the first book in Megan O’Keefe’s Devoured Worlds trilogy. I talked about the first two titles in the series here in July 2023. What drew me was the intriguing mix of SF and horror, and the promise of creepy adventure on a dead planet in the opening volume, in which an idealistic resistance fighter is stranded with the heir to an imperial space dynasty. But, as usual, Rich has a lot more insight to offer than I.

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A Sword & Sorcery Classic: Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead

A Sword & Sorcery Classic: Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead

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Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton (Bantam Books, April 4, 1977)

Michael Crichton (1942 – 2008) apparently always wanted to be a writer but earned an MD from Harvard Medical school in the meantime. He wrote while in school, publishing several novels under the name John Lange (he borrowed the name from anthropologist Andrew Lang). I only have one of these books — Zero Cool — but haven’t read it. Crichton’s writing was going well enough by the time he got his MD that he never practiced medicine, choosing to write and direct movies instead. He directed Westworld and Coma.

The first book I read by Crichton was The Andromeda Strain, found in my high school library. It was a compelling read about an alien disease sweeping Earth, but the ending was disappointingly anti-climactic. Our library also had his The Terminal Man, and I read that, though I don’t remember much about it. Later, of course, I read many of his big thrillers, Congo, Sphere, and Jurassic Park, and I enjoyed them enough to buy everything he’d written under his own name.

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Forever An Important Life – Howard Andrew Jones (1968 – 2025)

Forever An Important Life – Howard Andrew Jones (1968 – 2025)

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(As long as Black Gate lets me post here, this will run every year the week of Howard’s passing (January 16), to help keep his flame alive)

A LIFE IS NOT IMPORTANT EXCEPT IN THE IMPACT IT HAS ON OTHER LIVES – Jackie Robinson’s epitaph

Mark Rigney, Howard Andrew Jones, Bob Byrne

I did an interview last week with Jason Waltz for his ’24 in 42′ podcast (Yeah, I know: You just can’t wait to hear that one…).

One of the questions was about my favorite quote/lyric/poem/motivational thought. Some of you who know me probably figure it’s a Bible verse. And there are a couple that are right up there.

But it’s the epitaph on Jackie Robinson’s gravestone, which leads off this post.

My buddy Howard Andrew Jones has passed away from brain cancer. You’re going to see a LOT of people singing his praises in the coming weeks. All of it deserved. If I can stop crying long enough, my Monday morning post will be on Howard.

But you’re gonna see a common thread in the talk about Howard. The impact he had on other people’s lives. Especially in encouraging and helping writers – mostly in the sword and sorcery field.

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