While I believe that SnS still struggles with archaic descriptors that harken back to fur-diapers and chainmail bikinis, I can honestly say that WHETSTONE is something of a harbinger of modern Sword and Sorcery fiction. That is not to say you can't see the Pulp. It is definitely there, though much more Clark Aston Smith than Robert E. Howard (sometimes to my personal dismay). The first issue of WHETSTONE was a delight that offered a number of short fiction stories that seemed fresh and new to me, drawing from numerous inspirations that are rarely encountered in a literary world rife with buff Viking dudes.
The second issue came out today.
Drum roll, please.
This issue opens with a brief note from the Editor, Mr. Jason Ray Carney. It is brief and to the point, and lets the reader dive straight into the action. This note gives a great rundown of the resurgence seen in Sword and Sorcery fiction, highlighting the numerous outlets that provide genre related material. If this is something new to you, you would do well to follow Mr. Carney's suggestions and look in the various books, publications, and podcasts he points out.
This issue opens up with The City of Tombs by George Jacobs. WHETSTONE labels itself as the "Amateur magazine of Sword and Sorcery", and to test that title I did a cursory search for each author just to see how "Amateur" they are. In this case, I couldn't find any other stories that I could attribute to the same Mr. Jacobs. I apologize if I missed some. This was a tale tailor made for me. The author evokes a mysterious and alien version of Ancient Egypt through the use of names evocative of that culture and time period. It was easy to picture the world and what it looked like through the careful use of language and naming-conventions. This story presents us with desert thieves, treasure hunters, sorcerers, traps-a-la-Dr. Jones, and a cosmic horror flavored climax. If this had been actually set in Ancient Egypt, I would be printing it in CLIFFHANGER for sure.
The next story, and to some extent the one after that, are heavier on the Weirdness than I typically seek out. This is the Clark Ashton Smith influence I think. An Unforgivable Interruption by D.M. Ritzlin especially invokes that kind of atmosphere, especially in his use of language and names. I could easily see his world of Nilzitiria alongside Hyperborea, Zothique, or Averoigne. It is admittedly not my favorite of the SnS styles, but there is no denying that Mr. Ritzlin is a master of it. This is reflected in his rather prolific library or self-published material and anthology works.
I think the most surprising of the stories for me, was Dark Meditations by J. Thomas Howard. This is his first published story, and a very worthy story indeed. This reminds me of so many things. In part it reminds me of Robert E. Howard's James Allison stories, where a sickly man recalls his past lives as ancient heroes. It also reminds me a little of the film Mandy starring Nicholas cage, though in a much more intangible way. It also deals with mental illness in a similar way to the indie throwback FPS Nightmare Reaper, about a woman in a mental hospital coping with trauma through her imagination. It's very well done, and surprisingly deep story that is wholly unique when placed against the other stories in this anthology.
I think the story that most gets my own blood pumping is Houds by Chuck Clark. This is a WHETSTONE alum, and so is his returning character Turkael. In the first story, you could clearly see the inspiration of the late, great, Charles Saunders of Imaro fame. I am not sure what the inspiration here is, but the namesake Hounds are both fascinating and chilling. The main protagonist is at once innocuous and indescribably evil. The setting of a barren, twisting maze of desert rock and stone is claustrophobic and lends itself to a real CLIFFHANGER. See what I did there?I think this story reads most like a Conan story, which is the style of SnS that I most enjoy. It has aspects of the classic Adventure tale The Most Dangerous Game. I will admit that my personal tastes wish to see Turkael relish in a moment of heroic triumph. Perhaps another story.
The final entry in this collection is a poem in a seemingly ancient style title Rolf's Ride, written by Frank Coffman. Having recently began re-playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, this poem gave me a nice little smile as it reminded me of warm hearths, frothy meade, and singing bards regaling weary adventurers with tales of ancient heroes. I can only assume that is what Mr. Coffman was going for, and he succeeded. There is definite mythic quality to it that pulls at the spirits of my ancestral Welshmen. I have to note that even though it might not sound like it, this is high praise from the likes of me because I don't really like poetry, and I lost interest in the world of European-esque fantasy a long time ago. For this work to engage me as it did, speaks volumes.
As with my last review, I didn't want to talk about every story, but that isn't to say the stories are bad. If you are a connoisseur of Sword and Sorcery fiction, you will find a lot to like in this volume. The adventurer in me wishes he would see more of that "earthier" kind of fantasy that can be found in Conan the Cimmerian, as opposed to the trippy, metaphysical side, but he also understands the allure.
I can't end this without mentioning the friggin' awesome cover artwork by Rick McCollum. It's like Conan meets John Carpenter's The Thing. Creepy. Cool. Beautifully detailed. Kudos!
Check out WHETSTONE for FREE here: https://whetstonemag.blogspot.com/2020/12/whetstone-issue-2-now-available.html?fbclid=IwAR3YBX6D1BfCqBZ8OfOXVgsSbs5tZ5RtggItaXUuSoEdnQeFMftZ5sl8ZLE
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment