The Sword & Sorcery Anthology

Not sure why so few reviews are here, so I'll add one for an solid anthology that includes a good sampling of authors over the past 100 years. As with all collections, not every story worked for me, but enough did for me to recommend it. A few highlights:Starts off appropriately with a Robert E. Howard story, "The Tower of the Elephant"."The Cave of Forgotten Dreams" by Michael Moorcock was an excellent adventure.My favorite story by far was Charles R. Saunders' "Gimmile's Song", probably because it is anti-cliche: a heroine instead of a hero; a faithful war-bull instead of a horse; and a African background instead of the traditional European perspective. This is my first exposure to this author despite that he has been around for quite awhile, and I was definitely impressed."Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat" by Glen Cook was a delightful read of almost novella length."Become a Warrior" by Jane Yolen is a disturbing tale of the cold calculations a women bent on revenge is capable of.I found "The Sea Troll's Daughter" by Caitlin R. Kiernan to be more sexually restrained than some other stories I've read by this author, and I thought it made her story-telling better and more enjoyable.Finally, "The Path of the Dragon" by George R.R. Martin was suprisingly good. I know he is all the rage now, but I tried to read one of his books years ago and was unimpressed. I assumed he had been included to help sell the book, but was delighted to find that I actually enjoyed his prose.

This would be a good book for people who are first starting to read fantasy. It is full of good stories, and the authors are top rate.

sorcery at its best. a great read

Whats there to say. The best writers of the genre in one book

Like most anthologies this one is a mixed bag, some good stories, some not so good. Of the 19 in this book, about half were positive reading experiences and half were unmemorable or even poorly written. Two were outstanding (Gimmile's Songs and Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat) and two were nearly unreadable (Black God's Kiss and The Stages of the God). If I could I would give this anthology 3.5 stars.Gimmile's Songs by Charles R. Saunders relates an encounter between a female black warrior with a supernatural being in Nyumbani, Saunders' alternate history version of Africa. I liked it well enough that I'm tempted to try his novel Imaro. Glen Cook's Soldier is the longest story in the book (68 pages). It's the first Cook story that I've read and I must say that I was impressed. It's very well-written and also has an unusual amount of character development and human drama for a S&S story. More novels to buy!Black God's Kiss is a classic of the field. C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry broke the mold of the pulps by being a female warrior. Unfortunately it shows it's age. Purple prose may have been in vogue in the '30's but it just comes across as silly today. Most of the 30 pages is a description of a rather boring journey through the Underworld in search of revenge. I almost didn't finish it. Ramsay Campbell's Stages was published in a fanzine early in the author's career (1974) and it shows.I bought this anthology because it has a novella about Daenerys Targaryen in it. I was hoping it was a side story in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series but, alas, it was only a section of one of the novels (the 3rd, I think) so Path of the Dragon was a disappointment.What do I say about Joanna Russ's The Adventuress? I really enjoyed the writing but the plot was trivial. A princess runs away from home, sails across the sea, kills a few bad guys, and lands on an island filled with hunks. Really.IMO the following stories are all worth reading:R.E. Howard's Tower of the Elephant is the oldest story in the book (Weird Tales, March 1933). One of the better Conan stories. The Cimmerian sets out to steal some jewels and winds up saving an alien from beyond time and space from an evil sorcerer. Oh, and of course he fights a giant spider along the way. Corny, maybe, but fun.In Poul Anderson's The Tale of Hauk a Viking village is ravaged by an undead warrior.The Barrow Troll by David Drake is another Viking tale. Ulf enlists an unwilling priest to help get the troll's treasure. But do trolls really exist?In Jane Yolen's Become a Warrior a princess seeks revenge on the murderers of her family.In Six from Atlantis a survivor of the city's destruction encounters a bunch of babes and a giant ape-god who isn't pleased with our hero. Sounds like a B-movie, doesn't it, but with Gene Wolfe writing, it works.The Sea Troll's Daughter is my 3rd favorite story. A hard-drinking swordswoman saves a village from the ravages of a sea troll, but the daughter may be even worse than the father. This is the first story I've read by Caitlin R. Kiernan, another name to watch out for.And now for a couple of disappointments:The Unholy Grail by Fritz Leiber is a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story without Fafhrd. Could they have picked a more boring title from that series?In Moorcock's The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams, Elric and Moonglum save Elric's paradise with the fair Zarozinia from an invasion of bad guys. I enjoyed the Elric series when I read it thirty years ago, but this one just didn't click with me.

I'm a big fan of Hartwell's THE ASCENT OF WONDER, which in my opinion is just about perfect when it comes to presenting/analyzing a fiction subgenre (in that case, Hard SF) in anthology form. Besides being a comprehensive collection of Hard SF stories, it includes introductory essays explaining what Hard SF is, what its characteristics are, and so forth. Additionally, each story includes an introductory note explaining the author, the story, and why the story deserves to be in the anthology.THE SWORD AND SORCERY ANTHOLOGY, unfortunately, falls far, far short of this stellar treatment. First, there's no introductory essay(s) explaining what the editors believe Swords And Sorcery is, what its characteristics are, or what makes one story S&S and another not. Nor are there any notes introducing the individual stories. The result is a total lack of context, and this seems to infect the editors. Many of the stories chosen aren't Swords And Sorcery stories at all, in my opinion -- they're High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, or something else. As a whole the collection feels slapdash and not well thought out.Even the stories that are undeniably S&S are often poorly chosen. For example, "The Unholy Grail" is an awful choice for a Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser story, in my opinion. They should have chosen one that showcases both heroes in their prime, and hopefully the city of Lankhmar as well, such as "The Cloud Of Hate" or "The Two Best Thieves In Lankhmar."Furthermore, a lot of S&S authors are left out entirely. There's nothing in the anthology by Clark Ashton Smith, Gardner Fox, Lin Carter, Richard Tierney, and many others I think ought to have had a story in it.Thus, in the end, what could have and should have been a comprehensive and scholarly review of the Swords And Sorcery subgenre of Fantasy is a half-hearted effort based on no solid definition of what S&S is. I was hoping for a book that would form a basis for discussing and even teaching about the subgenre going forward, but what I got was something I don't even consider a crucial purchase for subgenre fans.

An excellent selection each story leaves one wanting more, even known chapters and short stories make one want to revisit their original books. The stories flow well into each other with no jarring of sub genres. I bought this on a whim and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book is a very good value in that it introduces a wide range of authors' works. As a collection of stories, it doesn't really make sense to review the book as a whole. Instead, I will list the stories with a score out of five for each story. Most of the stories are reprints, so they may be familiar to readers of fantasy and S&S in particular. Even so, they are generally good enough that rereading them isn't a bad thing."Introduction: Storytellers: A Guided Ramble into Sword and Sorcery Fiction" by David Drake - this is adequate, nothing too special, and focuses largely on the first stories in the compilation rather than later ones"The Tower of the Elephant" by Robert E. Howard - 6/5 THIS is what sword and sorcery should be!"Black God's Kiss" by C. L. Moore - 5/5 fantastic, very reminiscent of HP Lovecraft"The Unholy Grail" by Fritz Leiber - 5/5 great Grey Mouser story of revenge"The Tale of Hauk" by Poul Anderson - 4/5 good story, just not top-notch"The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams" by Michael Moorcock - 4/5 fun story, ending is a little forced"The Adventuress" by Joanna Russ - 2/5 sort of interesting, but hardly any swords or almost zero sorcery"Gimmile's Song" by Charles R. Saunders - 3.5/5 fun story, just a little short"Undertow" by Karl Edward Wagner - 4.5/5 solid Kane story, tarts slow, but builds as the story progresses"The Stages of the God" by Ramsey Campbell (writing as Montgomery Comfort) - 3/5 second half poorly written"The Barrow Troll" by David Drake - 4/5 a touch predictable, but good grim S&S"Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat" by Glen Cook - 5/5 solid S&S story"Epistle from Lebanoi" by Michael Shea - 3/5, almost science fiction, I felt the story jumped around and was too convenient"Become a Warrior" by Jane Yolen - 4/5 short but grimly fun"The Red Guild" by Rachel Pollack - 4/5 strong story, although leaves a lot up in the air"Six from Atlantis" by Gene Wolfe - 3/5 this story stars and ends out of nowhere, feeling incomplete"The Sea Troll's Daughter" by Caitlín R. Kiernan - 3/5 would be 4/5, but feels like the ending wasn't written"The Coral Heart" by Jeffrey Ford - 4.5/5, very good story, just not quite as riveting as 5/5 would be"Path of the Dragon" by George R. R. Martin - 4/5 good story, but rambles on too much"The Year of the Three Monarchs" by Michael Swanwick - 3/5 too short, and I don't like time travel in S&SSo overall, it's very good collection. I will definitely be following up on some of the individual authors, like C. L. Moore. At 470+ pages, it makes for plenty of reading. So if you are a fan of swords and sorcery and aren't familiar with the stories above, this is well worth purchasing. Not all the stories are likely to appeal to everyone, and you might enjoy one's I didn't (and vice versa), but I think this is a strong introduction that is sure to offer some very fun reading, which is what Sword and Sorcery reading should be all about!

howards writing is great, as for the rest,so much rubbish

A pleasant and entertaining diversion for lovers of fantasy and adventure fiction. Also useful as a gift for the right person.