Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery

Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery PDF

Author: Brian Murphy

Publisher: Pulp Hero Press

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9781683902447

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The Many Children of Conan Little did then-obscure Texas writer Robert E. Howard know that with the 1929 publication of "The Shadow Kingdom" in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, he had given birth to a new and vibrant subgenre of fantasy fiction. Sword-and-sorcery went from pulp obscurity to mass-market paperback popularity before suffering a spectacular publishing collapse in the 1980s. But it lives on in the broader culture and today enjoys a second life in popular role-playing games, music, and films, and helped give birth to a new literary subgenre known as grimdark, popularized by the likes of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series. Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery provides much-needed definitions and critical rigor to this misunderstood fantasy subgenre. It traces its origins in the likes of historical fiction, to its birth in the pages of Weird Tales, to its flowering in the Frank Frazetta-illustrated Lancer Conan Saga series in the 1960s. It covers its "barbarian bust" beneath a heap of second-rate pastiche, a pack of colorful and wildly entertaining and awful sword-and-sorcery films, and popular culture second life in the likes of Dungeons & Dragons and the bombast of heavy metal music.

Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery

Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery PDF

Author: Brian Murphy

Publisher: Pulp Hero Press

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9781683902447

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The Many Children of Conan Little did then-obscure Texas writer Robert E. Howard know that with the 1929 publication of "The Shadow Kingdom" in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, he had given birth to a new and vibrant subgenre of fantasy fiction. Sword-and-sorcery went from pulp obscurity to mass-market paperback popularity before suffering a spectacular publishing collapse in the 1980s. But it lives on in the broader culture and today enjoys a second life in popular role-playing games, music, and films, and helped give birth to a new literary subgenre known as grimdark, popularized by the likes of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series. Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery provides much-needed definitions and critical rigor to this misunderstood fantasy subgenre. It traces its origins in the likes of historical fiction, to its birth in the pages of Weird Tales, to its flowering in the Frank Frazetta-illustrated Lancer Conan Saga series in the 1960s. It covers its "barbarian bust" beneath a heap of second-rate pastiche, a pack of colorful and wildly entertaining and awful sword-and-sorcery films, and popular culture second life in the likes of Dungeons & Dragons and the bombast of heavy metal music.

Barbarians at the Gates of Hollywood

Barbarians at the Gates of Hollywood PDF

Author: P J Thorndyke

Publisher:

Published: 2020-08-25

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13:

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Journey into the realm of VHS tapes and midnight showings where brawny barbarians rescue nubile virgins from evil wizards, giant snakes, and armies of the undead! Although originating in the era of the pulp magazines, sword and sorcery fiction enjoyed a cinematic boom in the 1980s; a decade that gave us Conan the Barbarian and The Beastmaster as well as more low-budget offerings like the Roger Corman-produced Deathstalker series and the Italian entries like Conquest and the Ator saga. Some of these movies are fondly remembered as cult classics today but many were released directly to VHS and lurked on the shelves of video rental stores before vanishing into obscurity. While some have long since lost their lustre, there are plenty of diamonds in the rough to be found. This book takes a comprehensive look at over 40 sword and sorcery movies from the 1980s, from the towering titans to the bargain basement sleaze-fests, unearthing them from their tombs and dusting them off so that they may shine once more.

Bloodstone

Bloodstone PDF

Author: Karl Edward Wagner

Publisher: Gateway

Published: 2014-05-29

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 057509608X

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Kane. The Mystic Swordsman becomes the living link with the awesome power of a vanished superrace. In the dark swamp where toadmen croak and cower, slumbers a secret relic of the days when creatures from the stars ruled the Earth. In the booty captured in a savage raid, Kane discovers a ring, a bloodstone, which is key to the power that lies buried, inactive but not dead, within the forest. Now Kane, whose bloody sword has slashed and killed for the glory of other rulers, can scheme to rule the Earth - himself!

The King of the Crags

The King of the Crags PDF

Author: Stephen Deas

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2011-02-01

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 1101475587

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In his "utterly fascinating" (Book Smuggler) debut, The Adamantine Palace, Stephen Deas "restored [dragons] to all their scaly fire- breathing glory" (Daily Telegraph). Now, as the Realms teeter on the brink of war, the fate of humanity rests in the survival of one majestic white dragon. Prince Jehal has had his way-now his lover Zafir sits atop the Realms with hundreds of dragons and their riders at her beck and call. But Jehal's plots are far from over, for he isn't content to sit back and watch Zafir command the earth and sky. He wants that glory for himself- no matter who he must sacrifice to get it. The one thing Jehal fears is that the white dragon still lives-and if that is so, then blood will flow, on all sides...

The Crimson Flame

The Crimson Flame PDF

Author: Ben Wolf

Publisher: Splickety Publishing Group

Published: 2019-03-20

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 9781942462262

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One dragon egg remains¿¿but who is bold enough to claim it?A part-troll mercenary named Garrick is desperate to restore his reputation. His employer, a dark lord of immense power, has given him one final chance to deliver on his word. If Garrick can retrieve a fabled dragon egg from the depths of an ancient dungeon, all will be restored.But he can't do this job alone. Garrick needs a team, and he needs it fast.He recruits a fugitive mage, a wyvern knight wanted for treason, and a former assassin with a secret mission of his own. Together, they set out to find the dragon egg.But success comes at a high cost.Is Garrick willing to pay the price to restore his reputation...¿even if it means sacrificing his fellow mercenaries?The Crimson Flame is the first book in the Blood Mercenaries series of sword and sorcery fantasy novels. You'll love this book because of its wild action sequences, its immersive story world, and its dangerously flawed characters. Buy your copy now.

Hrolf Kraki's Saga

Hrolf Kraki's Saga PDF

Author: Poul Anderson

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2015-11-24

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 1504024397

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Winner of the British Fantasy Award: The ancient legend of the Danish Viking king is retold in a tale of vengeance, battles, magic, and monsters. In the court of the Anglo-Saxon king, a visiting storyteller regales the assembled nobles with the enthralling tale of her faraway land’s most revered hero: the Viking Hrolf Kraki. Born of an incestuous union into a royal family with a history of violence, jealousy, usurpation, and murder, Hrolf assembled a loyal band of the mightiest champions in the realm and expanded his small kingdom through wisdom, courage, and conquest. Unbeaten on the battlefield, his great deeds and victories became legends throughout the North as he ushered in an era of peace and prosperity. But Hrolf’s desire for vengeance was ever the warrior-king’s driving force, as he sought the truth about his father’s murder. This obsession would threaten Hrolf’s life and his rule—and ultimately bring his great kingdom to ruin. Poul Anderson, one of the acknowledged giants of twentieth-century fantasy, employs his unparalleled storytelling talents to bring Denmark’s great Viking king to life. A saga that predates the stories of King Arthur and his knights and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, while echoing the Oedipus and Beowulf myths, the Norse legend of Hrolf Kraki takes on a new and breathtaking richness in this classic novel the Guardian described as “full of thrills.”

Night Winds

Night Winds PDF

Author: Karl Edward Wagner

Publisher: Gateway

Published: 2014-05-29

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 057509625X

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Where once the mighty Kane has passed, no one who lives forgets. Now, down the trail of past battles, Kane travels again. To the ruins of a devastated city peopled only with half-men and the waif they call their queen. To the half-burnt tavern where a woman Kane wronged long ago holds his child in keeping for the Devil. To the cave kingdom of the giants where glory and its aftermath await discovery. To the house of death itself where Kane retrieves a woman in love. The past, the future, the present - all these are one for Kane as he travels through the centuries. Contents: "Undertow" "Two Suns Setting" "The Dark Muse" "Raven's Eyrie" "Lynortis Reprise" "Sing a Last Song of Valdese"