I haven't felt much like posting or writing these days. Coronavirus/COVID-19 has got me down, to the point where I'm expecting the arrival of zombie hordes. By day I work for a company that provides healthcare training, fortunately a blend of books and online resources and e-learning that provide some diverse income streams, but also several live events that are now very much in jeopardy (a big conference we have scheduled for Vegas in early May, after the MGM properties just announced that they are not accepting room reservations until May 1, is not looking good). That, and a heartbroken daughter in her senior year of high school who is (rightly) worried that her prom and graduation may be cancelled, has cast a bit of a pall over the Murphy household.
On the brighter side, Flame and Crimson got a couple good plugs, one direct and one indirect, over on Black Gate. I was a regular writer for that site circa 2010-2012, after the demise of The Cimmerian website, so it was nice to make an appearance there once again.
Here is a short, nice review by John O'Neill, An Exuberant Celebration of a Century of Fantasy: Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery by Brian Murphy
Today Black Gate posted my essay Sword-and-Sorcery and the Problem of Genre, a piece which details some of the difficulties I had to overcome while researching and writing the book. Readers of Flame and Crimson or general sword-and-sorcery fans may find it interesting.
I also heard from veteran sword-and-sorcery author Adrian Cole who left me a couple of nice messages about the book.
Anyways, I hope everyone remains healthy, and safe from the swirling contagion.
I agree with you when you say that genre makes good sign posts. I think they make very poor stop signs, though. Sometimes it stops people from finding new books. How many people never enjoyed Howard or Leiber because they don't read "that stuff."
ReplyDeleteGood point Matthew. Some readers of fantasy seem to think that because S&S is short, it lacks artistry or sophistication. Meanwhile "Beyond the Black River" is a masterpiece, and George R.R. Martin's A Feast For Crows is a meandering mess.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course many who scorn fantasy/S&S will happy settle for the "realism" of a James Bond or Jason Bourne story...
Yeah, once when I heard some say that SF/Fantasy is "just not real" I replied that anything published under the label fiction isn't real. Darcy and Elizabeth have no more reality than Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. Hell, a significant percentage of non-fiction isn't real.
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