Last night I spent the better part of 2 1/2 hours in an interesting, rambling discussion about sword-and-sorcery with the likes of Howard Andrew Jones, Jeff Goad, Bill Ward, and Jason Ray Carney, part of the ongoing Bride of Cyclops Con online convention. It was a blast. We covered a lot of ground in that time--the definition of S&S, its literary roots, must-read stories, a few dark horses, the late Charles Saunders, book porn (I couldn't stop myself from flashing multiple book covers), and many other fun side-trails and asides.
I'm far more comfortable behind the keyboard than on-camera, but I have to say the time flew by and I spent most of the panel grinning ear-to-ear. I hope I had a few insights to add about my favorite subgenre. I want to thank Howard and the folks over at Goodman Games for the opportunity.
The highlight for me was learning that Jason owns a first edition, signed, hard-cover copy of Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword. That almost broke my geekmeter.
12 comments:
Cool panel.
Thanks, it was fun, and an excellent group.
Really it was just a forum for showing off my bookcases:)
As someone just getting into Sword and Sorcery, and now reading your book, Brian, this panel was both informative and highly entertaining. Thanks so much. Joe Allegretti
You're welcome Joe! I welcome any and all comments on Flame and Crimson. And if you liked it please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads... it helps.
That was a great panel. I've been a sword and sorcery fan for years, but even I still got book recommendations to check out.
Great to hear that Cora! My work here is done :)
I picked up a couple titles myself (Margaret St. Clair, Darryl Schweitzer).
I'm a fan of Margaret St. Clair, but The Shadowpeople was new to me. Looking forward to digging into it.
I've been a fan of Sword & Sorcery since the 1960's and listened to this with great interest. I wanted to listen to it a second time, but the link is dead. Has it been removed from the site?
Thanks John. I just asked Bill Ward over at Goodman Games if there is a link to the full panel somewhere. Will update if he gets back to me!
Thank you, Sir. I believe it is definitely "archive worthy".
Hi John, the recording has been reposted, and is available here: https://goodman-games.com/blog/2020/12/04/the-best-of-sword-and-sorcery-from-the-bride-of-cyclops-con-panel-discussion/
This was a fantastic panel, my first encounter with Brian and the others. I've listened to it twice and hunted down other panels these guys have been on. It's what led me to FLAME AND CRIMSON, Brian's totally epic history of Sword & Sorcery. :) I have a suggested project, one that may/may not spark some controversy here and there: Has anyone tried creating a "canon" of S&S? A definitive list of the must read/must include/must have books that not only comprise but have formed this subgenre? There is a hint of that in the panel--with each participant throwing out favorites--but being a lover of lists, a well curated grand listing of S&S fiction, especially if it were thoughtfully annotated, would be really cool. (Not to add to anyone's "to do" list or cause any untoward, late-night insomniac ruminations...)
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