The Silver Key

"Wonder had gone away, and he had forgotten that all life is only a set of pictures in the brain, among which there is no difference betwixt those born of real things and those born of inward dreamings, and no cause to value the one above the other." --H.P. Lovecraft, The Silver Key

Showing posts with label The Cimmerian. Show all posts

Showing posts with label The Cimmerian. Show all posts

Saturday, December 23, 2023

The Silver Key: 2023 in review

It’s the tail end of 2023. Another trip round the sun, another year of blogging on The Silver Key. Many things of import happened this year....

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Remembering The Cimmerian

I own these guys, and others besides... When I first got into this “thing” --writing about sword-and-sorcery and heroic fantasy, on the inte...

Friday, December 17, 2021

Old Norse Saga part deux: I missed an opportunity to plug Steve Tompkins

With a few more days of separation from my recent DMR Books blog post, I realize I missed an opportunity to plug this wonderful essay by the...

Friday, May 8, 2020

My "new" Frank Frazetta post up on DMR blog

If you're interested in my latest ramblings, head over to DMR Blog to read " A Savage Strength: A Tribute to the Muscular Art of Fr...

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

A few thoughts on The Bankrupt Nihilism of our Fallen Fantasists

In joining with it seems everyone else on the internet I thought I would weigh in on Leo Grin’s The Bankrupt Nihilism of our Fallen Fantasis...

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Realism does not equal adult: A followup

My Thursday post generated a lot of comments here and on Black Gate and some personal e-mails, which was great, but at least one person did...

Friday, June 18, 2010

Of Cimmerian awards and REH-related writings

One of these years I need to make it out to Cross Plains, Texas for Howard Days. It's an annual gathering of Howard-heads at the old Ho...

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The eternal appeal of the life and works of Robert E. Howard

Although The Cimmerian’s days are numbered, the legacy and works of Robert E. Howard will live on and on. The TC print journal and its acco...

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Post-TC, the Road goes ever on, but to what end?

Sorry for the recent wall of silence around here, but I just returned from an incredibly busy, terribly stressful, but ultimately very succe...

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Fantasy subgenres: Helpful or needlessly divisive?

Sword and sorcery? Epic fantasy? Sword and planet? Sword and sandal? Does anyone really care about these delineations? Do they serve any pur...

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Remembering Ronnie James Dio, grandfather of heavy metal

This is your life This is your time What if the flame won’t last forever This is your here This is your now Let it be magical Who cares what...

Thursday, May 13, 2010

A final Frazetta tribute

This week over at The Cimmerian I join my fellow bloggers in praising the life and art of the late, great Frank Frazetta. It's my secon...

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Rediscovering the real Robert E. Howard in Collected Letters

We know a lot more about Robert E. Howard these days, and in particular we know a lot more truths about the man from Cross Plains than ever ...

Thursday, April 29, 2010

A King-sized project begins

Writer Adam Christopher has embarked on a very ambitious project—reading and reviewing all of Stephen King’s books in the order in which the...

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Thirty-five years of despair: The continuing relevance of Harlan Ellison’s Deathbird Stories

I still remember many years ago reading the admonition that serves as the preface to Harlan Ellison’s Deathbird Stories (1975). I had never...

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Howard’s Muse: Some ruminations by historical fiction author Steven Pressfield

Historical fiction author Steven Pressfield, perhaps best known for Gates of Fire , a magnificent re-telling of the Battle of Thermopylae, w...

Thursday, April 8, 2010

“Unshaken on his rocky throne above the bleak fjords”: A review of H. Rider Haggard’s Eric Brighteyes

The default setting for most fantasy is a faux late-Middle Ages, generally ascribed to the period from the Norman conquest of 1066 to roughl...

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Cimmerian sighting: Adrift in The Pacific

I’ve always had a fascination with World War II. When I was a kid I played with army soldiers and guns, pretend battles with friends that al...

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Ronnie James Dio: Putting the sword to the dragon of cancer, still defying the ravages of time

—The best steel goes through the fire Ronnie James Dio, Hide in the Rainbow If you’re a fan of heavy metal music, you’re probably aware that...

Thursday, March 18, 2010

REH and other omissions aside, Rings, Swords, and Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature a worthy listen

Slowly—too slowly and decades overdue, in my opinion—fantasy literature is gaining a foothold in colleges and universities. Long ignored and...

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About Me

Brian Murphy: Marketing professional by day; skald in the Hall of Fire by night; and member of the S.H.I.E.L.D.W.A.L.L. Author of Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery (2020, Pulp Hero Press). Essayist and reviewer for numerous web and print-based fantasy and sword-and-sorcery publications, including The Cimmerian, Black Gate, Tales from the Magician's Skull, Mythprint, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur, The Dark Man, DMR Blog, Skelos, and SFFaudio.com. Two-time Robert E. Howard Foundation award winner: The Atlantean (Outstanding Achievement/Book for Flame and Crimson) and The Venarium (emerging scholar in REH studies).

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