Sword and sorcery is not just a literary form. It can appear in video games, tabletop roleplaying games, miniature wargames, traditional art, comics, and film. Nevertheless, at its core, it is a form of storytelling, mostly in written prose, and often in shorter prose forms: the short story and novella (or short novel).
Over the past few years, more and more people have been reading and writing sword and sorcery, both classic S&S and new iterations. Readers and writers are not alone; analysis is also happening. Scholars and fans are writing about S&S as well. Brian Murphy's Flame and Crimson consolidated the history of sword and sorcery in one well-wrought monograph, beginning with its creation by Robert E. Howard and ending with DMR Books. Several well-written forewords of new anthologies, such as Jason M Waltz's foreword to Tule Frog Press's Swords and Heroes, attempt to bridge the classics of sword and sorcery with new indie iterations of the genre by discussing a historically unspecific sword and sorcery "attitude." And let's not forget the Goodman Games' Tales from the Magicians' Skull blog, which continues to publish excellent, often award-winning articles. Academia has also taken notice: my own academic book, Weird Tales of Modernity: The Ephemerality of the Ordinary in the Stories of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard (McFarland 2019), devotes several chapters to the modernity of sword and sorcery. New indie sword and sorcery is going strong, and it is sophisticated in its awareness of its past and the potential of its future.
But something different seems to be happening. There has been a notable development around the beginning of this year: the drip and trickle of new sword and sorcery has become a steady stream. More new material is being published than any individual can read (and maybe purchase). Several diehard S&S fans in the Whetstone Discord have challenged themselves to read as many of the new anthologies and magazines as possible, but it increasingly feels like a fool's errand because more comes out before the previous reading has ended. For example, very personally speaking, I am behind on several excellent series: Tales from the Magician's Skull (Goodman Games), Savage Realms Monthly (Literary Rebel), Swords and Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy (Parallel Universe Publications), and many more. Additionally, more material is on the way, e.g., New Edge Sword and Sorcery launched a successful Kickstarter, Rogue Blades Entertainment has teased a new anthology, Neither Beg nor Yield, and The Rogues in the House Podcast recently published Volume II of A Book of Blades. And, of course, Whetstone: Amateur Magazine of Sword and Sorcery continues to publish new and emerging authors.
In a word, there is potentially a glut of new sword and sorcery literary material, and not only in the indie realm. Howard Andrew Jones' Lord of a Shattered Land is being released by Baen Books. Scott Oden has finished his excellent Grimnir series for now (the third book, The Doom of Odin, has been released recently). Outland Productions and Weird Tales Magazine have both released new sword and sorcery anthologies featuring big-name, professional writers. And if you're a fan of Games Workshop's "Black Library," the sword and sorcery and sword and sorcery-adjacent works of their grimdark worlds continue to be printed.
The question isn't just a matter of attention span, i.e. limited bandwidth. Due to the glut of new sword and sorcery, I find myself less patient with uninspired, cookie-cutter sword and sorcery tropes—plots, characters, settings—being deployed by writers without any unique spin or stylistic delivery. I can't point to any specific trope that has become worn out. However, this past year, I must admit that as I read some new S&S, I find myself thinking, "I've read this so many times." Conversely, when I come across something fresh, something brand new but still S&S—not only in terms of plot or character but also in terms of style—I feel refreshed and re-energized, excited about the genre. Howard Andrew Jones's yet-to-be-released Lord of a Shattered Land, for example, acknowledges and surprisingly inverts several S&S tropes. And it left me inspired and ready for more.
Another interesting development: because of the glut of new sword and sorcery, I find myself buying new books with a wistful sense of "One day I'll find time to read this." Am I alone? In other words, when I get a new indie S&S book, it's a predetermined fact that this purchase or Kickstarter won't be read any time soon because of a long and growing backlog. As I gaze longingly at my teetering pile of unread new S&S, I am starting to feel more like a sword and sorcery book collector than a reader, even though I always have one, two (or even three) indie S&S books with a bookmark lingering in my office.
I am in no way suggesting that indie S&S authors or
publishers should pump the brakes. I don't think the glut of new sword and
sorcery literature is a problem. But I do think this acknowledging this new
phase in indie S&S might be helpful for writers, readers, and publishers.
The pragmatist in me thinks that this new glut doesn't matter at all. The best
stories will rise to the surface, and a natural process of selection will
hopefully keep new stuff coming. I don't know if there are any
"solutions" because I don't know if what I'm describing is unique to
me or is even a problem that merits a solution. I would love for new sword and
sorcery to continue to be published, read, and discussed. The issue is: how
might this new phase change or influence the types of S&S being written,
published, and sold? Do we need a top 10 list? A designated review site?
Something to help others navigate what is increasingly feeling like a
claustrophobic, crowded field?
