Return of the Sword

It’s not just the title of our first publication
~ It’s our mission statement.

Rogue Blades Entertainment (RBE) strives to reinvigorate a new Age of Heroes by publishing powerful stories, dramatic sagas, epic verse, and awe-inspiring art. RBE’s goal is to hone the once fine-edged energy and vigor of the pulp-era adventure tales into a new, Xtreme edge of excitement and excellence!

“An age undreamed of . . . the days of high adventure!”
~ REH’s Wizard Akiro, in Conan the Barbarian

While RBE is not necessarily an adult-only market, if you are considering submitting any YA material we strongly urge you to honestly evaluate the merits of your submission within the scope of what RBE seeks to publish.

As long as the work falls within the fantastical realms of high adventure, we will consider any of the following genres (definitions provided by Wikipedia with our further elaborations below):

· Action & Adventure Fantasy

· Dark Fantasy (more fantasy than horror)

· Epic/High Fantasy

· Heroic Fantasy

· Historical Adventure Fiction & Fantasy (not alternative speculation)

· Low Fantasy (fantasy that tries not to emphasize magic)

· Swashbuckling Adventure

· Sword & Planet

· Sword & Sorcery/Sandal

RBE’s genre elaborations:

Epic/High Fantasy:
This type of fantasy revolves around a quest of large magnitude. Typically, the hero must save the world, rescue an important person, or perform some other daunting task at great personal risk. Failing to complete the quest usually results in horrible consequences for a major group of people. The hero may have associates along to help, but the quest can only be completed if the hero is involved at the end, and he usually has to give up something of personal value to succeed. JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is the most enduring example of an epic quest.

Heroic Fantasy:
This is the fantastical root of and father to all that RBE is interested in. Heroic Fantasy incorporates the epic/high fantasy tale on one hand and the sword & sorcery/low fantasy tale on the other. It is a strictly heroic tale written in favor of neither one side nor the other. Its story often appears to be of a lesser magnitude than that of the epic tale, while its protagonist sometimes appears to have a higher purpose than that of the usual sword & sorcery character. David Gemmell’s novels are good examples of heroic fantasy.

Historical Adventure:
Fictional adventures in real world, historical settings. Typically, such tales are set in specified historical periods or locales and have some sort of fantasy element added, such as mythical creatures or the use of magic. Authors should note that it is important to make sure all information portrayed as fact is accurate. Michael Ehart’s The Servant of the Manthycore is a prime example of historical fantasy adventure.

Sword & Planet:
Sword & Planet is very similar to Sword & Sorcery. It may have magic or technological leftovers from a remote, absent, dead, or dying race of advanced beings—so advanced that their technology might as well be magic. These various powers (e.g., psionics, telepathy) should be either somewhat rare, or difficult to use, with most survival dependent upon more mundane skills. The ability to cast even a minor spell or to use a bit of psi should set that character apart. It might get that character lynched as some sort of evil spirit or worshiped as a god. The protagonists of sword & planet, like those of sword & sorcery, are outcasts and foreigners, dropped in to strange lands (often by accident). They might be explorers from advanced civilizations, only carrying a single beam weapon with but a few shots left and a handful of survival gismos. More often a sword & planet protagonist has to make do with his wits and the sword he wrested from the planet’s primitive culture. He or she faces obstacles very similar to those faced by sword and sorcery heroes. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom and John Norman’s Gor series are examples of sword & planet adventure.

Sword & Sorcery:
Sword & sorcery (S&S) is fiction set in a land different from our own, where technology is relatively primitive, allowing the protagonists to overcome their martial obstacles face-to-face. Magic works, but seldom at the behest of the genre’s heroes. More often sorcery is just one more obstacle used against them and is usually wielded by villains or monsters. The landscape is exotic; either a different world, or far corners of our own. S&S heroes live by their cunning or brawn, frequently both. They are strangers or outcasts, rebels imposing their own justice on the wilds or the strange and decadent civilizations which they encounter. They are usually commoners or barbarians; should they hail from the higher ranks of society, they are discredited, disinherited, or from the lowest rungs of nobility. The protagonists of S&S must best fantastic dangers, monstrous horrors, and dark sorcery to earn riches, astonishing treasure, the love of dazzling members of the opposite sex, or the right to live another day. Most important of all, S&S moves at a headlong pace and overflows with action and thrilling adventure. Robert E. Howard’s Conan is the most famous of the S&S protagonists.

Swashbuckling Adventure:
Swashbuckler is a term that originated in the 16th century due to the popularity of a fighting style of using in the off-hand a side-sword with a buckler which was filled with much “swashing and making a noise.” The term became synonymous with rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen. Swashbucklers are similar in tone to both Sword & Sorcery and Sword & Planet tales, though swashbuckling historicals are adventures rooted in the past of planet Earth. Pirate tales traditionally fit within this category. A supernatural element is NOT required (though it is welcome), but action and excitement is. Think Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers or Rafael Sabatini’s Captain Blood.

~ These genre elaborations have been slightly modified from those originally drafted by Howard Andrew Jones (currently of Black Gate Magazine)

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