THOR: A Mighty Marvel Movie

Posted by on May 20, 2011 | 5 comments By the hoary frost of Heimdall’s beard, THOR is the mightiest Marvel Studios film yet! Well, I think so anyway. What’s not to like about a movie that is, to put it simply, an epic fantasy superhero love story of brotherly love and betrayal, mixed with plenty of appropriate humor and based on Norse myth. To be clear, the movie focuses on the Marvel Comics character Thor who is loosely based on...
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The Heroic Journey

Posted by on May 18, 2011 | 4 comments I studied mythology in college, where Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth was burned into my brain. When I started writing—and more specifically, when I started breaking down story structure to see how it worked—signs of the Hero’s Journey were ever-present. Every film that was part of the fundamental canon of my education could be reduced to Campbellian bullet points. It got to the point...
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Somdech Phra Jao Taksin Maharat (part 1)

Posted by on May 16, 2011 | 6 comments The life of Somdech Phra Jao Taksin Maharat, the first and only king of the Thonburi dynasty in Thailand, provides a sobering example of what can happen after the hero wins. Unfortunately, it’s not all sweetness and light. And it’s certainly not living happily ever after. I was initially planning to post this as a single article, but as with all historical figures, in order to...
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Dorgo Recommends . . .

Posted by on May 13, 2011 | 4 comments The GONJI SERIES by T.C. Rypel. Though long out of print, this excellent, 5-volume series about Gonji the Samurai Warrior and his amazing adventures in Central Europe can still be found on Amazon and other online book retailers. They are: #1 Deathwind of Vedun; #2 Samurai Steel, #3 Samurai Combat, #4 Fortress of Lost Worlds, #5 Knights of Wonder. This is a highly original series with memorable...
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Why Fantasy Speaks

Posted by on May 13, 2011 | 3 comments I was in the bookstore recently with a friend when she reached out and withdrew a book which was promptly handed to me. I glanced at it with raised brow. She knew me well enough to know my reading preferences and while I am not isolated to the fantasy genre alone I don’t cheat on my literary mistress often. It is the dominant body of work on my often overflowing shelves (I need a new bookshelf...
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Anachronisms in Heroic Fiction

Posted by on May 11, 2011 | 63 comments It is very, very difficult to write historical fiction (or heroic fiction set in a medieval or ancient setting) without inadvertently throwing in an anachronism or two. It is understandable — we are all products of our time and place. This is often reflected by modern attitudes that show up (intentionally or not) in fiction ostensibly set in an ancient or medieval setting. One of these...
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Ip Man: The Manly Soul Expressed in Fisticuffs

Posted by on May 9, 2011 | 10 comments (Note: In the following ramble, “kung-fu” is used as a general term to include kung-fu as well as muay thai, karate, wing chun, and all other punching arts under the sun.  No apology is made.) In the past couple years, I think it’d be fair to say that I’ve watched a lot of kung-fu movies.  I realized this around the time when I whispered “Fist That Shatters the Ten Gates of Hell”...
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Heroes and Antiheroes

Posted by on May 6, 2011 | 3 comments The antihero in modern fiction has arguably become more popular than the typical noble hero character. I don’t mean the antihero as seen in classical literature, in which he was often weak or foolish or ineffectual. I am referring to our current perception of the antihero as a mean, ass-kicking tough guy (or girl), who is more than willing to bend or break the rules to get things done. Later...
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How I Met your Cimmerian (and other Barbarian Swordsmen)

Posted by on May 4, 2011 | 8 comments It was the summer of 1969. Very much like the one described in the song by Bryan Adams. I quit the rock and roll band I’d been playing with since high school, went to work with my Dad, and had just finished reading The Lord of the Rings; a year earlier, while still in high school, I’d read The Hobbit. Now, after completing my magical journey through Middle-earth, I was totally hooked. I had...
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Zagor Will Feast on Your Nostalgia!

Posted by on May 2, 2011 | 6 comments So maybe it’s because I’m a fairly new daddy, with a two-year-old daughter and a month-old son, or maybe it has something to do with nearing the big Four Oh—mid-life crisis and all that—but lately I’ve had a touch of nostalgia. Or, to be frank, nostalgia has mercilessly grabbed me and throttled me into submission. Now, Lord help me, I find myself hunting down stuff I threw out with...
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Though He Walks Through Shadow: Unexpected Heroes

Posted by on Apr 29, 2011 | 5 comments   “Demon! What are you waiting for? This is what you want, isn’t it? Look at it. The last of its kind. Like you and I. If you destroy it, the world will never see its kind again… You have more in common with us than with them. You could be a king… If you cannot command, than you must obey.” ~ Prince Nuada, Hellboy II: The Golden Army Heroism is about hard choices, grey...
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Dorgo Recommends . . .

Posted by on Apr 27, 2011 | 0 comments Here are two sword and sorcery novels that are the real things, my friends. The Desert of Souls by Howard A. Jones is an excellent sword and sorcery novel set in 8th century Baghdad. Great, unforgettable characters. Subtle and wry in execution. Beautifully written. A well-plotted adventure story with a highly-original Arabian Nights setting, genuine human emotions, and solid human...
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A Death in Maastricht

Posted by on Apr 27, 2011 | 17 comments Maastricht.  Bisected by the Meuse River, it was an ancient Dutch city protected by formidable ramparts, bastions, and demilunes, well-provisioned and well-manned.  Its commander, M. de Fariaux, the Baron de Mande, was an expatriate Frenchman who had fought the famed Maréchal Turenne[1] to a standstill some seventeen years earlier.  Maastricht was one of the best-fortified towns...
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Dispatches From the Lone Star Front: George Keathley

Posted by on Apr 25, 2011 | 2 comments On September 14, 1944, on Mount Altuzzo in the Italian Theater, a hero fell. George Dennis Keathley was born in Olney, Texas on November 10, 1907, to William and Bertha Keathley.  Olney is a small ranching town in West Central Texas, about 100 miles west-northwest of Fort Worth.  When his wife inherited some acreage, William Keathley gave up being the local schoolmaster and took up farming. ...
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The Inner Battle – Bilbo Baggins and General Ulysses S. Grant

Posted by on Apr 22, 2011 | 9 comments The year was 1885, and Ulysses S. Grant was dying. He had throat cancer, no doubt a result of a cigar habit acquired during the Civil War. To make matters worse, Grant was bankrupt, and deeply in debt. Grant knew how to organize and lead an army, but he was less skilled at judging people. He had entrusted his remaining money to Ferdinand Ward, a friend of his son Ulysses Jr., to invest in a...
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My Heroes

Posted by on Apr 20, 2011 | 5 comments The landscape of fantasy and sci-fi lit is festooned with great heroes. I’d like to share some of my personal favorites. Conan from Robert E. Howard. I started reading the Conan books when I was in third or fourth grade, and the subject matter felt so adult. I read the series several more times as I grew up, and I find that I still love the principle character. Conan is often uncouth and, well,...
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The Duality of Heroes

Posted by on Apr 18, 2011 | 7 comments When we think of a hero in literature, quite often we tend to think of a muscle-bound fellow setting things right in the world through use of brawn and sometimes wit. Often such a hero is packing a weapon appropriate to his time, a sword for days past or a six shooter or other handgun for modern times. Every once in a while a female will take the role, but in the minds of many readers the idea of...
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The Philosphical Underpinnings of Heroic Fantasy

Posted by on Apr 15, 2011 | 4 comments Despite this column’s ponderous title I am not interested in presenting any sort of literary thesis work. I just want to have some fun with the concepts of heroic fantasy and fantasy, and if I come anywhere near making a point about anything…well, that’ll be a bonus, won’t it? So let’s get on: “I LIVE, I LOVE, I SLAY AND I AM CONTENT” ~ Robert E. Howard,...
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The Roots of Heroic Fiction: The Scholastic Book Club

Posted by on Apr 13, 2011 | 9 comments I have to admit I was flattered when Jason Waltz, mastermind of the far-flung RBE Empire, invited me to share a few words with you here at the Home of Heroics. I’ve been preceded by several gentlemen I much admire, including my fellow Ottawa native, Charles Saunders. I’ve lived in Chicago for almost exactly 20 years, and traveled Bessie Coleman Drive – the main thoroughfare to O’Hare ...
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Graphic Heroics: The Graphic Robert E. Howard

Posted by on Apr 11, 2011 | 6 comments Fans of heroic fiction won’t need much of an introduction to Robert E. Howard.  Certainly among fans of heroic fantasy, but even more broadly for fans of heroic fiction in general, Howard is one of the most widely read authors.  One of the hallmarks of Howard’s fiction is its popularity when it comes to adapting it to graphic format.  Part of this is Howard’s powerfully descriptive...
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The Desert of Souls – A Review

Posted by on Apr 8, 2011 | 4 comments The Desert of Souls is the first published novel by Howard Andrew Jones, a tale of Dabir and Asim. Over the years these characters have appeared in a series of short stories. However, this novel takes us to their beginnings, before they became inseparable friends. I originally read of Asim el Abbas and Dair ibn Khalil in “Servant of Iblis,” a short story from the pages of the late and...
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Factoring Fear

Posted by on Apr 6, 2011 | 10 comments Heroism is obviously the defining element of heroic fantasy.  Yet fear also plays a part in the denouement of stories in the genre.  The heroes and heroines of heroic fantasy inspire fear in their enemies – and overcome fear within themselves. But do heroes actually experience fear?  The late Cus D’Amato – trainer of several boxing champions, including Floyd Patterson, Jose Torres and...
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The Flying Manicurist

Posted by on Apr 4, 2011 | 16 comments For sheer amazing heroics there are few people who can match this… manicurist. She was also a beauty shop owner, a laundress, a chili cook, a college drop-out and a farm hand. And for a brief time, from 1921 to her death in 1926, she was “Queen Bess”, the first African-American woman pilot and a barnstorming sensation. Bessie Colman was someone who not only had a dream and achieved that...
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Michael Ehart

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Michael Ehart writes adventure fiction. Some of it looks like detective stories, like his pushcart-nominated “Without Napier” and some of it looks like Sword and Sorcery, like his Harper’s Pen nominated “The Tomb of the Amazon Queen.” You can look at his latest novel The Tears of Ishtar at Amazon or your favorite...
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Bruce Durham

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Bruce Durham lives in Mississauga, Ontario and has appeared in publications like Paradox, Flashing Swords, Return of the Sword and Rage of the Behemoth. Other publications include the graphic novel adaptation of his short story The Marsh God, available from ComixPress.com and Indyplanet.com. His short stories “The Marsh God” and “Homecoming” won...
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Luke Forney

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Luke Forney lives in the western United States, finishing his degree and working toward the goal of building a career as an author.  While he currently mostly writes dry academic papers, he is excited to get the chance to write about what he truly enjoys: stories.  From his work as a reviewer at Luke Reviews, The OLD Luke Reviews, and Luke Reviews: VP Edition, to his column “Graphic...
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Jack Mackenzie

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Jack Mackenzie’s stories have appeared in Dark Worlds Magazine, Encounters Magazine, Neo-Opsis Magazine, Raygun Revival and in the anthologies Magistria: The Realm of the Sorcerer from Ricasso Press, Sails and Sorcery from Fantasist Enterprises, and Swords of Fire from Rage Machine Publications. He is the co-editor of the anthology The Void Eternal also from Rage Machine Publications. He...
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Ty Johnston

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 1 comment A Kentuckian by birth and reputation, it only took Ty Johnston 20 years to escape the spice mines of Kessel that is modern newspaper journalism. During his time in servitude, he managed to sneak in the occasional short story or three, but it has only been the last couple of years that he has thrown off the yoke of being indentured for the freedom of a freelance writer and fiction author. He...
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Jonathan Moeller

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments A wandering computer repairman from Minnesota, Jonathan Moeller thinks writing is pretty fun, so he keeps doing that. He wrote the sword-and-sorcery novel Demonsouled from Gale/Five Star in 2005, and is pleased to report that Demonsouled will soon be re-released in ebook format. He’s also written short fiction for Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword & Sorceress, Demon: A Clash of Steel,...
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Keith West

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Keith West grew up reading the classic pulp authors and continues to do so.  A physicist by training, he currently works at a major university in west Texas.  Keith thinks the most significant thing he’s ever done was when he and his wife adopted a son from Kazakhstan.  In addition to writing the regular column “Dispatches from the Lone Star Front” here at RBE’s Home of Heroics,...
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Jaym Gates

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Jaym Gates is a thoroughly redheaded editor, author and publicist with a passion for the dark, monstrous, deadly, weird and gritty aspects of fiction and life. Although her heroic fiction is about mechanical dragons dueling over an America ruined by an magical apocalypsii, she cut her fantastic teeth on David Gemmell and is forlorn that she will never get to meet the man who introduced her to the...
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Nicholas Ozment

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Nicholas Ozment is a freelance writer whose stories, poems, essays, and reviews span a wide range of genres and styles. His award-winning work has appeared in more than seventy publications and has been anthologized, podcast, and performed on stage and radio. Recent publications include Weird Tales, the online literary journal The Smoking Poet, and Sorcerous Signals, and he has work...
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Steve Moody

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Steve Moody lives and works (sometimes) in Barnsley, England. His office jobs have given him the typing skills necessary to write speculative fiction and a rambling, occasionally offensive blog, Moody-by-Name. Both the blog and Steve himself may be NSFW. His fiction includes “The Professor and Puckman” in The Ghostbreakers: Sinister Sleuths, “The Last Drive” in the F/SF anthology, and...
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Sean T.M. Stiennon

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Sean T.M. Stiennon is a youngish fellow with a known lair in the vicinity of Madison, Wisconsin.  By day, he is gainfully employed in the business of software testing and by night, he sleeps.  Sometimes, in the twilight hours between the two activities, he slams his head into a keyboard repeatedly and tries to publish the results.  He holds a degree in History from UW-Madison, where he...
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Grant Theron

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Grant Theron writes from Seattle where he alternates between projects that sustain his living and projects that sustain his life. One day those will be the same. His passion for fantasy came as a child when he read St. George and the Dragon which is masterfully retold by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Hyman. That flirtatious glance became an adoring gaze with The Hobbit and when he...
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Euan Harvey

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Euan Harvey lives in Watford, near London, with his wife and three sons. He writes fantasy and horror short stories and novels. He was diagnosed with advanced metastatic melanoma in August of 2009, but still isn’t dead. If you liked his article or one of his stories, or you have a question, send him an email (euan AT euanharvey.com). He answers every one he gets....
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David Alastair Hayden

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments David Alastair Hayden scribbles and podcasts thrilling tales of fantasy adventure. His novel Wrath of the White Tigress is currently available as a free audio book on Podiobooks.com. And this June, via Typing Cat Press, it will be available as an ebook in all major markets with a print version soon to follow. David lives in Alabama, along with his delightful wife and three lovely cats. He studies...
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Milton Davis

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Milton Davis is author/publisher of MVmedia, LLC, a micro publisher specializing in Science Fiction and Fantasy. He’s the author of three Sword and Soul novels, Meji Book One, Meji Book Two, and Changa’s Safari. Milton is currently collaborating with Charles R. Saunders on a fourth book, Griots: A Sword and Soul Anthology. In addition to writing, Milton is very fond of music that has a good...
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Morgan Holmes

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Morgan Holmes, D.P.M., is a podiatrist by day battling toenail fungus and bunions. At night, he turns into an archaeologist of the pulps, searching out forgotten fantastic swashbucklers and unknown sword and sorcery fiction. He has been published in The Cimmerian, The Dark Man, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur, the Windy City Pulp & Paperback Show booklet, and The Howard Review among others. He also...
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Laura J. Underwood

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Laura J. Underwood is the author of numerous novels, novellas and short stories, including Ard Magister, Chronicles of the Last War, The City Under the Bridge, Dragon’s Tongue, The Lunari Mask, and Wandering Lark. Her Harper Mage stories used to appear in anthologies, and in such places as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s FANTASY Magazine and Adventures in Sword & Sorcery. Many of these tales...
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Bill Ward

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 2 comments Bill Ward is a genre writer, editor, and blogger wanted across the Outer Colonies for crimes against the written word. His fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, as well as gaming supplements and websites. He is a Contributing Editor and reviewer for Black Gate Magazine, and 423rd in line for the throne of Lost Lemuria, and creator of  the blog DEEP DOWN GENRE...
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John M. Whalen

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments John M. Whalen has been a reporter, an editor, and an astrologer. His Spacewestern novel, Jack Brand, was published by Pill Hill Press in 2010 and is available from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. He is the author of numerous sword and sorcery, horror, and science fiction short stories that have appeared in Flashing Swords, The Sword Review, Tower of Light, and Raygun Revival. He was ...
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Ed Wyrd

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Ed Wyrd is sequestered in his northwest side Milwaukee cape cod working on several novels. Well, as sequestered as one can get with a wife, two boys, a dalmatian, a Jack Russell, and attention deficit. When he isn’t writing, reading, drawing, or spending time with his family, he listens to episodes of Old Time Radio shows like the “The Shadow” or listens to his vinyl collection...
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Charles Gramlich

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Charles Gramlich has been a fan of heroic fantasy in all its grand variety for longer than he cares to remember. Of course he started with Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Of course he made his way to Tolkien, Karl Edward Wagner, Ken Bulmer, Michael Moorcock, David Gemmell and many others. Somewhere along the way he decided to make “What Would Solomon Kane Do?” his personal motto....
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Robert Mancebo

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Rob Mancebo worked in the Military/Defense/Security sector for 32 years. He’s now working in the Pacific Northwest as a LXMO/MA. He writes predominantly historical fantasy, but has been known to sell sci-fi and horror stories as well. He also Edits for Cyberwizard Productions.
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Christopher Stires

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Christopher Stires lives in Riverside CA. He is a novelist, short story writer and struggling screenwriter. He has written four novels — the just released Dark Legend (Paranormal-Horror), Rebel Nation (An Alternate History-Thriller), and The Inheritance (Winner of the 2003 Dream Realm Award for Horror) are all available from Zumaya Publications. To the Mountain of the Beast (A...
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Kate Martin

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Kate Martin is an adjunct professor by day, a dance teacher by night, and a writer every minute in between. Growing up on the side of a Connecticut mountain in the middle of nowhere wasn’t much good for afterschool shenanigans with friends, but it was spectacular for building an over-active imagination. She spent her childhood weaving intricate plots for her dolls–none of which were ever...
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Peter Welmerink

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Guess yet?
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Kenny Soward

Posted by on Apr 3, 2011 | 0 comments Kenny Soward is a proud Kentuckian and contributor to such legendary goth-fantasy publications as Carpe Noctem and Gothic.Net. While Kenny has a reputation as a horror writer, he is currently testing the fantasy fiction waters and has several short stories “out there” in hopes of publication in that genre. After all, fantasy fiction was his first love. Unwilling to paint himself into a...
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Mini-interview: Sean T.M. Stiennon

Posted by on Sep 14, 2009 | 1 comment Why write? Pretty much the same reasons as anyone else, I’d imagine.  Because I enjoy it.  Because other people enjoy what I write.  Because I seem to have some talent, and uncultivated talent always strikes me as tragic.  Because I think I have unique, powerful stories and characters that only I can give form to.  Because the world needs heroes. If you didn’t write, what would...
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