arkansan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 229
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Post by arkansan on Nov 29, 2016 17:46:20 GMT -6
I've read nearly all the original Howard Conan stories, and I've read the first two John Carter tales. I've also read some Brackett who I actually like better than Burroughs. Of course I've read some Smith, Wagner etc.
Who are the unsung heroes of these genres? What are some lesser known tales that deserve attention?
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Post by stevemitchell on Nov 29, 2016 18:32:27 GMT -6
Almuric by Robert E. Howard. Sword-and-planet, but with a sword-and-sorcery feel.
Elak of Atlantis by Henry Kuttner. Good, straight-ahead sword-and-sorcery from Weird Tales. The Paizo "Planet Stories" edition also includes the Prince Raynor of Sardopolis stories. His science-fantasy novels from the 1940s are also quite good--best of all, The Dark World, but also Valley of the Flame, Earth's Last Citadel (with C. L. Moore), The Time Axis, Well of the Worlds, and The Mask of Circe.
Northwest of Earth and Black God's Kiss by C. L. Moore, also in Paizo's "Planet Stories" editions.
Dwellers in the Mirage by A. Merritt, the closest he came to pure sword-and-sorcery (well, excepting The Ship of Ishtar, which I think is a bit overwritten, like most of Merritt's stuff).
The Mars and Venus novels by Otis Adelbert Kline. Very much in the Burroughs vein.
And about 50 books by Michael Moorcock.
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Post by geoffrey on Nov 29, 2016 18:42:45 GMT -6
A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
I guess you could call it sword & planet without the swords.
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 29, 2016 20:45:30 GMT -6
Leigh Brackett is well known in the biz for swords & planet stories, but I confess I hadn't read her work until just a couple of days ago. I bought a stack of her stuff through Paizo's "Planet Stories" series: Sword of Riannon and the three Skaith books. (I've read and enjoyed Riannon, have not yet read the others.)
They seem more Howard than Burroughs, but clearly a sword & planet theme.
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arkansan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 229
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Post by arkansan on Nov 30, 2016 0:35:32 GMT -6
Leigh Brackett is well known in the biz for swords & planet stories, but I confess I hadn't read her work until just a couple of days ago. I bought a stack of her stuff through Paizo's "Planet Stories" series: Sword of Riannon and the three Skaith books. (I've read and enjoyed Riannon, have not yet read the others.) They seem more Howard than Burroughs, but clearly a sword & planet theme. I've almost finished Rhiannon, I need to order the Skaith books. I enjoy Brackett's work very much. I've been reading a good bit of sword and planet lately, mostly because I've a mind to try writing my own take on the genre. |
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terje
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Blasphemous accelerator
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Post by terje on Nov 30, 2016 8:06:17 GMT -6
I agree that Brackett is the bee's knees. Drell Master by Caroll “Poke” Runyon is pretty cool. www.amazon.com/Drell-Master-Poke-Runyon/dp/0971055203Some others worth checking out: HG Wells – First Men in the Moon E L Arnold - Gullivar of Mars Arnould Galopin - Doctor Omega Gustave Le Rouge – Vampires of Mars Jack Vance - The Planet of Adventure Lin Carter - Callisto / Green Star / Mysteries of Mars |
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Post by tkdco2 on Dec 1, 2016 1:18:48 GMT -6
Michael Moorcock - Sojan the Swordsman
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Post by thorswulf on Dec 1, 2016 11:40:25 GMT -6
Burt Akers Dray Prescott series. Very sword and planet, sword and sorcery.
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Post by starcraft on Dec 5, 2016 20:50:11 GMT -6
Not sure if you checked them out already as you mentioned Conan, but REH's Bran Mak Morn and Kull stuff is S&S though there are not not as many stories combined of those two as there are Conan.
I'd also recommend Glen Cook's Black Company - it's sword and sorcery-ish...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2016 7:51:54 GMT -6
Glenn Cook is never quite S&P, but certainly not a bad read, if you like sword & sorcery. I recommend "The Dread Empire" over "The Black Company", though.
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Post by makofan on Dec 6, 2016 9:43:04 GMT -6
Burt Akers Dray Prescott series. Very sword and planet, sword and sorcery. I second this one. Andrew J Offut wrote a lot of pulp stuff, only read the one series by him but beware there is a lot of sex |
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Post by kesher on Dec 6, 2016 13:22:58 GMT -6
Gardner Fox's Kothar books! IMO, his Kyrik books are safe to ignore. If you find paperback copies from back in the day, they still have full page, color cigarette ads in them, which seems somehow perfect to me...  Also, all the Kane books by Karl Edward Wagner, especially Bloodstone and Darkness Weaves. His horror fiction is also superb. |
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Post by starcraft on Dec 6, 2016 16:02:09 GMT -6
Glenn Cook is never quite S&P, but certainly not a bad read, if you like sword & sorcery. I recommend "The Dread Empire" over "The Black Company", though. ^^^^ Dread Empire Slipped my mind - agreed on it being superior to TBC |
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Post by makofan on Dec 7, 2016 15:16:54 GMT -6
Robert Vardeman?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2016 17:23:48 GMT -6
Very good choice, that one. "The Demon Crown", again, not very strong, but entertaining. Rethinking the OP's question: Absolutely, positively, read the Ithkar series, edited by André Norton, and Robert "Horseclans" Adams. Not quite comparable to most titles named here, but a gem. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 8:40:44 GMT -6
Lately I've been delving into the obscure and reading very old pulp magazines; particularly Planet Stories and Avon Fantasy Reader. There are a ton of them on archive.org. They contain many of the authors mentioned in Appendix N but also many who are lesser known.
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Post by geoffrey on May 22, 2017 9:03:47 GMT -6
The Imaro books by Charles Saunders are good swords & sorcery (called by some "soul & sorcery") by a living author: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaro |
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arkansan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 229
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Post by arkansan on May 22, 2017 14:10:45 GMT -6
The Imaro books by Charles Saunders are good swords & sorcery (called by some "soul & sorcery") by a living author: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImaroNever heard of Imaro before, I'll have to check it out. |
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Post by Malcadon on May 22, 2017 18:24:54 GMT -6
I have that book in my collection. It is cliché-ridden sword & sorcery/planets schlock, filled with rather gratuitous art and juvenile eroticism that would not appeal to everyone. Although, I find it to be a cute, cheeky love letter to pulp fantasy that so encapsulates the type escapism that made stories like this so popular. It requires the reader to leave one's stiff collar of all seriousness and monocle of stuffy prudishness at the door and just enjoy the book for what it is. Oh, and it includes a great article at the end called How to Create Fantasy Worlds By Lin Carter. It is basically a set of correspondences between Runyon and Carter, where Carter gives advice to Runyon on drafting fantasy settings. It reminds me of the way the Petty Gods' essay How To Start A Religion In Your Spare Time For Fun and Profit By M.A.R. Barker works to help GMs/writers to round out their settings with regards to religion and spirituality. (More RPG supplements should have useful essays in them.) |
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Post by foxroe on May 22, 2017 18:43:41 GMT -6
Lately I've been delving into the obscure and reading very old pulp magazines; particularly Planet Stories and Avon Fantasy Reader. There are a ton of them on archive.org. They contain many of the authors mentioned in Appendix N but also many who are lesser known. Whoa! Nice! Thanks for this HH; time to download some old Weird Tales pulp to my Nook!  |
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