February 2022 Reviews

 For the month of February 2022, I found nine stories in three publications that I felt fit a reasonable definition of sword and sorcery.

 

First up, “Rakshasa in a Pot,” by author Prashanth Srivatsa in Issue #51 of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. This is a fine tale, immediately setting itself apart from classic sword and sorcery with its setting inspired by Indian history and mythology and, even more so, by the fact that its swordswoman hero is nine months pregnant as the story begins! There’s material about caste and motherhood to ponder here, in the context of an exciting adventure. Excellent.

 

Swords and Sorcery Magazine published a new issue in February. Jason L. Connor’s “Make Sure to Breed Two, Then the Tree Needs You,” has a somewhat familiar setup enlivened by a couple of sharp visuals (a cow-headed goddess!) and some stylistic tics that sometimes jar but usually serve to startle the reader into focusing on plot elements that might otherwise have passed unremarked. “Crows of Mynchmoor” has the requisite sword fight and dark magic but shares a Lovecraftian element with the Connor in that the setting involves rural people dealing with a dark force they either worship or acquiesce to, an element I find personally shopworn and even a touch offensive (probably because I’m from a rural background). The final story, featuring some very strong characterization, is “Gael” by Suri Parmar. This piece draws on multiple real-world influences that don’t quite integrate, and winds up with the titular character wondering if “it was all a dream,” which doesn’t quite satisfy.

 

New Mythology Press published the third of their Libri Valoris series in February, this entry titled Keen Edge of Valor (publisher page • Amazon paperback • Amazon Kindle • Kindle Unlimited). I counted five stories among those on the table of contents that work as sword & sorcery. The one many old hand readers will be excited to see is an entry in Glen Cook’s long-running Black Company series. “Leta of a Thousand Sorrows” (I won’t spell out the lengthy subtitle, which seems to exist mainly to situate readers familiar with the series as to where the story falls in the timeline) features appearances by many series favorites, and is narrated, as usual, by the Company’s medic and Annalist, Croaker. A welcome addition to an excellent series, maybe not up to the best of Cook’s stuff, but well

worth a read. Several other stories suffer, for this reader, from being entries in series I’m not familiar with. This would not normally be off-putting, but in these cases, the stories depend too much on familiarity with earlier entries (in a way that Cook’s does not) for their power. There’s also an unfortunate tendency for these stories to open with what I call “proper noun soup,” which probably serves to tell series readers what the authors think those readers need to know, or remind them where they are, but tends to make new readers bounce. But the great news about this book is that it contains what will probably end up being one of my favorite stories of the year, “Furrows,” by J.A. Miller. There is so much to love about this story’s treatment of memory, trauma, and unwelcome rejuvenation. The details of a hermit farm life set against horrific elements of shocking violence and the presence of sorcery in the form of some familiar feeling but deftly rendered magical objects make this piece an absolute stand out. Highly recommended.

 

So, for me, the stories of the month were “Rakshasa in a Pot” by Prashanth Srivatsa and “Furrows” by J.A. Miller.

 

For March I’ll be reading six stories, three each from Savage Realms Monthly #10 and Swords and Sorcery Magazine.