Swords & Dark Magic | |||||||||||||||||
edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders | |||||||||||||||||
HarperCollins Eos, 544 pages | |||||||||||||||||
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A review by Martin Lewis
Now is definitely the right time for an anthology of new sword and sorcery stories. As they deftly sketch out a
history of the subgenre in the introduction, editors Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders make clear that this is a
movement that goes through cycles of boom and bust. Which may explain why their otherwise extremely useful history
tails off somewhat after the 60s: no mention of Karl Edward Wagner, Glen Cook referenced only in passing
and they really need to say more about Dungeons & Dragons and other role playing games. It is
hard to argue with the fact the subgenre has been fallow for a while though. But this just means the soil is
now more fertile.
It is hard to over-estimate the influence it has had on the current generation of fantasy writers, those writing
what is sometimes referred to as "new" or "gritty" fantasy but which I prefer to think of as Third Wave Fantasy. That
is to say, fantasy written by authors who came of age at a time when fantasy was already established as a
commercial genre. J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings or Dragonlance novelisations, Robert E. Howard's Conan
or Arnie's version, pulling old paperbacks off the shelf of the library or rolling a twelve-sided die in a
friend's basement: it is all part of the same rich fountainhead. And that means they have been able to plunder
the best bits from all available sources.
But what is sword and sorcery? There is a very enjoyable
Mind Meld
at SF Signal where the contributors to this volume talk about what it means to them. For me, it is about
adventures, not quests; the erosion of idealism in favour of realism. As Strahan and Anders say in their introduction:
The rest of the stories stick to the brief and it is those who follow it to the letter -- the anthology is
subtitled "The New Sword and Sorcery" -- that fare best. Or, to put it another way, the stories that represent
continuations of existing sword and sorcery series generally disappoint. The intent is clearly to provide context
and bring the work of older writers to the attention of a new generation. However, this was satisfactorily achieved
by the introduction and, since none of these writers stirred themselves to produce new settings, they seem rather
stale in comparison to the new blood.
For example, Michael Moorcock's new Elric novella, "Red Pearls" stands out, unfortunately for its length and its
leisurely telling. As the pages turn Elric does rouse himself from his ennui but just as he has warmed himself up
and given Stormbringer a bit of exercise along comes a deus ex machina to neatly (and abruptly) tie everything
up. It gives the story an episodic feel which, although one of the hallmarks of sword and sorcery, needn't be so
perfunctory. The same is true -- to an even greater degree -- of two other continuations. Robert Silverberg's "Dark
Times At The Midnight Market," a dull and obvious Majipoor story about a love potion, is by far the worst in the
collection in terms of both relevance and execution. "Tides Elba," Glen Cook's latest tale from the Black Company,
on the other hand, is a perfect example of sword and sorcery but simply goes nowhere. Both stories have the
unmistakable taste of filler; stories knocked up to order and slotted into existing authorial universes for minimum
effort. (C.J. Cherryh has a much better take on a typical Black Company story with "A Wizard of Wiscezan" which
shows how it should be done.)
Thankfully, "Hew the Tint Master" by Michael Shea shows it is possible to keep a familiar setting fresh. The
story is a continuation of the Cugel The Clever series created by Jack Vance and, although it
initially seems to be a Conan pastiche centred around a barbarian called Bront The Inexorable, it opens up into
everything a sword and sorcery story should be. The magic is mysterious and little understood by the protagonist
but has the potential to re-shape the world. The adventurers have their own agendas and are well aware of this,
realpolitik is very much the order of the day. The worldbuilding does not linger on the mechanics or the
baubles but still leaves the reader in no doubt that the protagonists live in a coherent, coloured and
infinitely varied world. It is sly, it is fast-paced, it is, most of all, great fun.
And, happily, the rest of the stories are in a similar vein. For all that sword and sorcery is loved for its down
and dirty realism, it is also an impish genre with a Loki-like sense of humour. As the editors say, "grim humor
and gritty violence" are critical ingredients for the subgenre. So we get the ironic deconstruction of legend
in "The Singing Spear" by James Enge and a knowing wink to "A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet" by Garth
Nix that keeps it from being just an otherworldly Boy's Own adventure. The awful punning title of Tanith
Lee's "Two Lions, A Witch And The War-Robe" conceals a story of infinitely more subtle humour.
But sword and sorcery is also a serious business; its protagonists frequently face life at the sharp end. K.J. Parker
work is not renowned for its humour and, despite the sardonic title, the same is true of "A Rich Full Week" which
paints jobbing sorcery as a life of drudgery and fear. Life is similarly hard won in "The Sea Troll's Daughter"
by Caitlin R. Kiernan. In contrast, Greg Keyes initially seems to be working in the happy-go-lucky vein of
adventure story like Nix but the incongruously breezy tone of "The Undefiled" masks a story that is even more horrific.
Finally, it is interesting to compare the opening story, "Goats Of Glory" by Steve Erikson, with the
last, "The Fool Jobs" by Joe Abercrombie. These two writers must be two of the biggest draws on the table of
contents and not only do they provide two of the best stories in the anthology but these stories also share some
other similarities. Here is the opening paragraph from "Goats Of Glory":
And here is the one from "The Fool Jobs":
My initial inclination was to judge Erikson's prose harshly. "Five riders drew rein in the pass" is awkward. The
sprawling valley, the jagged scar of the river, the sagging bridge, the squatting buildings; these are all
fairly generic images. And the less said about the title the better. Abercrombie's title, on the other hand,
is pretty much a distillation of the pure essence of sword and sorcery. "Scratty as an idiot's hair" is a perfect
example of the slangy, demotic prose that has breathed so much life into Third Wave Fantasy and that
digressionary, piss-taking riff on the carved uprights is similarly emblematic of its rough humour.
Then, as I read on, I was forced to re-evaluate Erikson's story. The prose certainly isn't as distinctive
as Abercrombie's but otherwise the story is his equal. They both feature a band of ne'er-do-wells who are at
each others' throats but can be relied upon when the chips are down, a set of characters who are effortlessly
and immediately distinctive. They both provide perfect biopsies of another world, a world beyond the characters
themselves. And they both climax with bloody great fights; passages of writing that are simply
exhilarating. Exhilarating but not mindlessly so, both are almost instantly undercut by the realisation
you can win the battle but still lose the war (that dagger of realism again). I was already a fan of
Abercrombie, I am now a fan of Erickson too and (once I've built up my stamina sufficiently) I hope to
tackle his Malazan Book Of The Fallen decalogue.
So Swords & Dark Magic is an excellent showcase for both its contributors and the subgenre
itself. If epic fantasy is generally considered to be most comfortable with a word count measured in the
millions, sword and sorcery proves to be the perfect genre for the short story. Like their protagonists,
the authors follow the adventurers' code: get in and get out. The result is an anthology with a remarkably
high hit rate. In fact, Swords & Dark Magic is probably the single best original fantasy
anthology I've read. More please.
Martin Lewis lives in East London. He is the reviews editor of Vector and also regularly reviews for Strange Horizons. He blogs at Everything Is Nice. |
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