The third issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly hit the internet last week. You may recall, that they published my story, “Monster in the Mountains,” in their second issue. This issue features three new tales that keep “Monster” in good company.
“The Last of His Kind” by Bill Ward
Ward tells the story of a man who hunts the biggest game–dragons. I’m partial to stories set in the desert, and Tanout is an intriguing character. Ward does an excellent job of evoking a larger world that we get to see in the story itself:
“…he slept and dreamed of chariot hunts through mist-shrouded plains, javelin in hand; of stalking rank swamplands in the company of painted savages; of the complicated protocols of the eastern beast-hunts; and of wild, wheeling cavalry pursuits on the vast pampas lands across the Ariontac Sea. “
“Dead in the Water” by Josh Wolf
I’m not normally a fan of Arthurian stories, but Wolf’s short, sharp tale of desperation strikes a perfect blend of the gritty and the grotesque that suits Camelot. The story reminds me of Glen Cook, and that’s one of the highest compliments I can pay to a fantasist.
“Shadows from Firelight” by R. Michael Burns
This tale of samurai, demons, shapeshifting foxes, and gods in disguise takes place in a well-drawn fantastic Japan. The story has a mythic feel to it and a nice little twist that adds some bite to the classic “break the curse on the maiden” story.
While the prose occasionally produces a sentence more awkward than evocative, Burns more than makes up for it when he succeeds with gems like this alliterative, evocative description of two characters as: ”An impotent forest spirit and a spiritless spear-wielder.”
If you’re looking for something to read. Check them out.
