Otis Adelbert Kline's Lord of the Lamia, serialised in Weird Tales in 1935. Lamia was an ancient Libyan queen. She can transform herself into a cobra. If her mummy can be revived she will become the slave of the man who awakens her. Fun stuff.

Here's my review.


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Lester Del Rey’s 1950 novel When the World Tottered combines ancient mythology with sci-fi (it's definitely sci-fi not fantasy). In the near future a farmer meets a valkyrie and ends up in Asgard. Action-packed and imaginative. Recommended.

Here's my review.


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Renegade Swords is a fairly strong sword-and-sorcery anthology embracing both conventional sword-and-sorcery and stories that either fit into related genres or don’t fit neatly into any genre, by both well-known and lesser known writers.

Here's my review.


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Lin Carter's 1965 debut novel The Wizard of Lemuria is clearly heavily influenced by Robert E. Howard. The hero encounters plenty of hazards including carnivorous flying lizards and vampire flowers and finds time to rescue a beautiful slave-girl who is in reality a princess. Solid entertaining sword-and-sorcery.

Here's my review.

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Swordsmen from the Stars collects three sword-and-planet stories (they initially appear to be sword-and-sorcery but I think they're really sword-and-planet tales) from very early in his career. They're hugely enjoyable tales of adventure and romance, with a bit of subtlety and some economical but interesting world-building. Highly recommended ( Read more... )

This community is basically dead but I'm too soft-hearted to close it down.

I do however still blog regularly about vintage genre fiction (such as sword & sorcery) at my Vintage Pop Fictions blog.

You can also follow me on Twitter.

L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter’s 1978 Conan of Aquilonia is the first of the non-Robert E. Howard Conan books that I've sampled. depending on how you look at it it’s either a collection of linked short stories or it’s an episodic novel ( Read more... )

Jan of the Jungle is a lost world/jungle adventure novel by Otis Adalbert Kline that is somewhat in the Tarzan mould. And it's fun. Here's the link to my review.


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Here's the link to my review of Leigh Brackett’s excellent sword-and-planet adventure The Sword of Rhiannon.


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Harold Lamb was one of the grand masters of adventure fiction. Swords from the Desert is a collection (and a superb one) of his short stories mostly featuring Crusader and Muslim heroes. Here's the link to my review.


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