Happy Monday! Time for the third
installment of my Sword & Sorcery Audiobook Showcase series. Week 1 was Conan: Blood of the Serpent, Week 2 was Savage Realms Monthly, and for Week 3, I
decided to shine a light on the magazine that started it all, way back in 1922:
Weird Tales. It’s incredible that it’s been around for a century, even if there
were a few gaps in years of publication. One hundred years worth of stories in
various iterations with numerous editors, a plethora of authors and artists who
have graced the magazine’s pages and given us countless memorable tales. After
all this time, Weird Tales still stands strong and features New York Times
bestselling author Jonathan Maberry at the helm as editor.
Weird Tales was rebooted in the
summer of 2019 with issue number 363. For the uninitiated, Weird Tales covers
the genres of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and anything that falls under the category
of weird. Since their reboot, the magazine has kept the tradition of bringing
us the best short stories in genre fiction as well as non-fiction articles. This
particular issue is a special Sword & Sorcery issue featuring tales of
blood, magic, and steel by masters of the craft. You’ll find stories, essays,
and poetry by some of today’s best purveyors of the genre. Since the detailed
contents aren’t listed on their site/Amazon, here’s a complete rundown of what
you’ll find in the Audible version of the magazine. The major difference
between the print and audiobook versions is that due to some copyright issues,
they weren’t able to include the Michael Moorcock preview chapter taken from
his recently published Elric Saga book The
Citadel of Forgotten Myths.
Table of Contents
“The Eyrie”, a foreword by
Jonathan Maberry
“Cold Ice, Red Blood”, a
short story by Kevin J. Anderson
“An Interview with Michael
Moorcock” by Weston Ochse
“On Michael Moorcock”, an
essay by Neil Gaiman
“Guardian of the Sapphire
Sword”, a short story by Greg Cox
“Maid of Steel”, a short
story by Dana Fredsti & David Fitzgerald
“Temm the Riven”, a short
story by Brian W. Matthews
“Three Winters”, a short
story by James A. Moore
“Misbegotten”, a short
story by Marguerite Reed
“The Warrior’s Way”, an excerpt
from Lord of the Shattered Land by Howard
Andrew Jones
“Hunting the Winter Witch”,
a short story by Greg Mollin
“A Word Before the Ice
Wars”, flash fiction/poetry by Bruce Boston
“Bard”, flash
fiction/poetry by Teel James Glenn
“The Gates of Katharion”, flash
fiction/poetry by Maxwell I. Gold
“The Girl Speaks to the
Mage”, flash fiction/poetry by Jane Yolen
“Sword and Sorcery: Weird
Tales and Beyond”, an essay by Charles R. Rutledge
The content is fantastic
from top to bottom. A definite highlight apart from the terrific stories is
Charles R. Rutledge’s essay on Sword and Sorcery: it’s jam-packed with info and
notes on essential authors/works that deserve to be read. I’m not a fan of
poetry/flash fiction but the pieces included go by fast and there are only a
few of them. I enjoyed all the short stories except one: “Hunting the Winter
Witch” for the simple reason that it is written in present tense. I can’t stand
stories/novels written in present tense. In my humble opinion, it creates a
false sense of urgency and it just sounds awful. Too bad, because otherwise, written
in past tense, it would’ve been a great story. It only runs about ten minutes, so
no biggie.
Speaking of length, this audio
version of Weird Tales lasts seven hours and thirteen minutes, so you get your money’s
or Audible credit’s worth. Almost every story is narrated by a different
narrator featuring the cream of the crop of narrators, including Simon Vance, Dion
Graham, Steve West, Natalie Naudus, Peter Berkrot, and Hillary Huber to name a
few. They all do a splendid job of bringing the stories to life. Weird Tales struck
a deal with Blackstone Publishing in late 2021 and they now have access to the
industry’s finest book narrators. It raises the production value of this
collection tremendously.
Weird Tales continues to
thrive in its second century of existence. Issue 366 features a broad tapestry
of fiction and non-fiction and is sure to satisfy the most avid fan of Sword &
Sorcery. If you enjoy short fiction in the genre of S&S, then don’t
hesitate to pick up this latest issue, you’ll be glad you did. Here’s hoping we
get another special Sword & Sorcery issue in the near future. Kudos to Weird
Tales for producing their magazine in audio format. I’ll see you all next Monday
for the fourth episode of my Sword & Sorcery Audiobook Showcase series.
Rating: Five
stars out of five
Get your copy on Audible
Weird Tales’ Official Website
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