Heroic Fantasy Quarterly–Q52

As we stand on the edge of summer, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly brings you a full issue of adventure and action, with four stories, three poems, art and audio (with more on the way)!

Fiction Contents

Carpe Caput, by Evan Dicken with artwork by Pen Anders, and audio by Karen Menzel.  Nastazo Balicosta, warrior/wlwyer  of the Gilded City of Limini, has one last case before the end of the day, but Calixandra Akropolites Ptochoprodromus is no ordinary client.  Monsters and sorcery abound in this excellent tale!

The Gift of the Eons, by Steve Dilks, with artwork by Miguel Santos.  Chaska of the Leopard Clan is at the end of his rope—relentlessly pursued by the bestial cannibal Kanikeha, Chaska takes his stand amidst the ruins in the inner forest of Nakawa.  But ancient ruins hold secrets themselves.

Return to the Tower, by Harry Piper, audio by The Bard.  The tower of a powerful sorcerer looms over the village of Dimenu, casting a shadow over all who live there.  The narrator flees into a world of armies and battles, but the shadow still haunts him, spurring him to return and confront its mysteries.

Dragon Bait, by Ray Daley, with artwork by Karolína Wellartová.  Terrence of Ventress finds the life of a knight’s squire to be much more tedious, difficult, and dangerous than the old tales implied.  Then the dragon shows up and things go from bad to weird.

 

Poetry Contents

Arabella and the Kraken King, by Gretchen Tessmer, with artwork by Andrea Alemanno.   Krakens!  Monsters of the inscrutable deep!  But what do such beasts think of the strange world above?

The Last King of Mercia, by David Barber, with artwork by Miguel Santos.   A poem about overlaps; the ages of paganism overlapping the age of Christianity, and the age of one king overlapping with the glory of legend.

Nightmare Voyage, by Jennifer Crow, with artwork by Gary McClusky.  We go back to the roiling seas for this final poem.  Krakens are one thing, but the pure fury of nature is quite another.

 

Artwork

Jereme Peabody is back, with a powerful piece of banner art “King’s Helm” will spur your imagination and prepare you for the stories and poems we have in store!

Jereme is a software engineer in the DC area and is also a freelance concept artist working mostly on video games and books.  He started his artistic career dabbling with sculpting, pencils, and even still-life oil painting.  As tablets became available, he crossed over from traditional art to digital by first digitally painting still-lifes, then through experimentation and practice, transitioned to landscapes and fantasy.

 

Goings On

David Farney:  Keeps a steady hand on the till.

Adrian Simmons:  Adrian continues his quatro-decadal reviews with a review of the November 1989 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact.  https://www.blackgate.com/2022/01/19/em-analog-science-fiction-and-science-fact-november-1989em-a-retro-review/

James Rowe:  Keeps the fires of editorial review going.

Arien Skiba:  Keeps the censers of editorial review both smoking and swinging.

Neil Baker:  The fellowship has added a new member!  Neil is an author and teacher from Essex, now living in Toronto. He is the founder of April Moon Books, and his latest publication, ˜The Call of Poohthulhu”, is about to be released. He loves his cats, and they love him.

 

Tales From Around the Fire

Craving more S&S fiction?  Allow us to point the way to Tales From the Magician’s Skull #7 and Swords and Sorceries # 3.  If you enjoyed Harry Piper’s “Return to the Tower”, then you need to check out his book  The Great Die Slow.   Ditto if you liked Steve Dilks’ “Gift of Eons”, check out his story in the March issue of Savage Realms.

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