Heroic Fantasy Quarterly–Q57

August!  The hammer of the year has dropped on us here at HFQ.  But such solar savagery shirks us not a shred in our search to bring you great S&S fiction and poetry!  We’ve got three stories, two poems, audio, an ongoing graphic tale, an update on our workshop and the kickstarter for best-of 4.  Whew!

 

Fiction Contents:

Duel, by Raja Gulaya.  Two old allies turned enemies settle scores with fury and sorcery, in this action-packed and atmospheric piece.

Dragon Tears, by Caleb Williams.  An exiled sorcerer-scribe finds a powerful ally and sets his life on a course to win back the woman he loves.  Part 1 of a magnificent two-parter.

The Curse of Bloodbone Island, by Adrian Cole.  The crew of the Arrow embark on a journey to the last redoubt of the cursed sorcerer kings of Bloodbone Island to find a mythical orchid in the hopes of curing a fever that burns through the countryside and among the crew itself.   Another fantastic tale of Atlantean adventure from Adrian Cole!

 

Poetry Contents:

The Candle Maker and Her Knights Questing, by M. Kelly Peach.  You might think the life of a questing knight would be fun, maybe a bit rollicking.  There is adventure.  There is excitement.  But what of the future?

Shy Daisies, by Gretchen Tessmar.  A tip of the great bronze helm to classic ancient Greek myths.

Portrait of the Bold Captain, by Deborah Davitt.  A keen and probing exploration of the nature truth, of art and the subtle differences between what is intended and what is actually executed.

 

Ongoing Graphic Adventure  Spear and Fang!

We’ll be uploading page 6 of Gary McClusky’s interpretation of Robert E. Howard’s first published story “Spear and Fang” August 13th.  We’ll be updating once a month until the tale is told!  Want early access?  Support us on Patreon and you’ll get it!

 

Artwork:

You know what’s worse than graveyards?  Flooded ones.  With obvious undead. But they are damn exciting; as is our banner art for issue #57, provided again by Jereme Peabody.

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.

 

Tales From Around the Fire

It’s August, waaaay too hot for a fire!  We’re going to keep this very brief this time.

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is OPEN for submissions in the month of August.  You have tales and we want to see ‘em!  Check out our guidelines here.

We got the Kickstarter for HFQ Best-of 4 hammered out and getting it through the final hoops!  We pulled the trigger on Saturday the 19th, we’ve got 30 days to fund it.  Help us get the great work of our writers and poets out to the world!

 

 

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly joins forces with Skelos and Whetstone to put on our first online S&S workshop.  The rough outline:  18-24 people, three editors, and the action happens in Late September, early October.  Check out this page for the details.

It is well known that Sword and Sorcery fiction is a niche genre within a niche genre.  BUT!  Our niche has grown substantially through the years.  The newest player?  New Edge Sword and Sorceries.

HFQ Alum Howard Andrew Jones has written/edited/marketed through a red-haze of literary fury and the result?  Magnificence!   Behold “Lord of a Shattered Land”, a novel told in S&S vignettes that follows the adventures of Hanuvar of Volanus.  Unfamiliar with Hanuvar?  Behold an advanced review from Black Gate here, and check him out in “A Stone’s Throw” from HFQ # 40.

 

Rogue Blades Entertainment’s Jason Waltz has been cutting a bloody swath through the S&S publishing world for over a decade, and he’s are still at it with the kickstarter for their latest work “Neither Beg Nor Yield”.  Keep an eye on it for when the campaign launces!

 

A bit outside of the S&S wheelhouse, but news has reached us that HFQ ally Todd McAulty has anew book, “Package Blue” out at Inhabitants Universe—for free!  Check it out.

Like what we do?  Of course you do!  Back us on Patreon to get more!