Heroic Fantasy Quarterly–Q64

As the spring rains bring forth flowers, so does Heroic Fantasy Quarterly bring forth the best adventure fiction and poetry!  We’ve got four stories, two poems, with artwork and audio for your enjoyment.  Behold!

Fiction Contents

Daughter of Kart-Hadasht, by Rebecca Buchannan.   In the later days of the Punic wars, a ferocious princess is out for her pound of flesh against the treacherous Romans.

The Undefeated , by Thomas Griffin.  A champion, unbeaten in any battle or duel, faces one last opponent before hanging up the sword.  That final opponent brings with him the weight of all Calithor’s past victories, and a duel of a very different kind awaits the hoary champion.

The Witch of the World’s End, by Darrell Schweitzer.   A mistake in the tapestry of reality sets Antharic, a young peasant boy, on a lifetime quest for power and vengeance.  Another great tale from Schweitzer!

A Knowledge Sharper than Flint, Part 1, by Adrian Simmons.  Mysteries and dangers abound in the early days of humanity in this thrilling tale.  A shaman’s arrogance leads to the dreamworld, and puts him on the trail of an enigma and the enigma puts him on the trial of a man who is not a man.

 

Poetry Contents

Rules for a Magic Sword, by Mary Soon Lee.  The blade’s have their own code.

Mercy and the Mercenary, by  Adam Dalton-West.    Priests and sellswords, never a good mix, but always seeming to be mixing.

 

Artwork

Jereme Peabody continues his ‘Against the Giants’ series, taking it up into the clouds.  We’re suckers for the classics!

 

Goings On

Adrian Simmons:  Adrian has engaged in some adventuring—223 miles of it, to be exact.  Outside of some historical levels of rain, everything worked out.

He has sung the praises of the Corey Feldman movie, “The Birthday” at Black Gate.

His sorcerer-heist story “Five Beneath the Palace of Kalgranis” will be coming out in Baen’s “Swords and Larceny” anthology in September/October (but don’t let that stop you from pre-ordering it now!).  Hopefully in time for him to shill it at ArmadilloCon in Austin, where it is likely that he’ll be manning a dealer’s table with co-contributor and editor Mark Finn.

Work progresses on his secret novel project.  Also, various short stories are in various states of near-completion.

Neil Baker has been watching cheap movies so you don’t have to!  Check out his views on Cave-Man Movies, Demon Possession Movies, and Creature Features at Black Gate!

“Spear and Fang” and Gary McClusky update.  We’ve gotten quite a few compliments on the ongoing comic “Spear and Fang” by Gary McClusky; but we’ve gotten quite a few questions asking why it is so intermittent in being updated.  The truth is that Gary has been fighting against a case of throat cancer and associated complications.  He’s over the hump of chemo and surgery and hopes to be back in action soon.

 

Friend of the ‘zine (and Nebula and Hugo winner) Kij Johnson is the driving force behind a new roleplaying game from Kobold Press-  The River Bank:  A cozy RPG of elegant animals, chaos, & whimsy.  Grimdark has its charm, but if the world is getting you down, The River Bank can pick you back up!

Not your jam?  Well, you should check out Swords and Sorcery volume 10, with HFQ alums Phil Emery, Gregory Mele, and Adrian Cole!

 

HFQ Alum Steve Dilks has a new collection of tales out–Black Dust.  Seven thrilling journeys into the dark heart of fantasy and adventure!

Former HFQ editor William Ledbetter’s third book of his science-fiction “Killday” trilogy is out in both hardcopy and in audio.  Get your sci-fi on!

 

 

That most dangerous friend of HFQ, Winifred Tofana continues to put out the wicked HR updates you didn’t know you need!

Make sure you update your TPS coversheets by listening on Apple, Amazon Music, Castbox, and Spotify.