RIP Euan Harvey

I've been mostly buried in finals and haven't checked the internet much over the past few days, so I didn't hear about Euan Harvey's passing from cancer until a couple of hours ago.  For those of you who don't recognize the name, Euan was an up and coming author whose work I greatly enjoyed.  He wrote the type of fantasy I most like to read, sword and sorcery and adventure oriented fantasy.  He had work appearing in two issues of Realms of Fantasy this past year which I reviewed, April and June.  In both cases, I felt he had one of the better stories in the issue.  He was also a contributor to Home of Heroics. 

John O'Neill has posted a tribute at Black Gate in which states there is a Harvey story forthcoming in the next issue.  If you haven't read his work, try to track some of it down.  It's worth it. 

He will be missed.

Damn it, enough dying already.  I'm getting tired of posting obituaries.

Dispatches From the Lone Star Front: Profile of an Early Texas Ranger

It got an email last week from Jason Waltz, informing the contributors of Home of Heroics that he was discontinuing adding new material to the site.  Between work and family obligations, not to mention trying to publish the books on the Rogue Blades Entertainment schedule, Jason said he was exhausted and simply couldn't devote the time necessary to maintaining the site.  As regular readers of this blog are probably aware, I was one of the contributors to Home of Heroics, with a quarterly column entitled "Dispatches From the Lone Star Front", featuring heroes from Texas.  It was in a different vein than what I do here, focusing on history with little or no fantasy aspect.  With Jason's blessing, that column will continue here, although I don't know if it will be quarterly, more frequently, or just when I find something interesting to write about.  Reader reaction will help me decide.

Adventures Fantastic would like to wish Jason and Rogue Blades Entertainment all the best.  Home of Heroics will be missed; the contributors are still around and blogging on other sites, so if you enjoyed the work of any of them, look them up if you haven't already.  Now, here is the most recent Dispatch from the Lone Star Front that would have been posted at HoH if things had been different:

Jack Hays

There are a number of qualities that are commonly used to describe heroes.  One of them is courage.  John Coffee “Jack” Hays had that in spades.

Hays was one of the first Texas Rangers, seeing most of his service during the days of the Republic, before Texas joined the United States, and then during the Mexican War.  He was renowned for his bravery, cunning, and his leadership.  He was called “Devil Jack” by the Comanches. 

The Rangers were formed to protect the Texas settlers, both Anglo and Tejano, against bandits and hostile Indians.  The Comanches were the primary tribe hostile to the settlers, and they were traditional enemies of the Lipan Apaches.  Naturally, the Rangers, and Hays in particular, allied themselves with the Lipan.  Hays’ Lipan scout Flacco is reported by Walker Prescott Webb to have said, “Me and Red Wing not afraid to go to hell together.  Captain Jack he brave; not afraid to go to hell by himself.” 

Charles Gramlich at Home of Heroics

I was hoping to post a review tonight of the novel I'm currently reading.  Ain't gonna happen.  Tomorrow don't look promisin' neither. 

Instead, please allow me to point you to Charles Gramlich's post over at Home of Heroics.  It's the first of two parts, discussing the various subgenres of fantasy.  Featured are sword and sorcery and sword and planet, two of my favorite categories.  If you haven't read the post (and I know some of you have because you've commented), check it out.  I found the names of a couple of new authors I need to track down.

Barbarism at Home of Heroics

I'm trying to finish a novel I've committed to review (one down, four to go), so I thought I'd point you to an essay that went up a few minutes ago over to Home of Heorics:  " 'Barbarian' - Good or Bad?" by Werner A. Lind.  It's a well thought-out examination of barbarism contrasted with civilization.  If you're a fan of Robert E. Howard, you'll want to read it.

As soon as I get this review done (which I will probably post at Futures Past and Present since it's more science fiction than fantasy but will include a link here), I'll look at a couple of items of short fiction.  In the meantime, check out what Werner has to say.

Home of Heroics and Rogue Blades Entertainment are Back...

...and I have a post there!  Jason M. Waltz just sent out an email saying that Rogue Blades Entertainment is back online as is Home of Heroics, both virus free.  That's great news, made even sweeter for me by the fact that I have a post there.  It's a review of a book entitled The Roads to Baldairn Motte.  Check it out!  Then buy and read the  book.  There are still a few details Jason is working on as far as the look of the site, but it's great to have RBE and HoH back.

Rogue Blades Entertainment, Home of Heroics Websites Temporarily On Hiatus

I got an email earlier today from Jason M. Waltz.  The RBE website has been infected with some sort of virus.  Jason is working to fix it, but at the moment he is swamped with some additional training for his day job and doesn't have much time (or energy) at the end of the day.  As soon as he can, he's going to get things back up and running.  In the meantime, the RBE site is in construction mode and new Home of Heroics posts are on hold.  They'll return once things are fixed, and on a daily basis until HOH is back on schedule. 

The American Invasion of Russia

Paul McNamee is the guest blogger today over at Home of Heroics.  His post is about the American invasion of Russia at the end of World War I.  I suspect many of you are asking, "What invasion?  I didn't know America invaded Russia.  When and how did this happen?"  Read Paul's post and find out. 

And don't forget to comment.  Everyone who comments on one of this week's posts (posted Monday, Wednesday, or Friday) will be entered in a drawing to win a limited edition copy of Rage of the Behemoth.  It's a fantastic anthology, so comment early and comment often. 

New Post at Home of Heroics

I'm in the middle of trying to put together presentations for back-to-back conferences next week, so I'm a little late in mentioning this.  (Plus Blogger and Firefox don't seem to be on good terms lately, forcing me to use a idfferent browser; what's up with that?)  The latest installment of my column Dispatches From the Lone Star Front is up at Home of Heroics.  It deals with Robert E. Howard's legacy, so if you're a Howard fan (if not, why not?), check it out.

Contest at Home of Heroics

I got an email over lunch from Jason M. Waltz, the publisher of Rogue Blade Entertainment.  He's running a contest next week for a chance to win a limited edition copy of Rage of the Behemoth.  I reviewed the book here, if you're wondering what it's about.  All you have to do is comment on one of the posts at Home of Heroics next week.  There will be one Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I've written the one for Monday, so I obviously can't reply to that one, but you can.  Details of the contest are here. 

Leigh Brackett

I'm still working on a post about Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp that probably won't be done before tomorrow.  In the meantime, John M. Whalen has posted an article about Leigh Brackett and her character Eric John Stark over at Home of Heroics.  If you've not read Brackett, you've missed out, although you're probably familiar with her work.  She wrote or co-wrote the screenplays to such movies as The Big Sleep (starring Humphrey Bogart), Rio Bravo (with some guy named John Wayne), and the first draft of an obscure film entitled The Empire Strikes Back.  In other words, she worked with the best.  Her collected short fiction is available from Haffner Presss and the Eric John Stark books are available from Paizo/Planet Stories as well as some other work.  Go read what John has to say and if you've not read her before, see if she's not the type of writer whose works you want on your shelf.

A Summary of Grand Masters

Christopher Heath has written a great post over at Home of Heroics about heroic fantasy grand masters and who they've influenced him.  His assessment is insightful and informative.  Check it out.  The only one I'd add (at least off the top of my head) would be C. L. Moore.  Her Jirel of Joiry series, while barely enough to fill a book, are powerful and eerie.  Jirel was one of the first warrior women, and created in a time when science fiction and fantasy was a male dominated field.  Moore's stories brought an emotional depth to the field that had been lacking in the bulk of the work published up to that point.  Heath credits Lovecraft for atmosphere.  While Moore's writing was certainly atmospheric, I would have to say one of the techniques at which Moore excelled was imagery.  I've been wanting to take a detailed look at her Northwest Smith series, which is really fantasy in a science fictional setting, for a while now. Imagery will be one of the things that series will focus on.  Hopefully those will start appearing by the end of the summer.

The Battle of the Sexes Continues

Now that grades are finally in, I'm looking forward to getting some rest.  I had hoped to last night, but before dawn Ragnarok erupted.  There were flashes of light and loud noises, and it seemed the end of the world was imminent.  Turned out it was only a thunderstorm, not Armageddon.  It's been so many months since we've had any rain here on the South Plains that I'd forgotten what it was like.  But I digress.  The point is I'm not going to have anything new ready for a day or so, at least as far as reviews or in-depth essays go.

A couple of months ago I wrote a post entitled "In Defense of Traditional Gender Roles in Fantasy" which I expected to generate some heat.  Instead it sank like a stone.  Although in the last month it's gotten 20 hits, 10 of them in the last week.  It may resurrect itself, zombie-like.  It seems like someone is taking an interest.

Something to Read

Between being in the middle of final exams and taking care of my wife while she recovers from surgery, I haven't had time to post much.  For those of you who have dropped in looking for new content, the best I can do today is refer you to the two latest posts at Home of Heroics:

Steve Moody's reflections on the popularity of antiheroes:

http://www.roguebladesentertainment.com/2011/05/heroes-and-antiheroes/
and Sean T. M. Stiennon's examination of heroics in martial arts movies:

http://www.roguebladesentertainment.com/2011/05/ip-man-the-manly-soul-expressed-in-fisticuffs/

A Bit of Shamelss Self-Promotion

If you've read this blog in the last few weeks, you've seen me mention Home of Heroics over on the Rogue Blades Entertainment website.  I've got a column, Dispatches From the Lone Star Front, there, and the first one went up a little while ago.  Check it out.  The column will be a little different from the type of things I write about here.  I'll be focusing on factual heroes more than fictional, with the emphasis being on those from Texas, since that's where I live.  Hence the title.

Heroes

Jon Sprunk, author of Shadow's Son (reviewed here) and the forthcoming Shadow's Lure, has the weekly guest blog over at Home of Heroics.  He lists some of his heroes from various fantasy series.  Check them out and see how they compare with yours.

What is Best in Life?

There's been a lot of discussion about the upcoming Conan movie, and the trailer in particular has fanned the flames with one quote.  Jack Mackenzie summarizes the controversy this morning at Home of Heroics.  If you're a Robert E. Howard fan, you'll want to check it out.

Odds and Ends

Between allergies, taxes, and trying to finish my upcoming column for Home of Heroics, I'm a little behind in getting some things up that I've been working on.  It might be next week before anything substantial is posted since I'll be traveling over the weekend starting tomorrow.  In the meantime, check out the new material at Home of Heroics if you aren't already doing so.  Yesterday's guest column was by John O'Neill, publisher of Black Gate, in which he talked about how Scholastic Books got him hooked on science fiction and fantasy.  It brought back memories for me, because I used to read those books as well.  My son is now starting to read them, and I'm looking forward to what he's going to be bringing home.

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who's visited Adventures Fantastic, especially in the last couple of weeks.  Traffic seems to be picking up, and I appreciate your interest, support, and comments.  I've got some cool things planned for the next couple of months, including a two-part interview with Robert E. Howard scholar Mark Finn, some Long Looks at Short Fiction, a review of Jasper Kent's Thirteen Years Later, a look at Henry Kuttner's Prince Raynor stories, and some more Kull.  So stick around.  It's only gonna get better.

Cool Stuff at Rogue Blades' Home of Heroics

There have been a couple of posts up at Home of Heroics, the new feature on the Rogue Blades Entertainment site, the last few days.  Friday Bruce Durham reviewed Howard Andrew Jones' Desert of Souls.  This morning, Luke Forney surveyed the graphic adaptations of Robert E. Howard's work, including Conan, Kull, Solomon Kane, and Red Sonja.  Interesting stuff, so check it out if you haven't already.

Charles Saunders Guest Blogs at Home of Heroics

Wednesdays at Home of Heroics is the day for guest blogs.  For the inaugural guest blog,  Charles Saunders, author of Imaro, has written a thought provoking piece on the role of fear in the heart of a hero.  He looks at three examples:  Robert E. Howard's Conan, Karl Edward Wagner's Kane, and his own Imaro.  Check it out. 

Home of Heroics Debuts

As I told you last night, the RBE Home of Heroics has made its debut.  The first article, by Michael Ehart, is now up.  Read it here.  It's about Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman pilot and barnstormer.  Great post, Michael.