Flashing Swords #8

Having fallen into hiatus, Flashing Swords is back with a new editorial staff for issue #8.

“The Gods-Forsaken World” by Steve Goble is a tale of adventure upon the high seas. But first, Calthus of Thaal, ancient warrior resurrected by the monks, must meet up with Kostas and the wizard who hires them, Revlin. Once upon the high seas, they encounter a spaydrake and then the bloody sea reavers. Outmatched, they rely on Revlin’s wizard fire and their archery skills to fight the foe. Goble tells a taut adventure; the writing is crisp, and the world comes alive. Goble is a returning author to this e-zine, and the life history of Calthus of Thaal is available on the author’s website.

Michael D. Turner tells an exciting tale in “The Jewel Below.” Sitting on the porch of the wine merchant, poet-warrior Al-San is approached by a beggar-boy who tells him there’s a treasure of great price sequestered in the catacombs, an ancient under-city beneath them. Of course, Al-San accompanies the boy to seek the prize, and the drama unfolds. My big complaint, at first, was the beggar-boy’s diction in dialogue, being too high for someone of such humble origins. But in the end, it was a fitting clue to the dénouement. I wasn’t surprised by the outcome, but this story is a bit cleverer than I’d initially thought.

“No Man’s Knight” by TW Williams is a standard warrior’s tale, but with a wry tone. After the obligatory battle scene introducing mercenary John Humble, he awakens in the bed of a goatherd’s widow in her rural home. Having arrived the night before, Humble buried her dead husband who stood up to the four knights who took the woman’s four daughters for ransom. Though he considers himself “no man’s knight,” he has a plan to get the daughters back.

When I first began this tale, I was interested to see how the author would use his choice of first person narrative to his advantage. The problem with first person in such heroic tales is that it’s often difficult to show the protag as heroic when he’s describing his own actions, as it’s almost tantamount to bragging. But Williams’s wry tone overcomes this. I especially liked this line:

“If we be made in the gods’ images, then the gods must be jackasses.”

Done in third person, this would’ve been much less. A well-told tale that overcomes its overly familiar plot through the narrator’s distinctive voice.

“Stand, Stand, Shall They Cry” by Michael Ehart is the final tale of this issue. Left by her adoptive mother, Ninshi, in an abandoned brewery, Miri outmaneuvers soldiers until her mother returns. Then, with the aid of a gang of street urchins, they attack soldiers to escape. I found this story a bit exposition heavy in places, and, while the character of Miri was intriguing, the plot lacked significance. Good atmosphere, though, and I smiled at the urchins hurling dung at the soldiers.

This issue also contains Part 3 of “Rise of a Necromancer” by S. C. Bryce, along with poetry, an article on “The Anglo-Saxons Mercenaries of Great Britain,” and an interview with Ralan Conley of ralan.com and one with Margaret H. Bonham.