Can the genre ever move on from Robert E. Howard's Conan? How can writers possibly innovate within this narrow fantasy subgenre? Is the sword and sorcery barbarian facing his last stand?
Excellent piece, and thank you for it. You touched many crucial points but you also write "The world of sword and sorcery is more ancient, its outlook practically neolithic." Can a context like that be still relevant today? Sci-fi has the flexibility to adapt its metaphors (forgive me the crudeness) to the contemporary world ("The Expanse", to name a hit, does/did an excellent job in this regard), but I'm not exactly sure if the narrative tropes of sword and sorcery are ideal to be used in a ... uh, "confrontational" way to explore today society complex challenges (if I have to think of a good example, The Merchant Princess series by Charles Stross comes to mind, but it's science fantasy/alternate history).
Cheers! By neolithic, I really meant primal. (Might tweak that bit.) The genre's metaphors - and pleasures - are broader, more sensual, more universal, I think. The challenge there is how much you're looking to make into commentary and how much momentum you'll sacrifice by doing so. There's a definite push-pull between theme and pace in stories, I think.
God DAMN, this is an excellent piece! I don't even have a horse in this race. But everything you say about the differences that make all the difference rings 100% true for ANY genre that doesn't want to disappear up its own ass, inbred and tedious, its true glories forgotten.
Once again, I applaud you. This is the kind of thoughtful, razor-sharp kickass writing that might actually get me to pick up a sword-and-sorcery book again. But only if it was this fucking good.
In some ways, I feel like stories like John Wick are modern day sword and sorcery (e.g., gunfu and John Wick's invulnerability). We have the protagonist roaming through the world fueled by his singular quest bouncing off various villains for some gun ballet and general living with occasional violence. I would really love to see Fritz Lieber's characters in live action. All these episodic stories would fit so well into the TV format.
The John Wick comparison makes sense, the indomitable hero questing through hostile badlands. Like I said in the piece, I think there's a ton of Conan in Jack Reacher too (along with Sherlock Holmes and Superman). Genre boundaries blur and bleed into each other all the time. Cheers for reading, Frank!
As someone who likes more Lord of the Rings style epic fantasy I have a great appreciation for Howard and Sword and Sorcery in general.
As much as I love Brandon Sandersons stories and characters his worlds for some reason feel very unmagical in nature, I've never been able to figure out why.
I've never read Sanderson, though have nothing but admiration for his commercial nous. From what friends have told me, his stories like to explain away their magic, which - to me - never sounds very magical. But like I say, have yet to read his work. Don't tell anyone, but I've never read the Earthsea books, either! Though I'm determined to remedy that this year. :D
He's better than a lot of other authors that are inspired by him when it comes to trying to keep things magical. At least in the explanation of his writing process.
Probably has something to do with his tutelage under Robert Jordan.
Wheel of Time's magic has rules but it's so well integegrated that it feels both magical and logical.
⚔ Wow, Alec, this exposition about the future of Sword & Sorcery is incredibly insightful and well done.
Thank you so much for including Rediscovered Realms as part of your discussion. I am truly humbled, and honestly have a tear in my eye that you get it.
You are able to put into words the visceral feelings and intent that I am driven to connect with other like-minded souls over.
That "revelatory sense of discovery" is truly universal, and though tropes and trends come in and out of fashion, to me, there's always room to celebrate that primal inborn sense of wonder & desire in our shared humanity through the lens of Fantasy, Imagination, and Play.
Beyond all that, it's just plain fun.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
(And may Crom destroy all the Sword & Sorcery haters 😁)
Westerns were dead for decades, then The Mandalorian brought many of its cliches and trappings back into the mainstream. If sword & sorcery makes it big again, it will be out of the blue and both the same and completely different.
That said S&S never went away completely, not even during the decades dominated by high fantasy and epic fantasy starting until the advent of digital self-publishing. For example, Warhammer fiction did a great job of combining the spirit of sword & sorcery with the trappings of high fantasy and science fiction.
Absolutely! These things are always bobbing around being active in some form or another. I think genre boundaries are useful to define how things work, but ultimately stories cross-pollinate across genres, media (books bleeding into TV/movies and back again), even music. It's all as fluid as story itself. :D Anyways, thanks for reading!
Although I unabashedly love the classics from Howard and am in full support of the current writers in the scene, I have felt recently that the genre and it's character archetypes do need some more challenges. The stock wandering swordsman/mercenary looking to survive is great bones but without some fresh "thews" they're all just bones.
I think one of the best examples of stories that take the spirit of S&S then manages to walk the line of tradition and new ideas, impulse and introspection, up-close-and-personal and epic comes from the East in the form of Kentaro Miura's "Berserk." Guts has all the hallmarks of an S&S hero, seemingly a nobody who fights with every ounce of his strength and is not opposed to using dirty tricks to survive (since he knows life doesn't play fair). Over the course of the Golden Age Arc, however, we get to the introspective thesis of the Manga where Guts ponders his place in the world but maintains the tenacity and will to survive in spite of seeming to have nothing to fight for besides spitting in the face of Death.
Writing the next best stories of the genre will take time and maybe the stuff that's being written now may be lauded with the likes of Conan. The best we writers can do now is take up their pens and write with the same fervor their heroes fight and rage with like our lives depend on it.
Thanks, Ethan! Yeah, Berserk is a great example of the same-but-different approach. And, like you say, I think it all comes down to author's connection to the themes and stock characters. It all starts with that, then gets externalised into the story. Thanks again for reading.
Another well written & thought provoking piece Alec, thank you. You're right about the gatekeepers, so tiresome. When that new Masters of The Universe series by Kevin Smith landed, the fall out from that was embarrassing. Personally, had I written it, I would 100% have made Teela and Evil Lynn more prominent characters because they had so much potential that was largely ignored in the originals. But the middle aged men who whinged and whined because there wasn't enough of the buff blond dude in the bondage harness for their liking was... telling!
Anyway, looking forward to Hawk The Slayer and fingers crossed for more Black Beth, too.
Cheers, dude. I think with people feeling possessive over the the things they love it's best to try and understand where they're coming from, or why that anger is there. It's weird, cos - if I'm honest - I feel that pain/anger myself to a degree. I mean, I was into this stuff when it WASN'T cool, dammit! :D It's just that the online world can radicalise people to such an insane degree and send them off in crazy directions. Plus, it pays to be a drama-farmer these days. Literally! These YouTube outrage merchants who have no evidence for anything they're saying and getting paid for it? Crazy.
Sadly those outrage farmers seem to create enough doubt in the minds of would-be filmgoers, that they can make a film like Furiosa flop. I know a lot of, even toxic, fandom comes from a place of love but just GROW UP!
This is an excellent and thought provoking piece. I’ve dabbled in the idea of Sword and Sorcery, but only made small attempts at writing in the Genre and only recently began to consume it (ie, listening to the Conan collection audiobooks). I will admit one thought experiment I dabbled in boils down to “Conan but in a Humanity F*** Yeah Sci-fi story”. I need to return to that and workshop it and some other S&S experiments.
The biggest thing I can think of (at least right now) that can push Sword and Sorcery forward is new writers who have consumed lots of media outside and inside the genre. It will also help to have stories written from a perspective of frustration with the world around them to an extent, but who are also willing to try things and just write.
I've always felt the S & S tale was well suited for novella length. I may take a stab at one if I can squeeze it in between books.
Sure. So long as the pace is there. I think it's just that it's easier to sustain over short fiction than in a novel. Good luck, Patrick!
Excellent piece, and thank you for it. You touched many crucial points but you also write "The world of sword and sorcery is more ancient, its outlook practically neolithic." Can a context like that be still relevant today? Sci-fi has the flexibility to adapt its metaphors (forgive me the crudeness) to the contemporary world ("The Expanse", to name a hit, does/did an excellent job in this regard), but I'm not exactly sure if the narrative tropes of sword and sorcery are ideal to be used in a ... uh, "confrontational" way to explore today society complex challenges (if I have to think of a good example, The Merchant Princess series by Charles Stross comes to mind, but it's science fantasy/alternate history).
Cheers! By neolithic, I really meant primal. (Might tweak that bit.) The genre's metaphors - and pleasures - are broader, more sensual, more universal, I think. The challenge there is how much you're looking to make into commentary and how much momentum you'll sacrifice by doing so. There's a definite push-pull between theme and pace in stories, I think.
Dear Alec --
God DAMN, this is an excellent piece! I don't even have a horse in this race. But everything you say about the differences that make all the difference rings 100% true for ANY genre that doesn't want to disappear up its own ass, inbred and tedious, its true glories forgotten.
Once again, I applaud you. This is the kind of thoughtful, razor-sharp kickass writing that might actually get me to pick up a sword-and-sorcery book again. But only if it was this fucking good.
Yer happy pal in the trenches,
Skipp
Aw, man! Thank you! :D :D :D
Totally enjoyed your bombastic writing, Alex - as well as what you say.
Cheers, Jason! Hope the tome is doing well!
Thank you Alex. You still have the best one-liner: "This anthology drips and throbs like a torn-out heart..."
In some ways, I feel like stories like John Wick are modern day sword and sorcery (e.g., gunfu and John Wick's invulnerability). We have the protagonist roaming through the world fueled by his singular quest bouncing off various villains for some gun ballet and general living with occasional violence. I would really love to see Fritz Lieber's characters in live action. All these episodic stories would fit so well into the TV format.
The John Wick comparison makes sense, the indomitable hero questing through hostile badlands. Like I said in the piece, I think there's a ton of Conan in Jack Reacher too (along with Sherlock Holmes and Superman). Genre boundaries blur and bleed into each other all the time. Cheers for reading, Frank!
As someone who likes more Lord of the Rings style epic fantasy I have a great appreciation for Howard and Sword and Sorcery in general.
As much as I love Brandon Sandersons stories and characters his worlds for some reason feel very unmagical in nature, I've never been able to figure out why.
I've never read Sanderson, though have nothing but admiration for his commercial nous. From what friends have told me, his stories like to explain away their magic, which - to me - never sounds very magical. But like I say, have yet to read his work. Don't tell anyone, but I've never read the Earthsea books, either! Though I'm determined to remedy that this year. :D
He's better than a lot of other authors that are inspired by him when it comes to trying to keep things magical. At least in the explanation of his writing process.
Probably has something to do with his tutelage under Robert Jordan.
Wheel of Time's magic has rules but it's so well integegrated that it feels both magical and logical.
Wheel of Time! That's another one I haven't read. Boy, I'm ignorant. :D
⚔ Wow, Alec, this exposition about the future of Sword & Sorcery is incredibly insightful and well done.
Thank you so much for including Rediscovered Realms as part of your discussion. I am truly humbled, and honestly have a tear in my eye that you get it.
You are able to put into words the visceral feelings and intent that I am driven to connect with other like-minded souls over.
That "revelatory sense of discovery" is truly universal, and though tropes and trends come in and out of fashion, to me, there's always room to celebrate that primal inborn sense of wonder & desire in our shared humanity through the lens of Fantasy, Imagination, and Play.
Beyond all that, it's just plain fun.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
(And may Crom destroy all the Sword & Sorcery haters 😁)
Haha! You are very welcome, my friend! I really love Rediscovered Realms. Keep spreading the joy!
Westerns were dead for decades, then The Mandalorian brought many of its cliches and trappings back into the mainstream. If sword & sorcery makes it big again, it will be out of the blue and both the same and completely different.
That said S&S never went away completely, not even during the decades dominated by high fantasy and epic fantasy starting until the advent of digital self-publishing. For example, Warhammer fiction did a great job of combining the spirit of sword & sorcery with the trappings of high fantasy and science fiction.
Absolutely! These things are always bobbing around being active in some form or another. I think genre boundaries are useful to define how things work, but ultimately stories cross-pollinate across genres, media (books bleeding into TV/movies and back again), even music. It's all as fluid as story itself. :D Anyways, thanks for reading!
Subverting tropes and cliches is a recipe for disaster - just ask Star Wars
Subverting expectations clumsily, sure. But just look at Elric. He's was created to be the polar opposite of Conan and he turned out great! :D
Although I unabashedly love the classics from Howard and am in full support of the current writers in the scene, I have felt recently that the genre and it's character archetypes do need some more challenges. The stock wandering swordsman/mercenary looking to survive is great bones but without some fresh "thews" they're all just bones.
I think one of the best examples of stories that take the spirit of S&S then manages to walk the line of tradition and new ideas, impulse and introspection, up-close-and-personal and epic comes from the East in the form of Kentaro Miura's "Berserk." Guts has all the hallmarks of an S&S hero, seemingly a nobody who fights with every ounce of his strength and is not opposed to using dirty tricks to survive (since he knows life doesn't play fair). Over the course of the Golden Age Arc, however, we get to the introspective thesis of the Manga where Guts ponders his place in the world but maintains the tenacity and will to survive in spite of seeming to have nothing to fight for besides spitting in the face of Death.
Writing the next best stories of the genre will take time and maybe the stuff that's being written now may be lauded with the likes of Conan. The best we writers can do now is take up their pens and write with the same fervor their heroes fight and rage with like our lives depend on it.
Thanks, Ethan! Yeah, Berserk is a great example of the same-but-different approach. And, like you say, I think it all comes down to author's connection to the themes and stock characters. It all starts with that, then gets externalised into the story. Thanks again for reading.
Yes it can. My TTRPG that has been running for 8+ years proves that it is a viable genre. You can check some of my game here in my posts on Substack.
Another well written & thought provoking piece Alec, thank you. You're right about the gatekeepers, so tiresome. When that new Masters of The Universe series by Kevin Smith landed, the fall out from that was embarrassing. Personally, had I written it, I would 100% have made Teela and Evil Lynn more prominent characters because they had so much potential that was largely ignored in the originals. But the middle aged men who whinged and whined because there wasn't enough of the buff blond dude in the bondage harness for their liking was... telling!
Anyway, looking forward to Hawk The Slayer and fingers crossed for more Black Beth, too.
Cheers, dude. I think with people feeling possessive over the the things they love it's best to try and understand where they're coming from, or why that anger is there. It's weird, cos - if I'm honest - I feel that pain/anger myself to a degree. I mean, I was into this stuff when it WASN'T cool, dammit! :D It's just that the online world can radicalise people to such an insane degree and send them off in crazy directions. Plus, it pays to be a drama-farmer these days. Literally! These YouTube outrage merchants who have no evidence for anything they're saying and getting paid for it? Crazy.
Sadly those outrage farmers seem to create enough doubt in the minds of would-be filmgoers, that they can make a film like Furiosa flop. I know a lot of, even toxic, fandom comes from a place of love but just GROW UP!
Or make something yourself! A game character is way less ambitious than even a short story, but it can still be very satisfying.
https://johnnyofgreensborosoldschooldd.obsidianportal.com/characters/cosmos-the-barbarian
I know quite a few of those grognards. I'll be posting a link to this in our game group Discord.
Related, relevant, and well-researched.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-141288735
Read this one! Terrific piece!
Also relevant, and perhaps more focused on the core issue.
https://jdanielsawyer.substack.com/p/enter-the-dream
Another one for my save-pile. :D Thanks, Randall!
This is an excellent and thought provoking piece. I’ve dabbled in the idea of Sword and Sorcery, but only made small attempts at writing in the Genre and only recently began to consume it (ie, listening to the Conan collection audiobooks). I will admit one thought experiment I dabbled in boils down to “Conan but in a Humanity F*** Yeah Sci-fi story”. I need to return to that and workshop it and some other S&S experiments.
The biggest thing I can think of (at least right now) that can push Sword and Sorcery forward is new writers who have consumed lots of media outside and inside the genre. It will also help to have stories written from a perspective of frustration with the world around them to an extent, but who are also willing to try things and just write.
Thanks so much, Perry. Totally agree that reading (and thinking) widely is key. Best of luck with your own experiments, mate!