Saturday, April 02, 2011

Books read in 2011: No. 13 - The Gods-Forsaken World

by Steve Goble

Started: April 2
Finished: April 2

Notes: I've known Steve Goble for more than 15 years. We have worked together as journalists, drank beer together, gamed together, listened to music together, he's even been my immediate supervisor. I was at his wedding. I only wish I still lived nearer to him and his family. And I have one more wish. That there was more Steve Goble fiction available. Not only has Steve been a good friend, and introduced me to other good friends, he is one heck of a writer. So it was with some joy that I recently found he was beginning to experiment with Kindle publishing by making some of his shorter works available. I've read nearly all of Steve's published works, but this was one that had slipped past me somehow. It is a tale of Calthus, Steve's returned-from-the-depths-of-hell Sword and Sorcery creation. If you like S&S, do yourself a favor and read some Calthus stories.

Mini review: Each Calthus tale is better than the one before, and Steve Goble did not disappoint with this one. Also, I want to say something, and I say it not just because the author is a friend, but: Steve Goble is the best modern traditionalist Sword & Sorcery author writing today. I do not say he is the best writer living or to ever live or that he is my all-time favorite writer, nor that is he necessarily the best fantasy writer today. I'm not being that grandiose. But I am saying that if you are a fan of early pulp Sword & Sorcery stories, you need to be reading Steve Goble's works. Fans of Robert E. Howard who are looking for a modern equivalent, here are the stories you need to be reading.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Thanks.