Flashing Swords! 2 (Lin Carter - editor)

From the 1960’s on into the 1980’s, a group of fantasy authors participated in a somewhat loosely organized association they called “Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America” or SAGA. It was an informal group begun by Lin Carter and meant to promote the appreciation of the sword and sorcery sub-genre of fantasy fiction. This book collects four long stories by the group’s members, all of which depict their own on-going series characters:

1) “The Rug and the Bull” by L. Sprague de Camp features a Pusadian tale

2) “The Jade Man’s Eyes” by Michael Moorcock features his anti-hero, Elric

3) “Toads of Grimmerdale” by Andre Norton, a Witch World story

4) “Ghoul’s Garden” by John Jakes, a Brak the Barbarian entry

All four stories were good ones even though I hadn’t read any of the larger works by several of these authors. I suppose if I had read some Witch World before, for example, I might have appreciated the characters, the settings, the lore, etc. even more. But as it was they all worked sufficiently for those readers who have no prior anchor points. My favorite of them all was the Brak story, perhaps because I have read those. These are iconic series and characters and I enjoyed the chance to sample those that were new to me.