Last year, I became aware of a debut magazine called New Edge Sword & Sorcery, which aimed to revive the “outsider protagonists, thrilling energy, wondrous weirdness, and a large body of classic tales” of this old subgenre of fantasy with a focus on inclusivity and diversity (of both characters and creators). As a longtime fan of sword and sorcery stories, I checked out Vol. 1, No. 0, Fall 2022, which was an unpaid labor of love for all concerned (free to all to download at https://newedgeswordandsorcery.com/). I mildly enjoyed it, but I had a lot going on then, so I didn’t back the Kickstarter to fund NESS Nos. 1 & 2 (Fall and Winter 2023). Now that those have been released, I decided it was time for a fresh look.
Each issue features a range of authors, from people I’ve never heard of (some of whom I SHOULD have before now, and will follow hereafter) to luminaries like Michael Moorcock, with a fresh Elric story about an adventure in his youth. Each also features interesting non-fiction about the field, from its history to where it is now and where it’s going, by notables including Hugo-winning fan writer Cora Buhlert. Finally, each issue features some excellent artwork.
The first text of each issue after the table of contents is a Letter from the Editor, Oliver Brackenbury. In the debut issue, he explains how the magazine came about (initially growing out of a conversation about how to “get more young and diverse people into Sword & Sorcery”). In No. 1’s letter, he restates the magazine’s ethos (“Made with love for the classics, and an inclusive, boundary-pushing approach to storytelling!”) and gives a short summary of each story and essay inside. In No. 2’s letter, he talks a bit more about the history of sword & sorcery and the current third-wave growth of the subgenre, and how that allows more room for creative storytelling, as well as more critical analysis, and again summarizes the stories and essays.
The cover of No. 0 was my first impression of the finished product, with three sword wielders wearing studded leather armor, threatened by pikes, standing in a city alley over a grating with tentacles coming out of it. They were a blond man, an androgyne of color, and a woman of color; there was also a little lizard on some steps, with a gray-cloaked figure at the side. So far, so diverse, with a promise of exciting action. The art was a little crude (e.g., the eyes were weird), but it had a certain charm, and I could easily see it as the cover of a role-playing game module.
The first story of No. 0, “The Curse of the Horsetail Banner” by Dariel R.A. Quiogue, unfortunately annoyed me with its description of the antagonist (“He is a eunuch, but no fat idler” – implying that most eunuchs were just that), and the protagonist, Orhan Timur, later insults him as being a coward like the rest of his kind. And I know that evil eunuchs are a staple of old-fashioned western-perspective Asian fantastic fiction, but this being the first story of the collection left me wondering just how welcoming to diverse genders and sexualities this “inclusive” magazine was going to feel.
As it turned out from reading all three NESS issues, this was the only story that made me unhappy with how a group of people was portrayed. Throughout the array of stories, I enjoyed the frequency of female protagonists (and different types of women, not just warriors or victims), the different representations of gender and sexuality, and the different backgrounds (ethnic, religious, cultural, etc.) of the characters. Moreover, this story was vividly told, and there’s plenty of room for more adventures in this setting (indeed, Orhan returned in No. 2, in a story I enjoyed much more). And the illustration of that first story was striking, kind of dreamlike, with a mounted archer and horse breaking out of the frame on both sides and the bottom, and a fanged skull on top.
Throughout all three issues, although some of the artwork reminded me of rough sketches in early Dragon magazines, most of it is really high quality, evocative and intriguing. Styles vary widely, from the aforementioned pieces, to an illustration that looks like it’s from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (but with quite expressive faces, and a monster drawn in a style that looks more Asian, to me at least), to pieces that look like scenes from black-and-white comic books, to pieces that look like woodblock prints, and depictions from action scenes to triptychs and moody pieces that represent entire stories. There’s even some really interesting art that accompanies the essays, from author illustrations and character sketches to a compelling little piece showing a troubled-looking man’s eyes reflected in a sword blade, by Remco Van Straten, accompanying “Neurodivergence in Sword & Sorcery” by Jonathan Olfert. It’s a real pleasure looking through each issue just to see the artwork. I also appreciate that in issues #1 and #2, each artist’s name is bylined along with the author of each piece.
Oh yes, the essays! Roughly a quarter of each issue is taken up with articles about sword & sorcery, following the stories in the first three-quarters. Many of these are about the history of the field, both general sword & sorcery and the sub-subgenre dubbed “Sword and Soul” by Charles Saunders. Each issue also features an interview transcript from Brackenbury’s podcast, So I’m Writing a Novel… And all three issues have book reviews. I found all the non-fiction to be informative and well-written.
One of my favorite essays was in issue #1, “Why (New Edge) Sword and Sorcery” by Brian Murphy. Among other things, he says, “The good news is, Sword & Sorcery offers a terrific vehicle for providing entertainment and sociopolitical commentary. …There are two edges on this blade. … We’ve got a vibrant, new community doing things differently, a fresh pack of authors howling at the gates of establishment. Who have their own stories to tell, of wondrous adventure, pulse-pounding action, and outsiders finding their way in a world of decay and corruption. Of what it means to be a survivor and upset the established order. It’s a chance to remake Sword & Sorcery anew, again, in this endless cycle of renewal.”
However, most people coming to NESS will be looking specifically for the fiction, and they should be very satisfied with what they find. Each issue has an interesting range of story types as well as protagonists. For instance, in #1, “The Ember Inside” by Remco van Straten & Angeline B. Adams is really about who gets to tell the protagonist’s story, and how, or whether she chooses to let it be told at all. I also like that in several stories, apparent enemies turn out to be potential allies instead.
One of the more intriguing protagonists I found here appeared in both No. 0 (“The Grief-Note of Vultures”) and No. 1 (“Sister Chaos”). This was Bryn Hammond’s Duzmut, called Goatskin for her barbarian style of clothing, who was guiding a caravan when we first encounter her and who had a bandit queen for a lover. There was a lot of fighting in the first story, but asking the right questions turned out to be pretty important in the second, and I appreciated the nuances there.
I also really loved “Water, Which Laughs at All Things,” by T.K. Rex & L. Ann Kinyon – Art by Magda Kulbicka, in issue No. 2. A watertender was taken from her village by soldiers of an empire, who wanted her to bring enough water to their fort to make the drought-stricken almond trees produce nuts (I loved the relevancy of this issue), but she and some allies had other ideas. There was a great deal of creativity, wry humor, and social commentary in this one. I also enjoyed how the story was told through multiple points of view, including her brother, who had just earned his way out of being a gladiator and told his side of things via poems: “It’s Rainsword now, not Rainsword!”
In short, there’s a huge variety of entertaining and illuminative content in New Edge Sword and Sorcery. Anyone who’s interested in the subject would be well advised to check the magazine out.
Brackenbury plans to publish more issues of NESS, according to a press release, “as well as expanding into book publishing with a line of themed anthologies & novella series.” I certainly look forward to seeing what comes next!
