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A READER'S GUIDE TO SWORD & SORCERY W-Z

Karl Edward Wagner (1945 - 1995)

Karl Edward Wagner was well-regarded in horror publishing circles, as editor/owner of Carcosa Press, but is first and foremost, the author of the Kane series. Perhaps the closest offspring to Robert E. Howard, the Kane novels are dark, bloody but far more intelligent than your average pastiche. Kane is an immortal, cursed at the beginning of time (ie: Cain) and the novels follow his adventures through eternity. This ever-changing panorama of countries and empires is as fascinating as the action which never slacks. Wagner has also written three excellent Howard pastiches, all recommended reading. His book Night Winds won the British Fantasy Award 1976.

The Kane Series

1. Death Angel's Shadow (1973)
2. " Cold Light" in Death Angel’s Shadow 1973
3. "Reflections for the Winter of My Soul" in Death Angel’s Shadow 1973
4. "Mirage" in Death Angel’s Shadow 1973
5. "Death Angel’s Shadow" (Midnight Sun #1, 1974)
6. "Midnight Sun" (Midnight Sun #1, 1974)
7. "In the Lair of Yslsl" (Midnight Sun #1, 1974)
8. Bloodstone (1975)
9. "Two Suns Setting" (Fantastic, May 1976)
10. "Sing a Last Song of Valdese" (Chacal, Winter 1976)
11. Dark Crusade (1976)
12. "Raven’s Eyrie" (Chacal, Spring 1977)
13. "Undertow" (Whispers, August 1977)
14. "The Other One" (Escape!, Fall 1977)
15. Darkness Weaves (with Many Shades) (1978)
16. "In the Wake of the Night" in A Fantasy Reader 1981
17. "Misericorde" (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #17, 1983)
18. "The Treasure of Lynortis" (Kadath, Fall 1984)
19. The Book of Kane (1985)
20. "Lacunae" in Cutting Edge, 1986
21. "At First Just Ghostly" (Weird Tales, Fall 1989)
22. "Deep in the Depths of the Acme Warehouse" in The King Is Dead, 1994
23. Gods in Darkness (2002) omnibus
24. Midnight Sun (2003) omnibus

The Bran Mak Morn Series

1. The Legion From the Shadows (1975)
2. The Queen of the Night (1977)

The Conan Series

1. Conan: The Road of Kings (1979)

Singles

1. "Killer" (Midnight Sun #1, 1974)
2. Killer (1985) with David Drake

Manly Wade Wellman (1905-1986)

Best known for his stories and novels about the minstrel John, Wellman has made a career of writing about the South and its folklore. During the 1940s Wellman tried his hand at S&s with a character named Hok the Barbarian. In 1977, Wellman returned to S&S for Andrew Offutt’s Swords Against Darkness anthologies. Like his other work, the Kardios stories have his gentle Southern humor and several good belly-laughs. We can only hope for a collection of the stories some day. Wellman has won the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Hok Series

1. " Hok Visits the Land of Legends" (Fantastic Adventures, April 1942)
2. "Untitled Hok Fragment" in Echoes of Valor II, 1989

The Kardios Series

1. "Straggler from Atlantis" in Swords Against Darkness #1, 1977
2. "The Dweller in the Temple" in Swords Against Darkness #2, 1977
3. "The Guest of Dzinganji" in Swords Against Darkness #3, 1978
4. "The Edge of the World" in Swords Against Darkness #4, 1979

C. L. Werner (?)

Warhammer : Brunner the Bounty Hunter

1. Blood and Steel (2003)
2. Blood Money (2003)
3. Blood of the Dragon (2004)
4. Brunner the Bounty Hunter (omnibus) (2010)

Warhammer : Witch Hunter

1. Witch Hunter (2004)
2. Witch Finder (2005)
3. Witch Killer (2006)
4. Matthias Thulmann: Witch Hunter (omnibus) (2008)

Warhammer

1. Palace of the Plague Lord (2007)
2. Blood for the Blood God (2008)
3. Runefang (2008)

Warhammer : Thanquol and Boneripper

1. Grey Seer (2009)
2. Temple of the Serpent (2010)

Warhammer : Age of Reckoning

1. Forged by Chaos (2009)

Gene Wolfe (1931 - )

Gene Wolfe is, like Avram Davidson, a stylist, which is rare amongst S&S writers. The New Urth novels have won everything from the Nebula, World Fantasy Award, the J. W. Campbell Jr. Award to the Chronicle Award, making it S&S’s most lauded entry. This series features the most unlikely of heroes, a torturer, but then that’s Wolfe for you. Don’t read this expecting Conan the Barbarian. The effort always pays out in spades though.

The New Urth Series

1. The Shadow of the Torturer (1981)–World Fantasy Award 1981
2. The Claw of the Conciliator (1981)–Nebula 1981/Chronicle Award 1981
3. The Sword of the Lictor (1981)–Chronicle Award 1982
4. The Citadel of Autarch (1982)–John W. Campbell Jr. Award 1983
5. The Castle of the Otter (1982)
6. The Book of the New Sun 1 (1983) omnibus
7. The Book of the New Sun 2 (1985) omnibus
8. The Urth of the New Sun (1987)–Chronicle Award 1987
9. Shadow and Claw (omnibus) (1994)
10. Sword and Citadel (omnibus) (1994)
11. The Book of the New Sun (omnibus) (2000)
12. Severian of the Guild (omnibus) (2007)

Urth : Book of the Long Sun Series

1. Nightside the Long Sun (1993)
2. Lake of the Long Sun (1993)
3. Calde of the Long Sun (1994)
4. Exodus from the Long Sun (1996)
5. Litany of the Long Sun (omnibus) (1994)
6. Epiphany of the Long Sun (omnibus) (1997)

Urth : Book of the Short Sun Series

1. On Blue's Waters (1999)
2. In Green's Jungles (2000)
3. Return to the Whorl (2001)

Soldier of the Mist Series

1. The Soldier of the Mist (1986)
2. The Soldier of Arete (1989)
3. Soldier of Sidon (2006)
4. Latro in the Mist (omnibus) (2003)

Wizard Knight Series

1. The Knight (2004)
2. The Wizard (2004)
3. The Wizard Knight (2005) omnibus

Y

J. Steven York (1957- )

Conan Series

1. Scion of the Serpent (2005)
2. Heretic of Set (2005)
3. The Venom of Luxor (2005)

Z

Roger Zelazny (1937 - 1995)

The author of the Amber Chronicles has had his try at S&S. Zelazny’s Dilvish the Damned has yet to reach more than two volumes (generally available). Zelazny’s flair for
intelligent characterization offers the S&S reader more than cliches. The Changing Land is a novel, while the other two books are stories collections. The Bells of Shoredan was a limited edition volume, and not readily available.

The Dilvish the Damned Series

1. The Changing Land (1981)
2. Dilvish the Damned (1982) which contains:

3. "Passage to Dilfar" (Fantastic, February 1965)
4. "Thelinde's Song" (Fantastic, June 1965)
5. "The Bells of Shoredan" (Fantastic, March 1966)
6. "A Knight for Merytha" (Eternity SF #3, 1974)
7. "The Places of Aache" (Other Worlds 2, January 1980)
8. "A City Divided" (1982)
9. "The White Beast" (Whispers 13-14, October 1979)
10. "Tower of Ice" Flashing Swords! #5: Demons and Daggers, 1981
11. "Devil and the Dancer" (1982)
12. "Garden of Blood" in The Year's Best Fantasy Stories 6, 1980
13. "Dilvish, the Damned" (1982)