Renegade Swords is a collection of eight sword and sorcery and fantasy stories from DMR Books. The stories were chosen because they are either a little obscure or because they have been overlooked. As with most anthologies, I enjoyed some stories more than others, but I enjoyed them all.
“The House of Arabu” by Robert E. Howard
Pyrrhas the Argive is a barbarian who has ended up in Mesopotamia after much wandering. He finds himself cursed and being stalked by a night spirit named Lilitu. He visits an evil sorcerer as well as the realm of the dead in order to learn how to lift the curse and discover who placed it on him. As with most Howard stories the story moves quickly, and the battles were well written.
This story wasn’t published until after Howard’s death. It appeared in Avon Fantasy Reader #18 in 1952 and was renamed “The Witch from Hell’s Kitchen” for some reason. I think the original title is much better. I enjoyed this but not as much as most of the other Howard stories that I’ve read. On the other hand, I would have probably liked reading more stories about Pyrrhas.
“Necromancy in Naat “by Clark Ashton Smith (unabridged version)
Prince Nadar searches for his betrothed Dalili, after she is kidnapped by bandits and sold into slavery. He eventually tracks her down to Naat, an island ruled by necromancers. Once on the island he has to deal with three necromancers and a creepy creature.
Smith’s writing is filled with unique vocabulary and phrases which help to create a dream-like atmosphere. The story has a haunting and bittersweet ending, which I was not expecting at all.
This story is part of the Zothique cycle, set on Earth’s last continent in the far future. It was interesting to learn from the introduction that about thirteen hundred words were cut from the story when it first appeared in Weird Tales in 1936. The unabridged version didn’t appear until 2010 in Volume 5 of the Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith.
I read one Ashton Smith story from The Best of Clark Ashton Smith years ago, but I don’t remember much about it and never read any further. This story had a much stronger impression on me. I’m looking forward to reading more.
“The Woman of the Wood” by A. Merritt
A WWI veteran recovering from his experiences in the war is staying at a French inn. He has an experience in the woods which leads him into a confrontation with a man and his two sons who live nearby. I’ve known about A. Merritt for years, but this is the first thing I’ve ever read by him. It’s not sword and sorcery like the other stories but I enjoyed it. I liked the writing and the atmosphere.
“The Slaughter of the Gods” by Manly Wade Wellman
This is the last of the Kardios of Atlantis stories. The previous stories can be found in Heroes of Atlantis and Lemuria, which I reviewed here:
Kardios makes his way to a city supposedly ruled by seven gods. The gods are actually creatures controlled by a beautiful sorceress. Not my favorite Kardios story but I liked the ending. As he’s deciding where to go next, he thinks of one of the characters from a previous story.
“People of the Dragon” by Lin Carter
Tribesmen in a prehistoric world face hardship when the weather changes to freezing. After the young narrator’s grandfather has a vision, the tribe migrates south. When a hunting party doesn’t return, the narrator and his friend investigate. What they find is very creepy.
I like the story and how it’s narrated by one of the characters, but I did not like the writing style. More on that below.
“The Pillars of Hell” by Lin Carter
This story continues the adventures of the tribe from the previous story. As they are traveling through a desert, guards begin disappearing at night. This time the narrator is the son of the narrator from the previous story. More creepiness as he finds out what’s been happening to the guards.
I have really mixed feelings about these two stories. They’re both exciting and well-paced but the writing style is filled with archaic English vocabulary and sentence structure. Phrases like “ever and anon,” “at the time whereof I speak,” and “Wither at this dark hour?” popped up so often that I found it distracting.
I’m aware he didn’t always write in this style and probably did so in these stories for effect, but it didn’t work for me. I couldn’t help but compare the writing to Clark Ashton Smith, who’s unique style I quite enjoyed.
“The Rune-Sword of Jotunheim” by Glen Rahman and Richard L. Tierney
This is a Norse sword & sorcery tale in which two characters, Hadding the Norsemen and Afhild the giantess, have to deal with a demon. A rollicking good story with interesting characters, an interesting world, and an appearance from Odin.
“Princess of Chaos” by Bryce Walton
This is a fun sword and planet story. Moljar, born of a Terran woman and a Martian outlaw, is being forced to fight in an arena on Venus. When it’s attacked by Mistmen, the cat-like Princess Alhone says she will free him if he gets help. He agrees and one of the other gladiators, Mahra, a female Terran mutant with silver hair joins him. I liked the interplay between Moljar and Mahra as well as the non-stop pace of the story.
I enjoyed this collection a lot and I'm happy that there are more volumes out. I have Renegade Swords II on the shelf and Renegade Swords III was released in March of 2022. It's a great opportunity to read some overlooked but interesting stories.
My story ratings:
“The House of Arabu” by Robert E. Howard (4/5)
“Necromancy in Naat” by Clark Ashton Smith (5/5)
“The Woman of the Wood” by A. Merritt (4/5)
“The Slaughter of the Gods” by Manly Wade Wellman (4/4)
“People of the Dragon” by Lin Carter (3.5/5)
“The Pillars of Hell” by Lin Carter (3.5/5)
“The Rune-Sword of Jotunheim” by Glen Rahman and Richard L. Tierney (4/5)
“Princess of Chaos” by Bryce Walton (4/5)
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