Writers often experiment early in their careers, trying different styles, genres or publishing opportunities. Until success pulls them in a certain direction the scribbler is open to any venue that pays or gives the best feedback. This has proven true for many Sword & Sorcery writers.
Garner F. Fox created the first “Barbarian” comic with Crom the Barbarian in 1950 but the comics industry pulled him away to go onto other feats such as creating Hawkman and Batman’s ‘Utility Belt’. Fox was able to return to Sword & Sorcery later in his career but by then he had an established reputation as a comic book writer. John Jakes wrote five books about his barbarian, Brak, but following Robert E. Howard’s lead has not been his fate (nor was Science Fiction, detective or historical romance novels). It wasn’t until he created the Kent Family Chronicles that he became a superstar, not only selling a billion books but creating a whole new publishing category, the family saga paperback series.
The third example of this later-fate syndrome is Ramsey Campbell (1946-). A respected horror novelist, Campbell’s fame is secure with his work from the 1970s to today, which include Lovecraftian terror to fat bestsellers in the Stephen King mode. But before the blockbusters, Campbell had a short period where he explored Sword & Sorcery. First he finished two Robert E. Howard Solomon Kane story fragments “Hawk of Basti” and “The Children of Asshur”, before creating his own series about a wanderer named Ryre.
The Ryre stories appeared in two places originally. First in the Swords Against Darkness anthologies edited by Andrew J. Offutt in America, then in Britain’s Fantasy Tales edited by Stephen Jones and David Sutton. The Zebra paperbacks did not have illustrations but Fantasy Tales did, featuring the work of Jim Pitts, who is probably best remembered in North America for his work on Advanced Dungeon & Dragons’ Fiend Folio. When the stories were collected in Far Away & Never (Necronomicon Press, 1996) the cover art was done by Stephen Fabian.
“The Sustenance of Hoak” (Swords Against Darkness 1 (1977)/Fantasy Tales August 1989) introduces Ryre who comes to a town under an evil addiction. He alone can stand against the evil being who holds the town in thrall. By far the best of the series with great mood and violent action.
“The Changer of Names” (Swords Against Darkness 2 (1977)/Fantasy Tales Autumn 1990) finds Ryre in a town where a mysterious mystic is stealing people’s names and using them to put the new owner’s under his spell, with only one purpose in mind: to kill anyone else with that name. When Ryre’s name is taken he begins a hunt for this strange name thief. This story was selected for Lin Carter’s Years’ Best Fantasy 4 (1978).
“The Pit of Wings” (Swords Against Darkness 3 (1978)/Fantasy Tales Fall 1990) takes place in Gaxanoi, a city on the coast, based in the slave trade. Ryre crosses the local slavers and ends up being taken to be sacrificed in the Pit of Wings. There, weird wing-shaped monsters attach themselves to the backs of victims. Ryre must fight a desperate air battle to survive.
“The Mouths of Light” (Swords Against Darkness 5 (1979) is a direct sequel to “The Pit of Wings”. Surviving the air battle Ryre flees the Gaxanoians by entering a long cavern where strange volcanic mouths of light exist. It is the weakest of the series and signalled an end to Ryre.
In terms of plots, Campbell sticks pretty close to the Howardian story structure of hero encounters the effects of evil, then seeks the source, fights a desperate battle and wins in the end. The structure is traditional as the oldest myths but what Campbell brings to the Ryre stories is a fresh vocabulary for a Sword & Sorcery tale. Unlike the pulpy or direct style of Howard, Jakes or even Fox, Campbell’s verbal feel is richer, more poetic, without the erudite and byzantine feel of Clark Ashton Smith. His rich syntax allows him to elevate the images of the tale, to make the story evocative but not slow-moving or dull.
We can only guess how the Ryre stories would have changed if Ramsey had continued to write them. Campbell may have varied the plot structure as he progressed. I for one wish he had written more. What was Horror’s gain has been Sword & Sorcery’s loss. We did get a little back when Ramsey penned the novelization of the Solomon Kane movie in 2009. Still we can dream….
Illustrations from Fantasy Tales:
If anyone is interested this is still in print through Necronomicon Press @ an affordable price.