Zebra Sword & Sorcery of the 1970s and 1980s

Zebra Books (Kensington Publishing Corporation) began in 1974 but after a year it became a source for good quality Sword & Sorcery and historical adventure that appealed to the readers of Conan and Kull. Zebra’s focused on Robert E. Howard books with Jeff Jones covers then moved onto Talbot Mundy and H. Rider Haggard.  New writers like Adrian Cole, Andrew J. Offut, Mike Sirota, David C. Smith, Karl Edward Wagner and Mildred Downey Broxon supplied fresh works in the same vein. Even Lin Carter and Poul Anderson, men responsible for the S&S explosion, through the Ballantine Fantasy series (that ended in 1974 ) published new books. Offutt also produced new anthologies in the same spirit.

1975

Adrian Cole  published the first two volumes in his Dream Lords trilogy, Plague of Nightmares and Lord of Nightmares. This series is almost more Sword & Planet and has some Lovecraftian imagery as well.

Robert E. Howard was the star of the line, beginning with Tigers of the Sea, a collection of mostly straight forward adventure but with one Mythos flavored S&S collaboration with Richard L. Tierney. Howard’s Bran Mak Morn who had appeared earlier in the late 1960s, was collected again in Worms of the Earth. The Sowers of Thunder featured tales of the Crusades.

Andrew J. Offutt began a series of six novels about Cormac Mac Art with The Sword of the Gael. Based on REH’s character from Tigers of the Sea, Offutt explores Cormac’s Irish heritage.

1976

Karl Edward Wagner got 1976 off to a great start with a Bran Mak Morn pastiche called Legion of the Shadows featuring Serpent Men and some Cthulhu Mythos magic.

Howard was collected again in a shorter version of the Arkham House book, Pigeons From Hell. His El Borak tales appeared in The Lost Valley of Iskander. This book was illustrated by Mike Kaluta in a style befitting Joseph Clement Coll.

Andrew J. Offutt continued his Cormac series in The Undying Wizard. Offutt introduces Howard villian, Thulsa Doom into the books.

Adrian Cole finished his trilogy with Bane of Nightmares

Talbot Mundy’s Lud of Lunden was first of the historical volumes, the opening of the Tros of Samothrace saga. It was followed with Avenging Liafail and The Praetor’s Dungeon. The historicals were appearing now with “In the tradition of Conan” plastered on the top of their covers. (This is ironic since Mundy was one of the writers, along with Harold Lamb, in Adventure that inspired REH.)

1977

Talbot Mundy continued Tros with The Purple Pirate.

Andrew J. Offutt edited the first of the Swords Against Darkness with a Frank Frazetta cover. The volume includes stories by Robert E. Howard, Poul Anderson, George W. Proctor, Manly Wade Wellman, Richard L. Tierney, Ray Capella Garcia, David Drake and Ramsey Campbell. The second volume appeared later the same year, Swords Against Darkness II. This time the book includes Andre Norton, Ramsey Campbell, Manly Wade Wellman, David M.Harris, Richard L. Tierney, Tanith Lee, Keith Taylor and Andrew J. Offutt.

Offutt was busy producing two more Cormac books: The Sign of the Moonbow and The Mists of Doom. Later he would write of Cormac’s youth with Bard author, Keith Taylor.

Robert E. Howard didn’t have any real S&S but three great adventure series: a pirate book rewrite of “The Black Stranger” a Conan novella retitled Black Vulmea’s Vengeance, Howard’s best female character, Red Agnes in Sword Woman and El Borak in The Three-Bladed Doom.

David C. Smith began his short Zebra career with a pastiche of Terence Vulmea called The Witch of the Indies.

1978

Richard L. Tierney and David C. Smith teamed up For the Witch of the Mists. This novel of Bran Mak Morn takes him to Rome but suffers from too much research and not enough action or magic. Later in 1981 the two men would produce six Red Sonja novels for ACE Books.

Andrew J. Offutt was back as editor for Swords Against Darkness III, which published stories by Ramsey Campbell, Richard L. Tierney, Wayne Hooks, David C. Smith, Tanith Lee, David Madison, David Drake, Jon De Cles, Robert E. Vardeman, Manly Wade Wellman, Darrell Schweitzer, George W. Proctor, M. a. Wahil and Poul Anderson.

Talbot Mundy returned with Queen Cleopatra.

H. Rider Haggard makes his appearance with his Viking character Eric Brighteyes. Haggard’s The Wanderer’s Necklace  and Morning Star also appeared.

1979

Andrew J. Offutt finished his anthologies with Swords Against Darkness IV  with stories by Charles R. Saunders, Jeff Swycaffer, Ardath Mayhar, Gordon Linzner, Tanith Lee, Poul Anderson, Brian Lumley, Diana L. Paxson, Joey Froehlich, Charles de Lint, orson Scott Card and Manly Wade Wellman and Swords Against Darkness V with Ramsey Campbell, Tanith Lee, Simon R. Green, Robert Fester, Robin Kincaid, Keith Taylor, Edward DeGeorge, James Anderson, Darrell Schweitzer, Paul McGuire, Gordon Linzner and Richard K. Lyon.

Lin Carter produced his only novel for Zebra, Tara of the Twilight. Later he would edit the Weird Tales anthologies.

Eric Brighteyes #2: A Witch’s Welcome has the Viking prince return in a pastiche written by Sigfriour Skaldaspillir (pseudonym of Irish writer, Mildred Downey Broxon).

1980

Poul Anderson, writer of the S&S classic, The Broken Sword, (1954), appears in three volumes of The Last Viking. This trilogy is not Fantasy but a biography of Harald Harrede with The Golden Horn, The Road of the Sea Horse and The Sign of the Raven. Another historical adventure, Rogue Sword, takes place in 12th century Byzantium.

Mike Sirota will produce six novels all in two years. These heroic adventure novels borrow as much from Edgar Rice Burroughs and A. Merritt as they do Robert E. Howard. The first was Journey to Mesharra, followed by Master of Borango, The Shrouded Walls of Borango and a standalone novel The Twelfth Son of Ornon (all in 1980!).

David C. Smith begins his own saga with Oron. The series will contain four novels.

1981

Mike Sirota was the only heroic fantasy writer in 1981 with The Golden Hawk of Zandraya and the last Ro-Lan novel The Demons of Zammar. The line-up at Zebra was shifting away from Fantasy and towards Horror.

1982

David C. Smith produced two more Oron novels, Mosutha’s Magic and The Valley of Ogrum. He also did a related Sword & Sorcery novel called The Sorcerer’s Shadow but it does not feature Oron.

1983

The final S&S book to appear at Zebra was David C. Smith’s last Oron novel,  The Ghost Army.

After 1983, Zebra transitioned into a full slate of Horror novels and men’s adventure series. The gravy of the Lancer boom was over and the imitators of Stephen King replaced the Robert E. Howard pastichers. Some of the writers found here gravitated to ACE and Bantam Books, which held the Conan franchise. Andrew J. Offutt would write Conan novels, as would Poul Anderson and Karl Edward Wagner. Smith and Tierney would write the Red Sonja novels. Anderson and Mildred Downey Broxon would produce a wonderful Viking-Celt fantasy called The Demon of Scattery. Zebra’s contribution to Sword & Sorcery was over but the movement carried on…