Heroic Fantasy Quarterly–Q26
November and winter is just around the corner. What can get you through those long winter nights, those bleak grey days? Tales of adventure and derring-do, that’s what! And we have them for you, in abundance! Three stories, three poems, special artwork, a project completed, and a new editor round out this issue.
Fiction Contents
The Voice of the Green Flame, by J.R. Restrick. In a besieged city a king must make horrid decisions and plume ancient horrors. This story is S&S/Weird Fiction at its finest!
Beggar’s Belief, by Jon Byrne. Life among the dregs of society is not easy by any stretch, but there are those who master the difficulties and eke out their living. Among the dangers they face, one rises high above the rest- hope. This is Byrne’s second story for HFQ.
The Blue Lamp, by Robert Zoltan. Adventure fiction in the classic style, Zoltan’s tale will take you from the mundane and into a world of magic and mystery not seen since the glory days of the pulps. In addition to being a great writer, Mr. Zoltan is a fine artist and his illustration from the story is included.
Poetry Contents
An Oracle, by Ann Kieth. A flight of fancy, a dream, and an excellent bit of verse.
The Royal Doors, by Eliza Victoria. A rich man’s war is often a poor man’s fight.
A Tale at Bedtime, by Mary Soon Lee. Following-up on Dragonslayer in #25, Ms. Lee is back with a poem of luck and power and unlucky who have power.
Artwork
This issue’s artwork is from the outstanding Lucas Durham- a freelance illustrator based out of the Chicago area. He independently learned digital illustration from early childhood, and then formally studied art fundamentals at the American Academy of Art. As an exchange student in Florence Italy, Lucas fell in love with Renaissance and Baroque art. It led to his merging classical art techniques with modern sci-fi and fantasy narratives. Lucas considers himself fortunate to be part of the passionate sci-fi/fantasy art community where mentors challenge him to continuously cultivate and discipline his skills.
See more of his work at his website and his deviant art page.
Goings On
The big news, after a lot of talking and planning and wrangling, is that The Best of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly Volume I is now a thing! It was, like the creation of some powerful magical artifact, a great labor to choose among our many fine stories and poems from issues 1 through 8; and we embraced that labor– nay, we exuberated in it! With a special introduction by Black Gate’s John O’Neal, a bit of the history of HFQ (what we could recall of it, from those halcyon days in ’08 and ’09), and cover art by the astounding Justin Sweet, the Best-Of Vol. I is available for pre-order!
It was a steep learning curve, and one we would have plummeted from without the help of freelance editor, stellar writer, and all around great person Keanan Brand.
More volumes should follow in the near future.
David Farney: Being the last man standing isn’t easy, but somehow David has found a way!
Adrian Simmons: His story “Dilution Solution” is included in the Post-Old-Ones-Awakening anthology Apotheosis (shamelessly plugged into one of HFQ’s advertising slots). Reviews, so far, have been favorable. He has fiction coming out from Strange Constellations and the newly resurrected Plasma Frequency. In September he took his 4th degree Black Belt test in Taekwondo.
William Ledbetter: Bill attended the first ever Schrodinger Sessions workshop hosted by the Joint Quantum Institute the last week of July at the University of Maryland. It was a workshop designed to teach SF writers the fundamentals of quantum physics and was, in his studied opinion, a great success.
“The Long Fall Up” will be in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction’s January/February issue. His story “That Other Sea” was voted best Escape Pod story of 2014. And his story “Stealing Arturo” is included in the Year’s Best Military SF and Space Opera by Baen Books, available now! Bill attended WorldCon in August.
James Rowe: “The Rise of the Anti-Christ”, a comic which James had the privilege of editing, is finally available for purchase. You can buy the first issue here , the second here, and the third here . The comic details Michael, a madman stricken with the belief that he is Jesus Christ, and his messianic rise when the Devil sees fit to outfit him with proof sufficient for others to believe the same. The results are…electric.
Barbara Barrett: Her name may be familiar to those readers who are fans of Robert E. Howard and the REH Foundation. Ms. Barrett joined the HFQ editorial team in July. She has recently publishes a two-part essay on the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava and an essay on Robert Howard’s hell-bound poetry.
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