Krieg

In the last couple of years I've come up with what is so far my favorite sword and sorcery character. I call him Krieg, which is the German word for war. I've created quite a few other S & S characters over the years--Thal Kyrin, Jaal Harkest. Jedess of Seth-Loeril, Jys Martel. Most of them can be found in Bitter Steel, which collects the majority of my older S & S stories. But Krieg has become my favorite. If I had to compare him with any other heroic fantasy character out there, I'd say he was closest to Karl Edward Wagner's Kane. But Krieg is not Kane. He's the product of many years of reading heroic fantasy and striving to write it. He's his own man, so to speak.

I hope to write many adventures for Krieg. So far I've completed three. Only one has been published, A Whisper in Ashes, at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. The other two, "Where All the Souls are Hollow," and "The Rotted Land," have not yet been submitted. I'm looking for the right place to send them. One of the things that I've done to characterize Krieg in these tales is begin each one with a short poem that describes the character from the point of view of an outsider. Below are the three openers that I've got so far. What do you think?

A WHISPER IN ASHES

Down from the death-lands of snow

came a warrior with eyes

like scars.

No one knew his origins.

None could foresee his end.

He had no name.

The barbarians called him Krieg.

WHERE ALL THE SOULS ARE HOLLOW

Out of choking dust and black smoke

came a warrior with eyes

like broken blades.

Wherever he journeyed,

war followed.

None could say why.

The survivors called him Krieg.

THE ROTTED LAND 

He arrived on a fetid wind,

with eyes black as fractured onyx.

Blood flowed the paths where he walked.

Some thought him angel.

Others claimed him demon.

Only the whisperers named him   

Krieg.

Three Poems, and Other Things

Three of my poems are running today over at Beat to a Pulp. I hope you'll stop by and give them a read. These are some of my favorites among my own pieces. http://beattoapulp.com/pulp.htm


Also, of course, "A Whisper in Ashes" is still up at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/


Hope your Sunday is going wonderfully!

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New Sword and Sorcery Story Published

We interrupt the normal multiple-day lag between posts for breaking news of interest to...well, me. Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Issue 17, has just been published and contains a story by me called "A Whisper in Ashes." This is the first appearance of a heroic fantasy character named Krieg, who I hope to write much more about eventually. I had started two previous stories about a character with that name but they never quite gelled. This one finally did and I think I now have a handle on the character that may let me write more. The character is certainly in the tradition of sword and sorcery heroes like Conan and Karl Edward Wagner's Kane.

I hope you'll give the tale a read. It's free to readers after all. The direct link to the story is: http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/?p=1418

The link to the magazine home is here: http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/?p=1478

A couple of people have had the link to the magazine not work this morning. I had some trouble with it as well. Of course, it's probably due to the huge number of people trying to access my story. Don't you think? :)
The link has always come up if I waited a bit, though, so I hope it's a minor glitch.

Thanks.
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