Rogue Blades Entertainment has a strong track record as far as I’m concerned – I have a few of their anthologies here on my shelf, and they never failed to deliver as promised: entertaining, original, solid no-frills sword & sorcery.

So I was extremely interested when Writing Fantasy Heroes was announced – a multi-author collection of essays on sword & sorcery writing, from one of my favorite purveyours of sword & sorcery, edited by J.M. Waltz.
What could go wrong with that?

Well, first there was the fact that the Italian Amazon does not carry the book.
Then, the delivery guy was unable to find my house (it happens, I live in the wilderness), and sent my copy back to the international seller from which I had ordered it.
With the refund, I got me a second copy.
And it got to my house two days before Easter, and waited in the pouring rain, hanging halfway out of my (flooded) mailbox, for my return home from the hospital.

But I got it and I read it over the Easter weekend, and what the heck, it was well worth the effort – and the wait!

Despite the title, the book is not exclusively about heroes – and it is in fact a well-rounded, varied overview of the writing process as applied to sword & sorcery and other action-oriented, character-driven fiction.
The pieces are concise, original, and often take an unusual perspective on writing.
They are all excellent – and I guess every reader will find his faves in the thirteen (plus one foreword and one afterword) articles.
I could mention the pieces by Alex Bledsoe, Brandon Sanderson, Cat Rambo and Howard Andrew Jones as personal stand-outs, but really, there’s not a weak piece in the mix.
From secondary worlds to historical settings, from single fights to huge battles, from main characters to spear-bearers, the book looks at every aspect of the genre from the writing point of view.

The book – which features a gorgeous cover – is not aimed at absolute beginners, but on the other hand can be also enjoyed by readers and fans, curious about the work, thinking and technique of some of the best writers in the field.

Great book.