Issue 9 ofBroadswords and Blastersis a compilation of remarkable stories by authors whose voices I really hope you’ll get to know. My personal favorite was C. W. Blackwell’s “Quarter Past Ordinary,” a really well-executed and tensely plotted story about a murderous, shape-changing, train stowaway. In “Griffon Eggs” by R.A. Goli, a woman makes terrible sacrifices for a magical cure. Goli is very skilled at created a sustained tone of dread throughout.In “Camera Obscura” by Rex Weiner, the mind behindThe (Original) Adventures of Ford Fairlane, a man intends to renovate a Mexican seaside mansion and becomes possessed by its past instead.”The Pole-House” by Ethan Sabatella involves a truly nightmarish device called a Scorn Pole, an animated horse skeleton atop a moving pole, tormenting some travelers. InCara Fox’s “The Corsair’s Daughter,” women are kicking ass and taking names; the story includes a pretty amazing action scene of a woman swinging through the air, rapier in hand, slicing the throats of wolves attempting to tear her apart as she goes. “Termination Clause” by Scotch Rutherford is hard-boiled gangster story.In”Old Haunting Grounds” by Matt Spencer, two swordsmen must fight off horrors including carnivorous, anthropomorphic bats. The story “Courtship of the Queen of Thieves” by Vince Carpini describes a flirtation between two clever fortune hunters, and in “Olympian Six” by Adam S. Furman: a group of augmented Marines engages in a firefight with a heavily fortified compound.
Any one of these stories is worth the price of admission. Buy Volume 9 and you get them all!