Welcome to the June 2025 issue of Swords & Sorcery Magazine, issue 161. This month we have four new stories, once again by authors not previously featured in S&SM. There is also a review by Anthony Perconti, whose work longtime readers of S&SM will be familiar with.
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If anyone is interested in meeting me face to face, I’ll be at a couple of conventions this summer. First, I will be at Readercon in Burlington, MA, from July 17th to the 20th. I try to make Readercon every year and I highly recommend it. Thursday evening programming is free and open to the public, so if you are in the area come by and see what it is about. The second con I will attend is Worldcon, in Seattle from August 13th to the 17th. If you will be at either convention and want to talk sword & sorcery with me drop me an email at editor@swordsandsorcerymagazine.com or leave a comment here, on the Facebook page, or on Bluesky, and I will see what I can do to make it happen.
“The Bloody Briar”, by Ali Abbas, is the tale of a hunter who stumbles on a cursed castle deep in an enchanted forest. Abbas has published two novelas and has stories in several anthologies and collections. This is his first appearance in Swords & Sorcery Magazine.
In “A Black Mile to the Surface”, by Chris Bissette, a warrior crawls through a maze deep underground to challenge an evil godling while under the influence of a witch’s potion. Bissette is an award winning writer of TTRPGs. This is their first published fiction and their first appearance in Swords & Sorcery Magazine.
In “Ambush in Herezon”, by William Morris, a battered city watcher protects an ambassador to the city from a riot. This is Morris’s first fantasy publication and his first appearance in Swords & Sorcery Magazine.
In “Up the Road” Daniel Rabuzzi gives us the tale of Tad and Cheese, two reluctant scouts tasked with investigating threats in a dangerous wilderness. Rabuzzi’s work has been seen in Asimov’s, Abyss & Apex, Coffin Bell, Shimmer, Red Ogre Review, Goblin Fruit, and Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. This is his first appearance in Swords & Sorcery Magazine.
Anthony Perconti brings us “Review: David C. Smith’s Sometime Lofty Towers”. Perconti’s reviews have been published in Swords & Sorcery oftimes before. A new edition of Sometime Lofty Towers is currently being crowdfunded by Brackenbury Books. Check out the campaign here.
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Until next month… Curtis Ellett
editor, Swords & Sorcery Magazine
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