Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #60, Summer 2024

“City of Dreadful Light” by James Enge

“Discordant Factions” by Howard Andrew Jones (novel excerpt, not reviewed)

“Death Upon the Turquoise Road” by Gregory Mele

Reviewed by David Wesley Hill

There are two original novelettes in this issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly—and I’m happy to say I can recommend them both! The first, “City of Dreadful Light” by James Enge, takes us to what is either a far-future Earth or an alternate reality altogether, and introduces us to Morlock Ambrosius the Maker, a wandering mage who is traveling south on a quest. Approaching the half-ruined city of Ememu, he encounters an odd drunkard named Eyrah, who may or may not be human, and together they continue into the derelict place, encountering an eerie assortment of inhabitants, most of whom seem to be connected to their city by sinister silver umbilical cords. This strangeness is made even more palpable by the signs posted everywhere proclaiming, “Some are fed. Some are food.” Then Eyrah is kidnapped, and Morlock sets out to free his new friend from the bowels of the diseased city … An exciting adventure reminiscent of the stories of Fritz Leiber or, perhaps, the fantasies of John Brunner, and, as I said, recommended!

The second offering, “Death Upon the Turquoise Road” by Gregory Mele, is apparently the second or third story about the protagonist, Sarrumos Koródu, a wandering noble in exile. From clues in the text, it’s probable that the tale is set in Mesoamerica at the end of the last ice age—where else would you find such beasts as camelops, hipparion, llamas, and toxodon? And where else would the usual tipple be mescal? Accompanied by his young warrior companion, Atsál, Sarrumos joins an expedition to explore the buried city of Raltepitlán, which supposedly holds a vast treasure of turquoise, tin, and other precious metals. There’s treachery afoot, of course, not to mention darkest evil, and fairly soon Sarrumos and Atsál are fighting for their lives against both human enemies and weird lupine foes that are definitely not wolves … A thrilling tale that reminded this reviewer of the work of Robert E. Howard, informed somewhat with Lovecraftian overtones, and … recommended!