Monday 31 October 2022

Midnight tonight is the final deadline for submissions to Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 5

Midnight tonight is the final deadline for submissions to Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 5


 
Payment is £25 per story regardless of length plus one contributor's copy of the paperback. The book will be published as a paperback and ebook. If a hardcover version is published we will pay an additional £25. Please send your submissions as attachments (doc or docx) headed  
"Submission - Swords & Sorceries 5" 
 to:

paralleluniversepublications@gmx.co.uk

You can send in more than one submission, but we will not accept more than one story per writer. Please only send one story at a time.

Although we prefer original stories we are prepared to consider reprints. Just let us know where and when it was previously published. 

You can send in simultaneous submissions, but let us know if your story is accepted elsewhere as soon as you can.

There is no limit on the size of submissions.  

There is no need to tell me anything about yourself because the only thing that matters is the story. 

All rejections and acceptances will be sent out by email by the end of the first week in November. Please don't enquire about your submission before then.

And good luck!

In the past we have received a number of stories that may be fantasy but are not swords and sorcery. If you are unsure what the swords and sorcery genre is, why not get a better idea by checking out volumes 1 - 4:

Also check our dedicated facebook group: 
 

   

The contents of Volume One are:

THE MIRROR OF TORJAN SUL - Steve Lines

THE HORROR FROM THE STARS - Steve Dilks

TROLLS ARE DIFFERENT - Susan Murrie Macdonald

CHAIN OF COMMAND - Geoff Hart

DISRUPTION OF DESTINY - Gerri Leen

THE CITY OF SILENCE - Eric Ian Steele

RED - Chadwick Ginther

THE RECONSTRUCTED GOD - Adrian Cole

The cover and all the interior artwork is by Jim Pitts. 

 
amazon.co.uk

amazon.com


The contents of Volume 2 are:

The Essence of Dust by Mike Chinn

Highjacking the Lord of Light by Tais Teng

Out in the Wildlands by Martin Owton

Zale and Zedril by Susan Murrie Macdonald

The Amulet and the Shadow by Steve Dilks

Antediluvia: Seasons of the World by Andrew Darlington

A Thousand Words for Death by Pedro Iniguez

Stone Snake by Dev Agarwal

Seven Thrones by Phil Emery

The Eater of Gods by Adrian Cole 

Illustrations by Jim Pitts.

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

 


 
The contents of Volume 3 are:
 
Sorcerous Vengeance by Lorenzo D. Lopez 
 
Seal Snatchers of Jorsaleem by Tais Teng
 
When the Gods Send You Rats by Chadwick Ginther 
 
Mother's Bones by Carson Ray
 
In the Lair of the Snake-Witch by Darin Hlavaz
 
The Rains of Barofonn by Mike Chinn
 
Wardark by Craig Herbertson
 
The Foliage by Rab Foster 
 
In the Lair of the Moonmen by Jon Hansen 
 
Sailing on the Thieves' Tide by Adrian Cole
 
Illustrations by Jim Pitts. 

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

 

 

Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 4 contains eleven tales:

In the Iron Woods by Dev Agarwal

My People Were Fair and Wore Stars in Their Hair by Andrew Darlington

At Sea by Geoff Hart 

The Flesh of Man by Frank Sawielijew

City at the Mouth of Chaos by Adrian Cole

In the Belly of the Beast by Edward Ahern

The Tracks of the Pi Nereske by Wendy Nikel

Slaves of the Monolith by Paul D. Batteiger

The Green Wood by David Dubrow

Demonic by Phil Emery

The Whips of Malmac by H. R. Laurence

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

 

Friday 21 October 2022

Childe Rolande by Samantha Lee - now published as a paperback and kindle e-book


Parallel Universe Publications is proud to announce that we have published Samantha Lee's groundbreaking post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel Childe Rolande as a paperback and kindle e-book.

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

Originally published by Futura Books in 1989, our new version includes an Introduction by the author and a brand-new cover by talented Scottish artist Paul Mudie, who will be familiar to many for the iconic covers he created for the Black Books of Horror. There is also the added bonus of interior chapter headings by award-winning artist Jim Pitts.

Childe Rolande has been optioned by Forlan Films for a proposed TV series and is currently in pre-production development. 

Childe Rolande – The Myth and the Legend

Childe Rolande, Hermaphrodite and Freak, is born into the fiercely matriarchal society of Alba at a time when the fabric of the nation is crumbling.

Rolande fulfils all the technical requirements of an ancient Prophesy which promises that one day a ‘Redeemer’ will arise who will be ‘the one and the both’, and who will sweep away the age-old tyranny of Alba’s female rulers to ‘bind the nation together in peace’.

The hopes and dreams of Alba’s downtrodden males are centred on this mystical being, whose eyes hold the wisdom of the ages and who can reputedly change into an eagle at will.

Can Rolande live up to their expectations, wrest the antlered throne from the Warlord of the Clans, drive the evil Sorceress, Fergael from her stronghold in the Dark Tower, and unite the polarised Kingdom?


From a review written by John Gilbert for Fear magazine in 1989.

“The book is written cleverly in the first person so Lee doesn’t have to equate the principal player with his/her gender. This also allows Lee to step out of the book’s politics and, in the Land of Alba, show that a kingdom ruled by any one part of the population can condemn the other elements to slavery. Childe Rolande also draws on poetic influences, particularly on Byron’s poem ‘Childe Rolande to the dark tower came’... In this book, however, there are enough poetic parallels to play that wonderful game so beloved of Umberto Eco, hunt the allusion. It’s a game that, if well played, will pay off for any lover of the fantasy genres and those interested in the politics of humanity, as pressed through the freedom of fantasy.”


 


 

 

Monday 17 October 2022

Samantha Lee's novel Childe Rolande to be published by PUP

 

PUP is proud to be reprinting Samantha Lee’s 1989 post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel Childe Rolande with a new Introduction by the author and a brand-new cover by talented Scottish artist Paul Mudie, who will be familiar to many for the iconic covers he created for the Black Books of Horror. There is also the added bonus of interior artwork by award-winning artist Jim Pitts.

Childe Rolande has been optioned by Forlan Films for a proposed TV series and is currently in pre-production development.

Childe Rolande will be available as a paperback and, for the first time ever, a kindle e-book.

Samantha is now at work on a sequel which will form the basis for a second season. More details of this exciting project will be revealed soon.

We are considering the publication of a limited edition hardcover edition signed by the author. The cost would be £25 plus p&p. If you are interested please email us with no obligation at:

paralleluniversepublications@gmx.co.uk

  

Childe Rolande – The Myth and the Legend

Childe Rolande, Hermaphrodite and Freak, is born into the fiercely matriarchal society of Alba at a time when the fabric of the nation is crumbling.

Rolande fulfils all the technical requirements of an ancient Prophesy which promises that one day a ‘Redeemer’ will arise who will be ‘the one and the both’, and who will sweep away the age-old tyranny of Alba’s female rulers to ‘bind the nation together in peace’.

The hopes and dreams of Alba’s downtrodden males are centred on this mystical being, whose eyes hold the wisdom of the ages and who can reputedly change into an eagle at will.

Can Rolande live up to their expectations, wrest the antlered throne from the Warlord of the Clans, drive the evil Sorceress, Fergael from her stronghold in the Dark Tower, and unite the polarised Kingdom?

 

“The book is written cleverly in the first person so Lee doesn’t have to equate the principal player with his/her gender. This also allows Lee to step out of the book’s politics and, in the Land of Alba, show that a kingdom ruled by any one part of the population can condemn the other elements to slavery. Childe Rolande also draws on poetic influences, particularly on Byron’s poem ‘Childe Rolande to the dark tower came’... In this book, however, there are enough poetic parallels to play that wonderful game so beloved of Umberto Eco, hunt the allusion. It’s a game that, if well played, will pay off for any lover of the fantasy genres and those interested in the politics of humanity, as pressed through the freedom of fantasy.”

John Gilbert - Fear Magazine.


Tuesday 4 October 2022

The Ever More Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts is now available in softcover

We are pleased to announce The Ever More Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts is now available in paperback. Measuring 8.25 inches by 11 inches, this has exactly the same contents as the hardcover version.

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk