Aged in Oaken Heroes: Heroic Fantasy and Imagined History - James Enge

Anyway, it is widely agreed that heroic fantasy is set in some age before we learned that “digital watches were a pretty neat idea”, a period frequently described as the Middle Ages. And this is almost perfectly dumb. For one thing, not every age without highly developed machines is medieval. How about Hawaii before the Europeans got there? How about a post-machine age (apocalyptic or otherwise)? How about the pre-medieval world? In any case, magic is itself a kind of science and/or technology, and it may pervade the world of a heroic fantasy. No technology in heroic fantasy? Morlock is skeptical. Then there’s the question of what the Middle Ages are, anyway. Broadly, they are a chunk of time in western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire and before the Renaissance. 3.5 out of 5 http://jamesenge.com/2012/10/10/aged-in-oaken-heroes-heroic-fantasy-imagined-history/

Exclusive Q & A with - James Enge

"But fantasies would no doubt be better if they had a richer political ecology. We wouldn't get so many chosen ones who were prophesied in the beforetime to do all that stuff that chosen ones always do. I've tried to mix it up a little in the earlier Morlock novels, having him run afoul of bureaucracies and timocracies and theocracies. And the Wardlands were always supposed to be a little different--a kind of utopia, that Morlock was cast out of. What's the ideal government for free people, after all? No government at all--no restraints on personal autonomy except respect for others' autonomy." 3.5 out of 5 http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Dwarves-vs-Dragons--Exclusive-Q---A-with-James-Enge-.html?soid=1101630309567&aid=oarze_S59qI

Passing Through Each Other: A Round-Table Discussion of Speculative Fiction and Academia - Jeremy L. C. Jones

"my sword-and-sorcery. Most of my colleagues at my university were unaware of my fantasy-writing until I was nominated for the World Fantasy Award a year or two ago. And a lot of people were genuinely, I think, excited by it. My novels are now proudly on display in the faculty publications display case, alongside much more serious work. Sometimes I sense some—I don't know what to call it—anti-snobbery from the other direction. When someone at a con learns that I teach college, they may get anxious, as if I'm about to assign them homework or give them a failing grade in Somethingorother 101. And often I see fans waxing hysterical online about academia and its lack of respect for genre. It's clear to me that those guys don't have the faintest clue what they're talking about. I would give them an A in Strawman-Fighting and an F in Reality-Dealing, if I had the power to do so." 3.5 out of 5 http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/academia_interview/

An Interview with Fantasy Writer - James Enge

"SPCC: What’s next for Morlock? What are you working on currently?JE: The Wolf Age did well enough that Pyr signed me to another 3-book deal. Currently I’m finishing up an origin story for Morlock. It’s called A Guile of Dragons and is due out next summer. It’s very old school fantasy in some ways — dwarves, dragons, Merlin and Nimue. (No elves, though. Everyone has to draw the line somewhere.) And it also gives us a look at Morlock’s homeland, which is a sort of anarchy where community needs are addressed by voluntary associations. It’s a sort of utopia, really — with monsters. Most utopias don’t have monsters, of course, but that’s why they lack a certain plausibility."


4 out of 5

http://oldgamereviewer.com/2011/10/16/an-interview-with-fantasy-writer-james-enge/

SFFWRTCHT: A Chat With Author - James Enge

"SFFWRTCHT: Awesome! Who are some of your favorite classical writers?

JE: I like Virgil–The Aeneid is like a fantasy novel in verse, with gods and magic and murder and treachery and all the good stuff. Also Seneca–the same stuff as Virgil, but with extra doses of cannibalism and murder."


3.5 out of 5

http://www.graspingforthewind.com/2011/07/07/sffwrtcht-a-chat-with-author-james-enge/

Science Fiction And Fantasy Writer's Chat 4/20/11 with - James Enge

A twitter convo.


3.5 out of 5

http://bryanthomasschmidt.blogspot.com/2011/04/science-fiction-and-fantasy-writers_20.html

A Tournament of Shadows - James Enge

"James Enge will be showing readers more of the life and times of Molock Amrosius thanks to a new three book deal with Pyr. His first novel, Blood of Ambrose, was released in 2009, and was among the nominees for the World Fantasy Award. The new three-book set will be titled "A Tournament of Shadows". Book one will be A Guile of Dragons. Enge is represented by Michael Kabongo at the OnyxHawke Agency, who notes this is a larger deal in both books and cash than the previous deals."


3.5 out of 5

http://sfscope.com/2011/04/james-enge-sells-three-books-t.html

University professor doubles as fantasy author after class - Danae King

"Pfundstein tried several times to get his work published, but it seemed there wasn't a market for the genre he was writing. Pfundstein writes sword and sorcery books. Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy some may call the "dark side."

There wasn't a market for sword and sorcery until 2005, when a new adventure fantasy magazine came out, and his first short story was published."


3.5 out of 5

http://bgnews.com/campus/university-professor-doubles-as-fantasy-author-after-class/

Taking a Hammer to Wish Fulfillment: A Critical Appreciation of James Enge - John H. Stevens

"Enge's fiction stands out primarily for its rich, witty prose and its juxtaposition of human characters with outrageous situations. Conflict, weirdness, cruelty, and supernatural forces beset the protagonists (Morlock and whomever is unfortunate enough to be with him), but not for the shock value or for gory distraction. Enge creates circumstances where people have to draw on their human qualities to survive, sometimes aided by magic,but more often by stubbornness and the leveraging of opportunity. He does this not just to create a thrilling moment, but to probe what the characters are capable of as they face often bizarre, seemingly intractable challenges. These challenges (from facing down prophecy-maddened hordes to execution by dragon to obsessive, unhinged sorcerers) frequently have a philosophical inflection. "


4.5 out of 5

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/01/taking-a-hammer-to-wish-fulfillment-a-critical-appreciation-of-james-enge/

Civilian Reader: A Casual Chat With - James Enge

"After Tolkien, I guess the biggest influence on me would be American writers of sword-and-sorcery (and the allied genre of sword-and-planet): Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazny, Jack Vance and Leigh Brackett. They are explicitly and unapologetically writing adventure fiction in fantastic worlds, but the adventures and the risks in their fiction are not merely material, and each one is a brilliant stylist (among other things). I like Zelazny’s description of his masterwork, the original Amber series: “a philosophical romance shot through with elements of horror and morbidity.” That’s what I try to write: philorohorrmorbmance."


5 out of 5

http://civilian-reader.blogspot.com/2011/01/casual-chat-with-james-enge-pyr.html

Travellers' Rest - Chuck Lukacs

Cover art for the story.

3.5 out of 5

Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Novelette

Number of words : 8500
Percent of complex words : 9.1
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 16.5


READABILITY INDICES

Fog : 10.2
Flesch : 68.0
Flesch-Kincaid : 7.9


CHARACTERS

Morlock

A travelling master maker and swordsman. Scary legends of him abound.

Wyrth

Morlock's dwarven maker apprentice.

Sunlar

The Travellers' Rest hostetler who runs the place with his wife.

Gar Vindisc

Old woman who owns the local stream.

Raelio

The hosteller's daughter and waitress.

Kyrkylio

A lifemaker experimenting on the children of the town.

Iagiawôn the Many-Handed

Kyrkylio's swordsman enforcer, a hybrid creation with six arms and insect-like carapace protection.

Ambrosia Viviana

Morlock's sister. The dark eminence behind the imperial throne of Ontil.

Iuinoe

Raelio's sister, taken by Kyrkylio and turned into a spider-ape hybrid monstrosity.

Vikel

Iuinoe lies about him.


PLACES

Boulostreion

A small depopulated run down town south of the Dholich Khund.

Traveller's Rest

The inn at Boulostreion.


WEAPONS

Tyrfing

Morlock's magical sword that comes when he calls.


ANIMALS

Shellbacks

Cattle modified to be more beetle-like.

Crow

A messenger for Morlock, who can talk to them.


CONCEPTS

God Sustainer

Dwarven deity.

Scasp-chewing branticules

People that are likely to dine and dash.


FOOD

Thrinnel

Buttermilk.

Shellback

Cow-beetle meat in various cuts.


PLOT

Morlock and Wyrth are travelling, and find a place to hopefully stay and eat for a while in a small town. They notice strange cow-beetles while entering the town. The innkeeper lets slip he has two daughters, even though only one is present, and the town seems very deserted.

If seems another maker lives nearby, and is taking the children of the town under threat of taking the parents. He is using them in sorcerous experiments at making hybrid-human animal monsters. One of these is his enforcer, tasked with gathering children. Six-armed and beetle-like, Morlock takes a terminal view of such activity. Beating a six-armed and all weaponed competent warrior takes some work, though.

They are really just as scared of Morlock thanks to the stories about him, but he sends a message to Kyrkylio, demanding a meeting so that he can find out what has happened to the other daughter.

On being given a tour by the not wholly human lifemaker, he sees an opportunity for poetic justice, releasing a monstrous creation that soon dispatches the lifemaker.

Morlock and Wyrth then spend some time in making and surgery, returning those who can be altered back enough to make it worth it to their homes, including the severely traumatised and suicidal Iuinoe, Raelio's sister. Then they move on.


3.5 out of 5

http://pyrsamples.blogspot.com/2010/12/travellers-rest-by-james-enge.html

Shellback : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Cow-beetle meat in various cuts.


4 out of 5

Thrinnel : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Buttermilk.


4 out of 5

Scasp-chewing branticules : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

People that are likely to dine and dash.


3 out of 5

God Sustainer : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Dwarven deity.


3 out of 5

Crow : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

A messenger for Morlock, who can talk to them.


4 out of 5

Shellbacks : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Cattle modified to be more beetle-like.


4 out of 5

Tyrfing : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Morlock's magical sword that comes when he calls.


4 out of 5

Traveller's Rest : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

The inn at Boulostreion.


4 out of 5

Boulostreion : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

A small depopulated run down town south of the Dholich Khund.


4 out of 5

Vikel : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Iuinoe lies about him.


3 out of 5

Iuinoe : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Raelio's sister, taken by Kyrkylio and turned into a spider-ape hybrid monstrosity.


3 out of 5

Ambrosia Viviana : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Morlock's sister. The dark eminence behind the imperial throne of Ontil.


3 out of 5

Iagiawôn the Many-Handed : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Kyrkylio's swordsman enforcer, a hybrid creation with six arms and insect-like carapace protection.


3 out of 5

Kyrkylio : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

A lifemaker experimenting on the children of the town.


3.5 out of 5

Raelio : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

The hosteller's daughter and waitress.


3.5 out of 5

Gar Vindisc : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Old woman who owns the local stream.


3 out of 5

Sunlar : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

The Travellers' Rest hostetler who runs the place with his wife.


3.5 out of 5

Wyrth : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

Morlock's dwarven maker apprentice.


4.5 out of 5

Morlock : Travellers' Rest - James Enge

A travelling master maker and swordsman. Scary legends of him abound.


5 out of 5

The Functional Nerds Episode 035 - James Enge

"In the 35th episode of the Functional Nerds, we welcome back Blake Charlton & James Enge to talk dyslexia, Latin, Greek & why other languages have fewer folks suffering from dyslexia versus English, then break out into a fantastic chat on music, instruments and how language plays a huge part in how music has developed over centuries, then onto mythology and how it influences Fantasy works today, then into video games, comic books, YA novels, Spellbound, The Wolf Age and much, much more."


Unheard.

http://www.box.net/shared/static/mrey8705vn.mp3

Bookish Dreaming Talking To Pyr - Gillian Polack

A multi-author round-table interview/discussion in some depth.

"JE: There are so many great books out there that I’ve never heard of, I’m more eager to sponge on other people’s experience and get new recommendations than I am to make them. But, tossing these vain scruples aside, one book I like to recommend is Gibbon’s Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon, in some ways, was a racist, classist, cynical, smug little prick. But he wrote stunningly beautiful English prose; he knew a lot; he could tell a good story and, when evidence failed him, he wasn’t wholly disinclined to make stuff up, an important virtue (and vice) in a historian. And, for an eighteenth century English Tory, he could sometimes be surprisingly sympathetic towards people unlike himself. The book is so huge that people tend to avoid it, or they read abridged versions that leave out things like the footnotes, where half the good lines are. But if you just read the first third or so (unabridged) you’ll get the best parts, with the craziest emperors playing whack-a-mole with usurpers and the western empire getting smashed up by barbarians and the martyr-speckled persecutions and the Gnostic theology and the whatnot followed by more copiously annotated whatnot.

Another recommendation I usually make, when I can overcome my natural hesitancy to impose my opinion on others, is to read Leigh Brackett. She has no particular claim to fame, apart from being the greatest sword-and-planet writer ever, and also the fact that she was a genius scriptwriter and a talented writer of detective fiction and westerns and postapocalyptic sf and... Okay, let me rephrase: she has a freakishly varied set of claims to fame. She was a wonderful stylist, always using the right word, never its second cousin. She was a great storyteller. And she belongs to the pulpy tradition that sf/f seems eager to leave behind and should not."


5 out of 5

http://www.bibliobuffet.com/bookish-dreaming/1402-talking-to-pyr-110710

Sword and Sorcery'’s Next Big Thing Interview with - James Enge

"Also, in This Crooked Way, you take the story from various view points, giving it a mosaic feel that’s very unlike most classical Sword and Sorcery. Why did you chose to do this? What were you trying to accomplish?

I think you’re right that the shifting point-of-view is very different from classic S&S, which has normally been restricted 3rd person. Maybe Fafhrd is the POV character in one story and the Gray Mouser in another, but I usually doesn’t switch between 1st person narrators. (Zelazny’s Amber series is sort of an exception here, but Zelazny is always exceptional.) But I wanted to look at Morlock from different angles, see him and his actions through different eyes and, frankly, to hear other voices. (Morlock doesn’t talk much, at least when he’s sober.) It was an interesting technical challenge to tell a story with different members of the cast stepping forward to take a solo, as it were. And some readers have liked this and some have really hated it, even people who ended up liking the book.

The episodic nature of THIS CROOKED WAY is more traditional, like Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books, or Vance’s Dying Earth series or Moorcock’s Elric stories (which I first read in the fix-up versions DAW published inthe 70s; it’s been interesting to reread them in the restored Ballantine editions). I badly wanted to write an episodic novel. There’s something satisfying to me in a story that has a series of plot arcs, each of which has a culmination, but all of which are part of a bigger arc which has its own resolution."


4.5 out of 5

http://pauljessup.com/2010/10/11/interview-with-james-enge-sword-and-sorcerys-next-big-thing/

The Functional Nerds 27 - James Enge

"In our 27th episode, John & I are joined by James Enge – author of Blood of Ambrose, This Crooked Way, and the upcoming The Wolf Age. With James we chat about Latin, Morlock, sword & socrcery, Blood of Ambrose, The Crooked lady, Merlin, publishing, Popular Science, Norse mythology, Mickey Zucker Reinhurt, Jack Vance, Fritz Lieber, Roman & Greek mythology, Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Dwarves, creating languages, Klingon & PYR books."


4 out of 5

http://www.box.net/shared/static/c34tvqe3sh.mp3

Writing: Serial Characters and the Book Deal - James Enge and Howard Andrew Jones

"A growing number of Black Gate authors have moved on to book deals, and some were published novelists before they appeared in the magazine.

Two of us, James Enge and myself, landed book deals featuring recurring characters that had appeared in Black Gate short stories.

They were the Dabir & Asim stories for me (”Whispers from the Stone” and “Sight of Vengeance“) and the Morlock tales for James (six appearances in BG so far, starting with “Turn Up This Crooked Way” and “Payment Deferred,” and most recently the novella “Destroyer” in Black Gate 14)."


3.5 out of 5

http://www.blackgate.com/2010/10/04/writing-serial-characters-and-the-book-deal/

Take Five With - James Enge

"1. Ghost-powered zeppelins are the safest kind of airship. Unless you’re a werewolf."


3 out of 5

http://suvudu.com/2010/09/take-five-with-james-enge-author-the-wolf-age.html

The Wolf Age 1 - James Enge

An online novel excerpt.


4 out of 5


http://pyrsamples.blogspot.com/2010/09/wolf-age-by-james-enge.html

Blood of Ambrose - James Enge

2009 World Fantasy Award nomination for best novel.


4.5 out of 5

Quote - James M. Pfundstein

"I always present myself as the soul of innocence, the better to further my works of corruption."


4.5 out of 5

ISFDB Bibliography - James Enge

Online, but ISFDB doesn't cover some of his publications, as policy.


3.5 out of 5

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?James_Enge

Email - James Enge

jamesenge@gmail.com

Wikipedia - James Enge

Onlne encyclopedia entry:

James Enge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from James enge)James M. Pfundstein
Pen name James Enge
Occupation Lecturer, Author
Language English
Nationality American
Education PhD in Classics
Alma mater University of Minnesota
Period 2008 - Present
Genres fantasy,sword and sorcery
Notable work(s) Morlock the Maker series.

Influences[show]

Official website


James Enge is the pseudonym of James M. Pfundstein, an American fantasy and sword and sorcery author. His best known work is the ongoing Morlock the Maker series.[1]Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Bibliography
3 References
4 External links

[edit]
Biography

James M. Pfundstein has a PhD from the University of Minnesota [2] and is a lecturer at Bowling Green State University in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies.[3] He is represented by the Onyxhawke Agency. [4]
[edit]
Bibliography

Morlock the Maker: Novels[5]
Blood of Ambrose (2009), ISBN 9781591027362
This Crooked Way (2009), ISBN 978-1591027843
The Wolf Age (2010), ISBN 9781616142438

Morlock the Maker Short Stories published in Black_Gate_(magazine) and online
"Blood From A Stone"
"A Book Of Silences"
A Covenant With Death
"Fire and Sleet"
"The Gordian Stone"
The Lawless Hours
"Payment Deferred"
"Payment In Full
"The Red Worm's Way"
Turn Up This Crooked Way

Other Stories
"Brother Solson and Sister Luna"
[edit]
References
^ Anders, Lou (07 April 2009). "Morlock Ambrosius Master of Makers". Tor.com. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
^ "University of Minnesota Classical and Near Eastern Studies Dissertations". University of Minnesota. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
^ "James Pfundstein's University Page". Bowling Green State University. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
^ "Onyxhawke Agency". Onxyhawke Agency. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
^ "Pyr Bibliography". Retrieved 26 May 2010.
[edit]
External links
James Enge Official website
James Enge's Blog
James Enge's Twitter
James Enge (ology)
James Enge on Facebook
Q&A with Stargate Producer Joseph Mallozzi
Review of Blood of Ambrose at Fantasy Book Critic
Long Detailed Review of Blood of Ambrose at Not Free SF Reader
Fantasy Book Critic Interview


3.5 out of 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_enge

F&SF Competition 71 - James Enge

First Place

"It was a dark and ion-stormy night, as you know, Bob, and as you also know ion-storms are especially dangerous in the orbit of Tau Deltoid IV."
"I do know it, Brent, and I would also add that proton-showers can have a nasty effect on a ship's trichometers anywhere in the Tau Deltoid system."
"God, how I hate you!" simmered Brent, who resented any mention of shipboard trichometers because of their nigh-infinite bulbulousness.
"Not as much as I hate myself," beamed Bob plangently.
—James M. Pfundstein
Bowling Green, OH"


4 out of 5

http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2006/competition0605.htm

Twitter - James Enge

Appears he just signed up :-


4 out of 5

http://twitter.com/jamesenge

Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Short Story

Number of words : 2000
Percent of complex words : 5.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 17.5


READABILITY INDICES

Fog : 9.3
Flesch : 73.5
Flesch-Kincaid : 7.4


: Blood From A Stone - James Enge


CHARACTERS

Morlock the Maker : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Itinerant sword and sorcerer.


ANIMALS

Stone monster : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Morlock's opponent, but not a golem. Possible horse eater. Apparently constructed.

Velox : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Morlock's horse.


WEAPONS

Tyrfing : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Morlock's magic sword.


PLANTS

Xakth : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Useful for making ropes.


PLACE

Northold : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Under these mountains Morlock grew up.

Ontil : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Has a palindromic ancient script.

Kirach Kund : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

The River of Skulls, in Dwarvish.

Sarkunden : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Morlock's next destination.


PLOT

Morlock is rudely awakened by a stone monster, which he dispatches thanks to blubbing and skills. He also takes it apart to discover it might eat horses, but probably not his. So he has to look elsewhere.


3.5 out of 5

http://pyrsamples.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-crooked-way-by-james-enge.html

Sarkunden : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Morlock's next destination.


3 out of 5

Kirach Kund : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

The River of Skulls, in Dwarvish.


3.5 out of 5

Ontil : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Has a palindromic ancient script.


3.5 out of 5

Northold : Blood From A Stone - James Enge

Under these mountains Morlock grew up.


3 out of 5