Every volume of Flashing Swords, our anthology series inaugurated years ago by Fantasy Master Lin Carter, is a visit to Valhalla, the ancient Hall of Heroes. One might think of it as a kind of American Legion or VFW lodge where veteran warriors meet to reminisce about glorious battles of the past. What? Fond memories of bloodshed and killing? Isn't that reprehensible? Isn't it like a gang of terrorists or murders getting together to play Can You Top This? No, because battles partake of the nature of games. They are competitions of courage with the highest possible stakes. The causes for which the warriors fight, together with the risks to life and limb, inject a note of nobility into the violence. And this is what our writers and readers enjoy and admire in this great genre of Sword-&-Sorcery fiction, created by Robert E. Howard and given its name by Fritz Leiber.Who will you find gathered round the feasting board this time around? Let's take attendance, shall we? I believe I see none other than Thongor of Valkarth as well as the Samaritan wonder-worker Simon of Gitta! Other familiar battle-scarred faces include Duar the Accursed, Ki-Gor, White Lord of the Jungle, Kothar of the Magic Sword, and King Elak of Atlantis. But the Valhalla that is Flashing Swords is no mere Boys' Club, for we rejoice at the presence among us of warrior women Tara of the Twilight, Ansell of the Dreamlands, Varla of Valkarth, and Tonga of Lost Lemuria! These legended heroes and heroines continue to inspire and entertain us today.You may think you have none but vicarious heroism in you, but that's just what little, fussy Bilbo Baggins thought, too, and look what happened to him! So why not get started on your own hero quest right here in our pages?
