Broadswords and Blasters Issue 8: Pulp Magazine With Modern Sensibilities

4.3/5 ( ratings)

Our first story in this issue is from returning Broadswords and Blasters author David F. Shultz, who we last published in Issue 5 with his neo-classic “Jerold’s Stand.” This time he’s back with another neo-classic, “Addrassus,” which contains shades of Odysseus and some of the best action sequences you’ll read this year.Next up is “Temporally Out of Service” from Jason E. Maddux, about a private investigator, an elevator with a quirky sign, the nature of free will, time paradoxes, and a kick-ass recipe for chocolate cake. Cynthia Ward, whose novellas we’ve reviewed on the blog, has graced us with “Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat,” a disturbing story of a child and his dysfunctional relationship with his friends and family.Look, if you aren’t familiar with DJ Tyrer yet, his third appearance in our magazine should highlight just how great we think his stories are. This time around you get to read our cover story, “Talons of the Snatcher,” featuring the warrior Nyssa and her deadly spear.New to us, Kent Rosenberger, joins the Broadswords and Blasters family with the dystopian near-future world of “Lawbreaker” and the disturbing court system which isn’t nearly so far-fetched as it may seem.Next in queue is Michael DeCarolis’ wonderful “Thunderbolt Colt” about a gunslinger and his faithful steed, a buffalo, from a not-quite-right Wild West tradition by way of the Greek gods if they had made it across the pond to settle in the Sonoran desert.Weird West not your thing? How about a change of pace, to a world where wizards work as detectives cleaning up slave rings and investigating murders? Austin Worley’s “Lightning Between Your Fingers” has you covered.Sunday evenings may be times of peace and respite, but you know that’s not the Broadswords and Blasters way. Myke Edwards is here to disabuse you of the idea that driving back country roads on a “Sunday Evening” is in any way peaceful and calm.Batting cleanup this issue is yet another returning author, Steve DuBois, with his brilliantly comedic take on pre-pubescent super villains and their most-hated classmate. If you don’t laugh at “Screaming Timmy Must Die,” then what do you laugh at?