Rage of the Behemoth: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure

by Jason M. Waltz (Editor), Jeff Stewart, Mary Rosenblum

Savage Man and Ferocious Beast. Deadly foes since the dawn of time. Where Man dares to tread, Beast has gone before. Where Beast has made its lair, Man brazenly stakes his claim. Domination is the prize. Most often in the bitter battles of bared steel and fang it is the valor of one warrior or a single powerful deed that rallies the day. Yet only the day, for another monstrous foe rises across that next ridge or in that dark night. The Beasts adopt many forms and Man comes to each in different mien: on bended knee to worship some as gods - or fear as slavering demons; upon the back of mighty steeds and waging war most divine - or defiant; in cautious companionship befriending some few - or learning to let live. Walk again the primal worlds of Lovecraft's ancient behemoths and Burroughs' untamed jungles; of London's wild North and Howard's dangerous creations. Only the brave should delve within these tales, should dare to follow close behind each warrior, for it is solely in the facing of our most awesome fears that heroes are truly made.

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Anthologies, Short Stories

356 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2009

About the author

I edited and published numerous heroic titles under Rogue Blades as both RBE, a micro publisher of heroic adventure fiction, and RBF, a nonprofit literary publisher of explorations of the heroic. If you enjoy hard-hitting, fast-paced tales of ringing steel and dark magics found in the battles of lore and myth, updated and written for the modern reader, you should check them out.

Personally, I also write heroic tales. Jason M (with and without that pesky period) are one and the same. Jason M Waltz enjoys sharing tales of heroes who are willing to step into the gap...sometimes to fill it, sometimes to make it wider.

Reviews

[S.E. Lindberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There is a monster for each of us to face. Some we conquer; some we flee; some we negotiate with; some we suffer; some we… become.” So opens the preface by editor Jason M. Waltz.

And what would life be without behemoth challenges? And what would fantasy fiction be without monsters? Cripes… why are so few anthologies devoted to them? Rogue Blades Entertainment (RBE, publishers of the superb Return of the Sword) filled this much needed gap in literature.

Rage of the Behemoth has 21 quality tales from contemporary authors. Many heroic fantasy anthologies feature the deceased masters, but RBE consistently focuses on showcasing today’s authors. Few will disappoint. I highlight my personal favorites for each of the five environmentally-themed categories:
Depthless Seas: “Black Water” by Sean T.M. Steinnon
Frozen Wastes: “The Wolf of Winter” by Bill Ward (my favorite of the entire anthology)
Scalding Sands: “Black Diamond Sands” by Lois Tilton
Mysterious Jungles: “Yaggoth-Vor” Bruce Durham…and “Beyond the Reach of His Gods” by Brian Ruckley
Ageless Mountains: “The Rotten Bones Rattle” C.L. Werner

Some of the behemoths: The list below has names conjured by me (not the authors), and are not listed in order of appearance…to avoid spoiling the fun: Ursine God, Behemoth Boar, Cockatrice, Djinn Storm, Dragon, Eldritch horror, Griffin, Human Centipede, Ice Hydra, Loch Ness Leviathan, Lovecraftian Giant Crab, Lyncanthrope, Manitcore, Mineral Snake, Roc (Giant Bird), Rock Golem, Scaled Pachyderm, Serpent, Shape-shifting Demon, Skeleton Titan, Wolf God.

Given the number of tales, their quality, and their variety, this is a definite recommended read.

[David West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rage of the Behemoth by various authors(anthology)
This is the second antho by Rogue Blades Entertainment (I'm excited cuz I'll be in the upcoming Roar of the Crowd antho)anyhow this has 21 short stories of heroic fantasy-some of them blew me away-edge of the seat awesomeness!

Everyone of these tales deals with some kind of big monster, a behemoth hence the title. Divided into 5 sections-Depthless Seas, Frozen Wastes, Scalding Sands, Mysterious Jungles, and Ageless Mountains; this only changes location for the reader and none of these are cookie cutter tales. I was delighted by how different and ingenious these storytellers weaved their monster ballads. Because there are 21 of them and they are short stories I am not going to go into depth about each one and will briefly discuss the ones that have stuck with me the strongest.

Portrait of a Behemoth by Richard K. Lyon and Andrew J. Offutt-initially I did not like their narrative style (so purple and rambling-and I lOVE Purple prose), but as this tale of the female pirate Tiana Highrider went on I did like it-very satisfying conclusion.

Blackwater by Sean T.M. Stiennon-loved his hero/protagonist Shabak the Kabrisk-I wasn't expecting a lovecraftian type creature to be the hero, plus a great new monster-very well done.

Passion of the Stormlord by Robert A. Mancebo, this one really hit me-such a powerful take on genies and vengeance.

Nothing Left of the Man by Jeff Stewart-brought a lot of resonance for Beowulf and such.


Blood Ice by Mary Rosenblum-a very epic tale that I could have seen being stretched out to be a full novel.

Black Diamond Sands by Lois Tilton-like Blood Ice this was a tale that almost felt like it should have been part of a novel-it was also the story that took me the longest to get through-I did wish the end was more fulfilling.

Yaggoth-Voor by Bruce Durham-excellent tale with twists and turns-I read this one first. It can be tough when the gods play games with men.


Beyond the Reach of his Gods by Brian Ruckley-love this concept, northerners deep in the jungle with doom on all sides-that and the revenge and triumph over the monster.

The Rotten Bones Rattle by C.L.Werner-I loved this oriental take on heroic fantasy-but then I am really into samurai stories too.

Vasily and the Beast Gods by Daniel R. Robichaud-outsmarting the malevolent supernatural forces of a legendary Russia is always a winner.

Thunder Canyon by Jeff Draper-revenge is always a good motivator for these stories and having the monster help you is always a plus.


Where the Shadow Falls by T.W. Williams-Vivid motivations and action set William's protagonist John Humble among the most memorable of the characters in ROTB, I am going to have to find more tales of his.

Overall a great collection, I highly recommend to readers of fantasy.

[Joe Bonadonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great themes, great stories. Sword and sorcery tales with a difference. Sword and sorcery tales that push the boundaries.

[Bryan Thomas Schmidt]

Solid, enjoyable adventure with one week section. The Stories in the ice monster section I could have done without. Overall, a bit long, so the antho would be more enjoyable for most spread out over time. Reading the stories back to back, their similarities cause them to blend together. There are a few that are really outstanding though, and it's altogether a very solid collection.

[Luke Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rage of the Behemoth is a great collection of stories that are good for reading in short sessions. Like every anthology of short stories I've ever read, I did not like every story. However, I believe that this is not always because they are not good stories, but that they were meant for someone else to read which makes this a book that may appeal to a broader audience within it own genre. It should be obvious from the name alone, but it is of note that the stories are quite violent and get gory at times.

This review is based on a free review copy obtained through Goodreads Firstreads program.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This behemoth of an anthology contained twenty-one stories— several of them almost of novella length. The contents had a tale, sort of setting the overall tone of monsters, monstrous men, and revenge. It followed five backgrounds, against each one of which we had four tales.
Almost every tale was full of action, suspense, and wisdom of its own kind, befitting good sword & sorcery adventures. Trouble is, every story had its own unique world-building coupled with the saga of someone who literally begged for his or her own series of tales. As a result, while reading these stories I had to search for (mostly fruitlessly) to find more tales of those characters.
Anyway...!
My favourites, thanks to their wit, brevity, compassion, and precision, were~
A) Depthless Seas~
(1) Richard K. Lyon and Andrew J. Offutt's "Portrait of a Behemoth";
(2) Robert A. Mancebo's "Passion of the Stormlord";
B) Frozen Wastes~
(3) Jeff Stewart's "Nothing Left of the Man";
C) Scalding Sands~
(4) Martin Turton's "The Hunter of Rhim";
(5) Michael Ehart's "As from His Lair, the Wild Beast";
(6) A. Kiwi Courters's "Stalker of the Blood-Red Sands";
D) Mysterious Jungles~
(7) Kate Martin's "Poisonous Redemption";
E) Ageless Mountains~
(8) C.L. Werner's "The Rotten Bones Rattle";
(9) Daniel R. Robichand's "Vasily and the Beast Gods";
(10) Jeff Draper's "Thunder Canyon";
(11) T.W. Williams's "Where the Shadow Falls".
Apart from these absolutely top-notch tales and generally readable stuff, the book has an awesome 'Introduction' by John O'Neill that succinctly describes the prizes of reading (and perils of not-reading) sword & sorcery. What more can one ask for, really?
Ah, yes! Illustrations for each of thse stories would have been deeply appreciated. Nevertheless, definitely recommended.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

its an anthology so its a mixed bag.
some of the were enjoyable
some werent to my taste
and a few I couldn't finish.

(but I now know that if I make a magic painting to kill my enemies,
watercolors will effectively destroy the evidence. good tip.)