Thursday, September 17, 2020

Kothar - Barbarian Swordsman by Gardner F. Fox

Kothar - Barbarian Swordsman
by Gardner F. Fox
1969 Belmont

6584511


Three short stories: Barbarian Kothar gets a magic sword from an undead Lich in exchange for rescuing a sorcerer.  The sorcerer has been flayed alive, kept skinless through malevolent magic, so Kothar has to fight a sea serpent to gain his magical cloak.  In another he fights a minotaur in an enchanted labyrinth, in the last he fights otherworldly warlocks to get a strand of hair to free a witch.

Leans into the horror aspect of Sword and Sorcery more than most I've read, with hints of cosmic horror, though not specifically Lovecraftian.  This is the direct source of the lich in Dungeons & Dragons.

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