Mage, Maze, Demon Review

Prashant C. Trikannad's take on "Mage, Maze, Demon" by Charles Gramlich that I published under the BEAT to a PULP banner.

Available Now: Mage, Maze, Demon by Charles Allen Gramlich

Click here for Mage, Maze, Demon!

What I've Been Working on with Charles Gramlich

Having narrowly survived a raging fire, the warrior, Bryle, finds himself caught in a labyrinth of treacherous caverns. It isn’t by accident. An eyeless sorcerer has summoned Bryle. He wants the barbarian to retrieve a talisman that will stop a demon of unfathomable power. To do so, Bryle must first face the challenges of the sorcerer’s maze: flooded tunnels, poisoned traps, and a monstrous beast that can heal its own wounds. The sorcerer promises the barbarian his freedom if he succeeds. But can Bryle trust the word of such a being? Can he trust anything other than the sword in his hand?

Charles A. Gramlich is no stranger to the sword and sorcery genre as the author of the “Talera” fantasy trilogy and the short story collection Bitter Steel. In “Mage, Maze, Demon” he follows on the heels of The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform & Other Stories and Treasure of Ice and Fire in continuing the “Veridical Dreams” series.

Release date: March 18.

Harvest of War

Book description: Victory rewards the most brutal. But in a war fought between Orcs, Humans, and the monsters known as the Reapers, who best deserves that title? And will any of them fight for the weak? Or are the weak doomed always to be prey?

I read Mr. Gramlich's novella (or long short story) in one sitting while my charmer shopped for groceries and I watched our baby get some Z's in the car. Yes, there's plenty of descriptive action in the appropriately titled "Harvest of War," but it's the character development between two unlikely allies that leads me to say that this is my favorite story by Charles Allen Gramlich to date. My wife returned from shopping and asked how it was, and my reply was, "Brilliant. Wish I had published it."

"Harvest of War" can be found on Amazon for the bargain price of $0.99.

Days Of Beer

I first became aware of Charles Gramlich through James Reasoner's Rough Edges blog. Back around 2008 every time I would go to leave a comment on Mr. Reasoner's blog, there was that Gramlich guy ahead of me. One day I clicked over to his Razored Zen and became an instant fan. His posts on family life with his wife Lana, grading school papers, dreams, and everything else in between had me hooked on a very interesting life lived to the fullest. And then there is his writing. I told Charles when I was in the hospital for my daughter's birth it was his BITTER STEEL that helped pass the time waiting and relax my mind.

So I'm glad to say that he has a new book out called DAYS OF BEER: A MEMOIR OF A BEER DRINKIN' MAN that delves into his growing up. Yeah, he's talking about beer but that is a starting point for all kinds of stories about hanging out with his family, friends etc. And it had me chuckling aloud many times.

Buy DAYS OF BEER on Amazon. I'm certain you will enjoy it.

A Rip Through Time Update

A RIP THROUGH TIME is now available at Amazon for $0.99.

Dr. Robert Berlin has created The Baryon Core, a powerful device with the ability to predict the future and retrodict the past by tracking the position and vector of every particle in the universe. Berlin swipes his own creation from The Company and disappears into history. The Company's time-cop Simon Rip and the sexy, brilliant Dr. Serena Ludwig join together to track Berlin and return the device. Their pursuit will take them back to the ice age and forward to the end of time.

A Rip through Time follows the time-cop's travels in a series of five short stories written by several of today's top pulp writers. Chris F. Holm opens the collection with the fast-paced "The Dame, the Doctor and the Device." Charles A. Gramlich's "Battles, Broadswords, and Bad Girls" and Garnett Elliott's "Chaos in the Stream" breath new life into the time travel story. Bringing the saga to a gripping conclusion in "Darkling in the Eternal Space" is Chad Eagleton, who then takes it a step further with a mesmerizing coda, "The Final Painting of Hawley Exton." And for all the time-traveling enthusiasts, Ron Scheer provides an insightful essay, "Are We Then Yet," which explores the mechanics of time travel in popular fiction.

Charles Gramlich on Simon Rip

Time Travel and Sword and Planet Action.

Gramlich on Cash & Miles

Laramie is a true hero, the one who does what has to be done to protect the innocent rather than just doing what the law allows. His partner, Gideon Miles, is cut from the same cloth, although he is a black law officer in a difficult time.

I really enjoyed this collection and highly recommend it. A fun read, but also one that makes you think, and which doesn't skirt the tough issues. Stories like "Melanie," for example, really hit you where you live. -- Charles Gramlich, Razored Zen.

Whispers and Cash

Charles Gramlich reviews my book and Travis Erwin's Whispers.

A Link to a Link

Charles Gramlich at Razored Zen.

Reviews

Charles Gramlich on BEAT to a PULP: ROUND ONE and Alec Cizak on our recent Weekly Punch.

Thank you, both.

Btw, I see we are in the top thirty for Amazon anthologies. C'mon buy a copy and move us to the top twenty and keep us above THE CAT WHO SAID CHEESE. I know you want to.

Bitter Steel by Charles Allen Gramlich

I can safely say Charles Allen Gramlich's stories introduced me to the world of Sword and Planet and Sword and Sorcery. I have watched fantasy films but haven't read much in the genre, the closest being a lone Tarzan book and part of a C.S. Lewis title, which really isn’t all that close. Mr. Gramlich’s posts on Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane and his own Talera novels (I still have to read the third in this fine series) whet my appetite and now BITTER STEEL: TALES AND POEMS OF EPIC FANTASY has blown the hinges off the door.

I carried my Kindle with me the day our daughter was born. I had about five stories left to read in the STEEL collection, and it was the perfect way to pass the time while waiting for labor to progress before heading off to the hospital, and then the day-and-a-half hospital stay following the birth. I'm no authority on this genre so I'm not going to attempt to discuss it beyond that I enjoyed the book and would recommend BITTER STEEL without hesitation. But I will say, when I read part of STEEL's "Sundered Man" to my four-day-old daughter, she was as quiet and attentive as can be. (A future Fantasy writer? Maybe.) Also, I was inspired so much by the antho that I've begun composing my own fantasy world of characters. We'll see if anything comes from this but it's an enjoyable escape from my beloved westerns and crime stories.

Any fantasy series, short stories, or novels you would recommend?