Final Day for The Mighty Sons of Hercules!

Posted by Cirsova on July 31, 2023

We cleared our minimum goal over the weekend!

Today is the last day to back The Mighty Sons of Hercules.

The Kickstarter ends at 9 PM Central Time.

Cirsova with Bizarchives

Posted by Cirsova on July 28, 2023

Last night, we were on with Dave Martel of Bizarchives talking pulp, peplum, and publishing. It was a great show! Check it out:

Don’t forget! We’ve got three days left for The Might Sons of Hercules. We’re still a little bit shy of our goal, but I believe we can make it!

Review of Jiao Tu’s Endeavour, by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt

Posted by Cirsova on July 25, 2023

I am very long overdue on reviewing Jiao Tu’s Endeavo u r, by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt. Several months back, Donald gave me a copy which he very graciously personalized, and I hate that I am just now getting to this despite the many ideas that had been percolating in my head for a review for some time.

Jiao Tu’s Endeavour seeks to accomplish a lot of things, and even when it doesn’t quite reach one of its goals, it more than makes up for it elsewhere:

It’s a story about a space colony ship where uplifted animals have been left in charge to keep things running
It’s a mystery about what happened to the creators, where the ship is going, and what it’s doing now
It’s a science fiction monster hunt about a monster that’s loose on a ship
It’s a wuxia story about a wandering swordsman [who happens to be a rabbit]
It’s a story about a hero who saves a girl from monsters

One complaint a friend of mine shared was that the Wuxia element felt missing or only surface-deep, and I can kind of concur in that regard, but it didn’t bother me because I think that the story worked extremely well on the “hunting a monster on a spaceship” and the “hero saves the girl” levels. I feel like the wuxia angle may come into play more strongly in subsequent stories, as the hero has agreed to take the girl on as apprentice while she leaves her overbearing noble household to try to better understand the changes her ordeal have left her with.

As far as the worldbuilding goes, I think that the inclusion of the bonus stories and the standalone epilogue helped–in a lot of ways, these were my favorite parts, because they advanced the mystery elements about the setting and long term direction of the story.

I think the one place where I had the most difficulty was in determining how uplifted the animals were, how much their stature had increased and to what degree they still resembled their animal predecessors. While I wouldn’t say they were superficially furry, I think that the difference between species could have mattered more.

Jiao Tu’s Endeavor is a strange and fun adventure story, with plenty of action and excitement. There are some great mystery box elements setup in this first volume and I can’t wait to see some of them start to pay off.

[Don’t forget, we’re still crowdfunding this week for The Mighty Sons of Hercules!]

Twitter Review of Tales of the Mongoose and Meerkat

Posted by Cirsova on July 24, 2023

Recently, Alexander Palacio, author of The Turquoise Serpent, posted a thread on twitter analyzing Jim Breyfogle’s The Valley of Terzol, which was collected in Tales of the Mongoose and Meerkat: Pursuit Without Asking.

Re-reading the first Mongoose & Meerkat in prep to finally read 2 and 3. They’re deceptively simple reads, but there’s so much skill on display. Extremely elegant, efficient writing. pic.twitter.com/dghnrGuhID
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

Look at this striking passage in ‘The Valley of Terzol’. Mangos and Kat, hired by a dweeb with a map, and heading through the jungle to the ruins of the palace.

Kat steals the map at night. Kat deduces dweeb’s an accountant. But allows he might be an archivist. pic.twitter.com/gxosErehA9
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

Meanwhile, Kat, teasing the dweeb, reveals her knowledge of Old Terzol to Mangos. Mangos, a little jealous, pokes back at her unattributed quote. pic.twitter.com/1plLb7kijL
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

They run into a minor skirmish and keep their charge safe despite himself. But morale falls in the worsening jungle conditions. They go back to needling each other.
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

And the scene ends with this remarkable payoff: pic.twitter.com/qiPtU8kRpE
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

Do you get it all? Kat’s line is paying off the accountant guess earlier by confirming she’s smart but in a different way than you expect. It also adds depth to Dweeb, who’s suddenly turned into an intriguing character. A peevish greedy accountant is obvious. But an archivist?
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

But Dweeb’s line and Kat’s response ALSO pays off MANGOS’ own minor jealousy. Dweeb also recognizes she’s quoting and calls her on it from annoyance. Which achieves the archivist payoff.
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

Kat’s Response implies Kat was doing this intentionally not just to provoke the Dweeb but also to elicit information. Perfect for her character. Mangos as a “smart dumb guy” is mature enough to know to let her work and be silently smug he was right about the quotes.
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

This is all done subtextually and woven throughout the action of walking through the jungle and having a tiff with a tiny village of savages. It has enough action to support all the tense subtext—it’s an early building to conflict scene.
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

So what is that, 2 setups with 1 pay off for both, done in a way that moves the story forward logically and emotionally, while deepening characterization for all three characters, without any lag or buffering. Very harmonious, elegant writing.
— Conan, Esq (@conan_esq) July 23, 2023

Cirsova Issue 16 Cover Reveal + Taking Advertisements!

Posted by Cirsova on July 19, 2023

The Cirsova Fall 2023 Issue is on-track for September 15th release.

We still have a couple of open advertising slots available in the interior.

[Also, we really need for Mighty Sons of Hercules to fund!]

Podcast 2-fer!

Posted by Cirsova on July 18, 2023

We were on two podcasts yesterday, talking about The Mighty Sons of Hercules!

If you missed them live, you can catch them here.

Interview With Castalia House!

Posted by Cirsova on July 17, 2023

This weekend, we had an interview go up where we talked about peplum and The Mighty Sons of Hercules Kickstarter!

Check it out, and be sure to back!

Don’t forget, we start taking submissions August 1st!

An Atlas of Bad Roads Audiobook Live + Small Worlds Coming Soon to Amazon

Posted by Cirsova on July 12, 2023

What’s New?

Mighty Sons of Hercules Live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cirsova/the-mighty-sons-of-hercules

An Atlas of Bad Roads Audiobook is Out Now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBQMWTMQ

Summer Issue Out Now: https://www.amazon.com/Cirsova-Magazine-Thrilling-Adventure-Suspense/dp/1960381105

Submissions Open 8/1: https://cirsova.wordpress.com/cirsova-magazine/submission-guidelines/

Small Worlds Out 8/15: https://www.amazon.com/Small-Worlds-Misha-Burnett-ebook/dp/B0CBD4BY3D/

Mighty Sons of Hercules Almost at 50%

Posted by Cirsova on July 11, 2023

We have 20 days left and are just shy of $3000, which is half of what we need for The Mighty Sons of Hercules to fund.

Because all of these stories were secured on spec, it means we’ll need the cash onhand to actually pay the authors so we can go to print. And we won’t be able to do that AND purchase stories for 2024 if this Kickstarter does not succeed…

So make the numbers go up up up!

Anyway, we got a really nice plug today from Jacob Calta over at Iron Age Media. Our cover artist for The Mighty Sons of Hercules, Kevin John Jacob, not only does the art for the fantastic Paladin Dragoon comic but also for Calta’s 365 Infantry project. So be sure to check those out, too.

Last but not least, the final books of Small Worlds are shipping out today! Small Worlds will be out on Amazon August 15th.