At a functional level, genre labels provide a short hand of attributes and qualities to assist in categorizing a text. By calling a film or a book or any sort of media a “comedy,” or “fantasy,” or “horror” and so on denotes that the text exhibits a large quantity of aspects associated with that label, with the assumption that genres are not absolute and that texts can straddle multiple genres (though some purists may argue for concrete borders on genre definitions). As time progresses and forms of media explore the limits of ur-genre boundaries, the development of subgenre labels come into being to assist in fine tuning categorizations: it’s not just a horror film, it’s a slasher film.
“New Edge Sword and Sorcery” can be thought of as a subgenre of the sword and sorcery genre, which is turn can be thought of as an offshoot of the fantasy genre. New Edge Sword and Sorcery Magazine acts as the first stake in the ground to lay the foundations of/crystalize the burgeoning subgenre.
What is New Edge Sword and Sorcery (NES&S) and what makes it distinct when compared to sword and sorcery proper? This is the question editor Oliver Brackenbury addresses in the final column of the first (zero) issue of New Edge magazine: a flexible iteration of sword and sorcery that embraces not only marginalized and outsider protagonists, but genre content creators as well (the magazine looks to be more rooted in literary New Edge, but the subgenre philosophy posited by the publication is certainly applicable to NES&S in other forms).
To illustrate these aspects of the subgenre, New Edge magazine is divided into 50% short fiction and 50% non-fiction that entails interviews, essays, and reviews. The non-fiction half of issue zero of the magazine contains the following: an extremely thoughtful, long-form interview with Milton Davis, one of the leading figures of the sword and soul subgenre; nice, succinct piece from Brian Murphy on the prevalence of the outsider in sword and sorcery fiction; a review on The Obanaax, and essay from Cora Buhlert about C. L. Moore and their S&S protagonist, Jirel of Joiry; and more. The fiction portion contains some great pieces, with “The Ember Inside” by Remco Straten and Angeline B. Adams being particularly stand out with its unique take on storytelling as a concept proper while the opening story, “The Curse of the Horsetail Banner” by Daniel R. A. Quioque offers up illustrative combat sequences with a hero that, against all odds, really overcomes the masses.
Peppered throughout issue zero of New Edge are a variety of black and white illustrations to accompany the various pieces, giving the whole issue a feel of classic RPG books.
The first issue (technically zero issue) of New Edge is both informative and fun. Old and new guard fans of the sword and sorcery genre will certainly appreciate the stories within, while the non-fiction pieces are thoughtful with the Davis interview being particularly insightful. The current trend of fantasy genre media seems to be sweeping toward titanic epics in the George R. R. Martin vein, which isn’t an antithesis of new edge per se, it is just a different approach via different modes. Fantasy is en vogue again, and it is the perfect opportunity to showcase that there are different, more inclusive ways to explore the genre, and that is were new edge (the subgenre) comes into play. New Edge (the magazine) acts as a portal for readers to enter the realm of new fantasy stories built upon the pillars of the old.
More information about New Edge the magazine and the genre can be found at the following links: