© Literary Rebel, LLC
Rab Foster, the pseudonym under which I write fantasy fiction, has just had a story published in the magazine Savage Realms Monthly. It’s entitled Pit of the Orybadak and is perhaps the bleakest, most violent and most despairing thing I’ve written as Rab Foster. There’s a high body-count and although the hero Drayak Shathsprey (who’s appeared in several other of my published tales) makes it out alive, I put him through hell in this story. No doubt the dark tone reflects the mood I was in when I wrote it, when I felt particularly fed up by events happening in the world and was losing my faith in humanity.
However, a kind reviewer on goodreads.com has described Pit of the Orybadak as “a harrowing tale of loss, survival, and monsters in the dark… a classic dark fantasy story.” So, thank you for that, kind reviewer.
Pit of the Orybadak appears in Issue 25 of Savage Realms Monthly, which is the December 2023 edition and explains the image of the jovial barbarian wearing a Santa hat and brandishing a tankard of ale on its cover. A slight delay in the publishing schedule meant that it didn’t become available until very recently. You can purchase the paperback and kindle editions here.
And by the way, the issue also contains an interview with me, as Rab Foster, in which I identify my favourite sword-and-sorcery story ever.