New Edge Sword & Sorcery is gearing up for its crowdfund of the year’s issues from Feb 12.

Here’s me in 2026 with the cover story for #8, a 12,000-word novelette. In the utterly gorgeous art by Jimmy Makepeace you see my Goatskin and her Mongol friend Tahilga as they explore the gravesite sanctuary of Elteresh the Blest, Elteresh Qutluq, of the Gok or Blue Turks.

In a fit of enthusiasm I threw onto Bluesky:

It’s true, with this one I am gunning for those saga-inflected classics of sword & sorcery, and even more than usual, I am out to prove steppe history, steppe culture every bit as worthy for heroic fantasy as European medieval traditions. The story is about knights and wild heroes, steppe-style, and dips into writings from the Orkhon inscriptions of the Gok Turks to the Secret History of the Mongols. Those familiar with Amgalant know I love to stitch their poetry, their epic- and history-writing into my fiction.

For these issues I have also interviewed Jessica Amanda Salmonson, which has been a great honour and a joy. This follows my profile of JAS in NESS #3. The interview is to accompany a poem cycle of hers, original to New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine.

Please do pledge your axe at the sign-up page to be notified of the Backerkit campaign.