David C. Smith (author)

David Claude Smith (born August 10, 1952) is an American author of fantasy, horror, and suspense fiction, medical editor, and essayist. He writes as David C. Smith. He is best known for his heroic fantasy novels, including his collaborations with Richard L. Tierney featuring characters created by Robert E. Howard, notably six novels featuring Red Sonja.

David C. Smith
Born (1952-08-10) August 10, 1952
Youngstown, Ohio
OccupationAuthor, editor, essayist

Life and family

Smith was born in Youngstown, Ohio,[1] and currently lives in Palatine, Illinois, with his wife, Janine, and daughter, Lily.

Career

Smith has written or co-written twenty-four novels and numerous short stories. He was most active as a fiction writer from the 1970s to early 1990s. Since then, he has concentrated on his primary career as a medical editor and currently is managing editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.[2]

In the 1970s, Smith was one of several young writers who reinvigorated the sword and sorcery genre in such publications as Space and Time and The Diversifier. Others were Richard L. Tierney, Charles R. Saunders, Karl Wagner, David Madison, Wayne Hooks, Gordon Hooks, and M. A. Washil.[3]

Smith's collaborations with Tierney and some of his short fiction have been issued in German, and Oron has been translated into and reprinted in Czech.

Works

Novels

Oron and the Tales of Attluma

Oron is a barbaric warrior whom Smith introduces in the novel Oron (1978). Oron and its prequels—Mosutha's Magic (1982), The Valley of Ogrum (1982), and The Ghost Army (1983)—as well as the novel The Sorcerer's Shadow (1978) and 18 short stories and novelettes (1971 to 1984) are set on the imaginary island-continent Attluma. Smith developed a detailed history of Attluma,[4] similar to Robert E. Howard's work in 1930s essay "The Hyborian Age.[5] All five books are scheduled to be reprinted by Wildside/Borgo Press.

Most of the Attluma short fiction appeared originally in fanzines and small-press publications during the 1970s and early 1980s. "Engor's Sword Arm" inspired the song "Sword Arm" by the Russian heavy metal band Blacksword.[6]

Red Sonja and the Howard pastiches

Smith and Richard L. Tierney co-wrote six novels featuring the Hyrkanian warrior Red Sonja. The character, loosely based on Howard's Red Sonya, was adapted by Roy Thomas into stories for the Marvel line of Conan and Red Sonja comic magazines. The novels, all published by Ace Books, are The Ring of Ikribu (1981), Demon Night (1982), When Hell Laughs (1982), Endithor's Daughter (1982), Against the Prince of Hell (1983), and Star of Doom (1983).[5]

Smith also wrote the novel The Witch of the Indies (1977), featuring the pirate Black Terence Vulmea, and co-wrote with Tierney For the Witch of the Mists (1978), featuring the Pictish warrior Bran Mak Morn. Both characters were created by Howard.

The Fall of the First World trilogy

The Fall of the First World comprises The Master of Evil (manuscript title, The West Is Dying), Sorrowing Vengeance, and The Passing of the Gods. All were published by Pinnacle Books in 1983. The trilogy features gradual escalation of tension between a western and an eastern empire in a remote time and interweaves characters and devices that have persisted in Western legend and mythology. Queen Salia is based on Helen of Troy, for example, and the wandering prophet Asawas is a Christ figure. Smith has stated that he planned the trilogy as a fantasy War and Peace.[5]

David Trevisan

David Trevisan, a young sorcerer, appears in two novels, The Fair Rules of Evil (Avon Books, 1989) and The Eyes of Night (Avon Books, 1991).[5] Both are scheduled to be revised and reprinted by Wildside/Borgo Press.

Seasons of the Moon

The novel Seasons of the Moon, published by iUniverse in October 2005, features a rural matriarchal society.[7]

Other

Call of Shadows (2009) Airship 27, Dark Muse (2012) Damnation Press, and Waters of Darkness (with Joe Bonadonna; 2013) Damnation Press.

Nonfiction

Understanding English: How Sentences Work is a post-secondary English grammar textbook/workbook written by Smith and published by South-Western/ITC in 1991. His essays include "Fantasy in the Silent Cinema" and "A Critical Appreciation of John Milius's Conan the Barbarian".

Other articles include "The Writer’s Style: Sound and Syntax in Howard’s Sentences" in The Dark Man: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies Vol. 5, No. 2, February 2013; "At the Crossroads: Swords, Sorcery, and Heavy Metal", in Metal & Fantasy, Vol. 1, Frantz-E. Petiteau, ed. (Rosiéres-en-Haye, France: Camion Blanc, 2014) [tr]; and "Introduction", in Swords of Steel, Dave Ritzlin, ed. (Chicago, Illinois: DMR Books, 2015).

References
  1. David C. Smith: Summary Bibliography: Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  2. "Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons".
  3. Holmes M: "Thirty Years Ago": http://www.rehupa.com/?m=200805
  4. Smith DC: Oron, Zebra Books, New York, NY, 1978
  5. Jones H: Interview with David C. Smith: http://www.swordandsorcerey.org/int-david-c-smith.asp%5B%5D
  6. Stevens E: "A Taste of Siberian Steel ... Interview with Alex Avdeev of Russian Metal Band, 'Blacksword'": http://xmetalundergroundx.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/blacksword_interview/
  7. Smith DC: "Seasons of the Moon": http://www.davidcsmith.net/
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