August 4, 2010 ~ Interviewed by Ty Johnston of Logical Misanthropy in conjunction with the release of Demons: A Clash of Steel.

Keith West via email:

I finished RotB this evening.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised.  When I ordered the book, I expected to enjoy it, but I didn’t recognize most of the contributors’ names.  I figured with a small press anthology, it would be like other small press anthologies I’ve read. I would really like a handful of the stories (mostly by authors with some name recognition) and enjoy most of the the others, while having to slog through the usual handful of dogs.

There were no dogs.

I liked all of the stories.  Yes, some I like more than others, but that’s only to be expected.  What surprised me was the high quality, not of most of the stories, but all of the stories.  I’ve read anthologies by major publishing houses full of top tier authors that haven’t been this good.  I’m making a note of some of the names I wasn’t familiar with to look up more work by these authors.  Some of my favorites were (in no particular order) by Tor, Rosenblum, Lumley, Stewart, Durham, Ruckley, Ehart, Courters, and Williams.

I have Return of the Sword but haven’t gotten around to it.  I will within the next few weeks.  I’m also going to order Roar of the Crowd after I get my next paycheck.  Keep up the good work.  You have a new loyal reader.

Ty Johnston (author in Return of the Sword) as solicited by Christopher Marshall:

I’ve worked with Jason off and on since his early days as an editor for Staffs and Starships, then on through his tenure at other publications and now in his leadership role at Rogue Blades. Though we’ve never met in person, I consider Jason more than just an editor, I consider him a friend. He has published a couple of my stories, one in Return of the Sword and another upcoming in the Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology. He’s also read a good bit of my short fiction and at least one of my novels, and he always has solid advice and offers praise where warranted. My only regret is I often don’t have enough time to send him more stories and to lend a hand with RBE.