Warrior Witch of Hel
Mid-1980s Sword & Sorcery
I have written about the mid-1980s sword & sorcery extinction event. A few book slipped past 1985 including C. Dean Andersson's “Bloodsong” trilogy.
I “knew” Dean Andersson (1946-2021) through one of the social media platforms. He was an U.S. Air Force veteran and had a general worldview similar to mine.
He was a writer mostly of horror with a paperbacks from Avon, Popular Library, and Zebra Books 1981-1996.
His first two novels were co-written with Nina Romberg as “Asa Drake.” So Warrior Witch of Hel was by-lined as from Asa Drake.
The novel begins with a Hel-Warrior on the way to kill the sorcerer Nidhug. The story unfolds that the Hel-Warrior was Freyadis, known as “Bloodsong” who led a slave revolt years before against Nidhug. Bloodsong accepted a deal with the goddess Hel who wants Nidhug dealt with. He originally served Hel but went free lance when he discovered a large stone/mineral skull that contains much of Hel's power. Hel wants that big stone skull.
Bloodsong accumulates a few companions along the way including a former comrad from the slave revolt. There are episodic fights against various supernatural things sent by Nidhug.
This is a novel that is almost as much a horror novel as a sword & sorcery novel. There is a Scandinavian mythology background but used sparingly for a sword & sorcery milieu. Nidhug is one of the better dark lords written. He is shown doing all sorts of very nasty things as opposed as to what he is going to do.
This is a grim novel but not nihilistic. There are acts of heroism against evil. I am generally not big on warrioresses. Red Sonja is stupid. Bloodsong is more believable from having motivation provided in the novel. I would have liked a little more weapon porn but you can't have it all.
I passed on this book when it came out in 1985 largely due to the cover by Boris Vallejo. I had come to associate Boris covers with lame books by this time. I thought I had read Warrior Witch of Hel around five years ago but must have only scanned the first portion of the novel. Warrior Witch of Hel was reprinted in 2000 as Warrior Witch.
Warrior Witch of Hel was from Popular Library's “Questar” imprint. Questar published from 1984-1991, more science fiction than fantasy. Probably the most note worthy books were Mark C. Perry's “Morigu” series which are wild.
Andersson wrote a total of three novels in the Bloodsong series. Stay tuned.
Dean Andersson wrote this comment at Castalia House in 2014:
Great article. Interesting to me because in the mid-1980s I wrote a sword and sorcery trilogy about Bloodsong, the name of a Viking-like warrior woman who stood against the minions of the Norse Death Goddess Hel to save her daughter and all Life on Earth. The “Hel Trilogy” was written as mass market paperback originals for the Questar Books imprint of Popular Library/Warner Books. I wrote them under my pen name of “Asa Drake.” Questar was just starting up at the time. The late Brian Thomsen was the editor who championed my sword and sorcery. He described the books as being about “a female barbarian.” He told me there was a hold-out on the editorial committee who did not want the books for Questar. He also said that he waited until a day that person was absent to bring the books up for a vote of the committee in order to get them accepted. Brian then got Boris Vallejo to do the original art for the covers. The first novel, Warrior Witch of Hel, was written in ’84-’85, the 2nd and 3rd in ’85 and ’86, Death Riders of Hel and Werebeasts of Hel. The books were reprinted as trade paperbacks in 2000 by Hawk Books with the Vallejo covers but under new titles, Warrior Witch, Warrior Rebel, and Warrior Beast, and under my name (C. Dean Andersson). They were translated into Russian and published in Russia by Alpha-Kniga in 2002 with cover art by Ilya Voronin, in hardback editions. All three novels are now available in an ebook omnibus called HELX3 (HEL X 3) published by Event Horizon, available on Amazon and from Baen ebooks, and elsewhere. The HELX3 editions are revised and expanded “author’s cut” versions which I plan to eventually break back out into three separate books and make available in both ebooks and versions. I am currently (2016) writing a 4th book in the series with the working title, Valkyries of Hel.
Would you take warrioresses more seriously if they wore more clothes?