The ability to create your own book has lead to an explosion of small press publishing. Genres such as sword & sorcery are seeing a recrudescence after decades of shunning by the big publishing companies.
One new anthology from this year is Lin Carter’s Flashing Swords #6 from Timaios Press.
Timaios Press “publish thought-provoking, new and classic literature for those who are interested in the history of science, philosophy and ideas, or just want to read intelligent entertainment — books for the general public, as well as students and teachers. Timaios Press was founded in December 2013. It is an imprint of the Swedish publishing house Aleph Bokförlag.”
Flashing Swords # 6 is available in hardback and trade paperback.
“Get out your trusty broadsword and your masculinity, and return with us to the glory days of old-time Sword & Sorcery fiction. Sure, it’s not “fine literature,” but, faced with a giant snake or an evil wizard, who’d you rather have at your side: the Great Gatsby or Conan the Cimmerian? This anthology, a revival of Lin Carter’s celebrated Flashing Swords! series, sets forth new adventures of worthies including Thongor of Lemuria, Varla of Valkarth, Elak of Atlantis, the mighty Hercules, and others. You’ll thrill to the exploits and to the inspired writing, worthy of the Nemedian Chronicles!
Our authors include Lin Carter, Pierre Comtois, Glynn Owen Barrass, Steve Lines, Robert M. Price, Glen Usher, and others — plus a Graphic Novella by Clayton Hinkle featuring Tonga of Lost Lemuria.”
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 16 October 2021
Saturday , 16, October 2021 Uncategorized Leave a commentFailing empires, cast-off genetic super soldiers, and dragon charmers shine in this week’s new releases.
A Dark Dawn (The Great War #5) – Ralph Kern
The Dawn Empire’s light is fading. Admiral Ikson Koto has one chance to renew the flame before it is extinguished forever. To save the Empire from a slow death, he must destroy the Federation’s fleet in one fell swoop. His plan calls for a brutality that has never been seen before.
For Lieutenant Shannon Reeve, the horrors of battle still burn strong in her mind. Her posting to a fighter squadron in the paradise of the Federation’s premier base, Azure Anchorage, should be a welcome respite. Instead, she will witness her fears come true as it comes under a relentless assault by Koto’s overwhelming Imperial forces.
Deep in the expanse of space known as the Great Void, a place far from home, civilian engineer Winston Grant has been tasked with upgrading a lonely base’s defences. Soon, he will find himself holding the line in a desperate last stand against an armada.
Both will play their parts in these darkest of days.
The golden age of the Federation will soon end, and instead be engulfed in the raging fire of war as Koto’s grand plan comes to fruition.
Defending Earth (In the System #3) – Petr Zhgulyov
Everything is going according to plan. Ivan Susanin has successfully installed a beacon in the undead territory, and returned home.
The situation changes when the next mission to the city of goblins is delayed, while his home planet becomes the battleground. Monsters invade Earth, and Ivan must become one of the leaders and unite the players under his banner, albeit within the borders of his own country. If circumstances demand that he discloses his identity and cooperates with the authorities, so be it! Modern weapons and equipment, instructors, financing, and protection by law…
Stupid to decline all this due to baseless concerns. The most important thing is to remember why he started all this in the first place, and ensure that he can survive what’s coming.
The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice – J. C. Kang
A slave shall rise from the ashes to master dragons.
Born into slavery, Mai’s horizons are limited to one simple desire: to catch the eye of a handsome mate. She dares not dream for more, for like all humans, she’s been taught from birth that her life belongs to the orcs, her destiny to serve.
But her world is upended when Aralas, a messenger from the elf gods, reveals blasphemous truths: humanity was created to be free; and hope—if it can be called that—lies in the jaws of the dragon Avarax, whom only Mai can charm with her unique voice.
Torn, overwhelmed, desperate to hope yet terrified of failing her kind, Mai has until a rare conjunction of moons to master magic that takes lifetimes to learn. Yet how will she discover who she really is when even her allies seek to control her?
Only by making the greatest of sacrifices will she manifest the power of a Dragon Song, and help mankind escape eternal servitude. Read More
Firepower of The Legend of Tarzan
Chris L Adams
Intro
<Note: This article originally appeared in ERBapa #149>
In the interests of continuity (See: The Guns of Geronimo (ERBapa #142), A Message in a . . . bottle? (ERBapa APA #143), and Guns of The Land that Time Forgot (ERBapa #145 and Castaliahouse.com) regarding prior submissions (and, in all honesty, because I was positively tapped of ideas for something to write for the April 2021 ERBapa submission) I decided to continue my theme of movie firearms and memorabilia as they relate to the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
It’s a fact that Ed frequently used firearms in his yarns. Being a collector of military arms of mostly the First and Second World Wars, I appreciate that Ed isn’t vague about what firearm a character is carrying, but quite the opposite, is often very precise about it. Many will recall the loving care that Korak takes of his “Enfield rifle” in Tarzan the Terrible, cleaning away its coat of mud and slime as best he might after crossing the morass; or that Erich von Harben of Tarzan and the Lost Empire doesn’t carry some nameless automatic, but burdens himself with a German Luger, “which he had insisted upon wearing in addition to the slim dagger with which Mallius Lepus had armed him.”
In reading through several volumes of the Tarzans lately, and having recently watched Tarzans Revenge (Glenn Morris and Eleonor Holm) I was reminded that The Legend of Tarzan (2016) offers some cool, period-authentic firearms that you do not see every day in a movie—or anywhere else for that matter. Let’s examine them. Read More
Sensor Sweep: Miami Vice, Terminator, Magazine of Horror
Monday , 11, October 2021 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentBooks (Talking Covers): Editor Gary Fisketjon launched Vintage
Contemporaries, a paperback imprint of Random House, in September 1984. There were seven initial titles. By decade’s end, there would be close to 100. The line was a mix of reprints and originals, and nearly thirty years later the checklist found in the back of the books reads like a ballot for some Cooperstown of late-20th Century fiction.
Cinema (Vulture.com): The damn thing just starts. Before any credits roll, without any scene setting or throat clearing, we’re already a few bars into “Numb/Encore” in a sweaty, crowded Miami club, with Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) and their team about to pounce on a sex trafficker named Neptune (Isaach de Bankolé).
Art & Cinema (Monster Zone): This was Ray Harryhausen’s first full colour
fantasy movie, featuring Arabian Nights hero Sinbad leading an adventurous, incident-filled mission to the monster-filled island of Colossia. Directed by Nathan Juran, produced by Charles H. Schneer, starring Kerwin Mathews, Torin Thatcher and Kathryn Grant, with a rousing score by Bernard Herrmann, the film became a sleeper hit and would go on to spawn two Sinbad sequels by Harryhausen, who filled each yarn with a memorable mix of stop-motion creatures.
For four years, I have been blogging on sword & sorcery artists. Some are forgotten, obscure, a few are classic. Art has been important to sword & sorcery fiction going back to Hugh Rankin in Weird Tales.
A recent artist and one of my favorites is Samuel Dillon.
I think I first became aware of Sam Dillon in the first issue of Skelos with “Grettir and the Drauger.” The illustrations made me sit up and take notice.
With the turning of the leaves comes Cirsova’s Fall edition. And while this issue is packed with the conclusions to the audacious space opera “The Artomique Paradigm” and the grisly axe and sorcery comic “Badaxe”, and the short stories are filled with evil rains, black skulls, and Chinese mummies, sword and sorcery duo the Mongoose and the Meerkat return once again with a new take on an old conundrum.
Mangos is the Mongoose, a skilled, boastful, and hotheaded swordsman, while Kat is the Meerkat, a beautiful yet mysterious woman who favors the oblique approach to her well-chosen blade. Together, they’ll take on any job to keep their purses full and their cups overflowing. Their latest job, however, sends them into the frigid north to retrieve a magical artifact for their employer. Along the way, they are pursued by foes–including one that is the spitting image of Mangos. When the Mongoose and the Meerkat are separated, how can Kat determine which Mongoose is the real Mangos? Read More
Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 09 October 2021
Saturday , 9, October 2021 Uncategorized 1 CommentVoyage to the Weird Weird West, online battlegrounds, and the land of Drunken Pharaohs in this week’s new releases.
Commando (Battlegrounds Online #2) – Troy Osgood
Eric McCaffrey has been playing Zag in the VRMMOFPS Battlegrounds Online for a while now. The more he plays, the more he realizes how deep he is getting into the game…
Which is becoming more than a game.
In the game, Eric gets more into his role as Zag, one of the Commando’s for the Knights of the Tactical Operations Group. Wyvern has taken over the country of Punta Del Muerta. Along with the rest of the Knights, Zag is tasked with freeing the country. He will go deep into the jungles, war torn cities and concrete bunkers on his many operations. Will he be able to complete all the missions?
Outside, in the real world, Eric is becoming a new man. The game has impacts on him that he’s just starting to discover, affecting his mind and body.
But is it for the better?
Far Away & Never – Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell, best known for his many works of horror and dark suspense, now invites the reader to yet another milieu, Far Away & Never. Through these eight tales of swords and sorcery—four of which feature the inexhaustible swordsman Ryre—the reader is taken on a ride through different times and unlike worlds, all filled with the fantastic creatures and thrilling action one would expect to come from Campbell’s imagination while writing in this realm. Anyone who has read Campbell’s completions of Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane stories recognize that he is very capable in this genre, and this collection only lends further evidence to his case.
Twenty-five years after its original publication, Far Away & Never is now back in print, with one additional story, “A Madness from the Vaults,” included. All told, there’s many a treat for the reader here—be they a fan of Ramsey Campbell or heroic fantasy in general.
Helldorado (Dark Trails Saga #5) – David J. West
A bitter winter, a bitter war, and a hungry ghost are waiting for Porter Rockwell in Helldorado.
Maybe Porter Rockwell can’t be harmed by bullet or a blade, but his friends have no such luck as they are thrown into a duel between mining companies fighting for the right to dig up a rich gold vein on the edge of Indian land. Diabolical twists are around every turn as death stalks the streets of Helldorado with either a six-gun or insatiable hunger for blood.
Based loosely on true events, HELLDORADO is wild ride into the borders of madness when good men are pushed too far. Along with the new novella are a host of other Porter Rockwell stories collected here for the first time from a variety of previous publications.
HELLDORADO is a Western with colorful characters and wit straight out of a Tarantino flick. If you like mixing horror with your pulp, surprise twists, strong and admirable heroes, and Weird Westerns, then you’ll love the next book in David J. West’s Dark Trails Saga. Read More
Sensor Sweep: Foundation, Jack Williamson, Elric Movie
Monday , 4, October 2021 Sensor Sweep Leave a commentT.V. (Arkhaven Comics): If Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert had had a baby
it would look like Apple TV’s Foundation…No, that isn’t it. How about, if Apple TV’s programming chief wanted to buy Dune and it wasn’t available it would look like Apple TV’s Foundation? Yeah, that’s the ticket. Foundation by Isaac Asimov is one of the most over-rated books in the history of science fiction. It just isn’t as good as most people think it is.
New (Worlds of Strangess): A collection of short stories and articles.
Stories from “Doc” Clancy, Richard Toogood and Graham Andrews.
Fiction (Real Book Spy): 2021 is flying by, but that doesn’t mean you have to
miss any of the year’s best thrillers. As summer comes to a close, we’re taking a quick trip back through twenty of the very best books that have come out so far, from some of the biggest names in publishing. Whether you’re looking for hard-hitting action or mind-bending psychological suspense, this list has it all and then some. Check out each title below, then be sure to leave us a comment (or tag us on social media) and let us know which one’s your favorite.
The Mummy of Monte Cristo and Dinosaur Dungeon
Sunday , 3, October 2021 Uncategorized Leave a comment
Sometimes a title tells you exactly what’s going to happen in the story. J. Trevor Robinson’s The Mummy of Monte Cristo is one, splashing the classic adventure with a coat of monsters, magic, and blood. It is a thin coat, however, without rebuilding the venerable classic from the foundation up. Edmond Dantes’s search for vengeance is placed not just in the shadow of Naploeon’s return, but of a time where only the Corsican Fiend stood between the living and the undead. And to complete his goal, Dantes must become something more–and less–than human.
But while the supernatural seeps out of the background, Dantes’s transformation into the Count of Monte Cristo and subsequent revenge follow the well-worn tracks of Alexandre Dumas’s original. The restraint, in an age of careless adaptations, is admirable. Pastiche is a ancient tradition in the English language, and Robinson treats his version of The Count of Monte Cristo with reverence that keeps The Mummy of Monte Cristo from descending into parody. In a world haunted by kracken and zombies, the focus is on the all-too human foibles, failures, and betrayals–and the chess-like revenge fueled by the treasure in Monte Cristo’s caves.
Robinson affects a style reminiscent of the 1840s adventure without dipping into archaic or anachronistic choices. A couple in-jokes do fall flat, but the spirit of the original persists. And if The Mummy of Monte Cristo does what the schools increasing cannot–leading new readers to the original–so much the better. Read More
Weirdbook is one of the great small press magazines from the golden age of the small press. The magazine petered out after 30 issues in 1997. The magazine returned in 2015 with a fairly regular schedule.
Weirdbook #42 is a special issue of all fiction by John Shirley. The format is trade paperback, 6 x 9 inches. There are eleven items including a “novel,” five short stories, and five poems for a total of 157 pages.
Shirley is known as a cyber-punk author from the 1980s. This issue of Weirdbook is more on the horror and fantasy spectrum.
“Anvil Rock” is a sort of “Groundhog Day” situation with a time machine. Read More
This week’s new releases are fill with vengeful spirits, apprentice alchemists, Israeli soldiers stranded in new worlds, and more.
Alchemist Adept (The Alchemist #4) – D. K. Holmberg and Dan Michaelson
Sam must master his connection to the source—and understand alchemy—if he wants to save the Academy.
Sam had come to the Academy powerless and used his wits to keep his place until learning that he can command a different magic. With the Nighlan attacking along the border of the city in the hopes of freeing Rasan Tel, Academy students are called upon to fight.
Having used his power to protect the Academy, Sam finds himself in a new struggle. Somehow, he has to balance his classes, lessons with a new alchemy instructor, all while working on a secret assignment in the war against the Nighlan.
As he begins to learn the truths of alchemy and his unique connection to power, Sam knows that he holds a key to stopping the fighting, but only if he can master his power.
The lessons he needs can’t be found in books, and the only person with the knowledge he needs is the same person he must defeat.
Dark Mountain (Dragon Wars #20) – Craig Halloran
As one well-planned attempt to destroy Black Frost fails after the other, he only grows in power.
Grey Cloak and Dyphestive have tried everything to bring their greatest enemy to a dead halt. With one final valiant effort, against impossible odds, they lead Talon and the Children of Cinder into the greatest battle of their lives that can only end in their inevitable massacre.
Will the Blood Brothers think of something in time, or will the fate of the world and all mankind be crushed in Black Frost’s talons and scorched to death in the fires of dragons all consuming breath?
Light Unto Another World #2 – Yakov Merkin
Sometimes, the right choice is not an easy one to make. But even when it is, the right choice is often not the easy one. But when one knows right from wrong, the choice is clear.
Uriel Makkis didn’t know what to expect when he finally met the king of Fulnar, apart from learning exactly why he had been pulled to this new world.
He did not expect to become an immediate enemy of the state.
The twin revelations that he was summoned to be used as a weapon of conquest, and that his fellow Swords were evil people from back on Earth, however, made that inevitable.
Without intending to do so, Uriel finds himself embroiled in a far larger conflict, one that has the potential to alter the balance of power on this alien world. Knowing that his new friends stand on one side, with their enemies, and his own enemies from Earth on the other, Uriel doesn’t need to think long about what he will do. However, as he throws himself into the fight alongside his rebel friends, it also becomes clear how outmatched they are.
But for a Jewish soldier, fighting in the face of bad odds is nothing new. The only way to move is forward. Read More
SUPERVERSIVE: Is the Philosophy of “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney” incorrect or hypocritical?
Tuesday , 28, September 2021 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Writer’s note: Recently my attention was drawn to the Ace Attorney series for the first time when a new game (2, actually) was released in the west, the “Great Ace Attorney Chronicles”. I learned that Sherlock Holmes (or technically, “Herlock Sholmes”) was in the game and it would be set in Victorian England. Since I absolutely love Sherlock Holmes and have a Switch, I checked it out and decided to pick up the original Ace Attorney trilogy first, to try out the formula, as it was cheaper. I figured I would enjoy it but to my great surprise I absolutely loved it, and am currently in the middle of the third game, “Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations”. I already bought the fourth and will most assuredly be playing every game; “Great Ace Attorney Chronicles” will have to wait until a sale.
This little dialogue here is more meant for fans of the game. Seriously, I’m about to ruin the ending of game 2 and also the last case of the Switch/DS release of game 1, so, uh, be careful. Consider this a musing mostly on that second game, and particularly its final case, “Farewell, my Turnabout”.
SCENE: A familiar courtroom. At the front is a bald JUDGE with a gray beard. On one side is our hero, spiky-haired defense attorney PHOENIX WRIGHT. On the other is the whip-toting teenage wunderkind prosecutor FRANZISKA VON KARMA. Standing next to Phoenix is his assistant, spirit medium MAYA FEY.
JUDGE: Are both parties prepared for the trial?
VON KARMA: What a foolishly foolish question from a foolish fool. Of course I’m ready.
PHOENIX: I’m still confused. Can you…uh…clarify what’s going on again, judge?
Von Karma cracks Phoenix with her whip.
PHOENIX: OWWWWWWWW!
VON KARMA: Is this some sort of joke, Mr. Phoenix Wright?
MAYA: Yeah, are you serious right now, Nick?!
JUDGE: This is no laughing matter, Mr. Wright. The defendant here is YOU!
PHOENIX: But…but…why me?
VON KARMA: As was already explained to you, you’re on trial for being a hypocrite!
PHOENIX: Meaning…
VON KARMA: It’s very simple. You say you became a defense attorney in order to help people who have nobody else to help them…but you only defend the innocent! Ha! The sentimentalism of a foolish fool who foolishly fools around in the courtroom! Not only that, I address this question to the court: What is the role of a defense attorney? What is the role of a prosecutor?
PHOENIX: This still seems unclear.
MAYA: Nick, you gotta learn to roll with things.
JUDGE: Miss Fey is right. We’re not going to waste any more time on this. Do you have your first witness, Miss Von Karma?
VON KARMA: The prosecution calls Phoenix Wright to the stand!
The courtroom bursts into chatter. The judge bangs his gavel.
Judge: Order! Order! I will have order! Mr. Wright, please take the stand.
Von Karma: Mr. Phoenix Wright. It is true that you became a defense attorney in order to help those who cannot help themselves, correct?
Phoenix: Yes….
VON KARMA: I’d like to draw your attention, then, to Matt Engarde.
PHOENIX: Gulps M-Matt Engarde?
EDGEWORTH: That’s right. Now tell me: Is it true or untrue that you tried to get your client, Matt Engarde, a guilty verdict?
PHOENIX: OBJECTION!
VON KARMA: …You’re the defendant, Mr. Wright, not the lawyer…in this scenario, anyway.
PHOENIX: …Oh yeah. Uh, about Engarde…I…tried to get a not-guilty verdict!
VON KARMA: Ha! A spirited but foolishly foolish response! I agree…you did. At first.
PHOENIX: Here it comes.
VON KARMA: But by the end of the trial, you KNEW Matt Engarde was guilty, did you not?
PHOENIX: …
JUDGE: Answer the question, Mr. Wright!
PHOENIX: …Yes
VON KARMA: Did you, or did you not, try to get your client declared guilty after you learned this fact?
PHOENIX: I…did.
VON KARMA: Would you say this was the best possible outcome for your client at this point of the trial?
PHOENIX: No…no…I could probably have gotten a not guilty verdict.
VON KARMA: So! You admit it! You, Phoenix Wright, are a hypocrite! You don’t want to help your clients at all! You just want to feel morally superior!
The court breaks out into chatter again as the judge bangs his gavel.
JUDGE: Order! Order! This courtroom will have order! Now, Mr. Wright! I know you are in fact the witness, but as the defense attorney, I must ask: Do you have anything to say in response?
PHOENIX: Oh no! He’s absolutely right! What do I do…
Suddenly, a new voice appears. Phoenix turns towards Maya in surprise. She has been transformed via spirit channeling into his long-dead mentor, MIA FEY.
MIA: Phoenix, the answer is clear. Turn the question around.
PHOENIX: Around…what do you…?
MIA: What is the purpose of a prosecuting attorney?
The lightbulb clicks
PHOENIX: I have nothing to say, your honor. Everything the prosecution said is absolutely true.
Both the Judge and even Von Karma are shocked.
JUDGE: R-really?
PHOENIX: Really.
JUDGE: So…you admit your guilt?
PHOENIX: I didn’t say that. The defense would like to call…Miles Edgeworth to the stand!
JUDGE: Well, this is highly irregular! I am afraid I cannot see the relevance. The court will have to reje-
VON KARMA: No, your honor. Let the foolish fool try this desperate last ploy. My case is, of course, perfect. I will not pass this up this chance to defeat both Phoenix Wright AND Miles Edgeworth!
JUDGE: Well, if the prosecution is okay with this…I guess it’s fine.
MILES EDGEWORTH, a rather high class prosecutor who shares a long history with Phoenix, takes the stand.
PHOENIX: Thank you, your honor. Mr. Edgeworth! I have a question for you! Why did you start being a prosecutor!
EDGEWORTH: To punish criminals, of course.
PHOENIX: But is that why you’re a prosecutor now?
EDGEWORTH: …No.
PHOENIX: What is your goal as a prosecutor right now?
EDGEWORTH: My goal is to find the truth, whatever it may be.
PHOENIX: I was hoping you’d say that. So you agree, then, that the truth is more important than the guilt or innocence of a particular client?
EDGEWORTH: Yes, I do.
VON KARMA: OBJECTION! The goal of the prosecutor is find the defendant guilty!
PHOENIX: OBJECTION! Mr. Edgeworth is correct! The goal of the prosecution is to find the CORRECT guilty party, not to railroad innocents!
VON KARMA: OBJECTION! But even if this was true – which I do not accept! – would not the defense attorney have a different role anyway?
PHOENIX: What are you getting at?
EDGEWORTH: I believe I understand the prosecution’s point. The prosecutor’s job is to bring the guilty to justice. We have a duty to the truth, but that is the role we play. Our duty is also to the court and the state. The defendant’s duty is to neither. It is to the client.
PHOENIX: Meaning…?
VON KARMA: Cracks whip. Phoenix yells in pain. Do I need to spell it out for you, Mr. Phoenix Wright? The guilty deserve representation as much as the innocent! Your job is not to be a detective hunting for the truth, but to help your client get the best possible outcome! THREFORE! By only defending the innocent when possible, and advocating for a guilty verdict when a not guilty is possible you, Phoenix Wright, have utterly failed in your duty as a defense attorney!
Phoenix gulps, but stays silent; he has no response.
JUDGE: This is an airtight argument, Miss Von Karma. In light of this, and with no response from the defense, the court declares Mr. Phoenix Wright GU –
EDGEWORTH: HOLD IT!
Everybody turns towards Edgeworth.
EDGEWORTH: I’m sorry, your honor. but Miss Von Karma is making a serious error!
JUDGE: Mr. Edgeworth, you are a witness, not the defense. I am afraid I can’t –
VON KARMA: No! Let the foolish fool speak! He amuses me. What error is this, Mr. Edgeworth?
PHOENIX: Is Edgeworth really throwing me a lifeline here?
EDGEWORTH: Miss Von Karma, you are trying to present several issues as if they are in tension with each other, when in fact they are nothing of the sort!
VON KARMA: And what do you mean by this?
EDGEWORTH: What I mean is that having the duty to seek the truth does not invalidate a duty to the client!
Once again it clicks in Phoenix’s head.
PHOENIX: Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Edgeworth. I believe I understand your point. Judge, let me ask you this: Is it ever – in any circumstance, ever – legal to lie in court?
Von Karma looks shocked; she realizes where Phoenix is going with this.
JUDGE: Even I can answer this one! Of course not.
PHOENIX: Exactly! Miss Von Karma! If I tried to convince the world my client is innocent, when I knew that they were guilty, that would be what?
VON KARMA: Still looking upset A…a lie!
PHOENIX: Looking triumphant. Exactly! Your honor! It is true I need to try and get my client the best POSSIBLE outcome! But a certain outcome is only legally POSSIBLE if I am not required to lie in court! Even attorneys are not compelled to break the law for their clients!
VON KARMA: Ob…objection!
JUDGE: A rather weak objection, Miss Von Karma.
VON KARMA: Strong enough for such a weak case! There is a contradiction in your testimonies…
PHOENIX: Aren’t I normally the one pointing those out?
VON KARMA: Earlier, you said that you could “probably have gotten a not-guilty verdict”, yet now you say that this was NOT a possible outcome. Explain yourself, Mr. Phoenix Wright!
PHOENIX: He has a confident grin on. Von Karma is on the ropes. Easily. I said I could have gotten as a not-guilty verdict, but only if I lied to the court! But as we have established, this is not permitted!
VON KARMA: Argh!
PHOENIX: And there’s more. The prosecution is making a seriously poor assumption here.
VON KARMA: And what is that?
PHOENIX: That you can only advocate for your client with a not-guilty! But this is false! Recall the case of Yanni Yogi!
EDGEWORTH: Smiling wryly I remember Mr. Yogi…
PHOENIX: I’m sure you do, Edgeworth. Yanni Yogi was declared innocent, but because his lawyer forced him to lie, his life was ruined as a result! His lawyer would have done better to stick with the truth!
VON KARMA: OBJECTION! She shakes her head, smiling. Some of that confidence is back. So sorry, Mr. Phoenix Wright. But your argument is that of a foolish fool after all.
PHOENIX: …?
VON KARMA: Yanni Yogi would have been declared guilty if not for this lie. He was innocent, but as you recall, my father was only convicted of the murder fifteen years later! If not for the work of his defense lawyer, Yogi would have been the prime suspect!
PHOENIX: Blanches in shock
VON KARMA: So sorry Mr. Wright, but unless you can prove to me that you did your defense a favor by advocating for their guilt, you’ll have to concede my point!
JUDGE: Well, Mr. Wright? Is there any piece of evidence you can show the court to change my mind? I am prepared to issue my verdict otherwise.
EDGEWORTH: Come now, Wright. This isn’t difficult. You should know exactly what to show the court.
PHOENIX: I should?
Phoenix thinks it over, then everything clicks. He digs through the court record, checking out profiles, until he finds the profile he needs: DE KILLER
PHOENIX: TAKE THAT!
JUDGE: Sorry, my memory is a little fuzzy. Who is that?
VON KARMA: She clearly realizes what is going on and gasps.
PHOENIX: This, your honor, is the assassin known as “De Killer”. Let me jog your memory. After De Killer was made aware of my client’s attempt to blackmail, he accepted my recommendation to plead guilty in exchange for his life! A guilty verdict was clearly the best possible outcome!
VON KARMA: N-no! Impossible!
PHOENIX: Furthermore! I would like to answer the prosecutor’s question from earlier. What is the role of a defense attorney! Specifically, what is the role of a defense attorney when defending a guilty client! Your honor, the role of a defense attorney is simply this….to keep the prosecution from making a mistake!
Even Edgeworth is surprised at this. Von Karma is angry, and starts whipping Phoenix.
VON KARMA: Ridiculous! Absurd! You’ve never said this before! Not once in these games have you ever brought this concept up!
PHOENIX: Ow! OWWWWWWW! Hold on a second! It’s true I’ve never said this, but that’s because I didn’t have to! Mr. Edgeworth said it himself!
EDGEWORTH: He looks confused for a second, then smiles Of course.
VON KARMA: And just what did that foolish fool foolishly blabber on about, Mr. Phoenix Wright?
PHOENIX: It’s this simple, Miss Von Karma! You and I are not enemies! In truth, it IS both of our jobs to seek the truth! I simply do it while representing my client, and you do it while representing the court! As long as we keep this in mind, I can do best by my client AND ensure the truth comes out with no contradiction at all!
VON KARMA: Ridiculous…absurd…
JUDGE: He shakes his head Quite the contrary, Miss Von Karma. Mr. Wright is precisely correct. Therefore, on the subject on if Phoenix Wright is hypocritical, and if the larger philosophy of the games is inconsistent, I find the defendant Mr. Phoenix Wright, and the series as a whole (well, the first couple of games anyway):
N O T G U I L T Y
Cheers ring out and confetti rains down in the courtroom.
FIN
I haven’t been active on Castalia, but that doesn’t mean I’ve disappeared! You can find my work on Pinkerton’s Ghosts, which airs every Friday at 7:00 EST and is currently in the middle of season 2, as well as every Sunday at 7:00 EST with my co-host Ben Wheeler on the Superversive Livestream. Check it out! I’ll probably post more Phoenix Wright content eventually.