Once the Grendel cycle reached its natural conclusion, it left behind a strange and dangerous world, full of war and horror and honour and laser swords. It seemed a shame to waste it, and the Grendel Tales series filled out that world with greater depth and style.
The Grendel Tales series featured stories that could be complex, pretty and slightly dull - Rob Walton's 'Devil's Hammer', 'The Devil My Care' by Terry LaBan and Peter Doherty and 'The Devil In Our Midst' by Steve Seagle and Paul Grist - and they could a pure pulp thrill ride like Pat McEown's Warchild semi-sequel 'Homecoming', or 'Four Devils, One Hell' by James Robinson and Teddy Kristiansen.
Sometimes, they could even be absolutely bloody brilliant, with two fantastic stories by Darko Macan and Edvin Biukovic that featured future wars in the Balkans that ignite out of hatreds and blood feuds that are older than the devil itself, and are well worth seeking out.
It all faded away after Jeffrey Lang and Steve Lieber's 'The Devils's Apprentice' in 1997, and we haven't been back to that future again. A world of Grendels is a dark and nasty place, but it was nice to visit for a while.
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