Talgard by Gary Proudley

Brains meet brawn in this clever twist on the barbarian tale.

A couple of weeks ago at OzComicCon, I had the chance to meet Gary Proudley, the writer behind Talgard (among others) — and between you and me, he might have had the best booth setup at the entire event.

I consider myself pretty lucky. I’d been eyeing Talgard online for a while, so being able to pick up a copy directly from Proudley was great. On top of that, I got to meet Katie Houghton-Ward and Trev Wood, both of whom contributed artwork to the short stories inside.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Conan, Kull, Red Sonja, and pretty much any sword-swinging barbarian. I honestly don’t know what exactly draws me to these characters. Even back when I played D&D, I always chose to play a Barbarian — much to my wife’s ongoing disbelief. If you knew me personally, you’d understand why that’s so funny.

I think what appeals to me is the simplicity of their world: pure strength, facing impossible odds, and charging headfirst into battle. Some might say their entire existence is an ode to stoicism — and I like that.

What makes Talgard stand out from most hack-and-slash stories is that Talgard isn’t just brawn — he’s got brains, too. In a D&D world, you might not even classify him as a Barbarian, but more as a Fighter with a bit more strategy and depth. Personally, I always gave my Barbarians a few extra Intelligence or Charisma points to set them apart, so I really appreciated this take.

And while Talgard doesn’t focus on endless battles — often it’s his cleverness that gets him through — the short stories are sharp, well-crafted, and give you a real sense of who Talgard is and how he thinks.

Would I love to see more hacking and slashing? Of course. But does the story suffer because of the focus on brains over brawn? Not at all. I thoroughly enjoyed Talgard and can’t wait to pick up Tome Two. Ideally, I’d love to buy it in person again just to tell Proudley how much I enjoyed the first volume — but I’m also eager to keep reading. It's a good problem to have.