Khyber by Chadwick Ginther is a Sword and Sorcery collection of 5 tales which caught my eye in a bookstore recently, and I picked it almost on a whim, which proved to be an excellent choice. This is an excellent set of S&S tales, 4/5 of which are set in the titular Khyber, the city at the center of world. Although this purports to be part of a Shared World à la Thieves World or Wild Cards, it doesn't look much else is out yet other than a few short stories here and there; it was just published in 2026, and this book serves as a fine introduction and stands alone.

This book unabashedly wears its influences on its sleeves, but it feels like a proper homage rather than a poor pastiche. The world in the book feels very akin to Hyperborea or Zothique, and the city of Khyber is an excellent layered, vibrant city similar to Lankhmar or early Ankh-Morpork. The writing's very solid, though not as ornamented as Howard or Smith.…