The Top 20 Black Gate Fiction Posts in October
Our exclusive excerpt from Mike Allen’s dark fantasy novel The Black Fire Concerto was our most popular work of fiction in October, its first month at the top of the charts. John R. Fultz called it “A post-apocalyptic melody played on strings of Terror and Sorcery,” and apparently word is getting around.
Joe Bonadonna’s “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum,” in the number 2 slot, has been steadily creeping up the charts since we posted it last December. It is without a doubt the most consistently popular work of fiction we have ever published.
Last month’s chart topper, Dave Gross’ Pathfinder Tales: King of Chaos, came in third, an entirely respectable showing; and John C. Hocking’s new story “Vestments of Pestilence” broke into the Top Ten for the first time, coming in 4th. Rounding out the Top Five was E.E. Knight’s perennial favorite “The Terror in the Vale,” first published in January.
Also making the list were exciting stories by Janet Morris and Chris Morris, David Evan Harris, Martha Wells, Peadar Ó Guilín, David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna, David C. Smith, Howard Andrew Jones, Michael Shea, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Mark Rigney, Jamie McEwan, Aaron Bradford Starr, Alex Kreis, and Ryan Harvey.
If you haven’t sampled the adventure fantasy stories offered through our new Black Gate Online Fiction line, you’re missing out. For the past year we’ve presented an original short story or novella from the best writers in the industry every week, all completely free. Here are the Top Twenty most-read stories in October:
- An excerpt from The Black Fire Concerto, by Mike Allen
- “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum,” by Joe Bonadonna
- An excerpt from Pathfinder Tales: King of Chaos, by Dave Gross
- “Vestments of Pestilence,” by John C. Hocking
- “The Terror in the Vale,” by E.E. Knight
- “The Sacred Band” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
- “The Gentle Sleeper” by David Evan Harris
- An excerpt from Pathfinder Tales: Queen of Thorns, by Dave Gross
- The Death of the Necromancer, a complete novel by Martha Wells
- “The Dowry,” by Peadar Ó Guilín
- An excerpt from The Waters of Darkness, by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna
- An excerpt from Dark Muse, by David C. Smith
- An excerpt from The Bones of the Old Ones, by Howard Andrew Jones
- “Tsathoggua,” by Michael Shea
- “Truck Stop Luck,” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
- “The Find,,” Part II of The Tales of Gemen, by Mark Rigney
- “Falling Castles,” by Jamie McEwan
- “The Sealord’s Successor,” by Aaron Bradford Starr
- “The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying,” by Alex Kreis
- “Stand at Dubun-Geb,” by Ryan Harvey
The complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including new stories by Vaughn Heppner, John R. Fultz, Gregory Bierly, Vera Nazarian, C.S.E. Cooney, Jason E. Thummel, Judith Berman, Harry Connolly, and many others, is here.
The Top fiction from September is here.
Man, John, I really have to have the coachman whip the horses and drag me back to the Blue Pilgrim. Looks like he has an audience here at BG.
Eric,
Hear hear! Whatever it takes to get the Blue Pilgrim back in the saddle, I’m on board.
While we’re on the topic, what would it take to get the rights to reprint the first Blue Pilgrim story, “That of the Pit?” (originally in LORDS OF SWORDS.) Man, that was a terrific story, and I’d love to share it with our readers.
John,
I think he just bought first publication so I wouldn’t think there’d be anything in the way of putting it up here.
Good news! We should talk.
[…] and pleasantly surprised to learn that the excerpt from my novel The Black Fire Concerto was October’s most read story at Black Gate Magazine. Black Gate overlord John O’Neill told me the excerpt not only won the month among its […]