If there was a popular topic at Black Gate last month, it was Jeffrey Talanian’s role playing game Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Gabe Dybing interviewed Jeffrey for us on November 11, and Bob Byrne wrote a brief feature on the runaway success of the Kickstarter campaign to fund a second edition of the rules — and both articles leaped into the Top Ten for the month.

The number one post at Black Gate in November was our report on the contents of Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy: 2017, followed by Mark Rigney’s open letter to George R. R. Martin and the producers of Game Of Thrones. Coming in at number three was Howard Andrew Jones’ heartfelt response to the election, Seeking Solace.

Rounding out the Top Five for the month was our report on Asimov’s SF and Analog magazines switching to bimonthly publication, followed by C.S.E. Cooney’s rave review of the new Saga anthology The Starlit Wood, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe.

Anthologies were a hot topic in November. Our third anthology feature, on Hank Davis’ Things From Outer Space, came in at number seven, and Sean McLachlan’s fascinating article on the Iraqui science fiction anthology Iraq + 100 was the ninth’s most popular for the month. Wrapping up the Top Ten was Derek Kunsken’s review of Doctor Strange.

The complete list of Top Articles for November follows. Below that, I’ve also broken out the most popular overall articles, online fiction, and blog categories for the month.

The Top 50 Black Gate posts in November were:

1. Prime Books Reveals the Contents of The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy: 2017, edited by Rich Horton.
2. An Open Letter To George R. R. Martin and the Producers of Game Of Thrones
3. Seeking Solace
4. Asimov’s SF and Analog Magazine Switch to Bi-Monthly Publication
5. Saga’s The Starlit Wood Sings!
6. Modular: An Interview with Jeffrey Talanian, the Creator and Publisher of Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea
7. New Treasures: Things From Outer Space, edited by Hank Davis
8. Modular: Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerors of Hyperborea – 2nd Edition!
9. The Future of Iraq, According to the Country’s Science Fiction Authors
10. The Doctor Is In: Marvel’s New Doctor Strange Movie

     

11. The Limits of Wargaming #2: Betrayals, Surprises and Strategic Advantage
12. Modular: Castles & Crusades Expands
13. My Top Ten TV Series Adaptations
14. The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in October
15. Star Pirates and Cyborg Games: Rich Horton on The Star Virus by Barrington J. Bayley and Mask of Chaos by John Jakes
16. In 500 Words or Less: Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
17. The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Get Hard Cased (with Charles Ardai)
18. Modular: A Brand New Column! And About T1 – The Village of Hommlet
19. Future Treasures: Gloriana: Or, The Unfulfill’d Queen by Michael Moorcock
20. New Treasures: The Girl with Ghost Eyes by M. H. Boroson

     

21. Goth Chick News: Days of the Dead Drags into Chicago
22. The Limits of Wargaming #1: Morale, Untried Doctrine and Friction
23. Reverse-Turing Testing the Editor of Black Gate, or How I Said Goodbye to My Spam Followers
24. Into the Maelstrom: Berserker: Shadow of the Wolf by Chris Carlsen
25. Vintage Treasures: The Best of John Brunner
26. The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: ‘Dirk Gently’ is Not ‘Timeless’
27. John DeNardo on the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Reads for November
28. Reading Ellen Datlow’s The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Eight
29. Two New Canadian SF Anthologies
30. October Short Story Roundup

     

31. The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Basil Rathbone & The Secret Weapon
32. The B&N Sci-Fi Blog on The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of November
33. Another Term: Bound in Blood by P.C. Hodgell
34. Goth Chick News: The Original Men in Tights Are Still the Best Men in Tights…
35. The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: The Scarlet Claw
36. New Treasures: The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016, edited by Karen Joy Fowler and John Joseph Adams
37. Goth Chick News: Thirty-Five Years Later, We’re Heading Back to The Slaughtered Lamb
38. Future Treasures: The Liberation, the Final Novel in The Alchemy Wars by Ian Tregillis
39. Pirates, Golems, and the Dread Queen of the Skies: Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding
40. Oz’s Bag of Holding: Stephen King Edition featuring A Brief Guide, Fear Itself (with an essay by Fritz Leiber!), and Danse Macabre

     

41. Sentient Spaceships, Alien Derelicts, and Warring Empires: S.K. Dunstell’s Linesman Trilogy
42. Future Treasures: Jack Ketchum’s Off Season: 35th Anniversary Edition From Dark Regions Press
43. Future Treasures: Apes and Angels, the Newest Volume in the Star Quest Trilogy by Ben Bova
44. Lackington’s Issue 11 Now Available
45. Win a Copy of Sarah Avery’s The Imlen Brat
46. Gunslingers, Shapeshifters, and Ancient Animal Gods: The Children of the Drought Trilogy by Arianne ‘Tex’ Thompson
47. November/December Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Now on Sale
48. Amazing Stories, May and June 1965: A Retro-Review
49. Haunted: Always, Sometimes, Never
50. Atlantis, Vikings, and the Hordes of Kublai Khan: Merlin’s Ring by H. Warner Munn: Part II

There were plenty of older articles popular last month as well. The 25 most popular blog posts written before November were:

1. Death Knight Love Story: WMA meets WTF
2. Heroic Fantasy with the Sharp Edge of Reality: A Review of The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
3. After the Twilight: Walt Simonson’s Ragnarök
4. New Treasures: The Library of America Publishes Elmore Leonard
5. Return to Thieves World in Beyond Sanctuary: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
6. Tribulations Herculean and Tragic: Beyond Wizardwall by Janet Morris
7. The IX by Andrew P. Weston
8. Caught Between Rebels and the Empire’s Blackest Magic: Beyond the Veil: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
9. Vintage Treasures: The Silistra Quartet by Janet Morris
10. AD&D Figurines: Youth In a Box?
11. Black Gate Wins World Fantasy Award
12. A Detailed Explanation
13. Why I Went Old School — or Swords & Wizardry vs. Pathfinder
14. Joseph P Laycock’s Dangerous Games: Revisiting the “Moral” Panic Around D&D (and You Thought the ‘Pups Were Bad)
15. Part Gothic, Part Sword and Sorcery, and Part Horror: Andrew P. Weston’s Hell Bound
16. We All Live in Lovecraft Country
17. Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 18: Ava’s Possessions, The Golden Cane Warrior, H., and Turbo Kid
18. How I Lost My Soul and Learned to Love Hell
19. “A Great Place to let Your Imagination Run Wild:” Joe Bonadonna Reviews Rogues in Hell
20. I, The Sun by Janet Morris
21. The IX: Exordium of Tears by Andrew P. Weston
22. Love in War and Realms Beyond Imagining: A Review of The Fish, the Fighters and the Song Girl by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
23. The Devil in the Details: A Review of Lawyers in Hell
24. Art of the Genre: Top 10 Fantasy Artists of the Past 100 Years
25. October 2016 Lightspeed Magazine Now Available

The Top Black Gate Online Fiction features were:

1. An Excerpt from The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
2. “Seven Against Hell” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
3. An Excerpt from Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong
4. An Excerpt from The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu
5. “Tsathoggua” by Michael Shea
6. “Iron Joan” by ElizaBeth Gilligan
7. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum” by Joe Bonadonna
8. “Awakening” by Judith Berman
9. “Godmother Lizard” by C.S.E. Cooney.
10. Fiction Excerpt: “Tumithak and the Ancient Word”
11. “Queen of Toads” by Joe Bonadonna
12. “Life on the Sun” by C.S.E. Cooney

The top categories last month were:

1. Books
2. Blog Entry
3. New Treasures
4. Vintage Treasures
5. Art of the Genre
6. Art
7. Magazines
8. Comics
9. BG Staff
10. Conan
11. Reviews
12. Convention Report
13. Contest
14. Editor’s Blog
15. Future Treasures
16. Series Fantasy
17. Discovering Robert E. Howard
18. Fiction
19. Black Gate Goes to Summer Movies
20. Game Reviews

The Top 50 Black Gate blog posts in October are here, and you can see all 88 posts we made in the month of November here.