Conan, and his creator Robert E. Howard, are perpetually popular topics at Black Gate. Our top blog post last month was M. Harold Page’s “Why isn’t Conan a Mary Sue?” followed by James McGlothlin’s review of two Howard biographies. Freelancers looking for topic suggestions: you can’t go wrong with Robert E. Howard!

The third most popular article last month was our report on the best readings at the Wiscon science fiction convention in May, followed by Ryan Harvey’s review of the 1985 film The Return of Godzilla. Rounding out the Top Five was an update on the second issue of the excellent new magazine Occult Detective Quarterly.

Sixth was our look at the Bantam Spectra Omnibus editions of Robert Silverberg, followed by Derek Kunsken’s list of the best hard science fiction he’s read in the past decade, “Any Sufficiently Advanced Technology…” Coming in at #7 was Matt Drought’s breakdown of the differences between Microsoft’s Xbox One and the PS4 Pro, followed by an examination of one of Gardner Dozois’s best anthologies, Modern Classics of Fantasy. Closing out the Top Ten for the month was our survey of Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series.

The complete list of Top Articles for July 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 July were:

1. Why isn’t Conan a Mary Sue?
2. A Tale of Two Robert E. Howard Biographies
3. A Wiscon Reading Report: The Best in Upcoming Fantasy – 2017 Edition
4. Godzilla, So-So Solo-Act: The Return of Godzilla (Godzilla 1985)
5. Occult Detective Quarterly #2 Now Available
6. No Slimy Monsters, No Princesses: The Bantam Spectra Omnibus Robert Silverberg
7. Any Sufficiently Advanced Technology…
8. Microsoft Xbox One vs PS4 Pro
9. A Book That Makes You Yearn to be Stranded on a Desert Island: Modern Classics of Fantasy edited by Gardner Dozois
10. Disturbing Monsters, Tragic Undead, and Gorgeous Worldbuilding: Sorting Out The Old Kingdom by Garth Nix

     

11. An Old-Fashioned Space Opera: The Transcendental Machine Trilogy by James Gunn
12. Goth Chick News: Comics (and Potentially You) Get Dragged…
13. John DeNardo on Your Best Bets for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror in July
14. A Magisterial Account of World War II: Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk
15. The Best of Cordwainer Smith, edited by J. J. Pierce
16. Old New Pulp: Byron Preiss’ Weird Heroes
17. Amazing Stories November 1969: A Retro-Review
18. A Novel You’ve Been Waiting For Your Whole Life, and Then Some: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
19. New Treasures: Sisters of Tomorrow: The First Women of Science Fiction, edited by Lisa Yaszek and Patrick B. Sharp
20. The Man of Legends by Kenneth Johnson: Q&A with the Author, Part 1

     

21. Crappy Parents All Around: A Look At Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson Series
22. Peplum Populist: Short Takes on Three Streaming Titles
23. A Treasure Trove of Classic Ursula K. Le Guin: The Hainish Novels and Stories from the Library of America
24. Read To Me
25. io9 on the Must-Read Science Fiction and Fantasy of July
26. The Digest Enthusiast #6 Now Available
27. Goth Chick News: Forget Virtual Reality, Let’s Do This
28. Future Treasures: The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
29. If Batman Were a Teenager and Magically Talented: The Maradaine Novels by Marshall Ryan Maresca
30. Where Do You Get Yours?

     

31. A Kick-ass Female Perspective on Comics That’s Disturbingly Close to Real-Life: The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente
32. Disasterville U.S.A.: The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner
33. What Has Orbit’s Expansion Wrought?
34. The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in June
35. Vintage Treasures: Starship/Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss
36. Star Punk Story Building in Interplanetary Hunter
37. July/August 2017 Asimov’s Science Fiction Now on Sale
38. Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Pellucidar Saga: Land of Terror
39. Vintage Treasures: New Tales of Space and Time, edited by Raymond J. Healy
40. Goth Chick News; The Girl (and the Movie) With All the Gifts

     

41. Goth Chick News: What if Noah Brought More Than Animals on the Ark…?
42. July 2017 Issue of Shimmer Now on Sale
43. Fantasia 2017, Day 1: The Bizarre Adventure Begins (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable)
44. In 500 Words or Less: Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
45. Literary Wonder & Adventure Show: EPISODE 5: The Strand (Full Audio Drama)
46. B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2017 So Far
47. Super-Intelligent Cats, Shape-Shifting Aliens, and Mysterious Footprints in the Snow: Rich Horton on 9 Tales of Space and Time, edited by Raymond J. Healy
48. The Piracy Museum in Lanzarote, Canary Islands
49. Classic SF from One of the Twentieth Century’s Great Masters: The Best of John W. Campbell
50. The Man of Legends by Kenneth Johnson: Q&A with the Author, Part 2

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

1. Death Knight Love Story: WMA meets WTF
2. Goth Chick News: Samuel L. Jackson Takes On Japanese OVA – Hold On To Your Butts…
3. Heroic Fantasy with the Sharp Edge of Reality: A Review of The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
4. Solitaire Adventure with Victory Point Games
5. “Are You Not Still Entertained?”: Gladiator’s 10-Year Oscar Anniversary
6. My Fantasia Festival, Days 5 to 7: Cold in July, The Fatal Encounter, and Huntresses
7. Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 5: Teana: 10000 Years Later, Crimson Whale, and The Shamer’s Daughter
8. Blowing the Doors Off the Barn: Expanding the Iron Fist Mythos
9. Eccentric in Retrospect: Helen Simpson’s The Woman on the Beast
10. Adventures on Stage: Fantasy Literature’s Missing Link
11. The Return of the King (1980)
12. Living it Large: How Larger Than Life Characters Work
13. Haunt the House: The Music and Art of Will Houlihan
14. Return to Thieves World in Beyond Sanctuary: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
15. New Treasures: The Library of America Publishes Elmore Leonard
16. Adventures In Gaming: The Temple Of the Sea Gods
17. The IX by Andrew P. Weston
18. Tribulations Herculean and Tragic: Beyond Wizardwall by Janet Morris
19. Try the Science Fiction Value Packs from Asimov’s and Analog for Just $6.95
20. Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: The Skeleton Matters (Or, Why It’s Not OK to Skip Scenes in Your Third Act)
21. Caught Between Rebels and the Empire’s Blackest Magic: Beyond the Veil: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
22. The Series Series: Shieldwall: Barbarians! by M. Harold Page
23. A Tale of Two Covers: Chasers of the Wind by Alexey Pehov
24. I, The Sun by Janet Morris
25. Vintage Treasures: The Silistra Quartet by Janet Morris

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 Pirates in Hell, edited by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
4. “Goat-Beard the Pirate, Part 2: Evil Angel,” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
5. “Vestments of Pestilence” by John C. Hocking
6. An excerpt from Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong
7. An excerpt from Mouth of the Dragon by Tom Barczak
8. An excerpt from Shards of the Glass Slipper: Queen Cinder by Roy A. Mauritsen
9. The first chapter of The Wreck of the Marissa by M Harold Page
10. An Excerpt from Three Ghosts in a Black Pumpkin by Erika M Szabo and Joe Bonadonna
11. “The Sorrowless Thief” by Ryan Harvey
12. “Awakening” by Judith Berman
13. “Stand at Duben-Geb” by Ryan Harvey
14. An excerpt from The Black Fire Concerto by Mike Allen
15. “The Whoremaster of Pald” by Harry Connolly
16. “The Trade” by Mark Rigney
17. “Nero Wolfe – Stamped for Murder” by Bob Byrne
18. “Tsathoggua” by Michael Shea
19. An excerpt from Soleri by Michael Johnston
20. An Excerpt from Souldrifter by Garrett Calcaterra
21. An excerpt from Mad Shadows II by Joe Bonadonna
22. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum” by Joe Bonadonna
23. “Iron Joan” by ElizaBeth Gilligan
24. Fiction Excerpt: “Tumithak of the Corridors” by Charles R. Tanner

The top categories last month were:

1. Editor’s Blog
2. Vintage Treasures
3. Blog Entry
4. Books
5. Art
6. Art of the Genre
7. Magazines
8. Writing
9. Conan
10. BG Staff
11. Games
12. Comics
13. Reviews
14. Goth Chick
15. Convention Report
16. Future Treasures
17. Black Gate Goes to Summer Movies
18. News
19. Role Playing Games
20. Interviews
21. Rich Horton
22. Series Fantasy
23. New Treasures
24. Essays
25. Movies & TV

The Top 50 Black Gate blog posts in June are here, and you can see all 79 posts we made in the month of July here.