A final onceover of Black Gate 12 has kept me from finishing up the lengthy sword-and-sorcery examination I’ve been conducting in my recent essays. I hope to get back to it next week.

In the meantime, here’s a nifty recent essay from Charles Saunders on the origin of his sword-and-sorcery character, Imaro:

And here’s a sneak peek* at the blurbs from the Table of Contents in Black Gate 12. Writing those blurbs is a fun perk to the magazine, and is done in combination with John. John usually writes really nifty ones like “If you like stories with verbs, then this one’s got plenty!” Okay, not really; he was writing catchy blurbs long before I came on staff. It’s good fun to be involved in writing them, though. It’s the pulpiest thing I get to do.

“Oblivion is the Sweetest Wine” — John R. Fultz
The spider haunted towers held untold riches – and a terrifying secret.

“Payment in Full” — James Enge
In which Morlock the Maker faces slavers, golems, sandboys… and the Byzantine trap of an old nemesis.

“Houses of the Dead” — Martha Wells
There were no bodies. Only the empty village, the rumors of wizardry… and, of course, the ghouls.

“The Wily Thing” — Constance Cooper
A desperate client, an unusual bayou town, and a far more unusual object… a tale of things better left undisturbed.

“The Soldiers of Serenity” — Todd McAulty
He had 24 hours to save his entire team from corporate “downsizing” and far less to discover why he was being stalked by a ghost.

“Knives Under the Spring Moon” — Ed Carmien
Kris found herself amongst the outlaws, and in a deadly fight for her life with her oldest enemy.

“Whispers from the Stone” — Howard Andrew Jones
The ruins of Assyria held many secrets – but none so deadly as that which Dabir and Asim discovered amongst the stones.

Black Gate Fantasy Classic “Tumithak and the Ancient World” — Charles R. Tanner
The thrilling conclusion to the epic saga of Tumithak! Tumithak races to rescue his kidnapped wife and son, only to become embroiled in a fiendish scheme to drive humanity back to the tunnels under the earth…

Plus book and game reviews, Knights of the Dinner Table, John’s editorial, and a solitaire role-playing game from Dark City Games!

Howard

* I have absolutely got to stop using the expression “sneak peek” because I always spell “peek” “peak” the first go around. This time I caught it within twenty minutes of the post and fixed it. Sometimes it languishes there for days. And, honest to God, I’ve been a professional editor for more than a dozen years. Sheesh.