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Month: July 2011

Goth Chick News: Kolchak Stalks Again

Goth Chick News: Kolchak Stalks Again

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image0101You remember him, I know you do.

A wise-cracking, would-be-hard-bitten newsman in a battered seersucker suit and straw hat looking like he just stepped out of a 1940’s gumshoe flick — except for that slick, yellow Ford Mustang convertible he’s tooling around in.

But Carl Kolchak took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in a couple of 1970’s TV movies and a short-lived TV show in which he kept stumbling across increasingly outrageous news stories that not only put his life in imminent danger, but inevitably involved horrific supernatural or paranormal beings.

Cue the distinctive, whistled theme music and pull up a 1970’s faux leatherette lounge chair (orange preferably); it’s time for The Night Stalker…

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SF Site reviews Black Gate 15

SF Site reviews Black Gate 15

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bg-15-cover2Sherwood Smith continues her uninterrupted run of Black Gate reviews with a lengthy look at our latest issue at SF Site:

The previous issue, at nearly 400 pages, was so successful that the decision was made to stay at that length. For the amount, the price is quite reasonable, and the online subscription is half that. There are plans for issues compatible with Kindle and other e-readers. Judging by Black Gate‘s consistent quality, moving away from the pressure of seasonal publication has been a good one… here we’ve got a broad range of fantasy adventure fiction, from horror to comedy, at a variety of lengths. This spectrum, along with the regular columns, is another of Black Gate‘s strengths.

Sherwood seemed particularly taken with “A River Through Darkness and Light” by John C Hocking:

Lucella, a tough warrior woman, and the first-person narrator Archivist, have history together, as they travel in search of a hidden stash of ancient scrolls, accompanied by a scholar and an old soldier. Unfortunately, they are chased by bandits bent on vengeance… and then there’s the demon…

I think of Hocking’s stories as characteristic of Black Gate: a strong blend of the old sword and sorcery action and mood, but with modern attention to character development, especially of the women. Lucella, like Asdis in Hocking’s Norse tales, can hold her own in a world of heroes and demons. Dark and vivid, shot through with moments of humor, this story is a promising opening to the issue.

As well as “Into the Gathering Dark” by Darrell Schweitzer:

At first, when I saw that this was another tale of True Thomas, I settled in for a familiar ride. The story of Thomas has seen many versions, especially in the last thirty years. But Schweitzer does not inject this last tale of True Thomas with modern sensibilities. Exquisitely poignant, it is one of the best stories in the issue, beautifully rendering all that was best in the tales of Elfland, “neither of Heaven or of Hell,” of a century ago.

And “Dellith’s Child” by Nye Joell Hardy:

In this world, ship-owning families never set foot on land, and the female captains inherit the ability to see ley-lines, crucial on the vast oceans. The first person narrator, Grady, is visiting his sister Dellith on her ship. At first he’s delighted to learn that she has a son… until he sees the sea monster she calls by her son’s name. Then the whole world goes askew. Grady is a sympathetic hero in a fascinating world, the tension never flags, and the ending is unpredictable. This was one of my favorites.

The complete review is here. Sherwood’s previous review, of Black Gate 14, is here.

The New Kid

The New Kid

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tsAs one of the new recruits here at Black Gate, I’ll be bringing you a series of what I hope you’ll find to be interesting posts soon enough. But first I wanted to say howdy and tell you a little bit about myself.

I’m Liz. I’m an Academic by training: a Classicist to be precise, and a philologist to be downright pedantic. (My dissertation was written on ancient cognitive theory, the philosophy of emotion, ethnography, and Lucan, but I promise if I bring up Aristotle here it will be purely for the “COOL!” factor.) Words are what I do. I’m a writer by hobby and a geek out of sheer passion. Above all else I love story, in all its forms. Told over a set of dice, in verse, interactively through a video game, on the big screen, small screen, or in ink and paper, it’s the blood in my veins.

So what will I be doing here?

Every story needs a setting, and before Narnia, Middle Earth, and Wonderland there was Aeaea, Asgard, Hyperborea, and the Land of the Lotus-Eaters. As long as we have been telling stories we’ve been inventing new worlds to set them in, and my goal is to spend some time exploring these worlds. I’ll begin with my own bailiwick, which is the Greco-Roman world, and go from there. I am, of course, eager to hear any suggestions any of you might have.

Walk with me, if you’re so inclined, and let’s see what we shall see.

Art of the Genre: Leiber, Mignola, and Graphic Novels

Art of the Genre: Leiber, Mignola, and Graphic Novels

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Mignola... when doves fly...
Mignola... when doves fly...
In 1991 I wasn’t a fan of the Mike Mignola. To be frank, I actually couldn’t stand his artwork, but again I was twenty and my taste in art leaned much toward the polished standard and less toward the truly talented.

At that time I also wasn’t much of a reader. Sure, I read almost every day, taking in as much fantasy as I could, but for the most part it was also commercially driven stuff that in the final call of ‘what matters in fantasy’ it would almost all be found woefully lacking.

So it was with great interest that I discovered Epic Comics rendition of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser on my comic shop’s shelves. It was noteworthy because it featured art by Mike Mignola, was adapted by Howard Chaykin, and had a kind of darkness to it that was antithesis to the flare of most superhero books coming out of the early stages of the comic boom.

For me this series created a kind of enigma, that being that I loved fantasy but had only associated with Fritz Leiber in the TSR gaming supplement Lankhmar: City of Adventure. [Note: At the time I role-played in TSR’s Lankhmar, the song ‘One Night in Bangkok’ was on the radio and to this day I can’t say the world Lankhmar without setting it to a British vocal intonation accompanied by the words ‘City of Adventure’, just as Murry Head would began his song with ‘Bangkok, Oriental Setting’. BTW, it has to be the only Top 10 song in history that makes Chess seem downright cool.]

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Masterpiece: The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett

Masterpiece: The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett

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PZO8005-Cover.inddI committed a major heresy, in public and on record, against the sword-and-sorcery community when I stated on the recording for a podcast that, in the realm of “sword-and-sorcery” fiction, I prefer Leigh Brackett over Robert E. Howard. Although at least one participant on the podcast seconded my opinion, I do understand why most sword-and-sorcery readers cannot go with me on this. Howard is, after all, the Enthroned God of the genre. And, strictly speaking, Brackett did not write fantasy or historicals. Her specialty was action-oriented science fiction with heavy fantasy influences, the sub-genre of science-fantasy known as “planetary romance.” (Sometimes called “sword-and-planet.” I hate that term.)

I love Robert E. Howard’s work; it’s foundational for me. But, it’s “not that I love Howard less, but that I love Brackett more.” To that extent, I want to promote the sheer awesomeness that is Leigh Brackett whenever I can. And in her 1949 novel The Sword of Rhiannon (buy it here!) she reached what I believe is her apex: a planetary romance set across an ancient version of Mars, crammed with sword-swinging action, pirate-style swashbuckling, alien super-science, a hero as flinty as granite, an alluring and surprising femme fatale warrior, and an overarching theme of redemption, loss, and futility that ends up pushing what sounds like a standard adventure into a work of intricacy and overwhelming emotion.

Leigh Brackett (1915–1978), a long time resident of the same neighborhoods in Los Angeles where I grew up and still live, was a student of Howard’s work and an immense admirer. However, she didn’t copy him when she started her own career, but infused his passionate style with her own passions. Brackett shows the influence of other predecessors — Clark Asthon Smith, A. Merritt, C. L. Moore, Henry Kuttner, Otis Adelbert Kline, Edgar Rice Burroughs — but her mixture is blended so perfectly that all of it feels fresh and driven. I just finished another re-reading of The Sword of Rhiannon, and I am as thunderstruck as ever with how damn great Leigh Brackett was at what she did. Even more, I am awed at how modern her tale feels, even though the outer hull shows it as an old-fashioned pulp romance. Not that there’s anything wrong with the old pulp style; I still read Edgar Rice Burroughs avidly. But Brackett to this day stands in a class of her own.

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Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings wins the David Gemmell Legend Award

Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings wins the David Gemmell Legend Award

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the_way_of_kingsBrandon Sanderson’s novel The Way of Kings (Tor) is this year’s winner of the David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2010.

The list of nominees, including Peter V. Brett, Markus Heitz, Pierre Pevel, and Brent Weeks, was announced in April. Sanderson was nominated twice — once for The Way of Kings, and once for Towers of Midnight, his posthumous Wheel of Time collaboration with Robert Jordan.

The David Gemmell Legend Award is a fan-voted award administered by the DGLA. The Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel was first granted in 2009, to Andrzej Sapkowski’s Blood of Elves, and last year’s winner was Graham McNeill’s Empire: The Legend of Sigmar.

The Ravensheart Award for best Fantasy Book Jacket/artist went to Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts (HarperCollins Australia); illustrated by Olof Erla Einarssdottir.

The Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer/debut went to Warrior Priest by Darius Hinks (Black Library).

The complete details of the awards ceremony are available at the DGLA website.

Game Review: Dragon Dominoes in Looney Labs’ Seven Dragons

Game Review: Dragon Dominoes in Looney Labs’ Seven Dragons

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sevendragons_1Two of my favorite card games come from Looney Labs: Fluxx and Chrononauts.  One of the major selling points of these games, for me, is that they’re creative games that have victory conditions that can change on a dime. You can be close to winning and then, with a lucky and well-played turn by an opponent, you can find yourself on the losing end.

Seven Dragons captures this chaotic feel, mixing it with some great fantasy artwork by Larry Elmore. The name comes from two different aspects of the game:

  • There are seven different colors of dragons represented in the the game: red, black, gold, blue, green, silver, and rainbow
  • The goal of the game is to create a chain of seven dragons of your designated color

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American Fabulation, Literary Fantasy, and The Kingdom of Ohio

American Fabulation, Literary Fantasy, and The Kingdom of Ohio

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The Kingdom of OhioHow to describe Matthew Flaming’s book The Kingdom of Ohio?

Well, at least it’s a good story. (Of course I’d have to say that, wouldn’t I? But really: it is.) It’s a story about conspiracies and struggles to reshape the world; about secret wars between men like J.P. Morgan, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla. It is about one of the strangest and least-known mysteries of American history: the existence and disappearance of the Lost Kingdom of Ohio. It is about science and faith, and the distance between the two. Most of all, it’s a story about a man and a woman, and about love.

That’s from an early page of the novel. To this description one might also add: It’s about time, and memory, and the distance between those things as well. It’s about machines, and trains, and the secrets beneath our feet. It’s about the different worlds we live in without noticing. And it is about the way in which these worlds touch.

In terms of plot, the novel follows two strands; one a framing narrative of an old antiques dealer in contemporary Los Angeles, and the other the meat of the book, the story of a young man named Peter Force who was a miner in Idaho in 1899, comes to New York following the death of his father, finds work building the new subway system, and then meets a strange young woman who claims to have travelled in time. We learn that the woman, Cheri-Anne Toledo, is the only daughter of the last King of Ohio, and has collaborated with Nikola Tesla; but Tesla himself seems not to remember her.

Published in 2009, The Kingdom of Ohio is a stunningly assured book, outstanding in its skillful prose and consistent intelligence. The style of the book is powerful, evocative; it builds dreamlike worlds both in Ohio and New York, making a kind of fairy-tale of America, where inventors replace wizards and businessmen stand in for kings (sometimes). Its language is rich and perfect, reflecting a richness of conception — a richness in the way it imagines its setting, in the way it imagines its characters.

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Apex Magazine #26 Released

Apex Magazine #26 Released

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bigcover-239x300Apex Magazine is a monthly on-line publication of science fiction, fantasy and horror edited by Catherynne M. Valente.

The issue features three stories: “The Neighborly Thing to Do” by T.J. Weyler, “The Widow and the Xir” by Indrapramit Das and “The Rapid Advancement of Sorrow” by Theodora Goss. Paul Jessup’s non-fiction piece is “The Top 10 Experimental Genre Books You’ve Never Heard Of.”

Apex Magazine is sold online for $2.99; it’s also available in Kindle, Nook, and a downloadable format through Smashwords. Previous issues are available through their  store. We last profiled Apex with Issue 23.

You can subscribe and get 12 issues for just $19.99.

Art of the Genre: The Critical Hit Update

Art of the Genre: The Critical Hit Update

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tank_the_dragon_-_text_beneath_box-300Well now, I’m making this special appearance because I promised Zachary, who I haven’t seen in some time actually, that I’d post up news on The Critical Hit. News, you see, has finally happened, although it all seems very mixed at the moment.

A few months back, after posting several comics here in Black Gate, Jeff Laubenstein and I sold our comic, The Critical Hit, to Wizards of the Coast for a new website comic launch they were going with this summer. It was a kind of veneration to the old Dragonmirth comics found in the back of Dragon Magazines, so I thought The Critical Hit fit very nicely with that concept. So did Jon Schindehette the Creative Director at Wizards, and so Black Gate’s loss was to be Wizards gain.

Today, Friday the 8th, the test of The Critical Hit went live over at the Wizards D&D website so I hope that all of you who enjoyed the few comics I posted here will journey on over and take a look at it here. We’ve been getting beaten up a bit in the comments section, so if you do like the piece and would like to see it continue, please sign in and comment yourself. Otherwise, I guess I won’t see you in the funny papers!