June 2012 – Page 8

Beth Dawkins Reviews Black Blade Blues

Sunday, June 3, 2012 Bill Ward Comments 2 comments

black-blade-blues Black Blade Blues
J.A. Pitts
TOR (384pp, $7.99, April 2011 Mass Market)
Reviewed by Beth Dawkins

Sarah, the protagonist of J.A. Pitts’ Black Blade Blues, is a twenty something blacksmith and props manager for a movie set. She works two jobs to pay her bills and student loans. On the movie set the lead man breaks her one-of-a-kind sword, and she decides to fix it. A man who claims to be a dwarf decides to help, and so the blade is reforged. The dwarf also insists that she must use it to kill a dragon, who is also an investment banker. After the blade it put back together, things start to fall apart for Sarah. Firstly, when things get serious with her girlfriend Katie, and then with her working relationships, everything dips out of control until Sarah is forced to acknowledge — and deal with — the paranormal aspects that are going on around her.

Sarah is a multi-layered character. She has anger problems, and is dealing with her sexuality. She doesn’t want to be openly gay with her girlfriend Katie, but she wants to be in a relationship with her. She doesn’t acknowledge the paranormal things that happen around her until she is forced to, and by that time her process of dealing with them is violent. After the sword is reforged, earthquakes start, and a homeless man who could be Odin starts babbling to Sarah. Instead of paying attention, her mind is more on Katie. After she has an argument with Katie, she sees a dragon for the first time and is so wrapped up in what might be going on around her (the paranormal), she doesn’t make time to talk things out. There are some scenes towards the end where friends make a few jokes, and though danger is immediate, and the reader is told that Sarah only wants to kill, she still laughs. I wanted her either friendly or brooding; instead she is a middle ground character that was hard to identify with.

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The Best of Modern Arabian Fantasy, Part IV: C.A. Suleiman

Saturday, June 2, 2012 Emily Mah Comments 3 comments

l_088dd4c6077242c28afe05231683df1d-300x — C.A. Suleiman (center) with his band, Toll Carom

I met C.A. Suleiman online as I was working on this Best of Modern Arabian fantasy series. While Colin is not the only person of Middle Eastern descent I’ve interviewed, he is the first to appear.

A writer, musician, and game designer, Colin has built many worlds and milieus, many of which are inspired and informed by his Middle Eastern heritage. It was fascinating to discuss modern Arabian fantasy with a modern Arab-American.

Read on to hear his thoughts on this increasingly popular subgenre.

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Yes, The New Yorker

Saturday, June 2, 2012 Soyka Comments 1 comment

This week’s issue of The New Yorker (yes, The New Yorker!) is a science fiction issue, featuring fiction by Jonathan Lethem, Jennifer Egan, and Junot Diaz, among others.

Here’s the complete table of contents. Now you can have your science fiction fix and feel literary about it at the same time.

This Week’s Bargain SF & Fantasy Books at Amazon.com

Saturday, June 2, 2012 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

It’s good to be the editor. For example, I pretend I do a weekly bargain books update, and no one corrects me — even though the last one was in April. Thank you for indulging me in my shared fantasy.

Let’s get down to business: Bargain Books. I’m the expert, and I’m here to share my knowledge with you. It’s what I do.

This week (ha!) the list contains books by Delia Sherman, Stephen Baxter, Sara Douglass, J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen R. Donaldson, L.E. Modesitt, Jr, William Gibson, R.A. Salvatore, E.E. Knight, and many more.

The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen, Delia Sherman [$7.20, was $17.99]
Land of the Dead, by Thomas Harlan [$10.40, was $25.99]
The Last Page, Anthony Huso [$4.73, was $25.99]
Hidden Empire, Orson Scott Card [$1.63, was $24.99]
Flood, Stephen Baxter [$9.98, was $24.95]
The Devil’s Diadem, Sara Douglass [$10.80, was $26.99]
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, J. R. R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien ($1.92, was $26)
Against All Things Ending: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Stephen R. Donaldson [$6.40, was $16]
Scholar, L. E. Modesitt Jr. [$11.20, was $27.99]
Stephen King’s The Stand Vol. 1: Captain Trips, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Mike Perkins [$10, was $24.99]
Zero History, William Gibson [$6.40, was $16]
The Pirate King, R.A. Salvatore [$11.18, was $27.95]
Dragon Fate: Book Six of The Age of Fire, E. E. Knight [$6.40, was $16]
Songs of Love and Death, edited by Gardner Dozois & George R. R. Martin [$10.40, was $26]

All discounted between 60% and 80%. As always, quantities on these bargain books are very limited. All are eligible for free domestic shipping on orders over $25. Most of last week’s (ha!) discount titles are still available; you can see them here.

Weird Tales Closes to Submissions

Friday, June 1, 2012 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Holy cats! That was fast. The editors of Weird Tales magazine have announced it is closing to submissions on Tuesday, June 5th.

Now, Black Gate magazine is in no position to throw stones about being closed to submissions. We’ve been closed since roughly the Napoleonic era. But still… didn’t Weird Tales just announce it was open?

Let me check. Yup, it did.

[If you’re too lazy to click on that link, you can just scroll down the page to the announcement four days ago.]

All right, we’re done being snarky. And we will note that the magazine is only closing to fiction submissions — artists and disheveled arcane researchers, your contributions are still valued. [Okay. We’ve still got a little snark left.] Here’s the official announcement:

Heads up that at noon eastern time on Tuesday June 5th we will be closing for fiction submissions. We will still be looking at art and nonfiction proposals.

There’s still time to finish your submission and get it in the mail by Monday morning. Stock up on coffee, turn off the phone, and channel Clark Aston Smith. Fame and Fortune await you.

But act fast.

Blogging Sax Rohmer’s The Golden Scorpion, Part Two – “The Statement of M. Gaston Max”

Friday, June 1, 2012 William Patrick Maynard Comments 0 Comment

Sax Rohmer’s The Golden Scorpion was first printed in its entirety in The Illustrated London News Christmas Number in December 1918. It was published in book form in the UK the following year by Methuen and in the US in 1920 by McBride & Nast. Rohmer divided the novel into four sections. This week we shall examine the second part of the book, “The Statement of M. Gaston Max” which comprises nine chapters.

Rohmer chose to follow the formula he utilized successfully with The Yellow Claw (1915) by starting the narrative at a crucial early stage before revealing the principal character’s earlier involvement in the plot and then unexpectedly bringing Gaston Max into the proceedings and having him relate, over the course of several chapters, a lengthy background story that helps connect the dots for both reader and protagonist.

Max’s account begins some months earlier when he was serving as head of security to the Grand Duke Ivan during his visit to Paris. The French detective became concerned with the Grand Duke’s torrid affair with the exotic Egyptian dancer, Zara el-Khala, while staying in Paris. Surveillance work uncovers her connection to a mysterious individual known as The Scorpion. Max is unable to learn anything else of significance about the dancer’s background. After she unexpectedly fails to turn up for her performance one night, the detective learns she has suddenly left Paris. That same night, Grand Duke Ivan is struck ill and dies.

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Black Gate

Adventures in Fantasy Literature

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Month: June 2012