I think we’ve finally deciphered what it is that Black Gate readers truly want: great fantasy novels, with lots of action and an enchanting cast of characters.

And pirates.

That would certainly explain how the brief announcement of David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna’s first collaboration, Waters of Darkness, vaulted to the top of our traffic stats and stayed there for the entire month of March — edging out Emily Mah’s Ellen Datlow interview, Sean McLachlan’s examination of one of the greatest miniature battles of history, Violette Malan’s look at swearing in fantasy, and Matha Well’s thoughtful look at how her novel The Clouds Roads fits the Sword & Sorcery sub-genre.

There are plenty of surprises — and lots of great reading — in the Top 50 Black Gate posts in March. The complete list follows. Enjoy — and stay tuned for more posts about pirates. We know a good thing when we see one.

1. Damnation Books releases Waters of Darkness by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna
2. Ellen Datlow on Hating one of my Questions…
3. The Battle of the Three Kings, 1578, in Miniature
4. My Characters Don’t give a Damn
5. How well does The Cloud Roads fit as Sword and Sorcery?
6. Sorry, can you say that again?
7. Adventure on Film: Why Hollywood gets it Wrong
8. Weird of Oz considers Postbuffyism
9. On the one year Anniversary of John Carter, Let’s Look Forward to a New Tarzan Movie
10. The battle of Tondibi, 1591, in Miniature

     

11. Tarzan-on-Demand: Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure on DVD from Warner Archive
12. Goth chick news: Hansel & Gretel: WTF…?
13. Weird of Oz Huffs about Hit Points
14. Kickstarter Alert: Dungeon Roll Dice Game
15. To Unbuild the Unreal City: M. John Harrison’s Viriconium
16. Adventure on film: Navigator a Medieval Odyssey
17. Rogue Blades Reveals the Secrets of Writing Fantasy Heroes
18. Sorry, can you repeat that?
19. Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, Part 1: The Movie
20. Self-published Book Reviews: Chains of Loss by Robert Sier

     

21. Vintage Treasures: Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea
22. Weird of Oz: Scooby Meets Buffy (a Postscript)
23. Vintage Treasures: Morlock Night by K W Jeter
24. Teaching and Fantasy Literature: Taking the SAT? Montag to the Rescue!
25. Weird Western on Demand: The White Buffalo
26. Weird of Oz revisits Fighting Fantasy
27. New Treasures: Gygax Magazine, Issue 1
28. New Treasures: Enter the Wolf, Vampire Earth Volume 1
29. Caitlin R. Kiernan and Kiini Ibura Salaam, Joint Recipients of the 2012 Tiptree Award
30. Red Sonja 14

     

31. The Best One-Sentence Reviews of Manly Wade Wellman: The Winners of The Complete John Thunstone Contest
32. Tell Us About Your Ideal Fantasy Hero, and Win a Copy of Writing Fantasy Heroes
33. Unearthed Adventures: Announcing the Winners of the Best One-Paragraph D&D Adventures
34. Amazing Stories, August 1964: A Retro Review
35. Tomb of Horrors gets a Fourth Edition Makeover
36. Adventure on film: The Naked Prey
37. Teaching and Fantasy Literature: Heroic Struggle and the Taxonomy of Meanies
38. Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1950: A Retro Review
39. New Treasures: The Merriest Knight, The Collected Arthurian Tales of Theodore Goodridge Roberts
40. Red Sonja 13

     

41. Horror or Not: Daphne du Maurier and Rebecca
42. Stephen King pens a Sequel, 36 years Later
43. Stick this in your pipe and smoke it
44. The Land the Ravens Found and Naomi Mitchison
45. The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination Just $1.99 at Amazon.com
46. Goth Chick News: The Best of the HHA
47. Kissing My Axe
48. SF Signal on Liar’s Blade: “Fafhrd-and-Grey-Mouser-style Sword and Sorcery”
49. Fantastic, January 1965: A Retro Review
50. New Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer features more ‘Splosions

The Top 5o Black Gate blog posts in February are here.