The most-read piece of fiction on the Black Gate blog last month was our exclusive excerpt from The Alchemist’s Revenge by Peter Cakebread, the first novel from the co-author of the role playing games Airship Pirates and Clockwork & Chivalry. The first volume in the Companie of Reluctant Heroes takes place in a 17th century that didn’t quite happen, in a nation torn apart by civil war.

When an embittered mercenary agrees to escort a grieving widow to visit her husband’s grave, little does he realize the dangers they will face. This is the story of their struggle through a country divided. As they journey through tainted lands, ravaged by alchemical magic and giant clockwork war machines, they are reunited with old friends and stalked by sinister foes. The reluctant heroes band together in this tale of loss and despair, of redemption and friendship, and ultimately, of retribution and revenge!

“Stand at Dubun-Geb,” Ryan Harvey’s second tale of Ahn-Tarqa, returned to the setting of “The Sorrowless Thief,” for another heroic fantasy packed with adventure, swordplay, and weird magic. It took second place this month.

Steven H Silver’s tale of the strange astral adventures of Hoggar the Cremator, “The Cremator’s Tale,” continued its run at the top of the charts, taking third place.

Also making the list were exciting stories by Janet Morris and Chris Morris, Mark Rigney, C.S.E. Cooney, Michael Shea, David Evan Harris, Aaron Bradford Starr, Joe Bonadonna, John C. Hocking, E.E. Knight, David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna, Jason E. Thummel, Jon Sprunk, John R. Fultz, Dave Gross, and Harry Connolly.

If you haven’t sampled the free adventure fantasy stories offered through our Black Gate Online Fiction line, you’re missing out. Here are the Top Twenty most-read stories in May.

1. An excerpt from The Alchemists Revenge by Peter Cakebread
2. “Stand at Dubun-Geb,” by Ryan Harvey
3. “The Cremator’s Tale” by Steven H Silver
4. An excerpt from The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
5. “The Find,” Part II of The Tales of Gemen, by Mark Rigney
6. “Godmother Lizard” by C.S.E. Cooney
7. “Tsathoggua,” by Michael Shea
8. “The Gentle Sleeper,” by David Evan Harris
9. “The Keystone,” Part III of The Tales of Gemen, by Mark Rigney
10. “The Sealord’s Successor,” by Aaron Bradford Starr
11. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum,” by Joe Bonadonna
12. “Vestments of Pestilence,” by John C. Hocking
13. “The Terror in the Vale,” by E.E. Knight
14. An excerpt from Waters of Darkness, by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna
15. “The Duelist,” by Jason E. Thummel
16. An excerpt from Blood and Iron, by Jon Sprunk
17. An excerpt from Seven Kings, by John R. Fultz
18. An excerpt from Pathfinder Tales: King of Chaos, by Dave Gross
19. “When the Glimmer Faire Came to the City of the Lonely Eye,” by John R. Fultz
20. “The Whoremaster of Pald,” by Harry Connolly

The complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including a complete novel by Martha Wells and new stories by Howard Andrew Jones, Peadar Ó Guilín, Judith Berman, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Vera Nazarian, Vaughn Heppner, Mike Allen, Gregory Bierly, and many others, is here.

The top fiction from April is here.