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Month: June 2015

New Treasures: Medicine For the Dead by Arianne ‘Tex’ Thompson

New Treasures: Medicine For the Dead by Arianne ‘Tex’ Thompson

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Medicine for the Dead-smallOne of the more popular books I featured in my New Treasures coverage last year was the debut fantasy novel by Arianne ‘Tex’ Thompson, a delightful weird western titled One Night in Sixes. The border town of Sixes is quiet in the heat of the day, but at sunset wake the gunslingers and shapeshifters and ancient animal gods whose human faces never outlast the daylight. Appaloosa Elim had to enter Sixes to find his so-called ‘partner Sil Halfwick, who disappeared inside in the hope of making a name for himself among Sixes’ notorious black-market traders.

And now the story of Appaloosa Elim continues in Medicine For the Dead, Book Two of Children of the Drought, published by Solaris in March.

Two years ago, the crow-god Marhuk sent his grandson to Sixes. Two nights ago, a stranger picked up his gun and shot him. Two hours ago, the funeral party set out for the holy city of Atali’Krah, braving the wastelands to bring home the body of Dulei Marhuk.

Out in the wastes, one more corpse should hardly make a difference. But the blighted landscape has been ravaged by drought, twisted by violence, and warped by magic — and no-one is immune. Vuchak struggles to keep the party safe from monsters, marauders, and his own troubled mind. Weisei is being eaten alive by a strange illness. And fearful, guilt-wracked Elim hopes he’s only imagining the sounds coming from Dulei’s coffin.

As their supplies dwindle and tensions mount, the desert exacts a terrible price from its pilgrims – one that will be paid with the blood of the living, and the peace of the dead.

Read the first pages at Thompson’s website. Medicine For the Dead was published by Solaris on March 24, 2015. It is 480 pages, priced at $7.99 in paperback and $6.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Tomasz Jedruszek.

The Future of Fantasy: The Best New Releases in June

The Future of Fantasy: The Best New Releases in June

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A Book of Spirits and Thieves-small The-Years-Best-Science-Fiction-Fantasy-2015-small The Birthgrave Tanith Lee-small

There are precisely 30 days in June, and we’ve compiled a list of the 30 most exciting and anticipated novels, collections and anthologies being released this month. You know what that means — if you want to keep up, you’ll need to read at least one book a day (and since we’re already a dozen days into June, you better get hopping… you’re behind already!)

Our June catalog of the best new fiction includes new releases from Stephen King, Garth Nix, Mark Lawrence, John R. Fultz, Terry Brooks, Jon Sprunk, and others, as well as some spiffy reprints from James Blaylock,  Tanith Lee, Lev Grossman, Michael Moorcock, and others. But time’s a-wasting; let’s get started!

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Goth Chick News: The Pizza Delivery Box of Horror

Goth Chick News: The Pizza Delivery Box of Horror

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Pizza Hut Blockbuster Box-smallThe last place in the world I expected to find something interesting to tell you about this week is on the website Business Insider.

Like the rest of the staff here at Black Gate, I have a day job. Because as BG boss John is fond of reminding us, it is the palatial offices or a salary – we can’t have both.

So when existing in the very separate, cube-dwelling portion of my career, I am obligated to read about topics that would never darken the stairwell of the underground bunker of Goth Chick News from riveting sources like the Wall Street Journal, Crain’s Chicago Business and yes, Business Insider.

So imagine my amazement when my two worlds collided.

Business Insider reports this week that Pizza Hut, coming to the earth-shattering conclusion that pizza and movie nights sort of go together, is releasing their new Blockbuster Box; a way to combine food with entertainment in one package.

Here’s how it works: You order your pizza and it comes in one of four themed boxes. There’s the horror-filled “Slice Night,” “Anchovy Armageddon” for sci-fi fans, “Hot & Ready” for the romance lovers, and the action-packed “Fully Loaded.” When you get your box, you pop out a hole in the front, insert the provided lens, scan a QR code on the box to load the movie, and then put your phone on a stand inside the box to blow it up on your wall.

Right off the bat you can guess at the issues with this concept, but then again – “Slice Night”?  How could you not fall in love with that?

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“Help! I Want to Write a Novel But Don’t Have Any Ideas!!!”

“Help! I Want to Write a Novel But Don’t Have Any Ideas!!!”

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Pulp-O-Mizer_Cover_Image
Their problem, then, is how to Be Creative.

“How do I come up with an Idea for writing a novel?” comes up sooooo very often on the writing forums that… well, that I am writing this.

On the face of it, the question sounds silly; how can you aspire to write if you don’t have any ideas?

Actually, the questioner usually does have ideas. However, they are (1) expecting a Novel Idea to stand out because it has a choir of angels flying around it singing Vode An or (2) sense that their ideas are too vague to lend themselves to story building.

However, let’s assume the rare case #3, that the wannabe writer’s mind is actually blank. They love the idea of telling a story, think they would enjoy the process, but can’t think of what to write about.

Their problem, then, is how to Be Creative.

There are, of courses, lots of workshops on freeing your creativity. You can also buy all sorts of self help books. Most of them come down to, Stop Self Editing/ Switch off your internal editor.

There is truth in this. The book The Midnight Disease shows that there really is both an Internal Editor and an Internal Mad-as-a-Hatter-Creative. The idea is that you tell the Editor to shut up and just let the Creative splurge out whatever falls out of your brain. Only once you have a whiteboard/notebook/screen full of jottings do you unmuzzle the Editor and pick the ideas that have legs.

In this model of creativity, only this filtering process is what distinguishes professional creatives from people… well, in need of a different sort of professional help.

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One Shot, One Story: Ray Bradbury

One Shot, One Story: Ray Bradbury

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Ray Bradbury-smallEnmeshed as we are in the world-shaking spectacle that is the 2015 NBA finals, this might be an appropriate time to take a break from the struggle of the Hobbits (Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and their Golden State Warriors) against the dominion of the Dark Lord (LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers) and remember back to the last improbable time that professional basketball was mentioned on Black Gate.

That was in my article of last October, “One Shot, One Story: Clark Ashton Smith,” which was inspired by a discussion I had with a fellow NBA addict in which we debated the burning question, “If you had to pick one player to make one shot — to save your life — who would it be?” Once our argument had run its course, I started thinking about a different form of acrobatic exhibitionism — writing, which led to a related question: If you had to introduce a prospective reader to the work of Clark Ashton Smith with just one story, which story would you choose?

If you’re dying to know the sporting and literary answers to those queries, read the old article; it’s not bad, and I’m already thinking about an All-Fantasy Greats basketball team… let’s see, H.P. Lovecraft at point guard creating for his teammates, finding that punishing inside player Robert E. Howard in the post, or kicking out to Clark Ashton Smith for a deep three pointer… woah. Somebody had better stop me before I get silly…

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Erik Chevalier Reaches Settlement With FTC For Kickstarter Failure

Erik Chevalier Reaches Settlement With FTC For Kickstarter Failure

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The Doom That Came to Atlantic City logoTwo years ago we reported on the spectacular failure of one of the biggest Kickstarter success stories of 2012.

Reports are coming in that Erik Chevalier, the man behind one of the most high-profile Kickstarter game successes of 2012, The Doom That Came To Atlantic City, has admitted that he will never produce the game… Over the past 13 months, Chevalier has been releasing increasingly bleak progress reports, culminating in this post Tuesday…

The Washington Post is reporting today that Chevalier has agreed to a settlement order with the FTC that includes a $111,793.71 judgment against him — although it’s unlikely he’ll ever be able to pay it.

In its first ever enforcement action against a crowdfunded project, the Federal Trade Commission went after a board game project gone wrong… Few, if any, supporters of the project ever received refunds, the FTC alleged in a complaint against Chevalier disclosed Thursday that accuses him of deceiving backers of the project. And instead of spending most of the funds raised through Kickstarter on making the game, he spent it on himself, the agency claimed. “In reality, Defendant never hired artists for the board game and instead used the consumers’ funds for miscellaneous personal equipment, rent for a personal residence, and licenses for a separate project,” the complaint said.

Chevalier has agreed to a settlement order with agency. Under the agreement, he’s prohibited from making misrepresentations about crowdfunding campaigns and failing to honor refund policies in the future. The order also contains a $111,793.71 judgment against Chevaliar, but it is suspended because of his inability to pay. “The full amount will become due immediately if he is found to have misrepresented his financial condition,” an FTC press release said.

Read the complete article here.

Shimmer 25 Now on Sale

Shimmer 25 Now on Sale

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Shimmer 25 May 2015-smallShimmer #25, cover-dated May 2015, offers four new stories. Three are currently available on the website; the fourth will be available on June 16.

“The Proper Motion of Extraordinary Stars,” by Kali Wallace
Smoke rose from the center of Asunder Island, marring a sky so blue and so clear it made Aurelia’s eyes ache. The sailors had been insisting for days she would see the Atrox swooping and turning overhead, if only she watched long enough, but there was no sign of the great birds.

“The Mothgate,” by J.R. Troughton
We knelt behind the crumbling wall, rifles balanced over its brow, peeking over the moss-stained stone and into the dense trees that lay beyond. I tried as best I could to stop my teeth from chattering, but the winter night was bitterly cold. Mama Rattakin didn’t seem to notice. She was staring toward the tree line, pointing with her black and withered hand.

“Good Girls,” by Isabel Yap
You’ve denied the hunger for so long that when you transform tonight, it hurts more than usual. You twist all the way round, feel your insides slosh and snap as you detach. Your wings pierce your skin as you leave your lower half completely. A sharp pain rips through your guts, compounding the hunger. Drifting toward the open window, you carefully unfurl your wings. It’s an effort not to make a sound.

“In the Rustle of Pages,” by Cassandra Khaw (available 6/16)
Li Jing looks up from the knot of lavender yarn in her hands, knitting needles ceasing their silvery chatter. The old woman smiles, head cocked. There is something subtly cat-like about the motion, a smoothness that belies the lines time has combed into her round face, a light that burns where life has waned.

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Support For Irene Gallo Continues to Grow

Support For Irene Gallo Continues to Grow

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Tor Books logoSupport for Irene Gallo, the embattled Creative Director of Tor Books, has grown with astonishing speed over the last 24 hours. Writers, editors, bloggers, and fans are speaking out in numbers across the genre.

In her Daily Dot article “Why sci-fi authors are angry with Tor Books,” Gavia Baker-Whitelaw writes:

In the world of sci-fi/fantasy publishing, all anyone can talk about today is this Tor.com blog post from Tor Books founder Tom Doherty….

After Doherty denounced Gallo’s comment, many sci-fi fans and authors began accusing him of hypocrisy. If Gallo’s post was deemed objectionable enough to warrant a public disavowal, what about the controversial opinions published by other Tor authors and employees?

While Gallo’s opinions were offensive to some Sad Puppies supporters, it’s unclear why the single-paragraph Facebook comment resulted in such a public response almost a month after it was posted. Other Tor-affiliated writers have posted similar things on social media over the past few months, but none of the comments were addressed on the front page of Tor.com.

In an article titled “Tor’s Dumb Letter,” Harry Connolly highlights the differences in the way Irene Gallo and Tor contracts manager Sean Fodera were treated for embarrassing the company.

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The Testament of Tall Eagle Now Available

The Testament of Tall Eagle Now Available

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The Testament of Tall Eagle John Fultz-smallTALL EAGLE has arrived.

Last month Black Gate ran an exclusive preview of Chapter 1 from THE TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE from Ragnarok Publications.

The book is now available in PAPERBACK and EBOOK formats.

Here’s what people are saying about it:

“TALL EAGLE is myth-making of epic scope. Fultz has rapidly matured into a major fantasist.”
— Laird Barron, Author of The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All

“Surefooted, mythic, and compelling: Fultz delivers the goods.”
 — Howard Andrew Jones, Author of The Desert of Souls

“An addictively readable blend of adventure fantasy à la Edgar Rice Burroughs and Michael Moorcock and classic western pulp from authors like Max Brand, THE TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE takes two tried-and-true categories (adventure fantasy and western fiction) and creates something utterly delectable…seamlessly fuses together elements of fantasy, western, horror, and even a powerful romance.”
— Paul Goat Allen

“Fultz blends swords-and-sorcery fantasy with elements that echo Native American mythology and culture to create a memorable hero-tale. Fans of his Books of the Shaper trilogy will certainly find the same vivid characterizations and thrilling action scenes that marked his debut work, this time in service to a story that intriguingly plays against the traditional faux-European inspirations of so many fantasy writers. The influence of Fultz’s literary hero, Robert E. Howard, is certainly evident in the brawny, frontier ethos of his characters; the harsh, danger-filled setting in which they struggle for life and for love; and the pervasive sense of impending, creeping doom… A thrilling rollercoaster of a read!”  — Mark Smylie, Author of The Barrow and Artesia

Where Extra-planar Daemons and Dark Gods Play: Warhammer 40K: Gaunt’s Ghosts: First & Only

Where Extra-planar Daemons and Dark Gods Play: Warhammer 40K: Gaunt’s Ghosts: First & Only

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Gaunts Ghosts First and Only-smallFirst & Only
A Warhammer 40K novel
Volume 1 of Gaunt’s Ghosts
By Dan Abnett
Black Library (272 pages, $6.95, March 2000)
Cover by Kenson Low

Warhammer 40,000 is, at its core, a miniatures game artfully designed to separate wargamers from their money with peak efficiency. But it may be more broadly known as a shared-universe fiction franchise which occupies several shelves in the tie-in fiction wasteland west of “Z” at your local book retailer. Our very own John O’Neill has covered several books in the ongoing Horus Heresy saga, and odds are that even if you’ve never picked up a book, you’ve noticed the Black Library imprint occupying ever more space on the New Releases rack.

WH40k occupies a gray area between science fiction and fantasy. I’d categorize it most accurately as a very grim shade of space opera, but extra-planar daemons and dark gods play a central role in its varied mythology, and there are sci-fi races which correspond to elves, orcs, and even undead (with heavy shades of Terminator). It’s primarily a canvas on which to tell stories about war, and so none of the various factions are particularly given to the arts of peacetime.

The majority of WH40K fiction is stories about the Space Marines (Adeptus Astartes for purists): genetically enhanced super soldiers who go into battle against alien and daemonic hordes clad in heavy power armor and carrying an assortment of massive guns and chainsaw swords. They tend to be hyper-manly, grim, serious, and generally without concerns besides waging war.

Honestly, I’ve found most of the WH40K fiction I’ve sampled to be fairly shallow. Every story is perpetual war and violence, with characters who exist only as warriors, moving from battle to blood-drenched battle. Most of the time, I’ve felt that any sense of deeper meaning to the carnage gets obscured, leaving little more than loving descriptions of weaponry and slaughter.

But there are diamonds in the ashes, and Dan Abnett’s work shines brightest of them all.

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