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Month: April 2016

The Thing In the Lower Rack: A Tale of Truly Lovecraftian Experience

The Thing In the Lower Rack: A Tale of Truly Lovecraftian Experience

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dishwasher baby-smallHP Lovecraft once said that “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the-” wait, wait a second. If I never have to hear that quote again I’ll die happy.

HP Lovecraft also said:

One of my strongest and most persistent wishes being to achieve, momentarily, the illusion of some strange suspension or violation of the galling limitations of time, space, and natural law which for ever imprison us and frustrate our curiosity about the infinite cosmic spaces beyond the radius of our sight and analysis.

And he also said:

There will always be a small percentage of persons who feel a burning curiosity about unknown outer space, and a burning desire to escape from the prison-house of the known and the real into those enchanted lands of incredible adventure and infinite possibilities which dreams open up to us, and which things like deep woods, fantastic urban towers, and flaming sunsets momentarily suggest.

So with that in mind, there is a certain way my family has always loaded the dishwasher.

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Future Treasures: A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh

Future Treasures: A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh

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A Lovely Way to Burn-small A Lovely Way to Burn-back-small

You know how we love to mix genres here at Black Gate. A Lovely Way to Burn, on sale in trade paperback next week from Quercus Books, looks like a fine example of one of my favorite modern concoctions: the apocalyptic mystery. As hospitals begin to fill with the dead and dying, Stevie Flint is convinced the sudden death of her boyfriend, Dr. Simon Sharkey, was not from natural causes. As the exits from London become choked with people fleeing a deadly new plague, Stevie’s search for answers take her in the opposite direction, into the very heart of the dying city.

Louise Welsh is also the author of The Bullet Trick, The Girl on the Stairs, and The Cutting Room. A Lovely Way to Burn is the opening novel in her Plague Tales trilogy. The second volume, Death is a Welcome Guest, arrives on May 3, and the third and final nstallment, No Dominion, will be published in January of next year.

Like this new genre of apocalyptic mysteries? You might also want to check out Lev AC Rosen’s Depth and Ben H. Winters’ The Last Policeman.

A Lovely Way to Burn will be published by Quercus on April 5, 2016. It is 318 pages, priced at $14.99 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by More Visual Limited.

The April Magazine Rack

The April Magazine Rack

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Analog-April-2016-rack Apex-Magazine-March-2016-rack Beneath-Ceaseless-Skies-195-rack Clarkesworld-114-rack
giganotosaurus-logo-rack Fantasy-Scroll-Magazine-Issue-11-rack The-Glass-Galago-rack Lightspeed-March-2016-rack

Lots of great reading for fantasy lovers this month — including some terrific tales at Tor.com, new issues of Fantasy Scroll, Lightspeed, Apex, Clarkesworld, Analog, and many more.

For our vintage magazine readers, Rich Horton reviewed the March 1964 Amazing Stories, and Doug Ellis dug deep into his impressive collection to report on the Early Chicago SF Fan Club, and Otto Binder’s 1937 letter on John W. Campbell, and we introduced you to Gideon Marcus’ website Galactic Journey.

Check out all the details on the magazines above by clicking on the each of the images. Our Mid-March Fantasy Magazine Rack is here.

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Read Derek Künsken’s Story “Flight From the Ages” in the April/May Asimov’s SF

Read Derek Künsken’s Story “Flight From the Ages” in the April/May Asimov’s SF

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Asimov's Science Fiction April May 2016-smallI bought Derek Künsken’s story “The Gifts of Li Tzu-Ch’eng” for Black Gate 15; since then he’s had a very impressive career, publishing over a dozen short stories in Asimov’s, Analog, and other fine places. In 2013 he won the Asimov’s SF Readers’ Award for his story “The Way of the Needle,” and “Persephone Descending,” his cover story for the November 2014 Analog, placed #2 in the 2014 Analog Readers’ Award for Best Novelette.

His latest story, “Flight From the Ages,” appears in the April/May issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction, now on sale at fine bookstores everywhere. It’s the far-future tale of the artificial intelligence Ulixes-316, sole occupant of the customs and tariff ship The Derivatives Market. Here’s a taste.

Ulixes emerged into a sepulchral rubble of asteroids, hard planetesimals, and shriveled, radioactive gas giants. This was the wreck of the Tirhene system, seen half an AU from the streams of dark lithium and carbon in the highest clouds of the red dwarf. This wasteland of planetary debris had been left by the long-ago Kolkheti-Sauronati War…

Another customs and tariff ship in the Tirhene system signaled with an encrypted Bank code. Poluphemos-156. Ulixes acknowledged the signal and they proceeded sunward…

“You’re lit up with tachyons,” Ulixes transmitted.

“It’s new corporate tech,” Poluphemos replied. “I’m in direct contact with the bank headquarters.”

“What? Why wasn’t I told?”

“It’s need-to-know,” Poluphemos said. “Now you need to know.”

I like the subtle call-outs to the tale of Ulysses and Polyphemus. Derek is a regular Saturday blogger for Black Gate; his recent articles for us include his interview with Ken Liu, and “On Becoming a Full-Time Writer.”

We’ll cover the rest of this issue of Asimov’s as part of our regular magazine coverage. See all our latest magazine news here.

New Treasures: Transcendental and Transgalactic by James Gunn

New Treasures: Transcendental and Transgalactic by James Gunn

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Transcendental-small Transgalactic-small

Transcendental back-smallI’m always on the lookout for a good adventure SF series, and James Gunn’s pair of connected novels, Transcendental and Transgalactic, definitely look like they fit the bill. The books follow the adventures of Riley, a burned out war vet, and Asha, a woman on a pilgrimage to the Galactic Edge, as they investigate a mysterious alien prophet at the head of a new religious movement — and deal with the strange powers their investigation eventually gives them.

Transcendental was published by Tor in 2013, and is now available in trade paperback (see the back cover at right; click for bigger version.) Transgalactic was released in March in hardcover; here’s the description.

When Riley and Asha finally reached the planet Terminal and found the Transcendental Machine, a matter transmission device built by an ancient race, they chose to be “translated.” Now in possession of intellectual and physical powers that set them above human limitations, the machine has transported them to two, separate, unknown planets among a possibility of billions.

Riley and Asha know that together they can change the galaxy, so they attempt to do the impossible — find each other.

Transcendental was published by Tor on August 27, 2013. It is $25.99 in hardcover, $15.99 in trade paperback, and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover is Stephan Martiniere.

Transgalactic was published by Tor on March 22, 2016. It is $26.99 in hardcover, and $12.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Thom Tenery.