Fletcher Vredenburgh kicks off our coverage of two very promising new publications this month in his regular magazine column: Cirsova, a magazine of sword and sorcery and science fiction, and Pulp Literature, which attempts to re-capture the high adventure spirit of the great pulp mags — and largely succeeds. Here’s Fletcher.

Two incredibly impressive magazines crossed my desk this past month: the very first issue of the brand new Cirsova, edited by P. Alexander, and Pulp Literature #10, edited by the triumvirate of Mel Anastasiou, Jennifer Landels, and Susan Pieters. Both are hefty collections (Cirsova is 95 pages and Pulp Literature is 229) and are available as e-books as well as real live paper versions.

P. Anderson may say that what ties the various stories in Cirsova together is a love for the glorious pulp adventures of the past. While that is clearly true, their truest similarity lies in the authors’ love of storytelling… Cirsova has built a stage for writers to tell stories with narrative force, audacious adventure, and outlandishly magnificent settings. If this is what the first issue looks like, I expect future ones will blow me away…

Pulp Literature has been around for several years now, having published ten thick issues… While it has only a few swords & sorcery stories, I was blown away by PL’s quality and richness… Pulp Literature is filled with a wide variety of genres. Senior citizen detectives, Jewish monsters in contemporary Ontario, poetry, all sorts of good things. Don’t let that literature tag scare you off. The editors’ love of pulp in so many varieties means they have a love of storytelling and don’t neglect it. How such a magazine has escaped wider notice eludes me.

In other news, we also reported that dark fantasy magazine The Dark is switching to monthly. Check out all the details on the magazines above by clicking on the each of the images. Our Mid-April Fantasy Magazine Rack is here.

As we’ve mentioned before, all of these magazines are completely dependent on fans and readers to keep them alive. Many are marginal operations for whom a handful of subscriptions may mean the difference between life and death. Why not check one or two out, and try a sample issue? There are magazines here for every budget, from completely free to $35/issue. If you find something intriguing, I hope you’ll consider taking a chance on a subscription. I think you’ll find it’s money very well spent.

Black Gate reports exclusively on fantasy magazines, although we also cover the occasional science fiction or mainstream magazine with some fantasy content. We currently cover 41 magazines (links will take you to our latest coverage):

Adventure Tales edited by John Betancourt
Albedo One edited by Robert (Bob) Neilson
Apex, edited by Jason Sizemore
Ares Magazine, edited by Michael Anderson
Asimov’s Science Fiction, edited by Sheila Williams
Back Issue, edited by Michael Eury
Beneath Ceaseless Skies, edited by Scott H. Andrews
Black Static, edited by Andy Cox
Cemetery Dance, edited by Richard Chizmar
Cirsova, edited by P. Alexander,
Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace
The Dark, edited by Jack Fisher and Sean Wallace
The Digest Enthusiast, edited by Arkay Olgar
Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, edited by Warren Lapine
Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by C.C. Finlay
Fantasy Scroll, edited by Iulian Ionescu, Frederick Doot, and Alexandra Zamorski
GigaNotoSaurus, edited by Rashida J. Smith
Grimdark Magazine, edited by Adrian Collins
Gygax, edited by Jayson Elliot
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, edited by Adrian Simmons, David Farney, William Ledbetter and James Frederick William Rowe

Holdfast, edited by Laurel Sills and Lucy Smee
Inhuman Magazine, edited by Allen Koszowski
Interfictions Online, edited by Delia Sherman
Interzone, edited by Andy Cox
Knights of the Dinner Table, edited by Jolly Blackburn
Lackington’s, edited by Ranylt Richildis
Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams
Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi
Mythic Delirium, edited by Mike Allen
Nightmare, edited by John Joseph Adams
Outposts of Beyond, edited by Tyree Campbell
Pulp Literature, edited by Mel Anastasiou, Jennifer Landels, and Susan Pieters.
Science Fiction Classics
Scrolls of Legendry, edited by D.M. Ritzlin
Shimmer, edited by E. Catherine Tobler
Swords and Sorcery Magazine, edited by Curtis Ellett
Tor.com, edited by various
Uncanny, edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota
Weirdbook, edited by Douglas Draa‎
Weird Fiction Review, edited by S.T. Joshi
Weird Tales, edited by Marvin Kaye

We’ve also covered many fine magazines that are now defunct:

Amazing Stories
Arcane
Bull Spec
Cosmic Crimes Stories
Crossed Genres
Dark Realms
Darker Matter
Doc Savage
Electric Velocipede
Fantastic
Fantastic Novels
Fantastic Universe
Fantasy Magazine
Fantasy/Fantasy Newsletter
The Fantasy Fan
Fantasy Review
Flashing Swords
Future Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction

GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominatior
H.P. Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror
Infinity
Innsmouth Magazine
Jabberwocky
Kobold Quarterly
The Last Province
Level UP
Paradox
Planet Stories
Port Iris
Reader’s Digest
Realms of Fantasy
Satellite
Science Fiction Adventures
Shadis
Spellbound
Strange Tales
Subterranean
Super Science Stories
The Original Science Fiction Stories
Unknown
Venture
Wizard
Worlds of If
Zahir

And we’ve covered the following magazines intermittently:

Against the Odds
Alter Ego
Analog
Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine
Betwixt
Dark Worlds
Entertainment Weekly
The Excellent Travelling Volume
Faerie Magazine
Galaxy’s Edge
Goblin Fruit
Granta
Heliotrope
Lovecraft eZine
New Realm
The New Yorker
The New York Review of Science Fiction
Primeval: A Journal of the Uncanny
Rue Morgue
The SFWA Bulletin
Strange Horizons
Stupefying Stories
Tin House
Vanity Fair
Virginia Quarterly Review
Whistling Shade

Check out all of our recent magazine coverage here.