The most popular topic at Black Gate last month was the new edition of the classic SF role playing game Traveller from Mongoose Publishing. And the most popular blogger was our roving games reporter M Harold Page, who covered the new edition in two posts that both made the Top Ten. Well done, Mr. Page! (However, we need to talk about those expense reports from that Altairian space bar. What exactly is a “Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster?”)

Meanwhile, back here on Earth, Ryan Harvey had the overall most popular post in April, with exciting news on the upcoming Godzilla sequel. Hot on his heels was David B. Coe, with an article on setting and the craft of worldbuilding. Next up was Sean McLachlan, our man in Egypt, who donned a worn fedora and penetrated deep into the early tombs of ancient Egypt, sending back a trove of photographic evidence (and two mummified spiders, which thrilled Goth Chick to no end.) Rounding out the Top Five was Robert Zoltan’s far-ranging discussion with BG Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones, on the master of Sword & Sorcery himself, Robert E. Howard.

Coming in at #7 was my report on the Windy City Pulp & Paper show, followed by editor Rich Horton’s always popular annual discussion of the 2017 Hugo Hugo nominations.

Traveller wasn’t the only popular game last month, and Andrew Zimmerman Jones ably demonstrated that with a look at the upcoming Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game from Modiphius Entertainment, which came in at #9. Closing out our April Top Ten list was the latest installment in Ryan Harvey’s ongoing series on Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Pellucidar Saga, Tarzan at the Earth’s Core.

The complete list of Top Articles for April follows. Below that, I’ve also broken out the most popular overall articles, online fiction, and blog categories for the month.

The Top 50 Black Gate posts in April were:

1. Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster: The Godzilla Movie to Rise Again in 2019
2. Books and Craft: World Building and the Importance of Setting
3. Modular: The New Mongoose Traveller #1 — First Impressions
4. Mastabas: Early Tombs of Ancient Egypt
5. Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast Presents: Robert E. Howard, Master of Sword & Sorcery: A Conversation with Author Howard Andrew Jones
6. Modular: The New Mongoose Traveller #2 — More Than Just a Science Fiction Midlife Crisis Simulator?
7. Total Pulp Victory: Windy City Pulp & Paper, Part II
8. Rich Horton on the 2017 Hugo Nominations
9. Modular: Star Trek Adventures is Versed in Multiple Techniques
10. Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Pellucidar Saga: Tarzan at the Earth’s Core

     

11. A New Magazine of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Lovecraftian Horror, and Sword & Sorcery: Gathering Storm
12. I’ve Got You Covered
13. Vintage Treasures: Famous Fantastic Mysteries, edited by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg, and Martin H. Greenberg
14. Worldbuilding a “Star Punk” Future
15. The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh
16. Vintage Treasures: Zimiamvia: A Trilogy by E.R. Eddison
17. Liam Neeson Attached to Play Philip Marlowe… But Not in a Raymond Chandler Adaptation for Some Reason
18. Cover to Cover
19. Wired: The Fiction Issue
20. Collecting (and Selling) Ace Doubles

     

21. A Babe in the Woods: Derek’s Literary Adventures in New York
22. Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: The 9 Aspects of Story Promise
23. A Tale of Three Covers: Allen Steele Resurrects Captain Future
24. Goth Chick News: IT Floats Into the Record Books (Even Before Its Release)
25. Talislanta Returns!
26. Goth Chick News: Netflix Gives Hill House Yet Another Life (Yay!)
27. Julius Schwartz on A. Merritt, Amazing Stories, and the First Worldcon
28. My Favorite Game: Mount and Blade/Warband – Part One
29. The Gestation of Cape and Cowl: Thoughts On Jess Nevins’ The Evolution Of The Costumed Avenger
30. When People Say the British Invasion of Comics, What Do They Really Mean?

     

31. Future Treasures: A Tyranny of Queens, Book 2 of The Manifold Worlds, by Foz Meadows
32. New Treasures: The Best of Gordon R. Dickson, Volume 1 edited by Hank Davis
33. Announcing the 2017 Hugo Award Nominees
34. So You Want to Be a Movie Star – Really?
35. Evil Wizards, Robot Guardians, and the Maze of the Minotaur: Rich Horton on The Reign of Wizardry by Jack Williamson
36. Weirdbook 34 Now Available
37. Galaxy, October 1968: A Retro-Review
38. The Top 50 Black Gate Blog Posts in March
39. New Treasures: The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Two, edited by Neil Clarke
40. Peplum Populist: Hercules, Samson & Ulysses

     

41. Modular: Chaosium Announces New Version of RuneQuest
42. Interzone #269 Now on Sale
43. An Interview With Author and Artist Tom Barczak
44. John DeNardo on The Science Fiction & Fantasy Books Everyone Will be Talking About in April
45. Wordsmiths: An Interview with Aurora Award-winner Ryan McFadden
46. Future Treasures: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Eleven edited by Jonathan Strahan
47. Space Pirates and Interplanetary Intrigue: The Far Stars Trilogy by Jay Allan
48. Black Gate on the List for the 2017 REH Foundation Awards
49. Vintage Treasures: Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
50. March/April 2017 Analog Now on Sale

There were plenty of older articles popular last month as well. The 25 most popular blog posts written before April were:

1. Death Knight Love Story: WMA meets WTF
2. Goth Chick News: Samuel L. Jackson Takes On Japanese OVA – Hold On To Your Butts…
3. The Digest Enthusiast #5 Now Available
4. Peplum Populist: Colossus of the Stone Age (Fire Monsters against the Son of Hercules)
5. What Lies Beyond The Yawning Portal? Some of the Best Adventures in Gaming
6. “Are You Not Still Entertained?”: Gladiator’s 10-Year Oscar Anniversary
7. Heroic Fantasy with the Sharp Edge of Reality: A Review of The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
8. The Series Series: Shieldwall: Barbarians! by M. Harold Page
9. New Treasures: The Library of America Publishes Elmore Leonard
10. Return to Thieves World in Beyond Sanctuary: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
11. The IX by Andrew P. Weston
12. Tribulations Herculean and Tragic: Beyond Wizardwall by Janet Morris
13. Part Gothic, Part Sword and Sorcery, and Part Horror: Andrew P. Weston’s Hell Bound
14. Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 5: Teana: 10000 Years Later, Crimson Whale, and The Shamer’s Daughter
15. The Return of the King (1980)
16. My Fantasia Festival, Days 5 to 7: Cold in July, The Fatal Encounter, and Huntresses
17. Blowing the Doors Off the Barn: Expanding the Iron Fist Mythos
18. Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: The Skeleton Matters (Or, Why It’s Not OK to Skip Scenes in Your Third Act)
19. Solitaire Adventure with Victory Point Games
20. Eccentric in Retrospect: Helen Simpson’s The Woman on the Beast
21. Haunt the House: The Music and Art of Will Houlihan
22. Adventures on Stage: Fantasy Literature’s Missing Link
23. Caught Between Rebels and the Empire’s Blackest Magic: Beyond the Veil: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
24. Vintage Treasures: The Silistra Quartet by Janet Morris/a>
25. Adventures In Gaming: The Temple Of the Sea Gods

The Top Black Gate Online Fiction features were:

1. An excerpt from The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
2. “Seven Against Hell” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
3. An excerpt from Mouth of the Dragon by Tom Barczak
4. An excerpt from Shards of the Glass Slipper: Queen Cinder by Roy A. Mauritsen
5. An excerpt from Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong
6. “Nero Wolfe – Stamped for Murder” by Bob Byrne
7. “Iron Joan” by ElizaBeth Gilligan
8. Fiction Excerpt: “Tumithak of the Corridors” by Charles R. Tanner
9. An excerpt from The Black Fire Concerto by Mike Allen
10. “Tsathoggua” by Michael Shea
11. “Stand at Duben-Geb” by Ryan Harvey
12. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum” by Joe Bonadonna
13. “The Sorrowless Thief” by Ryan Harvey
14. An excerpt from Black City Demon by Richard A. Knaak
15. “In the Wake Of Sister Blue” by Mark Rigney
16. “Queen of Toads” by Joe Bonadonna
17. An excerpt from Waters of Darkness by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna
18. An excerpt from Soleri by Michael Johnston
19. Fiction Excerpt: “The Beautiful Corridor” by Jonathan L. Howard
20. An excerpt from Mad Shadows II by Joe Bonadonna
21. “A Holmes Christmas Carol” by Bob Byrne

The top categories last month were:

1. Editor’s Blog
2. Vintage Treasures
3. News
4. Art
5. Role Playing Games
6. Magazines
7. Blog Entry
8. BG Staff
9. Comics
10. Art of the Genre
11. Interviews
12. Series Fantasy
13. Books
14. Goth Chick
15. Rich Horton
16. Teaching
17. Reviews
18. Pastiche
19. Games
20. Fiction

The Top 50 Black Gate blog posts in March are here, and you can see all 95 posts we made in the month of April here.