Our most popular blog post in July was M. Harold Page’s “Why isn’t Conan a Mary Sue?” Last month continued the Conan love: our top article for August was Bob Byrne’s survey of Tor’s years as a Conan pastiche publisher, including the popular series from Robert Jordan. Above — the first of multiple Jordan omnibus volumes from Tor, The Conan Chronicles (1995, art by Gary Ruddell).

Coming in second was our report on the Hugo Award winners, followed by Dominik Parisien’s announcement of the Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction Kickstarter. Fourth was Fletcher Vredenburgh’s look back at Frank Herbert’s classic Dune.

Rounding out the Top Five was our Future Treasures piece on Grady Hendrix’s upcoming Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction. Close on its heels was Sean McLachlan’s photo essay on his visit to Minster Lovell Hall in Oxfordshire, England. Ryan Harvey’s obituary for Haruo Nakajima, The Man Who Was Godzilla, was number seven.

Coming in at eight was Violette Malan’s look at modern publishing options, “How Did That Get Published?” Nine was Fletcher’s review of Scott Oden’s new novel A Gathering of Ravens. Wrapping up the list was Jackson Kuhl’s report on the recent controversy surrounding Laurie Forest’s novel The Black Witch.

The complete list of Top Articles for August 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 August were:

1. The Tor Conan: Quality May Vary…
2. The 2017 Hugo Award Winners
3. The Strategy Behind Disabled Stories: The What, Why, and How (but Mostly How) of Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction
4. Dune by Frank Herbert
5. Future Treasures: Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix
6. Visiting Minster Lovell Hall in Oxfordshire, England
7. Haruo Nakajima (1929–2017): The Man Who Was Godzilla
8. How Did That Get Published?
9. A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden
10. Burn the (Black) Witch

     

11. The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in July
12. Lore of the Witch World by Andre Norton
13. The Complete Carpenter: The Thing (1982)
14. New Treasures: Graphic Classics Volume 26: Vampire Classics
15. Researching the Habits of Highly Prolific Authors (and I could use your help!)
16. Brian Aldiss, August 18, 1925 — August 19, 2017
17. How to Make Your Academic History Book Approachable to the Educated Lay Reader
18. The Poison Apple: An Interview with Author Jennifer Brozek
19. Goth Chick News: The Illuminati Are Coming for Us via Outback Steakhouse
20. Repent Your Crimes: Marvel’s Black Bolt Series

     

21. Playing Child Friendly OneDice Fantasy on the Edge of the World
22. Future Treasures: The New Voices of Fantasy, edited by Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weisman
23. How Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk Immediately Became My Favorite War Movie (With Reservations)
24. The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Solar Pons – The Complete Basil Copper
25. Mage: The Hero Denied #0 and #1
26. An Incomparable Voyage Through Dreamland: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
27. Purity of Blood by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
28. What’s In A Name?
29. Amazing Stories, July 1964: A Retro-Review
30. August Short Story Roundup

     

31. Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast: The Golden Age of Science Fiction, Part 1
32. Galaxy Science Fiction November 1969: A Retro-Review
33. GenCon 2017, Pt. 1: Fantasy Deck-Building Games
34. GenCon 2017, Pt. 2: Science Fiction Edition
35. Heroic Fantasy Quarterly 33 Now Available
36. Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1953: A Retro-Review
37. July/August Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Now on Sale
38. A Glimpse of the Secret Pervert Republic: The Best American Noir of the Century, edited by James Ellroy and Otto Penzler
39. The Opportunity for Awe: An Interview with Scott Andrews
40. Urban Fantasies and Robot Westerns: The Novels of C. Robert Cargill

     

41. In 500 Words or Less: Nova by Margaret Fortune
42. John DeNardo on August’s Must-Read Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Books
43. Until Two Weeks Ago, I Had Never Reread a Novel
44. Frontier Guard, Robot Ships, and Rascal Traders: Rich Horton on Space Service, edited by Andre Norton
45. The B&N Sci-fi & Fantasy Blog on the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of August
46. Goth Chick News: Halloween Fun or Pay-to-Play Sadism – Your Call
47. >Goth Chick News: Welcome to the Wonderful, Twisted World of Chas Kline
48. Fantasia 2017, Day 2: Tilting at Ghosts (Tilt, A Ghost Story, and Museum)
49. Goth Chick News: Chas Kline Makes a Friend… Literally
50. Fantasia 2017, Day 3, Part 2: Genre Shift (Mohawk)

There were plenty of older articles popular last month as well. The 25 most popular blog posts written before August 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. “Are You Not Still Entertained?”: Gladiator’s 10-Year Oscar Anniversary
4. Solitaire Adventure with Victory Point Games
5. Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 5: Teana: 10000 Years Later, Crimson Whale, and The Shamer’s Daughter
6. My Fantasia Festival, Days 5 to 7: Cold in July, The Fatal Encounter, and Huntresses
7. Blowing the Doors Off the Barn: Expanding the Iron Fist Mythos
8. Living it Large: How Larger Than Life Characters Work
9. Adventures on Stage: Fantasy Literature’s Missing Link
10. Why isn’t Conan a Mary Sue?
11. Heroic Fantasy with the Sharp Edge of Reality: A Review of The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
12. The Return of the King (1980)
13. Eccentric in Retrospect: Helen Simpson’s The Woman on the Beast
14. Adventures In Gaming: The Temple Of the Sea Gods
15. Haunt the House: The Music and Art of Will Houlihan
16. Return to Thieves World in Beyond Sanctuary: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
17. No Slimy Monsters, No Princesses: The Bantam Spectra Omnibus Robert Silverberg
18. New Treasures: The Library of America Publishes Elmore Leonard
19. Black Gate Nominated for a Hugo Award in a Terrible Ballot
20. The Series Series: Shieldwall: Barbarians! by M. Harold Page
21. The IX by Andrew P. Weston
22. Tribulations Herculean and Tragic: Beyond Wizardwall by Janet Morris
23. Caught Between Rebels and the Empire’s Blackest Magic: Beyond the Veil: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
24. Part Gothic, Part Sword and Sorcery, and Part Horror: Andrew P. Weston’s Hell Bound
25. Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: The Skeleton Matters (Or, Why It’s Not OK to Skip Scenes in Your Third Act)

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 Pirates in Hell, edited by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
4. “Goat-Beard the Pirate, Part 2: Evil Angel,” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
5. An excerpt from Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong
6. An excerpt from Shards of the Glass Slipper: Queen Cinder by Roy A. Mauritsen
7. An excerpt from Mouth of the Dragon by Tom Barczak
8. An excerpt from The Black Fire Concerto by Mike Allen
9. An Excerpt from Three Ghosts in a Black Pumpkin by Erika M Szabo and Joe Bonadonna
10. “Vestments of Pestilence” by John C. Hocking
11. “The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying” by Alex Kreis
12. “The Sorrowless Thief” by Ryan Harvey
13. “The Trade” by Mark Rigney
14. “Nero Wolfe – Stamped for Murder” by Bob Byrne
15. An excerpt from “The Hand That Binds” by Michael Livingston
16. “The Whoremaster of Pald” by Harry Connolly
17. “Stand at Duben-Geb” by Ryan Harvey
18. The first chapter of The Wreck of the Marissa by M Harold Page
19. “Awakening” by Judith Berman
20. “Tsathoggua” by Michael Shea
21. An excerpt from Soleri by Michael Johnston
22. An Excerpt from Souldrifter by Garrett Calcaterra
23. An excerpt from Mad Shadows II by Joe Bonadonna
24. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum” by Joe Bonadonna
25. “Iron Joan” by ElizaBeth Gilligan

The top categories last month were:

1. Editor’s Blog
2. Blog Entry
3. Vintage Treasures
4. Future Treasures
5. Interviews
6. Games
7. Books
8. Essays
9. Art
10. Comics
11. Goth Chick
12. Role Playing Games
13. Fiction
14. Art of the Genre
15. Conan
16. BG Staff
17. Reviews
18. Magazines
19. News
20. Fashion
21. Writing
22. New Treasures
23. Solitaire Game Reviews
24. Convention Report
25. Rich Horton

The Top 50 Black Gate blog posts in July are here, and you can see all 75 posts we made in the month of August here.