The most popular piece of fiction on the Black Gate blog last month was “Seven Against Hell” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris, an exclusive sample from their new anthology Poets in Hell.

Don’t step off the podium just yet, Janet and Chris. I’m happy to report that the #2 fiction post in July was also from fantasy’s power couple: an excerpt from heroic fantasy novel The Sacred Band by — who else? — Janet Morris and Chris Morris.

Third was perennial favorite “The Find,” by Mark Rigney, Part II of The Tales of Gemen, which has been near the top of the charts every month since it was first published here nearly three years ago.

Michael Shea’s tale of Lovecraftian horror, “Tsathoggua,” which first appeared here last September, came in fourth.

Next was Aaron Bradford Starr’s epic novella “The Sealord’s Successor,” the third adventure fantasy featuring Gallery Hunters Gloren Avericci and Yr Neh, the most popular adventuring duo we’ve ever published.

Also making the list were exciting stories by Joe Bonadonna, Mike Allen, John C. Hocking, C.S.E. Cooney, Sean McLachlan, Peter Cakebread, Vaughn Heppner, Jason E. Thummel, Harry Connolly, Steven H Silver, E.E. Knight, Judith Berman, Martha Wells, David C. Smith, and Dave Gross.

If you haven’t sampled the free adventure fantasy stories offered through our Black Gate Online Fiction line, you’re missing out. Here are the Top Twenty most-read stories in July.

1. “Seven Against Hell” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
2. An excerpt from The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
3. “The Find,” Part II of The Tales of Gemen, by Mark Rigney
4. “Tsathoggua,” by Michael Shea
5. “The Sealord’s Successor,” by Aaron Bradford Starr
6. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum,” by Joe Bonadonna
7. An excerpt from The Black Fire Concerto, by Mike Allen
8. “Vestments of Pestilence,” by John C. Hocking
9. “Godmother Lizard” by C.S.E. Cooney
10. “The Quintessence of Absence,” by Sean McLachlan
11. An excerpt from The Alchemists Revenge by Peter Cakebread
12. “The Pit Slave,” by Vaughn Heppner
13. “The Duelist” by Jason E. Thummel
14. “The Whoremaster of Pald,” by Harry Connolly
15. “The Cremator’s Tale” by Steven H Silver
16. “The Terror in the Vale,” by E.E. Knight
17. “Awakening,” by Judith Berman
18. The Death of the Necromancer, a complete novel by Martha Wells
19. “The Shadow of Dia-Sust” by David C. Smith
20. An excerpt from Pathfinder Tales: King of Chaos, by Dave Gross

The complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including novel excerpts from Jon Sprunk, David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna, and new stories by Howard Andrew Jones, Peadar Ó Guilín, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Vera Nazarian, John R. Fultz,  David Evan Harris, Ryan Harvey, and many others, is here.

The top fiction from June is here.