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Sneak peek at Black Gate 12

Sneak peek at Black Gate 12

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With the release of our new issue slated for July 7, we thought we’d give you some fiction excerpts and a look at the Table of Contents to tantalize your fantasy taste buds. James Enge’s Morlock is back, and so are Martha Wells’ wizard hunters, Giliead and Ilias. The redoubtable Dabir and Asim stalk into an all-new adventure courtesy of Howard Andrew Jones, and Kris the outrider from Black Gate 10 air-sails through another Ed Carmien tale. Joining these BG stalwarts are a host of new characters, freshly erupted from the minds of Todd McAulty, Constance Cooper, and John R. Fultz. And last but not least, we finally have the final Tumithak adventure, a fantasy classic from the late pulp writer Charles R. Tanner.

Excerpts from all of these are just a click away, along with first looks at all the great new art in BG 12 from the likes of Storn Cook, Mark Evans, John Kaufmann, Chuck Lukacs, Michael Vilardi, and John Woolley, plus some hints about the mountain of book and game reviews we have in store for you. So dive in, do some exploring, and get ready for the official BG 12 release on July 7.

EXPLORE BLACK GATE 12

Black Gate Short Fiction Reviews

Black Gate Short Fiction Reviews

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We at Tin House endeavor to widen the circle of lit. mag. readers, and to make extinct the preciousness and staid nature of journals past. That is our mission. Please lift your glasses in toast, and read on…

Thus proclaims the website for Tin House magazine, one of the more arch-literary venues to dip into the realms of the weird and fantastic in recent memory. Their thirty-third issue was devoted to “Fantastic Women” — a title guaranteed to attract the attention of Black Gate‘s resident short fiction guru, David Soyka. David braved the deep, unconventional, sometimes narratively challenged tales and found himself at turns frustratingly bewildered and pleasantly engaged. Some of the authoresses were new to him, others were old favorites.

So is the magazine ultimately worth investigating? And if so, which writers shined brightest in the Tin House literary starscape? Click on the link below and let David light the way.

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A Review of The Return of the Sword

A Review of The Return of the Sword

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For those who enjoy Sword&Sorcery.org and the quarterly fiction magazine Flashing Swords, there’s a new anthology to pick up. The Return of the Sword, edited by Jason M. Waltz, trumpets “Flashing Swords presents” on the cover, and among its contributors are many veterans of the that venerable enterprise.

Black Gate correspondent Ryan Harvey has explored the entire book, and gives you the lowdown on pieces by Stacey Berg, Bill Ward, Phil Emery, Jeff Draper, Nicholas Ian Hawkins, David Pitchford, Ty Johnston, Jeff Stewart, Angeline Hawkes, Robert Rhodes, E. E. Knight, James Enge, Michael Ehart, Thomas M. MacKay, Christopher Heath, Nathan Meyer, S. C. Bryce, Allen B. Lloyd, William Clunie, Steve Goble, Bruce Durham, and Harold Lamb. There’s something for everyone, so click on he link below and let Ryan be your guide.

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A Review of The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe

A Review of The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe

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Publisher’s Weekly gave it a starred review and called it “evocative of fantasy legend Fritz Leiber’s classic tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser” and “Raymond Chandler meets Raymond E. Feist.” It’s the genre-warping debut novel from Alex Bledsoe, mixing sword-and-sorcery and noir into something funny, stylish, and original.

Join Black Gate correspondent Jeff Mejia for an inside look at one of the more audacious fantasy novels to appear in recent years.

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Of Dice and Men: Modern Fantasists and the Influence of Role-Playing Games

Of Dice and Men: Modern Fantasists and the Influence of Role-Playing Games

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This week we lower the drawbridge at Black Gate headquarters and invite you to head out to Clarkesworld magazine for your weekly genre fix. Clarkesworld has just published a lengthy article on the profound effect that fantasy gaming has had on fantasy writing. Written by Justin Howe and Jason S. Ridler, the piece is titled “Of Dice and Men: Modern Fantasists and the Influence of Role-Playing Games.”

Black Gate Publisher John O’Neill and Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones are both quoted in the essay, as are such luminaries as Jeff VanderMeer, Paul Witcover, Tim Pratt, Catherynne M. Valente, Jay Lake, Tim Waggoner, and China Miéville. Pretty cool company!

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Black Gate at Late Night JengaJam

Black Gate at Late Night JengaJam

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Last week Black Gate Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones was the guest of Jefferson Jenga at his popular and well-regarded call-in podcast show Late Night JengaJam. During the interview they talked with callers and each other about the ups and downs of the fantasy field, numerous authors such as Robert E. Howard, Harold Lamb, and J.R.R. Tolkien, and especially about the perils and rewards of editing one of the premier magazines of fantasy fiction.

It was a lengthy and engrossing conversation, so grab the entire show, pop it onto your iPod, and give it a listen. You can download the entire podcast in MP3 format here.

A Review of Dossouye by Charles R. Saunders

A Review of Dossouye by Charles R. Saunders

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The man is back!

Charles R. Saunders rocked Sword-and-Sorcery in the ’70s and ’80s with his African fantasy hero Imaro, a compelling character who tore through the pages of numerous magazines and whose exploits were ultimately collected in three volumes from DAW. Over the last few years two of those were generously updated and republished by Nightshade Books, causing fans of Saunders’ unforgettable heroes to rejoice at the return of one of the masters of the field.

Now, via Brother Uraeus’ newly created Sword & Soul Media imprint, Saunders brings us the tales of Dossouye, a warrior woman from an alternate Africa that — while not the same as Imaro’s Nyumbani — nevertheless brims with all of the jeweled kingdoms, scheming sorcerers, doomed quests, and death-defying heroes ravenous fantasy fans have come to expect. It’s epic storytelling immersed in a feat of enchanting world-building that at its best rivals Tolkien, and this week at Black Gate reviewer Bill Ward brings you all of the exciting details.

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Rich Horton’s Virtual Best of the Year — 2007

Rich Horton’s Virtual Best of the Year — 2007

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This is it, the list you’ve been waiting for. Rich Horton’s picks for the best science fiction, fantasy, and space opera stories of the year is always a Black Gate reader’s favorite, and this time he’s truly outdone himself. Rich pored over 2343 stories — that’s over twelve million words — and from that massive mountain of tales chose the very best of the bunch for your edification. The result? A resource that you can use to acquire and read all of the very top novellas, novelettes, and short stories that were published in the field during the last year.

So whenever you start running low on reading material during 2008, pop back over here and take a gander at The List. Our resident reviewing superstar has put in all of the hard work so you won’t have to.

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New Reviews of Black Gate 11!

New Reviews of Black Gate 11!

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This week we thought we’d take you on a tour of some of the online reactions to out latest print issue, Black Gate #11. You’ll find a gamut of opinions represented below, from both pros and amateurs.

Our first stop is The Fix, the longtime short fiction review magazine that over the last few years has reinvented itself as an online-only publication. Sherwood Smith delves into each story in #11, praising them by turns as “imaginative and complex,” “terrific and visual,” and “a masterly blend of image, action, and humor.” Sherwood has been a friend to the magazine since we started, and the care and attention she takes with all her reviews is obvious. This is another great overview that will have any fence-sitters out there panting to buy the issue.

Over at Michele Lee’s Book Love blog is a look at #11 originally intended for Tangent before that venue went on hiatus. Michele has a more subdued reaction to the issue, suggesting some readers might be irritated by continuing serials leaving some plot threads open, but that didn’t sting as much as calling Tolkien’s wizard “Gandolf,” instead of Gandalf. Ouch. Drop by and leave a comment anyway.

At Grasping for the Wind, another site dedicated to science-fiction and fantasy book reviews, John Ottinger offers a critical analysis declaring, that “nothing in this issue disappoints” (before admitting a bit further down, “I was a bit disappointed by this installment”). On the bright side, John has a lot of praise for selected stories, calling one “extremely well written and very creative in its approach. I’ve never read anything quite like it before.” To which tale was he referring? Click on the link and find out.

Finally, we end with our favorite review, courtesy of Karl Bradley at the Ultimate Sword & Sorcery Blog of Ultimate Destiny. As Karl puts it: “I wish I could’ve stayed up all night last night and read Black Gate Magazine cover-to-cover and given you a review today. Instead, I went to work. But I have to do something about Black Gate‘s recent release. So here is my review of the first sentence of every story in the magazine.” He actually goes through with it, and it turns out to be a lot of fun, so navigate over to US&SBoUD and enjoy.

And if you haven’t bought Black Gate #11 yet, what are you waiting for? There’s no magazine out there publishing more eclectic, thought-provoking, and action-packed tales of Sword-and-Sorcery and fantasy — visit our subscription page and place your order today.

A Review of Broadsword and The World of Broadsword

A Review of Broadsword and The World of Broadsword

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If there has been a single dominant trend in fantasy over the last thirty years, it has been the glacier-like migration and expansion of the genre from fiction into other media. Movies, video games, RPGs — all have taken the essence of sword-and-sorcery creations set forth in prose and carried them in novel directions that have shaped the genre in unforeseen ways.

This week, Black Gate Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones kicks off a new column that will explore some of the many fresh gaming systems and products out there, giving you the lowdown on what’s brewing in the fantasy RPG field. His first installment reviews the hot 1PG from the mind of Jeff Mejia and his cohorts, Broadsword, along with the system’s first major supplement, The World of Broadsword. Have you drifted away from RPGs over the years, frustrated by the steep time and rules-learning commitment? If so, the simplicity and ease of Broadsword might be just what you’ve been waiting for.

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