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Black Gate on the List for the 2017 REH Foundation Awards

Black Gate on the List for the 2017 REH Foundation Awards

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Howard_FoundationPlaqueWell, the Preliminary List. There may well not be a more respected organization in Robert E. Howard circles than that of the REH Foundation. Black Gate and a few of its bloggers were on the final 2016 Awards ballot. Last week, the Foundation released the preliminary list for the 2017 Awards. It will be winnowed down to a final ballot soon.

Typing ‘Robert E. Howard’ or ‘Conan’ in the BG search engine (or just clicking on the Conan Category at left) will definitely establish that we love Howard and his works here at Black Gate. And several Black Gaters, including the site itself, are in the running for the 2017 final ballot. I’ll also point out that many of the nominees contributed to our ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series: some of the best Howard scholars came to Black Gate to share their thoughts. The Black Gate contingent:

The Cimmerian—Outstanding Achievement, Essay (Online)

(Essays must have made their first public published appearance in the previous calendar year and be substantive scholarly essays on the life and/or work of REH. Short blog posts, speeches, reviews, trip reports, and other minor works do not count.)

ADAMS, FRED – “Esau Cairn – A Man Outside His Epoch” – Black Gate
BYRNE, BOB – “Steve Harrison: REH’s Private Detective” – REH: Two Gun Raconteur Blog
JONES, HOWARD ANDREW – “The Ne’re-do-well Hero of “Gates of Empire” – REH: Two Gun Raconteur Blog
MAYNARD, WILLIAM PATRICK – “Steve Harrison Reconsidered” – REH: Two Gun Raconteur Blog

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Three Ghosts in a Black Pumpkin by Erika M. Szabo and Joe Bonadonna

Three Ghosts in a Black Pumpkin by Erika M. Szabo and Joe Bonadonna

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oie_44152suEVDGo2 (1)And now for something completely different: Only two weeks into my sci-fi excursion, I’m sidetracked by Three Ghosts in a Black Pumpkin, a new young adult fantasy from Black Gate’s own Joe Bonadonna and Erika M. Szabo. Although written for readers a couple of decades my junior, I enjoyed the heck out of it.

Somewhere in space and time, across from Halloween, is the world of Creepy Hollow. It used to be protected from evil by the Trinity of Wishmothers. Now, though, they are dead, and their ghosts have been trapped by Hobart T. Hobgoblin in a pitch-black pumpkin. The wicked Hobart (and his sidekick, Ebenezer Rex, the Tasmanian Devil) is now free to work evil on the land.

On Halloween, twelve-year-old Nikki Sweet and her eleven-year-old cousin, Jack Brady, find a black pumpkin. Their immediate reaction is to bring it home and turn it into a jack-o’-lantern. Just as they prepare to fetch a knife, their grandmother’s silver skeleton wind chime, Mr. Bonejingles, warns them not to do it.

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The Poison Apple: Have Long Sword Will Battle, An Interview with Martin Page

The Poison Apple: Have Long Sword Will Battle, An Interview with Martin Page

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Martin Page demonstrating German Longsword at Compulsion

Martin Page demonstrating German Longsword at Compulsion

Martin Page is a regular contributor to Black Gate and writes novels, such as the alternate history mash-up Swords versus Tanks and non-fiction books like Storyteller Tools, under the pen name, M. Harold Page. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and teaches Medieval German longsword at Edinburgh’s Dawn Duellists Society.

Martin, what have you been working on?

I’ve been taken a break from blogging while working on a space opera series. I’ll shortly return with a series of articles on the new edition of Traveller, the famously gritty Science Fiction roleplaying game.

Traveller?

Massively influential game from the same era as Dungeons and Dragons but still going strong. Traveller has been around so long at this point that people recommend books or TV series that are strangely like the game, because they were probably heavily influenced by it!

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In the Hot Seat: The Reviewer Gets Grilled: An Interview with Fletcher Vredenburgh

In the Hot Seat: The Reviewer Gets Grilled: An Interview with Fletcher Vredenburgh

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Fletcher Vredenburgh-small

Fletcher is no stranger to the readers and fans of Black Gate. His articles and reviews are not only well-written, insightful and entertaining, they are extremely popular, as well. He is the “reviewer extraordinaire,” and his reviews have led me to read many books. I trust his opinion and his taste in what makes for a good novel. Fletcher is also one of the most voracious readers I have ever met; even in my prime, when I was reading about 2 books a week, I couldn’t top him. Tireless and energetic, Fletcher amazes me with his wonderful reviews, which are also very well written. He is not a “book critic,” however, as you’ll find out when you read my interview with him. He is a reviewer of books. A Master Review Writer. I’m happy I met him through social media, proud to call him my friend, and grateful to him for his great reviews of my books.

So let’s begin, shall we? Let’s see if we can find out what makes him tick, what he likes to read and his whole process for reviewing a book.

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New Treasures: Pathfinder Tales: Through The Gate in the Sea by Howard Andrew Jones

New Treasures: Pathfinder Tales: Through The Gate in the Sea by Howard Andrew Jones

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Pathfinder Tales Through The Gate in the Sea-smallHoward Andrew Jones’ fourth Pathfinder Tales novel, Through the Gate in the Sea, will be released in trade paperback by Tor Books next week. I made the long journey to his wind-swept writing tower to get the skinny for Black Gate readers. Here’s what he told me, in tiny script written on yak hide, lowered down on a long rope.

I love the lizardman. Everyone’s favorite lizardman Jekka is a point-of-view character this time. And there’s a pirate captain, Ensara. He’s not as bad as he thinks he is, but he’s not as good as you’d like him to be. He gets caught in the middle of things, and he has to choose between helping Mirian and Jekka, and staying with his crew. He’s down on his luck, and gets hired by a sorceress to hunt down Mirian and get these magical artifacts. I really enjoyed writing Ensara’s chapters.

It’s got a little bit of a hard boiled tone. While I was writing it, I was reading a lot of Chandler and Ricard Stark and Wade Miller. It’s got the usual journeying through weird places. If I’m reading a fantasy novel, give me interesting people in interesting places! There’s a chance to find an lost city through a magical portal in the middle of the ocean, and if they do, Jekka and his people will have a place to live.

But the devil-worshiping empire of Cheliax hasn’t forgotten its defeat at Mirian’s hands. On the other side of the portal are all these powerful artifacts. And an ancient, undead child-king wants the one that’s kept the lost lizardfolk city safe for centuries.

Whatever, man. You had me at Lizardman POV character. Through The Gate in the Sea will be published by Tor Books on February 21, 2017. It is 352 pages, priced at $14.99 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital edition.

Lawrence Ellsworth’s New Translation of Dumas’ The Red Sphinx

Lawrence Ellsworth’s New Translation of Dumas’ The Red Sphinx

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Dumas The Red Sphinx

Lawrence Ellsworth (known to gaming fans as Lawrence Schick, creator of White Plume Mountain, and the lead writer for The Elder Scrolls Online), has written many popular articles for Black Gate over the years, including one of our top posts of 2015, “The “Known World” D&D Setting: A Secret History,” and more recently his fabulous Silent Screen Swashbucklers series.

In addition to his renowned gaming work, Lawrence is also a popular author and translator in his own right. His most recent release is a brand new translation of a nearly forgotten novel by the great Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. (That’s Lawrence above, showing off both his new book and his dashing wardrobe.)

The Red Sphinx, a sequel to The Three Musketeers that picks up where that book ended, is a massive 837-page tome that Michael Dirda calls “As fresh as ever… excellent, compulsively readable” in the Washington Post. It was published in hardcover by Pegasus Books on January 3.

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Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast Presents: Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Conversation with Ryan Harvey

Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast Presents: Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Conversation with Ryan Harvey

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Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast Ryan Harvey

Dream Tower Media, the mad geniuses behind The Blue Lamp by Robert Zoltan (which Fletcher Vredenburgh called “marvelous… a full sound production, like a radio show”), have released Episode 2 of their new audio series, the Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast. The title is spot on, as this one-hour episode is a thoroughly entertaining and far-ranging discussion of the great Edgar Rice Burroughs, featuring Robert Zoltan and Black Gate‘s own Ryan Harvey.

Like The Blue Lamp, this is no typical podcast, but an imaginatively designed (and frequently hilarious) radio show set in the windswept Dream Tower (with a talking raven). But stellar production aside, the real star of the show is the always-interesting Ryan Harvey, whose deep knowledge and profound enthusiasm for his subject prove infectious. Even if you’re not an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan, you will be by the end their discussion. Terrific stuff.

I was also pleased to hear that the Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast will be produced on a regular schedule. Robert tells us:

I made a real effort to create something unique and engaging, almost like a MST 3000 feel, that would be an ongoing serial. The third episode in February is going to be Orcs!: A Conversation with Historical Fantasy Author Scott Oden.

Great news! Check out all the episodes of the Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast here.

Black Gate Online Fiction: An Excerpt from Mad Shadows II by Joe Bonadonna

Black Gate Online Fiction: An Excerpt from Mad Shadows II by Joe Bonadonna

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Mad Shadows 2 cover by Erika M. Szabo-small MAD SHADOWS 2 BACK Cover-small

Joe Bonadonna’s Dorgo the Dowser novelette “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum,” part of Joe’s first swords and sorcery collection, Mad Shadows: The Weird Tales of Dorgo the Dowser, is one of the most popular pieces of fiction ever posted at Black Gate. Joe’s other contributions to the Black Gate Online Fiction library include an exclusive excerpt from Waters of Darkness, his supernatural pirate dark fantasy novel co-written with David C. Smith, and his recent story “Queen of Toads,” an old-fashioned pulp horror tale.

Black Gate is very pleased to offer our readers an exclusive excerpt from Part Three of Mad Shadows II — Dorgo the Dowser and The Order of the Serpent, published in trade paperback and digital formats this month.

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Coming Soon: The Jurassic Chronicles

Coming Soon: The Jurassic Chronicles

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The Jurassic Chronicles-smallThe next installment of Samuel Peralta’s Chronicles series is set to launch on January 29th — the theme of this one is dinosaurs.

Edited by Crystal Watanabe and featuring stories from: Piers Beckley, Zen DiPietro, Ed Gosney, Laxmi Hariharan, Phillip Harris, M.J. Kelley, Stant Litore, Terry Maggert, Emily Mah (yes, that’s me), Harry Manners, Anthony J Melchiorri, Seanan McGuire, and Dinosaur Knights author Victor Milan, it offers a broad range of stories from both established veterans and new up-and-comers.

If you haven’t taken note of these anthologies, you are missing out. They feature an impressive mix of indie, hybrid, and trad pubbed authors who write science fiction and fantasy.

And this one has dinosaurs. Need I say more???

Emily Mah is a writer and the owner of E.M. Tippetts Book Designs, a company that provides formatting, cover design, and editing services for independent authors and publishers. Her last post for Black Gate was an interview with German author Emily Bold.

Get The Complete Roslof Keep Campaign from Art of the Genre for 20% Off

Get The Complete Roslof Keep Campaign from Art of the Genre for 20% Off

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the-folio-the-complete-roslof-keep-campaign-small the-folio-the-complete-roslof-keep-campaign-map-small the-folio-the-complete-roslof-keep-campaign-map-2-small

BG Contributing Editor R. Scott Taylor is a true jack-of-all-trades — writer, editor, publisher, novelist, art director, and one of the most consistently popular bloggers at Black Gate. Through his own publishing house, Art of the Genre, he’s produced two acclaimed anthologies, Tales of the Emerald Serpent and A Knight in the Silk Purse, and seven novels.

His most recent project is The Folio, a series of Kickstarter-funded old school adventure modules. The Complete Roslof Keep Campaign compiles Folios 1-6, as well as six supplemental mini-adventures and the Nameless Realms Races supplement, into a giant 134-page mega-adventure. This deluxe hardcover has been designed to fit on your shelves next to the classic 1980s ‘Orange Spine’ hardcover series by TSR — it even has an original cover by iconic artist Jeff Easley. The book comes packed with 2D & 3D color maps, iconic characters, character sheets, and much more. Here’s Scott with the deets.

I’ve spent the bulk of my adult life trying to go back in time to the incredible gaming days of my youth in the 1980s. With Roslof, I got to fulfill many aspects of that dream, including producing a replica ‘Orange Spine’ hardcover with an Jeff Easley original on the front. Getting to represent the old AD&D traditions and mechanics, while also using mechanics for the latest D&D 5E, I think I’ve done a great job of mixing old and new to create something unique in the gaming marketplace.

Scott is offering the hardcover at 20% off until January 8th (by using the coupon code NEWYEARSALE) at his website. Check out the details and order your copy here.