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Quatro-Decadal Review: Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 1999, edited by Stanley Schmidt

Quatro-Decadal Review: Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 1999, edited by Stanley Schmidt

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Cover Art by Kim Poor

Editorial, Technological Temptation by Stanley Schmidt

Cameras at stop-lights, that is the issue that has rubbed Schmidt’s libertarian streak wrong. Very wrong! He soon spins a future of nanny-state-over-arching-safety-protocols.

I’m not an expert at the art of rhetoric and argument, but even I am immediately pick up on several logic holes, beginning with his fundamental argument, “That if it leads to a reduction in crime it must be good, therefore there should be more of it.” Thus, more cameras, cameras everywhere, in your home even! Then he wraps it up with a little of the ol’ argument from authority with the Ben Franklin chestnut about “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
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What I’ve Been Reading: November, 2025

What I’ve Been Reading: November, 2025

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I continue to listen to audiobooks throughout my day, as evidenced by two What I’ve Been Listening To entries this month. With writing, gaming, and working daily (boooooo), actually sitting down and reading a book doesn’t happen like it used to. But I have been on a bit of an actual reading kick lately. And since I’ve recently told you what I’ve been listening to, watching, and playing, you might as well know what I’ve been reading, as well!

Kindle Unlimited remains a useful subscription, and I’ve been digging into some things on my Fire Tablet. I had a Nook for years, before switching over to a Fire (I didn’t really consider switching to a Kindle – that’s less versatile). After all these years, I still like owning a physical copy of a book: Fills out the shelves. But for digital, borrowing them with KU, or my library app, works totally fine.

So, let’s look at mix of print and digital books which I’ve been reading lately.

DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL – Matt Dinniman

I have looked down my nose at LitRPG since I heard about it a few years ago. I didn’t really understand what it was, but that didn’t stop me from having a condescending attitude towards it as some kind of cheap fantasy.

Having recently jumped yet again back into the amazing Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy world, I was in something of a humor mood. I was going to re-read Johny Nexus’ Game Night (see below). Somehow my (ir)rational thought processes convinced me to check out a LitRPG book. I did a little quick research, and Dungeon Crawler Carl (DCC) seemed to be about the most popular book in the entire genre. So, I borrowed it with Kindle Unlimited and read it.

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What I’ve Been Listening To: November (II), 2025

What I’ve Been Listening To: November (II), 2025

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I already did a What I’ve Been Listening To column first week of the month. But more and more, audiobooks are an ongoing part of my day. Having traded in a lifetime of on-and-off running, for daily walks, I’m getting some quality listening time in that way as well.

The TBL (To Be Listened to) list is growing beyond manageable proportions. But I continue to mix in some ‘new things’ with my re-listens. I am quite happy listening to some things over and over again: like the Dirk Gently BBC radio plays, John Maddox Roberts’ SPQR books, and Lee Goldberg’s Eve Ronin.

I mentioned last month that I’m revisiting Robert B. Parker’s Cole & Hitch, read wonderfully by Titus Welliver (Bosch). The next one up just became available through my library app, so I’ll be back to those soon.

DICTATOR (Robert Harris)

In my Listening column  earlier this month, I talked about Imperium, the first book in Robert Harris’ trilogy about the Roman statesman, Cicero. I went on and listened to Conspirator, and then Dictator (all available on audio from my library app).

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Steamed: All My Video-Gaming Posts Here at Black Gate

Steamed: All My Video-Gaming Posts Here at Black Gate

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Hudsucker_RobinsElevatorEDITEDI have ‘landing pages’ here at Black Gate which I update when I add a new post to some frequent/favored topic. The Robert E. Howard one is the most active. And I have them for John D. MacDonald, Nero Wolfe, Douglas Adams (with help from friends), and Sherlock Holmes on Screen. 

Steamed was a site-wide video game column I thought up in 2020 that never caught…got traction. But I still talk about gaming sometimes, so I wanted a landing page for it, too. Here’s the introductory column, which was another of my Black Gate World Headquarters posts.

Folks might disagree, but I think I’m channeling my inner Douglas Adams pretty darn well with these BG World HQ posts. They make me smile. And links to my other gaming posts follow. As the picture shows, I think you can envision Black Gate World HQ posts in a Hudsucker Proxy vein. I do when I write them.

The pay phone on the wall by the door into the dungeon…cellar…basement…journalist’s suite below Chicago’s permafrost layer rang at the Black Gate World Headquarters. I vaulted over the wood plank that rested on two sawhorses, which served as my desk. The last person who hadn’t answered before the third ring had been sent downstairs. ‘Downstairs’ was rumored to be the lair of a beast that Conan wouldn’t be able to defeat.

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Tech Tok, Part 2

Tech Tok, Part 2

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Outside the Wire (Netflix, January 15, 2021)

Well here we are again.

For this new watch-a-thon, I’m returning to sci-fi, and in particular the elements that I love about sci-fi — forget about story and thoughtful metaphors for the human condition, I just want spaceships and robots and hardware. Bring it on!

Outside the Wire (2021) – Netflix

One of those Netflix flicks that does what every other Netflix flick does for its algorithmically chosen audience. Find a vaguely competent director, pay for a ‘name,’ and have the characters repeat the objective of whatever goal they’re chasing every 20 minutes.

In this one, a drone pilot is taught what warfare really is by being yanked from his cushy operations room and onto the front lines of a messy ground war in Ukraine. He is under the command of Captain Leo, an advanced android prototype, played by Anthony Mackie, and yes, they do get a Captain America reference in.

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By the King’s Command: Joan Samson’s The Auctioneer

By the King’s Command: Joan Samson’s The Auctioneer

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Every October, I perform a ritual that I suspect many of you also observe — I grab a handful of books off the shelf and spend the Halloween month reading the scary stuff, always trying to get in a “classic” or two that I’ve missed along the way. Last year that classic was Christine, one of the “first-wave” Stephen King books that I had never gotten around to, and the novel reminded me why the man is so enduringly popular… and also why I don’t read him much anymore. I enjoyed Christine, but five hundred plus pages of dated pop culture references and slangy, apocalyptic adolescent angst is a heavy load for someone of my advanced age to carry.

I didn’t read any King this October, but my Halloween 2025 reading had a King connection nevertheless. In his chatty 1981 grab-bag horror survey Danse Macabre, King includes a list of approximately one hundred horror books that he considers important for the post-World War Two era he discusses. (He was born in 1947.) I incorporated many of King’s choices in my own megalomaniacal list of essential horror, fantasy, and science fiction books, and over the years I’ve sampled a fair number of his recommendations. I’ve found the Master’s lineup hit or miss; there have been whiffs like Iris Murdoch’s The Unicorn (which I absolutely hated, and which I’m convinced he inserted strictly for literary cachet), home runs like Ramsey Campbell’s nightmarish The Doll Who Ate His Mother, and books that may not be masterpieces but are still solid successes, like another one I read last year, Bernard Taylor’s grim English ghost story, Sweetheart, Sweetheart.

This year the first October book I read came off of King’s list — The Auctioneer, Joan Samson’s 1975 novel of rural unease. King marked some of the books on his list with an asterisk as being “especially important”, and The Auctioneer is one of those.

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: 52 Weeks: 52 Sherlock Holmes Novels – Ashton’s ‘The Death of Cardinal Tosca’

The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: 52 Weeks: 52 Sherlock Holmes Novels – Ashton’s ‘The Death of Cardinal Tosca’

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So, Paul Bishop is a friend of mine, and he wrote the very first post in Black Gate’s award-nominated Discovering Robert E. Howard. He talked about Howard’s boxing stories. Before those Pulps dried up, Howard wrote prolifically for them, with Sailor Steve Costigan his most popular creation.

Paul is a major Westerns guy, and with Scott Harris, he put together 52 Weeks: 52 Western Novels, in which a slew of folks wrote about their favorite Westerns. It’s a cool format, and 52 Weeks: 52 Western Movies, and 52 Weeks: 52 TV Westerns, followed. The ’52’ number flows nicely with reading one a week, right? I have read the Novels, and Movies, books, and I think they’re cool for Westerns fans.

Paul reached out to me last year, and asked if I was interested in contributing a chapter to a 52 Weeks: 52 Sherlock Holmes Novels, project. Write about a non-Doyle pastiche? Heck yeah!!! In the end, I wrote four of them, so I’ve got a good 7.6% of the reviews.

I covered Hugh Ashton’s The Death of Cardinal Tosca; John Gardner’s The Return of Moriarty; Michael Kurland’s The Infernal Device: and Frank Thomas’ Sherlock Holmes & The Sacred Sword.

Back in May I shared my chapter on The Infernal Device. The book came out in May.

Here is  Hugh’s The Death of Cardinal Tosca.

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What I’ve Been Listening To: November 2025

What I’ve Been Listening To: November 2025

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It’s been August since I shared What I’ve Been Listening To. My apologies for depriving you! And you know that I listen to audiobooks every single day: Work, home, car, walking, bedtime: I’m constantly listening to them.

I am set up with two library systems here in Columbus now, so I’m borrowing some listens with Libbby, and Hoopla. The first entry today was a borrow.

And I am typing this after watching my Dodgers win the first NL back-to-back World Series’ since 1975/76. 50 years ago! I have seen the Dodgers play in 10 World Series’ in my lifetime, and they’re now 5-5, having won the last three. It’s a good time to be a Dodgers fan.

CONSPIRATA/LUSTRUM (Robert Harris)

I loved Robert Harris’ Fatherland. It’s an alternate history mystery novel in which the Nazis won (similar to Len Deighton’s terrific SS-GB). HBO made a really good version with Rutger Hauer. I’m going to watch it again soon.

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Why SFF Mentorships Matter

Why SFF Mentorships Matter

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What do James A. Corey, George RR Martin, and Mary Robinette Kowal have in common? Like thousands of their peers, each had a mentor help them navigate the wild world of publishing in some way, shape, or form. For newcomers, that type of support can prove to be the difference between success and failure. Because, lets face it: there have always been plenty of pitfalls and scams waiting to ensnare the next talented writer. 

That support can involve a writing teacher offering key insight or a best-seller giving time and tips to an up-and-comer. No matter the genre, mentors remain as important today as it was decades ago. Among the more renowned programs that facilitate such an exchange is the Science Fiction Writer’s Association’s (SFWA) Mentorship Program.

Mere months ago, I had the opportunity to participate as a mentee in SFWA’s program myself. Here’s what made the experience, and the work of so many writers behind the scenes, so special.

Andrea Pawley may be the most recognizable  member of SFWA’s Mentorship Program but she’ll be the first to tell you about the remarkable team she works with. That hasn’t stopped her from being a bearer of good news for the hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of hopefuls who apply every year.

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The Double-A Western Detective Agency joins Holmes on the Range (Sorta…)

The Double-A Western Detective Agency joins Holmes on the Range (Sorta…)

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Last year, I did a three-part series on Steve Hockensmith’s terrific Holmes on the Range series. This essay, a comprehensive chronology, and a Q&A which Steve kindly did with me, represent the deepest dive anyone has done on these fun books. Since then, two novels (and a short story) in a spin-off series about the Double-A Western Detective Agency, came out. As well as one Old Red short story. I’m (yet again) listening to the Holmes on the Range audiobooks –  mixing in the short stories in chronological order this time – and loving the series all over again. I’m also reading the second Double-A novel (No Hallowed Ground).

I’ve added some info on the new series at the end of this post. And I’ve updated the Chronology. If I still haven’t convinced you to try that first novel, Holmes on the Range (or the short story collection, Dear Mr. Holmes), give me the benefit of the doubt. Steve’s a really good writer, and these are fun Western mysteries, with a Holmes underlay. Don’t be a saphead. 🙂

There are a lot of ways to go about writing a Sherlock Holmes story. Some folks attempt to very carefully emulate Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s own style, and to turn out a tale that feels as if it might have been penned (or typed these days) by the creator of the great detective himself. No surprise that results vary. GREATLY. Hugh Ashton and Denis O. Smith are the best I’ve found in this regard.

You can find stories ranging from pretty good to not suitable for (digital) toilet paper. I’ve had a half dozen of my own stories published and I’m still working on better voicing the good doctor.

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