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The Top 20 Black Gate Fiction Posts in June

The Top 20 Black Gate Fiction Posts in June

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The Death of the NecromancerWe were pleased and honored to present Martha Wells’ Nebula-nominated novel The Death of the Necromancer as part of our Black Gate Online Fiction lineup last month. The complete text of the novel — all 22 chapters — was offered here for free, for the first time anywhere.

Not surprisingly, The Death of the Necromancer was far and away our most popular fiction offering last month. But it was by no means the only widely-read tale we had for you. Our exclusive excerpt from Howard Andrew Jones’ second Dabir and Asim novel, The Bones of the Old Ones, was our second most popular post, and Aaron Bradford Starr’s 35,000-word epic fantasy mystery featuring Gallery Hunters Gloren Avericci and Yr Neh, “The Sealord’s Successor,” was a close third, followed by Joe Bonadonna’s adventure fantasy “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum,” and Judith Berman’s sword & sorcery novella “The Poison Well.”

Also making the list were exciting stories by Ryan Harvey, E.E. Knight, Michael Penkas, Jason E. Thummel, Mary Catelli, Robert Rhodes, Emily Mah, Vaughn Heppner, and many others.

If you haven’t sampled the adventure fantasy stories offered through our new Black Gate Online Fiction line, you’re missing out. Every week, we present an original short story or novella from the best writers in the industry, all completely free. Here are the Top Twenty most-read stories in June:

  1. “The Death of the Necromancer,” by Martha Wells
  2. An excerpt from The Bones of the Old Ones, by Howard Andrew Jones
  3. “The Sealord’s Successor,” by Aaron Bradford Starr
  4. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum,” by Joe Bonadonna
  5. “The Poison Well,” by Judith Berman
  6. “The Sorrowless Thief,” by Ryan Harvey
  7. “The Terror in the Vale,” by E.E. Knight
  8. “The Daughter’s Dowry,” by Aaron Bradford Starr
  9. “The Worst Was Yet to Come,” by Michael Penkas
  10. “Assault and Battery,” by Jason E. Thummel

     

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New Treasures: The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

New Treasures: The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu

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Steven Silver, Holly McDowell, and Mary Robinette Kowal in at the Without a Summer launch party
Steven Silver, Holly McDowell, and Mary Robinette Kowal in at the Without a Summer launch party. Click for bigger version

Back in April, I was invited to Mary Robinette Kowal’s Without a Summer launch party here in Chicago, to celebrate the publication of the third volume of her Glamourist Histories fantasy series (which we covered right here at Black Gate on April 6).

It was a great chance to catch up with a lot of local writers, including Steven Silver, Holly McDowell, and Kelly Swails — and to meet Mary’s husband Rob, who is a winemaker (seriously!) at City Winery Chicago.

I’d like to pause here to note that I don’t get to write a sentence like that every day.

And, of course, it was a chance to see Mary, who was modeling one of her trademark empire style dresses. Brilliant writer, killer fashion sense, married to a winemaker… you can see why one just doesn’t turn down an invitation from this woman.

About an hour after I arrived, Mary introduced me to Wesley Chu, another local Chicagoan and recently published author.

Now, this never gets old. I’ve been in publishing a long time now, and I meet aspiring writers, wannabee writers, and Gee-I’ve-got-a-great-idea-for-a-novel writers all the time. But introduce me to someone who’s published an honest-to-God novel, and I turn into an instant fanboy.

I can’t help it. At heart I’m still a reader, and I’m not so jaded by this industry that I can’t appreciate that behind all the marketing spin, crushing deadlines, commercial pressures and compromises, is true magic — the fragile creative spark nurtured and nudged onto the stage by the diligent and the brave. I’m in awe of these people, and when I meet a new author I want to hear all about their creations.

I had a great talk with Wesley, and he was gracious enough to indulge me a little and tell me about his book. And the more I heard, the more fascinated I became.

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Adventures on Stage: Fantasy Literature’s Missing Link

Adventures on Stage: Fantasy Literature’s Missing Link

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1002747_514919775228258_344973762_nA few weeks back, I had the good fortune to take in productions of The Tempest and Peter and the Starcatcher at the Utah Shakespeare Festival (Cedar City, Utah). As I drove away afterward, I could not but help thinking that plays, too, are literature, and that more than a passing handful of theater’s best, these two titles included, are outright, unabashed fantasies. Adventures, even.

It is admittedly difficult to keep current with theater, since stagecraft is not, as books, comics, and film/television most surely are, a truly mass media. Access is tricky; productions are both local and fleeting. Also, the habit of theater can be expensive.

Nevertheless, I’m going to make a case, here and now, that Black Gate’s readership should take stock and keep track of contemporary theater. Scripted plays, after all, predate the novel as a form by many centuries, and we would be as blind as Tiresias were we to forget that were it not for Oedipus Rex, we would know nothing of that fantasy staple, the talking, riddling sphinx.

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Vintage Treasures: Avalon Hill’s Elric Young Kingdoms Adventure Game

Vintage Treasures: Avalon Hill’s Elric Young Kingdoms Adventure Game

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Elric Avalon Hill-smallAll the recent fuss over The Kingkiller Chronicles TV adaptation has reminded me just what it takes to really break into public consciousness in this industry. I’m glad quality fantasy like A Game of Thrones and The Name of the Wind has been catapulted into the big leagues… especially since I know that most fantasy novels on sale this month will vanish from shelves long before the end of the year.

It takes a really exceptional property to endure without some kind of media tie-in. Fantasy like Michael Moorcock’s Elric, for example — still extremely popular among Black Gate readers, at least, despite the fact that the character first appeared, in the short story “The Dreaming City,” over 52 years ago.

Of course, just because Elric hasn’t been made into a Peter Jackson trilogy doesn’t mean he’s been completely ignored. Maybe there hasn’t been a Hasbro action figure or Saturday morning cartoon or feature film — but who needs all that stuff when you can play a board game from Avalon Hill, publishers of Magic Realm and Titan?

Avalon Hill’s Elric Young Kingdoms Adventure Game — man, that’s a mouthful of a title — was a deluxe board game published in 1984 and, to be honest with you, it wasn’t all that popular out of the gate. It was a re-packaging of Chaosium’s 1977 Elric: Battle at the End of Time, designed by Charlie Krank and Greg Stafford.

Avalon Hill had had some success re-publishing a handful of Chaosium’s products, especially Dragon Pass (1981), one of the most popular fantasy board games ever made, and I always kinda figured Chaosium threw in Elric as part of a package deal.

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Arak 4: “A Tree from Some Dark Hell!”

Arak 4: “A Tree from Some Dark Hell!”

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arak 4Four issues in to this reading of the entire 50-issue run of Arak, Son of Thunder, and I’ve got to admit…I’m enjoying it.

I didn’t know if that would be the case. I mean, the last time I read one of these comics, I wasn’t even old enough to drive a car. Not all stories fondly recalled from childhood hold up so well to a reunion visit.

But here in this issue we have a killer tree. You gotta love this issue’s title: “A Tree From Some Dark Hell.” (This one has by far the best, most eye-catching cover yet, with Arak and Valda dramatically poised to chop at the hell-tree with their sap-spilling blades.) Ernie Colon’s art seems just about right for the epic tale of Arak, and I’m really starting to appreciate Thomas’s storytelling, which is more interesting and nuanced than one might typically expect from an early ‘80s comic. And did I mention there’s a killer tree!

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Black Gate Online Fiction: “The Highwater Harbor” Part Two, by Aaron Bradford Starr

Black Gate Online Fiction: “The Highwater Harbor” Part Two, by Aaron Bradford Starr

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The Highwater Harbor-smallGallery Hunters Gloren Avericci and Yr Neh find more than they bargained for as their sea voyage in search of the enigmatic Highwater Harbor becomes embroiled in strange intrigues.

“Your ship is in danger,” Gloren said without preamble. “Someone has been tampering with the sigils, altering them subtly so that they may very well not work at all.”

Pelico’s face darkened at this news. “Are you sure?”

Yr Neh told the Captain the general consensus we’d reached, that Fallon and his secondary crew were a growing danger.

To our surprise, Pelico burst out laughing at this revelation. “I can vouch for Fallon,” he said. “I’d bet the life of every man on board of his reliability. In fact, given his crew has taken one out of four shifts, I already made that bet, and have won every time.”

“Something’s going on, Pelico,” Gloren said. The Captain stood, laughing, clapping a mighty hand on Gloren’s shoulder.

“Something’s always going on when you gather scholars together,” the man said.

Louis West at Tangent Online called “The Sealord’s Successor” a “gripping tale of fantasy, mystery, murder and intrigue. A must read” and “The Tea-Maker’s Task” “an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek fantasy… I wanted more.” We’re more than happy to oblige with this fourth exciting installment of the adventures of Gallery Hunter Gloren and his cat companion, Yr Neh.

The complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including stories by Jamie McEwan, Martha Wells, Mary Catelli, Michael Penkas, Vera Nazarian, Ryan Harvey, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, E.E. Knight, C.S.E. Cooney, Howard Andrew Jones, Harry Connolly, and many others, is here.

“The Highwater Harbor”  is a 35,000-word novella of fantasy mystery presented in three parts, with original art by Aaron Bradford Starr. Part I appeared last week; the final installment will appear next week; all three parts are offered at no cost.

Read Part II here.

Riddles, Intrigue, Occult and Super-Science: A Review of Laird Barron’s The Light is the Darkness

Riddles, Intrigue, Occult and Super-Science: A Review of Laird Barron’s The Light is the Darkness

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The Light is the DarknessIn just a few short years, Laird Barron has become something of a superstar in horror fiction, especially horror in the tradition of H. P. Lovecraft.

In my last post, I reviewed The Croning, Barron’s keenly awaited debut novel after the success of his award winning short story collections The Imago Sequence and Occultation. And many horror fans are waiting (still!) for the release of his new collection, The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All — an unfortunate victim set back by the fallout from Nightshade Books.

But one of Barron’s works that I’m not sure many know about is his 2011 novella, The Light is the Darkness, from Infernal House.

The background premise of The Light is the Darkness might be a bit hard to swallow as part of our own world, at least to the extent portrayed by Barron; but we are presented with a contemporary world where an underground, and presumably illegal, sport of modern and bloody gladiatorial games takes place. These games seemingly extend worldwide and are only attended by the super-wealthy elite.

Conrad, the main character, is an up-and-coming star in these games. But, apart from one “unsanctioned match,” we actually see very little of the gladiatorial violence until the very end. The games seem to mainly operate as backdrop to explain how Conrad has the leisure time and funds to undertake an investigation of his missing sister Imogene. In addition, the gladiatorial games seem to attract all manner of seedy and questionable characters, explaining why Conrad must deal with them.

In summary, The Light is the Darkness focuses upon Conrad’s search for Imogene, which unravels not only riddles concerning what his sister was up to before her disappearance, but also various secrets related to the rest of their eccentric but deceased family. There are various levels of intrigue and mystery involved throughout. However, in good Lovecraftian fashion, Conrad’s discoveries mount with menace laced with macabre.

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Discover the 20th Century’s Great SF & Fantasy Writers with Bud Webster’s Past Masters

Discover the 20th Century’s Great SF & Fantasy Writers with Bud Webster’s Past Masters

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Past Masters Bud Webster-smallI’m always proud of the work our contributors do at Black Gate. We’ve explored virtually every aspect of fantasy in our print edition and here on the blog — from Games to Comics to Conan, from Vintage Treasures to Art to Music and even Fashion. We’re hip, it’s true.

Occasionally, of course, I see a brilliant article in some other zine that makes me think, “Dang. I wish I had published that.”

That’s exactly what happened the first time I stumbled upon Bud Webster’s marvelous Past Masters column at Jim Baen’s Universe, in which Bud examined the history and contributions of the most important and creative writers in SF and Fantasy, in his entertaining and highly engaging style.

My usual procedure in such circumstance, naturally, is to sulk for several days, snarling at passersby until my black mood passes. Bud has a jovial disposition however, and is famously approachable, so in this case I postponed my jealous rage and shot him a quick note. Would he ever think of publishing some of these brilliant pieces in my humble magazine, I asked?

And, gentleman that he is, Bud said yes. The first new article, with the new title “Who?” appeared in Black Gate 15, and examined the short but magical career of Tom Reamy, author of San Diego Lightfoot Sue.

Bud wrote nearly 20 Past Masters columns, starting in the online Helix SF magazine; when it ceased publication in Fall 2008 he took the column to Jim Baen’s Universe, and then to Eric Flint’s Grantville Gazette.

He wrote so many, in fact, that demands to collect them in a more permanent format became a constant chorus. The diligent Merry Blacksmith Press, run by the talented John Teehan, saw an opportunity and seized it, and three weeks ago Past Masters: and Other Bookish Natterings finally appeared as a handsome trade paperback.

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The Name of the Wind Optioned as a TV Drama by Fox

The Name of the Wind Optioned as a TV Drama by Fox

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The Name of the Wind-smallThe Internet is abuzz with word that Patrick Rothfuss’s epic fantasy series, The Kingkiller Chronicles, has been optioned as a TV series by 20th Century Fox Television and New Regency Productions.

Dateline first broke the news on Thursday. Details are fairly thin, but it looks like Eric Heisserer (screenwriter for Final Destination 5 and the 2011 The Thing remake, and director of the upcoming Hours) will adapt the series, and serve as executive producer.

The Kingkiller Chronicles is one of the most popular fantasy series of the past decade. The first volume, The Name of the Wind, was published by DAW in April 2007; the sequel The Wise Man’s Fear appeared in March 2011. Both hit No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list. A third volume, The Doors of Stone, is due next year.

Following the runaway success of HBO’s Game of Thrones — even my Dad watches the show, and he scorned fantasy for decades — it’s not surprising that the bigger networks have started to snap up other popular properties suitable for big-scale small screen adaptation.

A much bigger question is whether or not Fox and New Regency can achieve something approaching the quality and ambition of Game of Thrones. Rothfuss has tens of thousands of dedicated fans who will be watching developments closely.

We’ll report news (not to mention unsubstantiated gossip and innuendo) here as soon as we hear it.

Amazing Stories, January 1962: A Retro-Review

Amazing Stories, January 1962: A Retro-Review

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Amazing Stories January 1962-smallThis seems to me a fairly significant issue of Amazing, in its way, though  it doesn’t feature any of the really significant Goldsmith discoveries (no Zelazny, no Le Guin, no Bunch); nor are any of the stories lasting classics. But all of the writers are reasonably well-known, and it does feature one somewhat important sort-of-debut, as well as a near farewell.

The cover is by Ed Emshwiller, illustrating Ben Bova’s “The Towers of Titan.” (His wife Carol appears in form-fitting spacesuit.) There is a back cover illustration too, in black-and-white, by Virgil Finlay, for the serial, Mark Clifton’s “Pawn of the Black Fleet.” Interiors are by Finlay, Emshwiller, Adkins, Summers, and Kilpatrick.

The letter column, “… Or So You Say,” has letters from Ken Winkes, H. James Hotaling, and Bob Adolfsen, none of the names familiar to me, discussing among other things the question of whether serials are a good idea.

The book review column, The Spectroscope, by S. E. Cotts, reviews Daniel F. Galouye’s Dark Universe (very favorably – and indeed the novel became a Hugo nominee), Lester Del Rey’s Winston juvenile Moon of Mutiny (very unfavorably), Arthur C. Clarke’s non-fiction collection The Challenge of the Spaceship, John C. Lilly’s Man and Dolphins, an account of the author’s research on dolphins and in particular their intelligence and capacity for language (Cotts reveals himself as rather a skeptic in this area); and also a curious review of an Ace Double, Kenneth Bulmer’s No Man’s World backed with Poul Anderson’s Mayday Orbit.

Cotts modestly praises No Man’s World as “plain uncomplicated entertainment” – no real argument there from me – but he dismisses Mayday Orbit as a “minor trifle” – in itself not an absurd judgment, but if it is a minor trifle then so too surely is No Man’s World!

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