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Giving the Devil His Due: A Review of Dreamers in Hell

Giving the Devil His Due: A Review of Dreamers in Hell

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Dreamers in Hell-smallDreamers in Hell (Heroes in Hell, Volume 15)
Created by Janet Morris, edited by Janet and Chris Morris, and written “with the diabolical assistance of their damnedest writers.”
Perseid Press (478 pages, June 13, 2013, $23.95 in trade paperback)

It is a place of swords and spears, revolvers and automatic weapons, sorcery and science, catapults and cannon, bows and arrows, computers and demons. It is a place where there is no Hope for the damned, merely the suggestion of it.

Welcome to Hell, where Perdition rules. Whether a soul believes in Hell or not, Hell believes in damnation of the mortal soul. Anyone can end up in Hell, no matter what religion, no matter what faith. You may not believe in Hell, but Hell believes in you.

In Hell, all things are possible. In Hell, many of the damned believe they have been wrongly sent there, while others accept their fate and try to make the best of a bad situation. In Hell’s Mortuary, the Undertaker giveth and taketh away, revives and reassigns the damned — again and again — so they can continue their dance with the Devil. Yes, welcome to Hell — where rogues and heroes and fools quest for a way out, and Satan plots to storm the Gates of Heaven.

Ah, but wait… the powers that be in Heaven have decided that Hell has become too comfortable. Infernity is in trouble. El Diablo is lying down on the job.

Heaven has sent Erra, Babylonian god of plague and mayhem, and his 7 Sibitti (his Auditors, his Enforcers, his personified weapons), to further punish the innocent as well as the guilty, and they do so with great glee. They are Hell’s judge, jury, and executioners. Satan can’t even run Hell the way he wants to run it. Paradise mocks him. Will Erra replace Satan? Make things worse for everyone in all levels and versions of Hell — past, present and future?

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Fritz Leiber, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Appendix N: Advanced Readings in D&D

Fritz Leiber, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Appendix N: Advanced Readings in D&D

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Swords and Ice Magic-smallOver at Tor.com, Tim Callahan and Mordicai Knode continue with their thoughtful and entertaining tour through Gary Gygax’s famous Appendix N, the library of fantasy and SF titles referenced in the back of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. In the past few weeks, they’ve covered Fritz Leiber and Edgar Rice Burroughs — proving once again that they can write these columns faster than I can keep up.

So we’ll play catch-up today. Here’s what Mordicai says about Leiber, author of the genre-defining Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tales.

Guys, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Gray Mouser are basically the bee’s knees. In fact, I might go so far as to say they are the most Dungeons and Dragons of anything on the Appendix N list… The thing about the Lankhmar stories is that they are actually how people play the game as well… Let me illustrate it thus: Fafhrd straps fireworks to his skis at one point in order to rocket across a jump. That sort of insanity is just so… well, so Dungeons and Dragons; I don’t know how Leiber does it… Leiber’s imagination is so fruitful that, well, it is like he has a chaos theory generator in his head. Billions of flapping butterflies.

So true! And here’s Tim on how Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter novels may have influenced level limits.
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Some of the Best Battles in Recent Memory: A Review of Dawnthief

Some of the Best Battles in Recent Memory: A Review of Dawnthief

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Dawnthief Pyr-smallDawnthief (Chronicles of the Raven 1)
By James Barclay
Pyr (403 pages, $17 September 22, 2009)

Balia, the setting of Dawnthief, isn’t a very nice place, not at all. Rape, murder, betrayal, lust, and just plain old human cruelty, yep it’s all here by the bucket-load. But as interesting as the world is, it can’t even compare to the people who populate it.

Dawnthief follows a group of mercenaries called ‘The Raven’ as they are employed by one of the four magic colleges, Xetesk, to find Dawnthief, a spell apparently designed to end the world and the only thing capable of destroying the ‘wytch lords’: all powerful beings bent on destroying the world, who for no particular reason, have decided to wake up again, and, for no particular reason, destroy the world.

Needless to say, our intrepid adventurers set out to stop them, accompanied all the while by Denser, a mage from Xetesk, sent to oversee the operation, cast Dawnthief and cause a lot of trouble for The Raven. Now in order to do what they want to do, they must find four catalysts, which are basically the things needed to cast a spell. These are located across Balia and must be found if they are to have any chance of success.

The plot is the book’s weakest point; it all feels a bit clichéd, a bit tired and, to be frank, a bit boring. The catalysts serve only to ferry the team from one battle to the next, all they do is give the group an excuse to move from point A to point B and set up the next fight, or puzzle.

It’s not exactly original either, is it? Just another “save the world from the dark lord” story, another Lord of the Rings mimic; tried and true, but contrived and unoriginal. I mean come on, care a little bit.

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Board Game Review: Forbidden Island

Board Game Review: Forbidden Island

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Forbidden Island

The ancient Archeon empire is long gone, but their legacy remains. You are part of a group of adventurers who has landed upon their lost island, seeking their mystical treasures. Unfortunately, the Archeons cursed the island so that if any sought their talismans of power, the island itself would seek to destroy them … can you find and secure the four sacred treasures and get your party – your entire party – back to the helicopter, evacuating the island before it is too late?

That is the scenario of Forbidden Island (Amazon), an award-winning cooperative board game. As a cooperative game, it’s a bit more useful to discuss how to lose the game than how to win it:

  • If both Temples, Caves, Palaces, or Gardens tiles sink before you collect their respective treasures.
  • If the Fools’ Landing tile sinks.
  • If any player is on an island tile that sinks and there is no adjacent tile to swim to.
  • If the water level reaches the skull and crossbones.

In other words, victory means:

  • Your people all have to survive
  • You have to be able to get all 4 sacred treasures (which are dependent upon certain locations on the island)
  • You have to be able to get everyone to the Fools’ Landing tile to evacuate on the helicopter. (You also need a helicopter card at that point.)

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Get Five Years of Fiction from Tor.com — For Free!

Get Five Years of Fiction from Tor.com — For Free!

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Tor The StoriesTo celebrate their fifth anniversary, Tor.com is releasing an anthology crammed with all the original fiction they’ve published since their launch.

It’s a hugely impressive list — over 150 short stories. Authors include Charles Stross, John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow, Steven Gould, Elizabeth Bear, Terry Bisson, Jay Lake, Brandon Sanderson, Jeff VanderMeer, Jo Walton, Ken Scholes, Rachel Swirsky, Harry Turtledove, Michael Bishop and Steven Utley, and Kij Johnson. And that’s just in the first twelve months!

Short fiction from Tor.com has won virtually every major award in SFF. Want examples? “Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Jan 2010) won the Nebula and Charlie Jane Anders’s novelette “Six Months, Three Days” (June 2011) won the Hugo. There are numerous Nebula nominees among the collected stories as well, including “The Finite Canvas” by Brit Mandelo (Dec 2012), “Swift, Brutal Retaliation” by Meghan McCarron (Jan 2012), and two novelettes by Rachel Swirsky: “Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia” (Aug 2012) and “A Memory of Wind” (Nov 2009).

There’s no shortage of Hugo nominees in this lot either, including John Scalzi’s “Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue” (April 2011), “Ponies” by Kij Johnson (Nov 2010), “Eros, Philia, Agape” by Rachel Swirsky (Mar 2009), and “Overtime” by Charles Stross (Dec 2009).

In short, this is one of the most impressive and monumental anthologies to come along in years. And Tor.com is giving it away absolutely free. We’re not worthy, but we won’t let that stop us.

You can see the complete list of fiction Tor.com has published in the last five year at their Original Fiction index. And just to prove that they’re not resting on their laurels, they’ve announced five new stories will be published tomorrow, by Carrie Vaughn, Nancy Kress, Lavie Tidhar, Ben Burgis, and Tina Connolly.

Fiction for Tor.com is acquired and edited by Liz Szabla, Ann VanderMeer, Susan Dobinick, Ellen Datlow, Noa Wheeler, George R. R. Martin, Paul Stevens, Calista Brill, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Brendan Deneen, Janine O’Malley, and a talented community of Tor editors and their pals.

Get the free book here.

Arak Issue 3: Welcome the Iron Maiden!

Arak Issue 3: Welcome the Iron Maiden!

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Arak_Vol_1_3IMG_0001Our adventures with Arak the Viking-Native-American continue!

Before I summarize issue 3, I haven’t said anything much about the artwork yet, so I’ll do my best to opine on that a bit. I don’t have a particularly deep background in visual art, other than that I’ve been looking at it all my life (and occasionally drawing a cartoon or illustration here and there), so I speak strictly as a layperson on this. That said, here are my general impressions.

First, the elephant in the room: To younger eyes that grew up on the computer-enhanced visuals of the past decade or so, these old pre-‘90s comics must look terribly quaint. Take a representative comic off the stand today. The colors and depth and lighting effects, the impression of characters leaping right out of the 2-dimensional bounds of the page from explosions that look like they could burn your fingers: such is to be seen in any typical issue of a mainstream comic like X-Factor (which is produced twice monthly!)

So, right off the bat, a typical early ‘80s comic like Arak appears, by comparison, pretty flat, the colors dim and washed-out, with a limited palette of hues and rather pedestrian panel lay-out with few or no “effects.” Older comics look much like their ancestral progenitor: the old newspaper comic-strip or “funnies” pages, because that is essentially what they were, printed with the same technology on the same type of thin pulp paper.

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Weird Tales 361 Now on Sale

Weird Tales 361 Now on Sale

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Weird Tales 361-smallThe latest issue of the world’s oldest — and arguably greatest — fantasy magazine is now on sale.

Weird Tales #361 is the special demented Fairy Tale issue, with fiction by Peter S. Beagle, Tanith Lee, Jane Yolen, Morgan Llywelyn, and many others.

There’s also articles from Darrell Schweitzer (“Ninety Years of Weird Tales“), an interview with J. David Spurlock on the artwork of Margaret Brundage, and “An Inside Look at Weird Tales,” a step-by-step look at the evolving cover concept for this issue, by editor John Harlacher and artist Jeff Wong.

It’s always a delight to see a new issue of Weird Tales, especially one as jam-packed as this. This fat issue contains no less than 19 stories and four poems, alongside several feature interviews, book reviews, and copious interior art.

The PDF review copy we received is beautifully laid out and easy to navigate and read. This is the second issue produced by Nth Dimension Media, under new editor Marvin Kaye.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents:

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New Treasures: Brilliance by Marcus Sakey

New Treasures: Brilliance by Marcus Sakey

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Brilliance Marcus Sakey-smallI think of Marcus Sakey chiefly as a thriller writer. Mostly because he is.

Publications like The Chicago Sun-Times call him “a modern master of suspense” and he gets blurbed by fellow thriller writers like Michael Connell (who called him “one of our best storytellers.”) His previous efforts, including The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes and Good People, were contemporary suspense novels. Sounds like a thriller writer to me.

So at first I didn’t pay much attention to his newest book, Brilliance. My mistake. Set in an alternate reality that diverged from ours in 1980 when 1% of births became people with extraordinary gifts, the novel follows federal agent Nick Cooper, born with the talent to hunt the world’s worst criminals, on the trail of a brilliant whose talent could lead to unheard-of destruction.

In Wyoming, a little girl reads people’s darkest secrets by the way they fold their arms. In New York, a man sensing patterns in the stock market racks up $300 billion. In Chicago, a woman can go invisible by being where no one is looking. They’re called “brilliants,” and since 1980, one percent of people have been born this way. Nick Cooper is among them; a federal agent, Cooper has gifts rendering him exceptional at hunting terrorists. His latest target may be the most dangerous man alive, a brilliant drenched in blood and intent on provoking civil war. But to catch him, Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in — and betray his own kind.

For those of you who care about such things, the novel has already been optioned by Legendary Pictures (makers of 300, Watchmen, The Dark Knight, Man of Steel, and this summer’s best movie, Pacific Rim). For me, the premise alone is intriguing enough to get my attention.

Brilliance will be published tomorrow by Thomas & Mercer, a division of Amazon.com that focuses on mystery and thrillers. It is 452 pages, priced at $14.99 in trade paperback. The Kindle edition lists at $9.99, but is currently just $3.99 — check it out.

See all of our recent New Treasures here.

Star Trek Lives

Star Trek Lives

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enterpriseThis post is for Star Trek fans.

Let me be more specific. This post isn’t for fans who were brought in by the new movies, or fans of Star Trek: the Whatever – it’s for any of you who love the original TV show.

Maybe, like me, you grew up when it was the only science fiction on television, or – it’s possible — perhaps you’re a more recent convert.

I know a lot of original Star Trek fans who’ve dreamt from time to time that they’re watching an episode they’ve never seen before. I sure have. We wanted the stories to continue and sometimes our subconscious obliges. Here’s the amazing thing: I’ve recently watched something that plays almost like one of those dreams, albeit a coherent one.

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

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

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The Highwater Harbor-smallGallery Hunters Gloren Avericci and Yr Neh, last seen in “The Sealord’s Successor” (published here on March 3rd), “The Tea-Maker’s Task” (December 30th),  and “The Daughter’s Dowry” (October 14), find themselves tasked with unraveling the secrets of a mysterious artifact… as the death toll mounts around them.

“The Cipher Key,” he said. “Is it a code? A secret writing system?”

“A means to unlock the ships themselves?” the large man asked. His words revealed his interests, and I knew him then to be a martial man of the sea, perhaps a freebooter captain.

“A mapping coordinate system,” offered Lady Armeline at the same time. “A secret route to one of the most powerful southern fortresses of the Old Kingdom.”

Gloren chuckled, sitting back and looking at the eager trio. He glanced at Yr Neh, and then at me. “It is a puzzle,” he offered. “We’ll need a second crew, if you’re thinking of recovering a ship from the Harbor. And someone you can trust to lead them.”

“I’ve got just the man,” said the Captain.

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 II will be presented next week; all three parts are offered at no cost.

Read Part I here.