Browsed by
Category: Books

New Treasures: Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

New Treasures: Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

Comments 0 Comment

Dragonfall (DAW, May 2, 2023). Cover by Micaela Alcaino

L.R. Lam, who also writes as Laura Lam and Laura Ambrose, is the author of the Micah Grey trilogy (Pantomime, Shadowplay, and Masquerade), about an an intersex youth who runs away from home to become a circus aerialist. Lam is also the author (with Elizabeth May) of the Seven Devils duology, Seven Devils and Seven Mercies.

Lam’s new book is the opening volume in a new fantasy series, Dragon Scales. The tale of a street thief who steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the hated Plaguebringer, Dragonfall is a tale of the world-changing events triggered by that small bit of larceny… beginning with Everen, the last male dragon, dragged him through the Veil and disguised as a human, who find himself unexpectedly in the thief’s power. Publishers Weekly calls it “Sumptuous epic fantasy,” and GrimDark magazine sums it up as “a slow burn, full of angst, moral dilemmas and emotionally damaged characters… an exciting opening to a series with a lot of potential.”

…

Read More Read More

Knowing the Rules, and Choosing to Break Them: An Interview with K.B. Wagers

Knowing the Rules, and Choosing to Break Them: An Interview with K.B. Wagers

Comments 0 Comment


The NeoG trilogy, published by Harper Voyager: A Pale Light in the Black
(March 2020), Hold Fast Through the Fire (July 2021), and The Ghosts of Trappist
(June 27, 2023). Covers by Vadim Sadovski and Reginald Polynice

K.B. Wagers is one of the most exciting of the new crop of space opera writers. Their first novel, Behind the Throne, appeared in 2016 from Orbit Books, and it kicked off what eventually became a popular six-volume series featuring Hail Bristol, a runaway princess who becomes one of the most fearsome gunrunners in the galaxy. Packed with alien gods, centuries-long conflicts, treasonous plots, interstellar civilizations, invasions, intrigue, diplomatic missions, a spaceship with a motley crew, and full-scale galactic war, the Hail Bristol universe is terrific rest stop for anyone who enjoys space opera and political intrigue.

K.B.’s new NeoG series, set in our own solar system, follows the adventure of the Near-Earth Orbital Guard, a military force patrolling and protecting space. The first two volumes, A Pale Light in the Black and Hold Fast Through the Fire, will be followed by The Ghosts of Trappist, arriving in hardcover from Harper Voyager on June 27, 2023. Lara Báez, the Publicity Manager at HarperCollins, was kind enough to arrange an interview with K.B. before the release of the new book. The complete text of our email discussion, which took place between May 31 and June 5th of this year, is below. It has been lightly edited for clarity, and to correct the worst of my spelling mistakes.

…

Read More Read More

Vintage Treasures: The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Third Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois

Vintage Treasures: The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Third Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois

Comments 2 comments


The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Third Annual Collection (Bluejay Books, April 1986). Cover by Tom Kidd

I saw a copy of the third volume in Gardner Dozois’ Year’s Best Science Fiction anthology series on eBay for $11.45 last week, and decided to take a chance. Turned out to be the Book Club edition, a reprint that’s a smaller size than my other volumes, which was a disappointment. But at least I finally had a copy.

On the back of the book I found a Table of Contents — and Lord, what an amazing list. Gardner had famously good taste, but this single volume includes some of the most acclaimed science fiction of the past few decades. It contains Lucius Shepard’s famous magic realist tale “The Jaguar Hunter,” a Hugo and Nebula nominee; Frederik Pohl’s Hugo winner “Fermi and Frost;” Bruce Sterling’s classic novella of an old-school bulletin-board romance, the Nebula-nominated “Green Days in Brunei;” Robert Silverberg’s Hugo-winning far-future tale “Sailing to Byzantium;” Nancy Kress’s famous Nebula Award-winning story of a waitress who meets an alien on the night shift, “Out of All Them Bright Stars;” James Tiptree, Jr’s Locus and Hugo Award-winning novella of a young woman who spends her last dollars renting a spaceship to explore the frontier, “The Only Neat Thing to Do;” Pat Cadigan’s creepy tale of alien sex on the road, “Roadside Rescue;” James P. Blaylock’s World Fantasy Award winner “Paper Dragons;” and the novella that kicked off one of the most acclaimed SF trilogies of the 20th Century, Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Green Mars.”

…

Read More Read More

Lawrence Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords Arrives Next Week

Lawrence Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords Arrives Next Week

Comments 1 comment

Cinema of Swords by Lawrence Ellsworth (Applause, June 15, 2023)

Next Thursday is a big day in the Black Gate offices, as the most anticipated book of the year finally arrives: the hardcover edition of Lawrence Ellsworth’s monumental Cinema of Swords.

What’s in this great beast of a book? Every one of Lawrence’s informative and entertaining Cinema of Swords columns from Black Gate — Over four hundred movies and television shows featuring swashbucklers: knights, pirates, samurai, Vikings, gladiators, outlaw heroes like Zorro and Robin Hood, and anyone else who lives by the blade and solves their problems with the point of a sword — pus full-color stills, poster reproductions, a handy index (both Title and Subject), and plenty of fascinating sidebar articles by Lawrence, covering topics like The First British Invasion (50s swashbuckling TV series from ITV) to Wholesome Buccaneers (family-friendly pirate ) and Mighty Maciste (the roving strongman of two dozen films of the 60s-era post-Hercules peplum craze).

…

Read More Read More

Let’s Talk About Giant Robots: Tim Akers on BOLO and BattleTech

Let’s Talk About Giant Robots: Tim Akers on BOLO and BattleTech

Comments 6 comments


BOLO by Keith Laumer (Berkley Medallion, July 1977), BattleTech board game
(FASA, 1985), and Lonely Power Armor by Tim Akers (Citizen Crow Press,
May 17, 2022). Covers by Vincent Di Fate, Alan Gutierrez, unknown

Why do so few writers write anguished poetry or create art to honor the fertile and elusive muse of modern sci-fi? I’m speaking, of course, of that ever-sexy icon of the future, the GIANT ROBOT.

Tim Akers takes a small step to rectify this injustice in his May newsletter Heretigram, writing:

The image that defined my early creative life [was] the original cover of BattleTech, the game of armored combat, released by FASA in 1984… and lasting through dozens of revisions and reboots. It’s seeing a bit of a resurgence in gaming, and I couldn’t be happier. BattleTech was the game that moved me from Avalon Hill cardboard chit and hex map strategy games, and into the wider world of miniatures gaming. And I’ve never looked back.

Tim also salutes the fiction of Keith Laumer and Fred Saberhagan and, just to prove his heart truly is in the right place, offers a tasty excerpt from his own giant-robot inspired fiction, his new novella Lonely Power Armor.

…

Read More Read More

Djinn, Disguises, and Dangerous Desert Quests: The Sandsea Trilogy by Chelsea Abdullah

Djinn, Disguises, and Dangerous Desert Quests: The Sandsea Trilogy by Chelsea Abdullah

Comments 0 Comment


The Stardust Thief and The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah (Orbit,
May 17, 2022 and February 20, 2024). Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio

Arabian fantasy with a true One Thousand and One Nights feel is rare these days, which is why we celebrate it when it comes along. And Chelsea Abdullah’s debut novel The Stardust Thief, opening volume in The Sandsea Trilogy, has indeed been celebrated, with a bevy of enthusiastic reviews.

The Stardust Thief is a rousing tale of adventure, featuring a young thief with a djinn bodyguard, midnight assassins, dangerous desert quests, ancient lamps, magical disguises, a cruel prince and his softhearted younger brother, the Forty Thieves, and much more. Kirkus Reviews calls it “a beautifully crafted adventure,” and the sequel, The Ashfire King, is already on the schedule for early next year. I bought copy of the first volume last weekend I’m looking forward to diving into it.

…

Read More Read More

Total Pulp Victory: Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention 2023, Part II

Total Pulp Victory: Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention 2023, Part II

Comments 5 comments

David C. Smith and Steven H Silver find priceless treasures in the Dealers Room at Windy City Pulp & Paper

A month ago I wrote a short convention report on the 2023 Windy City Pulp & Paper Show, which took place Friday April 21st to Sunday, April 23rd in Lombard, Illinois. In that article I mostly rubber-necked at the gorgeous Weird Tales pulps and other rare magazines sold during the evening auctions, and took covetous pictures of the pre-auction displays.

Here in Part II, I’ll share a few more photos of the vendors and personalities I met, and showcase a few of the many treasures I dragged home in seven heavy boxes — including vintage comics, science fiction digests, graphic novels, new releases, and of course lots of great old paperbacks. Assuming you enjoy cautionary tales of disastrous self control, it should be an entertaining read.

…

Read More Read More

Vintage Treasures: Chronicles of the Twelve Kingdoms by Esther M. Friesner

Vintage Treasures: Chronicles of the Twelve Kingdoms by Esther M. Friesner

Comments 2 comments


Mustapha and His Wise Dog and Spells of Mortal Weaving
(Avon, July 1985 and May 1986). Cover art by Richard Bober

Esther M. Friesner is one of the most prolific and popular writers of modern fantasy, with dozens of novels and over 200 short stories to her credit. She’s been nominated for a Hugo Award, and won two Nebula Awards for her short fiction. Her debut novel, Mustapha and His Wise Dog, appeared in July 1985, and the following year she was named the Outstanding New Fantasy Writer of 1986 by Romantic Times. It kicked off a popular series that ran for four volumes and came to be known as the Chronicles of the Twelve Kingdoms.

Mustapha and His Wise Dog is an entertaining fantasy in the style of the Arabian Knights, about a young man cast out by his bothers and destined to wander the world with only his faithful talking dog Elcolog for company. Fortunately for Mustapha, Elcolog turns out to be significantly smarter than anyone he meets on his encounters and, fortunately for readers, the wisecracking Elcolog turns out to be one of the most entertaining and lovable characters in modern fantasy.

…

Read More Read More

Worldbuilding in Witch King

Worldbuilding in Witch King

Comments 0 Comment

Witch King by Martha Wells (Tor.com, May 30, 2023). Cover art by Cynthia Sheppard

I think people tend to talk about worldbuilding as if it’s one static process that is the same every time you do it. But I think it actually varies a lot based on the preferences of the writer and their method of work. It’s different for each writer, and for me at least it’s different for every book.

In the Ile-Rien books, I wanted to show a secondary world fantasy setting, centered around the city Vienne, that realistically aged and changed over time. Not just in politics and government and fashion, but in physical layout, with the city changing to accommodate the development of trains, automobiles, and electric light. I also used a lot of historical sources to create the material culture of the world.

In Witch King I wanted to do something a little different. I’ve done secondary worlds with a wide range of different, distinctive cultures in the Books of the Raksura series, but in Witch King I wanted to show more about the interactions between cultures.

…

Read More Read More

Goth Chick News: One from the Vaults, The Egyptologist Remains One of My Favs

Goth Chick News: One from the Vaults, The Egyptologist Remains One of My Favs

Comments 8 comments


The Egyptologist (Random House paperback edition, May 2005). Right: Canadian edition

You might assume that with stacks of books waiting patiently in every corner of GCN’s Black Gate offices, I shouldn’t have time to read something twice. And that assumption would be a correct one if I could consistently maintain a reasonable amount of self-discipline. However, I am a firm believer in the benefits of comfort food, no matter how nutritionally deficient it is, and that goes double for the mental comfort food that is a remarkable story. So yes, when I’m having a lousy week, I grab a cinnamon PopTart and one of my favorite stories off the bookshelf. The beauty of the re-read is that you can generally plow through the entire tale in roughly the same amount of time it takes to eat an entire box of PopTarts.

With that background in mind, I want to tell you about The Egyptologist. A quick peruse through the Black Gate archives confirmed my suspicion that I never wrote about this book when I first read it, probably because back then, we were still in print, and I wrote only one article per issue. First published in hardcover in 2004, I purchased The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips, to take with me on one of my dream trips; a three-week tour through Egypt in the company of Medu Hassan, a researcher from the Cairo Museum. This pre-dates e-books being a thing, as the Sony Libre wouldn’t hit the market until later that year. So back then, traveling with reading material meant packing books and this particular hardcover was a last-minute addition, added to my bag primarily due to the title and my destination, and not because I knew what I was getting into.

…

Read More Read More