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The blog posts of Black Gate Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones and Editor John O’Neill

New Treasures: The Dark Rites of Cthulhu edited by Brian M. Sammons

New Treasures: The Dark Rites of Cthulhu edited by Brian M. Sammons

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The Dark Rites of Cthulhu-smallI first met Neil Baker over a decade ago and was surprised by how much we had in common, including our shared love of genre films. He told vastly more entertaining stories than I did — especially his tales of the British film industry, and working on films like Lifeforce. So I wasn’t at all surprised when he told me late last year that he was joining the noble and distinguished brotherhood of small press publishers.

In an article for Black Gate last month, Neil told us that his first release, The Dark Rites of Cthulhu, was a collection of stories dealing with “the more magical aspects of Lovecraft’s tales, smaller, more intimate stories that explored the consequences of humans meddling in powers beyond their understanding.” In a marketplace crowded with a multitude of Cthulhu volumes, this one stands out, with terrific reviews, fabulous design, and excellent interior art by Neil himself. Here’s the book description.

For centuries, students of the forbidden arts have probed the inky recesses of the spaces inbetween. Hapless mortals have invoked monstrous entities from beyond through foul magicks, incantations and rituals. When will they learn that there can be no profit nor joy to be gained through relations with the insidious old ones? These sixteen tales of depravity, sorcery and madness may offer some illumination, but ultimately there can be no salvation for those who dabble in The Dark Rites of Cthulhu.

Featuring terrifying new stories by Glynn Owen Barrass, Edward M. Erdelac, John Goodrich, Scott T. Goudsward, T. E. Grau, C.J. Henderson, Tom Lynch, William Meikle, Christine Morgan, Robert M. Price, Pete Rawlik, Josh Reynolds, Brian M. Sammons, Sam Stone, Jeffrey Thomas and Don Webb and edited by Brian M. Sammons, The Dark Rites of Cthulhu shares cautionary tales set in a multiverse of jealousy, greed, desperation and naivety and is guaranteed to delight students of the Dark Arts and followers of the Great Old Ones alike.

The Dark Rites of Cthulhu was edited by Brian M. Sammons and published by April Moon Books on March 28, 2014. It is 224 pages, priced at $18.99 in trade paperback and just $2.99 for the digital version. Buy it directly from the April Moon website. It gets our highest recommendation.

A Ride Along with the Thought Police: John C. Wright, Foz Meadows, and Rachel Aaron

A Ride Along with the Thought Police: John C. Wright, Foz Meadows, and Rachel Aaron

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the-legend-of-eli-monpress2There’s been a lively and far-ranging debate that’s arisen out of the 2014 Hugo nominations, recent turmoil inside SFWA, and even the lingering controversy over WisCon withdrawing Elizabeth Moon’s Guest of Honor invitation back in 2010. It began earlier this week with author John C. Wright drawing the threads of these (and other) issues together to illuminate a broad conspiracy to silence conservative writers, in his article Heinlein, Hugos, and Hogwash:

The lamps of the intellect were put out one by one, first in society at large, then in literature, then in our little corner called science fiction. What we have now instead is a smothering fog of caution, of silence, of an unwillingness to speak for fear of offending the perpetually hypersensitive. Science fiction is under the control of the thought police…

When Larry Correia was nominated for a Hugo Award, the gossips reacted with astonishing venom, vocal enough to be mentioned in the Washington Post and USA Today. He was accused of the typical menu of thought crimes. You know the selection: racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, insensitivity, fascism… The lunatic Left planned and struggled for years, decades, to achieve their cultural influence. Let us imitate their perseverance, and retake our lost home one mind, one institution, at a time. Start by praying.

Black Gate blogger Foz Meadows posted a thoughtful (and frequently very funny) response, “Silence Is Not Synonymous With Uproar: A Response To John C. Wright,” in which she ably disputes John C. Wright’s complaints point by point. Here’s an example:

You cannot state, as your opening premise, that SFF fandom is being handicapped by silence and an unwillingness to speak out, and then support that premise by stating the exact polar opposite: that there has, in your own words, been vocal uproar. Doubtless, what Wright meant to imply is that the persons against whom the uproar is directed are being silenced by it – that he, and others like him, such as Larry Correia and Theodore Beale, are now suffering under the burden of enforced quietude. But given that all three men are still writing publicly and vocally, not just about the issues Wright raises, but about any number of other topics, the idea that their output is being curtailed by their own “unwillingness to speak for fear of offending” is patently false.

In her post “The Loudest Sound in the World is a Bigot Screaming That he’s Being Silenced,” Rachel Aaron, author of the The Legend of Eli Monpress and, under the name Rachel Bach, the military SF series Fortune’s Pawn, presents the radical idea that having readers react strongly to your ideas isn’t the same thing as being a victim of “thought police” — it’s something called criticism, a vital part of a free society.

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Baen Announces 2014 Fantasy Adventure Award

Baen Announces 2014 Fantasy Adventure Award

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Baen Books logoAll right, all you aspiring fantasy writers. Here’s your chance to make a splash.

Baen Books has announced a new short story contest for the best original fantasy adventure tale under 8,000 words. They’re accepting entries in all categories of fantasy, including sword and sorcery, epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, urban fantasy, etc. Here’s the official announcement:

Baen Books is proud to announce the inaugural Baen Fantasy Adventure Award, to be given at this year’s Gen Con to the best piece of original short fiction that captures the spirit and tradition of such great storytellers as Larry Correia, Robert E. Howard, Mercedes Lackey, Elizabeth Moon, Andre Norton, J.R.R. Tolkien, David Weber and Marion Zimmer Bradley.

There’s no entry fee, but you’re limited to one entry per person. The story has to be original and not a reprint.

Only entries in English will be considered. Poetry or licensed fiction set in some else’s sandbox (such as Pathfinder, Star Wars, Doctor Who, or Twilight fanfic) will not be considered.

All submissions must be by e-mail. The contest is now open and entries must be submitted by June 30, 2014. A single winner will be announced at this year’s Gen Con.

Complete submission instructions are at the Baen website. Read them carefully, as they include very specific instructions.

Good luck!

io9 Looks at the Megadungeon

io9 Looks at the Megadungeon

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The Temple of Elemental EvilOver at io9, Ed Grabianowski has posted a thoughtful survey of that underappreciated RPG stable, the megadungeon.

He covers many of the essentials — including The Temple of Elemental Evil, Undermountain, and Castle Greyhawk — and throws in a few clever suggestions I hadn’t thought of (such as the Death Star and Minecraft.) He here is on the modern classic Blackreach:

Blackreach is a signature location in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. It’s semi-abandoned underground city filled with eerily beautiful glowing mushrooms, strange ruins, rare plants and other oddities. The first time you delve into Blackreach, you can’t help but be a bit awestruck. The silence down there is intense, creating a tension and wonder I’ve rarely experienced in video games. Blackreach itself is massive, but to get to it you actually have to work your way down through another dungeon, a Dwemer ruin. And Blackreach is actually connected to three of these dungeons, so there’s no doubt it’s worthy of the “mega” appellation.

As thorough as he is, there’s plenty left over for folks in the comments section to add, including the epic Rappan Athuk, Dragon Mountain, Judges Guild’s early classic Tegel Manor, Arduin Dungeon, Ultima Underworld, and many others.

I’m disappointed that so far no one has mentioned a few of my favorites, including Monte Cook’s massive (and now extremely hard to find) Ptolus, Gygax’s Castle Zagyg modules, AEG’s ridiculously oversized World’s Largest Dungeon, and Goodman Games’ massive Castle Whiterock. Ah well. Who would have thought the market would be crowded with megadungeons?

You can read Ed’s complete io9 article here.

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in March

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in March

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Pictures for Sad ChildrenYou Black Gate peeps sure are a reliable bunch. You love vintage fantasy paperbacks, 80s horror movies, and gaming news, and with a noble passion. But you know what you really crave? Tales of People Behaving Badly, that’s what. Figures.

And thus we find that the #1 article on the Black Gate blog last month was our report on John Campbell’s ugly KickStarter implosion, a sad tale of comics, hubris, and book-burning. (It was my favorite, too. I’m not throwing stones.)

Things got a little more wholesome (sort of) with our #2 article, M. Harold Page’s “What’s the Point of Steampunk?” (You remember. The one with the line, “WHAT WAS THAT, SIR? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MY ZEPPELIN ENGINES.”)

Moving on, we find that Derek Kunsken’s interview with comic wunderkind’s Mirror Comics was the third most-read post for the month, followed by Bob Byrne’s opening post in his popular new blog series, The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes. Rounding out the Top Five was Fletcher Vredenburgh’s look at a forgotten Lin Carter novel, Kellory the Warlock (forgotten by everyone but Black Gate readers, apparently).

The complete Top 50 Black Gate posts in March were:

  1. Another Crowdfunding Fail: John Campbell Self-Destructs on Kickstarter
  2. What’s the Point of Steampunk?
  3. Rising Star Indie Publisher Mirror Comics on their Weird Western Mission Arizona
  4. The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes
  5. His Name is Vengeance: Kellory the Warlock by Lin Carter

    6. …

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The Top 20 Black Gate Fiction Posts in March

The Top 20 Black Gate Fiction Posts in March

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Steven H SilverSteven H Silver’s tale of the strange astral adventures of Hoggar the Cremator, “The Cremator’s Tale,” surged to the top of our fiction charts in March.

Second on the list was Jason E. Thummel’s fast-paced story of a skilled swordsman caught up in a web of treachery in a decadent city, “The Duelist.”

Joe Bonadonna’s sword & sorcery tale, “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum,” a perennial favorite, claimed the #3 spot.

Martha Wells’s complete novel, the Nebula-nominee The Death of the Necromancer, came in fourth, and Michael Shea’s novelette of Lovecraftian horror, “Tsathoggua,” rounded out the Top Five.

Also making the list were exciting stories by C.S.E. Cooney, Peter Cakebread, Janet Morris and Chris Morris, E.E. Knight, Aaron Bradford Starr, Mark Rigney, John C. Hocking, Jon Sprunk, Harry Connolly, Tara Cardinal and Alex Bledsoe, John R. Fultz, Dave Gross, Jamie McEwan, Mike Allen, and Ryan Harvey.

If you haven’t sampled the free adventure fantasy stories offered through our Black Gate Online Fiction line, you’re missing out. Here are the Top Twenty most-read stories in March.

  1. “The Cremator’s Tale” by Steven H Silver
  2. “The Duelist,” by Jason E. Thummel
  3. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum,” by Joe Bonadonna
  4. The Death of the Necromancer, a complete novel by Martha Wells
  5. “Tsathoggua,” by Michael Shea
  6. “Godmother Lizard” by C.S.E. Cooney
  7. An excerpt from The Alchemists Revenge by Peter Cakebread
  8. An excerpt from The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
  9. “The Terror in the Vale,” by E.E. Knight
  10. “The Sealord’s Successor,” by Aaron Bradford Starr

    11. …

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Total Pulp Victory: A Triumphant Return from Windy City Pulp & Paper

Total Pulp Victory: A Triumphant Return from Windy City Pulp & Paper

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Super Science Stories Canada December 1942-small Super Science Stories Canada February 1945-small Super Science Stories Canada August 1945-small

Doug Ellis’s Windy City Pulp and Paperback Convention has wrapped up for another year (see my report from last year here). I got to see many old friends, meet some new ones, and also connect in person with a few for the first time — including Barbara Barrett, who traveled many hundreds of miles to make it to Chicago. Barbara has been blogging for Black Gate for many years and her early article “Robert E. Howard: The Sword Collector and His Poetry” is one of the most popular pieces we’ve ever published… but we’ve never met in person, and it was an absolute delight to finally join her for dinner — and give her a big hug.

In between all the meetings, reunions, and forging of new friendships, I also picked up a treasure or two. I’ll be reporting on some of the most interesting here over the next few weeks (the most common comment I heard as I put away my purchases was, “Something new for you to blog about!”), but I can’t resist telling you about one now.

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Vintage Treasures: Charles de Lint’s Wolf Moon, and a Tale of Roving Booksellers

Vintage Treasures: Charles de Lint’s Wolf Moon, and a Tale of Roving Booksellers

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Wolf Moon Charles de Lint-smallIt pays to know excellent booksellers.

On Tuesday, Rich Warren, co-owner of Starfarer’s Despatch, posted a pic of Charles de Lint’s 1988 Signet paperback Wolf Moon on Facebook and later this brief review:

What a blast. Just finished this one this morning. A tale sympathetic to the Werewolf, and told from his point of view. I know there are De Lint fans who enjoy his urban fantasy (Newford) more but the great writing is still present in these older fantasies.

My comment was concise, but completely heartfelt: “I need this book! Rich, sell me one!”

I meant it, too. Wolf Moon was reprinted in 2004, with a generic urban fantasy cover, but the 1988 paperback original, which boasts a fabulous cover by Dean Morrissey, showing a werewolf relaxing in The Inn of the Yellow Tinker, is much harder to come by.

Three days later, I returned from my business trip to Las Vegas. I drove straight from the airport to the Westin hotel in Lombard, Illinois, and arrived shortly before the Dealer’s Room closed at Windy City Pulp and Paper, one of my favorite local cons (the write-up I did on last year’s is here). I wasn’t in the room five minutes before I heard a friendly voice calling my name: Arin Komins, Rich’s wife and the other half of the splendid enterprise that is Starfarer’s Despatch.

“We have a book for you,” Arin said. We found Rich and, sure enough, he pulled a beautiful, unread copy of Wolf Moon out of his backpack.

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Tales From Windy City Pulp and Paper

Tales From Windy City Pulp and Paper

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The Weapon Shops of IsherThis coming weekend, Friday April 25th through Sunday April 27th, is Doug Ellis’s magnificent celebration of all things pulp, the Windy City Pulp and Paperback Convention here in Chicago, in nearby Lombard, Illinois.

Windy City is one of my favorite local cons. I’ve written about it before, and in fact I’ve been attending the show for around 10 years. 2012 was perhaps the most successful show in some years, considering I returned with a fabulous assortment of mint-condition fantasy and science fiction paperbacks from the collection of Martin H. Greenberg. See the article and photos from that show in my 2012 post, “Thank You, Martin H. Greenberg (and Doug Ellis).”

The show has been growing steadily over the years. Doug and his cohorts have added a film program, an Art Show, panels, an auction, readings, and more programming, but the real draw continues to be the massive Dealer’s Room, a wall-to-wall market crammed with pulps, paperbacks, rare DVDs, posters, artwork, comics, and much more.

I jotted down a few notes last year, and promised myself I’d write them up before the 2014 convention, to let folks who may be on the fence about attending (or those sad and lonely souls who, like me, just enjoy reading far-off convention reports), know what they’re missing.

In 2013, the list of Dealers was the longest I’ve ever seen, boasting some 80 vendors. They had to add more space, and it took even longer to walk the floor. Doug reported that he sold more tables than at any previous convention, and in record time.

If there’s a drawback to the show, it’s that the Dealer’s room closes at 5:00 pm. That made it impossible for me to make it there after work on Friday. My weekly D&D game with my kids kept me tied up until after 3:00 pm Saturday, which meant that by the time I made the show on Saturday, I had less than half an hour to walk the floor before it closed.

I put the time to good use. After a few years, you tend to find a few favorite sellers and I searched them out immediately.

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2014 Hugo Award Nominees Announced

2014 Hugo Award Nominees Announced

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The nominees for the 2014 Hugo Awards have been announced by LonCon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, and let’s not mince words: it’s a wacky ballot.

What’s so wacky about it? Well, to start with, the novel category includes The Wheel of Time. That’s right, the complete series. Which means that 2013 novels likes Parasite by Mira Grant and Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie will be up against one of the great phenomena in publishing history, a series spanning more than 20 years with combined sales of 44 million (to put that in perspective, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, which includes A Game of Thrones, has sold a paltry 24 million copies). Not exactly sure how that happened, but I wouldn’t want to be one of the other novel nominees this year.

There are additional surprises. Analog magazine, effectively shut out of Hugo nominations for many years, has surged back into the limelight with two nominations (both for Brad Torgersen), and the traditionally strong Asimov’s SF and F&SF both come away empty-handed. Some folks are laying the credit (or blame) for that on an organized campaign of bloc voting by nominee Larry Correia, which successfully placed as many as seven nominees on the ballot… but really, every year someone gets accused of bloc voting and it’s tough to blame someone for having enthusiastic fans.

It’s a triumph for Tor.com, with no less than four short fiction nods — more than all the print magazines combined. And the highly regarded Clarkesworld, which led the pack for short fiction nominations last year, didn’t make the ballot at all.

There are lots of people to congratulate, including several Black Gate contributors on the list, but I’d like to give a special shout-out to Scott Taylor, who acquired Dan Wells’s The Butcher of Khardov while he was an editor at Privateer Press. While I’d have to do some research to confirm it, I believe this is the first piece of licensed fiction to be nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novella. Congrats on helping to make history, Scott!

The nominees for the 2014 Hugo Awards are:

Best Novel

Warbound, Larry Correia (Baen)
Parasite, Mira Grant (Orbit)
The Wheel of Time (complete series), Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (Tor)
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (Orbit)
Neptune’s Brood, Charles Stross (Ace)

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