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Read an Original Short Story in the World of The Lazarus Gate and The Iscariot Sanction at the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi Blog

Read an Original Short Story in the World of The Lazarus Gate and The Iscariot Sanction at the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi Blog

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Mark Latham’s new novel in The Apollonian Case Files, The Iscariot Sanction, was published by Titan Books on September 20. It’s the follow-up to The Lazarus Gate and, in honor of the occasion, the popular Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog at BarnesandNoble.com has posted a brand new story set in the same world, “The House of the Dead.”

Mark Latham’s two novels of The Apollonian Case Files, The Lazarus Gate and The Iscariot Sanction, take place in an alternate Victorian Age in which Her Majesty’s Empire is under attack by supernatural threats, and only a mystery “gentlemen’s club” stands in the way of total oblivion. They’re great fun, mixing elements of Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft, James Bond and H.G. Wells, with a setting we love spending time in — which is why, in honor of the release of the latest in the series, we’re pleased to present an original short story set in the same universe. Enjoy!

Read the complete story here.

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Black Gate Online Fiction: “Grady Spades Second Opinion” by Levi Black

Black Gate Online Fiction: “Grady Spades Second Opinion” by Levi Black

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Red Right Hand Levi Black-smallBlack Gate is very pleased to offer our readers an exclusive short story by Levi Black, author of Red Right Hand, on sale now from Tor Books.

“Is that an agreement?”

“Yes. Take away my cancer. I want to party some more.”

The words were barely past his lips when the Man In Black was on him.

The coat wrapped around Grady, slithering over his head and face, making the world go dark. Cold, so bone-achingly cold, seared his chin and cheeks. He couldn’t breathe.

He felt something digging in the crease of his hip and then a rough tearing sensation, as if his skin had been ripped asunder, and the pain flared to a white hot scorch.

Something curled in his guts and it sent a wet tickle up his spine and into his brain. Tug. Yank.

And something tore free.

Levi Black lives in Metro Atlanta with his wife and an array of toys, books, records, and comics.

The complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including stories by Mark Rigney, John Fultz, Jon Sprunk, Tara Cardinal and Alex Bledsoe, E.E. Knight, Vaughn Heppner,  Howard Andrew Jones, David Evan Harris, John C. Hocking, Michael Shea, Aaron Bradford Starr, Martha Wells, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, C.S.E. Cooney, and many others, is here.

“Grady Spades Second Opinion” is a complete 1,500-word short story of dark fantasy.

Read the complete story here.

Black Gate Online Fiction: Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong

Black Gate Online Fiction: Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong

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Black Gate is very pleased to offer our readers an exclusive excerpt from Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong, published in deluxe trade paperback and digital formats this month by Perseid Press. Here’s Janet Morris, publisher of Perseid.

Is Truck Struck Earth a memoir? Science fiction? New Pulp? Paranormal (or paranoid) fantasy? Noir in the Shaver tradition? UFOlogy? Magical realism? Social Commentary? Black humor? We dunno. But we’re proud to bring you this tough, dangerous book that breaks every rule you thought separated true from false, good from bad, and literature from trash.

Michael A. Armstrong’s first novel was After the Zap. His short fiction has been published in Asimov’s, The Magazine of Science Fiction, Fiction Quarterly, and various anthologies, including Not of Woman Born, a Philip K. Dick award nominee, and several Heroes In Hell anthologies. His other novels include Agviq, The Hidden War, and Bridge Over Hell, part of the Perseid Press Heroes in Hell universe.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Fifteen (The End!)

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Fifteen (The End!)

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In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the final installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. Yes, you heard a’right. This, me hearties, do be the closing section. For now. This will be Book One of a pair (but no, not an ongoing, endless cycle), and you have reached the Continental Divide between the two.

As part of the work of laboring on to the end, I’ve also gone back to the beginning with an eye toward cleaning up typos, improving the prose as needed, and catching the odd mistake. Let’s face it, serialization (at speed) is an invitation to inconsistency. More on that another day, but for now, suffice it to say that the manuscript as a whole is now a good deal neater and cleaner.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the fifteenth and final installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Fourteen

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Fourteen

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In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the fourteenth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. The battle for the armory is the main order of business, followed by a benedictory aftermath. But wait, we’re not done yet! The final installment will follow in two weeks’ time, so stay tuned –– and for those who fear I’m writing a doorstop, be reassured. This will be Book One of a pair (but no, not an ongoing, endless cycle), and the Great Divide between the two is all but in reach.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the fourteenth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Thirteen

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Thirteen

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In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the thirteenth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. Urnua lives to see the secrets of the armory unveiled, Mother Coal instigates a disturbing extrication, and Maer escapes the Middle Isle. Chapter Fourteen will follow in two weeks’ time, so stay tuned –– and for those who fear I’m writing a doorstop, be reassured. This will be Book One of a pair (but no, not an ongoing, endless cycle), and the Great Divide between the two will be reached in Chapter Fifteen.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the thirteenth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Twelve

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Twelve

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In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the twelfth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. Vagen’s longest day continues into nightfall and beyond, featuring escape for some, capture for others, and the possibility of an unexpected crown for…well. Best read on and find out for yourself. Chapter Thirteen will follow in two weeks’ time, so stay tuned –– and for those who fear I’m writing a doorstop, be reassured. This will be Book One of a pair (but no, not an ongoing, endless cycle), and the Great Divide between the two will be reached in Chapter Fifteen.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the twelfth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Eleven

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Eleven

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In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the eleventh installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. These pages keep the focus on Maer, with plenty of violence and unexpected encounters to leaven the story-telling. Chapter Twelve will follow in two weeks’ time, so stay tuned –– and for those who fear I’m writing a doorstop, be reassured. This will be Book One of a pair (but no, not an ongoing, endless cycle) and the Great Divide between the two is rapidly approaching.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the eleventh and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Ten

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Ten

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In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the tenth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. The struggle for control over Vagen continues under the cover of darkness, with plenty of scheming and plotting. Chapter Eleven will follow in two weeks’ time, so stay tuned –– and for those who fear I’m writing a doorstop, be reassured. I expect to draw the curtain somewhere in the neighborhood of Chapter Fifteen.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the tenth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Nine

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Nine

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In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the ninth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. The battle for Vagen continues, with jeopardy enough for all and chaos stretching as far as the eye can see. Chapter Ten will follow in two weeks’ time, so stay tuned: same bat time, same bat channel.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the ninth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

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