A Storm of Another Kind: Mother of Storms by John Barnes

A Storm of Another Kind: Mother of Storms by John Barnes

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Mother of Storms (Tor Books, July 1994). Cover by Bob Eggleton

One of science fiction’s subgenres is that novel that emulates the style of bestsellers — bestsellers as they were before the fantastic genres became a big part of the cultural mainstream. Michael Crichton, for one, specialized in this type of writing, from The Andromeda Strain to Jurassic Park; but other writers take it up from time to time: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle in Lucifer’s Hammer, David Brin in Earth, and much more recently Andy Weir in The Martian and Harry Turtledove in Supervolcano.

Some markers are common in this sort of book: reduced use of expository passages, a more demotic prose style, a near future setting that’s easy to imagine, multiple viewpoints and a large cast of characters — and despite this, a much reduced presence of characters who have a detached, scientific view of the world. John Barnes’s Mother of Storms is a classic example of that kind of science fiction.

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The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo, Part II

The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo, Part II

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I Am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burrough (Ace Books, September 1975). Cover by Boris Vallejo

The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo , which I discussed in my post last week, contains three more paintings that became paperback covers that I own and well remember, although none of these are Sword & Planet covers.

First up we have I Am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burroughs, from Ace Books. If you discount his westerns, this is one of only two historical novels ERB wrote, the other being The Outlaw of Torn. Torn is my favorite of ERB’s standalone novels but Barbarian also ranks up there.

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Once Again, Writers…

Once Again, Writers…

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A white sign with the word “No” sticks up above a crowd.
Image by Niek Verlaan from Pixabay

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

Not too long ago, I broke my long absence from video-format social media, which is just a very wordy way of saying I’m back on TikTok. I had abandoned it in the middle of the year when life slammed into me pretty hard and I needed some time and space for grieving (I lost my beautiful cat rather suddenly and unexpectedly). It wasn’t a deliberate decision, I just couldn’t handle much at all, so a lot of things just got abandoned while I worked through my stuff.

Two or so weeks ago, I returned, and ho boy, the tea is tea-ing. There’s so much drama on BookTok, specifically. There are currently three major dramas going on at present that I’m aware of, one of which really got under my skin, but I’m not touching it at present. I’m too annoyed, and I’m not even the audience that was directly insulted. Instead, I want to address writers very specifically on reviews, reviewers and review spaces.

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What I’ve Been Listening To: November (II), 2025

What I’ve Been Listening To: November (II), 2025

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I already did a What I’ve Been Listening To column first week of the month. But more and more, audiobooks are an ongoing part of my day. Having traded in a lifetime of on-and-off running, for daily walks, I’m getting some quality listening time in that way as well.

The TBL (To Be Listened to) list is growing beyond manageable proportions. But I continue to mix in some ‘new things’ with my re-listens. I am quite happy listening to some things over and over again: like the Dirk Gently BBC radio plays, John Maddox Roberts’ SPQR books, and Lee Goldberg’s Eve Ronin.

I mentioned last month that I’m revisiting Robert B. Parker’s Cole & Hitch, read wonderfully by Titus Welliver (Bosch). The next one up just became available through my library app, so I’ll be back to those soon.

DICTATOR (Robert Harris)

In my Listening column  earlier this month, I talked about Imperium, the first book in Robert Harris’ trilogy about the Roman statesman, Cicero. I went on and listened to Conspirator, and then Dictator (all available on audio from my library app).

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New Treasures: Mistress of Bees by Bernie Mojzes

New Treasures: Mistress of Bees by Bernie Mojzes

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Mistress of Bees (Dragonwell Publishing, September 23, 2025)

Judge not a book by its cover, lest ye be judged. Possibly F. Nietzsche said this. More likely, he didn’t. But he should have, and in particular, he should have said it about the highly entertaining Mistress of Bees, from Dragonwell Publishing, and authored by Bernie Mojzes. I mention this because, based on the cover art, I didn’t know what to expect, but I am pleased to report that what’s hiding inside is exactly what a good many Black Gate readers are looking for.

Mistress of Bees features a successful blend of socially relevant High Fantasy and streetwise Sword & Sorcery, all nicely leavened with a sly sense of humor. Revolution with a Les Mis flair waits in the wings, and when it comes – as it does more than once – the ruling aristocracy gives way to plucky, upstart attempts at democracy, cheered on (always) by our hero, Maris Goselin.

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Tech Tok, Part 3

Tech Tok, Part 3

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Bravestorm (Blast, 2017)

Well here we are again.

For this new watch-a-thon, I’m returning to sci-fi, and in particular the elements that I love about sci-fi — forget about story and thoughtful metaphors for the human condition, I just want spaceships and robots and hardware. Bring it on!

Bravestorm (2017) – Tubi

It’s always fun when a visual effects artist gets to make their own movie (see: Godzilla Minus One) and Junya Okabe obviously managed to get his jollies off by shoving everything including the kitchen sink into this giant Rock ’em Sock ’em showdown in Tokyo. The story flies by at ludicrous speed, and along the way claims back everything Hollywood has stolen from Japan, including The Terminator, Pacific Rim, etc.

All you need to know is a bunch of young people go back in time to stop an alien invasion from wiping out the world in 2050, by getting a scientist to build a giant robot to battle the aliens’ giant robot, and then they go back again to recruit the scientist’s boxer brother to pilot the mech. If that sounds as silly as a sausage in a silk stocking then buckle up, baby, because that’s the most sensible part of this whole thing.

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Tor Doubles #32: Harlan Ellison’s Run for the Stars and Jack Dann and Jack Haldeman II’s Echoes of Thunder

Tor Doubles #32: Harlan Ellison’s Run for the Stars and Jack Dann and Jack Haldeman II’s Echoes of Thunder

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Cover for Run for the Stars and Echoes of Thunder by Barclay Shaw

Tor Double number #32 was originally published in April 1991 and includes Echoes of Thunder, an original story, in this form, for the Tor Double line, which, as with the Popkes story a couple volumes earlier, has not been reprinted in this form. This is Dann and Haldeman’s only appearance in the series. It also includes Harlan Ellison’s only appearance in the series.

Run for the Stars was originally published in Science Fiction Adventures in June 1957. Ellison has noted this as the author’s preferred edition of the story.

Benno Tallant is a drug addict on war torn Deald’s World. While ransacking the corpse of a grocer for money with which to buy drugs, he is taken prisoner by three men who need his assistance in their attempt to keep Earth safe from invasion of the alien Kyban, whose fleet is preparing to destroy the human outpost on Deald’s World.

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Goth Chick, January 13, 1966 – November 18, 2025

Goth Chick, January 13, 1966 – November 18, 2025

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Sue Granquist, aka Goth Chick

Sue Granquist, the Chicago blogger and technology professional who wrote Black Gate‘s Goth Chick column every Thursday for sixteen years, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday.

Sue experienced a cancer scare earlier this year that led to an extended hospital stay and multiple surgeries. She was on the mend, and when we spoke Tuesday afternoon, she was already back at work — as the Director of Supply Chain Operations at CDW in downtown Chicago — and was looking forward to returning to her regular Thursday blog spot. She passed away three hours later. She was 59 years old.

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Good Cover Art Fires the Imagination: The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo

Good Cover Art Fires the Imagination: The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo

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The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo (Del Rey, May 1978). Cover by Boris Vallejo

I make no secret of the fact that when it comes to books, I’m first and foremost a fan of the prose and the stories. The cover art is important but secondary to me. But there’s no denying the power of good cover art to catch one’s eye, to fire the imagination, and to cement one’s memories of the stories. Genres such as Sword & Planet and Sword & Sorcery have been graced with some truly great covers over the years, from Krenkel, Frazetta, and Vallejo, to Jones, Kelly, Kirby, Bell, Royo, and many others.

When I walk past my shelves, the covers of favorite books leap out at me and evoke all kinds of pleasant memories and associations with what’s inside. Over the years, I’ve bought various art books and calendars from my favorite book cover artists. Last night I started paging through my copy of The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo, and I thought I’d share a few images and the connections they have for me to memorable reading.

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Alt History on Acid: Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon

Alt History on Acid: Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon

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Shadow Ticket (Penguin Press, October 7, 2025)

I never really fully understood what Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity Rainbow was about. Much like everyone else. As one critic put it,

I doubt that anyone could account for everything going on in Gravity’s Rainbow, even Pynchon himself, although I suppose he has an edge on the rest of us.

I sort of knew it had something to do with V-2 rocketry and associated penis imagery, fascism and political satire, conspiracies and paranoia, alt-history, combined in a hodgepodge of puns, jokes, silly song lyrics, and linguistic puzzles spread amongst loosely connected absurdist plot lines. And that is sometimes characterized as the

Great American Novel, like Moby-Dick. Unlike Melville’s readers, though, Pynchon’s readers can go for pages at a time without one clue as to what is going on with the plot, setting, or characters.

Which I think is the point. To not know what is going on. Because that’s the way life is; no controlling narrative, but rather a series of random occurrences that nonetheless shape the impenetrable human condition.

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