Search Results for: tale covers

The Fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Part IV: The Hollow Earth and Pellucidar

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Above are my Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar books. Tarzan at the Earth’s Core goes with this series as well, although I included it in Part II of this series, with my Tarzan collection. In these stories, Pellucidar is a hollow area at the center of the Earth. There are openings into it at the North and South poles, but in the initial book, At the Earth’s Core, an American named David Innes reaches the interior by riding inside a giant…

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Goth Chick News: Getting Our Heavy Metal Back…

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Okay, strictly speaking, this topic doesn’t fall into a standard (notice I didn’t say “normal”) Goth Chick category. But bear with me for a short story. A long time ago in a small midwestern town far, far away, I experienced my first hardcore crush. The subject in question was not only tantalizingly a few years older than me but he was decidedly gothy in a dark-warrior kind of way. Therefore, in my youthful opinion, he was perfection on two feet….

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Alternate Londons, the Future of Lotteries, and Colony Ships: January-February Print Magazines

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January-February 2025 issues of Analog Science Fiction & Fact and Asimov’s Science Fiction. Cover art by Tomislav Tikulin (for “Our Lady of the Gyre”) and Shutterstock Still no sign of the next issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, which is disheartening. That leaves us with only two issues published last year (Winter 2024 and Summer 2024), and no hint when the next one might arrive. I’m hearing rumors that the magazine has been sold, but I’ve been…

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The Fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Part III: The Westerns and The Mucker

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Like many pulp writers of his day, ERB dipped his toes into the western genre. He wrote four: two pretty standard ones and two that incorporate the Native American experience. He knew something of what he wrote, having worked on his brother’s ranch in Idaho at age 16, and having served with the 7th cavalry in Arizona in the late 1890s. His first standard western was The Bandit of Hell’s Bend (1924), followed by The Deputy Sheriff of Commanche County…

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A Masterful Three Novella Original Anthology: The New Atlantis, edited by Robert Silverberg

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The New Atlantis (Warner Books paperback reprint, 1978). Cover by Lou Feck My latest look at a book from the 1970s treats a major anthology from 1975. The New Atlantis and Other Novellas collects three long stories: “Silhouette,” by Gene Wolfe; “The New Atlantis,” by Ursula K. Le Guin, and “A Momentary Taste of Being,” by James Tiptree, Jr. The project received plenty of notice at awards time – the book as a whole was fifth in the Locus Poll…

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The Fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Part II: Tarzan and The Land That Time Forgot

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Any discussion of Sword & Planet fiction needs to start with Edgar Rice Burroughs and his book A Princess of Mars. I discussed that series extensively — and also his other S&P series, the Carson of Venus books, and his Moon Maid trilogy, which is partially S&P — in Part I of this series. But, of course, ERB wrote many other books that have no connection to S&P fiction. They are still very good stories, though, entertaining and worth discussing….

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An Eternal Champion’s Legacy: 64 Years After his Debut, Fantasy’s Original Edgelord Still Reigns Supreme

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Paperback editions of the first six Elric books (DAW Books, 1972 – 1977). Covers by Michael Whelan It may not seem like it, but this winter has given fans of fantasy plenty to celebrate. Less than a month ago, Michael Moorcock turned 84, his most recent Elric novel turned three, and the latest reprint of his vaunted Eternal Champion series hit store shelves in the US. Thanks to a boatload of new collections, there is no better time to be…

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The Fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Part I: Sword and Planet

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For sheer fun and adventure there’s nothing better in my opinion than Sword & Planet fiction (also called Interplanetary Adventure, Interplanetary Romance, or Planetary Romance). But exactly what is Sword & Planet fiction? Well, Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB) created the prototype in 1911 with A Princess of Mars, which featured an Earthman named John Carter who is mysteriously transported to Mars, called Barsoom by its inhabitants. The basic Sword & Planet story involves an earthman (rarely an earthwoman up to…

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Howard Andrew Jones, a Mentee’s Perspective

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In 2019, I had an idea: a lot of my friends loved reading sword and sorcery fiction, but they didn’t write it. They would say, “One day.” Many of my undergraduates also expressed interest in writing fantasy, but they often felt discouraged by form rejection letters (genre magazine slush piles are epic). Having studied the history of genre fiction, I knew about the old tradition of “fanzines”— not-for-profit amateur publications that provided a low-stakes outlet for new writers. Just submitting…

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Howard Andrew Jones, July 19, 1968 – January 16, 2025

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Howard Andrew Jones is dead. It’s hard to write those words. Howard has been a huge part of my personal and professional life since 2002, when I opened a submission to Black Gate magazine and found a long, rambling, and extremely enthusiastic cover letter from him, expressing his delight at finding a quality magazine devoted to heroic fantasy. The letter ended with “I want in, bad,” and was attached to a terrific tale featuring two adventurers named Dabir and Asim….

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