Search Results for: New Edge Sword

Gary Con Report: A Virtual Tour of Black Blade Publishing

Allan T. Grohe Jr. in the Black Blade Publishing booth, a mobile pilgrimage site for old school gamers Gary Con! The tiny annual gathering that grew out the impromptu gaming event at Lake Geneva’s American Legion Hall after Gary Gygax’s funeral in March 2008 has now been going strong for fifteen years, and has grown into my favorite gaming convention. I attended Gary Con II in 2010 (my photo essay coverage of that ancient event is here), and was frankly…

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Beauty and Nightmare on an Alien World: NIGHTBORN: COLDFIRE RISING BY C. S. FRIEDMAN

  What if your feelings had shape and were visible? What if you could see your nightmares manifest as they turned on you? C. S. Friedman has published 14 novels, including the highly acclaimed Coldfire Trilogy and the groundbreaking science fiction novel This Alien Shore (New York Times Notable Book of the Year -1998). Her Nightborn: Coldfire Rising novel will be published this July, 2023 by DAW Books; this post reviews an advanced review copy (preorder from the publisher). The…

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The Cambion Journals series ends with Rise of the Despoiler by Andrew Paul Weston

The Cambion Journals is a series of six novellas that ends with Rise of the Despoiler; it was just released March 15, 2023 (Raven Tale Publishing). Last August we highlighted the release of Book Three: The Siren Song and overviewed Andrew Paul Weston’s history with Black Gate.  Prior to that, veteran author and Black Gate contributor Joe Bonadonna reviewed Book One: A Hybrid’s Tale review and Book Two: Call of the Cambion.  Learn more about The Cambion Journals by reading the…

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Might For Right: The Once and Future King, Part 1 by T.H. White

“I have been thinking,” said Arthur, “about Might and Right. I don’t think things ought to be done because you are able to do them. I think they should be done because you ought to do them.” King Arthur, p. 239 The Once and Future King I first read English author T.H. White’s The Once and Future King when I was seventeen, fresh from seeing the movie Camelot (1967) for the first time (the musical Camelot, by Lerner and Lowe…

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Future Treasures: Nightborn: Coldfire Rising by C. S. Friedman

  Nightborn: Coldfire Rising by C. S. Friedman will be published this July by DAW Books. The stunning cover art by Jeszika Le Vye evokes and extends the signature covers of the Coldfire Trilogy crafted by Michael Whelan; the trilogy was released during 1991-1995 followed by a 2012 prequel novella, Dominion. Note that a revised version of Dominion, starring the Hunter himself, is in Nightborn! Pre-order Nightborn: Coldfire Rising now from various retailers via the portal page on The Astra…

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Vintage Treasures: Space Opera and Space Odysseys edited by Brian Aldiss

Space Opera and Space Odysseys (Futura, July and December 1974). Covers by Eddie Jones Brian Aldiss had a long and enviable career at the top of the science fiction field, with dozens of novels to his credit, and nearly three dozen collections. But in his long career he also produced some excellent anthologies. In partnership with Harry Harrison he released nine annual volumes of Best SF (1967-1975), three retrospective titles looking at SF of the 1940s to the 1960s (Decade:…

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The World’s Greatest Paranormal Investigator:Hellboy by Mike Mignola and Sundry Hands

The kinds of stories I wanted to do I had in mind before I created Hellboy. It’s not like I created Hellboy and said, ‘Hey, now what does this guy do?’ I knew the kinds of stories I wanted to do, but just needed a main guy. Mike Mignola, “The Genesis of Hellboy”. Back Issue! (21) A half-demon paranormal investigator fighting Nazis is how my friend Evan Dorkin described Mike Mignola’s Hellboy to me nearly twenty years ago. He had been reading…

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Into the Woods: War on Rome: Book I, Arminius, Bane of Eagles by Adrian Cole

Donar wanted to read the depth of my anger, to plumb my sorrow at the loss of Thusnelda. I shared these things with him. What I do next, Argedestes, I do with pain like a banner above me. It is given to me. It is given to me to be the hammer of Rome. Arminius, Bane of Eagles (2021) is the first volume of Adrian Cole’s new sword & sorcery alternate history trilogy set against the struggle between the Roman…

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Vintage Treasures: 39 Short Novels edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh

The 13 Short Novels trilogy (Bonanza Books/Crown, 1984-87). Covers designed by Morris Taub I spent a lot of hours last year chasing down, reading, and writing about some very fine anthologies produced by the triumvirate of Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh. Their output in the decade before Asimov’s death in 1992 was frankly amazing: some 70 anthologies, including nearly a dozen each in Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction and Isaac Asimov’s Magical Worlds of…

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What I’m Watching: November 2022

Still reading and writing about Numenor, and Khazad-dum, for upcoming essays, so Talking The Rings of Power takes the week off. The Downfall of Numenor, the new book put together by Brian Sibley, is pretty good. The narrative flow works, and Alan Lee’s sketches are really nice. If you liked his Sketchbooks for The Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit, you’ll definitely like the volume and quality of these sketches. And, I switched gears a little bit and I…

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