Black Gate – Page 353 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

Pirates, Dungeons, and Undead Soldiers: The Copper Cat novels by Jen Williams

Tuesday, December 4, 2018 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

Art by Gene Mollica

I’m a fan of all kinds of fantasy. Urban, romance, Arthurian, YA, weird, magic realism, anthropomorphic, horror, sword & planet… plus all the ones I can’t think of right now. But my first love was adventure fantasy and sword & sorcery, and that’s still the sub-genre that gets the bulk of my attention. Tell me a tale of heroes and magic, and you’ve got my interest. Throw in a dungeon, and I’ll show up for opening night.

So when I found Jen Williams’ 2016 fantasy The Copper Promise — a tale of swords, monsters, and dungeons — at Barnes & Noble last weekend, I wasn’t so much intrigued as I was thinking, “How the heck did I miss this for two years??” Turns out I didn’t miss it entirely; Adrian Tchaikovsky recommended it in his Tor.com list of Five Books Featuring Adventuring Parties, which I read back in 2016, saying:

Jen is one of the best new voices in UK fantasy, and it’s a testament to her writing skill that Wydrin, the “Copper Cat” and a proper fantasy rogue through and through, does not actually eclipse her companions Frith and Sebastian as they fight, trick and run their way through a world that has gone from run-of-the-mill dangerous to actively-being-set-on-fire-by-a-dragon dangerous thanks, chiefly, to their own poor life choices. “Let sleeping gods lie,” goes the tagline. No need to tell you how that one works out.

The book was released by Angry Robot; a little digging online found one sequel from the same publisher, The Iron Ghost (2017), and a third volume published only in the UK, The Silver Tide (2016). All three were nominated for the British Fantasy Award. The first for Best Newcomer, and the second and third for Best Fantasy Novel. The reviews have been strong as well, especially for the first one. Starburst Magazine said “The Copper Promise is near-perfect fantasy-adventure fun and a breath of fresh air,” and Den Patrick said, “There are pirates and magic, demons and disciples, undead soldiers and noble knights… a lot of fun.” Here’s the Angry Robot book blurbs for the first two.

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Birthday Reviews: Kurt R.A. Giambastiani’s “Intaglio”

Tuesday, December 4, 2018 Steven H Silver Comments 0 Comment

Kurt R.A. Giambastiani was born on December 4, 1958.

Giambiastini’s debut novel The Year of the Cloud was a finalist for the 2002 Endeavour Award. In addition to writing fiction, Giambastiani has performed as a violist in regional orchestras and works as a software developer.

“Intaglio” was published by Algis Budrys in the October 1995 issue of Tomorrow Speculative Fiction, issue #17. The story has never been reprinted.

Giambastiani’s story is set several years after a rebellion was put down on the planet Thessalon. The people of Thessalon and the city of Pellion, where the rebellion was centered, have mostly been ignored by the Central Military Forces, apart from a series of economic sanctions. The Commander of the forces that crushed the revolt, Gavin Price-George, however, takes a series of intaglios, three dimensional photographs which allow the viewer to see depth and perspective, following the revolt and has published them in the years since. To celebrate an anniversary, he returns to Pellion with a showing of his intaglios.

Price-George comes with a full military contingent and announces that he is not only throwing a party for the people of Pellion, but that trade restrictions will also be relaxed. Giambastiani’s story focuses on the differences between the way Price-George is greeted by the younger generation, which doesn’t have a memory of the war and the deaths, and the older generation, for whom the wounds are still fresh and the memories of their killed friends and families shade their dealings with Price-George. The art display drives that home as the younger generation is seeing old images, but the older generation is seeing pictures of their younger selves, often at moments of great anguish.

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A Spectacularly Gruesome Nasty: The Fungus by Harry Adam Knight

Monday, December 3, 2018 John ONeill Comments 6 comments

I first discovered Valancourt Books at their wondrous booth in the Dealer’s Room of the 2014 World Fantasy Convention in Washington DC (I wrote about that revelatory find here.) So as soon as I entered the Dealer’s Room at this year’s WFC in Baltimore I searched them out, and was delighted to find them with a well-stocked booth again this year. I stocked up on several of their recent releases, including a new collection from Steve Rasnic Tem, Michael McDowell’s creepy novel Cold Moon Over Babylon, a pair of novels by Mervyn Wall, and the latest volumes of The Valancourt Book of Horror Stories. But I think my most interesting acquisition was The Fungus, a reprint of a gonzo 1985 horror novel by “Harry Adam Knight” (the pseudonym of British writers John Brosnan and Leroy Kettle). Ramsey Campbell called it “A spectacularly gruesome nasty, written with inventiveness, grisly wit, and considerably more intelligence than almost any of its competitors,” and Publishers Weekly raved about it, saying:

What would happen if, through a genetic experiment gone awry, fungi–mushrooms, toadstools, molds and yeasts — were to go out of control and grow with unprecedented vigor and speed and tenacity, and in places formerly inimicable (sic) to them? Knight has pulled out the stops to produce an imaginative and fast-paced sci-fi horror tale set in the British Isles. The protagonist is Barry Wilson, a semi-successful author of spy novels and a former mycologist. Barry’s wife Jane, from whom he is separated, is the scientist whose experiment has lead (sic) to the disaster, and the British government has called upon Barry to help find Jane and her lab notes. Crossing London in an armored tank, Barry and two other volunteers observe all sorts of grotesqueries: people and animals covered with multicolored fungi, some still alive, some now quite insane; farms and buildings and forests draped in spongy shrouds; mushrooms tall as skyscrapers…. A first-rate and vivid thriller.

That’s some great press, but I think what really sold me was the marvelous cover by M.S. Corley. The Fungus was published by Valancourt Books on October 2, 2018. It is 191 pages, priced at $15.99 in trade paperback and $6.99 for the digital version. See all of our coverage of the excellent Valancourt Books here, and check out their website here.

A (Black) Gat in the Hand: Back Deck Pulp #4

Monday, December 3, 2018 Bob Byrne Comments 1 comment

“You’re the second guy I’ve met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail.” – Phillip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep

(Gat — Prohibition Era term for a gun. Shortened version of Gatling Gun)

Hopefully, by now, you know that I’ve done a slew of Facebook posts under the label, Back Deck Pulp, kind of cross-promoting this column. Especially since last week’s column was BDP #3! Below are some more of my Back Deck Pulp posts, collected by subject matter. I tried to share some interesting info. You be the judge! Here are links to BDP #1, and BDP #2.

In 1946, Simon & Schuster put out The Hard-Boiled Omnibus, an anthology of Black Mask stories, put together by the legendary Joseph ‘Cap’ Shaw. It is the Beeton’s Christmas Annual (the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes) of hardboiled. All such anthologies can point back to that initial volume.

HARD BOILED OMNIBUS

The Back Deck Pulp library now includes an original, 1946, hardback copy of The Hard Boiled Omnibus! You better believe there will be a A (Black) Gat in the Hand post on this bad boy! (I didn’t get around to writing that post. Maybe a 2019 special column…)

And I bought it from the current Black Mask rights holder and editor, Matt Moring. Most cool

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Birthday Reviews: John Dalmas’s “In the Bosom of His Family”

Monday, December 3, 2018 Steven H Silver Comments 0 Comment

John Dalmas was born John Jones on December 3, 1926 and died on June 15, 2017.

Dalmas first book The Yngling was serialized in Analog in 1969 and published in book form in 1971. Dalmas began publishing regularly in the 1980s, producing the Fanglith books and The Regiment series, as well as many short stories. In addition to his career as an author Dalmas worked for the US Forest Service.

Dalmas originally published “In the Bosom of His Family” in the October 1989 issue of Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine, Volume 5: Horror, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The story has never been reprinted.

Although “In the Bosom of His Family” is an horror story, the true horror of the tale doesn’t become apparent until near the end. It focuses on Charley Greer, part of a family of ranchers who have been settled in the valley for generations. Everything is done the “Greer Way,” including procreation. The eldest sons are expected to marry and have children while the younger sons are expected to remain single and stay on to help the family ranch. Charley is the second son and is helping out, but he is also dying of cancer and realizes his time is near.

Dalmas focuses on the familial ties and the sense of filial obligation, but Charley also sees his sister-in-law pregnant with a child who will follow in Charley’s role. Charley also reflects on his own uncle Charley, a younger brother who he never met, but whose life he is emulating and who he heard stories about from his grandfather and did his best to evoke his grandfather’s memories of him.

Seeing the life around him and the life expected for his potential nephew, Charley decides that rather than die on the ranch, as is the Greer way, he would head to the hospital, even if it meant an arduous trek overland since he didn’t want to have to ask for a ride. As Charley makes his way, it becomes evident that the Greer way is more than just tradition and Charley wasn’t just channeling his uncle, but rather there is an element of reincarnation at play and Charley’s life as a second son was a continuation of his uncle’s life, just as Charley’s nephew will be a reincarnation of him. Charley’s hope is that by dying far away from the ranch, he might be able to spare his nephew that fate.

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Galaxy Science Fiction, May 1954: A Retro-Review

Sunday, December 2, 2018 Matthew Wuertz Comments 6 comments

The cover of the May, 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction is by Ed Emshwiller, specifically for Theodore Sturgeon’s story “Granny Won’t Knit.” I’ve only noticed a few covers in these early issues that are illustrations of the fiction within. More often, Editor H.L. Gold seemed to prefer unrelated covers for his magazine.

“Granny Won’t Knit” by Theodore Sturgeon — Roan works for his father, who runs a transportation company. Their society has strict rules around proper dress — hiding the bodies and hands of men and women. Families are organized into strict patriarchal units. Though he’s an adult, Roan hasn’t earned the right to begin his own family and remains under the guidance of his overbearing father.

Seemingly by accident, Roan transports himself into the presence of a young woman who has bare arms and hands. She teases him a bit as he flounders to leave. But in the days to follow, he can’t get her out of his mind and is determined to find her again.

Roan also draws closer to his grandmother, who remembers a culture no one speaks of. And she’s not convinced that the current technology for transportation is the best, considering its limitations to the planet Earth. Her strange views are unsettling, yet Roan sees reason in her thoughts and allows that he may be limited in knowledge.

I think this story stands the test of time. There’s not much that glaringly sticks out to make it a 1950s science-fiction story — at least nothing that comes to mind. It works well.

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Future Treasures: A Cathedral of Myth and Bone by Kat Howard

Sunday, December 2, 2018 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Kat Howard has been widely acclaimed for her novels, starting with Roses and Rot (2016), a Locus Award nominee for Best First Novel and a Publishers Weekly Best Fantasy Novel of Summer 2016, and An Unkindness of Magicians (2017), the tale of a secret cabal of wizards in New York City. Both were published by Saga Press.

She began publishing short fiction eight years ago, with “Beauty and Disappearance” in the Summer 2010 issue of Weird Tales. Since then she has become a regular in places like Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, Uncanny, Nightmare, and other fine magazines, producing over 40 tales. Two decades ago that would have meant she’d have at least a successful collection or two by now, but the industry has changed at lot since the days when publishers would take a chance on a collection from an emerging author.

But apparently nobody told Saga editor Joe Monti. Howard’s new collection A Cathedral of Myth and Bone arrives next month from Saga. It contains fourteen previously published stories, plus two original to this collection, the short story “Saint’s Tide” and the 116-page Arthurian novella “Once, Future.” I’m glad to see it, and I hope it does well. And if, like me, you enjoy short story collections, then I hope you’ll support this one.

A Cathedral of Myth and Bone will be published by Saga Press on January 8, 2019. It is 358 pages, priced at $25.99 in hardcover and $7.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Amy Haslehurst. See all of our recent coverage of the best in upcoming fantasy here.

Birthday Reviews: Jerry Sohl’s “Death in Transit”

Sunday, December 2, 2018 Steven H Silver Comments 0 Comment

Jerry Sohl was born on December 2, 1913 and died on November 4, 2002.

In addition to science fiction, Sohl also wrote screenplays, including scripts for The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Star Trek, including the episodes “The Corbomite Maneuver,” “This Side of Paradise,” and “Whom Gods Destroy.” His episodes of The Twilight Zone were ghostwritten for Charles Beaumont, whose failing health meant he couldn’t deliver the scripts he had contracted for. He has published under the pseudonyms Nathan Butler and Sean Mei Sullivan as well.

“Death in Transit” was first published by Larry T. Shaw in the June 1956 issue of Infinity Science Fiction. It was first reprinted in 2003 in Sohl’s posthumous collection Filet of Sohl: The Classic Scripts and Stories of Jerry Sohl. It was published again in Science Fiction Gems: Volume Fourteen, edited by Gregory Luce in 2018.

In 2016 the film Passengers posited a spaceship on a lengthy voyage. Anyone who has seen it will find Sohl’s short story “Death in Transit” familiar. The story opens with Sohl’s pilot, Clifton West losing his wife, Karen, when she falls down a ventilation shaft on the spaceship one year into a ten year voyage. Although West tries to deal with his loss, the loneliness on the spaceship begins to gnaw at him. He begins to look at the records for the passengers to decide who to wake up for companionship. Although he knows he should wake a man, and even settles on George Hedstrom, he develops an infatuation for Portia Lavester and wakes her, knowing it is a bad idea.

Sohl does not portray West’s actions as well-thought out and even as West tries to behave properly in light of what he did, trying to give Lavester the room she needs to get used to the idea that she has been awakened nine years earlier, West still comes across as creepy. When Lavester does begin to soften towards him, her response to him, even when she claims some affection, never seems quite right. She is aware that even if he hasn’t physically touched her, he has still violated her. Writing in 1956, Sohl did not portray his lone starship pilot as a hero, but clearly shows the horror felt by Lavester at his actions.

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The Omnibus Volumes of Daniel Abraham: The Long Price Quartet

Saturday, December 1, 2018 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Daniel Abraham is the author of The Dagger and the Coin five-volume fantasy series, five books in the Black Sun’s Daughter horror series (as M. L. N. Hanover), and a pair of Star Wars novels. With Ty Franck he is the author of the breakout hit The Expanse, under the name James S. A. Corey. But before all that he created a four-volume fantasy series called The Long Price Quartet that helped cement his rep as a rising young star. The first book, A Shadow in Summer, appeared in 2006 from Tor, and the three sequels arrived almost exactly a year apart.

When I was in Barnes & Noble last week I saw a handsome omnibus volume, and I was very happy to pick it up. It contains all four novels:

A Shadow in Summer (331 pages, $24.95 hardcover, $7.99 paperback, March 7, 2006)
A Betrayal in Winter (317 pages, $24.95 hardcover, $7.99 paperback, August 2007)
An Autumn War (366 pages, $25.95 hardcover, $7.99 paperback, July 2008)
The Price of Spring (348 pages, $27.99 hardcover, $7.99 paperback, July 2009)

The Long Price Quartet was published by Tor Books on November 13, 2018. It is 975 pages, priced at $19.99. There is no digital edition. The cover is by Getty Images.

Believe it or not, we’ve covered dozens of omnibus paperbacks just like this one, from authors like C.J. Cherryh, Jack Vance, H. Beam Piper, P.N. Elrod, Steven Brust, James H. Schmitz, Murray Leinster, Andre Norton, Robert Silverberg, and many others. Check them out here.

The Complete Carpenter: My 5 Favorite John Carpenter Movies

Saturday, December 1, 2018 Ryan Harvey Comments 2 comments

Two years ago this week, I posted a review of Dark Star, the first movie from director John Carpenter. Last month, I closed off my chronological amble through his theatrical feature films with a review of The Ward. To celebrate completing this 40,000-word-plus enterprise, I’ve put together a few closing thoughts on my five favorite John Carpenter flicks. Trying to do a complete list of the films from best to worst isn’t an easy task: I’d end up with too many ties, too much second-guessing, too many regrets. Nor do I want to dwell on the negative at the end of this series — dealing with The Ward was negativity enough! So this here is nothing but praise coming from some guy who’s only credential is “posts on a website.”

Since I’ve been asked, I didn’t include Carpenter’s episodes of Masters of Horror on this series, or the anthology movie Body Bags. I won’t rule out writing about these smaller projects in the future, but for the sake of this series, I’ve stuck to theatrical movies. If I did Body Bags, I’d also have to do Elvis and Somebody’s Watching Me, and I just don’t feel like it.

How tough is competition for the top slots in John Carpenter’s career? Halloween didn’t make my list! The director’s most famous and influential movie, an unquestionable masterpiece — and I still couldn’t make room for it among my five favorites.

Anyway, hop aboard the Porkchop Express … here are my Five Favorite John Carpenter films. Have you paid your dues, Ryan?

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