The Blue Lamp by Robert Zoltan

The Blue Lamp by Robert Zoltan

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oie_19158312fpr312tLet me confide a secret I have never told anyone before: sometimes, when I’m reading a story, and I’m all by myself, especially if it’s night and the only illumination is from my reading light, I’ll read out loud. And do voices. I’ll only read the dialogue out loud, reading the rest silently so it’s like I’m creating my own radio show. I like to think it sounds pretty cool. It’s definitely fun. When Robert Zoltan Szeles began telling people he was hard at work on an audio version of his story “The Blue Lamp,” I was jazzed.

“The Blue Lamp” first appeared in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #26 last year, as written by Robert Zoltan (a name, you have to admit, is pretty awesome for penning S&S). I liked it very much and reviewed it favorably in my October 2015 Short Story Roundup:

A catman, a mothwoman, and an eerie blue lamp figure in Robert Zoltan’s very fun and self-illustrated (well one picture anyway) “The Blue Lamp.” For any fan of S&S those three things should be enough to make you read the story. We know what we like and when we seen it we flock to it like, well, moths.

For those wanting to know more it’s simple: two friends — a tattoo-covered barbarian called Blue, and the poet (and master swordsman) Dareon Vin — get into a fight. Wandering into the big city by himself, Blue ends up looking into the wrong magic blue lamp. When Dareon goes out to find him, unexpected things start to happen. The two physically and temperamentally mismatched heroes bring to mind a certain pair from classic S&S, but only enough to be good fun, not reeking of thievery.

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Rogue One: I Am One With the Force and the Force Is With Me

Rogue One: I Am One With the Force and the Force Is With Me

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A most excellent hero for this movie

When I was eight years old, some friends of the family gave me The Star Wars Storybook. Back in 1979, there was just one movie (and a confusing, once-seen Christmas special), and the action figures.

Everything I could learn of the larger universe of the movie that had changed my life was in that book. I wanted to know about the rebels, the past of Darth Vader and Kenobi, and who were these alliance pilots and Grand Moff Tarkin?

Some questions were answered in Empire, and Return of the Jedi, and others I got through comic books (I really enjoyed the Marvel Star Wars comic series started in 1977). And of course, we have the Jar-Jar infected prequels, which, with just enough denial, can be watchable for the light saber fights, or shown to children, who love them.

But it was only yesterday, when I saw Rogue One, that I saw the world I’d glimpsed when pressing my face against the glass as an eight-year old. I watched Rogue One with my brother, his eleven-year old son, and my own eleven-year old. And I really enjoyed it, in a complex way.

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Modular: Using Norse-Themed Roleplaying Games and Supplements to Expand the World of Yggdrasill — Vidar Solaas’s Vikings RPG

Modular: Using Norse-Themed Roleplaying Games and Supplements to Expand the World of Yggdrasill — Vidar Solaas’s Vikings RPG

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vikingsrpgSome time ago I celebrated the new Modular series of Black Gate posts by contributing my own enthusiastic review of the four English-language volumes in the current Yggdrasill roleplaying game line. I’m grateful for the many responses to that post and for the reader recommendations of other Norse-related rpg material. I would collect all roleplaying game materials, regardless of game ethos or genre, but my budget won’t allow it. So I’ve narrowed my collection to Norse and Viking-themed materials. Hey, I tell myself, I’m actually running a Viking-themed game right now, using Yggdrasill, and I can justify this expense by believing, truthfully or not, that I’ll find some practical gaming use for it.

As I collect these materials, I notice that they sort into three or four categories:

  • Actual “full” roleplaying games; what I mean here is that the product comes complete with rules and setting designed to emulate, in particular, the kinds of experiences one expects from a Norse-themed roleplaying game
  • Sourcebooks and campaign settings, using the real world “Viking Age” as inspiration but designed to be used with an existing “Core Rules Set” (like D20 or GURPS, Fate Core, etc.)
  • Campaign settings, adventure paths, or standalone modules that detail a particular region of a fantasy world that is designed to emulate, within that secondary world, a “Viking Age” roleplaying experience

That’s right: I said three “or four” categories. The fourth category constitutes an “Appendix Y” — Appendix Yggdrasill — if you will, the reading I have been doing for most of my life that informs the kind of Viking Age adventure that I want to evoke in my roleplaying game. I might find occasion to comment on these works, as well, for they’re just as relevant as actual gaming material.

I intend to use these rough categories to frame the reviews of my developing collection. And I begin today with an item from the first category — well, I’m placing it in this category, even though Vidar Solaas’s Vikings RPG (2008) has been built using the D20 system. Attempting to use D20 to emulate a more or less “authentic” Viking Age experience has required Solaas to modify, rebuild, or “hack” the D20 rules set so drastically that Vikings RPG does indeed qualify as a game in its own right.

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Ian Tregillis and The Alchemy Wars Trilogy

Ian Tregillis and The Alchemy Wars Trilogy

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the-liberation-ian-tregillis-smallAs John O’Neill wrote in November, the last book in Ian Tregillis’ new trilogy comes out this month. I’m a big fan of Tregillis, and was fortunate enough to read The Liberation in manuscript. It was a blast, and you should buy it it. Seriously. Go buy the trilogy, and if you already have the first two, go buy the third.

Alright. Now that you’ve done that, Ian and I kicked back last week and talked about his trilogy. Here’s what he had to say:

Howard: You’re on an elevator with your new book when Ringo Starr enters, sees the cover and says how fab it looks. He wants to know what the book’s about – what do you tell him?

Ian: OK. First of all, I’d probably be hard pressed not to lose my composure the moment he stepped into the elevator. I mean, there I’d be sharing an elevator with A BEATLE. I discovered their albums at just the right age, and I swear I listened to that music practically nonstop during high school. So keeping it cool would be a challenge, *especially* if Ringo asked about the book.

But assuming I could recover my composure enough to speak coherently without babbling, and assuming he wanted the long version, I’d tell him it’s an adventure story about a clockpunk Terminator apocalypse in a world where the industrial revolution never happened, disguised as a story about slave rebellion and Free Will.

If he wanted the short version, I’d tell him it’s basically Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots but with more swearing and stabbing.

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: A Holmes Christmas Carol

The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: A Holmes Christmas Carol

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A Holmes Christmas Carol – By Bob Byrne

christmastree_victorianIt is with a certain sense of misgiving that I relate the following tale, which took place during the Christmas season of 1902. I had moved out of our Baker Street lodgings earlier that year, having married only a few months before that most festive of holidays. I now had rooms in Queen Anne Street and was quite busy with my flourishing medical practice. A newly married man, I once again found myself as head of a household, with all of the duties thereof. I saw Holmes infrequently, but had found the time to visit him the day before Christmas. Certain that he would have no plans of any kind, I extended to him an invitation to join my wife and I for Christmas day.

Holmes rebuffed my attempts to have him share in the holiday spirit with us. “Watson, I have no use for the Christmas season. Is it rational to believe a man rose from the dead? And even if it were, do you not see the hypocrisy of it all? For one day, a man will give a beggar a farthing, because it is Christmas. He would pass by that beggar 364 other days and pay him no mind. That is Christmas?”

I could not recall Holmes being so churlish. When we had roomed together, he had not been an avid celebrator of Christmas, but he did accommodate my warm feelings towards the season. Now, left to his own devices, it seemed that his natural contrariness was shining through. I made one last effort to have him spend a pleasant dinner at the Watson household. It was to no avail.

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Weird Fiction Review #7 Now on Sale

Weird Fiction Review #7 Now on Sale

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weird-fiction-review-7-smallFlash bulletin to all my fellow magazine collectors — Centipede Press has just announced the release of the latest issue of their massive annual Weird Fiction Review. It’s not yet listed at Amazon (or anywhere else I can find), and they don’t even have their usual sample pages up yet. But! As they often do, Centipede Press has early-bird pricing direct on their website — $16 off the regular price. But act fast; that pricing won’t last.

Here’s the issue blurb:

The Weird Fiction Review is an annual periodical devoted to the study of weird and supernatural fiction. It is edited by S.T. Joshi. This seventh issue contains fiction, poetry, and reviews from leading writers and promising newcomers. It features original stories and essays by Steve Rasnic Tem, Mark Howard Jones, Jonathan Thomas, John Shirley, Nicole Cushing, Jason V Brock on David Bowie, a fabulous essay on the Micronauts by Chad Hensley, an article on Jack Finney by John C. Tibbets, newly discovered artwork by John Stewart, a lengthy illustrated piece on artist Mike Ploog by John Butler, a terrific new interview with William Hjortsberg by Dave Roberts, and much more. The list price on this item is $35 and it is on sale for $19.

See the complete contents here. We last covered Weird Fiction Review with Issue #6.

Weird Fiction Review is edited by S.T. Joshi and published by Centipede Press. It is printed on high quality paper with lots of color. No idea how big this issue is; the last two were 300+ pages. The list price is $35 for the sewn trade paperback; the press run is limited to 500 copies. Get more detail and order copies at Centipede Press.

Our Late November Fantasy Magazine Rack is here, and you can see all of our recent magazine coverage here.

Announcing the Winners of The Watcher at the Door: The Early Kuttner, Volume Two!

Announcing the Winners of The Watcher at the Door: The Early Kuttner, Volume Two!

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The Watcher at the Door-smallWe had a near-record number of entries in our latest contest. Not too surprising, as this time we’re giving away two copies of The Watcher at the Door: The Early Kuttner, Volume Two, the latest archival quality hardcover from Haffner Press.

This gorgeous book is a massive collection of 30 early weird fantasy tales by Henry Kuttner, and readers have been asking about if for months. We first gave you a sneak peek back in April 2015.

How did you enter? All you had to do submit the title of an imaginary weird fantasy story. The most compelling titles — as selected by a crack team of Black Gate judges — were entered into the drawing. We drew two names from that list, and the two winners will both receive a free copy of The Watcher at the Door, complements of Haffner Press and Black Gate magazine.

So let’s get right to it. The first job was to select the Top 25 entries from the numerous submissions we received over the past 9 days — no easy task, let me tell you. But after much agonizing debate (and two brief fist fights), here are the judges selections.

  1. Bob Cooper — Give Me Back My Heads!
  2. Chris Dodson — Wrath of the Mad King in the Golden Tower
  3. Kyle Crider — O, Slime That Yearneth and Singeth Out
  4. Amy Bisson — The Crystal Scimitar of Doom!
  5. George Kelley — Vampires of the Obsidian Void
  6. William White — The Lilt in Her Voice, the Grin on Her Face

    7. …

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New Treasures: The Catcher’s Trap by Ricardo Henriquez

New Treasures: The Catcher’s Trap by Ricardo Henriquez

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Inkshares is a crowdfunded publisher, with kind of an oddball business model. They publish only those books that have a successful crowdfunding campaign — i.e. those that meet a designated pre-order threshold. Inkshares says this is “democratizing publishing” by having readers select what gets published, and they do claim to edit, design, print, distribute and market any book that meets their threshold.

I can attest to at least two aspects of that claim: the book I’m holding in my hands, Ricardo Henriquez’s The Catcher’s Trap, is thoroughly professional in design and layout — which makes it two steps above most small press titles that cross my desk, anyway. They also have a nice selection of blurbs on the back, and they sent me a review copy… so they seem to be no slouches in the marketing department either. The release that accompanies the book proudly claims they’ve published 61 titles since launching in February 2014; that ain’t bad at all.

But are the books any good? Really, that’s the question. The Catcher’s Trap looks intriguing enough. I should probably try it, but I’m not gonna. You try it.

The Catcher’s Trap was published by Inkshares on November 8, 2016. It is 241 pages, priced at $13.99 in trade paperback and $4.99 for the digital version. The cover was designed by Marc Cohen. Click the images above for bigger versions.

Fantasia 2016, Day 20: Twisting History and Twice-Told Tales (The Arbalest and The Piper)

Fantasia 2016, Day 20: Twisting History and Twice-Told Tales (The Arbalest and The Piper)

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The ArbalestTuesday, August 2, was the next-to-last day of the 2016 Fantasia festival. I had two movies lined up. First would come The Arbalest, at the De Sève Theatre: a period fantasy about a man who made an addictive puzzle in a slightly alternate 1970s. That would be followed by The Piper (Sonmin), a Korean film that reimagined the Pied Piper story as set in a postwar Korean village. Both looked promising. One delivered on that promise.

The Arbalest is the debut feature by writer/director Adam Pinney, presenting the career of millionaire toy inventor Foster Kalt (Mike Brune). In the late 1970s the reclusive Kalt prepares to tell the story of his life to a TV news crew. He reveals less to them than one might expect, but we see flashbacks to his past; specifically, to the eve of a crucial toy fair, when Kalt spends a fateful night in a hotel room with two other people. One of them, an unnamed man (Jon Briddell), is the real inventor of the Kalt Kube, the toy Kalt would go on to present as his own. The other is a woman named Sylvia (Tallie Medel), with whom Kalt falls madly in love. Further flashbacks show us Kalt stalking Sylvia, taking a cottage near her home, and entering into conflict with her and her husband (Robert Walker Branchaud).

The Arbalest is a difficult movie to figure out, though on a basic plot level what’s happening and why is always clear. Movement between different time periods is smooth and assured. But what we’re watching is increasingly baffling, both in terms of character development and of the world we think we’re seeing.

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The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in November

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in November

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astonishing-swordsmen-and-sorcerers-of-hyperborea-smallIf there was a popular topic at Black Gate last month, it was Jeffrey Talanian’s role playing game Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Gabe Dybing interviewed Jeffrey for us on November 11, and Bob Byrne wrote a brief feature on the runaway success of the Kickstarter campaign to fund a second edition of the rules — and both articles leaped into the Top Ten for the month.

The number one post at Black Gate in November was our report on the contents of Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy: 2017, followed by Mark Rigney’s open letter to George R. R. Martin and the producers of Game Of Thrones. Coming in at number three was Howard Andrew Jones’ heartfelt response to the election, Seeking Solace.

Rounding out the Top Five for the month was our report on Asimov’s SF and Analog magazines switching to bimonthly publication, followed by C.S.E. Cooney’s rave review of the new Saga anthology The Starlit Wood, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe.

Anthologies were a hot topic in November. Our third anthology feature, on Hank Davis’ Things From Outer Space, came in at number seven, and Sean McLachlan’s fascinating article on the Iraqui science fiction anthology Iraq + 100 was the ninth’s most popular for the month. Wrapping up the Top Ten was Derek Kunsken’s review of Doctor Strange.

The complete list of Top Articles for November follows. Below that, I’ve also broken out the most popular overall articles, online fiction, and blog categories for the month.

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