James Branch Cabell‘s often expressed ambition was to “write beautifully of perfect happenings.” He was born in 1879; one of his first jobs was reporting the society news in New York City; and his work frequently hinges on romantic love of a very old-fashioned sort. A reasonable person might conclude from all this that the man wrote slop but, as so often, the reasonable person would be wrong. Where to start with Cabell? He didn’t go out of his way…
October has come, my favorite time of the year. I have my special rituals during this season, such as reading classic weird tales (Algernon Blackwood and M. R. James are among my top picks for seasonal fun) and evenings watching Universal and Hammer Horror films. Another tradition I have is dragging out of the sock draw my Essential October Totem: Kipling West’s The Halloween Tarot, published by U.S. Game Systems, Inc. If I ever needed to describe to someone all…
The White Raven Robert Low Harper Collins UK (357 pp, $24.95, 2009) Reviewed by Bill Ward Robert Low’s Oathsworn books are hands down my favorite historical series of recent years. Starting with 2007’s The Whale Road and continuing with last year’s The Wolf Sea and Low’s newest release, The White Raven, these books offer a Viking adventure worthy of the sagas — and satisfying to both lovers of gritty action-adventure and those who insist on well-drawn historical narrative. The White…
This is the third in a series of posts looking at the question of who wrote the first otherworld fantasy: that is, the first fantasy to be set entirely in its own fictional world, with no connection to conventional reality at all. It’s an innovation traditionally ascribed to William Morris, but I think I’ve found an earlier writer who deserves that honor. In the first post, I considered how to identify a fictional otherworld. I suggested four characteristics, of which…
The August issue of Locus, the Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field, contains a review of our latest issue by Contributing Editor Rich Horton. Black Gate‘s Winter issue is positively huge… and it delivers excellent value. There are three novellas, all entertaining. My favorite was Robert J. Howe’s “The Natural History of Calamity,” which is basically urban fantasy, but with quite a clever central idea. Debbie Colavito is a private detective with a difference: she detects what’s wrong…
Dark Worlds #5 (Summer 2010) is online at last. Fans of the magazine will notice a few changes. First, it’s now in quarto size (7 1/2″ x 10″) instead of 6″ x 9″ trade paper size (to make it more like an old pulp) and the cover is a wraparound. The cover illustrates “Of Kings and Servants,” and is painted by M. D. Jackson. The interior pages have a new graphic look as well. This issue features the work of C. J….
So far in the entries of my informal tour through the Conan pastiches—with a great guest shot from Charles Saunders on Conan the Hero—I’ve focused entirely on the “Tor Era,” the longest and most sustained period of new novels about Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age hero. Because of the sheer volume of books in the Tor line, which ran uninterrupted from 1982 to 1997, as well as most readers’ and reviewers’ indifference toward them, the Tor Era provides fertile ground…
Our review copy of Demons, the new heroic fantasy anthology from Rogue Blades Entertainment and publisher/editor Jason M. Waltz, finally arrived last week. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. It’s the first Clash of Steel anthology to appear under the RBE banner, although more are planned — including Sea Dogs, Reluctant Heroes, and Assassins. Demons includes stories from Black Gate Contributing Editor Bill Ward and contributors Brian Dolton and Steve Goble, as well as Elaine Isaak,…
Part One: The Adventure Begins There’s this thing I do when I know a given task will be difficult. I announce my intentions. Loudly, casually, on Facebook, in blogs, emails, telephone conversations. I talk about my task (usually self-appointed and with no particular due-date) blithely, in capital letters, as if the execution thereof were going to be the easiest thing in the world, done up all djinn-like, in the twinkling of an eye. Then comes an indeterminate period of time…
Under Heaven, by Guy Gavriel Kay Roc (592 pages, $26.95, April 2010) We don’t have that many rituals in our home. One is the creeping countdown to Guy Gavriel Kay’s newest novel. I am always a little sad when it finally comes, though, because it means years before I will see his next one. If you liked Tigana or The Sarantine Mosaic, you will like Under Heaven. If you have not read Kay before, then do. But don’t start with…