Black Gate – Page 949 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

Kirkus Looks at The Meteoric Rise and Fall of Gnome Press

Monday, April 7, 2014 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

The legendary Gnome Press, founded by David Kyle and Martin Greenberg in 1948, put some of the most important SF and fantasy ever written between hard covers for the first time — including C.L. Moore’s Judgment Night and Shambleau and Others, The Coming of Conan and Conan the Conqueror by Robert E. Howard, Clifford D. Simak’s City, Robert A. Heinlein’s Sixth Column and Methuselah’s Children, Two Sought Adventure by Fritz Leiber, plus Arthur C. Clarke, Edward E. Smith, L. Ron Hubbard, Leigh Brackett, Murray Leinster, A. E. van Vogt, and dozens of others. It kept the genre’s most important writers in print, at a time when they appeared only in magazines, and in the process introduced them to a whole new generation.

Andrew Liptak at Kirkus Reviews has dug into the history of the press with an excellent piece, part of his ongoing look at the origins of SF and fantasy in America. Here’s his retelling of one of Gnome Press’s most famous acquisitions:

In 1950, Isaac Asimov began looking for a new home for some of his short stories… Rebuffed by his current publisher, Doubleday (who wanted new material, rather than repackaged short stories), Asimov approached Greenberg, who was eager to publish his stories. Asimov pulled together nine of his robot stories… into a single volume called I, Robot. Gnome released the collection at the end of 1950, with some of the stories reworked to include his character, Susan Calvin, telling a larger story of the evolution of robotics. The collection was a successful one, and Asimov brought Greenberg another series of books for which he would be well known: Foundation. First serialized in magazines, Gnome brought Asimov’s Foundation trilogy to hardcover between 1951 and 1953.

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective

Monday, April 7, 2014 Bob Byrne Comments 12 comments

The plan is to go non-Holmes every fourth post or so, just to mix it up a bit. So, today, we move over to the mystery field. Well, sort of…

Race Williams, Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Peter Kane, Max Thursday, Lew Archer, Travis McGee, Dave Robicheaux: the list of accomplished private eyes is a long one. And of course, Sherlock Holmes was the first professional consulting detective. But there has only been one holistic detective. Dirk Gently.

It’s hard to imagine a better science fiction parody than Douglas Adams’s marvelous Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. Five books (plus one short story and an authorized sequel), they are the standard.

Adams’s brilliance was equally on display when he tackled the private eye genre with Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.

If you’ve read any of the Hitchhiker’s books, you know that Adams was not your typical writer. Gently, though mentioned earlier, does not appear until page 114. In fact, the main character is really Richard MacDuff, though Gently is certainly at the center of things.

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Descend Into the Depths of the Earth in Forgotten Realms: Underdark

Monday, April 7, 2014 John ONeill Comments 6 comments

I’ve been fascinated with underground gaming ever since I took my first steps in Gary Gygax’s imaginative underworld in the classic 1978 AD&D module D1: Descent into the Depths of the Earth. That adventure — which first introduced the complex and sinister machinations of the drow — was one of the most popular ever released for AD&D and it has been much copied and imitated over the decades since.

A message not lost on TSR and WotC over the years, who have explored and expanded on Gygax’s concept of ancient and hostile subterranean civilizations in several releases — especially the popular Underdark products. With the publication of D&D Third Edition, the masterminds at WotC commissioned an updated version of Underdark for their Forgotten Realms setting, and it appeared in hardcover in 2003.

All of which is background to explain why I was sitting in the front row at the Spring Games Plus Auction and nimbling up my bidding arm when I saw a brand new copy of Underdark make its way to the auction block.

Bidding opened at a buck and was never very enthusiastic. D&D supplements one or two editions out of date don’t seem to command much interest these days and I walked away with it for the criminal price of seven bucks.

Their loss. Underdark is a terrific buy for any D&D gamers looking to add a fully fleshed-out subterranean setting to their existing campaign.

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Book Review: Gold and Glass by E. Catherine Tobler

Sunday, April 6, 2014 Donald Crankshaw Comments 0 Comment

If you have a book you’d like me to review, please see the submission guidelines here.

Since I’ve started reviewing self-published books, I’ve received a lot of submissions that aren’t really self-published. Usually these are from small presses and imprints where the authors are expected to do a lot of their own marketing. Up to now I’ve kept to a slightly stricter definition of self-published, but I decided to make an exception this month.

Gold and Glass by E. Catherine Tobler is published by the Masque Imprint of Prime Books. Prime Books is a well-respected independent publisher, mainly known for their anthologies. Masque is their fairly new digital imprint, which, while it does publish general SF/fantasy, focuses largely on genre romance. So it’s not surprising that Gold and Glass is a steampunk romance.

The main character, Eleanor Folley, has for years been haunted by her Egyptian mother’s disappearance in the desert of her homeland, shortly after they discovered the remains of the Lady, a mythic figure from the ancient past. The Lady wore four rings that may have opened a doorway to another time, through which Dalila Folley vanished. Eleanor’s father, the archaeologist Renshaw Folley, believes that Dalila is dead, but Eleanor is not convinced. She has spent years searching Egypt for some sign of what became of her mother, but was forced to return home empty-handed after a falling out with her partner, Christian Hubert.

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Convention Report: Ad Astra Science Fiction Convention in Toronto

Sunday, April 6, 2014 Derek Kunsken Comments 2 comments

I hit a few science fiction and fantasy conventions a year, for professional reasons, but more importantly for the fun of meeting new people and catching up with friends I haven’t seen in months. This weekend, I’m in Toronto, Canada, at Ad Astra, one of the two major literary fan-run conventions held every year (the other being SFContario).

Ad Astra is a nice-sized convention with a number of programming tracks book, TV, and movie fans, writers, costumers, and shoppers. They have a great line-up of guests. David Mark Weber, creator of the Honor Harrington series and other military scifi works, is here, as is Steven Erikson, epic fantasy author of The Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Anne Lesley Groell is representing Random House (she’s an Executive Editor) and Ad Astra also has Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series. Some returning guests of previous years are science fiction authors Julie Czerneda and Robert J. Sawyer, as well as Ed Greenwood, famed D&D creator of the Forgotten Realms fantasy world.

Some of the things I’m hoping to see include “Podcasting After Dark,” a pod-cast interview to be run by noted critic and reviewer Adam Shaftoe, “Carbine-tipped Pens,” a panel about an upcoming all-original scifi anthology edited by Ben Bova and Eric Choi. I might miss the “Steampunk Costuming for Newcomers” to catch back-to-back readings by Ottawa-area writers Matt Moore and Marie Bilodeau.

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Vintage Treasures: The Vizier’s Second Daughter by Robert F. Young

Sunday, April 6, 2014 John ONeill Comments 6 comments

I don’t know much about Robert F. Young. His first short story, “The Black Deep Thou Wingest,” appeared in Startling Stories in 1953; it was followed by roughly 140 more in Astounding Science Fiction, Science Fiction Quarterly, Science Fiction Stories, IF, Fantastic Universe, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s, and many other places. His story “Little Dog Gone,” from the February 1964 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow, was nominated for a Hugo Award.

His first novel, La Quete de la Sainte Grille (1975), was written in French; it was released only in France and has never appeared in the U.S. He only wrote four novels in English, including Starfinder (1980), The Last Yggdrasill (1982), and Eridahn (1983). His last, The Vizier’s Second Daughter (1985), was a time traveling science fantasy romp, featuring genies, Ali Baba, and the kid sister of Sheherazade. It looks like a great place to start my education in the the work of Robert F. Young.

They sent him into the past to kidnap and bring back Sheherazade, the famous narrator of the Thousand and One Nights. But when he had grabbed a lovely lady out of the Sultan’s harem and scooted away on his “magic carpet” time machine he discovered that he had muffed it — for she was the Vizier’s second daughter — Sheherazade’s kid sister!

He thought he could rectify the mistake before going back to the 21st Century — but it was already to late. Because the ifrits were on his trail, Ali Baba had jumped aboard, and the enchanted Castle of Brass awaited his arrival with ghoulish glee.

It’s a wonderful romp through time and legend with the kid sister pulling marvels out of her hair faster than you could pull the cork on a djinn bottle!

Robert F. Young died in June 1986, at the age of 71; he continued writing right until his death. The Vizier’s Second Daughter was published by DAW in February 1985. It is 203 pages, priced at $2.50 in paperback; the cover is by Sanjulian. It has never been reprinted and there is no digital edition.

BattleLore: You Got Your Goblins in My Hundred Years War!

Saturday, April 5, 2014 Jeff Stehman Comments 5 comments

When I set up our first game of BattleLore (no easy task), my wife wasn’t in the room. The game ready, I said, “Do you want to play the French or the English?”

“French.”

I know my wife so well. Still, I’m not a complete bastard.

“It’s the battle of Agincourt.”

Pause. “Maybe I can change the outcome.”

She did and decided this was a strategy game for her. Stepping back even further in time, she proceeded to stomp me at Chevauchee and Burgos. A funny thing happened at Burgos, though. I brought goblins to the party. They were eager to charge into battle, eager to flee. The latter was my undoing. Failing to provide a clear path of retreat for units that retreat with haste can be… messy.

Dwarves then weighed in on the side of the French, and eventually a giant spider showed up, first for the French, then the English. (Fickle creatures, arachnids.)

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Victory for Centurion

Saturday, April 5, 2014 FraserRonald Comments 0 Comment

And so, my first Kickstarter adventure comes to a close.

I have received the information on the cost of shipping, and while that actually isn’t completely done (we still have a backer in Europe whom we seem unable to connect, even with a third package sent), the extra cost of that – I am praying – will be under $75, all told.

In the end, I consider the Centurion: Legionaries of Rome Kickstarter an incredible success. Not only did we fund, we hit the first stretch goal. We have delivered all backer rewards (save the one errant European package) and have even put a few copies into distribution, so you might see it at your local gaming store.

Here are a few things I learned:

Everything is going to cost more than what you expect. Even when you get a quote, expect it to increase as unforeseen circumstances arise. Shipping is the biggest danger. We received our funds in April and shipped in November and December. Shipping costs increased in that period, though not dramatically so.

You need to get the word out. The only way people are going to back your Kickstarter is if they know about your Kickstarter. You need to beat the drum pretty much constantly. If you are concerned that your constant harping about your Kickstarter will annoy those who follow you in social media, make sure your posts are leavened with other posts of similar subject matter as your Kickstarter. For Centurion, I made lots of posts pointing to Roman history articles, movies, and books. I even had a hashtag, MyCenturionMovie, in which I altered movie quotes to make them suitably Roman (like: “You fell victim to one of the classic blunders – the most famous of which is never get involved in a land war in Parthia” or “And you know what they call a gladius in Gaul?” “They don’t call it a gladius?” “No man, they got Gallic.”)

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New Treasures: Dream London by Tony Ballantyne

Saturday, April 5, 2014 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

I’ve never read anything by this Tony Ballantyne fellow and I’m probably overdue. He’s a British science fiction writer who’s had an impressive career for a decade now, starting with the Recursion trilogy, Recursion (2004), Capacity (2005), and Divergence (2007), all published in the US by Bantam Spectra. He’s also written two volumes of The Robot Wars, Twisted Metal (2009) and Blood and Iron (2010), and I really don’t know how I missed that one — if it’s got battling robots, I’m usually all over it.

But it’s his first fantasy novel that has really piqued my curiosity and it’s getting some serious attention from both sides of the Atlantic. Set in a constantly shifting London that’s gradually getting weirder every night, and apparently throwing off the laws of physics, it’s — as Chris Beckett put it in his excellent Tor.com review — “a place you feel you might have visited yourself, if only you’d been able to hold it in your mind when you woke up.”

In Dream London the city changes a little every night and the people change a little every day. Captain Jim Wedderburn has looks, style and courage by the bucketful. He’s adored by women, respected by men and feared by his enemies. He’s the man to find out who has twisted London into this strange new world, and he knows it. But the towers are growing taller, the parks have hidden themselves away and the streets form themselves into strange new patterns. There are people sailing in from new lands down the river, new criminals emerging in the East End and a path spiralling down to another world. Everyone is changing, no one is who they seem to be, and Captain Jim Wedderburn is beginning to understand that he’s not the man he thought he was…

Dream London was published by Solaris Books on October 29, 2013. It is 404 pages, priced at $7.99 in paperback and $6.99 for the digital edition.

See all of our recent New Treasures here.

Win a Copy of The Collected Edmond Hamilton, Volume Four from Haffner Press

Friday, April 4, 2014 John ONeill Comments 7 comments

Haffner Press has released the long-awaited fourth volume of The Collected Edmond Hamilton and we have a copy to give away to one lucky winner.

How do you enter? Just send an e-mail to john@blackgate.com with the title “Edmond Hamilton” and a one-sentence review of your favorite Hamilton novel or short story (don’t forget to mention the title of the story). One winner will be drawn at random from all qualifying entries and we’ll publish the best reviews here on the Black Gate blog. To give you the idea, here’s my one-sentence review of my favorite Hamilton story, “The Man Who Evolved.” (read the complete story here)

Arthur Wright and Hugh Dutton visit Dr. John Pollard on the night he first tests a ray that allows him to experience millions of years of human evolution… and witness a deadly experiment that threatens the entire human race.

See how easy that was? If you need more inspiration. we recently covered several Edmond Hamilton books — including Starwolf and The Best of Edmond Hamilton — and we reprinted his very first story, “The Monster-God of Mamurth” (from the August 1926 issue of Weird Tales) in Black Gate 2.

All entries become the property of New Epoch Press. No purchase necessary. Must be 12 or older. Decisions of the judges (capricious as they may be) are final. Not valid where prohibited by law. Or anywhere postage for a hefty hardcover is more than, like, 10 bucks. Seriously, this thing is huge and postage is killing me.

The Reign of the Robots, The Collected Edmond Hamilton, Volume Four was published by Haffner Press on December 30, 2013. It is 696 pages, priced at $40 in hardcover. There is no digital edition. Learn more at the Haffner website.