Black Gate

Eric Knight scooped me by breaking the news below, but I thought this was worth making a little noise about.

BG Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones has been quoted extensively in today’s edition of the The Wall Street Journal, in reporter John J. Millar’s lengthy article on the Harold Lamb revival, “Shepherding a Lamb’s Lost Legacy” (available in its entirity here.) 

The article follows the completion of Howard’s eight-volume reprint series of Lamb’s work, now available from Bison Press and Amazon.com

Here’s the opening paragraphs:

“Imagine rummaging through an old stack of pulp magazines and coming across a lost story called ‘The Three Musketeers’ by Alexander Dumas,” says Howard Jones. “If nobody had heard of it, you’d feel compelled to tell people what they were ­missing.”

That’s how Mr. Jones, a writing teacher at the University of Southern Indiana, likens his discovery of Harold Lamb’s historical-adventure fiction. For years, he has tracked down dozens of obscure tales and ­novellas by Lamb. This literary search-and-rescue mission has led to a small boom in the ­author’s popularity. Lamb won’t ever achieve the rank of Dumas, but he may yet win some well-deserved ­posthumous recognition. 

And Mr. Miller closes with:

Lamb’s obituaries in 1962 barely mentioned his fiction. By then, the cheap magazines that had published his yarns were long forgotten except by a few passionate collectors. Like a burial mound’s hidden hoard of treasure, they lay undisturbed, awaiting their rediscovery by Mr. Jones—and now a growing band of admirers.

Once again Howard beats me to one of my life-long ambitions, getting quoted as an expert in the WSJ, and manages to make it look easy.  Fitting with my long and warm friendship with Howard, my immediate reaction was “Rat Bastard!  He’ll pay!”

But until that day – congratulations Howard!

On this date, August 27th*, nearly 2500 years ago, the straits of Artemisium came alive with the creak of oar-locks and the bellow of horns. Countless voices raised the paean, the battle-hymn of Athena, to the heavens. As the song reached its crescendo bronze-sheathed rams found their marks, splintering hulls and snapping oars. And so began the Greeks’ three-day clash against the numerically superior armada of Great King Xerxes of Persia, for control of the waters off the northern shore of Euboea—and ultimately, for control of Hellas, itself.

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Read More Read More

With summer waning, I wanted to take a moment to provide thumbnail reviews of things many of you should find of interest.

DVD

Rome – Pretty much a must-see for any fan of sword-and-sorcery or historical fiction. As far as I’m concerned, the two genres are closely related, and I’m sure a fan of either will be a fan of this.Not for the faint-of-heart due to sex and violence… but extremely well written and acted. The story arcs get more and more compelling the deeper into the series you watch. I haven’t been this caught up in a TV series since a friend loaned me the Firefly boxed set.

 

BOOKS

Blood of Ambrose – It should come as no small wonder that I enjoyed James Enge’s first Morlock novel. I’ve been a fan of his work since his first appearance in Black Gate. Good stuff, brimming with brilliant world building, witty characters, and swordplay and foul sorcery.

Bill Ward and I are planning an in-depth look at some of the fine work coming out from the Warhammer game publisher, and I wanted to provide a sneak peek of the goodness we found within.

 

Blackhearts Ominbus – I’m halfway through Nathan Long’s collection and have loved every minute of it. A dirty dozen type series in a fantasy land, with flawed but likable characters, fabulous pacing, and great action sequences. I have the suspicion that the rest of it will hold up just as well.

 

Eisenhorn Omnibus– Dan Abnett wasn’t satisfied with creating a fabulous lead character in an action-packed space opera; he sent him to fantastic places and provides a series of detective/investigative stories full of logical turns, surprises, and plenty of action.

 

 

Witch Hunter Omnibus – I finally got to read C. L. Werner’s first two Mathias Thulman books, full of Gothic menace and brooding castles. I would never have guessed that I would be rooting for a witch hunter, but Werner pulls it off, and delivers plenty of surprises along the way.

 

 

GAMING

Mongoose Games has a license for Traveller, and the core book and first supplements (High Guard and Traders and Gunboats) have been well-handled. I look forward to seeing what more they have planned.

 

 

 

Cortex System Role Playing Game, from Margaret Weis games, is the engine behind their Firefly game. It’s a slim, elegant-looking system, and will be reviewed in-depth in the next issue of Black Gate.

 

 

Goodman Games has a new magazine, Level Up, that seems at least partly inspired by the original Dragon. Adventures and articles on game play and character interaction are included within. We’ll be reviewing in-depth next issue, but my initial impression is one of delight.

Howard Andrew Jones