There were lots of new faces in the Top Ten last month, including the #1 slot, which featured a cover comparison between John Scalzi’s new Tor bestseller The Collapsing Empire, and a hurriedly-packaged cover rip-off, The Corroding Empire, by “Johan Kalsi.”

Coming in at #2 was our coverage of the third Literary Wonder and Adventure Podcast, a conversation with Scott Oden, followed by Sean McLachlan’s fascinating photo-essay on the items you don’t usually see from King Tut’s legendary treasure trove.

Rounding out the Top Five were Thomas Parker’s gargantuan undertaking, the Master List of Fantastic Literature, compiled from recommended reading lists from several notable sources, and our look at the first Fifth Edition D&D dungeon anthology, Tales From the Yawning Portal.

Coming in sixth was Ryan Harvey’s review of the Sword & Sandal classic Colossus of the Stone Age, followed by our celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Black Gate‘s very first blog post (Howard Andrew Jones’ musings on Sword & Sorcery — go figure). At number 8 was our a look back at the fiction and covers featured in Asimov’s Science Fiction in the 90s.

Wrapping up the Top Ten were our review of the marvelous new periodical for vintage magazine fans, The Digest Enthusiast, and Bob Byrne’s look at Nero Wolfe.

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

The Top 50 Black Gate posts in March were:

1. A Tale of Two Covers: The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, and The Corroding Empire by Johan Kalsi
2. Literary Wonder & Adventure Podcast Presents: J.R.R. Tolkien, Master of Modern Mythology: A Conversation with Author Scott Oden
3. King Tut’s Treasure: The Items You Don’t Usually See
4. A Sure Cure for that Listless Feeling
5. What Lies Beyond The Yawning Portal? Some of the Best Adventures in Gaming
6. Peplum Populist: Colossus of the Stone Age (Fire Monsters against the Son of Hercules)
7. Celebrate 10 Years of the Black Gate Blog!
8. 4,976 Pages of Asimov’s Science Fiction (and a Cat)
9. The Digest Enthusiast #5 Now Available
10. The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: A Nero Wolfe Mystery

     

11. The Poison Apple: Have Long Sword Will Battle, An Interview with Martin Page
12. Ave Atque Vale: Celebrating the Life and Work of Michael Shea
13. Assassins, Mad Robots, and an Alien Hunt: Rich Horton on The Man With Nine Lives and A Touch of Infinity by Harlan Ellison
14. The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Post
15. Dark Cults, Elder Beings, and a Deadly Extraterrestrial Fungus: Agents of Dreamland by Caitlin R. Kiernan
16. Keith West on the Ballantine Best of Series and Why We Need it More Than Ever
17. Space Viking by H. Beam Piper
18. Kong: Forget Jurassic Park; Book Your Next Family Vacation to Skull Island!
19. ‘Til Death Do Us Part
20. Reading for the End of the World

     

21. The Complete Carpenter: The Fog (1980)
22. A Response to Thomas Parker’s Master List of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror Literature
23. A Jaunt Through Clark Ashton Smith’s Collected Fantasies—Vol. 1: The End of the Story
24. The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in February
25. The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Talking About Poirot
26. John DeNardo on 11 Can’t-Miss SF and Fantasy Books in March
27. Asimov’s Science Fiction, Vol. 41, Nos. 1 & 2 (January/February 2017)
28. February Short Story Roundup
29. Feeding the Forest with Memory: Mythago Wood and Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock
30. The Valley of Gwangi Finally Reaches Blu-ray Because I Mistakenly Said It Never Would

     

31. New Treasures: If This Goes Wrong… edited by Hank Davis
32. Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
33. An Interlude with Messrs Brunner & Van Vogt
34. Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: The Multiple Personalities of Omniscient 3rd Person: Spotlight on “Folksy Narrator/ Storyteller”
35. Future Treasures: The Horror on the Links: The Complete Tales of Jules De Grandin, Volume One by Seabury Quinn
36. Andrew Liptak on 23 Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels to Read this March
37. Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1953: A Retro-Review
38. Asimov’s Science Fiction, Vol. 41, Nos. 3 & 4 (March/April 2017)
39. Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 132, No. 1 & 2 (January/February 2017)
40. New Treasures: Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

     

41. A Rose By Any Other Name…
42. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume 132, No. 3 & 4 (March/April 2017)
43. Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Vol. 149, Nos. 1 & 2 (January/February 2017)
44. Goth Chick News: A LARPing We Will Go…
45. March 2017 Clarkesworld Now Available
46. In 500 Words or Less: Angels of Our Better Beasts by Jerome Stueart
47. Warning: This Comic Will Make You Smarter – Top Cow’s Think Tank
48. 7th-9th April is Conpulsion! Edinburgh’s Ultimate Roleplaying and Tabletop Convention!
49. Where The Road meets Mad Max: Peter Newman’s The Vagrant Trilogy
50. Goth Chick News: The Horror of Adult Coloring Books

There were plenty of older articles popular last month as well. The 25 most popular blog posts written before March were:

1. Death Knight Love Story: WMA meets WTF
2. Goth Chick News: Samuel L. Jackson Takes On Japanese OVA – Hold On To Your Butts…
3. “Are You Not Still Entertained?”: Gladiator’s 10-Year Oscar Anniversary
4. Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: The Skeleton Matters (Or, Why It’s Not OK to Skip Scenes in Your Third Act)
5. The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in January
6. Solitaire Adventure with Victory Point Games
7. New Treasures: The Library of America Publishes Elmore Leonard
8. Heroic Fantasy with the Sharp Edge of Reality: A Review of The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
9. A Tale of Two Covers: Swords Against Darkness
10. Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 5: Teana: 10000 Years Later, Crimson Whale, and The Shamer’s Daughter
11. My Fantasia Festival, Days 5 to 7: Cold in July, The Fatal Encounter, and Huntresses
12. The Series Series: Shieldwall: Barbarians! by M. Harold Page
13. Blowing the Doors Off the Barn: Expanding the Iron Fist Mythos
14. Eccentric in Retrospect: Helen Simpson’s The Woman on the Beast
15. Adventures on Stage: Fantasy Literature’s Missing Link
16. The Return of the King (1980)
17. Living it Large: How Larger Than Life Characters Work
18. Tea and Sympathy with the Paranormal: An interview with Steampunk Goddess Gail Carriger
19. Haunt the House: The Music and Art of Will Houlihan
20. Return to Thieves World in Beyond Sanctuary: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
21. Adventures In Gaming: The Temple Of the Sea Gods
22. Tribulations Herculean and Tragic: Beyond Wizardwall by Janet Morris
23. The IX by Andrew P. Weston
24. SFWA Announces the 2017 Nebula Award Nominations
25. Vintage Treasures: The Silistra Quartet by Janet Morris

The Top Black Gate Online Fiction features were:

1. An excerpt from Shards of the Glass Slipper: Queen Cinder by Roy A. Mauritsen
2. An excerpt from The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
3. “Seven Against Hell” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
4. An excerpt from Mouth of the Dragon by Tom Barczak
5. An excerpt from Black City Demon by Richard A. Knaak
6. An excerpt from Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong
7. “In the Wake Of Sister Blue” by Mark Rigney
8. “Iron Joan” by ElizaBeth Gilligan
9. “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum” by Joe Bonadonna
10. “Queen of Toads” by Joe Bonadonna
11. An excerpt from The Black Fire Concerto by Mike Allen
12. An excerpt from Waters of Darkness by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna
13. An excerpt from Soleri by Michael Johnston
14. “The Sorrowless Thief” by Ryan Harvey
15. “Nero Wolfe – Stamped for Murder” by Bob Byrne
16. Fiction Excerpt: “The Beautiful Corridor” by Jonathan L. Howard
17. “Tsathoggua” by Michael Shea
18. An excerpt from Mad Shadows II by Joe Bonadonna
19. “A Holmes Christmas Carol” by Bob Byrne
20. “The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying” by Alex Kreis

The top categories last month were:

1. Editor’s Blog
2. Vintage Treasures
3. Blog Entry
4. Art
5. Interviews
6. Books
7. Games
8. Magazines
9. Art of the Genre
10. Fiction
11. Comics
12. News
13. New Treasures
14. Goth Chick
15. Pastiche
16. Rich Horton
17. BG Staff
18. Role Playing Games
19. Conan
20. Reviews
21. Future Treasures
22. Teaching
23. Discovering Robert E. Howard
24. Series Fantasy

The Top 50 Black Gate blog posts in February are here, and you can see all 92 posts we made in the month of March here.