Search Results for: "the best of"

The Best of Bob – 2023

Happy 2024! Let’s kick butt for another year. Or at least, limp to the finish in 52 weeks. I take what I can get. One of my greatest talents as a blogger, is finding folks more talented than I, to write my weekly column for me. Hey – the reader gets a better end product, so they win, right? I brought Talking Tolkien to Black Gate in 2023. And I had some great help yet again for A (Black) Gat…

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Kickstarter for The Best of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Volume IV Launched!

HFQ powered through the pandemic and stuck to our regular publishing schedule; but we fell behind on getting our best-of anthologies put together — a situation we aimed to correct with the August 19th launch of our Kickstarter to fund Best-of 4. As of this writing, we are 85% to our goal of $1,500.  Check out our campaign and help us out if you can! — Adrian Simmons and the HFQ crew. P.S. On the fence?  Head over to issue…

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400 pages of the Best of the Modern Weird: Weird Fiction Review #12 from Centipede Press

Weird Fiction Review #12 (Centipede Press, October 2022). Front and back covers by Stephen Fabian Weird Fiction Review, edited by John Pelan and published annually by Centipede Press, has gradually established itself as the premier magazine of modern dark fantasy. It’s published a dozen issues so far and has included fiction by Simon Strantzas, Steve Rasnic Tem, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Laird Barron, Victor LaValle, Stephen Graham Jones, Marc Laidlaw, Joseph S. Pulver, Brian Stableford, Darrell Schweitzer, John Shirley, and many,…

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Treasures to Return To: The Best of Lucius Shepard

The Best of Lucius Shepard, Volumes One and Two (Subterranean Press, August 2008 and December 2021). Covers by J. K. Potter and Armando Veve I think the first thing I ever read by Lucius Shepard was his famous novella “R&R,” an ultra-realistic tale of American G.I’s in near-future Guatemala caught up in a senseless war guided by psychics, and fought by young men on a dangerous cocktail of combat drugs. It was unlike anything I’d ever read before, and it…

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Vintage Treasures: The Best of British SF 1 and 2 edited by Mike Ashley

The Best of British SF 1 and 2 (Orbit, 1977). Covers by Bob Layzell Every once in a while I sit back, take stock of our accomplishments, and think, “Man. We’ve showcased countless forgotten writers here at Black Gate, discussed tens of thousands of neglected books, writing late into the night on tight deadlines, and nobody has spell checked anything.” Still, I’m justifiably proud of what we’ve accomplished in the 23 years this website has been live. Though I do…

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New Treasures: The Best of David Brin

The Best of David Brin (Subterranean Press, July 31, 2021). Cover by Patrick Farley Subterranean Press has done a flat-out fabulous job of producing memorable single-author collections over the last decade. For one thing, Subterranean mastermind William Schafer has terrific taste. He edited a delightful small press magazine (titled, appropriately enough, Subterranean) for many years, and demonstrated admirable skill at selecting and editing short fiction. For another, he’s been working at it tirelessly for decades, and it shows. He’s produced…

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Vintage Treasures: The Best of Robert Silverberg

The Best of Robert Silverberg (Pocket Books, February 1976). Cover by Alan Magee Recently James McGlothlin wrapped up an ambitious multi-year review project at Black Gate, reading each of the 23 volumes in Del Rey’s Classic Science Fiction Series from the 70s, including The Best of Fritz Leiber, Edmond Hamilton, John Brunner, Philip K. Dick, C.L. Moore, Robert Bloch, and over a dozen others. Over the years many of our contributors have shared their love for these seminal volumes, including…

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New Treasures: The Best of World SF edited by Lavie Tidhar

The Best of World SF (Head of Zeus, June 2021). Cover design by Ben Prior You lot know how much I enjoy a good anthology. One of the most acclaimed to appear so far this year is The Best of World SF: Volume 1, edited by Lavie Tidhar. It’s a substantial collection of science fiction from all across the globe, featuring highly regarded writers such as Aliette de Bodard, Chen Qiufan, Vandana Singh, Tade Thompson, Hannu Rajaniemi, Ekaterina Sedia, Lauren…

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A Top-Notch Wordsmith, and a Master of Speculative Fiction: The Best of John Brunner

The Best of John Brunner (Del Rey, 1988). Cover by Barclay Shaw After several years, I’m finally gotten to the last of the Del Rey Classic Science Fiction Series! The Best of John Brunner was published in 1988. But is this book even part of that series? The previous installment, The Best of James Blish was published 9 years earlier. And though The Best of John Brunner is indeed a Del Rey publication, and it says “Classic Science Fiction” on…

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Science Fiction With Real Humans: The Best of James Blish

The Best of James Blish (Del Rey, 1979). Cover by H. R. Van Dongen The Best of James Blish (1979) was the twenty-first (and penultimate!) installment in Lester Del Rey’s Classic Science Fiction Series. (Only one more to go!) Science fiction author Robert A. W. Lowndes (1916–1998) provided the introduction — his only one in the series. Sci-fi artist H. R. Van Dongen (1920–2010) provides the ninth cover in the series, the most used artist of the series. James Blish…

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