Search Results for: brandon crilly

Exclusive Preview: The World of Catalyst by Brandon Crilly

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Catalyst by Brandon Crilly (Atthis Arts, October 11, 2022). Cover artist uncredited. Hello, Black Gate folks! Normally I spend my time here raving about other people’s books, but this time I’m in the very weird position of talking about my own. Yikes. Catalyst is my debut fantasy novel, releasing in October from Atthis Arts, and John has graciously invited me to talk a bit about the world of the book. Catalyst centers on three estranged friends: Mavrin, a street magician…

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New Treasures: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

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Brandon Sanderson is one of the most prolific writers in the genre. By any measure, he’s certainly one of the hardest working. Back in 2015 I estimated that he was producing, on average, 1,270 pages per year (not counting short stories and the like). His first novel of 2017, Oathbringer, the third novel in The Stormlight Archive, weighs in at a whopping 1,248 pages — and still manages to bring down his average. Oathbringer is the sequel to the #1…

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In 500 Words or Less … Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

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Calamity By Brandon Sanderson Random House (432 pages, $18.99 hardcover/$10.99 paperback, February 2016) To begin, let’s cue the music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD2DYKR0UYE Finally, I made it to Calamity, which concludes Brandon Sanderson’s Reckoners trilogy. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while because it’s the only series of Sanderson’s that I’ve really taken to; The Stormlight Archive tired me out halfway through the second book, and I haven’t felt the urge to start Mistborn. But the Reckoners trilogy is just a…

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Future Treasures: Cave 13 by Jonathan Maberry

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Cave 13 (St. Martin’s Griffin, August 29, 2023). Cover design by Rob Grom Brandon Crilly introduced me to Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger novels, with his enthusiastic review of the ninth volume in the series Dogs of War in 2017. This series is about way more than its main protagonist, Joe Ledger, and is filled with a host of deeply-imagined heroes and villains… Every Joe Ledger novel features some sort of established horror premise – like vampires, zombies, and even Cthulhu –…

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Nonstop SF Adventure: The Mickey7 Novels by Edward Ashton

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Mickey7 and Antimatter Blues (St. Martin’s Press, February 15, 2022 and March 14, 2023). Cover design by Ervin Serrano Truth to tell, I missed Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7 last year, despite all the breathless praise heaped on it (NPR listed it as one of the Best Books of 2022, calling it “A wildly entertaining mix of action and big ideas peppered with humor and a bizarre love story”). It was our very own Brandon Crilly who tuned me in to the…

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Future Treasures: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

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The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Harper Voyager, February 28, 2023). Cover by Ivan Belikov I met Shannon Chakraborty at the 2018 World Fantasy Convention in Baltimore, where she conducted a delightful reading from her second novel The Kingdom of Copper, the sequel to her bestselling debut The City of Brass. Back then she went by the very cool name “S. A Chakraborty.” For her new book The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, she has changed her name slightly to “Shannon Chakraborty,”…

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In 500 Words or Less: End of 2022 Round-Up!

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The Bone Shard Emperor, Finish, and The Kaiju Preservation Society (Orbit, Portfolio, and Tor Books) Oh man, what a year, people. I won’t bore you with the details, but you already got a glimpse of my debut novel Catalyst, and there was additional coolness on top of that. See my bio below for the title of my first games writing publication, and some of the recent spots for my short fiction. We’re here to talk books, though, and I’ll freely admit that I…

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In 500 Words or Less: Midway 2022 Round-Up!

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Becoming Crone by Lydia M. Hawke, Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, and Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness, edited by dave ring. Covers by Deranged Doctor Design, uncredited, and Robin Ha Back by popular demand! As you might have noticed, I’ve been on a serious reviewing hiatus lately due to busy (and exciting) times in both writing and teaching. But I love discussing new books and signal boosting works I think deserve some more attention, so I’m back! With a…

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New Treasures: Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry

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Kagen the Damned (St. Martin’s Griffin, May 10, 2022). Cover design by Bob Grom Jonathan Maberry is a prolific guy, with dozens of science fiction and horror novels under his belt — including ten volumes in the popular Joe Ledger series, which Brandon Crilly described in his Black Gate review as “filled with a host of deeply-imagined heroes and villains… Every novel features some sort of established horror premise and gives it a mad science twist.” As a fervent supporter…

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Celebrate Derek Künsken’s First Trilogy, The Quantum Evolution

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The Quantum Evolution trilogy by Derek Künsken (Solaris; 2018, 2019, and 2021). Covers by Justin Adams You lot know that every time one of our authors publishes a novel, we celebrate with dinner at the Black Gate rooftop headquarters in downtown Chicago. And you’re also aware that every time an author completes a trilogy, we bake a cake. So what do we do when a Black Gate author completes a trilogy, as our own Derek Künsken just did with the…

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