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Author: John ONeill

A Love Letter to the Paranormal Western: The Shadow by Lila Bowen

A Love Letter to the Paranormal Western: The Shadow by Lila Bowen

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Wake-of-Vultures-small Conspiracy-of-Ravens-small Malice-of-Crows-small Treason of Hawks-small

If you’re a Weird Western fan like me, you know some years are a lot leaner than others. Like pioneers on the prairie, you learn to survive by keeping your eyes sharp for unexpected bounty.

So I have no idea how Lila Bowen’s The Shadow series managed to evade me this long. I stumbled on a remaindered copy of the second book over at Bookoutlet, and quickly tracked down the other two volumes. And I just learned today that the fourth and final book, Treason of Hawks, arrives on Tuesday — perfect timing.

“Lila Bowen” is a pseudonym for Delilah S. Dawson, the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma and Servants of the Storm. Wake of Vultures, the opening novel in The Shadow, won the RT Fantasy of the Year Award, and in a starred review Publishers Weekly said, “The unforgiving western landscape is home to supernatural beasties as diverse as the human inhabitants… the narrative is a love letter to the paranormal western genre.”

In a featured review last year at Tor.com, Alex Brown offered a tantalizing summary of the story so far. Here’s his take.

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Future Treasures: The Razor by J. Barton Mitchell

Future Treasures: The Razor by J. Barton Mitchell

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The Razor J Barton Mitchell-smallI flipped open J. Barton Mitchell’s science fiction thriller The Razor today, just to get a sense of what the prose was like, and before I knew it I was deep in Chapter 2, following new convict Marcus Flynn as he plummets through the raging atmosphere and then is processed into the Razor prison planet, named for the tiny habitable zone separating the burning day and freezing night zones.

The Razor is an adventure novel about an engineer stuck in a very, very bad situation after the staff and guards at his remote prison suddenly evacuate, leaving nothing but dark mysteries behind. And yeah, the book certainly draws you in. I’m a huge fan of SF adventure novels, and this one has an enticing premise and smooth, readable prose.

I don’t know much about J. Barton Mitchell, but the press packet that came with my advance copy says he’s also the author of “the critically acclaimed Conquered Earth trilogy,” which at least gives him some street cred. Whatever, I’d sold. Time to kick the cat out of my favorite recliner and settle in for the evening.

Brilliant engineer Marcus Flynn has been sentenced to 11-H37 alongside the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals. A hard labor prison planet better known as the Razor, where life expectancy is short and all roads are dead ends.

At least until the Lost Prophet goes active…

In a few hours, prison guards and staff are evacuated, the prisoners are left to die, and dark mysteries begin to surface.

Only Flynn has the skills and knowledge to unravel them, but he will have to rely on the most unlikely of allies — killers, assassins, pirates and smugglers. If they can survive each other they just might survive the Razor… and claim it for their own.

The Razor will be published by Tor Books on November 27, 2018. It is 398 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover and $13.99 in trade paperback.

Read the complete first chapter here, and see all our coverage of the best in upcoming SF and fantasy here.

A Cherished Contributor, and Hard to be Friends With: Michael Moorcock on Thomas M. Disch

A Cherished Contributor, and Hard to be Friends With: Michael Moorcock on Thomas M. Disch

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Last month I wrote a brief feature on Thomas M. Disch and his 1968 dystopian SF novel Camp Concentration. Michael Moorcock, who serialized the novel in four issues of his magazine New Worlds (July -October, 1967), contacted me to share his own memories, and challenge my portrayal of Tom as “a tragic figure.”

Tom was a close friend. Sometimes hard to be friends with. He was given to depression and to taking offence over imagined insults. In spite of this, I and his other close friends loved him and I still wonder if I could have done more for him, as does Linda. She says that she loved being with us and never laughed so much as when we were together, so I don’t see him as a tragic figure. After Charlie died he became lonely and bitter on occasions but several substantial friends did all they could for him.

I serialised Camp Concentration in New Worlds and was flattered when he said he would not have aspired to make it as good as it was if he hadn’t known it was appearing there. He brought each episode in every month and I was increasingly grateful to have such a fine novel to run in the first of our large size issues. With Ballard, he was my most valued contributor. Camp Concentration was illustrated by our mutual friend, the fine artist Pamela Zoline. He brought John Clute and John Sladek into our circle and the 60s and 70s were wonderful thanks in considerable part to our mutual friendships. Politically, we rarely agreed, but we had so much fun together. I miss him terribly.

“Charlie” was Disch’s partner of three decades, poet Charles Naylor, who died in 2005. I asked Michael for permission to reprint his comments here, and he graciously granted it, and shared some additional memories of Disch.

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New Treasures: Priest of Bones by Peter McLean

New Treasures: Priest of Bones by Peter McLean

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Priest of Bones-smallBlack Gate readers took Peter McLean’s debut fantasy trilogy The Burned Man to heart — and we even did an exclusive Cover Reveal for the final volume in 2016. But the public acclaim for his gritty new fantasy novel Priest of Bones is on a whole new level.

Booknest calls it “Absolutely sensational… Low Fantasy at its finest, and I wouldn’t hesitate to call it the Fantasy Debut of the Year.” Publishers Weekly labels it “A delightful combination of medieval fantasy and crime drama,” and Fantasy Book Review says, “I can safely say that this will be the book dark fantasy and grimdark fans will be raving about at the end of this year.” Even Booklist raved, proclaiming it “A pitch-perfect blend of fantasy and organized-crime sagas like Puzo’s The Godfather… Expect word of mouth support from fantasy fans to turn this one into a genre hit.”

Priest of Bones is the opening novel of War for the Rose Throne. The second volume, Priest of Lies, is scheduled to release in July 2019. Here’s the description for Priest of Bones.

The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety heads home with Sergeant Bloody Anne at his side. But things have changed while he was away: his crime empire has been stolen and the people of Ellinburg — his people — have run out of food and hope and places to hide. Tomas sets out to reclaim what was his with help from Anne, his brother, Jochan, and his new gang: the Pious Men. But when he finds himself dragged into a web of political intrigue once again, everything gets more complicated.

As the Pious Men fight shadowy foreign infiltrators in the back-street taverns, brothels, and gambling dens of Tomas’s old life, it becomes clear:

The war is only just beginning.

Priest of Bones was published by Ace Books on October 2, 2018. It is 352 pages, priced at $16 in trade paperback and $11.99 for the digital editions. The cover was designed by Katie Anderson. Get more details at Peter’s website Talonwraith, and see all our recent New Treasures here.

Talking to Ghosts: Keri Arthur’s Outcast Trilogy

Talking to Ghosts: Keri Arthur’s Outcast Trilogy

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Keri Arthur City of Light-small Keri Arthur Winter Halo-small Keri Arthur The Black Tide-small

I quit reading urban fantasy and paranormal romance sometime around 2008, when you couldn’t browse bookshelves without being blinded by a sea of leather-clad heroines wielding crossbows. I mean, I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel as much as the next person, but man. That show has a lot to answer for.

Now that it’s safe to shop again, I’m kinda curious about those books that survived the mass extinction of urban fantasy. I pull them off the shelves at Barnes & Noble and say, “What are you doing here?” They’re like the rebel pilots that survived the attack on the Death Star. They can hold reunions in a phone booth.

Like any publishing boom-and-bust cycle, it’s only the best that endures. So I was naturally intrigued to find Keri Arthur’s City of Light at B&N earlier this year. Arthur is the author of the Souls of Fire, Dark Angels, and the New York Times bestselling Riley Jenson, Guardian series. She’s written more than forty books, and won Romantic Times‘ Career Achievement Award for urban fantasy. City of Light is the opening novel in the Outcast trilogy, a post apocalyptic tale set a century after a devastating war tears a hole in reality, and the last remnants of humanity cling to life in brightly-lit cities that shield them from terrifying spectres. It’s a promising blend of SF and paranormal horror (even if it does have a crossbow on the cover), and has sort of a Resident Evil vibe, with a superhumanly powerful heroine who faces off against both undead nasties and an evil pharmaceutical company whose experiments on adults and children bring unexpected horrors.

City of Light won plenty of acclaim, with Library Journal praising it for “An intriguing world and a marvelous heroine who speaks to ghosts,” and The Speculative Herald calling it “Exciting and well written… a remarkable mix of intrigue and action.” The first two books in the series were published in paperback by Signet, but it didn’t do well enough for them to pick up the third volume, so Arthur self published it in the US in December of last year.

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New Treasures: The Fantastic Four: Behold… Galactus! by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, John Byrne and John Buscema

New Treasures: The Fantastic Four: Behold… Galactus! by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, John Byrne and John Buscema

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Fantastic Four Behold Galactus 2

Just how big is the monster-sized Fantastic Four: Behold… Galactus! from Marvel Comics?

HUGE. Several comparison shots have popped up (including Charles R Rutledge’s side-by-side with a Robert Parker hardcover), but my favorite is the one above, borrowed from Bobby Nash’s Patreon page, which shows the book alongside a regulation-size graphic novel. Behold… Galactus! is an impressive 13.5 x 21.2 inches; big enough to double as a kitchen table.

Any way you slice it, this book is a beast. Its massive 312 pages contain virtually all of the early tales of Galactus from Fantastic Four, including Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s beloved 60s classic “The Coming of Galactus” (from Fantastic Four #48-50) and its sequel “When Calls Galactus” (FF #74-77), plus the Lee-Buscema tale “Galactus Unleashed” (FF #120-123), and John Byrne’s 80s take on the Big G, from FF #242-244 (which includes the famous free-for-all “Everyone Versus Galactus,” from FF 243.)

Monster format aside, these classic stories still make terrific reading, especially the Lee-Kirby tales. The Fantastic Four remains my favorite Marvel Comic, and this book will help you understand why. It was published by Marvel on September 11, 2018. It is 312 pages, priced at $50 in hardcover and $24.99 for the digital version. The cover is by Alex Ross. See all our recent Comics coverage here.

Douglas Draa’s What October Brings is a Lovecraftian Celebration of Halloween

Douglas Draa’s What October Brings is a Lovecraftian Celebration of Halloween

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What October Brings-smallHalloween and Lovecraft. Two great things that belong together. And Weirdbook editor Douglas Draa is the man to make it happen.

His new anthology What October Brings is a handsome collection of original stories by Adrian Cole, Storm Constantine, Tim Curran, Cody Goodfellow, Nancy Holder, Brian M. Sammons, John Shirley, Lucy A. Snyder, Chet Williamson, Black Gate writer Darrell Schweitzer, and many others — all packaged under a gorgeous cover by Italian artist Daniele Serra.

It’s from UK publisher Celaeno Press, a new name to me, but they clearly do good work. Here’s the description.

Halloween, a time for laughing children in white bedsheets and superhero costumes. A time for chocolate candy, and pumpkins, and Trick-or-Treat.

… a time for dark things everywhere to slink out of the shadows and into our lives, reminding those unlucky few that our charades of Halloween cannot erase the centuries of history and pain behind the facade…

What October Brings celebrates the dark traditions of the autumn rituals, of Halloween and Samhain, in homage to the uniquely fascinating fiction of HP Lovecraft. Masters of the short story offer you a “once in a lifetime” Trick-or-Treat experience…

…perhaps your last!

This is a sizable anthology packed with long stories. Over half are 18+ pages, and one, Lucy A. Snyder’s “Cosmic Cola,” is a generous 30 pages. Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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Future Treasures: The Book of Magic, edited by Gardner Dozois

Future Treasures: The Book of Magic, edited by Gardner Dozois

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The-Book-of-Magic-Gardner-Dozois-smallerWe lost Gardner Dozois unexpectedly in May of this year. Certainly there were bigger names, but somehow Gardner always seemed to be the heart of science fiction to me. Fan, historian, gifted writer and brilliant editor — indeed, perhaps the greatest editor science fiction has ever seen — Gardner had his finger on the pulse of the field better than anyone I knew.

It was a terrible blow to lose him. But I took some consolation in the fact that his career was not over — not yet, anyway. He still had three major books in the pipeline. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection appeared in July; the final volume in what may be the greatest anthology series in genre history. And The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction, a fitting cap to an amazing career, will arrive in February of next year.

But the one I’m really looking forward to is The Book of Magic, a big 576-page hardcover collecting brand new fiction from many of the top fantasy writers we have. It’s a companion book to his 2017 sword & sorcery anthology The Book of Swords, and it arrives from Bantam in two weeks. Here’s the description.

A new anthology celebrating the witches and sorcerers of epic fantasy — featuring stories by George R. R. Martin, Scott Lynch, Megan Lindholm, and many others!

Hot on the heels of Gardner Dozois’s acclaimed anthology The Book of Swords comes this companion volume devoted to magic. How could it be otherwise? For every Frodo, there is a Gandalf… and a Saruman. For every Dorothy, a Glinda… and a Wicked Witch of the West. What would Harry Potter be without Albus Dumbledore… and Severus Snape? Figures of wisdom and power, possessing arcane, often forbidden knowledge, wizards and sorcerers are shaped — or misshaped — by the potent magic they seek to wield. Yet though their abilities may be godlike, these men and women remain human — some might say all too human. Such is their curse. And their glory.

In these pages, seventeen of today’s top fantasy writers — including award-winners Elizabeth Bear, John Crowley, Kate Elliott, K. J. Parker, Tim Powers, and Liz Williams — cast wondrous spells that thrillingly evoke the mysterious, awesome, and at times downright terrifying worlds where magic reigns supreme: worlds as far away as forever, and as near as next door.

And here’s the stellar table of contents, including sixteen all new stories and a reprint novelette by George R. R. Martin.

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New Treasures: The Dreaming Stars by Tim Pratt, Book 2 of The Axiom

New Treasures: The Dreaming Stars by Tim Pratt, Book 2 of The Axiom

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Tim Pratt is a Senior Editor for Locus magazine. He won the Hugo Award for his short story “Impossible Dreams” (Asimov’s SF, July 2006). As T. A. Pratt he’s the author of the 10-volume Marla Mason fantasy series (Blood Engines, Poison Sleep, etc.), under the name Tim Prett he’s published The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl, the Pathfinder Tales novels Liar’s Island and Liar’s Bargain, and much more.

The Wrong Stars looks like his breakout book (see our coverage here). It was published by Angry Robot last year, and Sam Reader at the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi Blog raved about it, saying “Through his wit, dialogue, and vast, varied cast, Tim Pratt has created a space opera for today… while still delivering the sense of wonder that made you love the genre.” The second novel in what’s now being called The Axiom series, The Dreaming Stars, arrived right on schedule last month.

Ancient aliens, the Axiom, will kill us all – when they wake up. In deep space, a swarm of nanoparticles threatens the colonies, transforming everything it meets into computronium – including the colonists. The crew of the White Raven investigate, and discover an Axiom facility filled with aliens hibernating while their minds roam a vast virtual reality. Sebastien wakes up, claiming his altered brain architecture can help the crew deactivate the swarm – from inside the Axiom simulation. To protect humanity, Callie must trust him, but if Sebastien still plans to dominate the universe using Axiom tech, they could be in a whole lot of trouble…

The Dreaming Stars was published by Angry Robot on September 4, 2018. It is 384 pages, priced at $8.99 in paperback and $7.99 in digital formats. The cover is by Paul Scott Canavan. Read the complete first chapter here.

The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of September 2018

The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of September 2018

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The Hidden Sun by Jaine Fenn-small Rosewater by Tade Thompson-small Salvation by Peter F Hamilton-small

Geez, it’s the last day of the month already. I’m used to failing at my ambitious monthly reading plans, but at least I usually try. This month has been so busy that I haven’t even been able to keep track of all the great books I missed, much less crack any of them open.

September still has a few hours left, and I’m going to use that time to educate myself. And the best resource for that are book blogs like The Verge, Unbound Worlds, Kirkus Reviews, and especially the excellent Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, which has gradually become my go-to source for the best new releases. This month Jeff Somers does his usual top-notch job, pointing me to 26 tantalizing titles I might have otherwise overlooked. Here’s the best of them.

The Hidden Sun by Jaine Fenn (Angry Robot, 448 pages, $12.99 trade paperback/$8.99 digital, September 4)

Fenn is as known for her short fiction as she is for her Hidden Empire novel series — and for her tendency to take stories in unexpected directions, whether on the micro-scale in short stories or the macro-scale of novels. [In] Hidden Sun Fenn kicks off an all new series set in a universe of shadowlands and bright alien skylands. Rhia Harlyn is a well-born woman in the shadowland Shen, struggling against old-fashioned sexism as she pursues scientific knowledge. She gets a tragic opportunity to use his skill for research and discovery after her brother vanishes. She sets off to the skylands to seek the truth behind his disappearance and finds herself caught between a rebel and a cult leader on an alluring, dangerous world.

Jaine Fenn won the British Science Fiction for her short fiction. She’s the author of the 5-volume Hidden Empire series, published in the UK by Gollancz, which does not yet have a US publisher. The Hidden Sun is the first volume of a 2-part series titled Shadowlands; the sequel, Broken Shadow, will be released on April 4. This is her first US release; if it does well, I hope that means we get to see a lot more of her.

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