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Author: John ONeill

Vintage Treasures: Ghosts and Grisly Things by Ramsey Campbell

Vintage Treasures: Ghosts and Grisly Things by Ramsey Campbell

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Weird Tales Summer 1991-small Dark Love-small Dark Terrors 2 The Gollancz Book of Horror-small
Fantasy Tales Summer 1985-small Night Visions 3-small Narrow Houses-small

We’re on the cusp of October, and you know what that means. Goth Chick will decorate the entire office with candles, pumpkins, and shrunken heads, and we’re about to get deluged with a fresh crop of horror books. It’s pretty exciting actually, and many of us look forward to this time of year (in addition to Goth Chick and her band of terrified interns, I mean). So to help kick off the season, I thought I’d showcase a classic horror collection as my latest Vintage Treasure.

Have a look at the assortment of magazines and anthologies above, and see if you notice a recurring theme. It’s not too hard to spot… the name Ramsey Campbell was ubiquitous in the market throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, and for good reason. He’s one of the most accomplished horror writers in the business, and his name has graced many a magazine cover and Table of Contents. Campbell produced some 18 collections between 1964 and 2015, and the 80s and 90s were his most productive decades. The stories which appeared in the above volumes, and nearly a dozen more, were reprinted in Ghosts and Grisly Things, a collection from Pumpkin Books (UK, 1998) and Tor Books (US, 2000).

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The September Fantasy Magazine Rack

The September Fantasy Magazine Rack

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Beneath Ceaseless Skies 234-rack Cirsova 6-small Knights of the Diner Table 245-rack Clarkesworld September 2017-rack
Galaxy's Edge September 2017-rack Locus September 2017-rack The Dark September 2017-rack Nightmare Magazine September 2017-rack

Plenty of great fiction to distract us in September! Here are the magazines that grabbed my attention this month (links will bring you to magazine websites).

Beneath Ceaseless Skies — new fiction from Michael J. DeLuca and William Broom
Cirsova #6 — stories by Adrian Cole, Harold R. Thompson, and others
Knights of the Dinner Table 245 — with a great Jack Kirby tribute cover!
Clarkesworld — new fiction from Suzanne Palmer, A. Brym, and others
Galaxy’s Edge — John DeChancie, Barry N. Malzberg, Joan Slonczewski, and others
Locus — report on the Hugo Winners, an obit for Brian Aldiss, and forthcoming books for the US and UK
The Dark — new fiction from Erica L. Satifka and Lora Gray.
Nightmare — new stuff from Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Ashok K. Banker

That’s not all, of course. Earlier this month we reported on the latest issues of Asimov’s SF and Fantasy & Science Fiction; Adrian Simmons reviewed the July/August F&SF and Rich Horton covered the December 1964 Amazing Stories.

Click any of the thumbnail images above for bigger images. Our August Fantasy Magazine Rack is here.

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Unsolved Murders and Powerful Ghosts: Lockwood & Co by Jonathan Stroud

Unsolved Murders and Powerful Ghosts: Lockwood & Co by Jonathan Stroud

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Lockwood & Co The Screaming Staircase-small Lockwood & Co The Whispering Skull-small Lockwood & Co The Hollow Boy-small Lockwood & Co The Creeping Shadow-small

Two months ago I bought the second novel in Jonathan Stroud’s five-volume Lockwood & Co series. I don’t usually buy middle volumes in a series, at least not when I don’t have any of the other books. But this one had a whispering skull on the cover, so I’m sure you understand.

It did serve to introduce me to the entire series, though (the book, not the whispering skull). Jonathan Stroud is probably best known for his best-selling Bartimaeus Trilogy; here he turns his narrative powers to the tale of a teenage ghost-hunting agency in an alternate-history England infested with Visitors, malevolent spirits that can only be detected by young people with psychic gifts. Three such talented youngsters band together in London to form Lockwood & Co, facing a series of increasingly-horrifying challenges in these middle grade adventures.

The final volume in the series, The Empty Grave, was published this month in hardcover.

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New Treasures: New Fears, edited by Mark Morris

New Treasures: New Fears, edited by Mark Morris

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New Fears Mark Morris-small

This delightful treasure showed up unbidden in my mailbox this week. It’s advertised as the first of a new series of original horror anthologies, which would be a major addition to the field. Editor Mark Morris (Toady, Vampire Circus, and The Society of Blood) gave the scoop to Ginger Nuts of Horror earlier this year.

Having grown up reading the Pan and Fontana Books of Horror and Ghost Stories, plus numerous other anthologies edited by the likes of Peter Haining, Michel Parry, Richard Davis and Mary Danby, it has always been one of my keenest ambitions to edit an annual – and hopefully long-running – non-themed horror anthology of new, never-before-published stories for the mass market.

Now, thanks to Titan Books, I’ve finally got that chance. I’ve signed an initial contract for two volumes of New Fears, with hopefully more to come in the future… In the first volume you’ll find stories which explore ancient myths in new and innovative ways, stories of human evil, stories of unnamed and ambiguous terrors, and stories where the numinous and the inexplicable intrude upon what we perceive to be reality in unexpected ways. You’ll find humor, and hope, and grief, and sadness, and regret, and impenetrable darkness. You’ll find stories that surprise you, unsettle you and shock you. But most of all, you’ll find stories that grab you and draw you in and compel you to keep turning the pages.

New Fears contains brand new fiction from Adam Nevill, Ramsey Campbell, Angela Slatter, Nina Allan, Chaz Brenchley, Kathryn Ptacek, Christopher Golden, Alison Littlewood, and many others. See more details here.

Here’s the complete TOC.

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Future Treasures: Quillifer by Walter Jon Williams

Future Treasures: Quillifer by Walter Jon Williams

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Quillifer-smallIt’s been a good week for review copies here at Black Gate (see some of the recent arrivals here). But the moment Quillifer arrived, I knew it was the most significant release of the current crop, by a pretty good margin.

Walter Jon Williams has had an extraordinary career, displaying an easy mastery of cyberpunk (Hardwired, Angel Station), military SF (Dread Empire’s Fall), SF police procedural (Days of Atonement), light-hearted fantasy (the Majistral series), space opera (Aristoi), contemporary disaster (The Rift), and even the Star Wars universe (The New Jedi Order: Destiny’s Way).

Quillifer, the tale of a young man forced to flee his beloved home and find his fortune among goddesses, pirates, war, and dragons, is his long-awaited foray into epic fantasy. It’s the first in an ambitious new series from one of the most respected authors in the genre.

Quillifer is young, serially in love, studying law, and living each day keenly aware that his beloved homeport of Ethlebight risks closure due to silting of the harbor. His concerns for the future become much more immediate when he returns from a summery assignation to find his city attacked by Aekoi pirates, leading to brigands in the streets and his family and friends in chains.

First, he has to survive the night. Then, he has to leave his home behind and venture forth into the wider world of Duisland, where he can find friends and allies to help avenge his losses and restore Ethlebight to glory. His determination will rock kingdoms, shatter the political structure of Duisland, and change the country forever.

Quillifer will be published by Saga Press on October 3, 2017. It is 530 pages, priced at $27.99 in hardcover and $7.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Gregory Manchess. Learn more at Williams’ website, and read Emily Mah’s interview with the author (“Why UFOs Are Actually Made of Bread, and Other Little Known Facts”) here.

September/October Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Now on Sale

September/October Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Now on Sale

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The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction September October 2017-smallThe September/October F&SF is the 68th Anniversary issue, and it contains some nice special atractions, including fiction by Robert Reed, Michael Swanwick, Tina Connolly — and, most surprising of all, a brand new novelette by the brilliant Samuel R. Delany, who hasn’t appeared in F&SF in 40 years. Here’s a snippet from Charles Finlay’s intro.

Throughout his career, Delany’s work has pushed the boundaries of sf to address more adult situations and issues, particularly at the intersections and language and memory, sexuality and society. He returns to these themes again in his first new science fiction story in a decade… this new story would get an NC-17 rating at the movies and is not appropriate for younger readers.

It’s tough to compete with the return of a Grand Master, but Michael Swanwick manages it with his cover story, “Starlight Express.” Here’s Jason McGregor’s review at Tangent Online.

Via Flaminio’s eyes we learn about Roma in the far, far future and the woman who seemed, not to go to the carrier beam of the transmission station relic as suicidal people often do, but to come from the carrier beam where, as far as most people know, people haven’t come from for millennia. How her universe has changed, and how she changes his, makes the bulk of the tale.

I could understand seeing this as a dull and underplotted story if the poetry of it all doesn’t speak to you but, if it does, it’s a really remarkable story (if more bitter than sweet) which strongly evokes deep time and vast space and an enduring humanity… beautiful. Recommended.

Read Jason’s complete review here.

I note that the cover price has increased a buck this issue, to $8.99 — still a bargain, if you ask me. Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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Superheroes, a Wise-Cracking Demon, and Warrior Dinosaurs: To Hell and Back by Matthew Hughes

Superheroes, a Wise-Cracking Demon, and Warrior Dinosaurs: To Hell and Back by Matthew Hughes

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The Damned Busters Matthew Hughes-small Costume Not Included Matthew Hughes-small Hell to Pay Matthew Hughes-small

I consider Canadian author Matthew Hughes to be one of the most gifted short stories writers at work today. Much of his output — including his two book Gullible’s Travels series, his 2004 novel Black Brillion, and his Tales of Henghis Hapthorn (Majestrum, The Spiral Labyrinth, and Hespira) — is set in his Archonate Universe, which is profoundly influenced by Jack Vance. John DeNardo says “His Archonate universe is a wonderfully compelling far future that mixes fantasy and science fiction.”

But Hughes is also responsible for a quirky superhero trilogy published as paperback originals by Angry Robot between 2011 and 2013, back before the publisher had the reach and acclaim it enjoys today. As a result, the series didn’t get the exposure I think it deserved… a shame, since I think the topic is quite timely, and Hughes’ comic gifts make him almost uniquely suited for the material. If you’re a fan of superheroes, To Hell and Back is a series that deserves your attention.

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New Treasures: The Raft by Fred Strydom

New Treasures: The Raft by Fred Strydom

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The Raft Fred Strydom-smallFred Strydom’s debut novel The Raft was published in hardcover last year, and the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog called it “One of the sharpest premises in 2016… a must-read.” In a starred review, Publishers Weekly said “Strydom’s debut subverts postapocalyptic fiction… [it] reinvigorates the genre with a suspenseful concept and intimately realized characters. A sucker punch of a novel.”

I never saw the hardcover, but the trade paperback reprint from Talos caught my eye at the bookstore last week. Have a look.

“The day every person on earth lost his and her memory was not a day at all. In people’s minds there was no actual event . . . and thus it could be followed by no period of shock or mourning. There could be no catharsis. Everyone was simply reset to zero.”

On Day Zero, the collapse of civilization was as instantaneous as it was inevitable. A mysterious and oppressive movement rose to power in the aftermath, forcing people into isolated communes run like regimes. Kayle Jenner finds himself trapped on a remote beach and all that remains of his life before is the vague and haunting vision of his son.

Kayle finally escapes, only to find a broken world being put back together in strange ways. As more memories from his past life begin returning, the people he meets wandering the face of a scorched earth — some reluctant allies, others dangerous enemies — begin to paint a terrifying picture. In his relentless search for his son, Kayle will discover more than just his lost past. He will discover the truth behind Day Zero — a truth that makes both fools and gods of men.

The Raft was published in hardcover by Talos Press on May 3, 2016, and reprinted in trade paperback on May 16, 2017. It is 432 pages, priced at $15.99 in trade paperback and $25.99 for the digital edition. Read a brief excerpt at Books Live.

Good Old-fashioned Military Science Fiction: The Icarus Corps by Zachary Brown

Good Old-fashioned Military Science Fiction: The Icarus Corps by Zachary Brown

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The Icarus Corps-back-small The Icarus Corps-small

I love omnibus editions. It’s not just their convenience, the joy of having an entire trilogy packed into one hefty volume. I think it’s just as much the celebratory aspect. It’s like, Holy crap, we made it. The series is finished. Forget we charged you for the first two; look, here’s the whole damn thing in one volume. You’re welcome.

In the case of The Icarus Corps, the trade paperback containing a complete military science fiction trilogy by Zachary Brown, that’s actually more or less accurate, as the third book, Jupiter Rising, was never even published in paperback. If you enjoyed the first two, and don’t have an e-reader, this is your only option.

Still, it ain’t a bad option, all things considered. I bought the first book, The Darkside War, and I was still delighted to stumble on the omnibus edition of all three novels at Barnes & Noble last week, and I snapped it up immediately.

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What do George Lucas, Michael Jackson, and Harry Houdini Have in Common? It Combines Reading and Obsession

What do George Lucas, Michael Jackson, and Harry Houdini Have in Common? It Combines Reading and Obsession

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KARL LAGERFELD books-small

I’ve recently discovered the website Literary Hub. Their recent articles include 7 Writers Who Were Also Editors, Fake News and the Rise of Fascism in the 20s, and their entirely cool Most Talked About Books feature (which this week includes John Le Carre and N.K. Jemison).

But my favorite article in their archives is Emily Temple’s piece on 10 Famous Book Hoarders, which includes photos of the libraries of George Lucas, Ernest Hemingway, William Randolph Hearst, Thomas Jefferson, and fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld (300,000 volumes!)

I’m a fairly compulsive book collector myself, though not on the scale of famous genre collectors like David Hartwell, Bob Weinberg, and Frank Robinson. My house doesn’t look anything like the pictures in Temple’s article (it looks more like this). Still, it’s good to see evidence of well adjusted individuals with the same peculiar obsession as myself. Check out the complete article here.