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Fantasy Scroll Magazine 12 Now Available

Fantasy Scroll Magazine 12 Now Available

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Fantasy Scroll Magazine Issue 12-smallThe 12th issue of the online-only Fantasy Scroll Magazine, cover dated April 2016, is now available. In his editorial Iulian Ionescu gives us a sneak peek of the contents. Here’s a snippet:

The fiction section opens with “Mother Salt and her Sisters” by James Troughton, a story that brings a fresh new look to the myth of the mermaid, and adds a darker than usual twist. Next is “Apprentice” by James Van Pelt, a story about the relationship between the mentor and mentee, filled with magical mystery that will keep you guessing through the end. Jason Hine’s “Prosperity’s Shadow” follows, set in a medieval-type of fantasy world where magic is used to control the masses, and we observe the struggle of the enforcer who has to deal with the weight that his job puts on his conscience. “The Memory of Huckleberries” by Rebecca Birch is sure to bring a tear to your eye. It’s a heartwarming story of love, sacrifice, and loss…

“Boo Daddy’s” by Anna Yeatts follows, a tale set in the Wild West, with a little twisted twist that will definitely creep under your skin. Intrigued? We end the fiction section of the issue with “Skies of Sand and Stee”l by Jeremy Szal, a science fiction story that follows the protagonist in his quest to stop mass exploitation in a world where entire cities float above ground.

Issue 12 continues the epic adventures of Shamrock in a new installment titled “Shadows,” written by Josh Brown with art by Alberto Hernandez. The non-fiction section includes interviews with authors Angela Slatter and Brian Staveley, a book review for God of Clay by Ryan Campbell and a movie review for 10 Cloverfield Lane, directed by Dan Trachtenberg.

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New Treasures: Shadow’s Blade, Book III of the Case Files of Justis Fearsson by David B. Coe

New Treasures: Shadow’s Blade, Book III of the Case Files of Justis Fearsson by David B. Coe

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Spell Blind David B Coe-small His Father's Eyes David B Coe-small Shadow's Blade David B Coe-small

David B. Coe’s adventure fantasy “Night of Two Moons” was one of the most popular tales in Black Gate 4. Over the last two decades he’s had a stellar career in fantasy — his LonTobyn trilogy and five-book Winds of the Forelands established him as a leading voice in adventure fantasy; and under the name D.B. Jackson he also writes the Thieftaker Chronicles, a historical urban fantasy for Tor. Shadow’s Blade, the third volume in The Case Files of Justis Fearsson, a contemporary urban fantasy featuring a hardboiled, magic-using private detective, was released by Baen last week.

Justis Fearsson is a weremyste and a private detective. He wields potent magic, but every month, on the full moon, he loses his mind. His battles with insanity have already cost him his job as a cop; he can’t afford to let them interfere with his latest case.

Phoenix has become ground zero in a magical war, and an army of werecreatures, blood sorcerers, and necromancers has made Jay its number one target. When he is hired to track down a woman who has gone missing with her two young children, he has a hunch that the dark ones are to blame. But then he’s also brought in by the police to help with a murder investigation, and all the evidence implicates this same woman. Soon he is caught up in a deadly race to find not only the young family, but also an ancient weapon that could prove decisive in the looming conflict. Can he keep himself alive long enough to reach the woman and her kids before his enemies do? And can he claim the weapon before the people he loves, and the world he knows, are lost in a storm of flame, blood, and darkest sorcery?

We cover the second volume in the series, His Father’s Eyes, here. David is a sometime blogger for Black Gate; his most recent article series for us discussed last year’s Hugo Award controversy.

Shadow’s Blade was published by Baen on May 3, 2016. It is 320 pages, priced at $26 in hardcover, and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Alan Pollock. Read a sample chapter at David’s website.

Please Welcome Lady Business to the Hugo Ballot!

Please Welcome Lady Business to the Hugo Ballot!

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Lady Business logo

The revised Hugo Awards Ballot for 2016 has been announced by MidAmericon II, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, following the withdrawal of two nominees: Thomas A. Mays, who declined in the Short Story category, and Black Gate, who declined our nomination last week. Two nominees were added: “Cat Pictures Please,” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2015) and the group blog Lady Business. I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never heard of Lady Business, so I checked them out this week — and was impressed. In announcing their placement on the ballot, they were gracious enough to acknowledge us:

First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge Black Gate, a fine blog that has been an integral part of the SF/F fandom community for many years. Withdrawing from consideration cannot have been an easy decision for them, and we wish them all the best.

They also summarized their mandate:

For those not familiar with Lady Business, we are a group of women and genderqueer people who write about media from an intersectional feminist perspective. You can learn more about our individual editors here.

They have a handy sample list of 2015 posts, and it’s got some great stuff — including Nerd Adventures: Pacific Rim at After School Special by litomnivore, and an entertainingly cranky review of one of my favorite superhero shows, Agents of SHIELD 3×01, “Laws of Nature” – Don’t Try the Fish by renay. They also offer short fiction reviews, take look at Gender Discrimination in SFF Awards, and tackle the massive project of tracking eligibility for next year’s awards in the 2017 Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom.

I admit I was a bit apprehensive about what would take our place on the ballot, and it’s great to put those fears to rest. In my opinion, replacing Black Gate with Lady Business has upgraded the ballot nicely. As a side bonus, I’ve discovered a fine new site…. and isn’t that what awards are supposed to be about? Drop by Lady Business and check them out for yourselves.

The 2016 Locus Award Finalists

The 2016 Locus Award Finalists

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Karen Memory-smallerWith all the hubbub surrounding the Hugo Awards this week, I almost overlooked the 2016 Locus Award Finalists, announced on Tuesday. There’s plenty of terrific reading on this list, and the nomination process is done with an open online poll.

The Locus Science Fiction Foundation sponsors the awards, and the winners are selected by the readers of Locus magazine. The awards began in 1971, originally as a way to highlight quality work in advance of the Hugo Awards. The winners will be announced during the Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle WA, June 24-26, 2016. In addition to creators, the Locus Foundation also honors winning publishers with certificates, which I think is kind of neat.

The finalists are:

FANTASY NOVEL

Karen Memory, Elizabeth Bear (Tor)
The House of Shattered Wings, Aliette de Bodard (Roc)
Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand (Open Road)
The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Uprooted, Naomi Novik (Del Rey)

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Future Treasures: Company Town by Madeline Ashby

Future Treasures: Company Town by Madeline Ashby

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Company Town-smallMadeline Ashby is the author Vn and its sequel iD, the first two novels in the The Machine Dynasty trilogy from Angry Robot. She lives in Toronto and writes articles for my hometown paper, the Ottawa Citizen, which automatically makes her cool in my eyes.

Her third novel Company Town, a near-future mystery, is getting a lot of early attention. Locus calls it “Worthy of the best Heinlein…. a terrific ride,” and Chuck Wendig says “This is brave, bold, crazy storytelling.” Charlie Stross says “Madeline Ashby bludgeons cyberpunk to death with this post-climate change thriller about life aboard a gas platform, confronting an uncomfortable new future.” I’m sold.

New Arcadia is a city-sized oil rig off the coast of the Canadian Maritimes, now owned by one very wealthy, powerful, byzantine family: Lynch Ltd.

Hwa is of the few people in her community (which constitutes the whole rig) to forgo bio-engineered enhancements. As such, she’s the last truly organic person left on the rig — making her doubly an outsider, as well as a neglected daughter and bodyguard extraordinaire. Still, her expertise in the arts of self-defense and her record as a fighter mean that her services are yet in high demand. When the youngest Lynch needs training and protection, the family turns to Hwa. But can even she protect against increasingly intense death threats seemingly coming from another timeline?

Meanwhile, a series of interconnected murders threatens the city’s stability and heightens the unease of a rig turning over. All signs point to a nearly invisible serial killer, but all of the murders seem to lead right back to Hwa’s front door. Company Town has never been the safest place to be — but now, the danger is personal.

A brilliant, twisted mystery, as one woman must evaluate saving the people of a town that can’t be saved, or saving herself.

Company Town will be published by Tor Books on May 17, 2016. It is 341 pages, priced at $24.99 in hardcover and $11.99 for the digital version. The cover is by ChiZine’s genius designer Erik Mohr.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies 198 Now Available

Beneath Ceaseless Skies 198 Now Available

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Beneath Ceaseless Skies 198-smallIssue #198 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies features fiction by Thomas M. Waldroon and Sylvia V. Linsteadt, a podcast by Sylvia V. Linsteadt, and a reprint by Noreen Doyle. Nicky Magas at Tangent Online offers us a fine summary of both tales:

Brothers Henry and James have crossed an entire ocean to escape the religious persecution of their native England in “Or I Wil Harrie Them Out of This Land” by Thomas W. Waldroon. At first their new home is a paradise: wide, open spaces, the thrill of adventure and the freedom to explore any dream or ambition they might have. Before long, however, disease and conflicts with the natives begin to take their toll on the small community, and the Puritan settlement discovers that just because they’ve escaped from one evil, doesn’t mean they’re free from another…

The streets of 1880s San Francisco are lit with the oil of marine mammals in Sylvia V. Linsteadt’s “Whale-Oil.” Sixteen year-old Altair has a talent for seeing the sorts of other world things that no one else can. Call it a remnant of childhood imagination, but one night in the fog-thick streets, Altair looks up to find the tethered souls of hundreds of slaughtered whales and seals, bound to the lamps that burn their oil. Meanwhile, in a marsh out by the ocean, Old Iris stands on her heron’s legs for a long-awaited visitor to follow her blue lamp light to her hut. The world has grown too hungry, she knows, and all too soon it will end… Lovers of magical realism and the environmentally conscious will be charmed.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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SF Signal Goes Dark

SF Signal Goes Dark

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SF Signal logoWhen I declined our 2016 Hugo Award nomination last week, I wrote:

A great many publications I deeply respect were completely swept aside by the Rabid Puppy ballot, including John DeNardo’s SF Signal… By giving up our very slim chance at winning, we can give another deserving publication a shot. That seems like a fair exchange to me.

SF Signal has been one of my favorite sites for years. So you can imagine my distress when I read John DeNardo’s last post yesterday, announcing the long-running site was shutting down.

When we started SF Signal in 2003, it was because we loved speculative fiction. Having a blog allowed us to share that love with other fans. We never dreamed it would have grown like it has… It’s been quite a ride.

But all good things come to an end.

It was a very hard decision to make, but we have decided to close down SF Signal. The reason is boringly simple: time. As the blog has grown, so has its demands for our attention. That is time we would rather spend with our families. We considered scaling back posts, but it felt like SF Signal would only be a shadow of its former self. So yes, it feels sudden, but a “cold turkey” exit seems like the right thing to do.

The site has been a fabulous resource for SF and fantasy fans for 13 years, and will be very much missed. John and his staff are looking for a good place to archive the site after the first week of June. If you have any suggestion, let them know.

New Treasures: Exile by Martin Owton

New Treasures: Exile by Martin Owton

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Exile Martin Owton-smallMartin Owton’s stories for Black Gate include the funny and suspenseful contemporary fantasy “A Touch of Crystal” (co-written with Gaie Sebold), in BG 9, and “The Mist Beyond the Circle,” in which a band of desperate men pursue the slave traders who stole their families, across cold barrows where a dread thing sleeps (BG 14).

So I was very inrigued to see his debut novel Exile arrive last month. Exile is described as a fast-moving tightly-plotted fantasy adventure story with a strong thread of romance, and it’s the first volume of The Nandor Tales. Here’s the full description.

Aron of Darien, raised in exile after his homeland is conquered by a treacherous warlord, makes his way in the world on the strength of his wits and skill with a sword. Both are sorely tested when he is impressed into the service of the Earl of Nandor to rescue his heir from captivity in the fortress of Sarazan. The rescue goes awry. Aron and his companions are betrayed and must flee for their lives. Pursued by steel and magic, they find new friends and old enemies on the road that leads, after many turns, to the city of the High King. There Aron must face his father’s murderer before risking everything in a fight to the death with the deadliest swordsman in the kingdom.

The cover boasts a terrific quote from no less an illustrious personage than BG author and occasional blogger Peadar Ó Guilín, author of The Inferior and the upcoming The Call:

A wonderful story of intrigue, romance and duels, brushed, here and there, by the fingers of a goddess.

Exile was published by Phantasia/Tickety Boo Press on April 15, 2016. It is 303 pages, priced at just $2.99 for the digital version. Black Gate says check it out.

Future Treasures: Roses and Rot by Kat Howard

Future Treasures: Roses and Rot by Kat Howard

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Roses and Rot-smallI enjoy a good fairy-tale retelling, especially those written with a modern sensibility — and a dark edge. Kat Howard’s debut novel, selected by Publishers Weekly as a Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Novel of Summer 2016, looks like it fits my criteria nicely.

The marketing for Roses & Rot includes an enviable blurb from Neil Gaiman (“Kat Howard is a remarkable young writer”), and the promise that its main characters, Imogen and her sister Marin, find themselves living in a fairy tale as the story unfolds. But which fairy tale? Ah, that’s part of the mystery.

A prestigious artists’ retreat holds dark secrets as desire for art and love are within grasp for Imogen and her sister, Marin, but at a terrible price.

What would you sacrifice for everything you ever dreamed of?

Imogen has grown up reading fairy tales about mothers who die and make way for cruel stepmothers. As a child, she used to lie in bed wishing that her life would become one of these tragic fairy tales because she couldn’t imagine how a stepmother could be worse than her mother now. As adults, Imogen and her sister Marin are accepted to an elite post-grad arts program — Imogen as a writer and Marin as a dancer. Soon enough, though, they realize that there’s more to the school than meets the eye. Imogen might be living in the fairy tale she’s dreamed about as a child, but it’s one that will pit her against Marin if she decides to escape her past to find her heart’s desire.

Roses and Rot will be published by Saga Press on May 17, 2016. It is 307 pages, priced at $24.99 in hardcover, and $7.99 for the digital version.

April 2016 Apex Magazine Now Available

April 2016 Apex Magazine Now Available

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Apex Magazine April 2016-smallI love Sarah Zar’s cover to Apex #83 (at right; click for bigger version); and the contents look pretty good, too. Jason Sizemore gives us the complete scoop in his editorial.

This month we’re publishing only two works of original fiction, because both are lengthy pieces, totaling nearly 14,000 words combined, and our goal is to publish around 12,000 words of original fiction each month. In Andrew Neil Gray’s “The Laura Ingalls Experience,” a mech takes a simulated adventure to the American frontier of the 1800s. A search for self in a hollow world makes for poignant story. “The Teratologist’s Brother” by Brandon H. Bell is a prime example of the type of world/unsettling SF Apex Magazine strives to publish. Part dystopia, part Lovecraftian, you will be piecing the puzzles of this story together long after you finish reading it.

Former Apex Magazine editor and frequent contributor Catherynne M. Valente returns to our pages (after a too-lengthy absence) with “The Quidnunx.” This novelette reprint is a masterful example of world building and creating something that is both entirely alien and entirely beautiful. Geoffrey Girard, author of the upcoming Apex Publications collection, first communions, gives us a taste of his collection by sharing the story “Collecting James” with the Apex Magazine readers. Having the story fresh in my mind, I can honestly say if this one doesn’t make you squirm, then you’re a tougher person than I.

For our nonfiction selections, we have two interviews. Russell Dickerson talks with our cover artist Sarah Zar. Andrea Johnson questions author Andrew Neil Grey. Finally, rounding out the issue are poems by John Yu Branscum, Michael VanCalbergh, Jeremy Paden, and Craig Finlay. Our podcast this month is “The Teratologist’s Brother” by Brandon H. Bell.

Here’s the complete TOC, with links to all the free content.

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