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Author: John ONeill

Future Treasures: Black City Saint by Richard A. Knaak

Future Treasures: Black City Saint by Richard A. Knaak

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Black City Saint-smallBlending genres seems to be all the rage these days… but nobody does it like Richard A. Knaak. His latest is a historical urban fantasy gangster horror novel, which combines action, mystery and even romance — quite a trick. Brian Staveley, author of The Emperor’s Blades, says “Black City Saint is jam-packed with awesome – cursed Roman emperors, incorporeal dragons, paranormal detectives, a shapeshifter from the Feirie realm trapped inside a dog’s body, and one very tormented unsaintly Christian saint — all set in prohibition-era Chicago… a brilliant mash-up of Ghostbusters, The Da Vinci Code, and the ancient story of St. George and the Dragon.”

For more than sixteen hundred years, Nick Medea has followed and guarded the Gate that keeps the mortal realm and that of Feirie separate, seeking in vain absolution for the fatal errors he made when he slew the dragon. All that while, he has tried and failed to keep the woman he loves from dying over and over.

Yet in the fifty years since the Night the Dragon Breathed over the city of Chicago, the Gate has not only remained fixed, but open to the trespasses of the Wyld, the darkest of the Feiriefolk. Not only does that mean an evil resurrected from Nick’s own past, but the reincarnation of his lost Cleolinda, a reincarnation destined once more to die.

Nick must turn inward to that which he distrusts the most: the Dragon, the beast he slew when he was still only Saint George. He must turn to the monster residing in him, now a part of him… but ever seeking escape.

The gang war brewing between Prohibition bootleggers may be the least of his concerns. If Nick cannot prevent an old evil from opening the way between realms… then not only might Chicago face a fate worse than the Great Fire, but so will the rest of the mortal realm.

Black City Saint will be published by Pyr Books on March 1, 2016. It is 383 pages, priced at $18 in trade paperback and $11.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by Jacqueline Nasso Cooke.

Back Issue 86 Now Available

Back Issue 86 Now Available

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Back Issue 86-smallBack Issue is one of the best comic magazines on the market, especially if you’re a fan of comics of the 70s, 80s, and today. The latest (February) issue is a 100-page giant, celebrating the Marvel Bronze Age Giants like Marvel Tales, Fantasy Masterpieces, and Marvel Triple Action. I have many fond memories of curling up with those lengthy treasures long ago, and looking through the full-color digital issue preview brought them all back. Here’s the issue description.

Back Issue #86 (bonus-size 100 Full-Color pages, $9.95) takes a big look at Marvel Bronze Age Giants and Reprints! We open Marvel Comics’ vaults for an in-depth exploration of its GIANT-SIZE series! Plus: indexes galore of Marvel reprint titles, Marvel digests and Fireside Books editions, and the last days of the “Old” X-Men. Featuring the work of DAN ADKINS, ROSS ANDRU, RICH BUCKLER, DAVE COCKRUM, GERRY CONWAY, STEVE GERBER, STAN LEE, WERNER ROTH, ROY THOMAS, and more. Re-presenting the cover of Giant-Size Marvel Triple Action #1 by JOHN ROMITA, SR.! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

See the full details on issue 86 at the TwoMorrows website.

Back Issue is edited by Michael Eury, and published by TwoMorrows Publishing. Issue #86 is cover-dated February 2016. It is 100 pages in full color, priced at $9.95. The cover is by John Romita, Sr. An eight-issue subscription is $73 in the US ($31.60 for the digital version). Order right from the TwoMorrows website.

See our Late January Fantasy Magazine Rack here, and all of our recent Magazine coverage here.

New Treasures: The Bloodsounder’s Arc Trilogy by Jeff Salyards

New Treasures: The Bloodsounder’s Arc Trilogy by Jeff Salyards

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Scourge of the Betrayer-small Veil of the Deserters-small Chains of the Heretic-small

Every time a fantasy trilogy successfully wraps up, Black Gate throws a little fiesta. (Someone has to cherish these little publishing milestones. We think it should be us.)

Jeff Salyards’ Bloodsounder’s Arc trilogy began with Scourge of the Betrayer, his debut novel, back in January 2013. Veil of the Deserters was released in June 2014, and now the balloons and shrimp tacos are standing by for Tuesday’s release of Chains of the Heretic, the third and final volume. (We used to celebrate with cheeseburgers, but last year Tor started publishing Pathfinder trilogies, and I gained 30 pounds.)

Now that the whole series is available, I’m looking forward to tucking into Bloodsounder’s Arc. Over at SF Signal Nick Sharps called the first volume “both Debut of the Year and Fantasy of the Year. It is also one of the finest debuts I have ever read.” At B&N.com, Paul Goat Allen said:

Scourge of the Betrayer is a literary appetizer that will undoubtedly captivate anyone who enjoys fantasy, be it epic fantasy, adventure fantasy, military fantasy, etc. If you’re a fan of Cook’s Black Company, or GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire, or of classic fantasy sagas like Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Moorcock’s Elric, this is a debut novel that is, like Jagger said, ‘what you need.’”

Sounds pretty promising to me. Chains of the Heretic will be published by Night Shade Books on February 16, 2016. It is 524 pages, priced at $25.99 in hardcover and $11.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Ryan Pancoast. Read an excerpt from Scourge of the Betrayer here.

Bud Webster, July 27, 1952 – February 14, 2016

Bud Webster, July 27, 1952 – February 14, 2016

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Bud Webster wonders if he can afford TEXT
Bud Webster doing what he loved – selling books

It’s never easy to write obituaries. It’s especially difficult when they’re members of the Black Gate staff.

I was already a fan of Bud Webster’s Past Masters column, thoughtful biographical pieces on the enduring impact of our finest writers, when I first approached him to become a Contributing Editor. His first article for us, a marvelous discussion of Tom Reamy, and a continuation of his Who? series on neglected genre authors, appeared in Black Gate 15.

Bud didn’t waste my time with a superficial survey of Reamy’s fiction — anyone could have done that. Instead, he delivered an impeccably researched, 3,400-word piece that dove into Reamy’s history and early influences. It was the kind of piece that triggered an outpouring of discussion and gratitude from BG‘s readers (Keith West even drove to Breckenridge, Texas so he could send Bud a photo of the empty lot where Reamy’s house once stood).

It was the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership with Bud. He was briefly our poetry editor, before the death of the print magazine made that title superfluous. He became a prolific early blogger for us, contributing a dozen posts, mostly on his favorite subjects — the pros and cons of selling vintage books, his role as an stfnal historian, and the magical books that first lured him into the hobby.

Bud wrote extensively on the hobby he loved so much. His first book was Anthopology 101 (2010), an affectionate look back at the classic SF anthologies that helped define the genre. It was quickly followed by The Joy of Booking (2011) and Past Masters, & Other Bookish Natterings (2013). All three were collections of his earlier columns.

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The Books of David G. Hartwell: Foundations of Fear and The Ascent of Wonder

The Books of David G. Hartwell: Foundations of Fear and The Ascent of Wonder

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Foundations of Fear-small The Ascent of Wonder-small

We lost David Hartwell on January 20th. This is our fourth article in a series that looks back at one of the most important publishers in our industry.

David Hartwell’s first anthology, The Battle of the Monsters and Other Stories, was published through tiny Gregg Press in 1976. He reached a bigger audience ten years later with his second, Christmas Ghosts (1987), co-edited with Kathryn Cramer. After that came his real breakout book, the massive The Dark Descent (1987), which Tor kept in print for a decade, and eventually reprinted in three paperback volumes.

David had found his forte: huge retrospective anthologies that put both his exceptional taste and his encyclopedic knowledge of the field on full display. Libraries snapped them up, they garnered him major awards, and they established him as one of the most respected editors in the field. He produced roughly a dozen of them in his career, each one a feast that readers can return to time and again.

Today I want to look at two of his best from the early 90s: Foundations of Fear (1992), the companion volume to The Dark Descent, which convincingly made the case for the thriving genre of 20th Century supernatural horror, especially at novella length; and The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF (1994), a massive 990-page tome that aimed to be the definitive exploration of science fiction’s “visionary core,” co-edited by Kathryn Cramer.

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Future Treasures: Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

Future Treasures: Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

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Lovecraft Country-smallI’ve followed Matt Ruff’s career since his 1988 debut novel Fool on the Hill, a modern fairy tale set in the campus of Cornell University. His more recent novels include Set This House in Order, the tale of a man with hundreds of personalities who’s asked to assist a co-worker also afflicted with multiple personality disorder, and The Mirage, an alternative history of 9/11.

His latest novel blends historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror as it follows a black man on his journey across America. A journey in which he faces police harassment, discrimination… and the attentions of something far darker.

Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George—publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide — and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite — heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors — they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.

At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn — led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb — which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his — and the whole Turner clan’s — destruction.

A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism — the terrifying specter that continues to haunt us today.

Lovecraft Country will be published by Harper on February 16, 2016. It is 384 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover and $11.99 in digital format.

Interzone #262 Now on Sale

Interzone #262 Now on Sale

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Interzone 262-smallThe January/February issue of Interzone magazine is now on sale. With the new year comes a new cover artist, Vincent Sammy, who illustrates this issue with a piece titled “The Orion Crusades” (click the image at right for a bigger version.)

Interzone #262 contains six stories:

“The Water-Walls of Enceladus” by Mercurio D. Rivera
“Empty Planets” by Rahul Kanakia
“Geologic” by Ian Sales
“Circa Diem” by Carole Johnstone
“A Strange Loop” by T.R. Napper
“Dependent Assemblies” by Philip A. Suggars

Non-fiction this issue includes an interview with artist Vincent Sammy, on his thoughts on providing the cover art for the next six issues, Future Interrupted by Jonathan McCalmont, Time Pieces by Nina Allan, this month on Virgina Woolf, plus David Langford’s Ansible Link, and the regular columns: book reviews, Nick Lowe’s Mutant Popcorn film reviews, and Tony Lee’s DVD column, Laser Fodder. Issue 262 is nearly 100 pages and packed with fiction, columns, and top-notch art.

Interzone is the sister magazine of Black Static, both are published by TTA Press in the UK. The distinguished Andy Cox is the editor of both.

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New Treasures: Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto

New Treasures: Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto

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Revenge and the Wild-smallYou know what I haven’t featured in far too long? A promising weird western.

Let me make it up to you with the debut novel from Michelle Modesto, Revenge and the Wild, described as a “delightfully dark and fantastical Western.” You know you could use a quality weird western in your life.

The two-bit town of Rogue City is a lawless place, full of dark magic and saloon brawls, monsters and six-shooters. But it’s just perfect for seventeen-year-old Westie, the notorious adopted daughter of local inventor Nigel Butler.

Westie was only a child when she lost her arm and her family to cannibals on the wagon trail. Seven years later, Westie may seem fearsome with her foul-mouthed tough exterior and the powerful mechanical arm built for her by Nigel, but the memory of her past still haunts her. She’s determined to make the killers pay for their crimes — and there’s nothing to stop her except her own reckless ways.

But Westie’s search ceases when a wealthy family comes to town looking to invest in Nigel’s latest invention, a machine that can harvest magic from gold — which Rogue City desperately needs as the magic wards that surround the city start to fail. There’s only one problem: the investors look exactly like the family who murdered Westie’s kin. With the help of Nigel’s handsome but scarred young assistant, Alistair, Westie sets out to prove their guilt. But if she’s not careful, her desire for revenge could cost her the family she has now.

Revenge and the Wild was published by Balzer + Bray on February 2, 2016. It is 384 pages, priced at $17.99 in hardcover and $10.99 for the digital edition.

Win a Copy of The Final Programme, the First Volume in Michael Moorcock’s Cornelius Quartet

Win a Copy of The Final Programme, the First Volume in Michael Moorcock’s Cornelius Quartet

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The Final Programme-smallTitan Books has been doing something pretty marvelous for modern fantasy fans: they’ve been gradually reprinting Michael Moorcock’s fabulous back catalog, which includes some of the most fondly remembered fantasy of the 20th Century.

They began with his early steampunk trilogy Nomad of the Time Streams (which opened with The Warlord of the Air), and continued with the complete Chronicles of Corum (see our cover gallery from last May). In 2016, they’ve turned their attention to the Cornelius Quartet, starring the hippest adventurer in fantasy, scientist and rock star Jerry Cornelius.

Black Gate has copies of The Final Programme to give away to three lucky readers, compliments of Titan Books. How do you make one of them yours? Just send an e-mail to john@blackgate.com with the subject “The Final Programme,” and a one-sentence review of your favorite Michael Moorcock tale.

That’s all it takes. Three winners will be drawn at random from all qualifying entries, and we’ll reprint some of the best reviews when we announce the winners.

All entries become the property of New Epoch Press. No purchase necessary. Must be 12 or older. Decisions of the judges (capricious as they may be) are final. Not valid where prohibited by law, or anywhere postage for a trade paperback is more than, like, 10 bucks (practically, that means US and Canada).

The Final Programme was published by Titan Books on February 2, 2016. It is 255 pages, priced at $9.95 in trade paperback and $7.99 for the digital edition.

Gypsies, Paupers, Demons and Swans: Rich Horton’s Hugo Recs

Gypsies, Paupers, Demons and Swans: Rich Horton’s Hugo Recs

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The Two Paupers CSE Cooney-smallI cover a lot of short fiction magazines and novels, but I never feel adequately prepared for the Hugo ballot. But that’s okay, because I know people who read every single short story published in English, and can point me in the right direction.

Well, one person. Rich Horton. Seriously, he reads them all. No, really. All of them. When he modestly claims he doesn’t, he’s lying. He’s read some of ’em twice.

And he has great taste, too. So when he compiles lists of the best fiction published last year, we lesser mortals should pay attention. For example, here’s his rundown on the best novellas published in 2015:

The Two Paupers, by C. S. E. Cooney (Fairchild Press)
“Gypsy,” by Carter Scholz (Gypsy plus …,  F&SF)
“The Four Thousand, the Eight Hundred,” by Greg Egan (Asimov’s SF, December 2015)
“The Bone Swans of Amandale,” by C. S. E. Cooney (Bone Swans)
“The Boatman’s Cure,” by Sonya Taaffe (Ghost Signs)
Wylding Hall, by Elizabeth Hand (Open Road/PS Publishing)
Penric’s Demon, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Penric’s Demon)
Teaching the Dog to Read, by Jonathan Carroll (Subterranean)
Sunset Mantle, by Alter S. Reiss (Tor)

Congratulations to Black Gate website editor emeritus C.S.E. Cooney for placing two novellas in Rich’s list!

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