Black Gate

We don’t regularly cover Analog here at at Black Gate, on account of the fact that it’s a hard science fiction magazine, and we generally focus on fantasy. But December brought us the big January/February double issue, with a robot western from Wil McCarthy (the novella “Wyatt Earp 2.0”) and stories from James Gunn, George Zebrowski, and Caroline M. Yoachim and Tina Connolly, plus a guest editorial by Howard Hendrix, and I just couldn’t resist. You’re welcome.

Here’s editor Trevor Quachri’s description from the website.

The new year is traditionally a time to look ahead and let go of the past, but sometimes, the past can provide a solution to a problem in the here and now.

In this issue’s lead story, the “here and now” is Mars in the future, and the key piece of the past is… well, the title of the story should give it away. Join us for “Wyatt Earp 2.0,” from Wil McCarthy.

Edward M. Lerner returns to his science-behind-the-stories series of articles with a subject so big, a single installment couldn’t contain it: human augmentation. Part I of “Human 2.0: Being All We Can Be” hits this month.

Of course we also have a slew of pieces varied and wonderful, as befits our first double-issue of the year, including “We Will Wake Among The Gods, Among the Stars,” by Caroline M. Yoachim and Tina Connolly, “Farmer” by J.M. McDermott, “Rocket Surgery” by Effie Sieberg, “Saving the World: A Semi-Factual Tale” by James Gunn, “Time Out” by Norman Spinrad, “The Persistence of Memory” by Rachel L. Bowden, “Theories of Mind” by Conor Powers-Smith, “Nature’s Eldest Law,” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, “The Heat of Passion” by Grey Rollins, “Woundings” by George Zebrowski, “The Shores of Being” by Dave Creek, and “An Industrial Growth” by David L. Clements, not to mention columns galore.

And here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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Issue 47 of Swords and Sorcery Magazine, cover-dated December 2015, is now available. Each issue of contains two short stories, and is available free online. This issue features brand new fiction from Dan DeFazio and Frank Martinicchio. Here’s the issue summary from editor Curtis Ellett:

“The Death of the Bastard D’Uvel,” by Dan DeFazio, tells a tale of daring deeds, black magic, and questionable morality. DeFazio’s work has previously been published in Dungeon Magazine. This is his first story in Swords & Sorcery.

“Arbor,” by Frank Martinicchio, is the tale of a young man who finds an unexpected mentor. Martinicchio has previously been published in Tincture Journal.

I was glad to see that, after months of searching, Curtis has found a suitable number of volunteers to help him select the contents of a Best of Swords and Sorcery Magazine anthology.

Fletcher Vredenburgh reviewed issue #46 in his November Short Story Roundup, with particular praise for “Last Stand at Wellworm’s Pass” by Nick Ozment, which he called “a perfect dose of old school storytelling… Any S&S story that can stuff in werewolves, demons, and djinns is alright by me.” Read the current issue here. We last covered Swords and Sorcery Magazine with Issue #46.

See our Late-December Fantasy Magazine Rack here, and all of our recent magazine coverage here.