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Author: John ONeill

Future Treasures: Gold Throne in Shadow by M.C. Planck

Future Treasures: Gold Throne in Shadow by M.C. Planck

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Gold Throne in Shadow-smallIn her review of the first book in M.C. Planck’s new series, Sarah Avery said “Sword of the Bright Lady deals in surprising juxtapositions of familiar tropes… This is a fun book.” She also said it “ends just a breath beyond a cliff-hanger… I want to see Crazy Pater Christopher get even crazier. I want to gawk like a peasant at what he comes up with next.”

Now she’ll finally get the chance, as the second volume, Gold Throne in Shadow, will be released in trade paperback by Pry Books next week.

Christopher Sinclair was a mechanical engineer — until he stepped into a world where magic works and no one has heard of a pistol. Now he’s a priest of war, raised from the dead and promoted to take command of the army regiment he trained and equipped. Sent south to an allegedly easy posting, he finds himself in the way of several thousand rabid dog-men. Guns and fortifications turn back the horde, but Christopher’s troubles are only beginning.

Lalania is a bard with a connection to a mysterious group of scholars Christopher hopes can help him find his way back to his wife and home. But the journey to the scholars is long, and Lalania’s motivations are too murky for him to truly trust her.

Christopher has problems that connot be solved with mere firepower: a wicked assassin, hostile clergymen, dubious allies, and worst of all his own impolite tongue. But all of these pale to mere distractions once he discovers that the true enemy is hidden and is playing the kingdom like a puppet master’s stage. Lalania claims she can help — but will it be enough? And will it get him any closer to returning to our world?

Gold Throne in Shadow will be published by Pyr Books on October 13, 2015. It is 315 pages, priced at $17 in trade paperback and $11.99 for the digital version. The cover is by Gene Mollica.

A Gentle Introduction to Unspeakable Horrors: A Picnic at the Mountains of Madness

A Gentle Introduction to Unspeakable Horrors: A Picnic at the Mountains of Madness

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I love kids books. I have three children who were very used to being read to, and would spend long hours each week curled up in my lap — or on the corner of the couch, if my lap was otherwise occupied — listening to the works of Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss, Alan Snow, and William Joyce (and Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, when I could sneak them in).

I enjoyed all kinds of kids books, but the ones I loved the most were those with a sly adult humor. Which is precisely why I so enjoyed A Picnic at the Mountains of Madness, by Neil Baker and Maya Sugihara, published last month by April Moon Books.

On the surface, this is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure story. Harry and Kaylee receive a mysterious map in the mail from their “Uncle Howard,” showing some curious ruins at the south pole. Packing a lunch and some warm clothes, they dash into the garage and climb into the family biplane (passing the family submarine and family excavator on the way), and in moments they’re in the air, on their way to the very bottom of the world.

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Knights of the Dinner Table 224 Now on Sale

Knights of the Dinner Table 224 Now on Sale

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Knights of the Dinner Table 224-smallKnights of the Dinner Table follows the misadventures of a group of misfit gamers from Muncie, Indiana. It is written and drawn by my friend Jolly R. Blackburn, with editorial assistance by his talented wife Barbara. Black Gate readers may remember the KoDT spin-off The Java Joint, which appeared in the back of every issue of BG (and was eventually collected in a single volume in 2012).

KoDT magazine is published monthly. The core of the publication is the comic strip, but the issues are huge — 64 pages — and rounded out with news, reviews, features, and a variety of entertaining gaming columns. It is, hands down, the best way to stay informed on the adventure gaming hobby each month.

I bought the first issue back in 1994, and contributed a book review column for several years in the late 90s. It amazes me to see that, with 224 issues under his belt, Jolly is now closing in on Dave Sim’s legendary 300-issue run with Cerebus. That’s a monumental accomplishment.

KoDT 224 contains no less than nine full-length strips, plus some short “One-Two Punches.” The cover is by Steven Cummings, a smart parody of Seven Samurai.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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New Treasures: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

New Treasures: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

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Paul Tremblay is the author of No Sleep till Wonderland, The Little Sleep, and (with Stephen Graham Jones) Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly. His latest, A Head Full of Ghosts, has perhaps the most intriguing premise for a horror novel I’ve read in years — and it’s getting some of the most breathless reviews of the year, as well. Is it worth the hype? Here’s the lowdown from Nathan Ballingrud:

I just finished Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts. The hype is not hyperbole; this book is outstanding. Creepy, surprising, occasionally funny, always compassionate, and both a love song to horror fiction and an interrogation of its assumptions, this easily stands as one of the best horror novels I’ve read in years.

I’m definitely looking forward to this one. Here’s the description.

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Future Treasures: She Walks in Shadows, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles

Future Treasures: She Walks in Shadows, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles

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Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles were the editors of the marvelous Innsmouth Magazine, which released its last issue last summer. But they haven’t been resting in the interim — if anything, in fact, it seems like they’ve revved their engines, releasing the Swords & Sorcery/Cthulhu anthology Sword & Mythos, and this brand new collection of Lovecraftian fiction and art from women creators.

She Walks in Shadow ships next week, and includes 25 short stories by Gemma Files, Penelope Love, Angela Slatter, Molly Tanzer, E. Catherine Tobler, Mary Turzillo, Wendy N. Wagner, and many others.

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Vintage Treasures: The Ballantine Paperbacks of Vincent King

Vintage Treasures: The Ballantine Paperbacks of Vincent King

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The sixties and early seventies were a very fertile era for science fiction in America. Writers like Frank Herbert, Roger Zelazny, Samuel R. Delaney, Ursula K. Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, and many others were busy launching decades-long careers. Their books are still read and enjoyed today.

And then there are those writers who weren’t so lucky. Who never really connected with a wide audience, and whose entire catalog has been out of print for three decades or more. Folks like the British writer Vincent King, who published three paperbacks through Ballantine in 1969-1971, all with eye-catching covers by Robert Foster and Dean Ellis. None of them was ever reprinted in the US, and they quickly vanished.

There are no digital editions. King is the kind of writer who can only be enjoyed the old-fashioned way: by hunting down his books.

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October/November 2015 Asimov’s Science Fiction Now on Sale

October/November 2015 Asimov’s Science Fiction Now on Sale

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Asimov's Science Fiction October November 2015-smallAsimov’s Science Fiction October/November issue — the traditionally “slightly spooky” issue — contains a huge new 34,000-word novella from the brilliant Aliette de Bodard, the sequel to her Hugo and Nebula Award nominee, On a Red Station, Drifting, plus stories from Alan Smale, Ian Creasey, Rick Wilber, Ian McDowell, and many others. Here’s the description from the website:

Aliette de Bodard’s October/November 2015 cover story is an enormous new novella that plunges us into a far future where various factions struggle to find the lost “Citadel of Weeping Pearls.” Success will require travel through time and space. The journey could result in death, or it could give the empire the weapon it needs in a war against archenemies.

Our traditionally “slightly spooky” issue is full of outré stories of the macabre. A trio of tales makes use of English and Irish locales and lore. Alan Smale entices us to the West Midlands for a chilling look at “English Wildlife”; Ian Creasey draws us further north to York, and, then through hyperspace, to listen while a young girl spins a sinister yarn about “My Time on Earth”; and Rick Wilber takes us from the beaches of West Ireland to the coast of Massachusetts for one character’s just rewards in “Walking to Boston.” We remain in the U.S. for Sandra McDonald’s ghostly account of “The Adjunct Professor’s Guide to Life After Death”; venture to the old west for Ian McDowell’s uncanny legend of “The Hard Woman”; and voyage through time with Timons Esaias to find out what happened in “Hollywood After 10.” Daryl Gregory escorts us to another realm for a surprising twist on a familiar tale of witchcraft in “Begone”; and new author Brooks Peck lures us to a space station in Earth’s Orbit to view the consequences of living “With Folded RAM.”

The striking cover art this issue is by Maurizio Manzieri, for “Citadel of Weeping Pearls.”

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Win a Copy of Carter & Lovecraft by Jonathan L. Howard

Win a Copy of Carter & Lovecraft by Jonathan L. Howard

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Carter & Lovecraft-smallJonathan L. Howard, author of the Kyth stories (BG 13 and 15) and the Johannes Cabal novels, is well know to Black Gate readers. We gave you a peek at his upcoming dark fantasy novel Carter and Lovecraft a few months ago.

Daniel Carter, ex-homicide detective, teams up with Emily Lovecraft, last known descendant of H.P. Lovecraft, to investigate a series of impossible deaths — and discovers the truth behind Lovecraft’s fiction, and horrors that make the terrible things he witnessed chasing a serial killer years ago seem very tame, indeed.

Now, with the generous support of the book’s publisher, Thomas Dunne Books, we’d like to offer you a lot more than just a peek at Carter & Lovecraft. We have a pair of advance review copies to give away to two lucky readers.

How do you enter? Just send an e-mail to john@blackgate.com with the subject “Carter & Lovecraft,” and a one-sentence suggestion for the ideal Lovecraft team-up — and what dark horrors your dream team should investigate. We’ll announce the winners the week before the novel is released, and present some of the best entries here.

Two winners will be drawn at random from all qualifying entries. 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 hefty trade paperback is more than, like, 10 bucks (practically, that means US and Canada).

Carter & Lovecraft will be published by Thomas Dunne Books on October 20, 2015. It is 320 pages, priced at $25.99 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital edition.

New Treasures: Rooms by Lauren Oliver

New Treasures: Rooms by Lauren Oliver

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Ah, October. When suddenly you’re not the only one on your block reading ghost stories. It’s the one month a year when my reading choices actually feel normal.

Lauren Oliver is the author of a series of bestselling YA novels, including Vanishing Girls, Before I Fall, and the Delirium Trilogy. Her latest, Rooms, is something very different: an adult ghost story in the tradition of The Lovely Bones and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, a tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery. Caroline and her two children move into the home of her ex-husband after his death, but what they find is not what they expected… including the ghosts of two long-dead strangers, Alice and Sandra, with secrets of their own.

Rooms was published in hardcover by Ecco in September 2014, and reprinted in trade paperback on September 15, 2015. It is 320 pages and priced at $14.99, or $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Jeffrey Alan Love. Click on the above images for bigger versions.

Discovering Robert E. Howard: Howard Andrew Jones and Bill Ward Re-Read “Black Colossus”

Discovering Robert E. Howard: Howard Andrew Jones and Bill Ward Re-Read “Black Colossus”

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Weird Tales Black Colossus-smallLate last week, while Howard Andrew Jones and I were discussing how hard it is to write great fight scenes, Howard gave me a piece of advice. “Read “Black Colossus,”” he said. “That will show you how it should be done.” So I pulled out my copy of the Del Rey’s The Coming of Conan, and started in… but not before reading the story that chronologically precedes it, “Queen of the Black Coast,” featuring the lovely and fatal pirate queen Bêlit. This Robert E. Howard fellow… his stories are a graduate school class in action writing, and no mistake. Not coincidentally, Howard and Bill Ward continued their fascinating Conan re-read with “Black Colossus” last month, originally published in the June 1933 issue of Weird Tales. Here’s Bill:

It’s wonderful stuff, as is the resultant exchange between Conan and his former mercenary commander, Amalric, who remarks that Thespides’ hot-headed charge is the sort of thing that Conan used to get up to. Conan agrees, but says that was when he was only worried about his own hide, now he’s responsible for others. Here Conan’s essential decency and honor feeds right into his maturation — this battle is his first command, and it’s really a freak of fortune that Conan is even in this position. But he’s smart, and he respects his fellow soldiers, having emerged just days before from their ranks himself, and all of that factors into him growing into a position of responsibility. Earlier, there is also reference to how kingly he looks all decked out in his new armor, something Conan would retain in the back of his mind for years.

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