John ONeill – Page 434

Coming in December: John R. Fultz’s Seven Sorcerers

Friday, March 15, 2013 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

Orbit Books has released the cover of the third book in John R. Fultz’s Books of the Shaper series, Seven Sorcerers, scheduled for release this winter. Here’s the back cover copy, leaked to us by Bothan spies:

Ancient Power. Immortal Blood. Eternal Foes.

The Almighty Zyung drives his massive armies across the world to invade the Land of the Five Cities. So begins the final struggle between freedom and tyranny.

The Southern Kings D’zan and Undutu lead a fleet of warships to meet Zyung’s aerial armada. Vireon the Slayer and Tyro the Sword King lead Men and Giants to defend the free world. So begins the great slaughter of the age.

lardu the Shaper and Sharadza Vodsdaughter must awaken the Old Breed to face Zyung’s legion of sorcerers. So begins a desperate quest beyond the material world into strange realms of magic and mystery.

Yet already it may be too late…

Seven Sorcerers is the sequel to Seven Princes and Seven Kings (which we covered here and here.)

If you can’t stand the excitement and want to read some John R. Fultz today — perfectly understandable — then we suggest you start with his fine sword & sorcery story “When the Glimmer Faire Came to the City of the Lonely Eye,” published right here back in January as part of our Black Gate Online Fiction line. Or try the complete first chapter of Seven Kings for free.

Seven Sorcerers is scheduled to be published by Orbit Books on December 3, 2013. Look for it in bookstores everywhere.

“A Gripping Tale of Fantasy, Mystery, Murder and Intrigue. A Must Read”: Tangent Online on “The Sealord’s Successor”

Friday, March 15, 2013 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

Louis West at Tangent Online weighs in on Aaron Bradford Starr’s epic fantasy novella “The Sealord’s Successor,” published here in two parts on Sunday, March 3 and March 10:

A deliciously complicated tale. Once again we follow the adventures of Gallery Hunter Gloren Avericci and his ever-present feline companion, Lord Yr Neh… Rich with quirky and mysterious characters, rife with political intrigue, Yr Neh silently laughing at all human folly and Aven tripping over himself trying to appear self-important, [this was] an exceptional tapestry I just could not put down.

The Lordship succession of the Otrock Line is in question. However, this ancient island kingdom has a unique rite of selection by which a new Lord is chosen, one which has always prevented bloodshed. All with a claim to the title gather for a viewing of The Painting, an ancient, arcane creation of the greatest practitioner of the Hundred Visible Mysteries, Dhend Attren Aon. Somehow this painting conveys its choice to the viewers with such certainty that the decision for the throne has always been immediately accepted by all…

Chases thru the twisty, dangerous walkways of the cities of Landing Port and Rockface, constantly shifting allegiances, escape from imprisonment thru the deep passages of the mysterious, ancient Pre-Rain Underhold, revelations about who Velice and her Countess really are, all lead to a final encounter… A gripping tale of fantasy, mystery, murder and intrigue. A must read.

This is the third tale featuring Gloren Avericci and Yr Neh. The first was “The Tea-Maker’s Task” (published here on December 30th), which Tangent praised by saying “A story such as this deserves a world of its own and more adventures from its hero.” The second was “The Daughter’s Dowry” (October 14), which Tangent called “an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek fantasy.” You can read Louis’s complete review (warning: Spoilers! And lots of them) here.

The complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including stories by Mark Rigney, C.S.E. Cooney, Vaughn Heppner, E.E. Knight, Jason E. Thummel, Judith Berman, Howard Andrew Jones, Dave Gross, Harry Connolly, and others, is here.

“The Sealord’s Successor” is a complete 35,000-word novella of fantasy mystery presented in two parts, with original art by Aaron Bradford Starr. It is offered at no cost. Read it here.

Alex Bledsoe on “How I Discovered Silver John”

Thursday, March 14, 2013 John ONeill Comments 10 comments

Just last week, we announced the winners of our Best One-Sentence Reviews of Manly Wade Wellman contest, and published twenty of the best entries. Not too surprisingly, many focused on Wellman’s popular Silver John stories, tales of monsters and Appalachian magic.

Alex Bledsoe, author of The Hum and the Shiver and the forthcoming Wisp of a Thing, knows a thing or two about Appalachian magic himself. I was fortunate enough to hear Alex read from Wisp of a Thing at Capricon here in Chicago last month, and I’m looking forward to receiving my copy. So I was pleased (and a little surprised) to see Alex’s article at Tor.com last week, explaining how he only recently discovered Wellman’s Silver John tales — and came across his novels for the first time at Capricon, of all places:

When Tor released my first Tufa novel, The Hum and the Shiver, back in 2011, many people asked me if I’d been inspired by Manly Wade Wellman’s tales of Silver John. Although I knew of them by reputation, I’d never actually read them until last year, when Planet Stories published Who Fears the Devil? The Complete Tales of Silver John.

The resemblance, as is so often the case in comparisons like this, strikes me as mostly cosmetic. Yes, Wellman’s stories are set in a vague Appalachia, and yes, they involve magic and inhuman creatures. But they’re far more Lovecraftian than Tufan, with their invocation of things from other realities bleeding into ours and poking out around the fringes to snag the unwary… I’m delighted that the stories are so different from my own stuff, because that means I can devour them with a clear conscience. These stories are cool.

Further, before Capricon in Chicago this year, I didn’t even know there were full length Silver John novels. Rich Warren of Starfarer’s Despatch, a used-book dealer, clued me in, and I picked up After Dark based on his recommendation. And lo and behold, it was a real, literal page-turner that kept me reading when I should’ve been doing other, more important things (like writing, or parenting).

Ah, Starfarer’s Despatch — that explains it. Rich Warren and Arin Komins have had a hand in more than a few discoveries of my own. They sold me that paperback edition of Vampires I talked about last month, not to mention the only copy of Tales of Time and Space I’ve ever seen. There’s a great photo of the two of them in action in Howard’s Worldcon wrap-up from last year, too (and their website is here). True booksellers have magic of their own.

New Treasures: Comics: The Complete Collection by Brian Walker

Thursday, March 14, 2013 John ONeill Comments 6 comments

There are coffee table books, and there are coffee table books. Brian Walker’s Comics: The Complete Collection is the latter — meaning it’s a “coffee table” book in the sense that it’s large enough to be propped up and used as a coffee table. For a family of five.

If the very existence of a 672-page, 7-pound book crammed full of vintage American comics strips from the past 110+ years isn’t enough to interest you, then you probably have no soul. But maybe this will help: this book collects 1,300 of the best newspaper strips from some of the finest comics ever created, including Walt Kelly’s Pogo, Berke Breathed’s Bloom County, Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes, Scott Adams’s Dilbert, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, Will Eisner’s The Spirit, Gary Larson’s The Far Side, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant, Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy, Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy, Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates, Al Capp’s Li’l Abner, Roy Crane’s Wash Tubbs, Dik Browne’s Hagar the Horrible, Jim Davis’s Garfield, Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie, Bill Griffith’s Zippy the Pinhead, Johnny Hart’s B.C., Geroge Herriman’s Krazy Kat, Burne Hogarth’s Tarzan, Lynn Johnston’s For Better Or For Worse, Bil Keane’s Family Circus, Hank Ketcham’s Dennis the Menace, Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland, Dale Messick’s Brenda Starr, Richard Outcault’s Yellow Kid, Brant Parker’s Wizard of Id, Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon, E.C. Segar’s Popeye, Mort Walker’s Beetle Bailey, Tom Wilson’s Ziggy, and Chic Young’s Blondie.

And others. Lots and lots (and lots) of others.

It’s called The Complete Collection because it was originally published in two volumes: The Comics Before 1945 and The Comics Since 1945. These survey volumes were useful in their own right, with comics organized by decade, and well-written biographical profiles, as well as thoughtful analysis of the different genres. But the omnibus collection is both an incredible value and a beautiful piece of work, the kind of gorgeous and massive tome you could place prominently in the living room, flip through for years, and never exhaust. Or use to prop up the foundation of your house, whatever.

Comics: The Complete Collection was published in April 2011 by Abrams ComicArts. It is 672 pages in hardcover, and there is unlikely to be a softcover or digital edition. It’s a bargain at $40, and you can find copies online for around $29. Highly recommended.

Last Chance to Win One of Four New Copies of the Unearthed Arcana 1st Edition Premium Reprint

Wednesday, March 13, 2013 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Two weeks ago, we announced a contest to win one of four new copies of the Unearthed Arcana 1st Edition Premium Reprint, compliments of Wizards of the Coast.

How do you enter? Easy — by doing exactly what you’re doing already: telling complete strangers all about your D&D adventures.

Just send an e-mail to john@blackgate.com with a one-paragraph summary of your most memorable D&D or AD&D characters. Points will be awarded for conciseness and originality. We’ll publish the best here at Black Gate, and the Top Ten as decided by our judges will be included in a drawing for one of four copies of the new Unearthed Arcana 1st Edition Premium Reprint.

These WotC Premium Reprints have become quite the hot property, incidentally. The first three — the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual — are already sold out and out of print, and I strongly suspect the same will happen to this one. The upcoming volume Dungeons of Dread is perhaps the most interesting one yet, as it collects the first four adventures in the S Series — Tomb of Horrors, White Plume Mountain, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, and The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth — complete with the original b&w interior art.

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. Terms and conditions subject to change as our lawyers sober up and get back to us. Not valid where prohibited by law. Or anywhere postage for a hefty hardcover is more than, like, 10 bucks. Good luck!

New Treasures: Enter The Wolf: Vampire Earth Volume 1

Wednesday, March 13, 2013 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

E.E. Knight’s Vampire Earth is one of the best adventure series on the market — action-packed, highly entertaining, and filled with great twists and surprises. Set on a near-future Earth conquered by a vampiric alien race, it’s the kind of fast paced and chilling narrative that would have resulted (as Paul Witcover puts it), “If The Red Badge of Courage had been written by H.P. Lovecraft.”

The Science Fiction Book Club has just released a high-quality hardcover omnibus of the first three books, Enter The Wolf. My copy arrived last month, complete with a sewn-in bookmark and great new wrap-around cover art by Gregory Manchess (click on the image at right for a bigger version).

Earth, 2065. Everything you know has changed. 43 years ago, the bloodthirsty Reapers came to Earth to feed their insatiable hunger. Now a ragtag rebel alliance is all that remains in the fight against our vampiric alien overlords. This is the world of the Vampire Earth saga, author E. E. Knight’s riveting blend of horror, dystopia and all-out military SF action. Devour this addictive series’ first three thrilling novels in Enter the Wolf, an SFBC 60th Anniversary omnibus!

Way of the Wolf: For four decades the Reapers have ruled our world. But Lieutenant David Valentine believes the human spirit remains unconquerable. And he’s on a mission to take back the Earth. Choice of the Cat: They call them the Cats — an elite stealth force of the finest warriors humanity has to offer. David Valentine is out to join their ranks. But first he must uncover the secret of the Twisted Cross, a deadly and mysterious new force under Reaper command. Tale of the Thunderbolt: As the human Resistance continues their struggle to overthrow the Reapers’ reign, Valentine embarks on a harrowing quest to find a long-lost weapon. Is it enough to turn the tide of darkness and end the Kurian Order’s dominion of Earth forever?

If you haven’t already, read E.E. Knight’s short story of ancient fellowships and dread sorcery, “The Terror in the Vale,” published in January right here at Black Gate.

Enter The Wolf: Vampire Earth Volume 1 was written by E.E. Knight, and published exclusively by the Science Fiction Book Club in February 2013. It is 803 pages in hardcover priced at $16.99 for members; it’s available as part of the introductory offer to the club for just $1. Check it out here — I’ve been a member of the club for years, and recommend it highly.

March/April Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine now on Sale

Monday, March 11, 2013 John ONeill Comments 9 comments

Holy cats, the latest issue of F&SF has been out for two weeks, and we haven’t covered it yet. I’m asleep at the switch. It’s only the most important fantasy magazine, period. I’ll complete this post, and then submit myself for ritual flogging.

Let’s see what Chuck Rothman at Tangent Online thinks of this issue. Unlike us, he got his review in on time:

“Solidarity” is a bit of dystopian fiction, set in the Seastead, a group of ships that have been turned into a floating city, where anything goes. Beck is the daughter of an important official and has been kicked out and has been cut off by him. She tries to scramble around in a place where nothing is free in the name of freedom and stumbles upon a potential political plot. Beck is a great character and Naomi Kritzer portrays a chillingly realistic society… This is primarily an adventure, but the well-thought-out setting makes it an excellent read…

Andy is “The Assassin” in a story by F&SF regular Albert E. Cowdrey. He failed once when his target turned out to be a hologram and is going back to finish the job… The story follows Andy’s life and how it intertwines with Faith as he makes it through a hellhole prison to a form of happiness. The story never stops being fascinating and the characters — even the ones who might be clichés — never stop being surprising.

…

SF Signal on Liar’s Blade: “Fafhrd-and-Grey-Mouser-style Sword and Sorcery”

Monday, March 11, 2013 John ONeill Comments 11 comments

SF Signal‘s Karen Burnham gives a big thumbs-up to Tim Pratt’s latest Pathfinder novel, Liar’s Blade, with the kind of review that sends me scrambling to find a copy:

The Pathfinder line of RPG novels is doing a lot of things right. They’ve been publishing intelligent adventure novels that showcase their gaming system and their campaign setting in lush detail. They’ve hired a variety of solid, professional authors, and they’ve spread their tales among a wide variety of heroes instead of following one party for multiple books. The one thing that they had been missing – until now – was the particular brand of [charm] that I have recently come to love in Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series. Tim Pratt has done an excellent job of capturing that spirit in this Pathfinder outing.

Fafhrd-and-Grey-Mouser-style Sword and Sorcery in a Pathfinder setting? Sign me up!

Tim’s first Pathfinder Tales novel was City of the Fallen Sky (June, 2012), which seems to be unrelated to this one. But maybe not; I’ll have to read them both to be sure. The “variety of solid, professional authors” Karen mentions include Howard Andrew Jones, Richard Lee Byers, Dave Gross, Robin D. Laws, Elaine Cunningham, Ed Greenwood, James L. Sutter, and many others.

We’ve been telling you about Paizo’s premiere fiction line for a while; don’t pretend we haven’t. We presented an exclusive excerpt from Dave Gross’s new Pathfinder Tales novel, Queen of Thorns, in October; we also covered the release of Howard Andrew Jones’s Plague of Shadows in October 2011. Bill Ward’s four-part Pathfinder Tales story “The Box” was published online back in October 2011, and Howard had his own Pathfinder Tales piece, “The Walkers from the Crypt,” a 4-part mini-epic, published free online in March 2011.

Liar’s Blade was published March 12, 2013 by Paizo Publishing. It is 400 pages in paperback, priced at $9.99. You can download a free sample chapter or purchase the digital edition for $6.99 directly from Paizo.com, or read Karen’s complete review at SF Signal.

Black Gate Online Fiction: “The Sealord’s Successor,” Part II, by Aaron Bradford Starr

Sunday, March 10, 2013 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Today we are proud to present the second and final installment in “The Sealord’s Successor,” a complete 35,000-word novella of fantasy mystery, and the third tale of Gallery Hunters Gloren Avericci and Yr Neh.

Gloren Avericci and Yr Neh find themselves drawn into a deadly conspiracy involving a powerful kingdom, ancient secrets… and a very peculiar painting.

Our perilous, mad descent began in the middle of a raging storm. The runners bore us along a mountain path lit only by flashes of blinding lightning, tromping at speed down water-washed trails alongside deep chasms and sheer drop-offs, bearing us in pursuit of those who had left the citadel.

Dressed as we still were for a coronation feast, neither Gloren nor I were prepared for this sudden chase. But Gloren leaned far out into the night, regarding the winding road below us with visible distress. Crossing close below us was the carriage of Baron Lurec, and ahead of him that of the Countess Therissa and her companion Velice. Further on still, but lost from view in the night’s inclement weather, Garder Jho’s medical team was surely nearing Landing Port, the primary harbor.

I glanced back up toward the citadel, visible only as a dark patch against flickering skies, and noted the beacon. This signal, a red circle encompassed by a green ring, was a sign the harbor should be sealed, forbidding passage into or out of Landing Port.

I had asked Gloren who, exactly, we were chasing after a particularly harrowing turn.

“Everyone,” he replied.

Gloren Avericci and Yr Neh were last seen in “The Tea-Maker’s Task” (published here on December 30th) and “The Daughter’s Dowry” (October 14). Of “The Daughter’s Dowry,” Tangent Online said, “A story such as this deserves a world of its own and more adventures from its hero,” and it called “The Tea-Maker’s Task” “an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek fantasy… I wanted more.” We’re more than happy to oblige with this third exciting installment of the adventures of Gallery Hunter Gloren and his cat companion, Yr Neh.

“The Sealord’s Successor” is a complete 35,000-word novella of fantasy mystery presented in two parts, with original art by Aaron Bradford Starr. It is offered at no cost. Part I is here.

Read Part II here.

Vintage Treasures: Shadows of Yog-Sothoth

Sunday, March 10, 2013 John ONeill Comments 5 comments

Last week I wrote about the death of Lynn Willis, the legendary editor at Chaosium, who gradually became the mastermind behind Call of Cthulhu, one of the finest RPGs ever made. While at Chaosium Lynn helped write and edit no less than 54 Call of Cthulhu books and supplements like Cthulhu by Gaslight, as well as a host of other board games and products, including Arkham Horror, RuneQuest, Thieves’ World, King Arthur Companion, Stormbringer Companion, Carse, Tulan of the Isles, Atlas of the Young Kingdoms, and dozens more.

In honor of Lynn, I dug around this week to find those products that first captured my attention all those years ago. They weren’t hard to find, as they still occupy a place of pride in my collection.

When Sandy Peterson’s Call of Cthulhu was first released as a boxed set in 1981, the entire industry took notice. Here was the first truly appealing contemporary (or, at least, semi-contemporary) role playing game, which drew on the horrifying cosmic milieu and fabulous bestiary of none other than H.P. Lovecraft. It was an instant hit. But by itself, Call of Cthulhu was just a fascinating oddity. It wasn’t until Chaosium released Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, A Global Campaign to Save Mankind a year later that we realized what the game was truly capable of.

Shadows of Yog-Sothoth is an epic, self-contained campaign which first introduced role players to the kind of play demanded by CoC. Players who treated Cthulhu and his minions as simply big D&D monsters, chubby creatures ready to be harvested for their experience point value, were in for a rude awakening.

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