John ONeill – Page 435

New Treasures: The Merriest Knight, The Collected Arthurian Tales of Theodore Goodridge Roberts

Sunday, March 10, 2013 John ONeill Comments 5 comments

Yesterday, I spent the day at the Spring Auction at Games Plus, which I’ve taken to calling the Paris Fashion Week of Games. It was a very successful outing — so successful that I knew I had some explaining to do to Alice, who balances the family finances.

While I was waiting to settle up with the cashier, my eyes fell on a curious artifact in the tiny books section at Games Plus: The Merriest Knight, The Collected Arthurian Tales of Theodore Goodridge Roberts. Roberts was a Canadian pulp author whose tales of Sir Dinadan, whom Mallory called “the merriest knight,” appeared in the pulp magazine Blue Book in the 50s. Sir Dinadan was known as the most practical of the Knights of the Round Table, and Roberts’s stories differed from many of the Arthurian tales of the era in their warmth and wit.

Late in his career, Roberts wrote a final entry in the Dinadan saga, “Quest’s End,” which remained unpublished in his lifetime. Rumor had it he’d also begun collecting all the tales with an eye towards publishing a book, but the project remained unfinished when he died.

Now the peerless Mike Ashley, who’s edited countless anthologies — including 32 books in The Mammoth Book Of... series, and five other Arthurian Anthologies, such as The Pendragon Chronicles and Chronicles of the Holy Grail — has finished what Roberts began with The Merriest Knight, a beautiful collection of the complete tales of Sir Dinadan:

Under the guidance of editor Mike Ashley, The Merriest Knight gathers for the first time all of Roberts’ tales of Sir Dinadan — including the previously unpublished “Quest’s End” — and several other long lost Arthurian works by this master of the stylish adventure yarn and the historical romance. Within these pages, readers will find a collection of Arthurian tales that are sometimes poignant, often humorous, and always ingenious, as well as a Camelot made fresh by the wry and often scathing eye of Sir Dinadan, who never rushes into battle without first being certain of the need to fight at all.

Why is The Merriest Knight for sale in a games store? Ah, that’s an entirely different tale.

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The Paris Fashion Week of Games, Spring Edition

Friday, March 8, 2013 John ONeill Comments 7 comments

You know what happens tomorrow? Think hard.

That’s right! The Spring Auction at Games Plus here in Chicago — only the best auction in the entire country for dedicated game collectors of all stripes. I reported on the Fall Auction here, and confessed to a painful bout of auction fever at last year’s Spring Auction here.

I used to attend these as part of a constant quest for rare science fiction and fantasy collectibles — things like Judge’s Guilds epic Wilderlands of High Fantasy, Task Force Games’ colorful Swordquest, SSI’s wonderous Swords & Sorcery, and of course the most eagerly sought artifiact in Western Civilization, an intact copy of Barbarian Prince.

These days, my interests have changed. It’s not that I’m not constantly on the lookout for Barbarian Prince — who isn’t? — but I gradually realized that an obsession with older games was blinding me to the golden age of adventure gaming we’re living Right Now.

So my trip to Mount Prospect, Illinois tomorrow to take part in the auction will be with an open mind. And a lengthy list of recently-published games I’m seeking — including Cyclades by Asmodee, Mansions of Madness by Fantasy Flight, the second edition of Descent: Journeys in The Dark, Alien Frontiers from Clever Mojo Games, Mice and Mystics by Plaid Hat, Cosmic Patrol by Catalyst, and many others.

Wish me luck. I’ll report back here with all my treasures next week.

R.I.P. Lynn Willis, Game Designer Extraordinaire

Thursday, March 7, 2013 John ONeill Comments 5 comments

I was researching some recent OSR (Old School Renaissance) D&D releases at The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope blog when I came across a shocking post: an obituary for legendary Chaosium game designer and editor Lynn Willis, dated January 18.

It’s tough to describe the sense of loss I feel. I never met Lynn, so I didn’t know him personally. But he was a prolific designer and editor, and his name graces many of my favorite games. Like the other great designers of the era — Gary Gygax, Steve Jackson, Greg Stafford, Greg Costikyan, Sandy Peterson, Marc Miller — the name Lynn Willis quickly came to be synonymous with a top-notch product. In a tiny industry, that was no small thing.

I was introduced to gaming in 1978 by Metagaming, which offered enticing SF and fantasy microgames like Ogre and Melee in the pages of Analog and Asimov’s SF Magazine, and it was there I first encountered his work, in games like Godsfire (1976), Olympica (1978) and Holy War (1979). He designed the sci-fi guerrilla war game Bloodtree Rebellion for GDW in 1979, but found his permanent home when Chaosium published his post-apocalyptic game of a sunken America Lords of the Middle Sea in 1978.

Lynn became employee #3 at Chaosium, and had a spectacular career. He was the co-creator of Call of Cthulhu, perhaps his single most enduring contribution, and eventually became the mastermind behind the entire CoC line. Even a partial list of the Chaosium titles he worked on will give you an understanding of his energy and ability: Dragon Pass, Raiders and Traders, Arkham Horror, Thieves’ World, Ringworld, RuneQuest, Borderlands, Pavis, Big Rubble, Questworld, Stormbringer Companion, Elric, Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, Masks of Nyarlathotep, Cthulhu by Gaslight, Dreamlands, Horror on the Orient Express, and Beyond the Mountains of Madness.

On September 2008, Chaosium announced that Willis had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Chaosium President Charlie Krank, and company founder Greg Stafford, announced his death on January 18, 2013.

Lynn Willis left behind a formidable legacy — a body of work that literally changed the face of hobby gaming at arguably its most creative and formative time. For me, he was one of the backbones of the industry, a man whose contributions were so numerous and vital that you almost took him for granted

Almost. Rest in peace, Lynn. Though we never met, you lived your life in a way that immeasurably enriched mine. Thank you.

Rogue Blades Entertainment Reveals the Secrets of Writing Fantasy Heroes

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 John ONeill Comments 12 comments

The distinguished Mr. Jason M. Waltz, occasional Black Gate contributor and stalwart road-trip companion, is rumored to be fairly highly placed in the global publishing mega-consortium that is Rogue Blades Entertainment. So when he leaked word to us of an impending major release this week, we dropped everything to check it out.

RBE is no stranger to heroic fantasy. For the past few years they’ve been at the very forefront of the genre, with such groundbreaking anthologies as Return of the Sword, Rage of the Behemoth, Demons, and others. Writing Fantasy Heroes looks like their most ambitious release yet — a must-have book for readers and aspiring writers alike.

Fantasy heroes endure. They are embedded in our cultural fabric, dwarfing other literary figures and the mere men and women of history. Achilles and Odysseus, Gilgamesh and Beowulf. King Arthur and Robin Hood, Macbeth and Sherlock Holmes, Conan and Luke Skywalker. They dominate our legends, and tower over popular culture. The stories we tell each other begin and end with fantasy heroes, and the 21st Century is as thoroughly captivated with them as ever. From Batman to Gandalf, Harry Potter to Tyrion Lannister, the heroes of fantasy speak to — and for — whole generations. But what makes a fantasy hero? How do the best writers create them, and bring them to life on the page? In Writing Fantasy Heroes some of the most successful fantasy writers of our time-including Steven Erikson, Brandon Sanderson, Janet Morris, Cecelia Holland, Orson Scott Card, and Glen Cook-pull back the curtain to reveal the secrets of creating heroes that live and breathe, and steal readers’ hearts. Whether you’re an aspiring writer or simply a reader who loves great fantasy and strong characters, this book is for you.

Writing Fantasy Heroes is edited by Jason M. Waltz, with a forward by Steven Erikson. It was published by Rogue Blades Entertainment and is available from Amazon.com and other fine distributors for $14.99 in trade paperback. The terrific wrap-around cover is by Dleoblack (click on the image for a bigger version). As soon as we receive a copy in house, we’ll report back with full details.

Stephen King Pens a Sequel, 36 Years Later

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

Seems I’m on a horror kick this week. Yesterday I talked about classic horror of the 80s, today I want to jump ahead to one of the most anticipated novels of 2013.

Stephen King has done almost everything in his 40-year career: mystery, science fiction, crime, psychological thrillers, epic fantasy, and of course horror. But with the obvious exception of his Dark Tower series — and Bleak House, the follow-up to The Talisman, which he co-authored with Peter Straub — he has avoided sequels.

That’s about to change with the arrival of Doctor Sleep, the sequel to one of his earliest books, and one of the most famous horror novels of the 20th Century: The Shining. Five-year-old Danny Torrance, the child hero of The Shining, is now middle-aged Dan Torrance, whose encounter with twelve-year-old Abra Stone — who possesses the brightest shining ever seen — leads him into deadly conflict with a tribe of murderous paranormals.

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival.

I always look forward to a new Stephen King book, but I’ll be looking for this one with very special interest. Doctor Sleep will be published on September 24, 2013 by Scribner. It is 544 pages in hardcover, priced at $30 ($14.99 for the digital version).

Vintage Treasures: The Empire of Fear by Brian Stableford

Tuesday, March 5, 2013 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

Last week’s Bram Stoker Awards nominees — not to mention all the recent chatter about horror and dark fantasy on this blog, from Matthew David Surridge’s investigation of Rebecca to my Saturday piece on Adam Nevill’s Last Days — has gotten me to thinking about the major horror novels of my youth. One of the most frequently discussed and passed around was Brian Stableford’s vampire epic The Empire of Fear.

England in the seventeenth century is a land ruled by the Undead, an empire upon which the sun never rises. Feared and envied, worshipped and despised, Richard the Lionheart and his aristocracy of vampires rule with terror and the darkly-seductive promise of life eternal for the lucky few. For centuries it has been thus. But now, even in the very shadow of their vampire masters’ tyranny, mortal resistance is brewing.

Edmund Cordery, member of the cabal pledged to penetrate the mysteries of the vampires and destroy them, strikes the first blow. But it will fall to his son, Noell, to carry on the crusade of human against inhuman. And it will fall to those who come after Noell to keep the struggle alive for over three centuries — from England to Malta to modern-day America, where destiny will decide finally whether the forces of horror or humanity will hold sway over all…

For short fiction fans, The Empire of Fear grew out of the author’s “The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady,” a novelette in the August 1988 Fantasy & Science Fiction. Stableford was one of the most ambitious horror writers of the late 80s and early 90s, especially with work such as his well-regarded Werewolf trilogy (starting with The Werewolves of London, 1990). Having covered werewolves and vampires, Stableford completed the triumvirate of classic monsters in 2008 with The Shadow of Frankenstein, the first of The Empire of the Necromancers trilogy.

The Empire of Fear was published in paperback by Ballantine Books in October 1993 (hardcover edition 1988). It is 469 pages, with an original cover price of $5.99.

New Treasures: The Eye of the World: The Graphic Novel, Volume 3

Tuesday, March 5, 2013 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

No, you’re not a bad person because you prefer to wait for the comic versions of major bestelling fantasy series. I’m right there with you. We are what the world has made us, and it’s not our fault.

It’s especially not our fault that the world keeps throwing all these enticing graphic novels our way. The latest series to catch my eye has been The Eye of the World, the ambitious adaptation of the first novel in Robert Jordan’s 14-volume, 10,000+ page fantasy epic The Wheel of Time.

This isn’t the first Jordan comic project. New Spring, based on his 2004 Wheel of Time prequel novel, was published by Tor in 2011 and became a New York Times bestseller — a pretty good indicator that more would be in the works. (It’s currently heavily discounted at Amazon.com.)

The first volume of the comic version of The Eye of the World was released in 2011; volume two in June of last year. Chuck Dixon, who also scripted New Spring, returned for this project; with this volume he’s paired with new artists: Marcio Fiorito, illustrator of Anne Elizabeth’s Pulse of Power, and Francis Nuguit, a comic-book illustrator from the Philippines.

Volume 3 collects issues thirteen to eighteen of the ongoing series published by Dynamite comics. It finds our heroes — Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Moiraine, Lan Mandragoran, and the rest — split into three groups while fleeing the ancient, dead city of Shadar Logoth. Pursued by the deadly Mashadar, Perrin and Egwene attempt a dangerous river crossing and encounter a mysterious stranger, while Rand and Mat disguise themselves as apprentices on a cargo ship.

The Eye of the World: The Graphic Novel, Volume 3 was published by Tor Books on January 29, 2013. It is 176 pages in hardcover, priced at $24.99. There is no digital edition.

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

Sunday, March 3, 2013 John ONeill Comments 9 comments

Gallery Hunters Gloren Avericci and Yr Neh, last seen in “The Tea-Maker’s Task” (published here on December 30th) and “The Daughter’s Dowry” (October 14), find themselves drawn into a deadly conspiracy involving a powerful kingdom, ancient secrets… and a very peculiar painting.

The group gathered around it. There were few people present. Hallmaster Terring, whom Gloren, Yr Neh and I secretly knew to be an Eidnine Knight and possible successor, was present, as was Garder Jho and his houseboy, Peppin. In addition, there were ten courtiers of various rank.

Terring stood slightly behind the painting. He swept the drape aside.

Masterfully done, the painting showed little but a small patch of sun-washed beach. In the sand lay a cut stone of shocking red. The flat, dark expanse of beach was marred only by rows of runes drawn in the wet sand.

It was instantly mysterious, this image. Who had drawn these symbols? What did they mean? The stark image would have been interesting enough. But as we stared, the painting moved. A sheet of water swept over the sand… When it was done the jewel lay in a new place, and new runes again covered the image, cut into the sand.

Terring spoke from where he stood just beyond the painting. “Is this indeed the Succession Painting of the Etherbis?”

They all nodded, muttering agreement.

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 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. Part II will be presented next week; both parts are offered at no cost.

Read Part I here.

The Best One-Sentence Reviews of Manly Wade Wellman: The Winners of The Complete John Thunstone Contest

Sunday, March 3, 2013 John ONeill Comments 12 comments

Three weeks ago, we announced a contest to win one of two copies of Manly Wade Wellman’s The Complete John Thunstone, compliments of Haffner Press.

To enter, contestants had to submit a one-sentence review of their favorite Manly Wade Wellman novel or short story. That’s it. Are we good to you, or what?

It quickly became the most popular contest in our history, with a steady stream of diverse entries covering the entire expanse of Wellman’s nearly 60-year career, from his first story in Thrilling Tales in 1927, to his final John the Balladeer story, “Where Did She Wander,” in 1986.

We’d like to present some of the best submissions here, and at the end we’ll announce the two winners, both of whom will receive a copy of The Complete John Thunstone, the latest archival quality hardcover release from Haffner Press.

Perhaps not surprisingly, we received the most votes for Wellman’s popular Silver John stories, also known as the John the Balladeer tales. We begin with Jeremy Harper, who highlights the very first Silver John story:

“O Ugly Bird!” A legend is born when a saintly hillbilly musician confronts a backwoods sorcerer and his goddamn Ugly Bird and smites them dead with his silver string guitar.

Nick Ozment expands on Jeremy’s comments this way:

Having enjoyed one of Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John novels, I find it interesting how Wellman’s traveling troubadour provides an American folk counterpart to Yeats’s Irish bard Owen Red Hanrahan, rooting the mysticism and magic in American soil.

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Damnation Books Releases Waters of Darkness by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna

Sunday, March 3, 2013 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

We’re very pleased to note the March 1 release date of a new novel by two Black Gate contributors, David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna, which they describe as “the best supernatural pirate dark fantasy… EVER.” We asked Dave about the book’s genesis, and here’s what he told us:

This story is based on a ms. I wrote in 1978 that was to be a sequel to The Witch of the Indies, my first published novel, based on Robert E. Howard’s Black Vulmea character… I wrote a 50,000-word first draft in the spring of 1978 (before Witch was published) that I filed away for decades. Despite my naive enthusiasm (at the age of 24!) that Zebra would certainly want a sequel, as we know, The Witch of the Indies sank fast and has pretty much been forgotten. But! Who doesn’t love a pirate story? Joe asked to see that old, yellowing (literally) draft and went to work on it. So we wound up collaborating — at a distance of 35 years, in a way — and have written what we both think is a terrific pulp-style pirate dark fantasy.

Joe took my rough draft, added at least 10,000 words to it, recrafted who knows how many thousands more, and brought in new characters, new developments… He went to town and really brought the thing to life.

David and Joe’s last collaboration for us was The Big Barbarian Theory, one of the most popular articles on the Black Gate blog last year. We featured David’s The Fall of the First World in December, and posted the complete text of Joe’s Dorgo the Dowser novella “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum” last Sunday.

Waters of Darkness was published by Damnation Books on March 1, 2013. It is 60,000 words and currently available in Kindle format for $5.95. The wonderful cover is by Dawne Dominique. More details at the website.

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