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Author: John ONeill

Monsters, Magic, and Kung fu: The Daoshi Chronicles by M. H. Boroson

Monsters, Magic, and Kung fu: The Daoshi Chronicles by M. H. Boroson

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The Daoshi Chronicles, published in paperback by Talos Press. Covers by Jeff Chapman

I discovered M. H. Boroson’s delightful Daoshi Chronicles when Sarah Avery reviewed the opening novel The Girl With Ghost Eyes here at Black Gate five years ago, saying in part:

We’re connoisseurs of kickass combat scenes, eldritch lore, and victories won at terrible, unpredictable price. We want our heroes unabashedly heroic and morally complicated at the same time. Add a decade or more of research on the author’s part, distilled to the most concentrated and carefully placed drops, and a well-timed sense of humor, and you’ve got the recipe for the perfect Black Gate book…

Li-lin’s family has protected the world of the living from the spirit world for generations. Most Daoist priests and priestesses take it on faith that their rituals work — they can’t literally see the spirit world and the efficacy of their magic. Li-lin can, though. She has yin eyes, ghost eyes, a visionary ability that appalls her father and would disgust her trusting neighbors if they knew…

Devoted daughter, faithful widow, compassionate protector of Chinatown, Li-lin must conceal her rarest talent, lest she shame everyone she loves. Long practice at concealment, combined with the necessity of bending rules and stories if she’s to be effective in a world where even a warrior priestess is expected to show deference to men and elders no matter what, has prepared her almost too well for the mystery she must solve.

Someone wants her father dead. That someone wants it enough to lay trap after trap for her family. Bad magic is on its way, of the kind only the Maoshan can stop.

Li-Lin and her ghost eyes save Chinatown, don’t you doubt it.

The Girl With Ghost Eyes proved popular in broader circles as well. Publishers Weekly called it “A brilliant tale of monsters, magic, and kung fu in the San Francisco Chinatown of 1898,” and The A.V. Club proclaimed it a compelling page-turner, saying it “Introduces a thrilling world of kung fu, sorcery, and spirits… The pace never slows, offering a constant stream of strange characters, dire threats, and heroic actions.”

I had to wait for the paperback of the sequel, but Talos released The Girl With No Face in mass market in September and now I finally have a matching set.

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A Fine Addition to any SF Library: Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh

A Fine Addition to any SF Library: Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh

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Tin Stars (Signet, 1986), volume 5 of Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction. Cover by JAV

Isaac Asimov published more than 500 books in his lifetime. Now Asimov was amazingly productive — averaging around 1,700 words published per day over the last two decades of his life — but no one is that prolific. In later years he became a proficient book packager, working with editors like Charles G. Waugh and especially Martin H. Greenberg to churn out dozens and dozens of science fiction anthologies in which he contributed little more than an introduction and perhaps some editorial guidance.

If this sounds dismissive, oh my friends, it is not meant to be. Asimov was interested in a great many things, but one of his earliest and most enduring passions was short fiction. It was his love for early science fiction pulps that set him firmly on the path towards being a successful SF writer by his later teens, and in his later years he became one of the staunchest champions of the science fiction short story — and in particular those stories and authors that, by the 70s and 80s, were in growing danger of being forgotten. Between 1979 and his death in 1992 he put his name (and the considerable selling power behind it) on numerous SF anthologies and long-running anthology series edited with Greenberg and Waugh, including The Great SF Stories (25 volumes, 1979-92), The Mammoth Book series (6 books, 1988-93), Isaac Asimov’s Magical Worlds of Fantasy (12 books, 1983-91), and others. I don’t know if it was ever made explicit, but it seemed pretty clear that Waugh made the selections, Greenberg handled the rights paperwork, and Asimov was sort of a godfather over the whole process. In any case, the success of these books helped inspire other reprint anthologies, and for many decades life was good for classic science fiction lovers.

Those days, of course, are long over, and mass market reprint genre anthologies are scare as hens teeth today. But when times are tough, the tough get creative, and so I’ve been on the hunt for older science fiction anthologies I may have overlooked all those years ago. That’s how I rediscovered Isaac Asimov’s Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction — and it is a delight.

Like many of his other popular series it was edited with Greenberg and Waugh, and included 10 volumes published between 1983-90. Each had a different theme: Intergalactic Empires, Space Shuttles, Monsters, Invasions, and so forth. They were generously sized (300-400 pages) and came packed with wonderful stories selected by an editor with a keen eye. These books have never been reprinted, but they’re not hard to find. In fact I recently bought a set of five in nearly brand new condition for significantly less than original cover price.

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New Treasures: It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan

New Treasures: It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan

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Jo Kaplan is a fast-rising writer who’s worth keeping an eye on. Under the name Joanna Parypinski she’s published stories in Black Static, Nightmare Magazine, and Vastarien, and in prestigious anthologies like Haunted Nights and Miscreations.

Her debut novel It Will Just Be Us appeared in September to wide praise. Publishers Weekly called it “A rich, dense supernatural thriller,” Manhattan Book Review hailed it as “A fantastic ghost story,” and Bram Stoker Award-winner John Palisano proclaimed it “A chilling, poetic, modern Gothic masterpiece.”

When nights are long and the wind blows chill through the snow drifts in my back yard, that’s when I long to burrow into blankets with a chilling book. This looks like it will do the trick nicely. Here’s the publisher’s description.

A terrifying new gothic horror novel about two sisters and a haunted house that never sleeps, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

They say there’s a door in Wakefield that never opens… Sam Wakefield’s ancestral home, a decaying mansion built on the edge of a swamp, isn’t a place for children. Its labyrinthine halls, built by her mad ancestors, are filled with echoes of the past: ghosts and memories knotted together as one. In the presence of phantoms, it’s all Sam can do to disentangle past from present in her daily life. But when her pregnant sister Elizabeth moves in after a fight with her husband, something in the house shifts. Already navigating her tumultuous relationship with Elizabeth, Sam is even more unsettled by the appearance of a new ghost: a faceless boy who commits disturbing acts — threatening animals, terrorizing other children, and following Sam into the depths of the house wielding a knife. When it becomes clear the boy is connected to a locked, forgotten room, one which is never entered, Sam realizes this ghost is not like the others. This boy brings doom… As Elizabeth’s due date approaches, Sam must unravel the mysteries of Wakefield before her sister brings new life into a house marked by death. But as the faceless boy grows stronger, Sam will learn that some doors should stay closed — and some secrets are safer locked away forever.

It Will Just Be Us was published by Crooked Lane Books on September 8, 2020. It is 272 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover and just $1.99 in digital formats. Get all the details at Jo Kaplan’s website here.

See all our recent coverage of the best new SF and fantasy releases here.

Future Treasures: Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

Future Treasures: Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

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Nnedi Okorafor has won every major award our small field has to offer. She won a Hugo and Nebula Award for her Tor.com novella Binti, a World Fantasy Award for Who Fears Death, a Locus Award for Akata Warrior, an Eisner Award and another Hugo Award for the comic LaGuardia — and a great many more, including a Black Excellence Award, Kindred Award, Lodestar Award, and awards I’ve never even heard of. I hear that when she steps outside to pick her up dry cleaning, strangers throw awards at her.

Her latest is another intriguing Tor.com novella, Remote Control, the tale of an alien artifact that turns a young girl into Death’s adopted daughter. Publishers Weekly calls it “electrifying,” and Library Journal praises its “stunning landscape of futuristic technology and African culture.” Here’s the description.

She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.

The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa ­­― a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.

Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks ― alone, except for her fox companion ― searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.

But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?

Remote Control will be published by Tor.com on January 19, 2021. It is 160 pages, priced at $19.99 in hardcover and $10.99 in digital formats. Read Chapter 1 at i09.

See all of our coverage of the best upcoming SF and fantasy here.

Vintage Treasures: The Guardsman by P. J. Beese and Todd Cameron Hamilton

Vintage Treasures: The Guardsman by P. J. Beese and Todd Cameron Hamilton

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The Guardsman (Pageant Books, 1988). Cover by Thomas Kidd

The Guardsman is an interesting piece of science fiction history. Well it’s interesting to me, anyway.

It’s the only novel by either of its two co-authors, P. J. Beese and Todd Cameron Hamilton. Beese had a handful of short stories in mid-90s SF anthologies, Hamilton is much better known as an artist, and quite a good one — he painted about two dozen covers in the late 80s and early 90s, including six for John Varley novels and half a dozen very fine Analog covers — such as this splendid piece for the November 1987 issue.

The Guardian would probably be forgotten today (in fact, probably is forgotten), if not for the fact that it was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best novel — a nomination that was quickly withdrawn due to accusations of bloc voting. The controversy that swirled around it as a result tainted both authors and, while I have no direct knowledge, I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that it may be why we saw no additional novels from Beese or Hamilton.

And that’s a shame — especially since, with the benefit of hindsight, it appears that the public shaming that resulted was largely (or perhaps wholly) undeserved. Mike Glyer at File 770 did some fine investigative journalism into what he called the 1989 Hugo Controversy in 2017; here’s a summary of his findings.

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The Heroes Gather at Last: The Maradaine Elite Trilogy by Marshall Ryan Maresca

The Heroes Gather at Last: The Maradaine Elite Trilogy by Marshall Ryan Maresca

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The Maradaine Elite trilogy by Marshall Ryan Maresca (DAW Books). Covers by Paul Young

Marshall Ryan Maresca is one of the most ambitious fantasy authors to burst on he scene in the last decade. His masterwork is the Maradaine Saga: four parallel trilogies, each with a separate cast and very different tone, all set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic port city of Maradaine. It kicked off in 2015 with his debut novel The Thorn of Dentonhill, which introduced Veranix Calbert, diligent college student by day and crime-fighting vigilante by night in the crime-ridden districts of the Maradaine. The book was nominated for the Compton Crook award, and Library Journal said “Veranix is Batman, if Batman were a teenager and magically talented.”

The Barnes & Noble Sci-fi and Fantasy Blog called the shared setting:

One of the most richly detailed settings in fantasy… In one fast-paced, funny, highly readable novel after another, Maresca continues to build out every nook and alleyway of Maradaine.

Each trilogy has a different focus and cast. The Maradaine books follow Veranix Calbert, struggling magic university student by day and armed vigilante by night; the Maradaine Constabulary volumes are gritty fantasy mysteries focused on Inspectors Satrine Rainey and Minox Welling in the city constabulary; The Streets of Maradaine are caper novels featuring Asti and Verci Rynax, former thieves attempting to go straight but dragged back into their old lives; and finally Maradaine Elite blends fantasy and political intrigue as it follows Dayne Heldrin and Jerinne Fendall, hopeful members of the Tarian Order.

With People of the City, published in paperback by DAW in October, Maresca brings his fourth (and final?) Maradaine trilogy to a close. In a suitably climatic fashion, he closes out the cycle by bringing the heroes from all 12 novels together at last.

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New Treasures: The Big Book of Modern Fantasy edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

New Treasures: The Big Book of Modern Fantasy edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer

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Cover art by Leonora Carrington

Here we are at the end of the year, that time when book bloggers create Best of the Year lists. I’m not sure I have the ambition to create a Top Ten list, but at the very least I have a favorite anthology for 2020: The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, the follow-up to the magnificent Big Book of Classic Fantasy. That volume included selections up the end of World War II; this one contains 91 stories published between 1946 and 2010.

And what a rich assortment of old favorites and new discoveries it is. Here’s an excerpt from Paul Di Filippo’s delightfully detailed review at Locus Online.

Over 800 pages of bliss-inducing non-mimetic goodness which attempts the impossible: to limn the full dimensions of the unreal in today’s literature… Rounding out the first decade is Borges’s “The Zahir”, with its cursed coin that preempts all other thoughts… Moving into the 1950s… we enjoy Gabriel García Márquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Its portrait of an anomalous derelict who hovers between mortal and angel is touching. And we note that even when the editors select a famous name, they dip into the less-well-known stuff.

As the editors say in their intro, they like to break down barriers between “high” art and popular art, so seeing Fritz Leiber consorting with Márquez and Borges is a delight. His “Lean Times in Lankhmar” is a great choice since it shows us his famous companionable heroes, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, separate and at odds.

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Vintage Treasures: The Trackers Series by David Gerrold

Vintage Treasures: The Trackers Series by David Gerrold

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Covers by Michael Herring

David Gerrold began his career as a screenwriter for Star Trek (the famous episode “The Trouble With Tribbles”), Land of the Lost, Babylon 5, Sliders, and others, but today he’s chiefly known as an author and novelist, with such works as the Hugo Award winning “The Martian Child” (made into a 2007 John Cusack film), The War Against the Chtorr series, Star Wolf, and most recently Hella, a 2020 adventure thriller set on a world where everything is monstrously huge (“hella big”).

Anyone with a career that rich has a few interesting tales, and one of the more intriguing is the saga of Trackers, the story of a colony planet of human, androids and reptilian hunters that bands together to “strike back against their vampire overlords and bring revolution to the stars.” In 1987, while he was serving as a story editor for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gerrold left to develop a Trackers mini-series for CBS.

In April I was offered the opportunity [to] write and produce a four-hour science-fiction mini-series for CBS and Columbia Television. The series is called Trackers and the Executive Producer is Daron J. Thomas. If the mini-series is a hit, then a regular weekly SF TV series would be developed from it. This was a very difficult decision for me to make. Star Trek has always been a home to me… [but] now, it was obvious to me that it was time to leave home. Or as my agent put it: “You can’t turn down the chance to be the Great Bird of your own galaxy.”

Trackers was never produced, and instead Gerrold turned it into a two-volume series for Bantam Spectra, Under the Eye of God (1993) and A Covenant of Justice (1994).

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Merry Christmas from Black Gate

Merry Christmas from Black Gate

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It’s early evening in the O’Neill household, and the frenzy of Christmas Day is starting to die down. The presents have been opened, Alice’s Christmas quiche has been eaten, the Zoom calls are over, and the family movie is done (this year we all watched Stephen Chow’s brilliantly funny Kung Fu Hustle for the first time, and unanimously agreed it was a wonderful Christmas film).

In the two decades I’ve been running Black Gate, my priorities have changed quite a bit. As I mentioned last year, it’s not about the awards and accolades any more. These days the things I look forward to and cherish the most are the comments from our regulars.

In the early days I was very focused on reaching as many fans as possible, with as much content as we could manage. Helping readers around the world discover neglected science fiction and fantasy old and new and, when we could, rescuing writers of the past Century from undeserved obscurity. In short, it was all about us and our mission.

These days I’m not so focused on us. Nowadays I’m far more interested in hearing from the countless regular readers who, for reasons of their own, have joined us on our journey. I used to look forward to telling everyone (at great length) how much I love Clifford D. Simak’s old paperbacks. But today I find I’d much rather hear about one of Thomas Parker’s all time favorite gosh-wow space operas, and Joe H’s Top Five Harryhausen films, and what book gave Smitty nightmares when he was 12 — and all the other fascinating tidbits this friendly and knowledgeable community chooses to share with us every day. I’ve discovered that the real joy to be found at Black Gate comes from listening, not teaching. And that’s true because of all of you.

So thank you once again, regulars and newcomers, from the bottom of our hearts. On behalf of the vast and unruly collective that is Black Gate, I would like to wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Continue being excellent — it’s what you’re good at.

Witches, Menacing Forests, & the True Meaning of Fairy Tales: A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

Witches, Menacing Forests, & the True Meaning of Fairy Tales: A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

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Covers by Dan Santat

The Christmas break is usually a bit of a reading vacation for me, a chance to catch up on the year’s big reads. Of course, I don’t always want to read big, important books while I’m on vacation. Sometimes (usually), I just want something fun.

That’s how I ended up reading Adam Gidwitz’s A Tale Dark & Grimm yesterday, the first book in his dark retelling of favorite kid’s stories. The series was published nearly a decade ago, and re-issued with gorgeous new covers by Dan Santat in 2016. The first book was a New York Times bestseller, and it follows Hansel and Gretel as they skip their own story and leap into other classic Grimm fairy tales, meeting witches, warlocks, dragons, and even the devil himself. As they roam menacing forests, the siblings learn the true story behind the famous tales. Here’s a snippet from my favorite review, by Robin Smith at BookPage.

When I teach my second graders about Grimm’s fairytales, they are often shocked by the graphic details… Now that I have read Adam Gidwitz’s take on Hansel and Gretel, I know exactly what my students really feel: sheer terror.

Like any good storyteller, Gidwitz lures his readers into his tale. His light touch, humorous use of direct address (“if such things bother you, we should probably stop right now”) and tongue-in-cheek warnings make the reader want to take up his challenge and turn the page, no matter what. Gidwitz weaves a number of original tales into one satisfying, daring story of a brother and sister making their way in a world where adults, particularly parents, are unreliable, untrustworthy and in desperate need of forgiveness.

The first volume was followed in short order by two sequels. Here’s a closer look at the wraparound covers for all three volumes.

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