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Author: John ONeill

Underground Bazaars, Generation Ships, and the Mountains of Madness: November/December Print SF Magazines

Underground Bazaars, Generation Ships, and the Mountains of Madness: November/December Print SF Magazines

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Covers by Kurt Huggins, Eldar Zakirov, and David A. Hardy

Things have finally settled down in the magazine section of my local Barnes & Noble, and my favorite print magazines are reliably showing up again. I have to say, I’m relieved they all survived the chaos — in distribution, the market, and to their readers — caused by the pandemic. Magazines are fragile things at the best times, and fiction magazines particularly so.

Having said that, the recent issues are well worth a look. This crop contains brand new stories by George Zebrowski, Jack McDevitt, Connie Willis, James Gunn, Matthew Hughes, Albert E. Crowdrey, Nick DiChario, Juliette Wade, Clancy Weeks, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Chen Quifan, Sam Schreiber, and Marissa Lingen (twice!)

Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact

Analog wraps up its 90th anniversary year with a solid issue overstuffed with fiction — a whopping 19 stories! — including a classic reprint by Gordon R. Dickson, the 1967 Nebula Award-winning novelette “Call Him Lord.” The issue is edited by Trevor Quachri. Here’s all the details.

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New Treasures: Rebel Sisters, Book 2 of War Sisters by Tochi Onyebuchi

New Treasures: Rebel Sisters, Book 2 of War Sisters by Tochi Onyebuchi

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Cover by Nekro (left) and unknown (right)

In his enthusiastic review of War Girls here at Black Gate, Jeremy Brett wrote:

War Girls is a novel of intense, determined hope in the face of overwhelming obstacles; in this current historical moment it’s exactly the book we need. In 2172, the world is a damaged place. Climate change and war have destroyed much of the Earth, and millions have fled the planet…  The war has left much of the area saturated in radioactivity that kills or mutates the local wildlife, and battles are fought using unmanned drones, human-piloted mechs, and augmented soldiers refitted with bionic limbs.

Onyii is such a soldier, a young woman and war hero who lives to protect both her new nation and her adopted orphaned sister Ify. When the two become separated through the usual vagaries of war, they find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict….  Part of the greatness of this book lies in Onyebuchi’s multidimensional descriptions of war. Yes, giant mechs fly through the skies and attack each other with gun and sword, which is always fun and exciting and begs to be a movie. But also, children are taken and augmented to become pitiless warriors, at the cost of their humanity and that of the people who build and direct them… There are exciting gunfights, but there are also moments of quieter emotional and physical healing.

The sequel Rebel Sisters arrived in hardcover last month, and it looks like a worthy follow up. Kirkus Reviews calls it “A thought-provoking, action-packed addition to the series,” and there’s been plenty of interest here in our offices. Looks like I’ve found a good 2-book series to dive into over the Christmas break.

Rebel Sister was published by Razorbill on November 17, 2020. It is 464 pages, priced at $18.99 in hardcover and $10.99 in digital formats. The cover artist is uncredited. Read an excerpt (or listen to an audioclip) here.

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

A Heist in a Sword and Sorcery World: A Hazardous Engagement by Gaie Sebold

A Heist in a Sword and Sorcery World: A Hazardous Engagement by Gaie Sebold

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Cover by Duncan Kay

I’ve had my eye on Gaie Sebold ever since I bought her brilliant and funny short story “A Touch of Crystal” (co-written with fellow Brit Martin Owton), the tale of a shopkeeper who discovers some of the goods in her New Age shop are actually magical, for Black Gate 9.

She’s been well worth the watch. Her debut novel Babylon Steel (described as “Sword & Sorcery for the girl who wants to be Conan”) kicked off a successful 2-book series at Solaris; you can get both books in a giant 1,000-page omnibus, The Babylon Steel Adventures. Her 2014 effort Shanghai Sparrow was a Far Eastern steampunk tale of Espionage, Etheric Science, and Murder.

Her latest is A Hazardous Engagement, volume #6 in the NewCon Press Novellas line, a prestigious imprint that has published Alastair Reynolds, Tom Toner, Kari Sperring, Adam Roberts, Hal Duncan, Liz Williams, Simon Clark, Alison Littlewood, and loads more. My friend Arin Komins reviewed it on FB this week, saying:

A Hazardous Engagement novella from Gaie Sebold… Delightful heist story in a sword and sorcery world. From NewCon Press. Excellent and swift read, and quite good. Would make a good series of novellas or stories.

That’s all the endorsement I need…. I put it in my Amazon cart immediately. A Hazardous Engagement was published by NewCon Press on June 19, 2019. It is 120 pages, priced at $8.99 in paperback and $4.75 in digital formats. The cover is by Duncan Kay. See all the latest releases by Black Gate writers and staff here.

An Ode to Books and Writing: The Hell’s Library Series by A.J. Hackwith

An Ode to Books and Writing: The Hell’s Library Series by A.J. Hackwith

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Cover design by Faceout Studio/Jeff Miller

One of the delights of fantasy is its diversity. Good fantasy should always surprise readers with its inventiveness, and it certainly needn’t be confined to the mundane world we live in. Case in point: A.J. Hackwith’s Hell’s Library series, which opened last year with The Library of the Unwritten, is set in a library in Hell.

That’s intriguing enough on its own. But what really got my interest was the brief plot synopsis: Hell’s Librarian, a resourceful and determined woman named Claire, learns that pages from the Devil’s Bible have been found on Earth. Authored by Lucifer himself, the pages are so dangerous that Hell and Heaven are both hellbound to find them. Together with her small staff, Claire sets out to prevent an unholy war that would likely destroy her library. Library of the Unwritten received starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly; here’s a snippet from the former.

The Unwritten Wing in Hell is home to all stories unfinished by their authors. Claire is the head librarian. Sometimes she must chase down and return characters who have escaped from their pages. When one such hero heads to Earth to find his author, Claire, her current assistant and former muse Brevity, and the demon Leto try to capture him. The trio are attacked by the angel Ramiel, who thinks they are looking for the same tome he is: the Devil’s Bible. Deliberately lost on Earth for centuries, the Devil’s Bible could put the power of either heaven or hell in control. Claire and her companions must find it before the two realms decide to declare war… Elaborate worldbuilding, poignant and smart characters, and a layered plot make this first in a fantasy series from Hackwith… an ode to books, writing, and found families.

The Library of the Unwritten was published by Ace on October 1, 2019. It is 384 pages, priced at $17 in trade paperback and $11.99 in digital formats. Sequel The Archive of the Forgotten arrived on October 6, 2020; it is 368 pages, priced at $16/$11.99 digital. The covers were designed by Faceout Studio/Jeff Miller. See all of our recent coverage of the best new fantasy series here.

Vintage Treasures: Threats… and Other Promises by Vernor Vinge

Vintage Treasures: Threats… and Other Promises by Vernor Vinge

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Threats… and Other Promises (Baen, November 1988). Cover by E. M. Gooch

Vernor Vinge is one of our greatest modern science fiction writers. He’s widely credited with introducing the singularity into modern parlance with his 1993 essay “The Coming Technological Singularity.” He’s won the Hugo Award five times, for his novels A Fire Upon the Deep, A Deepness in the Sky, and Rainbows End, and his novellas “Fast Times at Fairmont High,” and “The Cookie Monster.”

His first short story collection True Names … and Other Dangers appeared in 1987; it was followed quickly by Threats … and Other Promises in 1988. Both were paperback originals from Baen, and both were nominated for the Locus Award for Best Collection. The latter is remember today chiefly for the novella “The Blabber,” the first story in Vinge’s celebrated Zones of Thought universe, setting for much of his most popular fiction. I first learned about it from Alan Brown’s insightful review at Tor.com, here’s the bit that grabbed my attention.

“The Blabber” describes a human colony world settled by emigrants from the American Great Lakes region. Both Earth and this new colony are located in the “Slow Zone,” a region where travel and communications are limited to the speed of light, and superhuman intelligence is impossible. Beneath this region, in the “Unthinking Depths,” even human-level intelligence is impossible… The fringes of the galaxy are the “Beyond,” where the speed of light is no longer a limiting factor, and superhuman beings and intelligences live.

In “The Blabber,” the human colony, located just within the Slow Zone, is visited by a trading expedition from the Beyond, looking to trade advanced technology for cultural artifacts from the humans. The story is a bravura effort, mixing thoughtful scientific extrapolation with wonders that would be right at home in the space opera tales of science fiction’s pulp era. Vinge found a way to escape the bounds of rigid extrapolation, but in a way that was internally consistent. There is a joy and sense of wonder in “The Blabber” that I had not seen in Vinge’s work before. So when I heard that A Fire Upon the Deep would be set in that same universe, I looked forward to it with great anticipation. Anticipation that was rewarded in abundance.

If you’re like me and you like to sample authors with short fiction first, Threats…. and Other Promises is a great place to start. Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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Pulp Hero Press Re-releases Waters of Darkness by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna

Pulp Hero Press Re-releases Waters of Darkness by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna

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Waters of Darkness (Pulp Hero Press, October 19, 2020). Cover uncredited.

Pulp Hero Press has reprinted David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna’s classic sword & pirate novel Waters of Darkness. Joe and Dave are well known to readers of Black Gate, and their first collaboration was very warmly received when it first appeared from Damnation Books in 2013. Here’s a slice from William Patrick Maynard’s enthusiastic BG review, “Set Sail on the Waters of Darkness.”

The shade of Robert E. Howard lingers over every page of Waters of Darkness, the first collaboration by these two talented authors to see print.

The principal characters, Crimson Kate O’Toole and Bloody Red Buchanan, would have fit in nicely had this 17th Century swashbuckler first seen print in the pages of Weird Tales in the 1930s. A quest for fabled treasure sets these two buccaneers sailing for the Isle of Shadow in the far distant Eastern Seas. They find themselves combating an evil priest of Dagon and the sorcerer in his thrall along the way and most of the crew of the Raven pays the cost for their having crossed paths.

This book is extremely fast-paced and is perhaps the new pulp title that most closely rings with the authentic flavor of classic pulp. It is not surprising since David C. Smith was always among the top echelon of Robert E. Howard pastiche writers, and Joe Bonadonna has quickly established himself as a breath of fresh air in the new pulp world.

Together, the mixing of both men’s styles (classic pulp of the finest caliber with quirky and highly literate mixing of fantasy, hard-boiled humor, and an expansive cinematic vocabulary) produces what will doubtless be hailed as one of the finest new pulp titles of the year…. This has already been a strong year for new pulp, but this is one swashbuckler that isn’t likely to be equaled.

Waters of Darkness was published by Pulp Hero Press on October 19, 2020. It is 200 pages, priced at $14.95 in trade paperback and $4.99 in digital formats. The cover art is uncredited. Read a generous excerpt as part of our Black Gate Online Fiction imprint.

See all our coverage of new releases by Black Gate authors here.

Future Treasures: Persephone Station by Stina Leicht

Future Treasures: Persephone Station by Stina Leicht

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Stina Leicht has had an impressive career over the last decade. Of Blood and Honey came in sixth in the 2012 Locus Poll for Best First Novel; sequel And Blue Skies from Pain appeared on the nomination list for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. Her two-book flintlock fantasy series The Malorum Gates wrapped up in 2017.

Her new novel Persephone Station arrives from Saga Press next month, and it’s a significant departure for Leicht — a space opera that Publishers Weekly calls a “sprawling, frenetic science fiction take on The Seven Samurai,” which sounds like something I need.

Here’s an excerpt from the Kirkus review.

In this earnest space opera, an ensemble of badass women and nonbinary and queer characters fight corporate overlords on the semilawless planet Persephone.

A century ago, the Emissaries, hidden beings indigenous to Persephone, gave the gift of prolonged life to Rosie, a nonbinary cleric-colonizer, and Vissia, now head of the corporation that owns the planet. Despite and because of that gift, Vissia’s bent on exploiting the Emissaries until nothing is left. Rosie, now a crime boss, enlists Angel, the expelled former student of an all-female martial arts academy, and her team of revivified United Republic of Worlds soldiers, to protect the Emissaries. Unless they can be convinced to reveal themselves and join the URW, making the corporate claim on Persephone void, the odds are not in their favor…. Their gender-fluid nonbinariness is just one part of a delightfully complex, genuine, and amoral character who could make this novel worth your time.

Persephone Station will be published by Saga Press on January 5, 2021. It is 512 pages, priced at $27 in hardcover and $9.99 in digital formats. I can’t find any information on who created the cover, but I like it.

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

New Treasures: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

New Treasures: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

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We’re nearing the end of 2020 and like most of you, all I can think is, man. Good riddance.

There were a few highlights, of course. As always there were a number of exciting debuts, and that cheered me up a little. One of the most talked about SF debuts of 2020 has been Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds, named one of the Best Books of the Year by Library Journal, NPR, and Book Riot.

In The New York Times, Black Gate blogger emeritus Amal El-Mohtar says the word ‘debut’ “is utterly insufficient for the blazing, relentless power of this book, suggesting ballroom manners where it should conjure comet tails… this tale is profoundly satisfying… The book remained two steps ahead of my imagination, rattling it out of complacency and flooding it with color and heat.”

That sounds pretty good to me. Here’s the description.

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying — from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.

On this dystopian Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now what once made her marginalized has finally become an unexpected source of power. She has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works — and shamelessly flirts — with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.

But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined — and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world but the entire multiverse.

The Space Between Worlds was published by Del Rey on August 4, 2020. It is 322 pages, priced at $28 in hardcover and $13.99 in digital formats.

See all our coverage of the best new releases in SF & fantasy here.

Vintage Treasures: The Sky is Filled With Ships by Richard C. Meredith

Vintage Treasures: The Sky is Filled With Ships by Richard C. Meredith

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The Sky Is Filled with Ships (Ballantine Books, 1969). Cover by Jerome Podwil

Richard C. Meredith died tragically young in 1979, at the age of 41. He left behind a body of work that’s still read and discussed today, including the Timeliner trilogy, We All Died at Breakaway Station (1969), which John Clute and Peter Nichols at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction call “a bleak, well-crafted space opera in a kind of Alamo setting, where a scarred cyborg crew must withstand both external alien enemies and the devils of introspection,” and Run, Come See Jerusalem! (1976), a complex and effective alternate history set in a world where the Nazis were victorious.

Although he sold his first stories to Fred Pohl at Worlds of Tomorrow in 1966, rightly or wrongly I still think of Meredith as a Campbell writer. He bought his first copy of Astounding at the age of 13 and became an instant fan, faithfully purchasing every issue until John W. Campbell passed away in 1971.

Meredith’s debut novel was The Sky Is Filled with Ships, published as a paperback original by Ballantine Books in 1969 with a striking cover by Jerome Podwil. It was selected to be part of Singularity & Co’s “Save the Sci-Fi” digital reissue campaign in 2013, and that put it in the hands of a lot of modern readers. I was surprised to see that it held up well with them, and enjoys an impressive 4.51 rating at Goodreads. BJ Haun’s 4-star review is fairly typical.

The Sky is Filled with Ships might be my favorite book to come out of Singularity & Co’s “Save the Sci-Fi” campaign thus far. It’s an interesting little story that has some action, some space battles, some intrigue, and maybe a couple too many melodramatic bits.

The Sky Is Filled with Ships is 184 pages, and was originally priced at 75 cents. It has been out of print since 1969, though it’s available in ebook formats from Singularity & Co. See all of our recent Vintage Treasures here.

Where Ghoulish Shadows Haunt the Appalachians: The Witchy War Series by D.J. Buter

Where Ghoulish Shadows Haunt the Appalachians: The Witchy War Series by D.J. Buter

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Covers by Daniel Dos Santos

Apparently I haven’t been paying enough attention to DJ Butler. I can tell because when Serpent Daughter, the newest in his Witchy War saga, arrived in November, I thought it was the second in the series. Not so! There are actually four novels in Witchy War, and I managed to miss half of them.

I didn’t miss Serpent Daughter though — thanks mostly to Daniel Dos Santos’ knockout cover, which caught my eye the moment I spotted it in the Books You May Like tray at Amazon. A little digging revealed three previous installments, which have been labeled a blend of “alternate history, Appalachian Folklore, and epic fantasy.” The series opened with Witchy Eye, a Baen hardcover, back in 2017; Publishers Weekly gave it an enthusiastic starred review, saying:

In an alternate North America where magic is pervasive and the Appalachians are under the boot of Emperor Thomas Penn, 15-year-old Sarah Calhoun, youngest daughter of imperial war hero Iron Andy Calhoun, is content with her rural Tennessee tobacco-farming life, in which she gets to cast the occasional small spell… When the priest Thalanes, an acquaintance of Andy’s, arrives and helps to reveal that Sarah is not a Calhoun daughter but carries royal blood — and is being hunted by humans and magical entities in the service of the emperor… Butler’s fantasy is by turns sardonic and lighthearted; ghoulish shadows claw into the most remote areas and heroism bursts out of the most unlikely people. Sarah is the epitome of the downtrodden hero who refuses to give up until she gets what she needs, and her story will appeal to fantasy readers of all stripes.

I’m not quite sure how many books the series will run, but with four on the shelves already, I think it’s safe to give this one a try. Serpent Daughter was published by Baen on November 3, 2020; it is 608 pages, priced at $15.99 in trade paperback and $8.99 in digital formats. Read the first five chapters of Witchy Eye here.

See all our recent coverage of the best new fantasy series here.