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New Treasures: Witch Wizard Warlock, edited by Carol McConnell, David Lawrence Morris and Robert Allen Lupton

New Treasures: Witch Wizard Warlock, edited by Carol McConnell, David Lawrence Morris and Robert Allen Lupton

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Witch Wizard Warlock (West Mesa Press, Aug 21, 2023; 415p). Cover design by Campbell Blaine

Wizardry is always a draw for attention. Halloween is around the corner too, and there will be special attention toward beloved (feared?) magical arts.

Three Cousins Publishing (an imprint of West Mesa Publishing) gathered Carol McConnell, David Lawrence Morris and Robert Allen Lupton to collect tales of spellcasting with a global perspective from contemporary voices, and so Witch Wizard Warlock was conjured. It is available now in Kindle ($4.99), Paperback ($16.95), and Hardcover ($25.99).  An audiobook is in the works.

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This is Hanuvar’s Moment: Howard Andrew Jones’ Lord of a Shattered Land

This is Hanuvar’s Moment: Howard Andrew Jones’ Lord of a Shattered Land

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Lord of a Shattered Land (Baen Books, August 1, 2023). Cover Art by Dave Seeley

From the beginning, Sword and Sorcery has been an existentialist literature of the outsider. The rogue, the mercenary, the outcast, the criminal: from Conan to Elric, Fafhrd to Corwin of Amber, Jirel of Joiry to Grimnir the Corpse-maker, the S&S protagonist finds themselves at odds with their society, confronted with aggressive meaninglessness and called upon to carve out their own meaning in a chaotic, ever-changing, and often hostile world. This allows them to critique their society, test its values, and even challenge its assumptions. It is an intriguing literary tradition that has been a creative sandbox for several ambitious literary artists.

But this is not how most readers vaguely familiar with the term understand the genre. Sword and Sorcery has a reputation for being puerile and violent male wish-fulfillment fantasy. This stereotype derives from several obscure causes. One major cause might be the 1960s and 70s “Clonan” (Conan + clone) type of Sword and Sorcery, an assembly of several barbarian warriors and their formulaic adventures inspired by the commercial success of the Lancer reprints of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian stories (beginning in 1966 and featuring the famous covers by Frank Frazetta). Though not entirely without entertainment value, this group of works features the adventures of Lin Carter’s “Thongor,” John Jakes’ “Brak the Barbarian,” Gardner F. Fox’s “Kyrik,” and many more.

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Get Ready for a Fantasy Revolution: Lord of a Shattered Land by Howard Andrew Jones

Get Ready for a Fantasy Revolution: Lord of a Shattered Land by Howard Andrew Jones

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Lord of a Shattered Land and The City of Marble and Blood
(Baen, August 1 and October 3, 2023). Covers by Dave Seeley

A few times in my life I’ve had an early look at a book that I knew was going to revolutionize fantasy. When I received an advance proof of A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin in 1996. When Andy Heidel at Avon sent us an early copy of Neil Gaiman’s first novel. When Betsy Wollheim at DAW sent me an advance reading copy of The Name of the Wind in the fall of 2006.

I had that same feeling while reading Howard Andrew Jones’ Lord of a Shattered Land, the opening book in the Chronicles of Hanuvar, on sale in less than two weeks. Howard is the leading Sword & Sorcery author of the 21st Century, and this series is his masterwork.

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New Treasures: A Book of Blades Vol. II from the Rogues in the House Podcast

New Treasures: A Book of Blades Vol. II from the Rogues in the House Podcast

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 A Book of Blades Volume II (Rogues in the House Podcast, July 2023; ISBN: 9798396947771). Cover by Jesus Garcia.

In January 2022, Black Gate spotlighted Rogues in the House Sword & Sorcery podcast covering the folks/rogues behind the show and highlighted episodes (Go Rogues! link). In that post, we shared their podcast guest list that included S&S authors like Howard Andrew Jones, Scott Oden, John R. Fultz, and Jason Ray Carney, and even Morgan King & Phil Gelatt (creators of the movie The Spine of Night), Peter D. Adkison (founder and first CEO of Wizards of the Coast and owner of GenCon, the world’s largest board game convention), and Sara Frazetta (granddaughter of the fantasy master painter, an artist herself, and CEO of Frazetta Girls).

In July 2022, they released A Book of Blades Volume I, with 15 stories by as many Sword & Sorcery authors as featured on Black Gate.

And now, this July 2023, Rogues in the House Podcast brings us A Book of Blades Volume II!  Order now (link).
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Rogue Blades Entertainment presents Neither Beg Nor Yield!

Rogue Blades Entertainment presents Neither Beg Nor Yield!

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“This anthology is the winning epitome of my career whether another reader sees it or not.” – Jason M Waltz

Jason M Waltz is well known amongst adventure fiction readers, especially the Swords & Sorcery crowd. With his Rogue Blades Entertainment and associated Foundation, he’s brought us the epic Return of the Sword (BG review) and then Rage of the Behemoth, and Demons.  He’s edited/published a variety of other anthologies with themes of Weird Noir, Pirates, and Sword & Planet with Last Empire of Sol (BG review), and splendid nonfiction like Writing Fantasy Heroes (BG review) and recently Robert E. Howard Changed My Life (BG review). Jason M Waltz has contributed a number of Black Gate posts too (link). While I write this, Waltz just got a story published in Whetstone S&S Magazine #7 that caps the set with an emotive tale, both heroic and tragic.

Waltz is a wizard at crafting Introductions to anthologies (his and those published by others); they usually evoke a call to arms to be heroic. He consistently makes me feel like a hero just by reading the forewords.

Today he broadcasts exciting news. Prepare for another Sword and Sorcery extravaganza this fall called Neither Beg Nor Yield (NBNY)!  Jason M Walts calls for our aid to make this a reality via a Kickstarter campaign scheduled to run August 22 through Sept 19th. Sixteen authors are already engaged, and their identities are being revealed as teasers via various venues.

This post reveals 2 more of the 16 Vanguard Authors!

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Lawrence Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords Arrives Next Week

Lawrence Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords Arrives Next Week

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Cinema of Swords by Lawrence Ellsworth (Applause, June 15, 2023)

Next Thursday is a big day in the Black Gate offices, as the most anticipated book of the year finally arrives: the hardcover edition of Lawrence Ellsworth’s monumental Cinema of Swords.

What’s in this great beast of a book? Every one of Lawrence’s informative and entertaining Cinema of Swords columns from Black Gate — Over four hundred movies and television shows featuring swashbucklers: knights, pirates, samurai, Vikings, gladiators, outlaw heroes like Zorro and Robin Hood, and anyone else who lives by the blade and solves their problems with the point of a sword — pus full-color stills, poster reproductions, a handy index (both Title and Subject), and plenty of fascinating sidebar articles by Lawrence, covering topics like The First British Invasion (50s swashbuckling TV series from ITV) to Wholesome Buccaneers (family-friendly pirate ) and Mighty Maciste (the roving strongman of two dozen films of the 60s-era post-Hercules peplum craze).

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A Solid Dose of Weird Adventure: Old Moon Quarterly #3

A Solid Dose of Weird Adventure: Old Moon Quarterly #3

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Old Moon Quarterly Vol III — Winter (119p, March, 2023). Cover by Daniel Vega.

Old Moon Quarterly is a magazine of weird sword-and-sorcery fantasy. In the tradition of Clark Ashton Smith, Tanith Lee and Karl Edward Wagner, it contains stories of strange vistas, eldritch beings, and the bloody dispute thereof by swordsmen and swordswomen both.

Old Moon Quarterly emerged in 2022. This reviews the four stories inside the Winter 2023 issue (Vol III), which delivers solid doses of the weird adventure it promises. The Editor-in-Chief is Julian Barona, flanked by Assistant Editors Caitlyn Emily Wilcox and Graham Thomas Wilcox (who recently debuted here on Black Gate with his review of John Langan’s Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies, so I gleefully checked this out).  Excerpts best convey the style and elements of what to expect, so you’ll get those here!

Vol III Contents

  • “Evil Honey” by James Enge
  • “Knife, Lace, Prayer” by T.R. Siebert
  • “Singing the Long Retreat” by R.K. Duncan
  • “The Feast of Saint Ottmer” by Graham Thomas Wilcox
  • A review of Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles, edited by Ellen Datlow.

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Gen Con Writers’ Symposium Aug 3-6, 2023: Special Guests and Program Release

Gen Con Writers’ Symposium Aug 3-6, 2023: Special Guests and Program Release

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Gen Con is the largest tabletop gaming convention in North America. In 2019, they welcomed over 65,000 unique visitors and offered over 19,000 events. By its nature, Gen Con attracts a large number of attendees who enjoy speculative fiction.

Gen Con 2023 will be held August 3-6 in Indianapolis, Indiana

The Gen Con Writers’ Symposium (GCWS) is a semi-independent event hosted by Gen Con and intended for both new and experienced writers of speculative fiction. All registration is handled through the Gen Con website. 

Over the past 28 years, the Writers’ Symposium has grown from a small set of panels over a day or two to one of the largest convention-hosted writing tracks in North America, offering hundreds of hours of programming from authors, editors, agents, and publishers to nearly 3000 unique visitors per year on average.  

We’re proud to announce that the Scalzi Family Foundation will be this year’s Gen Con Writers’ Symposium Legendary Sponsor! This sponsorship will enable the symposium to support more writers to attend, creating a more representative and inclusive event.

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New Treasures: Darker Than Weird by John R. Fultz

New Treasures: Darker Than Weird by John R. Fultz

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Darker Than Weird by John R. Fultz (Jackanapes Press, April 15, 2023). Cover art & interior illustrations by Dan Sauer

I devoured John R. Fultz’s 2021 Worlds Beyond Worlds collection (Black Gate review link). His action-fueled, weird short fiction has graced many venues like Weird Tales & Weirdbook, and his novel The Testament of Tall Eagle (and The Son of Tall Eagle) and the Books of the Shaper series have garnered praise from pillars in the field:

“A master of his craft.” —DON WEBB, Author of Building Strange Temples

“Fultz delivers the goods.” —HOWARD ANDREW JONES, Author of The Ring-Sworn Trilogy

“An author with an exceptional talent for characterization and world building.” —The Library Journal

Longtime Black Gate readers will recall John R. Fultz illustrated & published a series on this site called Skulls (Chapter One Link). I interviewed him back in 2017 for the Beauty in Weird Fiction series (right before that was picked up by Black Gate; keep an eye out for a re-interview in the coming year!).

With cover art & interior illustrations by Dan Sauer, John R. Fultz releases another dark & weird collection; well, specifically, it’s Darker than Weird – Fourteen Tales of Horror (Just released April 15th, 2023 by Jackanapes Press; available from the publisher and Amazon).

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Future Treasures: Witch King by Martha Wells

Future Treasures: Witch King by Martha Wells

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Witch King by Martha Wells (Tor.com, May 30, 2023). Cover art by Cynthia Sheppard

Martha Wells was one of the most popular authors we published in Black Gate. Her terrific Ile-Rien tales (“Reflections,” Black Gate #10, “Holy Places,” BG #11, and “Houses of the Dead,” BG #12) were set in the same world as her nebula-nominated novel The Death of the Necromancer, and her popular Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy (The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, and The Gate of Gods).

Of course, her career really took off with the appearance of Muderbot. The first two books in the series, All Systems Red and Artificial Condition, won back-to-back Hugo and Locus Awards; after that Martha graciously declined further nominations to give other nominees a chance. That didn’t stop the Hugo electorate from voting The Murderbot Diaries the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Series (the same year that Network Effect, the 5th volume, won the Hugo for Best Novel).

Martha’s upcoming Witch King, her first new fantasy novel in over a decade, arrives from Tor.com at the end of the month and, as you can imagine, it’s one of the most highly anticipated books of the year. Martha has promised us a guest post on the book in a few weeks, so stay tuned.

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