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Swords from the East, Swords from the Sea by Harold Lamb, a Review

Swords from the East, Swords from the Sea by Harold Lamb, a Review

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swords-from-the-eastSwords from the Sea
Harold Lamb
Howard Andrew Jones, ed.
Bison Books (552 pp, $24.95, 2010)

Swords from the East
Harold Lamb
Howard Andrew Jones, ed.
Bison Books (476 pp, $24.95, 2010)

It must have been something, the pre-television age when pulp magazines were a widely consumed form of entertainment. I can only imagine the anticipation of opening up one’s mailbox, finding inside the latest copy of Adventure magazine, and settling in to an evening of rousing tales by the likes of Talbot Mundy, H. Rider Haggard, and Harold Lamb. It was a time of pulse-pounding action and tales of distant historic epochs on the printed page.

Those days are now gone, and for many years the contents of those now-yellowed pulps were largely inaccessible, save through the efforts of patient and often deep-pocketed enthusiasts. But fortunately some of these works are now being collected in anthologies. Editor Howard Andrew Jones has done the Herculean task of assembling Lamb’s stories in the eight volume “Harold Lamb Library” series by Bison Books. These include Swords from the Desert and Swords from the West, and recently concluded with Swords from the Sea and Swords from the East.

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Read Jeffrey Ford’s complete “Exo-Skeleton Town” from Black Gate 1

Read Jeffrey Ford’s complete “Exo-Skeleton Town” from Black Gate 1

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blackgate1Jeffrey Ford’s short story “Exo-Skeleton Town” grabbed a lot of critical attention when it appeared in our first issue in Spring, 2001. Antony Mann, in issue 2 of The Fix: The Review of Short Fiction said:

‘Exo-Skeleton Town’ by Jeffrey Ford… is crazy stuff, man, witty and entertaining.

And Mark R. Kelly, in the September 2001 issues of Locus, said:

Jeffrey Ford’s “Exo-Skeleton Town” is a ribald, scatological tale set on a dark planet populated by alien bugs whose medium of exchange is their own excrement in the form of dung balls. Humans have arrived in force, having learned 1) of the bugs passionate interest in old back & white movies; and 2) of the dung balls’ fantastic aphrodisiac powers. But wait, there’s more… lots of wacky fun. There are some thematic ironies that knit together the story’s various parts… it’s definitely alive.

Recommended Story of the Month: Jeffrey Ford, “Exo-Skeleton Town.”

Now editor Marty Halpern has selected the story for his upcoming anthology Alien Contact, saying:

If you’re not already a fan of the old, classic Hollywood movies — and the actors and actresses that made these films such classics — then you certainly will be after you’ve read “Exo-Skeleton Town.” This is probably the quirkiest story in the anthology. And it remains one of the more unique story concepts I’ve ever read. In fact, even though I’m the editor, I’m almost tempted to ask Jeff: “Where the hell did this idea come from?”…

So, for your reading pleasure, here is “Exo-Skeleton Town,” which won the 2006 Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, the French national speculative fiction award.

You can enjoy the complete story, one of the most unusual and imaginative pieces we’ve ever published, at Marty’s blog, More Red Ink. And you can see the complete Table of Contents for Black Gate 1 — still available in our store for just $18.95 — here.

An Excerpt from Prince of Thorns

An Excerpt from Prince of Thorns

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prince-of-thornsJohn told me he doesn’t like to post naked excerpts on Black Gate. Well and good, I thought; it is after all a family site. Turns out though that it means I have to warm you guys up for the Prince of Thorns excerpt that follows.

If you’ve seen many reviews or comments on Prince of Thorns then it’s likely you’ll have read somewhere that it’s the very darkest of fantasy writing, that it’s brutal in the extreme, that it’s wall-to-wall rape… Obviously these are subjective judgements. My subjective opinion is that that’s all… rubbish (family site).

If you look at what’s actually on the page it’s relatively mild stuff. That it has made such a deep impression on so many, and stirred not a few to outrage, anger, and the occasional rant, I shall just have to pocket as a compliment to the writing!

This is described as an excerpt, but it’s an excerpt that starts at the beginning. Really, when you’ve taken the effort to make a story, where else would you want someone to start reading? Anything else would be rather like putting a sheet over the large painting you’ve just completed and attempting to whet the viewer’s appetite with whatever can be seen through a random hole four-inches square. Story needs context. Cut your prose free of its environment and it rapidly loses power. Strip out a line here or there and show it on its own and you make it look as silly as you like.

So read on and hopefully enjoy.

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Sale at Rogue Blades Entertainment

Sale at Rogue Blades Entertainment

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sages-swordsRogue Blades Entertainment, publisher of top-notch heroic fantasy, is having a one-of-a-kind online sale.

Here’s RBE publisher-mastermind Jason Waltz  to ‘splain the details:

RBE has to clear the shelves! Rogue Blades presents its first 2-for-$15 sale. Purchase any 2 of these RBE titles for $15.00 plus shipping!

Rage of the Behemoth, limited editions
Mythic Memories
Demons: A Clash of Steel
Sages & Swords

Simple! Now’s your chance to catch up on some of the best in new short fantasy, including fiction by Tanith Lee, Howard Andrew Jones, Joseph A. McCullough V, Sean T.M. Stiennon, Bill Ward, Elaine Isaak, C.L. Werner, and many others, and all at a great price.

Rage of the Behemoth is one of the best fantasy anthologies I’ve read in the past few years. Contributors include Andrew Offutt & Richard K. Lyon, Lois Tilton, Mary Rosenblum, Sean T. M. Stiennon, Brian Ruckley, Bruce Durham, Jason Thummel, and many more. Read more about it, including Theo’s great review,  here.

Demons is an anthology “devoted to the devilish fiends who seek to wreak havoc among mankind upon the mortal plane.”  Contributors include Bill Ward, Brian Dolton, Steve Goble, Elaine Isaak, C.L. Werner, Laura J. Underwood, and many others. You can read more in our news article here.

At $15 for two titles, these books won’t last long.  Check out this terrific sale today.

Goblin Fruit: Autumn 2011

Goblin Fruit: Autumn 2011

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gfwolfieThe new Goblin Fruit is LIVE!!! It’s ALIVE, I tell you!

Now, I know I’ve said that before. Always the same way, too. “LIVE!!!” must be capitalized, with exclamation points, because, you see, I’m pretending I’m Frankenstein. I’m sure you knew. It’s not like it’s a secret or anything.

This new issue features poet Neile Graham, including an interview in which her poetry is described as “very green and very blue, full of cedar and rain and stone and sea.” Here is a hint, a taste, a tongue’s dip worth of her verse:

“…Hillfolk trade their cranky babes for our sweet sleepers. Tempt away

our pretty ones. Make deals we pay for. Seduce our poets
underhill for seven silent years then gift them with sore truth…”

– The Ones Outside Your Door

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The Road to The Heart of Darkness

The Road to The Heart of Darkness

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oath-of-sixIt took me years to complete the first draft of Oath of Six, the first volume in my fantasy series The Heart of Darkness.

I wrote the prologue pretty much straight through, but then lost steam. After muddling through chapter one, I skipped ahead to the epilogue because I was more sure of the ending than the beginning. I then returned to working on the second chapter, only to jump to the end again, and then back to the beginning. My productivity was even more inconsistent than it sounds since I would stop writing for weeks at a time.

After I did finish, the readers of my first draft kept saying the story started off too slowly. I had to admit there was a lot of backstory and world-building in the early chapters. However, isn’t that the norm in fantasy novels, I argued. An author spends almost as much time creating the world as he does fleshing out the characters and storyline.

Interestingly, my initial readers unanimously agreed that the early material bogging down my story didn’t include the earliest part — i.e. that prologue that I wrote so easily. They were referring to the first eight or so chapters where I was dithering my way through, stopping and starting, jumping around. No doubt my readers had sensed my original inability to immerse myself in my storyline.

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Alyx Among the Dandelions: Exploring Joanna Russ and Ray Bradbury

Alyx Among the Dandelions: Exploring Joanna Russ and Ray Bradbury

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My copy looked like this. A far cry from John's vintage original.
My copy looked like this. A far cry from John's vintage original.

I think our book club should have a name. It’s that cool. It consists of our Mighty Robot Overlord John O’Neill, awesomely chill Chicago author Geoff Hyatt, our own Dread Patty Templeton and myself. Four people make for a nicely balanced book club, in my opinion.

Now, we may not meet in the most consistent fashion ever (our two meetings had a wee gap of four months between them), but we do read SPIFFY BOOKS. Or at least… discussable ones.

I mean, we started out with The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, which was written up by Mr. Hyatt back in May. Then we decided to get our claws into some Joanna Russ and vintage Bradbury. Next we’re going to do Fritz Leiber’s Swords against Death and China Mieville’s Iron Council.

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Bill Ward’s four-part story “The Box” begins at Pathfinder Tales

Bill Ward’s four-part story “The Box” begins at Pathfinder Tales

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pathfindertalesBlack Gate Reviews Editor Bill Ward is a multi-talented gent.

Not only is he one of the most energetic editors in the field, with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of Who’s Who in modern fantasy, but he’s also a very talented writer in his own right.

And Paizo Publishing has given him an opportunity to show off some of that talent by commissioning him to write a story for their Pathfinder Tales Web Fiction line — a weekly presentation of multi-part adventures featuring the exploits of daring denizens of the Pathfinder world.

Bill’s 4-part story is entitled “The Box,” and here’s what he tells us about it:

When a supposedly easy theft goes bad, Kostin Dalackz finds himself caught up in a deadly criminal conspiracy centered on a mysterious, magically locked box. Enlisting the aid of a diverse group of adventurers and rogues, Kostin strikes out to settle accounts — and re-acquire the twice-stolen property. ‘The Box’ is a journey through the seedy underbelly of the city of Magnimar, part of the Pathfinder world setting of Golarion.

Pathfinder Tales Web Fiction are completely free adventure tales that provide a taste of the thrills in Pathfinder Tales novels. Past contributors to their growing online library include Howard Andrew Jones, Dave Gross, Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham, Robin D. Laws, Erik Mona, Monte Cook, and many others.

Part I of “The Box” appeared on Wednesday, Sept 28; Part II is scheduled to be posted tomorrow.  The tale awaits you here.

Tangent Online reviews Matthew David Surridge’s “The Word of Azrael”

Tangent Online reviews Matthew David Surridge’s “The Word of Azrael”

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yearsbest2011Reviewer Nader Elhefnawy at Tangent Online offers a detailed review of the latest volume of Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2011, including Matthew David Surridge’s story from Black Gate 14, “The Word of Azrael.”

In Matthew David Surridge’s “The Word of Azrael” (which first appeared in the Winter issue of Black Gate magazine, an excerpt of which can be read on the magazine’s web site), warrior Isrohim Vey encounters the Angel of Death on the battlefield. Having seen the Angel’s smile once, he spends the rest of his life pursuing another glimpse of it – a colorful, wide-ranging, action- and adventure-filled epic journey in the tradition of Conan the Cimmerian and Elric of Melnibone. The resulting piece is one of the strongest heroic fantasies I have seen in years.

Fine praise indeed, for a terrific story that’s been one of the most acclaimed pieces we’ve published in recent years.

You can read the excerpt from “The Word of Azrael” here, and the complete Black Gate 14 Table of Contents is here.

And you can read more about Rich’s excellent The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2011 here.

Art Evolution 2011: Chuck Lukacs

Art Evolution 2011: Chuck Lukacs

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fire-lukacs-255

Ok, so I work as Art Director here at Black Gate L.A., and that means I get to see a good amount of really fantastic art, especially where Art Evolution is concerned. That being said, it’s not often I get introduced to talent on the magazine that I wasn’t previously aware of. Still, it does happen, and one such artist is Chuck Lukacs.

Now that’s not to say Chuck is new to the fantasy industry, far from it, but as I’ve never been a Magic the Gathering player, and with the mass of D20 D&D books hitting the shelves since 2000, you can’t always identify every artist you see.

Chuck, however, was doing his due diligence during the 2000s, and his talents were recognized by many youthful minds along the way. He’s graced the pages of dozens of RP books, as well as Magic collections, and his art finally made it to me as I read the tales of Morlock the Maker which appeared in the pages of Black Gate’s print edition. Here, Chuck helped define James Enge’s character that would eventually go on to produce full novels in his own right.

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