Browsed by
Category: Blog Entry

Voices in Fantasy Literature, Part 1

Voices in Fantasy Literature, Part 1

Comments 4 comments

Apex Magazine March 2013-smallI have gone through phases of reading adventure fantasy, planetary romance, smoke and sorcery and epic fantasy. These sub-genres pack serious power.

Adventure fantasy is an adrenaline hit. Planetary romances like A Princess of Mars are shots of heroic wish fulfillment. And smoke and sorcery wallow in the grit of a spaghetti western.

I also go through phases where I’m looking for the emotional power and the subtle voice and character work of more literary fantasy. I recently read three pieces of short fantasy that hit me hard for different reasons. All are available online for free.

The first was “If You Were My Dinosaur, My Love” by Rachel Swirsky, Apex Magazine, March, 2013. Swirsky’s whimsical voice captivates the reader with a sing-song charm, but subversively so. The very brief story rolls faster and faster down a hill, on its way to a powerful cliff.

Here’s a sample to give you a taste of its romantic, earnest strangeness:

If you were a T-Rex, then I would become a zookeeper so that I could spend all my time with you. I’d bring you raw chickens and live goats. I’d watch the gore shining on your teeth. I’d make my bed on the floor of your cage, in the moist dirt, cushioned by leaves. When you couldn’t sleep, I’d sing you lullabies.

…

Read More Read More

The Finest Sword & Sorcery: Announcing the Winners of the Stalking the Beast Contest

The Finest Sword & Sorcery: Announcing the Winners of the Stalking the Beast Contest

Comments 4 comments

Pathfinder Tales Stalking the Beast-smallLast month we invited Black Gate readers to tell us about the best sword & sorcery tale they’d ever read, in one paragraph or less.

In return, we offered to award a copy of Howard Andrew Jones’ terrific new Pathfinder Tales book, Stalking the Beast, the follow-up to his hit Pathfinder release Plague of Shadows from Paizo Publishing, to five lucky winners.

Those five winners were randomly drawn from the list of all qualified entrants.

Before we announce the winners, let’s have a look at some of the story suggestions. As much as we’d like to, we can’t reprint all the entries we received, so we’ll limit it to the 10 we found most insightful, well written, or intriguing. In the interest of diversity, we’ll limit our sampling to one entry for each author or major work. (But fret not — all qualifying entries received before December 1st were included in the drawing.)

We’ll start with David Kahler, who kicks things off in excellent fashion with the tales of Fritz Leiber:

My favorite Sword and Sorcery book is Fritz Leiber’s Swords Against Wizardry, a Fafhrd and Grey Mouser tale. From the very beginning, when the pair consult an old hag ( because, according to Fafhrd, before embarking on any great enterprise, it’s customary to consult a warlock or witch”) to the Lords of Quarmall and the battles with Hasjarl’s wizards, Swords Against Wizardry is (IMHO) one of the best of Leiber’s tales. His prose is superb, and the action sequences just as good. Fafhrd and Grey Mouser epitomize the “Neutral-Good” actions of adventurers who (even while they seek to enrich themselves) strive to do the right thing even if the “wrong” course of action would have been easier and more convenient. Thanks for the opportunity to win HAJ’s latest book! I always enjoy finding new reads and authors on your site. Keep up the good work!

You’re most welcome, David. Thanks for the enthusiastic entry — and good luck!

…

Read More Read More

Sword Sisters: A Partnership, a Prequel, a Picture Show, and a Print Run

Sword Sisters: A Partnership, a Prequel, a Picture Show, and a Print Run

Comments 6 comments
> The first Red Reaper novel from Tara Cardinal and Alex Bledsoe is prequel to the 2014 movie The Legend of the Red Reaper
The first Red Reaper novel from Tara Cardinal and Alex Bledsoe is the prequel to the 2014 movie The Legend of the Red Reaper. Click for bigger version

Tara Cardinal has quite a story to share. And now she has a novel too. They’re not quite the same thing — but they have a lot in common.

Her, for instance. The actress/writer/director pours everything she is into her stories, and once a person knows them both, the interplay between them is obvious. Passion is a way of life for Tara, and she instills in her projects and the people around her a thirst for it.

This is not the sum of her though. Tara does all her own stunts AND swordplay, she added directing to her resume on the fly, learned how to write the score, edited the film, and interested Uwe Boll into co-producing the movie The Legend of the Red Reaper with her. Then she hit upon an idea to write a story prequel to the movie she’d written and created.  She sketched it out, discovered Alex Bledsoe wandering the same Sword & Sorcery super-aisle, and the rest is history. (Alex offers a bit of a better description of how it all worked out over on his site.)

Alex just so happened to have recently worked with RBE on Writing Fantasy Heroes, and so introductions were made, and the work began. It wasn’t long before the manuscript was going through edit exchanges, the art was being penciled & inked, and both interior and cover layout was being described, revised, and delivered.

But wait! There’s even more to the story. Tara’s passion isn’t for writing, directing, even acting. It’s for empowering children and young women in pursuit of her dream of making the world a better, happier place. The martial artist and swordswoman is also a humanitarian, psychologist, and child advocate. From the age of 12, Tara has always been about defending, assisting, and benefiting children survivors of abuse, illness, and disaster.

Best of all, Tara’s rolled all that passion, all that experience, and all those goals into a Sword & Sorcery novel that delivers the sword-swinging, monster-slaying, ancient god-defying, and good ol’ fun we Black Gaters (hmm, sounds like a football team name to me!) expect — and she’s done that while also delivering Aella, a young woman protagonist who struggles with identity, destiny, belonging, and confidence simultaneous with racial, familial, and sexual tensions.

Aella is not your everyday chain-mail bikini warrior — she’s the heroine every young woman experiencing her own struggles with identity, belonging, confidence, and belief can look up to and emulate.

Forgotten Heroes of Pulp Fiction: Jim Maitland

Forgotten Heroes of Pulp Fiction: Jim Maitland

Comments 2 comments

JimMaitlandisland of terror hcWorld War I veteran, H. C. McNeile (better known by his nom de plume of “Sapper”) was a bestselling author of the last century whose works are quickly fading into obscurity.

His most famous creation, Bulldog Drummond is best remembered for the old-time movie and radio series rather than the nearly twenty novels where the character first appeared. “Sapper” also wrote numerous stories and books about a Holmes-like consulting detective, Ronald Standish as well as two books about Jim Maitland, the monocle-wearing two-fisted defender of honor who personified the ideals of the British Empire while traveling abroad.

…

Read More Read More

Goth Chick News: Godzilla Geek Out – More on the First Trailer for 2014 Remake

Goth Chick News: Godzilla Geek Out – More on the First Trailer for 2014 Remake

Comments 4 comments

Godzilla 2014 Poster 2-smallFifteen years ago a horrific monstrosity was loosed on an unsuspecting public. It was huge and ghastly and made you want to avert your eyes.

And it starred Matthew Broderick.

Yes, I am referring to the 1998 “American” remake of Godzilla, which outraged fans nicknamed  G.I.N.O., an acronym for “Godzilla in Name Only,” to ensure it would never be confused with the original source material.

To be fair, there were two good things about the film. One, even with an estimated budget of $130M it did at least break even in the US, pulling in $136M. Second, TriStar Pictures was able to keep all the velociraptor special effects guys employed (they had recently been laid off following the release of Jurassic Park: Lost World in 1997).

However what happened this week may finally eradicate the revulsion from our collective memories.

As my co-worker Ryan Harvey announced on Tuesday (by jumping up and roaring “out loud with him at the top of my lungs”… while at work), Legendary and Warner Brothers released the trailer for their 2014 Godzilla reboot and it looks pretty epic. Considering how long it took me to actually access it, there is clearly a whole lot of interest in seeing what will happen with the iconic monster this time around.

Monsters‘ special effects guru, Gareth Edwards writes the story and directs an eclectic cast including Elizabeth Olsen (Kill Your Darlings), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) and Juliette Binoche (The English Patient).

…

Read More Read More

Understanding Tolkien: Why His Landscapes Work

Understanding Tolkien: Why His Landscapes Work

Comments 7 comments
hobbit-book-cover
…the story and the world it articulates, rocks.

There’s no better way to experience the distinction between text and structure than to go back to the roots of our genre.

A few years ago, as a result of a spectacular parenting own-goal, The Hobbit -– a battered old copy that Mrs Harold-Page’s father once purchased for 8s 6d –- ended up as our five year old son’s bedtime story.

It was near midnight, and we were trying to coax our overtired insomniac little boy into sleep mode. I thought, Let’s read something that will hold his attention, but be so far over his head as to hypnotise him into dozing off. Instead, of course, the little blighter perked up and asked enough questions to understand what was going on. The following night — at a more reasonable time — he wanted The Hobbit again. I pointed out it was a bit old for him. Could he even remember the last thing that happened?

They got captured by trolls, but Gandalf did this voice then another voice and the trolls argued until the sun came up and they turned to stone…Is that Smaug on the cover, Daddy?

So, The Hobbit it was.

Reading the Hobbit is a bit like listening to Bill Haley and the Comets. The beat is there, but the delivery — though charming and skilled — is not quite right to the modern taste.

The Hobbit is packed with Herodotian ring composition, editorializing, explicit allusions to the character’s future, and lots of “telling” rather than “showing,” all of which distance us from the story.

Worse, Gandalf is the only person who really does anything until well into the book. It’s page 62 before Thorin even strikes a goblin, and he does that off screen, and in narrative summary — imagine how Robert E Howard would have handled that…

Even so, the story and the world it articulates, rocks.

…

Read More Read More

The Rebirth of Ares Magazine

The Rebirth of Ares Magazine

Comments 5 comments

Ares Magazine 2014-smallIn the early ’80’s, Simulation Publications, Inc. (aka SPI) published a magazine named Ares. It included science fiction and fantasy along with articles and a complete game in every issue. It was short-lived, lasting only 19 issues, and Dragon revived it briefly within its own pages as an Ares section (see our review of issue #3 of the original magazine, featuring the game Barbarian Kings). And so it remained as an intriguing concept that simply ceased publication.

But that wasn’t the last hope for Ares. As Yoda would say, “No, there is another.” One Small Step Games, under Michael Anderson, decided to venture into remaking the old magazine. “The big idea is to fill a void,” says Anderson, “a new magazine that combines a standalone, unique, playable board game in every issue with a collection of spectacular, new fiction.”

With pay rates of five cents per word, Ares is serious about finding great fiction. Their preferred genres include fantasy, science fiction, horror, and pulp adventure.

They plan on publishing bi-monthly, and each issue will include 80 pages of fiction and other content, wrapped around the playable game. The first game will be War of the Worlds by independent game designer Bill Banks.

On January 1, Ares will launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding for this endeavor. If successful, the target delivery date for the first issue is May 1, 2014.

A magazine of speculative fiction AND a playable game? That sounds like a great combination to me.

Check out their website for more information: Ares Magazine.

The Series Series: Seven Forges by James A. Moore

The Series Series: Seven Forges by James A. Moore

Comments 7 comments

Seven Forges-smallThis is your book. The books I’ve reviewed in the Series Series so far have had many virtues, and some of them have been exactly my sort of thing, but in most cases, I’ve had to include a caveat about how they might not be your sort of thing. This time I can say, if you’re a regular reader at Black Gate, the book I’m reviewing is exactly your bucket of grog.

James A. Moore dedicates Seven Forges in part “to the memory of Fritz Leiber and Robert E. Howard for the inspiration.” That dedication sets the bar high, and caused me a bit of readerly apprehension, because so many writers have imitated badly those two greats of the sword and sorcery tradition. Moore is far more than an imitator, though. He does some fresh, counterintuitive things with the genre conventions. More than once, he startled me into saying out loud, “I didn’t see that coming.”

The weirdest thing about this first volume of what will clearly be a series about a total war on a cosmic scale — complete with an entire national pantheon consisting only of war gods — is that most of the book consists of a troubled but earnest effort at establishing peace. Our hero Merros Dulver leads an expedition from a stable empire that hasn’t faced a truly threatening enemy in over a thousand years into the Blasted Lands, where the last batch of now-mythic enemies used to live. The Fellein Empire once mastered sorceries so reminiscent of nuclear weapons, I briefly wondered whether Seven Forges might be far-future science fiction in disguise.

But the people who live on the far side of the Blasted Lands would be right at home in Robert E. Howard’s Hyboria. Conan might have seen in them a civilization he could love — if civilization is the right word for the Sa’ba Taalor. In a hidden valley surrounded by volcanic mountains that are also sort of gods, which are also sort of the ruins of the seven cities destroyed in the distant past, the Sa’ba Taalor have spent the past thousand years in the pursuit of perfect individual excellence in all the arts of war. Their gods saved them from the cataclysm, and ever since, the Sa’ba Taalor have repaid their gods with perfect obedience of divine law, and, for that matter, divine whim. These gods give prophecies, speak directly into the minds of their worshippers, perform geological miracles, and do other, stranger things that remain intriguing mysteries at the novel’s end. Above all, the seven gods of the Seven Forges require constant readiness for ass-kicking.

…

Read More Read More

Seductive Sorceress Queens, Decadent Civilizations, and Moon-lit Brawls: A Review of Bloodstone by Karl Edward Wagner

Seductive Sorceress Queens, Decadent Civilizations, and Moon-lit Brawls: A Review of Bloodstone by Karl Edward Wagner

Comments 13 comments

Bloodstone Karl Edward Wagner-smallI love used book shops. And when I say love, I damn well mean love; anything that offers me a Kane Book for less than a pound is pretty much saying ‘I do’ in my book. You just can’t buy that kind of passion, unless you happen to offer me a Kane book for under a…. oh, never mind!

Now, if you’re a bit of a fantasy connoisseur (and if you’re reading this you probably are) you’ve likely heard of Kane, or at least Karl Edward Wagner; the guy’s novels sell for an arm and a leg on Amazon and are showered with praise at every turn. So you can understand my excitement upon finding the book, and my anticipation when I opened it up.

The story follows Kane as he stumbles upon an intriguing ring during a raid. His interest piqued, Kane investigates further and finds that it is actually linked to a legendary giant gem named ‘Bloodstone’ which would, apparently, look really nice in his front garden. Needless to say Kane decides to look for it, and his search leads him to an ancient city somewhere in a forest, one that serves as a kind of no man’s land for two warring leaders: Malchion, and Dribeck.

What follows is some seriously top-notch sword and sorcery; the first few chapters are brilliant, filled to the brim with Gothic imagery and seductive sorceress queens, decadent civilizations, moon-lit brawls with lurid beasts; all the good stuff that made me fall in love with the genre. It’s got everything: mysticism, super-science, monsters, a lost city, and an ancient civilization.

And the first couple of skirmishes with a race of lizard men, the Rillyti, (who happen to be the very same lizard men who made Bloodstone) are all excellently done, filled with a real unpredictability, and a truly tangible sense of danger. It really reads like something you’d find in the pages of Weird Tales, alongside the latest Conan tale, or Solomon Kane’s newest yarn.

And it’s great fun. The kind that is a lot harder to find today (a few exceptions aside). At this stage, the thunder in its pacing was audible, the weight of its sword blows palpable, the dirt and grit and grime of its world was seeping into the room. And I loved every moment.

So why, Mr Wagner, why oh why, did you slow it down?

…

Read More Read More

My Favorite Dragons

My Favorite Dragons

Comments 13 comments

Dragonslayer poster-smallDragons.

These creatures of legend have captivated our imaginations from the dawn of time. A staple of fantasy literature and culture, they embody power, majesty, and perilous danger.

I’d like to share with you some of my favorites, in no particular order.

Smaug (The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien)

Ah, old Smaug. Wrecker of dwarven homes and stealer of treasures. I can still remember the rapture with which I read this book as a child, with all Bilbo’s misadventures leading him toward an epic confrontation with this ancient wyrm.

Without a doubt, Smaug triggered a fascination with dragons that has lasted my entire life. And now with The Hobbit movies coming out, I can re-live that joy in its full splendor on the big screen.

Vermithrax Pejorative (Dragonslayer, Touchstone Pictures)

I saw this movie as a kid, fresh off my love-affair with Smaug. Even though we see precious little of the beast until the final act, just the sounds of its breath rising from the ground and the reactions of the various characters to its presence fill the movie with a wonderful sense of anticipation.

And the final battle between wizard and dragon is pretty damned good for its time. Definitely, a diamond in the rough.

…

Read More Read More