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Epic Fantasy: Notes Toward a Definition

Epic Fantasy: Notes Toward a Definition

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The Hundred Thousand KingdomsWhile one controversy about morality and fantasy was being thrashed out around these parts last week, another, quieter, discussion seemed about to get underway in the fantasy blogosphere. N.K. Jemisin began a discussion about “feminization” (her quote marks), sexual explicitness, and the male gaze in epic fantasy, which also involved considering the ways in which female-authored texts were presented to readers. The conversation was continued in a number of places around the web.

This is a potentially massively interesting topic about which I actually don’t have that much to say — because, in what looks like an example of a feedback loop at work, I haven’t read most of the writers Jemisin and others have mentioned. In fact, though I try to maintain a basic familiarity with contemporary fantasy fiction, many of the names they mention are completely unfamiliar to me. So this certainly goes some distance toward increasing my interest in examining the way certain writers are marketed and reviewed, and I’d like to see this discussion developed further.

What I’d like to contribute here is a bit of possibly-meaningless pedantry about definitions. To ask why certain books, specifically books by women, are not described, categorised, or marketed as epic fantasy means having a solid idea of what epic fantasy is. Jemisin noted that she herself was unsure whether some of the books she thought of as ‘epic’ would actually count for most people as epic fantasy. So what is an epic fantasy?

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TANGENT’s Best of 2010

TANGENT’s Best of 2010

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It’s nice to be noticed…

cthulhus-reignOne of my very own stories has just been included in the TANGENT ONLINE RECOMMENDED READING LIST for 2010. The tale is “This Is How the World Ends,” from the CTHULHU’S REIGN anthology (DAW).

Here’s the complete list.

Every year TANGENT creates such a list, with the goal of “working for you, finding the gold buried in the dross, the diamonds in the dungheap, and bringing these gems to your attention.” This year there are 190 short stories, novellas and novelettes recommended. The site indicates that “for every story you see on this list, there are at least four others that didn’t make the cut.” I am thrilled and honored to be included in the final list. Thanks, guys!

I have to note that there are four other stories from CTHULHU’S REIGN that also made the TANGENT list…for a total of five humdingers. A real indication of just how good this Cthulhoid anthology truly is.

(I would only add that Laird Barron’s “Vastation” really should be on the list as well…the mad genius of Laird’s story was one of the book’s most mind-blowing moments for me.)

stAlso on the list is a terrific story by an amazing writer, “In the Dreaming House” by Darrell Schweitzer, which ran in SPACE & TIME #110. Nobody writes a dark fantasy tale like Darrell…he is a true Master. BTW, you can still order this issue from the SPACE & TIME website. I’ve also got a new story, “The Gnomes of Carrick County,” coming up in S&T later this year. http://spaceandtimemagazine.com/wp/

Finally, there are several stories from BLACK GATE on the list…continuing to show how BG is one of the most important and vital fantasy mags in existence today. Carry on, Gents!

Peace,

John

Goth Chick Crypt Notes: Hell Rises Again

Goth Chick Crypt Notes: Hell Rises Again

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drive-angryWith March just around the corner there’s a tiny whiff of spring in the air and here at the Black Gate offices this means attention spans are running even shorter than normal.

With the boys busy sniffing last year’s Hawaiian shirts for potential (and highly unlikely) freshness, and polishing off the last of the Amber Ale to make room in the communal fridge for the MGD 64, all thoughts have turned to flip-flop and cargo shorts weather, leaving room for additional content at Blackgate.com.

Therefore, to save myself having to listen to one more chorus of “Marguerita-ville,” I’m shutting myself up with the espresso machine in the underground offices of Goth Chick News.

My plan is to pass the time down here until May by bringing you one additional helping of extra gooey, pop-culture goodness each week.

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The Desert of Souls Now Available in Kindle Edition

The Desert of Souls Now Available in Kindle Edition

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desert-of-souls21Howard Andrew Jones’ first novel The Desert of Souls is now available in Kindle format through Amazon.com’s online store.

The Kindle edition is priced at just $11.99, a thirteen dollar discount from the hardcover.

Rave reviews continue to pour in for The Desert of Souls, including these recent comments from some well-known fantasy authors:

“A grand and wonderful adventure filled with exotic magic and colorful places — like a cross between Sinbad and Indiana Jones.” — Kevin J. Anderson

“Like the genie of the lamp, Howard Jones has granted this reader’s wish for a fresh, exciting take on the venerable genre of sword-and-sorcery!” — Richard A. Knaak

“Howard Andrew Jones spins an exciting and suspenseful tale in his historical fantasy debut. A rich, detailed tapestry — part Arthur Conan Doyle, part Robert E. Howard, and part Omar Khayyam, woven in the magical thread of One Thousand And One Nights.” — E.E. Knight

The upcoming Black Gate 15 will excerpt the first two chapters of The Desert of Souls. But don’t wait — order your copy today!

Blogging Sax Rohmer’s The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu, Part Six – “The Silver Buddha”

Blogging Sax Rohmer’s The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu, Part Six – “The Silver Buddha”

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silver-buddha-full“The Silver Buddha” was the sixth installment of Sax Rohmer’s Fu-Manchu and Company. The story was first published in Collier’s on May 15, 1915 and was later expanded to comprise Chapters 18-20 of the second Fu-Manchu novel, The Devil Doctor first published in the UK in 1916 by Cassell and in the US by McBride & Nast under the variant title, The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu.returnofdrfumanchu

The story sets off at a frantic pace with a desperate Dr. Petrie returning to J. Salaman’s antique shop on Museum Street where he believes he glimpsed Karamaneh in the previous installment. Petrie has foolishly decided to investigate the shop without informing Nayland Smith of his plans.

Posing as an antique collector, he is compelled to handle a silver Buddha that the shopkeeper tells him has already been sold. The statuette in question releases a concealed door and Petrie unexpectedly finds himself face to face with Dr. Fu-Manchu.

 

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Goth Chick News: Satan Needs GPS

Goth Chick News: Satan Needs GPS

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image0021Fueled by several adult beverages, someone recently asked me what I would take with me, should I know in advance that I was about to be stranded on a deserted island.

The question was a set up, so this highly evolved individual could answer his own question with “beer.”

Partially to be a smart ass, but mostly because it was the truth, my answer was “a copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and PEZ.”

PEZ immediately came to mind for tiny little bites of happiness that always lift my spirits, whether eaten out of my Wolfman dispenser or not. Hitchhikers, being one of my most often quoted book / TV epic / radio show is never far from being an answer to any query. However, I thought of it even quicker than usual being that I’m currently listening to the audio book for about the hundredth time.

It never, ever gets old, especially with the late, great Douglas Adams reading it to me.

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Art of the Genre: Outsourcing Art

Art of the Genre: Outsourcing Art

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Last year I was in a pickle concerning a project I’d been working on for a decade. I was looking to complete a demo deck of a card game but to do that I needed art. Art, however, isn’t cheap, and although I had a dozen established friends in the industry who were artists, even ‘friend’ rates for color renderings were running minimally just over one-hundred dollars per card. With one-hundred fifteen individual pieces, that would come to $12,650 just for art.

David Deitrick sets the tone for my game by channeling a little Michelle Rodriguez
David Deitrick sets the tone for my game by channeling a little Michelle Rodriguez

During a discourse with David Deitrick, we talked over numbers and what some of his art might look like. I invested the going rate of $110 to see what I’d be getting for the game because I thought David’s talents lent very well to the post-apocalyptic theme.

David did up this wonderful piece, and although I loved the style, in the end there was no way I could afford to pay him for the entire project. Knowing that all my other artist contacts were in the same range or much higher, I did what any red-blooded entrepreneur would, I looked to outsource.

The advent of the Internet has made finding artists easy, just take a look at a full world of ready to employ artists on DeviantArt or Elance. It’s simple, just log in, find a message board, post what you want, and let the portfolios flow in.

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Howard Andrew Jones reviews Far Avalon RPG

Howard Andrew Jones reviews Far Avalon RPG

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csrt0043-far_avalon-1In honor of the coming conclusion of Howard Andrew Jones month (no relation) here at Black Gate, we present another fine game review from his vast oeuvre of gaming reviews in Black Gate 14.  This review is an interesting contrast to his earlier review of the space adventure game Traveller.

Far Avalon

Martin Dougherty
Avenger/Comstar Games (313 pp, $17.99 PDF, 2009)
Reviewed by Howard Andrew Jones

Martin Dougherty’s one of the best writers that Traveller’s ever had. He’s been responsible for a number of outstanding supplements, from introductory adventures like the deceptively dully titled Type-S to Mongoose’s new Spinward Marches – a book wherein Dougherty had to bring 16 subsectors of Traveller space to life – to the truly phenomenal, and sadly out-of-print-too-soon Gateway to Destiny supplement from QLI. Martin has a knack for bringing his places to life with interesting challenges and adventure hooks, even canon Traveller worlds that long seemed dull in the hands of other writers. I think highly enough of his work that I go out of my way to read new supplements with his name on it.

Far Avalon is a game setting with sectors and spaceships, but it’s not Traveller.

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Nebula: It Rhymes with Amalebula (sort of)

Nebula: It Rhymes with Amalebula (sort of)

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amalOur own Amal El-Mohtar, who has blogged for us about Saladin Ahmed and Fantasy in the Middle East, and about whom our other own Patty Templeton has blogged, has received a Nebula Award nomination for her short story, “The Green Book.”

So, first of all, YIPPEE!!! Regardless of outcome, I have promised to make her a TIARA fashioned from the ANDROMEDA GALAXY, with the Flame Nebula for a center stone! This will take mighty sorcery, so if you see any explosions coming from the direction of Palatine, Illinois… run.

honeymonth1And second of all, here’s where you can read “The Green Book” online. It first appeared in the November 2010 issue of Apex Magazine, edited by Cat Valente.

And third of all, Rich Horton will be reprinting “The Green Book” in his upcoming anthology, The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, so there will soon be an opportunity to HOLD it and LOVE it and sleep with it UNDER YOUR PILLOW!

(…I mean, not that you ALL have to do that. Some of us have a long-term intimacy with Ms. El-Mohtar’s fiction and poetry. Some of us have signed copies of The Honey Month. Not to make you jealous or anything. ‘Cause, you know, jealousy’s the green-eyed monster and all. So beware. )

Again, Amal — one thousand congratulations on your pretty head!

How to Support Peter S. Beagle with The Last Unicorn Blu-ray

How to Support Peter S. Beagle with The Last Unicorn Blu-ray

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last-unicorn-blu-rayToday is the street date for the Blu-ray release of The Last Unicorn, the 1982 Rankin/Bass-ITC Entertainment animated film version of Peter S. Beagle’s classic 1968 fantasy novel, for which Beagle also wrote the screenplay. After a poor-quality DVD release in 2004, which came from inadequate masters and was presented pan & scan, Lionsgate Entertainment released an excellent two-disc DVD in 2007 as a 25th Anniversary Edition. Now that version is making the leap to 1080 lines of resolution for the new generation of Hi-Def presentation.

But, if you plan on purchasing either the new Blu-ray disc (which includes a DVD copy) or the still available two-disc DVD, please buy them through Conlan Press, the company owned by Connor Cochran, Peter Beagle’s business manager.

Why? As Conlan Press explains on the page for the 25th Anniversary DVD:

Except for the copies that were purchased through Conlan Press via this website, or at Peter’s sales table at various conventions, none of the other Last Unicorn DVDs have ever paid him a cent. That’s right — at least 1.5 million DVDs have been sold around the world since 1999, and only the 4,000 copies sold here have earned him any money. From all the rest, Peter has gotten absolutely nothing.

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