Browsed by
Category: Books

Spot the Avengers: Age of Ultron Spoiler on the Cover of the 1967 Paperback The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker

Spot the Avengers: Age of Ultron Spoiler on the Cover of the 1967 Paperback The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker

Comments 5 comments
The Avengers Battle the Earth Wrecker-small The Avengers Battle the Earth Wrecker-back-small

I took my kids to see Avengers: Battle of Ultron on Friday, and we heartily enjoyed it. It’s a remarkable funny and ridiculously fast-paced two hours and 20 minutes of superpowered mayhem, and it’s obvious that writer/director Joss Whedon and his cohorts have a genuine love for the source material, as it’s packed with asides and sly references for those who remember the Marvel comic by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Yesterday I was doing what I do every Saturday — sorting piles of old paperbacks — when I stumbled on the 1967 Bantam paperback The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker by Otto Binder. It came from a collection of 52 vintage paperbacks I bought on eBay for fifteen bucks last year (which also included The Unknown, Nine Horrors and a Dream by Joseph Payne Brennan, and Robert Bloch’s Nightmares.) Earth-Wrecker is one of only two Bantam Marvel tie-ins I’m aware of; the other is Captain America: The Great Gold Steal, by Ted White (1968).

The fascinating thing about The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker, though, is that, despite being released nearly 50 years ago, it has a mild spoiler for the Avengers: Age of Ultron right on the cover. If you want to avoid spoilers, just scroll on to the next article. Otherwise, read on.

…

Read More Read More

New Treasures: Ceaseless West

New Treasures: Ceaseless West

Comments 1 comment

Ceaseless West-smallWhile I was pulling together my Wednesday post on Beneath Ceaseless Skies 171, I noticed that editor Scott H. Andrews had just released his latest BCS Anthology, Ceaseless West, a terrific-looking collection of weird western tales — which includes a short story by Black Gate‘s own Matthew David Surridge. I’m a big fan of weird westerns, and this one looks very promising indeed.

A fallen-angel gunslinger must defend a dusty town against hellspawn….

Living trains roam wild off their tracks….

A pious teetotaler widow faces a town’s scorn and a dying boy’s frantic spirit….

An eternal warrior marshal is drawn through time to face that which must be faced….

These and other awe-inspiring Weird Western stories await in Ceaseless West: Weird Western Stories from Beneath Ceaseless Skies Online Magazine, a new ebook anthology of eighteen Weird Western stories from Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Ceaseless West features stories by Kenneth Mark Hoover, Peter Darbyshire, Mark Teppo, E. Catherine Tobler, Aurealis Award finalist and winner Ian McHugh, Shirley Jackson Award finalist Gemma Files, and Hugo Award finalist Saladin Ahmed.

Previous anthologies from BCS include five volumes of Best of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and the steampunk collection Ceaseless Steam.

…

Read More Read More

Future Treasures: The Einstein Prophecy by Robert Masello

Future Treasures: The Einstein Prophecy by Robert Masello

Comments 0 Comment

The Einstein Prophecy-smallRobert Masello is the author of The Medusa Amulet, Bestiary, and other supernatural suspense thrillers… the kinds that usually involve ancient secrets, primordial supernatural powers, and monsters. They sound like the kinds of books that would make great Friday night monster movies (if they still showed monster movies on Friday night.)

His latest, The Einstein Prophecy, mixes a little WWII espionage, an Egyptian tomb, and a dire dire prophecies from Albert Einstein into the mix. It will be released in trade paperback this August.

As war rages in 1944, young army lieutenant Lucas Athan recovers a sarcophagus excavated from an Egyptian tomb. Shipped to Princeton University for study, the box contains mysteries that only Lucas, aided by brilliant archaeologist Simone Rashid, can unlock.

These mysteries may, in fact, defy — or fulfill — the dire prophecies of Albert Einstein himself.

Struggling to decipher the sarcophagus’s strange contents, Lucas and Simone unwittingly release forces for both good and unmitigated evil. The fate of the world hangs not only on Professor Einstein’s secret research but also on Lucas’s ability to defeat an unholy adversary more powerful than anything he ever imagined.

From the mind of bestselling author and award-winning journalist Robert Masello comes a thrilling, page-turning adventure where modern science and primordial supernatural powers collide.

The Einstein Prophecy will be published by 47North on August 1, 2015. It is 336 pages, priced at $14.95 in trade paperback and $4.99 for the digital edition.

Vintage Treasures: Earth’s Last Citadel by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner

Vintage Treasures: Earth’s Last Citadel by C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner

Comments 2 comments
Argosy April 1943-small Fantastic Novels Magazine July 1950-small Earth's Last Citadel Ace 1964-small

Last week I talked about The Watcher at the Door, the upcoming second volume in Stephen Haffner’s The Early Kuttner. By coincidence, I found a copy of the 1983 Ace reprint edition of C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner’s early novel Earth’s Last Citadel — a novel that’s been blessed with some really fine cover art over the decades — a few days later in a small collection I’d purchased on eBay, and I thought it would be fun to track down all the various covers it’s had over the years.

Earth’s Last Citadel first appeared as a four-part serial in Argosy magazine, April-July 1943 (above left, cover artist unknown; click for bigger version.) When I talk about great art, I’m not talking about this cover. But I suppose in 1943, you couldn’t go wrong with a square-jawed G.I. clocking a soldier in a Nazi helmet.

The entire thing was reprinted seven years later in Fantastic Novels Magazine, July 1950, with a cover by Lawrence (above, middle). Collecting pulps wasn’t easy even in the 40s, and if you were unfortunate enough to stumble on one installments a few years later, and wanted to read the rest… God help you. Trying to track down all four issues was no easy task. Fantastic Novels Magazine is one of my favorite pulps for that reason — it collected countless novels that were originally scattered across 3-4 magazines and reprinted them whole. It also commissioned new artwork, much of it, as in this case, by the great Virgil Finlay. Finlay’s full-page pieces for Earth’s Last Citadel (below) are gorgeous, and just as famous as the novel is today.

…

Read More Read More

Blade Runner: Edmond Hamilton’s Tears in the Rain?

Blade Runner: Edmond Hamilton’s Tears in the Rain?

Comments 8 comments
HamiltonReturnToTheStars
“I’ve… seen things you people wouldn’t believe…”

Get this:

I heard the sunrise music that the crystal peaks make above Throon when Canopus comes to warm them. I feasted with the star-kings in the Hall of Stars. And at the end, I led the fleets of the Empire against our enemies, the men from the League of Dark Worlds. I saw the ships die like swarming fireflies off the shores of the Hercules Cluster. I’ve shot the Orion Nebula. I’ve been into the Cloud, where the drowned suns burn in a haze of darkness. I’ve killed men, Doctor. And in that last battle, I —

Oddly familiar? Actually, that’s Gordon’s monologue to his shrink in Edmond Hamilton’s Return to the Stars.

How about this one?

I’ve… seen things you people wouldn’t believe… Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those… moments… will be lost in time, like [small cough] tears… in… rain. Time… to die…

Of course, that’s Roy Batty’s dying monologue in Blade Runner. Hauer is supposed to have improved on the original script, which had…

I have known adventures, seen places you people will never see, I’ve been Offworld and back… frontiers! I’ve stood on the back deck of a blinker bound for the Plutition Camps with sweat in my eyes watching the stars fight on the shoulder of Orion… I’ve felt wind in my hair, riding test boats off the black galaxies and seen an attack fleet burn like a match and disappear. I’ve seen it, felt it…!

…

Read More Read More

Goth Chick News: The Gospel of Loki, Because All Girls Love a Bad Boy

Goth Chick News: The Gospel of Loki, Because All Girls Love a Bad Boy

Comments 0 Comment

The Gospel of Loki-smallI recently had the pleasure of experiencing the only US stop of the touring exhibit Vikings at the Field Museum in Chicago. There I learned much about the Norse “tribe of gods,” which included stories about Odin, the god of war and death, but also the god of wisdom and poetry credited with creating the world. I also learned about Loki, the trickster god and companion of Odin, who helped him with clever plans but sometimes caused a world of trouble (literally).

It is easy to see some similarities between Odin and Loki, and Christianity’s God and Satan, though Norse mythology is far less black and white. Odin and Loki often work together to teach mankind lessons, both directly and through their own failings.

All in all, a fascinating experience.

Which is why I was beyond thrilled to find a package from my friends at Wunderkind, waiting for me when I got home.

The Gospel of Loki, by Joanne M. Harris, is scheduled for release on May 5th and at first, I thought I was going to have a chance to delve deeper into the Norse myth of Loki, which in and of itself would have been a treat.

However, what I really received was so much more fun.

Now this may come as a shock, but my favorite type of humor is that which is liberally tinged with irreverence. In other words, I like no one I like better than someone with the ability to poke fun at topics which are normally taken seriously by everyone else.

…

Read More Read More

New Treasures: Grimm Mistresses edited by Stacey Turner

New Treasures: Grimm Mistresses edited by Stacey Turner

Comments 0 Comment

Grimm Mistresses-smallWhile I was at the Windy City Pulp and Paper show last week, I met a lot of Black Gate readers. Most of them had advice and suggestions of some sort or another. But I think the best piece of advice I got was to check out Ragnarok Publications, who have been producing some terrific work over the last 18 months.

Ragnarok was founded in 2013 by Joe Martin and Tim Marquitz. It was born as a result of the hugely successful Kickstarter campaign for Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters, and it released an astonishing 22 titles in its first year alone — including Django Wexler’s John Golden novels, Kenny Soward’s Gnomesaga trilogy, Seth Skorkowsky Valducan trilogy, and many others. Their books are beautiful and inexpensive, and well worth checking out. Through their Angelic Knight imprint, managed by Stacey Turner, they’ve also produced some very intriguing dark fantasy anthologies, including the new Grimm Mistresses.

Remember the Brothers Grimm? Those dark fairy tales that made you leave the light on long before Disney went and sanitized them? Well, we do! Now the MISTRESSES GRIMM take back the night, five female authors who will leave you shuddering deliciously. Get ready to leave the lights on again with four pieces of short fiction bringing the Brothers Grimm’s tales into the present. Be advised: these aren’t your children’s fairy tales!

CONTENTS
“The Night Air” by Stacey Turner
“Little Dead Red” by Mercedes M. Yardley
“Nectar” by Allison M. Dickson
“Hazing Cinderella” by C.W. LaSart
“The Leopard’s Pelt” by S.R. Cambridge

Ragnarok’s most recent release was Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries. and Rogues, edited by J.M. Martin, which we covered here. Grimm Mistresses was published by Ragnarok Publications on February 23, 2015. It is 238 pages, priced at $11.95 in paperback and $2.99 for the digital edition. The cover art is by Brittany Smith. Learn more at the Ragnarok website.

Future Treasures: The Hollow Queen by Elizabeth Haydon, Book 8 of The Symphony of Ages

Future Treasures: The Hollow Queen by Elizabeth Haydon, Book 8 of The Symphony of Ages

Comments 0 Comment

The Hollow Queen Elizabeth Haydon-smallThe first volume in Elizabeth Haydon’s long-running fantasy series The Symphony of Ages, Rhapsody, was published by Tor Books way back in September, 1999. It was an immediate hit; Publishers Weekly called it “One of the finest high fantasy debuts in years,” and the series quickly became a bestseller.

Over the next 15 years she’s published seven more in the series, mostly recently The Merchant Emperor last June. On May 5th The Merchant Emperor will be reprinted in paperback, and next month Tor releases the eighth installment, The Hollow Queen.

Beset on all sides by the forces of the merchant emperor Talquist, the Cymrian Alliance finds itself in desperate straits. Rhapsody herself has joined the battle, wielding the Daystar Clarion, leaving her True Name in hiding with her infant son. Ashe tries to enlist the aid of the Sea Mages. Within their Citadel of Scholarship lies the White Ivory tower, a spire that could hold the key to unraveling the full extent of Talquist’s machinations. Achmed journeys to the reportedly unassailable palace of Jierna Tal, to kill emperor Talquist–all the while knowing that even if he succeeds, it may not be enough to stop the momentum of the war.

As they struggle to untangle the web of Talquist’s treachery, the leaders of the Cymrian alliance are met with obstacles at every turn. Rhapsody soon realizes that the end of this war will come at an unimaginable price: the lives of those she holds dearest.

The Hollow Queen will be published by Tor Books on June 30, 2015. It is 415 pages, priced at $25.99 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital edition.

Vintage Treasures: The Silken Magic Books by Elizabeth Gilligan

Vintage Treasures: The Silken Magic Books by Elizabeth Gilligan

Comments 0 Comment
Magic's Silken Snare-small The Silken Shroud-small

I published Elizabeth Gilligan’s short story “Iron Joan” in Black Gate 3 (read the complete story here), and it was an immediate hit. The tale of an indomitable woman — the daughter of the High Chief of Glen Cluain, shamed by her father’s house but gifted in her mother’s secret arts — who mysteriously leaves home at seventeen to settle in a tiny village, was a powerful story that SF Reader called “A deep, well-written tale. Highly recommended.”

Elizabeth Gilligan seemed to me like a writer destined for great things, and it wasn’t long before I was proven right. He debut novel, Magic’s Silken Snare, the first volume in Silken Magic, was published by DAW in April 2003, and was widely acclaimed. Locus called it an “Opulent tale and court intrigue and dark magics… [An] excellent first novel,” and Romantic Times said “An alternate Sicily is splendidly revealed… [with] robust characterizations, multiple storylines, and clever delivery.” It was followed by the second volume, The Silken Shroud, in April 2004, and it seemed obvious that this was the beginning of a stellar career.

…

Read More Read More

New Treasures: Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries. and Rogues, edited by J.M. Martin

New Treasures: Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries. and Rogues, edited by J.M. Martin

Comments 4 comments

Blackguards Tales of Assassins Mercenaries and Rogues-smallI first heard about the massive Blackguards anthology, which showcases tales of thieves, rogues and assassins, when Laura Resnick wrote a guest post for us last year, “Living Outside Society’s Rules,” talking about her short story “Friendship,” set in the world of her Silerian trilogy and taking place a few years before the first book, In Legend Born.

I was intrigued… but since then I’ve learned that Blackguards contains stories set in over two dozen fantasy worlds, from writers like Mark Lawrence, Carol Berg, Mark Smylie, Django Wexler, Peter Orullian, and many, many more. This is an unprecedented opportunity to sample some of the most popular and innovative fantasy series on the market today, all in one place. Blackguards was edited by J.M. Martin and published this week by Ragnarok Publications. If you’re at all interested in modern fantasy, this volume is an incredible bargain.

Whether by coin or by blood… YOU WILL PAY.

A fantasy anthology featuring the deadly, the worldly, and the sneaky. Blackguards consists mainly of stories in established series, and the authors range from wildly successful indie authors to New York Times bestsellers. Featuring tales set in the worlds of Michael J. Sullivan’s Riyria, David Dalglish’s Dezrel, Mark Lawrence’s The Broken Empire, Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori, Mark Smylie’s Sword and Barrow, Anthony Ryan’s Raven’s Shadow, Shawn Speakman’s Chronicles of Annwn, Carol Berg’s Sanctuary, James A. Moore’s Seven Forges, Django Wexler’s Shadow Campaigns, Laura Resnick’s Silerian Trilogy, Peter Orullian’s Vault of Heaven, Kenny Soward’s GnomeSaga, Paul S. Kemp’s Egil and Nix, and more! If you enjoy roguish tales of scoundrels and ne’er-do-wells, many of them set in established worlds, Blackguards is for you!

…

Read More Read More