Books – Page 585 – Black Gate

The Desert of Souls Now Available in Kindle Edition

Saturday, February 26, 2011 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Howard 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!

Win One of Five Copies of The Desert of Souls

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

While the festitivites of Howard Andrew Jones month continue with no slowdown here at Black Gate HQ (if you don’t count those two hours Sunday night when we had to turn off the lights and hide out from the Chicago PD), mail continues to pour in from readers with the sad refrain, “How can we get in on this terrific Howard Andrew Jones action?”

Now you can — courtesy of Thomas Dunne Books, who are sponsoring a giveaway of Howard’s breakthrough first novel The Desert of Souls, featuring Dabir & Asim, the brave adventurers who originally appeared in Black Gate 10 (in “Sight of Vengeance“), and in Black Gate 12 (“Whispers From the Stone“).

How do you enter? Easy!

Just visit the contest website and fill out the simple entry form. All entries must be received by March 1, 2011 11:59 p.m. EST, and all entrants must have a valid email address.

From all eligible entries Thomas Dunne Books will hold a random drawing on March 2, 2011. Five winners will be chosen; each will receive a hardcover copy of The Desert of Souls. Winners will be notified by e-mail.

Are we good to you, or what? (The answer is “Yes.”) Don’t thank us; it’s our job.

Good luck in the contest. And keep celebrating Howard Andrew Jones month, party faithful.

A review of Changeling by Roger Zelazny

Monday, February 21, 2011 Isabel Pelech Comments 2 comments

changeling

Changeling, by Roger Zelazny
Ace Books (251 pages, $2.95, June 1980)

I don’t know how the idea got started, but I’ve seen a number of books where magic is seen as a force fundamentally opposed to technology. It doesn’t always make sense to me, since “technology” is an extremely diverse thing, but it makes for some good stories — not to mention a decent limitation for characterrs who would otherwise become much too powerful. Changeling, by Roger Zelazny, is built on this concept.

The story starts with the defeat and death of a sorcerer called Det, Lord of Rondoval. The conquering forces seriously consider killing his infant son as well, but they find another solution.

Thousands of years ago, the world split into two seperate dimensions, one ruled by magic, the other by technology. If the baby were sent to the technological dimension, his sorcerous potential wouldn’t endanger anyone.

Of course, something else living would have to be brought back from that world to maintain the balance.

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Arabian Culture Myth as Fantasy: Tor.com interviews Howard Andrew Jones

Saturday, February 19, 2011 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

We ran out of bubbly grape juice by Friday morning, but that hasn’t stopped the non-stop celebration of Howard Andrew Jones month here at the Black Gate rooftop headquarters.

Today we’ve been clustered around computers reading the lengthy and far-ranging interview with Howard at Tor.com, which covers Howard’s literary inspirations, his research methods, and how long years toiling for Black Gate molded him into the literary titan he is today:

Are there other novels that inspired this series? Perhaps in unexpected ways?

Tthe books I’ve read the most times are probably Leiber’s collection of Lankhmar stories, Swords Against Death, and Zelazny’s Amber books… I can’t imagine that Leiber and Zelazny haven’t had a lasting influence upon me. I love the world building and pulp noir sensibilities of Leigh Brackett, queen of space opera, who was writing of Firefly-like characters twenty and thirty years before Han Solo every reached the silver screen.

How would you say your career as an editor at Black Gate has helped shape you as an author?

That’s an interesting question. I suppose it’s gotten me to think about the starts to stories even more than I was already. I see a lot more beginnings than I do endings, to be honest. That’s just the way it works when you’re reading submissions. The biggest impact, though, probably comes from the number of people I’ve had the privilege to meet thanks to Black Gate’s John O’Neill… I think my writing career would have had a much harder time getting launched without my work with the magazine and the Harold Lamb collections.

The complete interview (and an absolutely smashing photo of Howard in a paisley shirt) is here.

Larry Nolen’s Best Heroic Fantasy of 2010

Saturday, February 19, 2011 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

Over at Locus Online Larry Nolen’s, editor of The OF Blog, has posted his rundown on the Best Heroic Fantasy of 2010:

Heroic or high fantasy, whether it appears under the guise of multi-volume “epics” or the shorter-length Sword and Sorcery fantasies, is often overlooked when it comes to judging a year’s best. Due to the outsized conflicts and emphasis in most such stories on plot over theme or minute characterization, such stories cannot be judged in the same fashion as a realist or surreal fiction. Heroic fantasies depend much more upon immersive experiences for the reader to enjoy the unfolding narratives. Resembling more cinematic serials in their wide scope, plot-driven action, and formulaic characters and situations, heroic fantasies have long appealed to readers…

In his follow-up to the acclaimed reimagining of Xenophon’s history of the Greek Ten Thousand, The Ten Thousand, Paul Kearney in Corvus revisits the world of the Macht over two decades after the heroic events of the first novel… Kearney masterfully reveals Rictus’ conflicts, his reluctant assumption of command in Corvus’ army, and the terrible events that sunder him from all which he has loved. Corvus is perhaps one of the best character-driven heroic fantasy novels published in recent years.

Some great titles on this list, including a few I might have overlooked.

The complete list, including titles from N.K. Jemisin, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, Ian Cameron Esslemont, and Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders, is here.

Internal, External Conflict Ignite Cornwell’s The Burning Land

Thursday, February 17, 2011 Brian Murphy Comments 3 comments

“Our gods prefer feasting. They live, Uhtred. They live and laugh and enjoy, and what does their god do? He broods, he’s vengeful, he scowls, he plots. He’s a dark and lonely god, Uhtred, and our gods ignore him. They’re wrong.”

–Bernard Cornwell, The Burning Land

burning-land-us-cover2 Conflict — internal to fictional protagonist Uhtred of Bebbanburg, and external to blood-soaked, fire-ravaged Britain — burns brightly in The Burning Land, the fifth and latest entry in Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories, a partially fictionalized chronicle of the real-life Viking invasions that swept Dark Ages Britain.

A Saxon-raised-Dane, Uhtred is a microcosm of the rough mixing of Christianity and pagan culture that occurred in war-torn ninth century Britain. Uhtred is a Saxon whose father was killed in a Danish raid. Taken prisoner as a thrall to the Dane Earl Ragnar and raised hard, he nevertheless grows to love the Danes. Although they’re ferocious raiders, the Danes drink deep of life, scorn Christian virtues of humility and pity, and worship the pagan gods of Thor and Odin (they expect less of their followers than the one God, and leave more leeway for fun).

But Uhtred’s loyalties are torn. His hereditary home is the Northern kingdom of Bebbanburg and his peoples are Saxon. Over the course of the series he comes to respect the coldly pious and serious, but brilliant and fair King Alfred of Wessex (Alfred the Great) and at times reject the occasionally murderous habits of the Danish warlords.

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Howard Andrew Jones on John Scalzi’s Big Idea

Thursday, February 17, 2011 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Howard Andrew Jones month continues with no let up in pace. Tuesday Howard published a novel and a magazine review; yesterday he held his first book signing (in Terre Haute, Indiana) and conducted an interview with Black Gate‘s Bill Ward.

Today Howard is the subject of The Big Idea at John Scalzi’s blog:

Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russel’s brilliant portrayal of 8th century Baghdad (in issue 50 of The Sandman) brought that particular locale into sharp focus for me. Arts, mathematics, poetry, and science blossomed during the golden age of the Abbasid caliphate, while Europe wallowed in the the poverty, illiteracy, and disease of a Dark Age. Yet there were still plenty of blank spaces on middle-eastern maps, filled in by glorious storytelling. Men and women lived ordinary civilized lives, but they knew that the supernatural might lurk in the neighboring kingdom, or around any street corner…

The Desert of Souls came into being as an origin story, not just about how the characters met, but how Dabir and Asim came to depend upon one another. Two men are caught up in events bigger than themselves and in their journey they learn to work together so they have the strength to face a terrible evil. It takes place against the technicolor backdrop of the Arabian Nights, complete with lost cities and sweeping deserts, scheming sorcerers, implacable djinn, and secrets men were not meant to know. There’s romance and heartbreak, swashbuckling action, and hard won victories… In brief, it’s an adventure with the kind of elements I’ve always loved.

There’s no stopping him. Today Scalzi’s blog — tomorrow, the world.

You can read the complete post here.

Are Joe Abercrombie’s Novels “Poison to Both the Reader’s Mind and Culture?”

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 John ONeill Comments 56 comments

So I’ve been enjoying the fascinating debate on modern epic fantasy between Leo Grin and author Joe Abercrombie. It opened with Leo’s absorbing essay on what he sees as the profound flaws in modern fantasy in general:

I used to think I was a fan of the genre known today as fantasy, and specifically the subgenres of High Fantasy and Sword-and-Sorcery… But it was only recently, after decades of ever-increasing reading disappointment, that I grudgingly began to admit the truth: I don’t particularly care for fantasy per se. What I actually cherish is something far more rare: the elevated prose poetry, mythopoeic subcreation, and thematic richness that only the best fantasy achieves, and that echoes in important particulars the myths and fables of old. This realization eliminates, at a stroke, virtually everything written under the banner of fantasy today.

And in writers like Joe Abercrombie in particular:

Think of a Lord of the Rings where, after stringing you along for thousands of pages, all of the hobbits end up dying of cancer contracted by their proximity to the Ring, Aragorn is revealed to be a buffoonish puppet-king of no honor and false might, and Gandalf no sooner celebrates the defeat of Sauron than he executes a long-held plot to become the new Dark Lord of Middle-earth, and you have some idea of what to expect should you descend into Abercrombie’s jaded literary sewer.

Joe has responded to this description with typical humor:

That sounds … kind of interesting to me, actually, but I dimly percieve that Leo doesn’t like it. Your mileage may vary, of course. But why all the fury, Leo? Relax. Pour yourself a drink. Admire your unrivalled collection of Frank Frazetta prints for a while. Wrestle the old blood pressure down. When an old building is demolished to make way for a new, I can see the cause of upset… But books don’t work that way. If I choose to write my own take on fantasy, what gets destroyed?

As he has done in the past, Leo lays the blame for many of the ills of the modern era on liberals.

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The Desert of Souls Released Today

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

Howard Andrew Jones’ novel arrives in bookstores today.

Copies arrived here in the Black Gate offices last week, and it is a beautiful, beautiful book. Here’s the jacket copy, just because I think it’s cool:

The glittering tradition of sword-and-sorcery sweeps into the sands of ancient Arabia with the heart-stopping speed of a whirling dervish in this thrilling debut novel from new talent Howard Andrew Jones.

In 8th century Baghdad, a stranger pleads with the vizier to safeguard the bejeweled tablet he carries, but he is murdered before he can explain. Charged with solving the puzzle, the scholar Dabir soon realizes that the tablet may unlock secrets hidden within the lost city of Ubar, the Atlantis of the sands. When the tablet is stolen from his care, Dabir and Captain Asim are sent after it, and into a life and death chase through the ancient Middle East.

Stopping the thieves — a cunning Greek spy and a fire wizard of the Magi — requires a desperate journey into the desert, but first Dabir and Asim must find the lost ruins of Ubar and contend with a mythic, sorcerous being that has traded wisdom for the souls of men since the dawn of time. But against all these hazards there is one more that may be too great even for Dabir to overcome…

And here’s one of the blurbs, from author Dave Drake:

An Arabian Nights adventure as written by Robert E Howard. It is exciting, inventive, and most of all fun.

The Desert of Souls is available in hardcover from Thomas Dunne Books.

C.S.E. Cooney’s Jack of the Hills is Available Today

Monday, February 14, 2011 John ONeill Comments 9 comments

Just to prove that Howard Andrew Jones isn’t the only Black Gate staff member with talent the size of a planet, we’re proud to announce that our website editor C.S.E. Cooney has published her book Jack of the Hills today through Papaveria Press.

Papaveria Press was founded by Erzebet YellowBoy. Along with The Winter Triptych by Nicole Kornher-Stace (also appearing today), Jack of the Hills is the first book in Erzebet’s new Wonder Tales line of elegant paperbacks.

Jack of the Hills is a collection of two celebrated tales, “Stone Shoes” and “Oubliette’s Egg.” It is 69 pages and available in print, epub and mobi editions.

Jack Yap once had his mouth sewn shut for talking too much. His brother Pudding has to wear stone shoes or he’ll just wander off. Will little obstacles like these keep the boys out of trouble? Not for the twinkling of an eye. There is magic in the hills, shapechangers and monsters, and Jack Yap has a hankering to meet them all and maybe kill a few. What he and Pudding find in the hills, however, changes both their lives, taking them out of the country and into the cruel and wonderful world, where witches and princesses await. Sometimes they are even the same person.

Here’s what Ellen Kushner, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Thomas the Rhymer, said about Jack of the Hills:

Stunningly delicious! Cruel, beautiful and irresistible are C.S.E. Cooney’s characters and prose. Just when you thought fantasy had devolved into endless repetition, ’Jack o’ the Hills’ blows us all over the next hill and into the kingdom beyond. C.S.E. Cooney is a rare and exciting new talent. Whatever she offers us next, I’ll waiting in line to read.

You can order your copy here.

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