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Category: Editor’s Blog

The blog posts of Black Gate Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones and Editor John O’Neill

Retro Movie Posters

Retro Movie Posters

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nimoy-in-die-hardOver at his blog, artist and designer Peter Stults has been having fun with “What If…” movie posters, depicting retro versions of great modern films — complete with a re-imagining of the entire cast and crew.

This sort of thing has been done before, but I’ve rarely seen it done with such a deft touch, both artistically and in his spot-on cast selections.

Probably my favorite is Leonard Nimoy as New York cop John McClane in the re-imagined Die Hard.

But I also greatly enjoyed seeing Sean Connery and Christopher Lee in The Fifth Element; Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Jack Lemmon in The Hangover; Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway in The Terminator; and especially Frank Zappa as The Big Lebowski.

Stults has shown more than some fine skill with Photoshop, however. His design sense  is terrific, and he unerringly mimics a wide range of Hollywood advertising styles through the decades. One of his best is the faux poster for Fritz Lang’s magnum opus 2001: A Space Odyssey (written in German, naturally).

He’s been adding more posters each month. Check out the latest here.

It’s worth the click just to see John Wayne as Superman (and who else but a young Clint Eastwood as the menacing General Zod?).

Jane Carver of Waar On Sale Today

Jane Carver of Waar On Sale Today

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jane-carverWhat is Jane Carver of Waar, you ask?

Wake up! Just because bookstores around the country are getting thin on the ground, that’s no excuse for not being on top of the latest trends in fantasy. Where have you been?

It’s all right. Don’t panic, don’t panic.  Just sit back, and we’ll fill you in. That’s what we’re here for.

Jane Carver of Waar is the latest fantasy from hot writer Nathan Long, author of the splendid Ulrika the Vampire and Gotrek & Felix novels, among many others. Here’s the blurb:

Jane Carver is nobody’s idea of a space princess. A hard-ridin’, hard-lovin’ biker chick and ex-Airborne Ranger, Jane is as surprised as anyone else when, on the run from the law, she ducks into the wrong cave at the wrong time — and wakes up butt-naked on an exotic alien planet light-years away from everything she’s ever known. Waar is a savage world of four-armed tiger-men, sky-pirates, slaves, gladiators, and purple-skinned warriors in thrall to a bloodthirsty code of honor and chivalry. Caught up in a disgraced nobleman’s quest to win back the hand of a sexy alien princess, Jane encounters bizarre wonders and dangers unlike anything she ever ran into back home. Then again, Waar has never seen anyone like Jane before… Both a loving tribute and scathing parody of the swashbuckling space fantasies of yore, Jane Carver of Waar introduces an unforgettable new science fiction heroine.

With John Carter of Mars opening this Friday, this book is the perfect way to get you in the mood. Mike Resnick says:

If Edgar Rice Burroughs were writing today, with 21st Century skills and sensibilities, Jane Carver of Waar is the book he’d have written.

Well said, Mike. You can find Jane Carver of Waar at any decent bookstore, or from the finest online merchants. It is published by the splendid Night Shade Press, in trade paperback for $14.99

New Treasures: At Empire’s End

New Treasures: At Empire’s End

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at-empires-end4Back in January Dark City Games announced the release of their latest solitaire fantasy adventure, Emerald Twilight, by Bret Winters. I seized the opportunity to order the handful of Dark City titles I didn’t have, including Oasis and At Empire’s End, both by George Dew.

They’ve all proved worth the money, but the one that has captured my imagination immediately is the science fiction adventure At Empire’s End. Here’s the blurb:

Growing up on the periphery is not easy. It’s a tough life, and to survive, you have to know how to deal with ruffians, swindlers and thieves. For excitement, and to pay the rent, you make your living as a bounty-hunter. The risks are great, but the payoff can be tremendous.

Your quarry this time is a dangerous pirate, armed and ruthless. Initially, his ventures were an irritation to the locals. But as his greed and daring grew, he garnered the watchful eye of the meagerly-equipped local authorities. Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to capture “The Duke” and bring him to justice. But you must hurry. The provisional government is weak, and with each of “The Duke’s” raids, society falls further into chaos.

You must find “The Duke” and neutralize him before it is too late.

At Empire’s End includes complete self-contained rules for solitaire play (the “Legends of Time and Space” rules), counters, a beautiful color map, and 302 programmed paragraphs. It is also fully suitable for one to four players, and can be run with a game master.

To promote the game Dark City Games created S.O.S, a short solitaire SF role-playing game, which we reprinted in its entirety here on the Black Gate blog in 2010. Check it out.

You can learn more about some of their earlier games on our summary page, and on this page of collected reviews. Or you can order At Empire’s End for $12.95 directly from Dark City.

Bargain Fantasy at Amazon.com

Bargain Fantasy at Amazon.com

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imagerI can’t be the only reader out there who laments the decline of the remainder.

You know what I’m talking about. Those big tables near the front of Barnes & Noble, covered with aging hardcovers for $5.98, and about a metric ton of leftover Valentine merchandise. Yeah, those remainders.

It’s not that remainders are gone. But with the loss of Borders, and the slow evaporation of bookstores in general, I don’t get to browse as many aisles of cheap books as I used to. Bummer. Remainders were a great way to try out new authors on the cheap, and pick up a discount Star Trek calender in mid-January (and get Ali a late Valentine’s card, to be truthful, but that’s not really my point.)

What is my point? This is the age of the Internet! And remainders aren’t dead; they’ve just moved online. Booksellers like Amazon.com routinely offer 60 – 80% discounts on close-out books of all kinds, including best-selling science fiction and fantasy, and a diligent search usually turns up hundreds.

Here’s some of the best bargains I found this week on my regular search for discounted SF & Fantasy in Amazon’s Under-20-bucks list:

Now, just like the old days, qualities for most of these titles are limited at these prices, so you have to act fast. Shipping is extra, but for US readers, Amazon will ship free if your total is above $25.

Good hunting, fellow bargain hunters!

The 2012 Sword & Sorcery Mega Panel

The 2012 Sword & Sorcery Mega Panel

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adventures_of_sword_and_sorcery-6John DeNardo and his team at SF Signal know when they have a good thing going.

Take for example the genre-defining 2010 Sword & Sorcery Panel Podcast, recorded at the World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, Ohio and featuring the official brain trust of modern S&S: Howard Andrew Jones , Ryan Harvey, Bill Ward, James Enge, Jason M. Waltz, Sam Sykes, John R. Fultz, Alex Bledsoe, Matthew Wuertz, and the ever-humble John O’Neill.

How do you top that? I know — impossible, right?

Well, all credit to Patrick Hester and Jaym Gates at SF Signal for making a terrific effort. In episode 108 of the SF Signal Podcast they’ve assembled a knock-out line-up of heavy hitters to discuss Sword and Sorcery for the modern reader. Including:

  • Lou Anders — publisher and editor of mega-publisher Pyr
  • Violette Malan — author of The Mirror Prince and many others
  • James L. Sutter — Paizo editor and author of Pathfinder Tales: Death’s Heretic
  • Scott H. Andrews — author, and editor of the splendid Beneath Ceaseless Skies

The podcast features original music by John Anealio. Part One is now available here.

Vintage Treasures: SPI’s Swords and Sorcery

Vintage Treasures: SPI’s Swords and Sorcery

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82 bucks later, all this was mine. Click for bigger version.
71 bucks later, all this was mine. Click for bigger version.

Well, technically it’s not a new treasure, since it was first published in the late Middle Ages of fantasy gaming (1978). But this copy is new to me, courtesy of eBay.

And just look at it. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Okay, so maybe you’re not into vintage fantasy games the way I am (that shout you hear is my long-suffering wife, saying “Like that’s even possible.”) Or maybe you find the flimsy paper maps and counters of older board games a little quaint, compared to the deluxe contemporary offerings from Fantasy Flight and Wizards of the Coast.

But really, you just have to open the Swords and Sorcery box to know it’s something special. 400 counters, 56 playing cards, a big 56-page rulebook, player aids, a tantalizingly complex Diplomacy Display… and best of all, that beautiful map.

Yeah, maybe it’s a little shallow to fall in love with a game because of a map. But really, isn’t a cool setting at the heart of all great fantasy?

And the setting for Swords and Sorcery isn’t just cool. It’s sumptuous.

…

Read More Read More

New Treasures: Judge Dredd: Crusade

New Treasures: Judge Dredd: Crusade

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jd-crusadeAh, Judge Dredd. You always know how to make a jaded comic fan smile.

So the enticing artifact at right showed up in my mailbox last week. Why, I have no idea. Every week we receive about a dozen books for review here at the Black Gate rooftop headquarters, where they are diligently farmed out to the hard-working Review Corps, bless ’em. Usually they’re the latest paperback fantasy novels (the books, not the Review Corps). Or maybe advance review copies, or RPGS, or the occasional board game. But comics? Not so much.

Not that comics aren’t welcome. Especially (let’s face it) Judge Dredd comics. ‘Cause Judge Dredd, he’s the man. The last line of defense in a post-apocalyptic megacity perpetually on the verge of chaos and destruction! With no pension plan, and not even a decent sidekick. Trust me, if all you know of officer Dredd is the cheesy 1995 Sylvester Stallone movie, you’ve missed out on three decades of great comics. Check out Judge Dredd vs. Aliens. No, seriously, check it out. It’s awesome.

Anyway, here’s the blurb for this one:

In a riot of violence at the ends of the Earth, when a scientist returns from a 15-year deep space mission claiming to have a message from God himself, judges from all of the world’s Mega-Cities race to Antarctica to try and claim the secret for themselves. Among them is the toughest future lawman of them all – Judge Dredd – but in the scramble to secure the scientist, the judges all brutally turn on each other as the prize proves too much to resist! Meanwhile, a deadly agent from one of the world’s superpowers stalks through the warzone, hoping that the confusion will ease his path to securing the secrets of the cosmos!

In the back-up story The Frankenstein Division by Mark Millar and Carlos Ezquerra, the sinister judges of East Meg create the ultimate judge by stitching together pieces of their best. But when it goes on the rampage it heads for Mega-City One and the one man responsible for the death of its many ‘donors’ – Dredd himself.

Come on, like you needed the blurb after you saw that cover. A slathering monster, and Judge Dredd armed only with a sidearm and a stern expression? Admit it, you were sold 90 seconds ago. (Click on the image for a larger version. Come on, try it! There. Wasn’t it worth it?)

Here’s the 411 so you can sound cooler than your friends: Judge Dredd: Crusade was written by comic superstars Grant Morrison (Batman and Robin, All Star Superman) and Mark Millar (Kick-Ass, The Ultimates), and illustrated by Judge Dredd co-creator Carlos Ezquerra, and Mick Austin. How did they get Carlos Ezquerra to return to illustrate a new story? They didn’t — this is a reprint from 1994/95. But at least it has a great new Brian Bolland cover. (Love the cover. Did I mention?)

Word on the grapevine is there’s a new film in the works (Dredd, staring Karl Urban, scheduled for release this September), which explains the timing. But whatever. I’m just glad to see a little love for some classic Judge Dredd. The heck with the Review Corps — I’ll be curling up with this one myself this evening. If my teenage sons don’t find it first.

“As Good As it Gets:” B&N Explorations on John Fultz’s Seven Princes

“As Good As it Gets:” B&N Explorations on John Fultz’s Seven Princes

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seven-princesThe accolades continue to come in for John Fultz’s debut novel Seven Princes, the first installment in the Books of the Shaper. Here’s Paul Goat Allen from Explorations,  Barnes & Noble’s Science Fiction & Fantasy blog:

Set in a sprawling world saturated with dark magic and inhabited by giants, humans, and a vast array of fantastical creatures, the novel begins with the realm on the verge of war. An ancient sorcerer named Elhathym has returned and, after a necromantic bloodbath, has usurped the throne of Yaskatha… the singular brilliance of this novel – the reason it succeeds when so many others come across as formulaic – comes down to Fultz’s ability to tell a story so richly detailed, so emotionally powerful and soulful, that readers will become completely immersed in the narrative.

Fultz’s fluid, lyrical writing style and meticulous attention to detail make for a gloriously immersive read. Literally every single page is filled with some kind of vibrant description… It’s a wondrous read filled with countless jaw-dropping plot twists and I would hate to diminish anyone’s experience by revealing something inadvertently. And even though this is the first book in a trilogy, the conclusion is immensely satisfying and sets the stage for a grand-scale story that could rival the very best fantasy sagas on the shelves today.

The bottom line is this: Fultz’s debut novel is flawless – and timeless – epic fantasy. For fans of epic fantasy, Seven Princes is as good as it gets.

Read the complete piece here.

This is just the latest great coverage for Fultz — we summarized some of the other glowing reviews he’s received just a few weeks ago. You can read more about Seven Princes here, or sample excerpts from the highly acclaimed short stories he’s published in Black Gate, including “Oblivion Is the Sweetest Wine” (BG 12), “Return of the Quill” (BG 13), and “The Vintages of Dream” (BG 15).

Seven Princes is now on sale at better bookstores and virtual outlets around the country, and you can take advantage of our back issue sale to buy issues of Black Gate at a great discount in our online store.

Part I of C.S.E. Cooney’s Jack o’ the Hills Audiobook now Available

Part I of C.S.E. Cooney’s Jack o’ the Hills Audiobook now Available

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jack-of-the-hillsYou know that here at Black Gate we toil day and night to bring you the latest news, reviews and opinion on the vast and varied field of modern fantasy. Some of us, however, are not content with merely reporting on great fantasy — we must create it ourselves. When that happens, we celebrate it here with joy and fellowship.

Some of us, mind you, aren’t content with merely creating. No no no. There are those among us who, once they’ve finished creating, skip right along to organizing mass readings, commissioning cover art, and even making an audiobook. Which they read themselves. These folks we don’t so much celebrate as stand around and gawk at in awe.

Of course, I’m talking about the mighty C.S.E. Cooney, Website Editor here at Black Gate, who published the much-praised Jack o’ the Hills, a collection of two linked short stories, in trade paperback just last year through Papaveria Press. Now comes word that C.S.E. has released the first part of Jack o’ the Hills as an audiobook:

Jack Yap is “his Marm’s good boy, maple-syrup mouth, toffee-tongue, such sweetness” — or is he? He’s a rascal, a rapscallion, a downright ragamuffin, and he’s one of the most memorable characters I’ve ever read. It is therefore with great delight that I announce the release of the audiobook of “Stone Shoes,” the first of the two tales that make up Jack o’ the Hills, read by author C.S.E. Cooney and arranged by Jeremy Cooney. Many thanks go out to Jeremy, who also helped with “this GarageBand mumbojumbo.” The audiobook can be purchased exclusively from Papaveria for the outrageously low cost of £1.69 — that’s approximately $2.99 for our American friends.

To celebrate the release of the audio, Papaveria Press has also made the paperback more widely available. You can now purchase Jack at Amazon.com for $9.99 — or just 99 cents for the Kindle version!

Papaveria Press promises to get the audio version of the second half of Jack o’ the Hills, “Oubliette’s Egg,” produced soon.

Back on Solid Ground

Back on Solid Ground

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Our beloved founder John O'Neill, just before losing all his money at the shipboard casino.
Our beloved founder John O'Neill, just before losing all his money at the shipboard casino.

On Sunday February 5th, I returned to Chicago from a cruise with my family, my first vacation on a cruise liner and my first trip to the Caribbean.

It’s good to be home. The cruise was amazing, but poor weather and rough seas (several days of cruising through 6′ to 9′ ocean swells) eventually took their toll. Surprisingly, I never got seasick, but I did have to abandon a delicious-looking slice of tiramisu when my son abruptly turned green across the dinner table, and rush him back to our cabin. My daughter followed minutes later, looking none too healthy herself.

It wasn’t all bad weather and disappointment. The highlights were the excursions, including a sandbar 15 miles offshore of Grand Cayman where a colony of sting rays — trained by generations of fishermen who’d clean their catch in the quiet waters of the sandbar, and toss tasty fish intestines overboard — races towards any boat that approaches and cuts engines. In waist-deep water my three kids and I were mobbed by dozens of the creatures, which our guide characterized as “just like puppies.” It was an apt description. Want to know just how diverse life is on this planet? Gaze into the alien eyes of a four-foot sting ray resting in your arms before it darts off. Amazing.

My children won’t soon forget our dolphin encounter in the Honduras, either. We played with my new best friend, a 450-pound dolphin named Mauri, in the shallow waters of Anthony’s Key resort on the island of Roatan, and swam with her pod for nearly an hour. Magical. I was also taken with the Mayan ruins of Coba on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, although it was a considerable hike into the jungle to reach them. Well worth the trip.

Most of the time I spent reading, however (and checking on my queasy patients, tucked into their bunks). I didn’t finish half of the books I brought, but I was delighted to finally read The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance, and No Truce With Kings by Poul Anderson.  I was also captivated by Harry Connolly’s first novel, Child of Fire, which I read on my Kindle. If I have time, I’ll discuss more of my fiction discoveries here. But first, I have about 350 unanswered e-mail to dig through.