Editor’s Blog – Page 113

John Joseph Adams buys Lightspeed and Fantasy Magazines from Prime Books

Monday, November 7, 2011 John ONeill Comments 5 comments

It’s been a tumultuous season for fantasy magazines.

In August Marvin Kaye surprised us by acquiring Weird Tales from Wildside Press, and last week we told you Realms of Fantasy magazine had folded again. And now Sean Wallace at Prime Books informs us that he’s sold Lightspeed and Fantasy magazines to current editor John Joseph Adams.

Lightspeed and Fantasy magazines are two of the finest online fiction magazines. Fantasy originally appeared in 2005, publishing six print issues before moving online in 2007. Its editors have included Sean Wallace, Paul Tremblay, and Cat Rambo, with Adams taking the reins in March of this this year.

Lightspeed, which publishes short science fiction, debuted in June 2010 with John Joseph Adams at the helm; it was a 2011 Hugo Award nominee for Best Semiprozine, and Adams was a 2011 nominee for Best Professional Editor, Short Form.

John Joseph Adams has been called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble.com. His anthologies include The Way of the Wizard, Brave New Worlds, Wastelands, The Living Dead, The Living Dead 2, By Blood We Live, Federations, and The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Adams has not announced if he’ll make any changes to the magazines. “It’s an exciting time to be involved in publishing,” he says in the press release. “Models are changing and so is the readership, and online magazines have a better shot at sustainability than ever have before. I believe the possibilities for growth are tremendous, and I look forward to staying in the vanguard of this new frontier.”

We last covered Fantasy Magazine in April with issue #49.

Read the complete press release here.

November/December Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine now on Sale

Friday, November 4, 2011 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

With all the recent bad news surrounding print fantasy magazines, it’s good to pause to reflect on the blessings we have. Especially those blessings that arrive in our mailbox every two months like clockwork, bringing the best in modern short fantasy. I’m talking, of course, of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, now in its 62nd year of publication. The latest issue has just arrived, and it looks terrific as usual. Contents include:

NOVELLAS
Quartet and Triptych – Matthew Hughes
The Ice Owl – Carolyn Ives Gilman

NOVELETS
Under Glass – Tim Sullivan
They That Have Wings – Evangeline Walton
Object Three – James L. Cambias
How Peter Met Pan – Albert E. Cowdrey

SHORT STORY
The Klepsydra: A Chapter from A Faunery of Recondite Beings – Michaela Roessner

Over at Locus Online Lois Tilton reviews the complete issue, including the excellent epic fantasy “Quartet and Triptych” by Matthew Hughes:

In the far-future Archonate, the thief Luff Imbry has decided it would be profitable to secure a group of rare and valuable alien figures, believed to be hidden in a maze on the grounds of a defunct family of aristocracy. The maze being full of deadly traps, he arranges to obtain the life mask of one of the deceased aristocrats, charged with her essence, in the belief that she will be able to negotiate the maze for him. But the essence in the mask has its own interests and demands, in exchange for which she offers an even greater treasure at the heart of the maze. At much greater risk….

Readers familiar with Hughes’ work will know pretty well what kind of entertainment they’re getting here: the eccentric characters, the highly mannered prose, the intricate plot.

This issue’s cover is by Kent Bash; cover price is $7.50. You can find more details on the issue at the F&SF website. We last covered F&SF here with the September/October issue.

Realms of Fantasy Folds Again

Wednesday, November 2, 2011 John ONeill Comments 8 comments

For the third time in less than three years, Realms of Fantasy magazine has closed its doors. This time however, it doesn’t appear likely the venerable fantasy print zine will rise again.

Realms of Fantasy was launched in October 1994 by Sovereign Media, as a sister magazine to Science Fiction Age (published 1992 – 2000). Sovereign Media canceled Realms with the April 2009 issue, blaming “plummeting newsstand sales, the problem currently faced by all of the fiction magazines.”

The magazine was purchased by Warren Lapine’s Tir Na Nog Press and reappeared in July 2009, skipping only one issue (May 2009). A year later Lapine announced the magazine would be shut down after the October 2009 issue, but Realms was spared again when small press publisher Damnation Books acquired it and resumed publication with the December 2010 issue.

Today Damnation Books publisher William Gilchrist made this announcement on the Realms of Fantasy website:

When we purchased Realms of Fantasy last year we truly thought that we could suceed in publishing the magazine for the foreseeable future. We were unable to realize this goal, have been loosing (sic) money, and we must regetfully announce the closure of the magazine.

During our time with the magazine we picked up without missing a single issue and were lucky enough to produce the 100th issue. We were able to introduce poetry and bring back the tabletop gaming column. We have been truly amazed at the positive feedback on the issues we have produced from all of the fans. This is what makes this decision so painful for us.

As we were considering closing the magazine we thought it was important for the October 2011 issue to be released in print for the fans. We did this knowning there would not be a return on the investment, but did it simply because we felt it was right. This does mean the October 2011 issue will be the last issue…

If there is anyone interested in purchasing the magazine we will listen to all offers. Those intersted should send an email to support@rofmag.com.

Shawna McCarthy, who was the Editorial Guest of Honor at last weekend’s World Fantasy Convention, has been the magazine’s Fiction Editor since its first issue. Editor Douglas Cohen had this to say in his farewell message:

We reached issue 100, and with this latest issue we’ve managed to publish 600 stories in RoF’s lifetime… There’s a lot to be proud of in this final year, and I’m glad we and the magazine managed to have it. It makes for a fitting end. It’s time to move on, and I’m excited at what the future holds for me in this field.

Farewell Realms of Fantasy. You will be missed.

World Fantasy Awards to be Presented this Weekend

Thursday, October 27, 2011 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

Well, here it is Thursday, so I must be Goth Chick. Except I’m not.

Apologies to all those who tuned in today for their regular dose of 80’s sci-fi movie nostalgia and penetrating interviews with the luminaries of modern horror. Goth Chick is unavailable for her regular Thursday slot this week.

Monday is Halloween, the most important night of the year, and she apparently has more important things to do than be here with us today. Things that likely involve the sacrifice of small farm animals, midnight Sabbaths, and ancient voodoo rites. But I shall say no more, on the advice of counsel and due to the sticky consequences of federal libel law. We wish her well, whatever she’s doing, and we hope there are no witnesses.

Instead, let’s turn our attention to the World Fantasy Convention, happening this weekend in San Diego. WFC is hands-down my favorite convention, and I’ve been attending since 1984, when it came to my home town of Ottawa.

What’s so cool about WFC? For one thing, it’s a professional convention, attended chiefly by established writers, editors, agents, and artists. You can’t sling a dead cat in the dealer’s room without hitting half a dozen well-known names. And unlike other cons (I’m looking at you, Dragon*Con), slinging a dead cat won’t instantly win you half a dozen new friends, either. At WFC, that sort of thing isn’t done.

For another thing, the WFC is where the World Fantasy Awards are presented — the highest honor our field can bestow. That’s one above on the left. Yes, they’re in the shape of our beloved patriarch, H.P. Lovecraft. And just like the man’s work, the statue both fills you with a sense of wonder, and kinda gives you the creeps at the same time.

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Read Jeffrey Ford’s complete “Exo-Skeleton Town” from Black Gate 1

Sunday, October 23, 2011 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

Jeffrey Ford’s short story “Exo-Skeleton Town” grabbed a lot of critical attention when it appeared in our first issue in Spring, 2001. Antony Mann, in issue 2 of The Fix: The Review of Short Fiction said:

‘Exo-Skeleton Town’ by Jeffrey Ford… is crazy stuff, man, witty and entertaining.

And Mark R. Kelly, in the September 2001 issues of Locus, said:

Jeffrey Ford’s “Exo-Skeleton Town” is a ribald, scatological tale set on a dark planet populated by alien bugs whose medium of exchange is their own excrement in the form of dung balls. Humans have arrived in force, having learned 1) of the bugs passionate interest in old back & white movies; and 2) of the dung balls’ fantastic aphrodisiac powers. But wait, there’s more… lots of wacky fun. There are some thematic ironies that knit together the story’s various parts… it’s definitely alive.

Recommended Story of the Month: Jeffrey Ford, “Exo-Skeleton Town.”

Now editor Marty Halpern has selected the story for his upcoming anthology Alien Contact, saying:

If you’re not already a fan of the old, classic Hollywood movies — and the actors and actresses that made these films such classics — then you certainly will be after you’ve read “Exo-Skeleton Town.” This is probably the quirkiest story in the anthology. And it remains one of the more unique story concepts I’ve ever read. In fact, even though I’m the editor, I’m almost tempted to ask Jeff: “Where the hell did this idea come from?”…

So, for your reading pleasure, here is “Exo-Skeleton Town,” which won the 2006 Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, the French national speculative fiction award.

You can enjoy the complete story, one of the most unusual and imaginative pieces we’ve ever published, at Marty’s blog, More Red Ink. And you can see the complete Table of Contents for Black Gate 1 — still available in our store for just $18.95 — here.

Sale at Rogue Blades Entertainment

Thursday, October 20, 2011 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

Rogue Blades Entertainment, publisher of top-notch heroic fantasy, is having a one-of-a-kind online sale.

Here’s RBE publisher-mastermind Jason Waltz to ‘splain the details:

RBE has to clear the shelves! Rogue Blades presents its first 2-for-$15 sale. Purchase any 2 of these RBE titles for $15.00 plus shipping!

Rage of the Behemoth, limited editions
Mythic Memories
Demons: A Clash of Steel
Sages & Swords

Simple! Now’s your chance to catch up on some of the best in new short fantasy, including fiction by Tanith Lee, Howard Andrew Jones, Joseph A. McCullough V, Sean T.M. Stiennon, Bill Ward, Elaine Isaak, C.L. Werner, and many others, and all at a great price.

Rage of the Behemoth is one of the best fantasy anthologies I’ve read in the past few years. Contributors include Andrew Offutt & Richard K. Lyon, Lois Tilton, Mary Rosenblum, Sean T. M. Stiennon, Brian Ruckley, Bruce Durham, Jason Thummel, and many more. Read more about it, including Theo’s great review, here.

Demons is an anthology “devoted to the devilish fiends who seek to wreak havoc among mankind upon the mortal plane.” Contributors include Bill Ward, Brian Dolton, Steve Goble, Elaine Isaak, C.L. Werner, Laura J. Underwood, and many others. You can read more in our news article here.

At $15 for two titles, these books won’t last long. Check out this terrific sale today.

ChiZine Publications’ eBooks Now Available on iTunes Store

Sunday, October 16, 2011 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

ChiZine Publications, one of the best of the genre small press, has announced all of its titles are now available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod through Apple’s iTunes Store.

This is pretty cool, because I just bought an iPad to experiment with electronic versions of Black Gate, and I’ve been trying to find some good books to read. ChiZine Publications already has their titles — including The Door to Lost Pages by Claude Lalumière, and Isles of the Forsaken by Carolyn Ives Gilman — available for the Amazon Kindle, Kobo reader, Barnes & Noble Nook, and other e-formats.

But the iPad is where most of the action is, at least in terms of sales (nearly 4 million per month, and growing rapidly), and iPhone sales are even higher. ChiZine co-Publisher Sandra Kasturi said this about their commitment to electronic readers:

You can really see the change from a year ago. Get on the bus or subway and you’ll find half the people are reading off a device rather than a physical book. We take pride in our physical books and ebooks. We want to reach both readers and for them to have great experiences because of the writing and the visual impact.

Makes sense to me. ChiZine’s eBooks can be purchased and downloaded via iTunes by searching for the author name or title, and the publisher promises to have direct links on their website in a few days. Other electronic formats are available today.

We profiled ChiZine Publications back in December of last year.

Dark City Games Oracle’s Breath Now Available for iPhone

Thursday, October 13, 2011 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

We’re big fans of Dark City Games’ terrific line of solitaire fantasy games. We’ve wasted many hours with these little wonders on the Black Gate rooftop headquarters, when we should have been plotting the overthrow of the entire publishing world.

Instead, we searched for the buried archives of long-dead sorcerers on The Island of Lost Spells, stood alongside Roman Legionnaires at the border between Gaul and Germania in Wolves on the Rhine, and plumbed the depths of an ancient ruin for a powerful relic in The Oracle’s Breath. There are publishing barons in Manhattan who owe their Perrier to Dark City Games, and that’s a fact.

Subscribers may even remember that we published a complete solo adventure from Dark City Games in issue 12 of Black Gate: “Orcs of the High Mountains,” by Jerry Meyer, Jr. Don’t tell me we don’t share the love.

Now comes word that Questland Games has made one of Dark City’s best adventures available for the iPhone: Oracle’s Breath.

Yes, now you can journey to a rich world of fantasy while everyone else in the staff meeting thinks you’re checking stock prices.

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New Treasures: Dungeons & Dragons The Shadowfell

Monday, October 10, 2011 John ONeill Comments 5 comments

Regardless of where your gaming loyalties lie these days — 3rd Edition, 4th Edition, Original Edition, Pathfinder, or Other — you have to admit that Wizards of the Coast has produced a top-notch line of adventure supplements to support D&D over the past few years.

They’ve put some of the best writers in the business — including Ari Marmell, Bruce R. Cordell, Mike Mearls, Bill Slavicsek, Richard Baker, and many others — to work crafting attractive and superbly produced game books that keep me opening my wallet month after month.

Yet, as an old-school gamer who cut his teeth on the golden age of role-playing adventures, one thing I still miss is those beautiful box sets TSR produced in the 80s and 90s.

You know the ones I’m talking about. The Ruins of Undermountain, Dragon Mountain, Menzoberranzan, City by the Silt Sea, and dozens of others.

These weren’t just outsized adventure modules. They were complete campaigns, packed with gorgeous color maps, thick adventure guides, character sheets, new monsters, and other mysterious goodies.

When you held one in the game store, you felt the promise of weeks of adventure vibrating in your hands. Or maybe it was just the crushing weight of the box, making your wrists weak. Whatever. Your hands trembled, and you knew that had to be good.

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Take a Journey to Strange Worlds

Friday, October 7, 2011 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

Strange Worlds, a new anthology of Sword & Planet stories edited and illustrated by Jeff Doten, is now available. And it sure looks like an attractive package.

Containing all original fiction from Charles A. Gramlich, Ken St. Andre, Paul R. McNamee, Charles R. Rutledge, and others, Strange Worlds is fully illustrated with both full-color and black & white art accompanying each tale. Here’s the copy from the back cover:

New worlds and new adventures.

A sword and blaster at your side, the wind in your hair and the ringed moons rising overhead…

Sword and Planet is where it all started, the original space adventures on exotic and perilous worlds. Strange Worlds is the first collection of ALL NEW Sword and Planet adventures in a very long time. Eight stories and one comic, each story with both black and full color illustrations. This is space adventure at it’s (sic) rawest down in the dirt form, so strap on your gear and let’s get going.

Other than the obvious typo, it sounds good to me. According to contributor Paul R. McNamee, editor Doten provided nine color plates and commissioned nine authors to craft a sword-&-planet tale using one of them as inspiration. Doten also added some black & white interiors based on the resulting stories.

Strange Worlds is available from Space Puppet Press for $27 plus $3.75 U.S. shipping. Order today from strangeworldsanthology.com.

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