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Category: Editor’s Blog

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

What Sword and Sorcery Means to Me

What Sword and Sorcery Means to Me

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swordssorcery2The masterminds at SF Signal have asked the contributors and editors of Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword & Sorcery — including some of the biggest names in fantasy — to define Sword and Sorcery, as part of their Mind Meld series.

They’ve published responses from Michael Moorcock, Glen Cook, C.J. Cherryh, James Enge, Lou Anders, Garth Nix, Joe Abercrombie, Bill Willingham, Tanith Lee, Tim Lebbon, and others.

Here’s what Moorcock said, in part:

I didn’t get this the first time around; I wrote a whole book on supernatural adventure fiction called Wizardry and Wild Romance which still probably didn’t answer the question. Basically I see it as a good old-fashioned sword and sandal or cloak and dagger drama with strong supernatural elements. Captain Blood meets Cthulhu. It seems, in fact, to have replaced the old historical melodrama in most of its aspects. Or returned to them if you look at those origins in the late Peninsula Romances which were the big news circa 1450.

You can read the complete article here, and SF Signal’s prior article on the best sword and sorcery stories — with lists from Martha Wells, Steven Brust, Brandon Sanderson, Lou Anders, James Enge, Mark Chadbourn, Mercedes Lackey, Mary Robinette Kowal and others — here.

Luke Reviews looks at Black Gate 14, Part III

Luke Reviews looks at Black Gate 14, Part III

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lasenorodleoro-277Luke Forney wraps up his detailed, three-part examination of Black Gate 14 with a look back at Part II:

The novellas really took the cake for the middle section, and had me really excited about the last part of this juggernaut of a magazine.

In the closing section he singles out “La Señora de Oro” by R.L. Roth:

This epistolary tale of a man out seeking gold to buy his farm from the bank is very engaging, playing with some nice horror themes, and really drawing out the protagonist’s character. The story races to a conclusion that was plenty rewarding.

And “Building Character” by Tom Sneem:

An entertaining tale of a character being run through a novice writer’s series of stories, this one manages to be both engaging and funny. A nice piece to build towards the end.

He closes coverage of the issue with:

The volume wraps up, as usual, with a Knights of the Dinner Table: The Java Joint comic strip, in which one of the characters plans on confronting Neil Gaiman for stealing his ideas. The extra-long strip was a fun way to close such a large issue, and manages to be plenty funny.

You can find the complete text of Part III here; Part I and Part Two are also still available. The complete TOC for Black Gate 14 is here.

Art by Malcolm McClinton for “La Señora de Oro.”

E-Books surpass hardcover sales on Amazon.com

E-Books surpass hardcover sales on Amazon.com

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kindleOn Monday Amazon.com announced that sales of electronic versions of books outsold hardcovers for the past three months.

Amazon sells books for its electronic reader, the Kindle.  It said that for every 100 hardcover books it sold, it sold 143 Kindle books. That’s a lot of electronic reading.

The sales Amazon is reporting don’t include  books sold for Apple’s iPad, which went on sale in April (those are sold exclusively by Apple).  It also doesn’t include free Kindle books, meaning the total number of electronic books being read could be significantly higher.

Don’t panic, print lovers. The American Publishers Association reports industrywide sales for hardcovers are up 22% this year. 

That just can’t compete with the reported quadrupling of sales in eBooks of all kinds, which occurred between January and May.

The lowly paperback, of course, continues to outsell all other formats. For now.

Genre pundits have already begun to weigh in — Andrew Wheeler has an interesting analysis of Amazon’s rather funky algebra here.

Stay tuned to Black Gate for continuing coverage of the coming Luddite Apocalypse.

Black Gate subscriptions to increase to $39.95 on August 15th

Black Gate subscriptions to increase to $39.95 on August 15th

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bg_3-277As previously announced, Black Gate subscriptions will increase from $29.95 to $39.95 for four issues, starting August 15.

Why the increase? Frankly, it’s time to renovate the Black Gate rooftop headquarters, and all that crime-fighting equipment doesn’t come cheap.

Plus, what’s with postage costs?  When we started the magazine ten years ago, it cost roughly $1.70 to send the magazine to US destinations, Media Mail.  Now that’s risen to $2.77, or almost $12  for four issues, including packaging. When the new crime-fighting supercomputer arrives, first thing on the agenda is ferreting out the crimelords in the US Post Office.

All that means we see about $18 from every $29.95 subscription.  With our new larger size and cover price (BG 14 was $15.95), even the old steam-driven computer was able to point out that selling four issues for $18 just wasn’t going to cover all that French mineral water Howard keeps ordering.

The good news is that the magazine has grown substantially in size. We don’t promise that each issue will be as large as BG 14 (384 pages), but future issues will boast an increased page count and be priced at $12.95.

Best of all, until August 15 we’ll honor the old subscription price of $29.95 for four issues.  So if you’ve been considering a subscription, now’s the time to take action.

Back issues will also increase to $12.95/copy, but until August 15 any four back issues are available for just $29.95 as part of our Back Issue Sale .

As always, we deeply value your support. And if you’ve got a used portable forensics labs, we’re in the market.

An epic re-read: Steven Erikson’s The Malazan Book of the Fallen

An epic re-read: Steven Erikson’s The Malazan Book of the Fallen

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gardens-of-the-moonOver at Tor.com, bloggers Bill Capossere and Amanda Rutter have commenced an epic re-read of all ten volumes of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, starting with the first novel, Gardens of the Moon.

What’s a “re-read?”  Modeled after Leigh Butler’s monumental Wheel of Time re-read, also at Tor.com, the authors will read and examine the series, one volume at a time. After each book is completed, authors Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont promise to swing by the blog to share their reactions to the posts and discussions from fans and bloggers.

Naturally, this is all leading up to publication of the final installment in the bestselling series, The Crippled God, coming from Tor Books on February 15, 2011.

How time flies.  When my friend Neil Walsh and I were just getting started in Internet publishing at SF Site over a decade ago, one of the first books Neil drew attention to — with a rave feature review in 1999 — was the UK edition of Gardens of the Moon.

That review (and a few others like it) got a lot of press in the early days of online marketing, and we were cited in a New York Times article as a component in the negotiations leading to Erikson’s 6-figure deal to complete the series. Erikson even called Neil to thank him, gentleman that he is.

Here’s Amanda’s commentary on the Prologue:

I’d been warned. Anyone who has read the Malazan books — and even the author himself — states that these books are a challenge. You have to pay attention. No skimming merrily over blocks of descriptive passage. No glossing over the dialogue between characters. Concentration is the name of the game here, people!
        So I paid attention through the mere six pages of the prologue, and I’m a little stunned as to what was packed into so short a space.

You can jump on here.

Letters to Black Gate: iPads and Submission Windows

Letters to Black Gate: iPads and Submission Windows

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cover_issue2Matthew Maestri writes:

I’m a new writer looking for open markets, especially in the fantasy/science fiction genre. I’m very impressed and intrigued by Black Gate, which I stumbled upon a couple months ago. I will be the first to admit that I tend to hover near the longer side of fiction, and it was very appealing to me that your magazine is one of the few remaining that actually prefers to publish longer stories. I have some brewing and I was just wondering when you might be accepting submissions again? Thanks for your time.

Glad to hear you’re interested in Black Gate, Matthew. Unfortunately, we’re still digging through the pile of submissions we received during the brief period we opened last year. 

We were deluged with submissions, far more than we expected, and just as we were making progress, I was waylaid by an 8-month project that demanded all my time (my company was bought by Microsoft).

…

Read More Read More

Luke Reviews looks at Black Gate 14, Part II

Luke Reviews looks at Black Gate 14, Part II

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blackgate-issue-14-cover-150Luke Forney. who reviewed the first third of the 384-page Black Gate 14 last month, continues to share his thoughts on our latest issue with part two of a big three-part review, saying “the novellas in particular stole the show.” He starts with a look at “The Price of Two Blades” by Pete Butler:

A story-teller and entertainer sits down to learn a new story for his repertoire, and finds much more. This is an absolutely brilliant piece. The novella flew by, playing both with action fantasy and the art of telling stories. One of the best pieces of short fiction I’ve read from 2010, it would be an injustice for this one not to win some awards.

He also discovers the adventures of Morlock for the first time in the novella “Destroyer” by James Enge:

A tale of Enge’s popular character, Morlock the Maker. Morlock leads a family through hostile territory, trying to pass through a valley in the middle of a gigantic mountain range. With insect-like enemies on all sides, Morlock does everything he can to lead his charges to safety. This was my introduction to Morlock, and I will certainly be on the lookout for more, including both of Enge’s Morlock books out from Pyr.

And finally, “The Natural History of Calamity” by Robert J. Howe:

The last novella of the collection is another winner… the  tale of a karmic detective in a case far deeper than she ever imagined…  The plot was very engaging, working as a mystery novella along with its fantasy trappings. I will be looking for more from Howe.

 You can find Part Two of the complete review here.

Time Magazine selects Swords & Dark Magic as a Summer Page-Turner

Time Magazine selects Swords & Dark Magic as a Summer Page-Turner

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swordssorcery1Lou Anders reports that Time columnist Lev Grossman has selected his new anthology Swords & Dark Magic as one of two recommended “Summer Page Turners” in the July 12th issue.

The article, appearing on the stands this week, is “Page Turners: The Summer’s Hot Writers on What’s on their Nightstand, Kindle or Beach Chair.” Lev Grossman, Time magazine columnist and author of the fantasy novel The Magician, selected Swords & Dark Magic as one of two recommendations, saying:

Fantasy is going through an explosion of creativity.  Two new anthologies showcase the best of it: Stories: All-New Tales, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, and Swords & Dark Magic, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders.

Swords & Dark Magic was published by Eos on June 22, and is edited by Anders and Jonathan Strahan. Jason Waltz reviewed it for Black Gate here.

Congratulations to Lou and Jonathan on the great press.  Good to see the new breed of sword & sorcery getting some national attention.

Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek: “Building Character” by Tom Sneem

Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek: “Building Character” by Tom Sneem

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buildingcharacter277It’s hard to be a modern hero. Especially when the author can’t make up his mind.

Instead of going back to the church, I start to open the car door. But half way open it becomes difficult, like pulling against a great weight. The weight of an author’s stubbornness. The Kid really wants me to go back. I brace one foot against the car and with both hands on the handle, lean back, my force against the Kid’s. And we are locked in a tug of war. But then I hear strange voices coming down the path. The Kid has released the ghouls.

Tom Sneem lives in a small cottage on the west coast of Ireland where he writes a variety of fiction.

“Building Character” appears in Black Gate 14. You can read a more complete excerpt here. The complete Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek is available here.

Art by Bernie Mireault.

Locus magazine announces the 2010 Locus Awards Winners

Locus magazine announces the 2010 Locus Awards Winners

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boneshaker2The 2010 Locus Awards winners were announced today, at the annual Science Fiction Awards Weekend in Seattle. The winners include:

     Best SF Novel: Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor)
     Best Fantasy Novel: The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan UK)
     Best First Novel: The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade)
     Best Young Adult Book: Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK)
     Best Novella: ‘‘The Women of Nell Gwynne’s,’’ Kage Baker (Subterranean)
     Best Novelette: ‘‘By Moonlight,’’ Peter S. Beagle (We Never Talk About My Brother)
     Best Short Story: ‘‘An Invocation of Incuriosity,’’ Neil Gaiman (Songs of the Dying Earth)
     Best Anthology:  The New Space Opera 2, Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan, eds. (Eos; HarperCollins Australia)
     Best Magazine: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Locus Award has been presented annually since 1971. It’s given to winners of Locus magazine’s annual readers’ poll. You can find the complete list of winners at Locus Online.

Congratulations to all the winners!