Editor’s Blog – Page 138

Brent Knowles reviews Black Gate 13

Thursday, December 10, 2009 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

black-gateissue-13-cover-150 Long-time reader and professional writer Brent Knowles recently posted a review of Black Gate 13:

I have every issue of Black Gate… a fantastic magazine. I subscribe to the print issue, but there is now a digital copy available too.

Brent highlights several pieces, including “Naktong Flow” by Myke Cole:

A very strong and realistic, yet exotic, world, solidly anchors this story. Much like The Naturalist, which I’ll get to later, this is the kind of story that immerses you in a world first, a world that could only exist in this story, the only world in which this story could exist. Much of the ‘fun’ of reading a story like this is in being exposed to culture, that while based on our world is injected with such imagination and originality that it carries the story even if it is not that strong. And better yet, this story is strong, with an interesting protagonist. Great!

And “Spider Friend” by L. Blunt Jackson:

An unique fable, told competently, this is one of my favorite stories this time around. A man gains the blessings of spiders, but, as is so often the case is tempted to walk away from what is good in his life, for what he desires.

And the final installment of Mark Sumner’s novel The Naturalist:

I have enjoyed the previous two parts to this story and the third is no different. This is a world I could imagine living in, it feels real, authentic, a variation of our own world with just enough of the marvelous/horrible to make this a tale of the fantastic. A very satisfying conclusion to a fabulous adventure.

The complete review is here.

Thanks Brent! Stay tuned for issue 14, coming soon!

Spectrum 16: Now Fortified with Black Gate!

Sunday, November 29, 2009 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

spectrum16 spectrum-16b1 Spectrum 16, edited by Cathy and Arnie Fenner, was published this month by Underwood Books.

I’ve been a fan of these books since the first, way back in 1994. There are a lot of Best of… anthologies gathering the most acclaimed short fiction each year but, until Arnie and Cathy thought of it, no anthologies collecting the finest art. It was a stroke of genius, and that first volume was a hit. They’ve been at it ever since.

The books are full color and include lush layouts covering Advertising, Books, Comics, Concept Art, Sculpture, Editorial, Institutional, Unpublished — and even a lengthy Year in Review. Spectrum 16 weighs in at 264 pages, and is just $39.95 for the hardcover (I bought mine for $26.37 from Amazon.com). This year the Grand Master is Richard Corben.

Browsing these books is marvelous. Top-notch science fiction and fantasy often sets my imagination soaring, but not in the way that really great artwork can. The editors collect an astonishing array of diverse images from hundreds of gifted artists — pictures that are humorous, baffling, erotic, beautiful, disturbing, breath-taking, and everything in between. Depending on what your imagination is like, these books can be more diverting than a Stephen King novel.

This year is a special treat because the editors have seen fit to include Malcolm McClinton’s cover to Black Gate 13 in the Editorial section — in all its wrap-around glory. “Gladiatrix” was Malcolm’s first cover for Black Gate, and the first wrap-around image we’ve published since BG 3. It’s a knockout piece, and the response from readers was universally positive.

It’s a proud moment for us. I’d like to congratulate Malcolm for being included — and also for a fabulous cover.

Harry Connolly’s Child of Fire

Sunday, November 22, 2009 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

childoffire Harry James Connolly made his first fiction sale with “The Whoremaster of Pald,” way back in issue 2 of Black Gate.

It was the most popular piece in the issue by a fair margin, and not just because the title grabbed readers’ attention (although, speaking as the person who picked it out of the submissions pile, the title definitely didn’t hurt).

Since then Harry has appeared frequently in our pages and his fourth story, “Eating Venom,” will be in BG 15. But he hasn’t spent all his efforts on short fiction, as evidenced by the arrival of his first novel, Child of Fire.

Child of Fire is described as “a contemporary fantasy in the tone and style of a crime thriller,” and it’s received a lot of great press — including a mention on the Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2009 list.

Here’s what bestselling author Jim Butcher says about it:

“Excellent reading… has a lot of things I love in a book: a truly dark and sinister world, delicious tension and suspense, violence so gritty you’ll get something in your eye just reading it, and a gorgeously flawed protagonist. Take this one to the checkout counter. Seriously.”

And here’s the publisher’s blurb:

Ray Lilly is just supposed to be the driver. Sure, he has a little magic, but it’s Annalise, his boss, who has the real power. Ray may not like driving her across the country so she can hunt and kill people who play with dangerous spellsespecially summoning spellsbut if he tries to quit he’ll move right to the top of her hit list.

Unfortunately, Annalise’s next kill goes wrong and she is critically injured. Ray must complete her assignment alonehe has to stop a man who’s sacrificing children to make his community thrive, and also find the inhuman supernatural power fueling his magic.

I finally got my hands on a copy, and I can’t wait to dig in.

Bernie Mireault’s THE JAM: URBAN ADVENTURE

Friday, October 9, 2009 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

the_jam_demo Before he became a regular artist for Black Gate, Bernie Mireault was already something of a Renaissance man in the comics industry. He’s been a writer, artist, letterer, and highly acclaimed colorist, and worked with Matt Wagner (Grendel), Joe Matt, Mike Allred, and many others. His comics include Dr. Robot, Bug-eyed Monster, The Blair Witch Chronicles, and his masterpiece, The Jam.

Our first meeting (that we know of) was in 1985, when Bernie crashed at my home in Ottawa, Canada. I was living with my parents while I studied at the University of Ottawa, and Bernie and his fellow creators with Montreal-based Matrix Comics were attending a local comics con. Bernie had just published the first issue of Mackenzie Queen, a marvelous piece of satirical horror featuring an exiled demon with a taste for dripping meat, who learns to be satisfied with Corn Flakes (“at least they drip.”) It was one of the first comics to make me laugh out loud. I’d been corresponding with Mark Shainblum at Matrix for months, and when I learned he was coming to town, I graciously offered my parent’s home as crash space (pretty sure I neglected to check with my parents first, which is part of what made it so gracious). Mark brought Gabriel Morrissette and Bernie Mireault, and the rest is history.

mac-queen-2 I say “first meeting that we know of” because Bernie and I were born in the exact same (and very small) place — a Canadian Air Force base in Marville, France — only a few years apart in the early 60s. Did we pass briefly as toddlers in the officer’s mess, and maybe compare our love for cartoons and comics while our fathers saluted each other over trays of french bread and beans? Probably not. But hey, man. It’s possible.

We lost touch for a few years when I moved to the US to finish grad school (and meet a girl from California and get married, but that’s another story). But I followed Bernie’s career closely. It wasn’t hard — he was all over the place, from Wonder Woman to Mr. Monster to Tales of the Batman. He even showed up — along with Matt Wagner — in Joe Matt’s autobiographical classic, Peep Show, as a minor character named only “Bernie.” But I recognized him immediately. Who wouldn’t?

But enough of trying to describe how cool Bernie is. To understand, you need to experience his work. And now you can!

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The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction

Thursday, September 24, 2009 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

My copy of The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction arrived from Amazon today, and I dropped everything to read it. Probably not a good idea, since I had several conference calls and a sales meeting in a skyscraper somewhere in downtown Chicago. But that’s why I bought a fast car.

very-best-of-fsf I’m a sucker for retrospective anthologies. And F&SF is one of my favorite magazines — and has been since I first discovered tattered copies in the tiny library of Rockcliffe Air Force base in Ottawa, Canada, in the late 70s. Editor Gordon van Gelder has assembled an imposing, 470-page collection spanning more than five decades, starting with Alfred Bester’s “Of Time and Third Avenue” (1951) and ending with Ted Chiang’s “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” (2007).

In between are stories famous (“Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, “The Gunslinger” by Stephen King) and not-so-famous (“This Moment of the Storm” by Roger Zelazny, “Journey Into the Kingdom,” M. Rickett). Gordon introduces them all in an informative and entertaining manner, occasionally providing glimpses into his editorial selection magic in the process. You can see the complete Table of Contents here.

Just as important, this is a truly handsome book — splendidly designed by the folks at Tachyon Press, with a fabulous cover by David Hardy. It fits beautifully in my hands, and it even smells nice.

I haven’t dipped far into the book yet. But I was very nearly late for my meeting, and I don’t regret it one bit. Check it out.

Recent Books from Black Gate contributors

Saturday, August 29, 2009 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

johannes1 What’s the point of toiling long hours in relative obscurity for Black Gate, if we don’t pimp your new books?

With that in mind, I’d like to draw attention to a trio of new and upcoming titles from BG contributors – starting with a handsome little volume that caught my eye on the New Arrivals table at Borders last week. The summary sounded terrific, but it wasn’t until I saw the author photo on the inside flap that I exclaimed “Hey! I know this guy!”

That’s because Johannes Cabal the Necromancer was written by Jonathan L. Howard, author of the lead story in our last issue, “The Beautiful Corridor,” a nifty little tale of a resourceful young thief penetrating a very dangerous crypt – and the talking corpse (and other surprises) that await her at its heart.

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Rogue Blades Entertainment releases Rage of the Behemoth

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 John ONeill Comments 5 comments

rotb-web-reg-front-cover1 Heroic fantasy anthologies are a rare sight these dates. And those willing to to take a gamble on emerging authors – virtually non-existant.

But don’t tell that to Jason M. Waltz, publisher of Rogue Blades Entertainment, and editor of Return of the Sword (2008) and the brand spanking new Rage of the Behemoth: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure.

Described as “Almost 150,000 words of monstrous mayhem recording the ferocious battles that rage between gargantuan creatures of myth and legend, and the warriors and wizards who wage war against, beside, and astride them,” RotB gathers 21 splendid tales of pure adventure fantasy under one cover, including contributions from Black Gate‘s Bill Ward, Andrew Offutt & Richard K. Lyon, Lois Tilton, Mary Rosenblum, Sean T. M. Stiennon, Brian Ruckley, Bruce Durham, Jason Thummel, and many more.

Here’s what I said in my introduction, in part:

While I enjoy a great deal of the novels and short stories that come into my hands, I frequently find they’re missing something. They’re missing the creativity, the delicious tension, the high-voltage drama that turned me on to reading in my youth. Specifically, they’re missing monsters.

Jason Waltz understands this. It took Jason to realize what the literature of Western Civilization has recently been lacking, and do something about it. In Rage of the Behemoth, his second anthology and the follow up to last year’s Return of the Sword, he’s picked a theme near and dear to my heart: monsters.

And not just any monsters – behemoths, the tippy-top of the fantasy food chain.

As Theo commented in his recent review right here at Black Gate:

One of the more consistent anthologies I have had the good fortune to read… Rage of the Behemoth is an intriguing glimpse into a multitude of savage worlds. The anthology is a throwback to the glory days of Burroughs and Howard, with an icy, ominous edge.

Rage of the Behemoth is available at Amazon.com or directly from Rogue Blades Entertainment for $16.99, plus shipping. Do your part to support short fiction markets for adventure fantasy – and get a terrific anthology in the bargain.

SF Site reviews Black Gate 13

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

Sherwood Smith – who has reviewed virtually every issue of Black Gate – offers her usual detailed and thorough critique, this time at the SF Site:

“The Face in the Sea” by John C Hocking

Hocking’s story begins like a fragment from the middle of a Norse saga. We are at sea with the narrator Brand, taking ship after having rescued Asdia, daughter of Thorgeir Broadshield. Hocking hints at sparks between Brand and Asdir with the same economy one finds in the sagas as the action swiftly rises to disaster in the form of Einar’s dragon-ship chasing by magical means, aided by the evil Skorri… a smashing action tale with strong evocation of northern myth.

The issue ends powerfully with Mark Sumner’s “The Naturalist, Part III: St. George and the Antriders.”

I believe a reader could catch up fairly rapidly, but to get the full impact, one really ought to read the earlier installments in Issues 10 and 11. This is a novel — complex, beautifully written in the idiom and cadence of the 1830s, but the horrifying battle against the alien antriders is so terrifying there is no danger of the reader finding the pace slow. Mr. Brown, a naturalist, is the narrator; the story is told in his journal as he follows Captain Valamont and his soldiers around, trying to investigate — and then escape — the invading antriders. Sumner brings the story to an elegiac close.. with an exquisite twist. This is a bravura story, well worth appearing in book form.

You can find the full review at www.sfsite.com/06b/bg298.htm.

Locus reviews Black Gate 13

Sunday, June 21, 2009 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

The June issue of Locus, the Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field, contains this review from Contributing Editor Rich Horton, in his Locus Looks at Short Fiction column:

Black Gate‘s Spring issue is as ever stuffed with entertaining adventure fantasy, the best story this time being the longest, “St. George and the Antriders,” Mark Sumner’s concluding tale in a series about marauding antriders in an alternate 19th century Central America. Here Mr. Brown and the resourceful landowner Miss Marlowe lead a band of refugees back to the capital city where they find the corrupt governorship of the territory as menacing as the antriders.

Recommended Stories (all magazines, June)

“St. George and the Antriders,” Mark Sumner (Black Gate Spring ’09)

No online link, but Locus is available at finer bookstores everywhere, and you can buy single copies at www.locusmag.com.

The Story Is All: Ten Fiction Editors Talk Shop

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

cw_33 Issue 33 of Clarkesworld Magazine features a round-table interview with “Ten of the top speculative fiction magazine editors,” including Black Gate‘s John O’Neill.

Clarkesworld Magazine, edited by Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace, and Cheryl Morgan, is a 2009 Hugo Award moninee for Best Semiprozine.

It was founded in 2006 and has published fiction by Robert Reed, Jeffrey Ford, Theodora Goss, Stephen Dedman, Rebecca Ore, Jeff VanderMeer, Jay Lake, Mary Robinette Kowal, Catherynne M. Valente, and many others.

The interview also includes Realms of Fantasy‘s Shawna McCarthy, Sheila Williams from Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ann VanderMeer of Weird Tales, Patrick Nielsen Hayden of Tor Books, Cat Rambo from Fantasy Magazine, Mike Resnick from Jim Baen’s Universe, Stanley Schmidt from Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Jason Sizemore of Apex Magazine, and Gordon Van Gelder of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

The interview was ably conducted and assembled by Jeremy L. C. Jones, who states:

Ultimately, fiction editors are the people who mine the slush pile for new voices and who push established writers to grow beyond their previous stories. They read story after story, and more pile up each day. They screen, sort, revise, and reject. They seek the new, the fresh, the familiar, the entertaining, and the weird. They discover and they miss out.

“There is no magic formula,” said Gordon Van Gelder of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. And this holds true for writing stories, submitting stories, and editing stories.

Among other things, Jeremy asked his subjects What are some reasons why you’d reject a good story? and What does “fit” mean for your magazine?

This whole interview is a treasure trove of info for writers, whether you write science fiction, fantasy, or anything else. — Filling Spaces

You can find the complete interview here.

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