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Category: Editor’s Blog

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

Future Treasures: Guile by Constance Cooper

Future Treasures: Guile by Constance Cooper

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Guile Constance Cooper-small Guile Constance Cooper back-small
Art for "The Wily Thing" by Michael Vilardi (BG 12)
Art for “The Wily Thing” by Michael Vilardi (BG 12)

I frequently get excited by upcoming fantasy novels. But I rarely get as excited as I am by Guile, the debut fantasy novel from Constance Cooper, to be released next month by Clarion Books. Here’s Constance, from her blog:

Guile started with a short story called “The Wily Thing” which was published in Black Gate magazine in 2008. It was well received…

It was indeed. Here’s Lois Tilton at The Internet Review of Science Fiction:

Yonie and her cat LaRue make a meager living as Seers in one of the cheaper districts of Wicked Ford. Actually LaRue is the Seer, having been nearly drowned as a kitten. It is prolonged contact with the waters that make an object or a person guileful. Now a fisherman has brought Yonie an object, a ship’s gong taken from a wrecked vessel, that has some very dangerous wiles, but the fisherman has disappeared before she can warn him about it — and be paid.

An absolute delight. The setting is fascinating and original, every detail crafted in prose with real charm… RECOMMENDED.

“The Wily Thing” originally appeared in Black Gate 12, and it’s one of my favorite stories from that era of the magazine. The novel tells a brand new tale of Yonie and her magically gifted cat LaRue, set in the treacherous waters of Wicked Ford.

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SFWA Announces the 2016 Nebula Award Nominations

SFWA Announces the 2016 Nebula Award Nominations

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The Fifth Season Jemisin-smallThe Nebula Award is one of the most prestigious awards our industry has to offer, and last year’s awards were a pretty big deal for me. I was asked to present the award for Best Novelette of the Year at the Nebula Awards weekend in downtown Chicago, an honor which I won’t soon forget.

The Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) has announced the nominees for the 2016 Nebula Awards, and this year’s nominations are a pretty big deal for me as as well, but for different reasons. Several Black Gate bloggers and authors — including Amal El-Mohtar, Lawrence M. Schoen, and our website editor C.S.E. Cooney — have captured nominations, and that’s even more thrilling.

This year’s nominees are (links will take you to our previous coverage):

Novel

Raising Caine, Charles E. Gannon (Baen)
The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Ancillary Mercy, Ann Leckie (Orbit)
The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu (Saga)
Uprooted, Naomi Novik (Del Rey)
Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, Lawrence M. Schoen (Tor)
Updraft, Fran Wilde (Tor)

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The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in January

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in January

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Photo by Andrew Porter
David G. Hartwell; Photo by Andrew Porter

The most widely read article at Black Gate last month was Andy Duncan’s obituary for Tor senior editor David G. Hartwell, the founder of the World Fantasy Convention and one of the most accomplished editors this field has ever seen.

In the last few weeks we’ve compiled several articles on David’s most popular books, including:

The Masterpieces of Fantasy
The Dark Descent and The World Treasury of Science Fiction
The Early Horror Paperbacks
Foundations of Fear and The Ascent of Wonder

Coming in a close second was M. Harold Page’s look back at some of the best classic adventure fantasy, “Some Vintage Genre Fiction Still Worth Reading (and Why),” followed by our terrifying giant bug report, “I Don’t Mean to Alarm Anyone, But We’ve Discovered Giant Insects on Monster Island.”

Rounding out the Top Five were M. Harold Page’s Vintage Treasures report on The Walking Drum by Louis L’Amour, and Fletcher Vredenburgh’s “Guides to Worlds Fantastic and Strange.”

The Top 10 articles for January also included Peter McLean’s look at writing modern noir fantasy, E.E. Knight’s review of the PC Game Endless Legend (which my son Drew can’t seem to stop playing), M. Harold Page’s examination of the writing lessons contained in Louis L’Amour’s The Walking Drum, Bob Byrne’s look at the R-Rated Nero Wolfe, and the first installment of our Hartwell tribute, a look at the Masterpieces of Fantasy volumes.

The complete list of Top Articles for January follows. Below that, I’ve also broken out the most popular overall articles, online fiction, and blog categories for the month.

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Matthew David Surridge on The Great Hugo Wars of 2015

Matthew David Surridge on The Great Hugo Wars of 2015

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Rabid Puppies logo-smallOver at culture site Splice Today BG blogger Matthew David Surridge, who declined a Hugo nomination last year for Best Fan Writer, looks back at his involvement in Puppygate.

It was difficult to keep up with everything that was happening; when a controversy strikes the literary world, writers are affected, meaning much will be written. And I was out of it. Appreciative reaction to my post continued to come in at Black Gate, but as what Martin called “Puppygate” sprawled on, I was watching from the sidelines. I saw calls for boycotts of publishers, I saw counter-calls to buy books from the same publishers, I saw reports that the number of people buying memberships to Worldcon had hit record numbers. I saw satires and arguments. I saw proposals to change the Hugo voting rules to limit the impact of future slates. I kept track of as much as I could, partly because it was fascinating to watch, and partly because I never knew if my name would come up. Mostly, it didn’t, which suited me fine. If for no other reason than that the culture-war overtones that Breitbart had highlighted in the Puppies became increasingly front and center…

In the end the Hugo voters opted for “No Award” over the Puppy nominees in almost every category. The Best Novel Award went to Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem, which made it onto the ballot when Marko Kloos, whose book Lines of Departure was on Beale’s slate, declined the nomination after learning about the Rabid Puppy actions. Beale, ironically, ended up urging his Puppies to vote for The Three Body Problem; the Rabid vote seems to have given it the margin of victory. Meanwhile, Best Fan Writer was won by the lone non-Puppy, Laura J. Mixon. Later, the final nomination data confirmed a rumour I’d heard that Mixon had gotten the nomination when I declined it.

See Matthew’s complete comments here.

Bud Webster, July 27, 1952 – February 14, 2016

Bud Webster, July 27, 1952 – February 14, 2016

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Bud Webster wonders if he can afford TEXT
Bud Webster doing what he loved – selling books

It’s never easy to write obituaries. It’s especially difficult when they’re members of the Black Gate staff.

I was already a fan of Bud Webster’s Past Masters column, thoughtful biographical pieces on the enduring impact of our finest writers, when I first approached him to become a Contributing Editor. His first article for us, a marvelous discussion of Tom Reamy, and a continuation of his Who? series on neglected genre authors, appeared in Black Gate 15.

Bud didn’t waste my time with a superficial survey of Reamy’s fiction — anyone could have done that. Instead, he delivered an impeccably researched, 3,400-word piece that dove into Reamy’s history and early influences. It was the kind of piece that triggered an outpouring of discussion and gratitude from BG‘s readers (Keith West even drove to Breckenridge, Texas so he could send Bud a photo of the empty lot where Reamy’s house once stood).

It was the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership with Bud. He was briefly our poetry editor, before the death of the print magazine made that title superfluous. He became a prolific early blogger for us, contributing a dozen posts, mostly on his favorite subjects — the pros and cons of selling vintage books, his role as an stfnal historian, and the magical books that first lured him into the hobby.

Bud wrote extensively on the hobby he loved so much. His first book was Anthopology 101 (2010), an affectionate look back at the classic SF anthologies that helped define the genre. It was quickly followed by The Joy of Booking (2011) and Past Masters, & Other Bookish Natterings (2013). All three were collections of his earlier columns.

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Gypsies, Paupers, Demons and Swans: Rich Horton’s Hugo Recs

Gypsies, Paupers, Demons and Swans: Rich Horton’s Hugo Recs

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The Two Paupers CSE Cooney-smallI cover a lot of short fiction magazines and novels, but I never feel adequately prepared for the Hugo ballot. But that’s okay, because I know people who read every single short story published in English, and can point me in the right direction.

Well, one person. Rich Horton. Seriously, he reads them all. No, really. All of them. When he modestly claims he doesn’t, he’s lying. He’s read some of ’em twice.

And he has great taste, too. So when he compiles lists of the best fiction published last year, we lesser mortals should pay attention. For example, here’s his rundown on the best novellas published in 2015:

The Two Paupers, by C. S. E. Cooney (Fairchild Press)
“Gypsy,” by Carter Scholz (Gypsy plus …,  F&SF)
“The Four Thousand, the Eight Hundred,” by Greg Egan (Asimov’s SF, December 2015)
“The Bone Swans of Amandale,” by C. S. E. Cooney (Bone Swans)
“The Boatman’s Cure,” by Sonya Taaffe (Ghost Signs)
Wylding Hall, by Elizabeth Hand (Open Road/PS Publishing)
Penric’s Demon, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Penric’s Demon)
Teaching the Dog to Read, by Jonathan Carroll (Subterranean)
Sunset Mantle, by Alter S. Reiss (Tor)

Congratulations to Black Gate website editor emeritus C.S.E. Cooney for placing two novellas in Rich’s list!

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Thomas M. Disch on the Best Science Fiction of 1979

Thomas M. Disch on the Best Science Fiction of 1979

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The Best Science Fiction of the Year 9 Terry Carr-small Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year Ninth Annual Collection Gardner Dozois-small The 1980 Annual World's Best SF Donald A. Wollheim-small

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction February 1981-smallThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has put some delightful old content on their website for those who care to look, and earlier this month I came across their reprint of Thomas M. Disch’s Book column from the February 1981 issue, in which he compares the three Best of the Year volumes published the previous year.

1979 was a marvelous year for short SF, with many stories destined to become classics — including George R.R. Martin’s brilliant “Sandkings,” and his Hugo Award-winning “The Way of Cross and Dragon,” Barry B. Longyear’s novella “Enemy Mine,” Donald Kingsbury’s “The Moon Goddess and the Son,” Vonda N. McIntyre’s “Fireflood,” Orson Scott Card’s “Unaccompanied Sonata,” Richard Cowper’s “Out There Where the Big Ships Go,” and many others. Of course, Disch was as curmudgeonly as always.

The annuals are out, and here, if we can trust the amalgamated wisdom of our four editors, are the thirty best stories of 1979. It is in the nature of annual reports to pose the question, Was it a good year? and it pains me, as both a shareholder and a consumer, to answer that for science fiction, as for so many other sectors of the economy, 1979 was not a good year.

Against such a sweeping judgment it may be countered that sf is not a unitary phenomenon nor one easily comparable to a tomato harvest. Sf is a congeries of individual writers, each producing stories of distinct and varying merit. A year of stories is as arbitrary a measure as mileage in painting. Nevertheless, that is how the matter is arranged, not only by anthologists but by those who organize the two prize-giving systems, SFWA, which awards the Nebulas, and Fandom, which gathers once a year to hand out Hugos. The overlap between the contents of the annuals and the short-lists for the prizes is so great that one may fairly surmise that something like cause-and-effect is at work. As the nominating procedures are conducted in plain view, it seems certain that the editors will keep their eyes open for the likeliest contenders, since the annual that most successfully second-guesses the awards nominees has a clear advantage over its rivals.

Tomato harvest! At least he makes me laugh.

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John DeNardo’s February Speculative Fiction Books You Can’t Miss

John DeNardo’s February Speculative Fiction Books You Can’t Miss

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The Guns of Ivrea-smallJohn DeNardo gets it. It’s not a lack of choice that keeps us from choosing what to read… it’s that there are too many great books to choose from!

As the February lineup of science-fiction, fantasy, and horror books will prove, it’s not a lack of books that make it difficult to find something to read. If anything, there are too many books to read. Here’s a list of books to help you narrow down your selection. I’d say “choose wisely”… but all of these are sure bets. Titles this month include a serial killer, merfolk, human trafficking, illegal magic, a Lovecraftian demon, and more.

The Guns of Ivrea by Clifford Beal

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: The fates of a former thief, a pirate mercenary, and the daughter of the chief of the merfolk converge on a series of events that could mean war.

WHY YOU MIGHT LIKE IT: This is the first installment of what promises to be a swashbuckling seafaring fantasy series.

Graft by Matt Hill

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: In near-future Manchester, a local mechanic named Sol who steals car parts stumbles onto a trans-dimensional human trafficking conspiracy.DreamingDeath

WHY YOU MIGHT LIKE IT: The chase is on as Sol and a three-armed woman named Y run from their pursuers.

Read the complete article, with 16 selections of top-notch February fantasy and SF, here.

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Support the Return of NorthGuard, Canada’s Greatest Superhero!

Support the Return of NorthGuard, Canada’s Greatest Superhero!

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NorthGuard title Image-smallWhen I was a young comic collector living in Ottawa, one of my favorite titles was NorthGuard, the Canadian superhero created in 1984 by Mark Shainblum and Gabriel Morrissette and published by Matrix Comics in Montreal. When I started Black Gate 15 years later, I hired two of my heroes, Matrix artists Morrissette and the brilliant Bernie Mireault, creator of The Jam and Mackenzie Queen, as interior illustrators. So I was thrilled to hear from Bernie earlier this month that there’s an effort to return Northguard to print in a deluxe format for the first time:

I’m currently engaged in coloring the original Northguard series. Mark, Gabriel and I hope to run a Kickstarter campaign in late spring and if successful, get some 200-page color collections made… As the colorist I’m going over every nut and bolt of the material and appreciating it fully for the first time. This is a great story about a Canadian superhero that I’m proud of. Phillip might not be much at the physical combat stuff but he has lots and lots of heart. Which is the way I think about Canada.

And so in an effort to reintroduce Northguard to the public at large and create awareness of our pending attempt to solicit funding for the collection through Kickstarter or Indie gogo, etc. I’ve created a dedicated Northguard Facebook page that is designed to bring people who are unfamiliar with the work up to speed on the story and historical/political context. www.facebook.com/bem61

Matthew David Surridge profiled Bernie’s The Jam in Part II of his series My City’s Heroes, and columnist Timothy Callahan called him an artist who combined “the high Romanticism of the fantastic with the mundane life on the street” in Comic Book Resources.

If you’re at all interested in Canadian comics, or just want to keep tabs on the ongoing effort to return one of the best Canadian superheroes to print, check out Bernie’s Facebook page here. Vive Le Protecteur!

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in December

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in December

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Storyteller-Tools M Harold PageBG blogger M Harold Page had a fabulous month in December, with three of the top four posts for the month, all dealing with Medieval Worldbuilding:

How to Get From Worldbuilding (or Research) to Story
An Adventurer’s Guide to the Middle Ages: What if There’s No Room at the Inn (or No Inn Whatsoever?)
Three Classic Books for Medieval Worldbuilders and Armchair Time Travellers

Mr. Page has clearly fired the imaginations of all the aspiring medieval novelists in our audience (and managed to keep things fascinating for the rest of us.)

The third most popular artcile for December was a guest post from editor Dominik Parisien, announcing the contents of his upcoming Clockwork Canada anthology. Rounding out the Top 5 was the second installment in William I. Lengeman III’s Star Trek movie rewatch, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Also on our top ten were two articles on collecting pulp art by Doug Ellis, the newest installment of our vintage paperback series, Collecting Robert E. Heinlein, Sean Stiennon’s review of Robert McCammon’s Swan Song, and Sarah Newton’s detailed review of the new Deluxe Tunnels and Trolls role playing game.

The complete list of Top Articles for December follows. Below that, I’ve also broken out the most popular overall articles and blog categories for the month.

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