Black Gate

By E. E. Knight

We’re used to thinking of the monsters in horror movies, whether it be Dracula, The Blob, or Freddy. But E.E. Knight rides in to remind us that some horror movies are centered upon the characters fighting against the evil. He defines and then explores an entire sub-genre of survival horror pictures, providing us with in-depth examinations of its classic offerings, and probes the reasons its everyman heroes resonate so strongly with viewers..

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This week we lower the drawbridge at Black Gate headquarters and invite you to head out to Clarkesworld magazine for your weekly genre fix. Clarkesworld has just published a lengthy article on the profound effect that fantasy gaming has had on fantasy writing. Written by Justin Howe and Jason S. Ridler, the piece is titled “Of Dice and Men: Modern Fantasists and the Influence of Role-Playing Games.”

Black Gate Publisher John O’Neill and Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones are both quoted in the essay, as are such luminaries as Jeff VanderMeer, Paul Witcover, Tim Pratt, Catherynne M. Valente, Jay Lake, Tim Waggoner, and China Miéville. Pretty cool company!

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When we think of Ian Fleming’s iconic superspy, our thoughts turn to action, sleuthing, womanizing, and of course hi-tech gadgets. But how many of us has ever considered James “007” Bond primarily a fantasy hero? E. E. Knight does, and at Black Gate this week he takes a long, thoughtful look at one of the greatest literary and filmic creations of all time, showing us how Bond’s appeal is not just as a cold war soldier oozing cool, but as the memorable hero of “fairy tales with Aston Martins, fables with Walthers, swashbucklers with assault helicopters.”

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There’s been action and horror in films since the very beginning — but when did the now-distinctive “action/horror” genre come about? Join Black Gate‘s E. E. Knight on a journey across decades in search of the milestones in this longstanding admixture of spooks and dukes. Aliens, bugs, skeletons, vampires and…RVs? They’re all here for this eclectic romp through movie history.

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The literary devices and themes that lie at the heart of Sword-and-Sorcery far predate the twentieth century. Join Black Gate‘s Joe McCullough on a quest back in time to visit some of the myths and legendry that led to the genre we know and love. In this first installment, McCullough takes a look at the battle-torn life of Hereward the Wake, who thrived during the time of William the Conqueror.

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This week, Black Gate lets the author of the Vampire Earth and Age of Fire series of novels take you on a trip through literature and film to illuminate the importance of morality in the fantasy field. “We all need ideals,” says E. E. Knight, “gods and heroes to look up to who offer us answers and examples to the Big Questions about right and wrong, life and death.” From The Lord of the Rings to Blade Runner, from George Lucas to Carl Jung, Knight sees common moral threads coursing throughout all of the best fantasy. Intrigued?

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James Oliver Rigney, Jr. (1948–2007) was one of the most popular authors in the fantasy field for decades. Writing under the pseudonym Robert Jordan, he continued the adventures of Robert E. Howard’s Conan in a series of pastiches in the ’80s, and built a name as a new fantasist worth watching. This was followed by his epic series of unprecedented scope, The Wheel of Time, which became a monstrous bestseller that delighted legions of fans — even as some began to fear that Jordan’s popularity and style would corrupt the genre’s soul. Now he’s suddenly gone, leaving his immense masterwork unfinished.

What will Robert Jordan’s enduring impact on the field be? Have we lost a revered master? A prodigious hack? Some combination of the two? Black Gate‘s Leo Grin analyses the meteoric rise and tragic fall of one of the most influential fantasists of modern times.

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In this, the final chapter of Black Gate‘s deep, rich look at the extravagant worlds of the writer fondly remembered by his Cthulhuoid nickname Klarkash-Ton, explorer Ryan Harvey takes us on a tour of several of the prose-poet’s more obscure creations. From a fast-sinking Atlantis to a dying Red Planet to an extra-solar world unlike any ever put to paper, these imaginative visions may have been seldom used by Smith, but they ultimately would play host to some of his most memorable and well-regarded tales.

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As Robert E. Howard’s Conan was marauding through the pages of Weird Tales, a young authoress named Catherine Moore began crafting unique adventures of a S&S heroine in the same magazine. In doing so, she blazed a trail for female fantasists to follow for decades to come. Join Black Gate‘s Ryan Harvey for a look at Jirel of Joiry, the very first female Sword-and-Sorcery series character.

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It’s a well-known tale in Sword-and-Sorcery circles: in 1954 the legendary fantasist Poul Anderson wrote one of the classics of the subgenre, a thrilling homage to the myths and Icelandic sagas of old titled The Broken Sword. Over fifteen years later Anderson heavily revised the book, and ever since readers have been debating which edition is better. Black Gate‘s Ryan Harvey leads us on a textual journey through both versions, giving you all the information you need to come to your own conclusions.

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