Black Gate

Issue 40 of Curtis Ellett’s Swords and Sorcery Magazine, cover-dated May 2015, was published this week. Each issue of Swords and Sorcery contains two short stories, and is available free online. This issue includes new fiction from Christopher Mowder and Anna Sykora, and a discussion of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber (strangely called “Fritz Lieber” in the intro) by Rick Hudson.

“The Goblin’s Son,” by Christopher Mowder, is the story of a goblin father who must deal with his son going off to war and serving beside old enemies to help create a peace. This is Mowder’s first published short story.

“How Pawla Stole the River Livvy,” by Anna Sykora, is an ecological fable and a delightful fantasy. A wild creature helps a village of humans drive off invaders who threaten their homes. Sykora is a prolific writer who has published over a hundred stories and many poems. This is her first appearance in Swords & Sorcery.

“Back in Lankhmar Again,” by Rick Hudson, is a discussion of the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories by Fritz Lieber (sic). Hudson is a noted writer of literary fiction, a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Manchester Metropolitan University. His essay “Return to Hyboria” and story “Wraith-Raker” have recently appeared in Swords & Sorcery.

Read the current issue here.

Swords and Sorcery Magazine is edited by Curtis Ellett, and is available free online. Fletcher Vredenburgh reviewed issue #40 in his May Short Story Roundup. See our June Fantasy Magazine Rack here, and all of our recent Magazine coverage here.

The May issue of the online magazine Nightmare is now available.

Fiction this month includes original short stories from Kealan Patrick Burke and Sandra McDonald, and reprints from Kaaron Warren and Stephen Graham Jones:

Original Stories

“The Red Light is Blinking” by Kealan Patrick Burke
“Rules for Ordinary Heroes” by Sandra McDonald

Reprints

“Mountain” by Kaaron Warren (from Through Splintered Walls, 2012)
“Raphael” by Stephen Graham Jones (from Cemetery Dance #55, 2006)

The non-fiction this issue includes the latest installment in their long-running horror column, “The H Word,” plus author spotlights, a showcase on cover artist Vitaly Alexius, and a feature interview with Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement winner William F. Nolan.

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I had a subscription to Locus magazine for over 20 years. It was the only magazine I decided I couldn’t live without the year I moved to Belgium, and I paid the exorbitant fees to have my copies mailed overseas every month (and then I paid a small fortune to American Airlines to ship all those issues back to the states when I flew home).

When I was unemployed for three months in 2012, I decided I’d have to cancel at least one of my magazine subscriptions. I noticed that the last nine months of Locus were stacked by my desk, still in their protective mailing wrappers, unopened and unread. Reluctantly, I decided to cancel Locus.

I’m sure you can guess what happened next. I bought an issue of Locus the next time I went to the newsstand. And I started reading it again. I pick up the latest issue, without fail, every month. It costs me more than a subscription…. but hey, I figure, at least this way I’m reading this issues.

Locus is called the Newsmagazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field, and that description is entirely accurate. Every issue is packed with news, reviews, photos, interviews, gossip, convention reports, list of upcoming releases, news on other magazines, and a ton more. It can take you a very long time to read an issue cover to cover (I know — that’s the way I read them.)

The May issue includes a detailed breakdown of the 2015 Hugo controversy (including a long quote from Yours Truly — the first time I can recall being quoted in Locus), reports on the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts and Norwescon 38, interviews with Ken Liu (The Grace of Kings) and Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death), entertaining short fiction reviews from Gardner Dozois and Rich Horton, plenty of books reviews, and a lot more. See the complete Table of Contents here.

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Beneath Ceaseless Skies 173 looks like another solid issue, with two short stories and a podcast.

“Out of the Rose Hills” by Marissa Lingen
The shadow woman’s face was also made of shadows, so it was not visible as a face. But the shadows moved in a way that suggested an indulgent smile.

“The Punctuality Machine, Or, A Steampunk Libretto” by Bill Powell
WHITLOCK: (aside) An identical response! Perhaps free will is a mere illusion. On the other hand, she’s an automaton.

Marissa Lingen’s short fiction has appeared in Analog, Asimov’s, Apex, Lightspeed, and many other places. Her previous stories for BCS include “A House of Gold and Steel” (issue 162) and “On the Weaponization of Flora and Fauna” (issue #129). Bill Powell is a graduate of the Odyssey Workshop who blogs at billpowell.org.

Issue 173 was published on May 14. Read it online completely free here.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies is edited by Scott H. Andrews and published twice a month by Firkin Press. Issues are available completely free online; you can also get a free e-mail or RSS subscription.

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With only four issues under its belt, Uncanny Magazine is already becoming a significant presence in the field. It has gorgeous production, great covers, some terrific contents — and it’s published four issues since October. The new issue keeps the success story going, with an eye-catching cover by Tran Nguyen, and original fiction from Catherynne M. Valente, Elizabeth Bear, Lisa Bolekaja, John Chu, and A.C. Wise, and a reprint from Delia Sherman.

Nonfiction this issue includes “It’s the Big One,” a nice historical recap of the Hugos by File 770‘s Mike Glyer, with an on-point summary of the 2015 Hugo drama:

Never before in its history has its future been in greater doubt… there is no precedent for the absolutely public and devastatingly successful effort of two slates to control the 2015 Hugos, Brad Torgersen’s “Sad Puppies 3” and Vox Day’s parallel “Rabid Puppies” campaigns which filled 59 of 85 slots on the final ballot with their choices (and would have had more, but five declined their nominations and the committee ruled two others ineligible.)…

Only by tapping into anger over the culture wars has someone succeeded in motivating the requisite number of fans to buy supporting memberships at $40 a pop and take control of the Hugo ballot.

Among fans who are critical of the outcome there has been widespread talk of voting “No Award” ahead of nominees from the slate (again). There is also a great deal of technical discussion of rules changes designed to limit the influence of voting slates without creating any barriers to new voters.

Read the entire article here.

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Well here’s an unexpected bit of good news. Allen Koszowski’s Inhuman Magazine, which I had listed as defunct in our mid-May Fantasy Magazine Rack, has just released a new issue.

Allen Koszowski is a terrifically talented guy. I hired him to illustrate our reprint of Edmond Hamilton’s first story, “The Monster-God of Mamurth,” and he delivered three marvelous pieces that appeared in Black Gate 2. Since 2004 he’s been involved in the most noble and selfless act of creation known to humankind — publishing his own magazine. Allen K’s Inhuman Magazine is a monster magazine that consistently features the top names in dark fantasy and horror, and Allen handles the art for each story personally.

Centipede Press took over production with issue #5, and the magazine looks better than ever. Issue #6 is the first in four years, and it features original stories by Tim Curran, Peter Rawlik (two stories), Don D’Ammassa, Lee Weinstein, C. J. Henderson, J. F. Gonzalez, Marilyn “Mattie” Brahen, Weston Osche, and Randall D. Larson, plus reprints from Michael Bishop, Darrell Schweitzer, Gahan Wilson, Jason Van Hollander, and Chad Hensley and W. H. Pugmire. The magazine also includes verse and art from David Sutton, Kurt Newton, Justin Gustainis, Jill Bauman, Cullen Bunn, Gene O’Neill, William C. Rassmussen, Stephen Jones, Bob Eggleton, Augie Weidemann, Robert H. Knox, Nick Gucker, Chris Kuchta, Steve Gilberts, Alex Lakhtarnik, and Allen Koszowski. The artists this issue are all part of a special gallery section dedicated to The Thing from Another World.

The magazine is huge — 208 pages! — and copiously illustrated. It is perfect bound for the criminally low price of just $6.99. Copies of the latest issue can be hard to come by, but at least two eBay vendors are currently stocking it at cover price. Check it out — I think you’ll enjoy it.

We last covered Inhuman Magazine with Issue #5. See all of our recent magazine coverage here.

I’m finally getting caught up on Apex Magazine. As I said last month, it’s tough been an obsessive magazine fan; there’s never enough hours in the day.

In his editorial, Jason Sizemore has a few gracious words for his competition, the magazines on the Hugo ballot this year for Best Semiprozine:

My first order of business is to congratulate this year’s Hugo Award nominees in the category of Best Semiprozine: Abyss & Apex, Andromeda Spaceways In-Flight Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Lightspeed Magazine, and Strange Horizons. While other Hugo Award categories have been unfortunate victims of slate block voting, Best Semiprozine is one that has maintained its dignity. All five publications are worthy nominees and I wish them the best of luck at Sasquan.

He’s certainly right that it’s a solid slate of nominees. As editor-in-chief of Apex, Jason has been nominated for the Hugo three times himself, in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The May issue of Apex contains original fiction by Sarah Pinsker, David Bowles, JY Yang, and Suzette Mayr — plus poetry, an interview with Sarah Pinsker, an article on “Eye-Based Paternity Testing and Other Human Genetics Myths” by Dan Koboldt, short fiction reviews, two novel excerpts (The Buried Life by Carrie Patel, and The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu), a podcast, and more.

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I don’t usually cover Analog Science Fiction and Fact here at Black Gate — in fact, I think the most recent issues we’ve covered were April 1980 (containing George R.R. Martin’s “Nightflyers”) and August 1968. When it comes to science fiction, Analog is about as hard as it gets, and the magazine has always been proud of the fact that it doesn’t publish anything so fluffy as fantasy.

But I’m happy to make an exception in this case. The June 2015 issue of Analog happens to be the 1000th issue, a landmark well worth celebrating.

Analog first appeared in January 1930, as Astounding Stories of Super-Science, under editor Harry Bates, and it has been published continuously ever since. Over the course of 85 years, Astounding/Analog has become the most important magazine in the history of science fiction and fantasy, and it continues that proud tradition today under editor Trevor Qachari.

In celebration, this issue has special columns from emeritus editors Stanley Schmidt and Ben Bova, and genre historian extraordinaire Mike Ashley, as well as fiction from Sean McMullen, C. C. Finlay, Ted Reynolds and William F. Wu, Richard A. Lovett and many others, all under a great cover by Vincent DiFate.

Here’s the complete list of contents.

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