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The Novels of Black Gate

The Novels of Black Gate

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childoffire“Why do the review pages always seem to be full of books which no one buys and the bestseller lists full of books no one reviews?”

This was tweeted the other day by a lit. agent called missdaisyfrost and the first thing it brought to my mind was Black Gate.

Day by day, genre short fiction magazines seem to grow more literary even as their sales plummet, while BG — may I call you BG? — is one of the few to proudly assert its pulp roots and to cater to the majority of people who like, you know, something to happen in the stories they read.

So, it’s interesting that while a lot of my fellow BG buddies haven’t had stellar success in most of the Big Mags out there in the wild, many of them are now kicking ass in the real market, novels: the only place outside of Hollywood that writers can make an actual living from their craft.

The first story I ever read in the magazine was Harry Connolly‘s The Whoremaster of Pald. It totally knocked my socks off.

Nor was I the only one to suffer from sudden chills in the foot area — people raved about that story and now, years later, Child of Fire, by the same author has 108 reviews on Amazon.com, most of them equally thrilled.

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Analog, February 1966: a Retro-Review

Analog, February 1966: a Retro-Review

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analog-feb-66And now the third of three consecutive months of SF magazines I recently bought, each a different specimen of the canonical “Big Three” of that time. The first, the December 1965 Galaxy, is here, and the January 1966 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is here.

Todd Mason complained last time about this designation of Analog, Galaxy, and F&SF as the “canonical Big Three” SF magazines of the ’60s. He noted, correctly, that Galaxy‘s sister magazine If was winning Hugos as best magazine, and that Amazing and Fantastic were tremendous magazines under Cele Goldsmith Lalli (though by 1966 the magazines had been sold and Lalli was no longer editing them — and their quality suffered immensely).

Fair enough comments — but there is little doubt that Analog, Galaxy, and F&SF were regarded then — even by those who voted for If for the Hugo! — as the most prestigious SF magazines in the US. They paid better. Analog and Galaxy published more fiction per issue, though F&SF was as slim as If and Amazing/Fantastic. They were regarded as more “serious” — each in different ways, mind you. (And I think that very lack of seriousness was a big part of If‘s appeal.) Anyway …

This issue of Analog comes very late in John W. Campbell’s long tenure. The magazine is all but universally regarded as having declined in quality by this point, relative to Campbell’s best years. But this issue is really quite a good one.

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Now Shipping: Black Gate 15

Now Shipping: Black Gate 15

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bg-15-cover2Black Gate 15 is now shipping.  The last subscriber copies will go in the mail early next week.

The issue is for sale through our online store.  Copies are available to US subscribers for just $18.95 including shipping (just select “Sample Issue”), or as part of a 2-issue subscription for only $32.95.

BG 15 is a massive 384 pages, packed with the best in modern adventure fantasy. This issues’s theme is Warrior Women, and it includes tales of female warriors, wizards, weather witches, thieves, and other brave women as they face deadly tombs, sinister gods, unquiet ghosts, and much more. Contributors this issue include Frederic S. Durbin, Harry Connolly, John Fultz, Darrell Schweitzer, Chris Willrich, Maria V. Snyder, and many others.

BG 15 is notable for more than just its epic size. This issue we celebrate the triumphant return of the fantasy series to our pages — starting with Jonathan L. Howard’s “The Shuttered Temple,” featuring the resourceful thief Kyth the Taker in the sequel to “The Beautiful Corridor” (BG 13).

Plus the opening installments of five exciting new serials that will continue in Black Gate 16 and beyond:

  • Vaughn Heppner’s rollicking sword & sorcery tale of the barbarian Lod in a decadent city, “The Oracle of Gog”
  • Brian Dolton’s Yi Qin the exorcist in a mystery of the ancient Orient, “What Chains Binds Us”
  • John C. Hocking’s tale of The Archivist and a deadly desert tomb, “A River Through Darkness and Light”
  • Jamie McEwan’s intrepid prince Tanek and his desperate solo campaign against a relentless invader, “An Uprising of One”
  • S. Hutson Blount’s story of Hautbee and the dread sorceress Gambetzo, “The Laws of Chaos Left Us All in Disarray”

That’s not all.  Howard Andrew Jones offers up a tantalizing slice of his blockbuster new novel The Desert of Souls; and Mike Resnick , Bud Webster, Scott Taylor, and Rich Horton contribute feature articles. Plus over 30 pages of book, game, and DVD reviews, edited by Bill Ward, Howard Andrew Jones, and Andrew Zimmerman Jones — and a brand new 4-page Knights of the Dinner Table strip! Plus 22 full pages of art from Kent Burles, Storn Cook, Mark Evans, John E. Kaufmann, Jim & Ruth Keegan, Malcolm McClinton, and many others. See the complete Table of Contents here.

Don’t forget our Back Issue Sale: any two back issues for just $25 plus shipping — including the massive BG 14 (384 pages, cover price $18.95) and our rare first issue (regularly $18.95).

Cover by Donato Giancola.

April Realms of Fantasy Now on Sale

April Realms of Fantasy Now on Sale

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rof-april-2011The April issue (issue 99) of Realms of Fantasy is now on sale.

This issues includes fiction from Randy Henderson, Michelle M. Welch, Lisa Goldstein, Euan Harvey, and Von Carr. Non-fiction includes a column by Resa Nelson on zombie cinema, Theodora Goss’ “Folkroots” column on vampires, an editorial and review (“The Addams Family on Broadway”) by Douglas Cohen, Karen Haber’s “Artists Gallery” on cover artist Brom; and book review columns by Paul Witcover, Elizabeth Bear, Michael Jones (covering Young Adult novels), and Andrew Wheeler (on graphic novels). A complete PDF table of contents is here.

We last reported on Realms of Fantasy with issue their February issue.

Rich Horton reviewed this issue in the May Locus, saying:

The April issue of Realms of Fantasy is a special Dark Fantasy issue… It’s a very strong issue, for whatever reason. Every story is good, and the definition of ‘‘dark’’ is loose enough to include a comic story, ‘‘The Strange Case of Madeline H. Marsh (Aged 14 ¼)’’ by Von Carr, about an 8th grade girl who needs to deal with Lovecraftian Dark Gods in her basement. Euan Harvey’s ‘‘By Shackle and Lash’’ is a strong Persian-flavored story about a couple of soldiers whose cowardice gets them assigned to cleaning duty in a prison… The best story here is ‘‘Little Vampires’’ by Lisa Goldstein, which beautifully dovetails three stories: a Halloween tale about a girl visiting a sinister house, a darker story told by a Hungarian émigré about her escape from the Nazis and its cost, and the framing tale of an elderly mother telling these stories to her daughter.

ROF is edited by Douglas Cohen. The fiction editor Shawna McCarthy. Issues are $6.99 (print) or $3.99 (PDF). Cover art by Brom.

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1966: A Retro-Review

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1966: A Retro-Review

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fsf-jan661Here’s the second of three consecutive months of SF magazines I recently bought, each a different specimen of the canonical “Big Three” of that time. The first, the December 1965 issue of Galaxy, is here.

Edward Ferman was the Editor of F&SF at this time, as he had been for a while. (I have heard that even while his father Joseph was listed as Editor, Edward was actually doing the job.)

The cover is by Jack Gaughan, illustrating “L’Arc de Jeanne,” by Robert F. Young. Of course there was no interior artwork, excerpt for Gahan Wilson’s cartoon. There were also no ads except for the Classifieds in the F&SF Marketplace, and except for one or two inhouse ads. This issue did feature the Statement of Management and Circulation. Average Paid Circulation, 53,831. Average Mail Circulation, 16,644.

The features include Wilson’s Cartoon, a very brief “Science Springboard” by Theodore L. Thomas, about smog, and Isaac Asimov’s Science column, this time called “The Proton Reckoner,” about counting things, lots of things, like the protons in the universe.

And there is a book review column by Judith Merril. She writes from London, in September of 1965, and her subject is how much better things are in England: the drinking, people’s looks, the rock and roll, and the SF — the New Wave SF (though Merril does not here use that term). She focuses on three major fairly young writers: J. G. Ballard, Brian W. Aldiss, and John Brunner.

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May/June Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine Now on Sale

May/June Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine Now on Sale

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may-june2011coverThe May/June double issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction goes on sale today.

Editor Gordon van Gelder tells us:

It’s pretty rare for us to have a family reunion in F&SF, but this issue has a piece about reuniting with one of our founding editors. (Our next issue will actually have a story starring another one of our editors.) There’s a lot of music in this issue, several strange forms of life, and a talking dog. Another can’t miss issue, in other words.

This issue features the novella “Rampion” by Alexandra Duncan, and two novelets: “Black Mountain” by Albert E. Cowdrey, and “Music Makers” by Kate Wilhelm, plus short stories by Chet Williamson, Steven Popkes, Don Webb, Carter Scholz, Scott Bradfield, S. L. Gilbow, Ken Liu, and two (!) by Robert Reed.

The Special Feature this issue is “Jesse Francis McComas: The Traveller Returns” by Maria E. Alonzo. The issue also contains an editorial by Gordon Van Gelder, book columns by Charles de Lint and Chris Moriarty, “Plumage From Pegasus: Building a Readership” by Paul Di Filippo, a film column by Kathi Maio, and a Curiosities column by the late F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre.

F&SF is published six times a year; issues are a generous 258 pages.  It is the longest-running professional fantasy magazine in the country, and has been published continuously since 1949. It is a great way to sample some of the fast-rising new names in fantasy.

The cover price is $7.50; one year-subscriptions are a bargain at $34.97, and include the giant October/November anniversary issue. You can order subscriptions and browse their blog at www.sfsite.com/fsf/.

The cover this issue is by Tomislav Tikulin. We covered the March/April issue here.

Black Static #22

Black Static #22

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314_largeBlack Static is the horror/dark fantasy counterpart to the largely SF magazine Interzone, published in alternating months by TTA Press. The current April-May 2011 issue features fiction by Alan Wall, Time Lees, Allison J. Littlewood, Steven Pirie and Simon Kurt Unsworth.  The ‘transmissions from beyond’ themed art in every issue is by David Gentry. Peter Tennant and Tony Lee provide book and DVD/BD reviews and interviews, with regular comment supplied by Stephen Volk, Christopher Fowler and Mike O’Driscoll.  What immediately grabbed my attention is the opening paragraph to Fowler’s typically curmudgeon column:

I think I am finally going mad. As I get older, everything that other people find enjoyable, I seem to find awful.  No, beyond awful. Unwatchable, unreadable, uninvolving, stupid beyond belief!

I’m totally sympatico.

You can subscribe to the print version here, or the electronic edition here; there’s also a special discounted rate for a joint subscription to both Interzone and Black Static.

Black Gate 15 Complete Table of Contents

Black Gate 15 Complete Table of Contents

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bg-15-cover2The theme of our massive 15th issue, captured beautifully by Donato Giancola’s striking cover, is Warrior Women. Eight authors — Jonathan L. Howard, Maria V. Snyder, Frederic S. Durbin, Sarah Avery, Paula R. Stiles, Emily Mah, S. Hutson Blount, and Brian Dolton — contribute delightful tales of female warriors, wizards, weather witches, thieves, and other brave women as they face deadly tombs, sinister gods, unquiet ghosts, and much more.

Frederic S. Durbin takes us to a far land where two dueling gods pit their champions against each other in a deadly race to the World’s End. Brian Dolton offers us a tale of Ancient China, a beautiful occult investigator, and a very peculiar haunting. And Jonathan L. Howard returns to our pages with “The Shuttered Temple,” the sequel to “The Beautiful Corridor” from Black Gate 13, in which the resourceful thief Kyth must penetrate the secrets of a mysterious and very lethal temple.

What else is in BG 15? Howard Andrew Jones bring us a lengthy excerpt from his blockbuster novel The Desert of Souls, featuring the popular characters Dabir & Asim. Harry Connolly returns after too long an absence with “Eating Venom,” in which a desperate soldier faces a basilisk’s poison — and the treachery it brings. John C. Hocking begins a terrific new series with “A River Through Darkness & Light,” featuring a dedicated Archivist who leads a small band into a deadly desert tomb; John Fultz shares the twisted fate of a thief who dares fantastic dangers to steal rare spirits indeed in “The Vintages of Dream,” and Vaughn Heppner kicks off an exciting new sword & sorcery saga as a young warrior flees the spawn of a terrible god through the streets of an ancient city in “The Oracle of Gog.”

Plus fiction from Darrell Schweitzer, Jamie McEwan, Michael Livingston, Chris Willrich, Fraser Ronald, Derek Künsken, Jeremiah Tolbert, Nye Joell Hardy, and Rosamund Hodge!

In our generous non-fiction section, Mike Resnick educates us on the best in black & white fantasy cinema, Bud Webster turns his attention to the brilliant Tom Reamy in his Who? column on 20th Century fantasy authors, Scott Taylor challenges ten famous fantasy artists to share their vision of a single character in Art Evolution, and Rich Horton looks at the finest fantasy anthologies of the last 25 years. Plus over 30 pages of book, game, and DVD reviews, edited by Bill Ward, Howard Andrew Jones, and Andrew Zimmerman Jones — and a brand new Knights of the Dinner Table strip.

Buy this issue for only $18.95, or as part of bundle of back issues — any two for just $25 plus shipping!

Buy this issue in PDF for only $8.95!

Buy the Kindle version at Amazon.com for just $9.95!

Black Gate 15 is another huge issue: 384 pages of fiction, reviews, and articles. It contains 22 stories, totaling nearly 152,000 words of adventure fantasy. Complete details on all the contents after the jump.

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Galaxy, December 1965: A Retro-Review

Galaxy, December 1965: A Retro-Review

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galaxy-dec-1965I picked up a few magazines at an antique store near Columbia, MO, last week, including three consecutive issues — of different magazines — from the end of 1965/beginning of 1966: the December 1965 Galaxy, the January 1966 F&SF (reviewed here), and the February 1966 Analog. The first one I got to was the Galaxy.

This is from more or less the center of Frederik Pohl’s editorial tenure. Galaxy in this period was bimonthly, with two sister magazines — Worlds of Tomorrow, also bimonthly, and Worlds of If, which was monthly. (I admit I had not known that — I thought it was also bimonthly, and I’m surprised that Galaxy, the “senior” magazine, was not the monthly one.) Galaxy was generously sized, at 196 pages (including covers), with about as much fiction as Analog and Asimov’s feature these days. By contrast Worlds of Tomorrow had 164 pages per issue, and If only 132. The latter two were 50 cents, but Galaxy was 60 cents. (I find this mixture of format, frequency, and pricing in three magazines from the same stable rather intriguing.)

The cover of the December 1965 Galaxy is by Pederson, illustrating “The Mercurymen”, by C. C. MacApp. (Galaxy typically only credited last names for artists — apparently this particular artist was named John Pederson, Jr. — I’m not very familiar with his work, and not too impressed with this particular example!) Interiors were by Gray Morrow, Giunta, Jack Gaughan, and Wood. (The artists whose first names I know are, not surprisingly perhaps, the better ones, though I am told that John Giunta and Wally Wood were well known for work in comics.) There are a fair number of ads — more than often in SF magazines — though somewhat low rent ones: Rosicruans, hypnotism, the Puzzle Lovers Club, the Book Find Club, book plates (from Galaxy), and the Duraclean Company.

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Shipping April 30: Black Gate 15!

Shipping April 30: Black Gate 15!

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bg15_320aBlack Gate 15 arrives from the printer this week, and subscriber copies will begin shipping out April 30th.

BG 15 is another massive issue: 384 pages of fiction, reviews, and articles. It contains 22 stories, totaling nearly 152,000 words of adventure fantasy. Jonathan L. Howard returns with “The Shuttered Temple,” the sequel to “The Beautiful Corridor” from Black Gate 13, in which the resourceful thief Kyth must penetrate the secrets of a mysterious and very lethal temple. Howard Andrew Jones bring us a lengthy excerpt from his blockbuster novel The Desert of Souls, featuring Dabir & Asim. And Harry Connolly returns after too long an absence with “Eating Venom,” in which a desperate soldier faces a basilisk’s poison — and the treachery it brings.

What else is in BG 15? John C. Hocking kicks off a terrific new sword & sorcery series with “A River Through Darkness & Light,” featuring a dedicated Archivist who leads a small band into a deadly desert tomb; John Fultz shares the twisted fate of a thief who dares fantastic dangers to steal rare spirits indeed in “The Vintages of Dream,” and Vaughn Heppner offers the first chapter of an exciting new sword & sorcery serial as a young warrior flees the spawn of a terrible god through the streets of an ancient city in “The Oracle of Gog.”

Plus fiction from Darrell Schweitzer, Jamie McEwan, Michael Livingston, Frederic S. Durbin, Chris Willrich, Fraser Ronald, Maria V. Snyder, Brian Dolton, Sarah Avery, and many others!

In our generous non-fiction section, Mike Resnick educates us on the best in black & white fantasy cinema, Bud Webster turns his attention to the brilliant Tom Reamy in his Who? column on 20th Century fantasy authors, Scott Taylor challenges ten famous fantasy artists to share their vision of a single character in Art Evolution, and Rich Horton looks at the finest fantasy anthologies of the last 25 years. Plus over 30 pages of book, game, and DVD reviews, edited by Bill Ward, Howard Andrew Jones, and Andrew Zimmerman Jones — and a brand new Knights of the Dinner Table strip.

Black Gate 15 is $18.95 for the print edition, $8.95 in PDF, or shipped right to your door as part of a 2-issue subscription for just $32.95! We’ll have a detailed sneak peek, with tantalizing story excerpts and artwork, right here in a few days. Stay tuned. And don’t forget our back issue sale — any two back issues for just $25, including our double-sized BG 14!

Cover art by Donato Giancola.