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Get a Free Copy of Mysterion: Rediscovering the Mysteries of the Christian Faith

Get a Free Copy of Mysterion: Rediscovering the Mysteries of the Christian Faith

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Mysterion-smallBlack Gate author Donald Crankshaw (“A Phoenix in Darkness“) and his wife Kristin Janz have produced a groundbreaking anthology of Christian fantasy, Mysterion: Rediscovering the Mysteries of the Christian Faith. It will be released in two weeks from Enigmatic Mirror Press, and contains original fiction from Beth Cato, Pauline J. Alama, Stephen Case, David Tallerman, and many others. Here’s the description:

The Christian faith is filled with mystery, from the Trinity and the Incarnation to the smaller mysteries found in some of the strange and unexplained passages of the Bible: Behemoth and Leviathan, nephilim and seraphim, heroes and giants and more. There is no reason for fiction engaging with Christianity to be more tidy and theologically precise than the faith itself.

Here you will find challenging fantasy, science fiction, and horror stories that wrestle with tough questions and refuse to provide easy answers or censored depictions of a broken world, characters whose deeds are as obscene as their words and people who meet bad ends — sometimes deserved and sometimes not. But there are also hope, grace, and redemption, though even they can burn like fire.

Join us as we rediscover the mysteries of the Christian faith.

Enigmatic Mirror Press is offering 25 free review copies in digital format to Black Gate readers, in return for honest reviews (e.g., at Amazon, Goodreads, etc.) If you’re willing to read the book and provide a review, just send an e-mail to john@blackgate.com with the subject “Mysterion,” and we’ll forward the first 25 we receive along to the publisher.

Mysterion: Rediscovering the Mysteries of the Christian Faith will be published by Enigmatic Mirror Press on August 31, 2016. It is 324 pages, priced at $9.99 in digital format. See the complete Table of Contents here.

New Treasures: The Interminables by Paige Orwin

New Treasures: The Interminables by Paige Orwin

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The Interminables-smallI find myself growing steadily more impressed with Angry Robot Books. I write only about the releases that interest me in my New Treasures columns, and in the last few months I’ve given more space to Angry Robot than any other publisher. Most intriguing of all, they’re willing to take a chance on new and emerging authors, which means in the last few years they’ve introduced me to more exciting new talent than any three other publishers combined. Just in the last few months we’ve covered the exciting and award-winning fiction they published by Peter McLean, Rod Duncan, Matt Hill, Ferrett Steinmetz, Ramez Naam, Matthew De Abaitua, Peter Tieryas, Alyc Helms, and Foz Meadows — virtually all of it in affordable mass market paperback format.

Last month they released Paige Orwin’s debut fantasy novel The Interminables, and it sounds like one of their most intriguing releases yet. Featuring two powerful agents of a wizard’s cabal in a drastically altered Earth on a mission that lands them in a very dark place, it sounds a lot like the beginning of an exciting new series. Here’s hoping.

It’s 2020, and a magical cataclysm has shattered reality as we know it. Now a wizard’s cabal is running the East Coast of the US, keeping a semblance of peace.

Their most powerful agents, Edmund and Istvan — the former a nearly immortal 1940s-era mystery man, the latter, well, a ghost — have been assigned to hunt down an arms smuggling ring that could blow up Massachusetts.

Turns out the mission’s more complicated than it seemed. They discover a shadow war that’s been waged since the world ended, and, even worse, they find out that their own friendship has always been more complicated than they thought. To get out of this alive, they’ll need to get over their feelings, their memories, and the threat of a monstrous foe who’s getting ready to commit mass murder…

The Interminables was published by Angry Robot on July 5, 2016. It is 416 pages, priced at $7.99 in paperback and $6.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Will Staehle. Read the first chapter at B&N.

A Southern Tale of Spectral Revenge: Cold Moon Over Babylon by Michael McDowell

A Southern Tale of Spectral Revenge: Cold Moon Over Babylon by Michael McDowell

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Leave it to Valancourt Books to produce the first reprint of Michael McDowell’s spooky southern gothic Cold Moon Over Babylon. It was originally published in paperback by Avon in February 1980 (above left and middle, cover artist unknown).

Stephen King called McDowell “The finest writer of paperback originals in America.” McDowell’s other novels include the Blackwater series, The Amulet (1979), and Toplin (1985). I first discovered him with the Valancourt reprint of The Elementals (1981). I was standing in front of the Valancourt booth at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention, gazing in amazement at their incredible back catalog, and that was the book that forced me to open my wallet.

Last year Valancourt brought most of McDowell’s back catalog back into print as part of their 20th Century Classics line, starting with Cold Moon Over Babylon, now available in a handsome new trade paperback with a wonderfully spooky new cover by Mike Mignola.

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John DeNardo on the Best Books of August

John DeNardo on the Best Books of August

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Over at Kirkus Reviews, the tireless John DeNardo checks in with his regular monthly report on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You’ll Want to Read. This month’s list includes Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal, An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows, Behind the Throne by K. B. Wagers, Early Days: More Tales from the Pulp Era edited by Robert Silverberg, Spellbreaker by Blake Charlton — and the latest novel by Drew Magary, The Hike. Here’s John’s take on The Hike.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Ben, a suburban family man, sets out for a walk but finds himself on an impossible journey in a fantastical world populated by strange demons, man-eating giants, colossal insects and magic.

WHY YOU MIGHT LIKE IT: Magary’s surreal fantasy novel integrates folk tales and video games into something quirky and fun.

See the complete list here.

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The Groundbreaking SF Anthologies of Athena Andreadis

The Groundbreaking SF Anthologies of Athena Andreadis

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It takes no small courage to break into this industry editing genre anthologies these days, but that’s exactly what Athena Andreadis has done. Her first book, The Other Half of the Sky — co-edited by Kay Holt — features tales of hard SF with female protagonists. It was released by Candlemark & Gleam in 2013, and proclaimed by Locus as “One of the best SF anthologies of the year.” It contains new fiction by Black Gate fan favorite Martha Wells, plus Aliette de Bodard, Ken Liu, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Melissa Scott, Nisi Shawl, Joan Slonczewski, Cat Rambo, Jack McDevitt, and many more.

Athena followed up with To Shape the Dark in May of this year, featuring 15 brand new tales of daring women scientists by BG author Constance Cooper (“The Wily Thing”), plus Aliette de Bodard, Shariann Lewitt, Vandana Singh, Melissa Scott, Jack McDevitt, Gwyneth Jones, and may others. Publishers Weekly calls it “Extraordinary… [these] imaginative stories feature diverse cultures, intriguing settings, and intelligent plots… will remind readers why they love science fiction.” And the flagship magazine of Hard SF, Analog, said, “Resurrected dinosaurs, philosophical cetaceans, alien invasion, parallel worlds. There’s not a bad story in this bunch… you can’t afford to miss this one.”

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New Treasures: Ann and Jeff Vandermeer’s The Big Book of Science Fiction

New Treasures: Ann and Jeff Vandermeer’s The Big Book of Science Fiction

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The Big Book of Science Fiction-smallHow big is The Big Book of Science Fiction? An informal survey shows that it’s quite likely the biggest book every covered at Black Gate — bigger than Otto Penzler’s The Vampire Archives and The Big Book of Adventure Stories, and even bigger than Ann and Jeff Vandermeer’s previous record-holder, the 1152-page The Weird. It is 1,216 pages in two columns, weighing in at a staggering 750,000 words.

But as I keep telling Alice, size isn’t everything. The Big Book of Science Fiction has been receiving accolades since the day it was published, Here’s a snippet from one of my favorite reviews, from Brit Mandelo at Tor.com.

A stunning and satisfying retrospective… This is a complex and fantastic project — one I think they’ve succeeded admirably at to make an academically useful and pleasurably readable collection… Each piece in the collection is preceded by a brief write-up of the author, their life’s work, and their story in the context of the world and genre alike. While each introduction is short, the inclusion of them enhances the stories immensely…

There are classics here — for example, Leslie F. Stone’s “The Conquest of Gola” — that I’ve seen in most of these types of collections, but there are also new classics, stories that seem strikingly necessary to a rich understanding of the field but have not been previously collected or acknowledged as part of the canon. To balance those two urges is a high end goal, and to my eye, the VanderMeer duo have succeeded… I couldn’t ask for more, truly. It’s diverse, wide-ranging, engaging, and fun; the stories are introduced well, juxtaposed better, and the overall effect is one of dizzying complexity and depth.

The Big Book of Science Fiction was published by Vintage on July 12, 2016. It is 1,216 pages, priced at $25 in trade paperback and $12.99 for the digital edition. See the complete table of contents here.

Wondrous Flights of Space Operatic Fancy: Eva L. Elasigue’s Bones of Starlight: Fire on All Sides

Wondrous Flights of Space Operatic Fancy: Eva L. Elasigue’s Bones of Starlight: Fire on All Sides

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I had the privilege of meeting Eva L. Elasigue at this year’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards Weekend (which I attended with several other members of Black Gate‘s Chicago crew, including John O’Neill). When she described her novel Fire on All Sides to me, it sounded magical. Well, you had better believe that it will lead you on a dazzling journey. The novel, which marks the beginning of a series titled Bones of Starlight, centers around multiple plot threads.

The first focuses on a detective named Derringer. He falls for the whimsical Karma Ilacqua, whom he meets while delivering an important parcel to her hotel room. Tantalizing romance ensues. You’re with the couple all the way until misfortune rears its ugly head.

The same goes for the second story, which centers around the enchanting Princess Soleil. She and her parents and siblings, all members of the Imperium, eagerly await the Pyrean Midsummer. The duty of performing a staggeringly beautiful aria to mark the occasion falls on Soleil. But before the event begins, the Princess falls into a mysterious coma. Even after the royal family summons the help of the Aquarii, a race of musical (and tentacle-armed) beings, a cure remains elusive.

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A Hard-boiled Private Eye Who Becomes a Wizard’s Henchman: A Wizard’s Henchman by Matthew Hughes

A Hard-boiled Private Eye Who Becomes a Wizard’s Henchman: A Wizard’s Henchman by Matthew Hughes

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I’ve posted the first chapter of A Wizard’s Henchman for a free read.

For quite a few years now, I’ve been imagining a far-future civilization called the Ten Thousand Worlds, which occupies an arm of the galaxy known as The Spray. The time I’ve been writing about is just before the universe suddenly and arbitrarily shifts from a basis of rational cause-and-effect to a new regime based on magic. When that happens, technological civilization will collapse and the age of The Dying Earth will dawn, with its grim thaumaturges, haunted ruins, and louche decadence.

Whether they live on grand old, long-settled worlds or strange little planets in odd corners, virtually none of The Spray’s multitude of inhabitants knows that disaster impends. A handful do, and they are preparing for the great change.

Until now, I’ve written only about the handful and I’ve always taken the overarching story just to the point where the cataclysm is about to break upon the Ten Thousand Worlds. In A Wizard’s Henchman, for the first time, I go all the way.

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New Treasures: Skyships Over Innsmouth by Susan Laine

New Treasures: Skyships Over Innsmouth by Susan Laine

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Airships! Cataclysms! Lovecraft! Horrors beyond imagining! And airships! Really, you had me at airships and Lovecraft.

Susan Lane lives in Finland, and is primarily known as an author of Erotic Alternative Cowboy Romances with great titles, like Lone Wolf and His Cool Cat and Twist in the Saddle. She’s also written the 5-volume Lifting the Veil series of supernatural romances. Skyships Over Innsmouth seems to be her first foray into straight-ahead post-apocalyptic Lovecraftian steampunk… but then again, she seems to have essentially invented it, so she’s free to do it her way. Airships! Lovecraft! This woman has definitely cracked the code for literary cool, and my wallet is helpless before her. That awesome cover doesn’t hurt, either.

Skyships Over Innsmouth was published by DSP Publications on August 2, 2016. It is 200 pages, priced at $14.99 in paperback and $6.99 for the digital edition. The gorgeous cover is by Stef Masciandaro. Get more details (and read a sample chapter by hitting the “Show Excerpt” button) at the DSP website.

How No Man’s Sky Has Reinvigorated a Gaming Generation (No, Not That One)

How No Man’s Sky Has Reinvigorated a Gaming Generation (No, Not That One)

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Let’s get something out of the way. Being just shy of entering my sixth decade, I am officially what I used to refer to as ‘an old fart.’ Not sure how this happened, but I’m dealing with it with world-weary humor and longer attempts to get up from the couch. This also means that I’m not quite the young buck any more when it comes to video games. My hand/eye coordination is no longer sharp enough to get Lara to that seemingly unreachable alcove in the Bolivian temple, my reflexes have dulled to the point where fifth place in any race is a win in my book, and being trash-talked by a twelve-year-old, killing me for the umpteenth time while I try to figure out where I am on the map, has lost its glamour.

I became aware of No Man’s Sky when a trailer emerged from E3 in 2014, which proved to be enough to win the game several awards based on promise alone. In that trailer we gazed through the eyes of a cosmic explorer as they emerged from a cave into bright orange sunlight and traversed a landscape so exotically hued that all it was missing was Doug McClure standing in the middle with one sleeve ripped off.

Then the explorer dodged a few skittish antelope-types and rounded a group of towering dinosaurs before hopping into a small craft and blasting off from the planet surface. Moments later (which included zero loading screens) the explorer was in space, joining in a skirmish and zooming down to a different planet to pick off a trio of interstellar ne’er-do-wells. The whole trailer was extremely impressive due to its seamless game play, but it was the aesthetic of the video clip that really captured my imagination. The color palette and fanciful forms were a breath of fresh air compared to the modern penchant for dark and gritty™ and that immediately had me reaching for the nostalgia goggles.

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