Black Gate

Paul Meloy is the author of Dogs With Their Eyes Shut, a horror novella from PS Publishing, and the short story collection Islington Crocodiles. His short fiction has appeared in places like Black Static, Interzone, and several anthologies.

His brand new debut novel The Night Clock, set in the same world as Dogs with Their Eyes Shut, is an intriguing blend of dark fantasy, science fiction and horror. The collaborative writing team S.L. Grey says it “isn’t just a good horror novel, it’s a great one. Superbly written, full of bite, originality, and, most importantly, heart and soul.”

And still the Night Clock ticks…

Phil Trevena’s boss is an idiot, his daughter is running wild, and his patients are killing themselves. There is something terrible growing in Phil that even his years as a mental health worker can’t explain — until he meets the enigmatic Daniel, and learns of the war for the minds of humanity that rages in Dark Time, the space between reality and nightmares measured by the Night Clock.

Drawn into the conflict, Phil and Daniel encounter the Firmament Surgeons, a brave and strange band that are all that prevents the nightmarish ranks of the Autoscopes overrunning us. The enemy is fueled by a limitless hatred that could rip our reality apart. To end the war the darkness that dwells in the shadow of the Night Clock must be defeated…

The Night Clock was published by Solaris on November 10, 2015. It is 384 pages, priced at $9.99 in paperback and just $0.99 for the digital version.

Jason Denzel has been immersed in the world of high fantasy for decades — he’s the founder of Dragonmount, the popular online community for fans of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time. His debut fantasy novel Mystic, the tale of a strange teenager with humble origins who’s chosen as a candidate for the most powerful magical position in the land, is the opening volume of The Mystic Trilogy. It arrived in hardcover from Tor last month.

I called to the Myst, and it sent us you.

For hundreds of years, high-born nobles have competed for the chance to learn of the Myst. Powerful, revered, and often reclusive, Mystics have the unique ability to summon and manipulate the Myst: the underlying energy that lives at the heart of the universe. Once in a very great while, they take an apprentice, always from the most privileged sects of society. Such has always been the tradition — until a new High Mystic takes her seat and chooses Pomella AnDone, a restless, low-born teenager, as a candidate.

Commoners have never been welcomed among the select few given the opportunity to rise beyond even the highest nobility. So when Pomella chooses to accept the summons and journey to Kelt Apar, she knows that she will have more to contend with than the competition for the apprenticeship.

Breaking both law and tradition, Pomella undergoes three trials against the other candidates to prove her worthiness. As the trials unfold, Pomella navigates a deadly world of intolerance and betrayal, unaware that ruthless conspirators intend to make her suffer for having the audacity to seek to unravel the secrets of the Myst.

Mystic was published by Tor Books on November 3, 2015. It is 320 pages, priced at $25.99 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital version. The cover artist is Larry Rostant.

I don’t see a lot of dark poetry, so I was very pleased to receive a copy of Michael Hanson’s Dark Parchments: Midnight Curses and Verses, a gorgeous volume of new poems from the author of Autumn Blush, Jubilant Whispers, and the creator of the Sha’Daa shared-world horror/fantasy anthology series. Janet Morris, in her Foreword, calls Dark Parchments “a brooding anthology exploring humanity’s awful heart, its crippling guilt and madness, its untoward dominion and unbridled power.” Hanson’s best work, including “Nevada Test Site Mannequins” and “Midnight in Moon Alley,” is fearless and intensely descriptive, and the numerous illustrations give the book an impressive visual appeal.

If the cover art looks familiar, it’s because it’s the work of the brilliant Chris Mars, whom we first took notice of for his work on Thomas Ligotti’s new Penguin collection Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe, and whom we profiled here.

Dark Parchments was published by MoonDream Press on October 25, 2015. It is 120 pages, priced at $12.95 in trade paperback and just $0.99 for the digital edition. The front and back covers are by Chris Mars.