Browsed by
Category: New Treasures

March 2015 Lightspeed Magazine Now on Sale

March 2015 Lightspeed Magazine Now on Sale

Comments 1 comment

Lightspeed Magazine March 2013-smallAs promised in my fantasy magazine survey this morning, we kick off our coverage of John Joseph Adams’ excellent online magazine Lightspeed with #58, the March 2015 issue.

Lightspeed publishes both fantasy and SF, both new fiction and reprints. Among other stories, the March issue contains “A Face of Black Iron” by Matthew Hughes, the tenth standalone installment in his long-running Kaslo Chronicles, all of which are available online. Here’s the tantalizing blurb:

An ancient evil, lurking in another dimension through all the aeons since magic last ruled the universe, is striking out at Erm Kaslo, former hardboiled confidential operative (op) turned wizard’s henchman, and his employer, the proto-thaumaturge Diomedo Obron. Now the two, along with the mysterious Archon Filidor of Old Earth, must re-enter the Seventh Plane, discover what awaits them there, and try to destroy it before it destroys them.

You can read all ten stories in the series at the Lightspeed website.

The complete contents of the March issue are:

Fantasy

“A Face of Black Iron” by Matthew Hughes
“Documentary” by Vajra Chandrasekera — available March 24
“The Way Home” by Linda Nagata (from Operation Arcana)
“The Good Son” by Naomi Kritzer (from Jim Baen’s Universe, February 2009)

…

Read More Read More

Expanding Our Magazine Coverage at Black Gate

Expanding Our Magazine Coverage at Black Gate

Comments 19 comments

New Realm magazine February 2015-smallI’ve slowly been expanding our coverage of fantasy magazines here at Black Gate. Despite how dramatically the industry has changed over the decades since I started reading it, I still consider magazines the heart of the field. Our coverage is not nearly as comprehensive as I’d like it to be, but we’re getting there. I thought I’d pause for a moment and take stock of those publications we currently cover, and see if there are any obvious holes. They are:

Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by C.C. Finlay
Beneath Ceaseless Skies, edited by Scott H. Andrews
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, edited by Adrian Simmons, David Farney, William Ledbetter and James Frederick William Rowe
Nightmare, edited by John Joseph Adams
Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace
The Dark, edited by Jack Fisher and Sean Wallace
Uncanny, edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota
Weirdbook, edited by Douglas Draa‎
Interzone, edited by Andy Cox
Black Static, edited by Andy Cox
Weird Tales, edited by Marvin Kaye
Swords and Sorcery Magazine, edited by Curtis Ellett
Shimmer, edited by E. Catherine Tobler
Fantasy Scroll, edited by Iulian Ionescu, Frederick Doot, and Alexandra Zamorski
Gygax, edited by Jayson Elliot
Weird Fiction Review, edited by S.T. Joshi

Whew. That’s more than I thought.

…

Read More Read More

New Treasures: Old Man’s Ghosts by Tom Lloyd

New Treasures: Old Man’s Ghosts by Tom Lloyd

Comments 2 comments

Old Man's Ghosts-smallI’ve gotten to know a lot of writers — and aspiring writers — through my association with Black Gate over the years. Which means I’ve had the pleasure of reading many fine novels well before they’re released. Sometimes in draft, sometimes as an advance galley, and sometimes just as a favor to folks hoping for an advance review or a quick cover blurb. For a while in fact, it seemed I didn’t even pick up a novel unless I knew the author personally.

Recently I’ve been trying to change that. To go far afield, and seek out new talent from all corners of the world. I don’t know a single thing about author Tom Lloyd, for example, but I know I like the cover of his new book, and the description. What more do I need?

Some men can never outrun their ghosts. Enchei thought he’d found a home at last — a life of quiet obscurity far removed from the horror of his military days. After a decade in the Imperial City his mistakes have been few, but one has now returned to haunt him. As Narin’s pregnant lover comes to term, life has never been so perilous. There couldn’t be a worse time for a nightmare to be unleashed on the Imperial City, but luck’s rarely been on Narin’s side. Once, Enchei swore he’d take his own life rather than let his past catch up with him, but now it’s not just his own in the balance. Demons, rogue mages and vengeful noblemen haunt the city – and a man’s ghosts are always watching and waiting..

Old Man’s Ghosts was published by Gollancz on March 19, 2015. It is 400 pages, priced at $16.95 in trade paperback, and $9.99 for the digital version.

See all of our recent New Treasures here.

New Treasures: Star Trek: The Original Series: Savage Trade by Tony Daniel

New Treasures: Star Trek: The Original Series: Savage Trade by Tony Daniel

Comments 0 Comment

Star Trek Savage Trade-smallI’ve heard about many different ways that Star Trek fans have paid tribute to Leonard Nimoy over the last two weeks. For me, it was by watching Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home with my family. My kids have seen many of my favorite episodes over the years, but this was their first exposure to Nimoy as a director.

Of course, that just whet my appetite for more Star Trek. So while I’m waiting for the next episode of the excellent fan series Star Trek Continues, I thought I’d browse the latest licensed novels based on the original series. I was surprised and pleased to find Tony Daniel, author of Earthling, Metaplanetary, and the excellent The Robot’s Twilight Companion (which I reviewed for SF Site fifteen years ago), has penned a new novel, Savage Trade.

The U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk is en route to the extreme edge of the Alpha Quadrant, and to a region known as the Vara Nebula. Its mission: to investigate why science outpost Zeta Gibraltar is not answering all Federation hailing messages. When the Enterprise arrives, a scan shows no life forms in the science station. Kirk leads a landing party and quickly discovers the reason for the strange silence — signs of a violent firefight are everywhere. Zeta Gibraltar has been completely raided. Yet there are no bodies and the entire roster of station personnel is missing…

This is Daniel’s second Star Trek novel. The first, Devil’s Bargain (2013), is a sequel to my favorite episode, “Devil in the Dark,” and features the return of the bizarre and intelligent Horta. Savage Trade features the return of the mysterious rock creatures the Excalbians, from the season three episode “The Savage Curtain,” in which Kirk and Spock join Abraham Lincoln and the Vulcan Surak match wits against against four of the worst villains from history.

Star Trek: The Original Series: Savage Trade was published by Pocket Books on February 24, 2015. It is 384 pages, priced at $7.99 for both the paperback and digital edition. Read an interview with Tony Daniel about Savage Trade here, and an excerpt from the novel at Barnes & Noble.

March 2015 Nightmare Magazine Now on Sale

March 2015 Nightmare Magazine Now on Sale

Comments 1 comment

Nightmare Magazine March 2015-smallThe March 2015 issue of Nightmare Magazine is now available. Nightmare is an online magazine of horror and dark fantasy, with a broad focus — editor John Joseph Adams promises you’ll find all kinds of horror within, from zombie stories and haunted house tales to visceral psychological horror. Fiction this month is:

Original Stories

“Please, Momma” by Chesya Burke
“An Army of Angels” by Caspian Gray

Reprints

“Featherweight” by Robert Shearman
“The Burned House” by Lynda E. Rucker

In his editorial, John Joseph Adams reports on the astonishing success of his latest crowdfunding initiative, the follow-up to the groundbreaking Women Destroy Science Fiction! anniversary issue of Lightspeed:

Lightspeed’s Queers Destroy Science Fiction! Kickstarter campaign has now concluded and we’re happy to report that it was extremely successful; we asked for $5,000 and got $54,523 in return, which was 1090% of our funding goal. As a result of all that success, we unlocked several stretch goals, including additional special issues Queers Destroy Horror!, which will be published in October as a special issue of Nightmare, and Queers Destroy Fantasy!, which will publish in December as a special issue of Fantasy Magazine.

…

Read More Read More

New Treasures: Aetheria by S. Hutson Blount

New Treasures: Aetheria by S. Hutson Blount

Comments 1 comment

Aetheria-smallS. Hutson Blount’s short story “The Laws of Chaos Left Us All in Disarray” appeared in the last print issue of Black Gate. A fast-paced adventure tale of a mercenary’s desperate attempts to protect a secretive group of pilgrims, it was one of the most popular pieces in the issue.

We met up with Stephen at the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention here in Chicago, and he turned out to be as entertaining in person as he is on the page. So I was delighted to discover that his first novel, Aetheria, had arrived this week. The story of an extremely resourceful con artist in a galaxy filled with competing empires, pirates, ice miners and more dangerous things, Aetheria has already shot to the top of my to-be-read pile.

Aetheria Peregrine set out for a career as a merchant spacer — a career cut short in a whirlwind of events. Caught up in the tumult of planetary empires set against each other, she must by turns become a pirate, doctor, ice miner, drug dealer, vagabond, mystic, spy, secret policewoman, pilgrim, fugitive, heiress, scholar, and diplomat.

She faces the opportunities and dangers of a hostile galaxy armed with the only things she can depend on: her wits, her unquenchable drive for love and success, and the flexible ethics of a practiced conwoman.

Befriended, betrayed, recruited, exiled, and more in the course of her travels, Aetheria can be anything except stopped.

Aetheria was published on March 12, 2015. It is 298 pages, priced at just $2.99 in digital format. Buy it today at Amazon.com.

See all the latest publications from Black Gate‘s writers and staff here.

Future Treasures: New Cthulhu 2 edited by Paula Guran

Future Treasures: New Cthulhu 2 edited by Paula Guran

Comments 3 comments

New Cthulhu 2-smallLast month I did a quick survey of Prime Books, looking at 24 volumes in their recent catalog. And an impressive lot it was, too (and trust me when I tell you, after 20 years in this industry, I don’t impress easily.)

One of the more intriguing books in their catalog was Paula Guran’s anthology New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird, which my kids bought me for my birthday last year (Isn’t that sweet? I have children who give me anthologies of Lovecraftian horror to celebrate my birth. Just nod and agree, it’s better for everyone.) It contained no less than 27 Cthulhu Mythos tales, all written this century, including stories from Neil Gaiman, Charles Stross, Marc Laidlaw, Laird Barron, Paul McAuley — and even Michael Shea’s chilling novelette “Tsathoggua,” first published right here at Black Gate.

So I was very pleased to see that a follow up volume, New Cthulhu 2: More Recent Weird, with stories from Laird Barron, Caitlín R. Kiernan, John Langan, John Shirley, Simon Strantzas, Helen Marshall, Michael Shea, Carrie Vaughn, Charles Stross and many others, is on the schedule for later this month.

Here’s the book description:

Many of the best weird fiction writers (and creators in most other media) have been profoundly influenced by the genre and the mythos H.P. Lovecraft created eight decades ago. Lovecraft’s themes of cosmic indifference, minds invaded by the alien, and the horrors of history – written with a pervasive atmosphere of unexplainable dread – are more relevant than ever as we explore the mysteries of a universe in which our planet is infinitesimal and climatic change is overwhelming it. A few years ago, New Cthulhu : The Recent Weird presented some of the best of this new Lovecraftian fiction from the first decade of the twenty-first century. Now, New Cthulhu 2: More Recent Weird brings you more eldritch tales and even fresher fiction inspired by Lovecraft.

And here’s the complete Table of Contents.

…

Read More Read More

New Treasures: Old Venus, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

New Treasures: Old Venus, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

Comments 0 Comment

Old Venus-smallI think my favorite book of the year (so far) is George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois’s new anthology, Old Venus, which imagines Venus just as the pulp writers of old: a steamy, swampy jungle planet with strange creatures lurking amidst the dripping vegetation.

Old Venus is a follow-up to Old Mars, a tribute to “the Golden Age of Science Fiction, an era filled with tales of interplanetary colonization and derring-do.” It includes brand new fiction from Lavie Tidhar, Paul McAuley, Joe Haldeman, Eleanor Arnason, David Brin, Garth Nix, Joe R. Lansdale, Ian McDonald and many others. Russell Letson at Locus Online offers an enthusiastic review, saying:

In the introduction, co-editor Gardner Dozois writes that he and George R.R. Martin were looking for a return to the ‘‘heyday of the Planetary Romance,’’ when ‘‘the solar system swarmed with alien races and civilizations, as crowded and chummy as an Elks picnic…’’ These 16 stories, mostly of novelette length, aspire to resuscitate not only the obsolete, imaginary planetology of Old Venus, but the iconography and tropes that filled the pulp adventure stories once set there: the rain-soaked frontier outback where questionable characters meet in roughneck saloons before setting out to find abandoned temples or lost cities, guided or preyed upon by aquatic or amphibious natives, pursued by hungry local fauna, and perhaps tempted by exotic-erotic possibilities…

…

Read More Read More

Clarkesworld 102 Now on Sale

Clarkesworld 102 Now on Sale

Comments 2 comments

Clarkesworld 102-smallThe latest issue of Clarkesworld, one of the most acclaimed fiction mags on the market, went on sale last week. Issue 102 contains seven short stories:

Slowly Builds An Empire, by Naim Kabir
Cassandra by Ken Liu
The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild (Part 2) by Catherynne M. Valente
All Original Brightness by Mike Buckley
Coming of the Light by Chen Qiufan
The Clear Blue Seas of Luna by Gregory Benford
The Book Seller by Lavie Tidhar

Non-fiction includes “Dark Angels: Insects in the Films of Guillermo del Toro,” by Orrin Grey, “Another Word: A Shed of One’s Own,” by Chuck Wendig, interviews with Randy Henderson and Silvia Morena-Garcia, and Chen Qiufan, and an editorial, “Reader’s Poll Winners, Nebulas, and Forever,” by Neil Clarke. This issue’s podcast is “Slowly Builds An Empire,” by Naim Kabir, read by Kate Baker.

Clarkesworld is a three-time winner of the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine. In 2013 Clarkesworld received more Hugo nominations for short fiction than all the leading print magazines (Asimov’s, Analog, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction) combined, and last November the magazine was awarded a World Fantasy Award.

We last covered Clarkesworld with Issue 101. Clarkesworld 102 was edited by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, and published by Wyrm Publishing. The contents are available for free online; individual issues can be purchased for $3.99, and monthly subscriptions are $2.99/month. A 6-month sub is $17.94, and the annual price is $35.88. Learn more and order individual issues at the magazine’s website.

This issue’s cover, “Keter,” is by Peter Mohrbacher. See the complete issue here.

See all of our recent magazine coverage here.

Get in the Dungeon with Munchkin #1

Get in the Dungeon with Munchkin #1

Comments 5 comments

Munchkin 1 comic-smallEarlier this year Boom! Box comics, publishers of Lumberjanes and Mouse Guard, released Munchkin #1, the first issue of a new ongoing series based on Munchkin.

What the heck is Munchkin, you ask?

Munchkin is one of the most popular fantasy games on the market. Designed by Steve Jackson (creator of Ogre, Melee, and Car Wars), it’s a card game that pokes fun at role playing, and especially gamers who play to win at any cost. In his review last year, Bob Byrne called it “the funnest (Most fun? More fun than any other?) game I play.” Since its release in 2001 Munchkin has become a true phenomenon, winning the 2001 Origins Award for Best Traditional Card Game, and accounting for more than 70% Steve Jackson Games sales for much of the past decade. It has been followed by dozens and dozens of expansions, accessories, and spinoffs, including Munchkin Quest, Star Munchkin, Super Munchkin, Munchkin Cthulhu, The Good, The Bad, And The Munchkin, and Munchkin Conan.

As you’d probably expect if you’ve played the game, the comic adaption is clever, highly irreverent, chaotic, frequently very silly, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. The art is universally excellent, and the scripts… well, the scripts are downright goofy. I expected a character-based narrative, something akin to the excellent Skullkickers, but what I got was closer to Bongo’s Simpson comics — an anthology that goes for strictly laughs, rather than attempting to tell any kind of cohesive story.

There are four tales within: “What is a Munckin?”, a 3-page introductory strip which gets the concept across pretty well; “Humans Got No Class,” in which a wizard, dwarf and ranger deep in a dungeon attempt to figure out what a long-haired slacker is doing in their midst; “Ready for Anything,” in which an experienced Munchkin shows a newbie the ropes (with predictable results), and a 1-page gag by John Kovalic. The humor is a little uneven, but fortunately you don’t have to have played the game to appreciate most of it. I definitely look forward to future issues.

Munchkin #1 was written by Tom Siddell, Jim Zub, and John Kovalic, and illustrated by Mike Holmes, Rian Sygh, and John Kovalic. It was published by Boom! Box comics in January 2015. It is 24 pages, priced at $3.99; each issue contains a unique card usable in the game. The cover is by Ian McGinty. For more details, see the Boom! Box website. Check out all our recent comic coverage here.