New Treasures – Page 184

New Treasures: Appalachian Overthrow by E.E. Knight

Wednesday, April 10, 2013 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

I’m a huge fan of E.E. Knight’s Vampire Earth novels. For me it started years ago, with the paperback editions of the first two books in the series, Way of the Wolf and Choice of the Cat.

If you’re new to the series, of course, things are easier. You don’t have long waits between releases, haunting bookstores for the next installment. You can even get the first three novels in a handsome omnibus edition from the Science Fiction Book Club, Enter the Wolf, as we reported right here last month.

Appalachian Overthrow, the tenth novel in E.E. Knight’s exciting series, arrived in stores last week. This volume focuses on David Valentine’s fellow freedom fighter Ahn-Kha, telling a tale of the time when he was imprisoned and forced into hard labor by the alien Kurians — and the rebellion he led against them.

Captured and sold to the Kurian–allied Maynes Conglomerate, to work as a slave in the coal mines of Appalachia, Ahn-Kha is angered and appalled by the dangerous working conditions, and the brutal treatment inflicted upon his fellow miners. When a protest against shortages is deliberately and bloodily suppressed, Ahn-Kha sets himself against the ruling Maynes family and sets out on a trail of vengeance through the Coal Country.

Finally, the people of the Coal Country are driven to the breaking point — and they now have a leader, a powerful and battle-hardened leader, determined to forge them into an army that will wage guerrilla warfare against the Maynes family and their Kurian masters — and free the Appalachians from their tyranny…

E.E. Knight’s Blue Pligrim story “The Terror in the Vale” was one of the most popular stories we’ve published as part of our Black Gate Online Fiction line. It is a relentless and chilling tale of sword and sorcery, with an ending that will stay with you long after you turn off the monitor and climb into bed. Read the complete story free here.

Appalachian Overthrow was published by Roc on April 2. It is 339 pages in hardcover, priced at $24.95 ($11.99 for the digital edition).

Skull Island eXpeditions is the New Fiction Imprint of Privateer Press

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

With all the recent bad news, it’s good to see signs of resiliency in the fantasy genre. The best news is always the launch of an exciting new market, and that’s why I was so pleased to see the recent announcement of Privateer Press’s new fiction line, Skull Island eXpeditions.

Of course, I’m pleased for purely selfish reasons as well. Skull Island eXpeditions promises just what I’m looking for: original adventure fantasy from exciting new writers.

Privateer Press has been a genuine Cinderella story in the gaming industry. Founded in 2000 by Matt Wilson and a small group of players and investors, Privateer Press grew and expanded during a series of painful contractions in the market. Lots of dynamic and exciting companies came and went during the d20 boom-and bust cycle, while Privateer Press quietly built a thriving business and an extremely loyal fan base for their tabletop miniatures games Warmachine and Hordes.

Set in the Iron Kingdoms, both games are renowned for their high quality and excellent production values. They’ve received the highest accolades the industry has to offer, including six Origins awards and numerous Ennies.

The Iron Kingdoms, with its inventive mix of steampunk and magic, has always seemed like a natural setting for
fiction to me, and it seems I’m not alone. Last week, Matt Wilson announced an ambitious plan to explore the world of Caen with monthly fiction from some familiar names and some exciting newcomers — with Black Gate‘s own Scott Taylor at the helm.

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New Treasures: The Good The Bad and the Infernal, by Guy Adams

Monday, April 8, 2013 John ONeill Comments 6 comments

I’m pretty plugged in to the industry. Every week, I get a host of press releases, advance proofs, review copies, PR follow-ups, and other stuff that keeps me on top of the latest fantasy releases.

Or so I assume, anyway. Turns out there’s just no substitute for spending time in a good bookstore. Last Saturday, I was browsing the SF and fantasy section of my local Barnes and Noble and came across a number of surprises. Easily the most intriguing was Guy Adams latest: The Good the Bad and the Infernal.

Every one hundred years a town appears. From a small village in the peaks of Tibet to a gathering of mud huts in the jungles of South American, it can take many forms. It exists for twenty-four hours then vanishes once more, but for that single day it contains the greatest miracle a man could imagine: a doorway to Heaven.

It is due to appear on the 21st September 1889 as a ghost town in the American Midwest. When it does there are many who hope to be there: traveling preacher Obeisance Hicks and his simple messiah, a brain-damaged Civil War veteran; Henry and Harmonium Jones and their freak show pack of outlaws; the Brothers of Ruth and their sponsor Lord Forset (inventor of the Forset Thunderpack and other incendiary modes of personal transport); finally, an aging gunslinger who lost his wings at the very beginning of creation and wants nothing more than to settle old scores.

A weird western, a gun-toting, cigarrillo-chewing fantasy built from hangman’s rope and spent bullets. The West has never been wilder.

How the heck did I miss this? I may just have to clear the decks to try this one. Guy Adams released two other paperbacks through Solaris: The World House and its sequel, Restoration. The sequel to this one, Once Upon a Time in Hell, is scheduled for release in December.

The Good The Bad and the Infernal was published by Solaris Books on March 26. It is 318 pages and $7.99 in paperback, or $6.99 for the digital edition. Check out all the latest from Solaris here.

New Treasures: Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal

Saturday, April 6, 2013 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

I attended the launch party for Mary Robinette Kowal’s Without a Summer here in Chicago this week. I don’t get to go to many launch parties — I tend to eat all the hors d’oeuvres, and word gets around.

The venue was fabulous, the company and conversation were marvelous, and everyone pretended not to notice when I pocketed the leftover cheese. Best of all, my review copy of Without a Summer had just arrived, and Mary told me it was the first copy she had ever autographed. (She wrote a tidy “#1” and “Thanks for being my first” on the title page, which is the kind of thing which makes up for every party you’ve ever missed in your life.)

Without a Summer is the third novel in the Glamourist Histories, which began with the Nebula nominees Shades of Milk and Honey and Glamour in Glass.

Regency pair Jane and Vincent Ellsworth go to Long Parkmeade to spend time with Jane’s family, but quickly turn restless. The year is unseasonably cold. No one wants to be outside and Mr. Ellsworth is concerned by the harvest, since a bad one may imperil Melody’s dowry. And Melody has concerns of her own, given the inadequate selection of eligible bachelors. When Jane and Vincent receive a commission from a prominent family in London, they decide to take it, and take Melody with them. They hope the change of scenery will do her good and her marriage prospects — and mood — will be brighter in London.

Once there, talk is of nothing but the crop failures caused by the cold and increased unemployment of the coldmongers, which have provoked riots in several cities to the north. With each passing day, it’s more difficult to avoid getting embroiled in the intrigue, none of which really helps Melody’s chances for romance. It’s not long before Jane and Vincent realize that in addition to getting Melody to the church on time, they must take on one small task: solving a crisis of international proportions.

Without a Summer was published by Tor Books on April 2, 2013. It is 364 pages in hardcover, priced at $24.99 ($11.99 for the digital edition). Josh Wimmer reviewed the first book in the series, Shades of Milk and Honey, here.

Dominate Your Desktop with an Eye of Sauron Lamp

Thursday, April 4, 2013 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

It’s not that I need a new desk lamp. It’s just that, when you discover that there exists a desk lamp crafted as a scale model of Sauron’s fortress at Barad-dûr, your life is not complete until you have one.

ThinkGeek is offering these beauties, designed by Richard Taylor as 21-inch replicas of the 9-foot tall model used to film The Lord of the Rings.

The lamps are sculpted from polystone and finished with a protective layer of polyurethane. They weigh 22 pounds and, yes, include a roving eye mounted at the top. They are priced at $299.99.

You can order yours from ThinkGeek today.

One final detail: note that these went on sale on April 1, and be sure to click on the “Buy Now” button to see actual availability.

New Treasures: Quintessence by David Walton

Wednesday, April 3, 2013 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

There are few things as intriguing as an exciting new author. Maybe an all-you-can eat Indian buffet, or finding a mysterious note in a 10-year old jacket. And goliath birdeater spiders. Man, they give me the willies.

But back to exciting new authors. David Walton is an exciting new author. Back in 2008 he won the Philip K. Dick Award for his first novel, Terminal Mind, published by tiny Meadowhawk Press. That’s intriguing.

Even more intriguing is the arrival of his long-anticipated second novel: Quintessence. A slipstream counterhistory set in a fourteenth century featuring beetle-based navigation, alchemy, deadly storms, mutiny, sea monsters, and a trip to the edge of the earth, Quintessence promises to be a very different kind of fantasy, and the early buzz has been very favorable indeed.

Imagine an Age of Exploration full of alchemy, human dissection, sea monsters, betrayal, torture, religious controversy, and magic. In Europe, the magic is thin, but at the edge of the world, where the stars reach down close to the Earth, wonders abound. This drives the bravest explorers to the alluring Western Ocean. Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist who cares only about one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant magical powers and immortality. And he has a ship.

Quintessence was published on March 19 by Tor Books. It is 320 pages for $25.99 ($12.99 for the digital edition). Check out the first three chapters on David Walton’s website.

New Treasures: Gygax Magazine, Issue #1

Friday, March 29, 2013 John ONeill Comments 16 comments

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the hottest thing in role playing at the moment is the rise of OSR. The Old School Renaissance has captured the interest of thousands of players — many returning to gaming for the first time in decades — and fostered the birth of a fresh generation of dynamic new companies. We’ve featured some of the best products here on the BG blog, including Carcosa, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Labyrinth Lord, and even the first edition Premium AD&D reprints from WotC. But truthfully this is just a small sample, and more exciting products are arriving daily.

In fact, even though the number of OSR players is still fairly small, in a strange way that’s part of the appeal. The size of the market, and the out-sized level of excitement and productivity associated with it, reminds players of the early days of D&D in the mid-70s, when only a core group of gamers were tuned in to the new phenomenon that would soon sweep the country. That was a tremendously exciting and dynamic time, and in some ways it feels like it’s happening all over again.

One thing that’s been lacking from this generation’s gaming renaissance though is a clear center. Ask old-school gamers what the center of the genre used to be, and most will give you the same answer: Tim Kask’s The Dragon, the print magazine published by TSR (and later WotC and Paizo) from 1976 to 2007, and published online since 2007. Launched to help nurture the rapidly growing fandom around Dungeons & Dragons, Dragon gradually became the publication for role-players of all persuasions. The magazine embraced the entire genre, and accepted advertising from virtually everyone, publishing news, unbiased reviews, and articles of interest to everyone in the hobby. To read Dragon was to be informed of everything of real importance to the industry, especially in the early days.

Dragon was essential to the growth of adventure gaming. The creators driving the fledgling OSR industry have managed to capture the spirit of original D&D, and the excitement it spawned, surpassingly well, and that’s led many to wonder: would it be possible to re-create the magic of the early Dragon as well? As the folks behind Gygax magazine — including Ernie and Luke Gygax, and The Dragon‘s founding editor, Tim Kask — have proven with their first issue, it is possible. The similarities with its spiritual parent magazine don’t end with the familiar name of the publisher: TSR, Inc.

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New Treasures: The Shadow’s Heir by K.J. Taylor

Saturday, March 23, 2013 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

There are so many fantasy series crowding the shelves these days that’s it’s hard to know where to spend your hard-earned book dollars.

Here at Black Gate we’re hopeless fans of the fantasy series, but even we can’t cover them all. But at least we can alert you when a promising new one appears, so you can get in on the ground floor. Thus here we are, banging the drums for The Shadow’s Heir, the first novel in The Risen Sun trilogy by K.J. Taylor:

Laela Redguard was born with the black hair of the Northern kingdom and the blue eyes of the Southern people, forever marking her as a hated half-breed child of both. When her only family tie is severed, the fierce and strong-willed Laela decides to leave her adoptive father’s home in the hopes of finding acceptance in the North, where the ruthless King Arenadd and the dark griffin Skandar rule.

While Laela’s Northern features allow her to blend into the crowds of the King’s seat at Malvern, she cannot avoid falling victim to a pair of common thugs. When a stranger saves her life and gives her a place to stay, Laela is shocked to learn he is Arenadd himself — a man said to be a murderer who sold his soul to the Night God — the King without a heart.

Arenadd is unsure what compels him to help this girl, but there is something about her that seems familiar, something he cannot remember — something that may rise up to banish the darkness forever…

K.J. Tayor is the author of The Fallen Moon trilogy and The Land of Bad Fantasy. The second volume of the Risen Sun, The Shadowed Throne, is currently available in Australia, with an American edition scheduled for January 2014. Her website is here.

The Shadow’s Heir was published December 24, 2012 by Ace books. It is 351 pages in paperback, priced at $7.99 for both the paperback and digital editions.

Earn Your Gold Honestly in Valdora — By Digging For It

Friday, March 22, 2013 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

On March 10, I attended the Spring Auction at Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL. I went chiefly in search of select fantasy games I’ve had my eye on for some time… but also in the hope of a surprise or two.

It didn’t take long to get what I wished for, at least in terms of surprises. I wasn’t in my seat ten minutes when an eye-catching box with three obvious adventurers on the cover came up for bid.

What the heck was this? The cover art — with snow-capped mountains, a medieval walled town, and three young lads decked out in standard issue dungeon-exploring garb — spoke of an adventure game, but I’d never heard of it. The box looked substantial (and expensive), and it appeared to be in great shape, but there’s only so much you can tell sitting in a metal chair at an auction.

Bidding was brisk, and I didn’t have much time to make up my mind. I took a chance, and seven seconds (and 15 bucks) later a nearly-new copy of Valdora was mine. Here’s what I found on the back when I was able to examine it:

Hidden far away from our time lies a valley of unimaginable riches. Drawn by the lure of gold, silver, and precious jewels, adventurers from all over the world soon find their way there. While some of them still carefully choose commissions and provisions, others quickly rush off to bring valuable gems back to their patrons. But those who wish for fame and fortune will have to be cleverer than their opponents!

Peeking through the box there seems to be a dearth of dungeons, but plenty of Settlers of Catan-like strategy, with players working to acquire tools, complete commissions, and control workshops. Looks like you have to earn your gold and gems the old-fashioned way: by earning them. The components — including a colorful and detailed game board, gemstones, cards, tiles, coins, pawns, a sturdy fabric bag, and four wooden books — are excellent. It looks like a solid family game that I can force all of my children to play with me.

Valdora was designed by Michael Schacht and published by ABACUSSPIELE/Rio Grande Games. It was released in 2009, and has a list price of $74.99 — which makes my auction purchase at $15 a real bargain. Score another point for the Paris Fashion Week of Games.

Tomb of Horrors Gets a Fourth Edition Makeover

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 John ONeill Comments 16 comments

One of the more intriguing treasures I brought home from the Paris Fashion Week of Games last week was the compact new edition of Gary Gygax’s famous player-killer Tomb of Horrors.

Now, if you don’t play role playing games yet still find the name Tomb of Horrors oddly familiar, it’s probably because it’s a touchstone of considerable significance in geek culture and you’ve come across one of the many modern references to it. Most recently, for example, it featured in Ernest Cline’s best-selling novel Ready Player One, which is set in a virtual reality world created by a fan of Tomb of Horrors. Or maybe your older brother’s beloved 10th-level paladin was killed by an unspeakable thing 20 minutes after he set foot inside the Tomb, and he’s been suffering from PTSD ever since, muttering the name Acererak and shuddering uncontrollably.

The original Tomb of Horrors was released in 1978; it’s one of the best-selling Dungeons and Dragons adventure modules of all time. I’m not sure why, to be completely honest. You don’t have fun playing Tomb of Horrors, exactly. And it has certainly killed far, far more player characters than it has rewarded. You know the phrase “Bad things happen to good people?” It was first spoken by the few, shell-shocked survivors of Tomb of Horrors.

Despite — or perhaps because of — its killer rep, the module is still highly regarded today, and has been remade and expanded several times, most recently as a 4th Edition hardcover by Ari Marmell and Scott Fitzgerald Gray in July 2010. This isn’t that version. This is a bare-bones conversion of the original adventure for 4th Edition rules, written by Scott Fitzgerald Gray and mailed out to members of the RPGA as part of the DM Rewards program. Instead of the separate art booklet — one of the most famous features of the original release, which allowed players to gawk in wonder at detailed renderings of the horrific things that had just killed them — this edition incorporates most of the original art into the body of the module. The cover is also recycled from the 2002 Greyhawk novel of the same name by Keith Francis Strohm (which we last discussed in “The Seven Greyhawk Classics of the Ancient World,” here).

For all that, it’s still fun to sit down and re-read Gygax’s original sadistic masterpiece again. The layout is clean and attractive, and the map of Acererak’s tomb has been given new life as a detailed color fold-out. Since it was never offered to retailers it’s a little tricky to find, however, and prices vary widely. As it was originally offered for free, some folks re-sell it at a reasonable price; but the average asking price I found on eBay was just over $50. I paid $7 for a shrinkwraped copy at auction.

Tomb of Horrors, by Gary Gygax and Scott Fitzgerald Gray, was published by Wizards of the Coast in 2010. It is a 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure for five 9th-level characters. It is 36 pages in softcover, with a loose cardstock cover and a fold-out color map. It has no price.

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