New Treasures – Page 186

New Treasures: The Eye of the World: The Graphic Novel, Volume 3

Tuesday, March 5, 2013 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

No, you’re not a bad person because you prefer to wait for the comic versions of major bestelling fantasy series. I’m right there with you. We are what the world has made us, and it’s not our fault.

It’s especially not our fault that the world keeps throwing all these enticing graphic novels our way. The latest series to catch my eye has been The Eye of the World, the ambitious adaptation of the first novel in Robert Jordan’s 14-volume, 10,000+ page fantasy epic The Wheel of Time.

This isn’t the first Jordan comic project. New Spring, based on his 2004 Wheel of Time prequel novel, was published by Tor in 2011 and became a New York Times bestseller — a pretty good indicator that more would be in the works. (It’s currently heavily discounted at Amazon.com.)

The first volume of the comic version of The Eye of the World was released in 2011; volume two in June of last year. Chuck Dixon, who also scripted New Spring, returned for this project; with this volume he’s paired with new artists: Marcio Fiorito, illustrator of Anne Elizabeth’s Pulse of Power, and Francis Nuguit, a comic-book illustrator from the Philippines.

Volume 3 collects issues thirteen to eighteen of the ongoing series published by Dynamite comics. It finds our heroes — Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Moiraine, Lan Mandragoran, and the rest — split into three groups while fleeing the ancient, dead city of Shadar Logoth. Pursued by the deadly Mashadar, Perrin and Egwene attempt a dangerous river crossing and encounter a mysterious stranger, while Rand and Mat disguise themselves as apprentices on a cargo ship.

The Eye of the World: The Graphic Novel, Volume 3 was published by Tor Books on January 29, 2013. It is 176 pages in hardcover, priced at $24.99. There is no digital edition.

Damnation Books Releases Waters of Darkness by David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna

Sunday, March 3, 2013 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

We’re very pleased to note the March 1 release date of a new novel by two Black Gate contributors, David C. Smith and Joe Bonadonna, which they describe as “the best supernatural pirate dark fantasy… EVER.” We asked Dave about the book’s genesis, and here’s what he told us:

This story is based on a ms. I wrote in 1978 that was to be a sequel to The Witch of the Indies, my first published novel, based on Robert E. Howard’s Black Vulmea character… I wrote a 50,000-word first draft in the spring of 1978 (before Witch was published) that I filed away for decades. Despite my naive enthusiasm (at the age of 24!) that Zebra would certainly want a sequel, as we know, The Witch of the Indies sank fast and has pretty much been forgotten. But! Who doesn’t love a pirate story? Joe asked to see that old, yellowing (literally) draft and went to work on it. So we wound up collaborating — at a distance of 35 years, in a way — and have written what we both think is a terrific pulp-style pirate dark fantasy.

Joe took my rough draft, added at least 10,000 words to it, recrafted who knows how many thousands more, and brought in new characters, new developments… He went to town and really brought the thing to life.

David and Joe’s last collaboration for us was The Big Barbarian Theory, one of the most popular articles on the Black Gate blog last year. We featured David’s The Fall of the First World in December, and posted the complete text of Joe’s Dorgo the Dowser novella “The Moonstones of Sor Lunarum” last Sunday.

Waters of Darkness was published by Damnation Books on March 1, 2013. It is 60,000 words and currently available in Kindle format for $5.95. The wonderful cover is by Dawne Dominique. More details at the website.

The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination Just $1.99 at Amazon.com

Saturday, March 2, 2013 John ONeill Comments 13 comments

No sooner do I settle into my big green chair with John Joseph Adams’s massive fantasy anthology Epic (which I covered here just two days ago), than do I discover that he’s unveiled another great project. Packed with “all original, all nefarious, all conquering tales,” The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination is available in Kindle format for just $1.99 from Amazon.com. Here’s the table of contents:

“Professor Incognito Apologizes: an Itemized List” by Austin Grossman
“Father of the Groom” by Harry Turtledove
“Laughter at the Academy” by Seanan McGuire
“Letter to the Editor” by David D. Levine
“Instead of a Loving Heart” by Jeremiah Tolbert
“The Executor” by Daniel H. Wilson
“The Angel of Death Has a Business Plan” by Heather Lindsley
“Homo Perfectus” by David Farland
“Ancient Equations” by L. A. Banks
“Rural Singularity” by Alan Dean Foster
“Captain Justice Saves the Day” by Genevieve Valentine
“The Mad Scientist’s Daughter” by Theodora Goss
“The Space Between” by Diana Gabaldon
“Harry and Marlowe Meet the Founder of the Aetherian Revolution” by Carrie Vaughn
“Blood and Stardust” by Laird Barron
“A More Perfect Union” by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
“Rocks Fall” by Naomi Novik
“We Interrupt This Broadcast” by Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Last Dignity of Man” by Marjorie M. Liu
“Pittsburg Technology” by Jeffrey Ford
“Mofongo Knows” by Grady Hendrix
“The Food Taster’s Boy” by Ben Winters

The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination was published by Tor Books on February 19, 2013. It is 368 pages in trade paperback priced at $14.99; the list price on the digital version is $9.99. The awesome cover is by Ben Templesmith. More details are available here. No idea how long the $1.99 deal will last, so take advantage of it soon.

New Treasures: Last Days by Adam Nevill

Saturday, March 2, 2013 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

I’m a fan of dark fantasy and horror, and I especially like to keep an eye on exciting new authors. There’s been some recent buzz about Adam Nevill and his fourth novel Last Days, and I decided to check it out.

Nevill is the author of three other novels of supernatural horror: Banquet for the Damned, Apartment 16, and The Ritual. His new book Last Days is a Blair Witch style creep-fest, in which a documentary film-maker investigates an apocalyptic cult — and discovers some nasty secrets.

When guerrilla documentary maker, Kyle Freeman, is asked to shoot a film on the notorious cult known as the Temple of the Last Days, it appears his prayers have been answered. The cult became a worldwide phenomenon in 1975 when there was a massacre including the death of its infamous leader, Sister Katherine. Kyle’s brief is to explore the paranormal myths surrounding an organization that became a testament to paranoia, murderous rage, and occult rituals. The shoot’s locations take him to the cult’s first temple in London, an abandoned farm in France, and a derelict copper mine in the Arizonan desert where The Temple of the Last Days met its bloody end. But when he interviews those involved in the case, those who haven’t broken silence in decades, a series of uncanny events plague the shoots. Troubling out-of-body experiences, nocturnal visitations, the sudden demise of their interviewees and the discovery of ghastly artifacts in their room make Kyle question what exactly it is the cult managed to awaken – and what is its interest in him?

The Publishers Weekly review was particularly intriguing: “Fans of films about haunted places, otherworldy beings, and rituals gone terribly wrong will find this homage deliciously chilling.” Doesn’t that include, I mean, everyone? Who’s not a fan of films about “rituals gone terribly wrong?” Uh-huh. Nobody.

Last Days was published in trade paperback by St. Martin’s Press on February 26, 2013. It is a satisfyingly-hefty 531 pages, and priced at $15.99 ($9.99 for the digital edition).

New Treasures: Epic, Edited by John Joseph Adams

Thursday, February 28, 2013 John ONeill Comments 6 comments

Black Gate‘s Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones said something in his Monday post on Heroic Fantasy Quarterly 15 that I wish I’d said. So I’m going to repeat it here word for word, and pretend I’m saying it now.

I always wished I could find a way to draw more attention to the Flashing Swords e-zine when I helmed it. Well, it’s gone now. But HFQ is alive and well, and doing good work. So I’m using the mighty bandwidth now possessed by Black Gate online to point you to the e-zine. I can personally vouch for the stories I’ve named above. If you’re a fan of sword-and-sorcery and heroic fiction, you owe it to yourself to check them out. Go there, celebrate the stories, and the writers, and the market, because markets are fragile things and should be cherished while we have them.

Hear hear! We’re always happy when we can point you to a neglected vintage paperback or forgotten silent film. But our greatest pride comes from finding and promoting exciting, vibrant creators doing great work now, who need and deserve your support.

Lately, I feel that way about John Joseph Adams, who’s edited some of the most celebrated anthologies of the past few years — including The Way of the Wizard, Wastelands, Federations, Lightspeed: Year One, The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination, and many others. But his most recent publication of keen interest to heroic fantasy fans is the monumental Epic, a massive collection of some of the finest epic fantasy from the last five decades. It’s a fabulous collection of many of your favorite writers — including Patrick Rothfuss, George R. R. Martin, Tad Williams, Robin Hobb, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Michael Moorcock — alongside exciting authors you should be reading, such as Aliette de Bodard, Mary Robinette Kowal, N. K. Jemisin, Paolo Bacigalupi, and many others.

The complete table of contents is here. Support John Joseph Adams and Tachyon Publications, and keep them publishing groundbreaking anthologies for the next 20 years.

Epic: Legends of Fantasy was published on October 5th by Tachyon Publications. It is 624 pages in trade paperback for $17.95 ($9.99 for the digital version). Complete details at the Tachyon website.

Heroic Fiction Quarterly 15

Monday, February 25, 2013 Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones Comments 5 comments

One of an editor’s greatest pleasures is coming upon a fine story, so Adrian Simmons, David Farney, and William Ledbetter must have felt pretty delighted when they came upon the most recent batch of fiction they’ve published in Heroic Fiction Quarterly.

I’m sad to say that I’m more familiar with Heroic Fiction Quarterly e-zine in theory rather than in practice. I’ve heard good things about it for some time and I’ve read a few tales now and then, but it’s been years since I sat down for a visit. I’ve tried two of the stories in the most recent issue, “Dusts of War” by Ben Godby and “Kingdom of Graves” by David Charlton and was tremendously impressed. This is stirring, polished adventure fiction and needs to be seen by more readers. I’m looking forward to finding out what the rest of the issue holds. I’m looking forward to seeing what PREVIOUS issues hold.

Just prior to joining the Black Gate staff, I was managing the Flashing Swords e-zine. I selected and edited the tales for the first six issues. It was a small market with a small budget, and as might be expected, some of what I pulled from the submissions pile were diamonds in the rough, work from promising amateurs. It was sort of a “market with training wheels”: a place where burgeoning writers could hone their craft and start their careers. But a lot of the stories proved very fine indeed, better than such a small market had any right to be, and I can recall my frustration that more attention wasn’t being paid to them, as well as the frustration when the wrong sort of attention was paid — a reviewer tearing apart a first-time writer’s first published story with the same claws that would be used on a veteran writer in a pro market, or a fine writer’s work being dismissed by something as foolish as the old saw “first person stories have no tension because you know the narrator will survive.”

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New Treasures: The Unearthed Arcana 1st Edition Premium Reprint

Thursday, February 21, 2013 John ONeill Comments 26 comments

The Premium 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons reprint series is one of the best ideas Wizards of the Coast has ever had.

By bringing Gary Gygax’s original AD&D rulebooks back into print in deluxe editions, Wizards is making the groundbreaking work of the father of role playing available to a modern audience. More than that, it’s a tacit acknowledgement of the growing popularity of retro-gaming, a nod to those players who still enjoy playing first edition (or OE, Original Edition) D&D and AD&D.

I’m one of them. My most recent game of D&D was last Sunday, and one of the books we reached for during play — as a troop of goblins chased my player characters through a dark wood — was the first edition AD&D volume Unearthed Arcana.

Unlike the Players Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Masters Guide, Gygax’s Unearthed Arcana — which, among many other innovations, introduced the Cavalier, Barbarian, and Thief-Acrobat classes — had never been reprinted, and the copy we used to quickly check the effects of my daughter’s druid’s “Goodberry” spell was the original TSR printing from 1985. That’s a hard book to come across these days, as one of my young players lamented.

But no longer. Wizards of the Coast released the Unearthed Arcana 1st Edition Premium Reprint on Tuesday of this week. Best of all, this edition incorporates the corrections and updates published under Gygax’s supervision in Dragon magazine, making this the definitive edition of the text. At long last, players can assemble a complete collection of the most essential rule books for the greatest role playing game ever written, without having to pay collector’s prices for long out-of-print volumes.

The Unearthed Arcana 1st Edition Premium Reprint was published by Wizards of the Coast on February 19, 2013. It is 128 pages in hardcover, priced at $49.95. There is no digital or softcover edition.

New Treasures: Low Town by Daniel Polansky

Wednesday, February 20, 2013 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

One of our most popular articles in 2012 was Matthew David Surridge’s brilliant “The Enjoyment of Fantasy: Open Letters to Adam Gopnik, Mur Lafferty, and John C. Wright,” the latter part of which he spends taking Wright to task for some of his criticisms of Low Town. Matthew’s points are many and varied and I’m not going to summarize them here. I will admit, however, that after reading his article, my first reaction was, “What the heck is Low Town? It sounds kinda cool.”

A little investigation revealed that Low Town is Daniel Polansky’s debut novel. Here’s the description:

Drug dealers, hustlers, brothels, dirty politics, corrupt cops… and sorcery. Welcome to Low Town.

In the forgotten back alleys of Rigus, the finest city of the Thirteen Lands, sits Low Town. Here the Warden — forgotten war hero and independent drug dealer — protects his turf. However, the Warden’s life of drugged iniquity is shaken by his discovery of a murdered child down a dead-end street… setting him on a collision course with the life he left behind. As a former agent with Black House — the secret police — he knows better than anyone that murder in Low Town is an everyday thing, the kind of crime that doesn’t get investigated. To protect his home, he will take part in a dangerous game of deception between underworld bosses and the psychotic head of Black House, but the truth is far darker than he imagines. In Low Town, no one can be trusted.

I’m intrigued. And while both Matthew and Wright seem to argue that Polansky doesn’t necessarily understand fantasy, it seems to me he’s grasped the basics just fine: he’s already written a sequel, Tomorrow the Killing, published in October 2012. Our man Myke Cole posted the following mini-review on Goodreads:

Polansky does it again. As with Mark Lawrence with King of Thorns, he shows progression as a storyteller with an even more twisted plot, more compelling and sympathetic character voice and more engaging setting.

Anybody who plugs Mark Lawrence in a one-sentence review has my immediate confidence. I purchased a copy of Low Town last month, and hope to check it out soon.

Low Town was published by Anchor Books in August, 2012. It is 341 pages in trade paperback, priced at $15 ($11.99 for the digital edition).

New Treasures: Death Watch, by Ari Berk

Saturday, February 16, 2013 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

I live in a house with three young adults, all fairly active readers. When one discovers an intriguing new fantasy series, it gets passed around excitedly. That happened with Christopher Paolini’s Eragon books, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, Suzanne Collins’s Gregor The Overlander and The Hunger Games, and John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice books.

The latest book to get discussed and passed around is Ari Berk’s Death Watch, the first installment in The Undertaken Trilogy. It’s too early to determine if this will captivate all three the way previous books have, but early indications are good.

They say the dead should rest in peace. Not all the dead agree.

When Silas Umber’s father, Amos, doesn’t come home from work one night, Silas discovers that his father was no mere mortician, but an Undertaker who worked to bring The Peace to lost and wandering souls. With Amos gone, Silas and his mother move back to Lichport, the crumbling seaside town where he was born, and Silas seizes the opportunity to investigate his father’s disappearance.

When his search leads him to his father’s old office, he comes across a powerful artifact: the Death Watch, a tool that allows the owner to see the dead. Death Watch in hand, Silas begins to unearth Lichport’s secret history — and discovers that he has taken on his father’s mantle as Lichport’s Undertaker. Now, Silas must embark on a dangerous path into the Shadowlands to embrace his destiny and discover the truth about his father — even if it kills him.

Death Watch was published November 27, 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. It is 560 pages in trade paperback, priced at $9.99 ($8.89 for the digital edition). The second volume of The Undertaken Trilogy, Mistle Child, was published Feb 12.

New Treasures: Wilderlands of High Fantasy

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 John ONeill Comments 14 comments

In the very early days of adventure gaming, there were two companies you could count on: TSR, creator of Dungeons and Dragons, and Judges Guild.

Judges Guild was admittedly second tier. While TSR was constantly innovating, with full color cover art and high production values, Judges Guild saw no reason to deviate from the look they established in 1976: rudimentary layout and typesetting, and two-color covers that looked torn from a coloring book.

But they were prolific. My weekly pilgrimages to the gaming store in 1979 rarely yielded a new TSR release — they were few and far between — but Judges Guild never let me down, and I went home satisfied with many a JG product tucked under my arm. At their peak in the early 80s, they employed 42 people and had over 250 products in print, an astounding output.

Judges Guild was founded by Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owen; their first major product (and claim to fame) was the City State of the Invincible Overlord. The ambitious setting for the City State — a massive 18 maps covering nine continents drawn from Bledsaw’s home campaign, ultimately used as the locale for numerous adventure modules — became their next major release: The Wilderlands of High Fantasy, the first licensed D&D product and the first true campaign setting for the game.

Wilderlands was different in other ways, too. Perhaps most importantly it had a true sandbox feel, rather than the tightly-focused adventures of Gygax and Co, in which players were expected to follow a linear path. It encouraged a wide-open style of gaming, focused on exploring vast and wondrous forests and rugged landscapes, rather than dungeon crawls.

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