Browsed by
Category: News

Dickson’s Dorsai! to Hit Small Screen

Dickson’s Dorsai! to Hit Small Screen

Comments 7 comments

dorsai-cover-wrapOccasionally a bit of book-to-film news seems to come out of nowhere and create some genuine surprise. So, amidst reports of this-or-that being remade, rebooted, retread, reimagined, or reduxed (what is it this week? Lord of the Ring Tones? Aliens vs. Predator vs. Chucky vs. Tony Montana? T.J. Hooker on Mars?) it seems there is actually an original, never done before, not part of a hot franchise redo, SF book adaptation slated for television. Gordon R. Dickson’s Childe Cycle, better known by the name of the first book in the series, Dorsai!, is being made into a live action series by MDR productions (official site). Announcements to that effect can be read at SFsignal and SF Crowsnest.

Not a great deal of information on it yet, just some nice art and story boards, and general background. The Dorsai! universe is an interesting choice, from a  series of books I enjoyed but one that felt very disjointed and fragmented due to the long time separating books, the somewhat cobbled together nature of the earlier ones, and similar issues. I have a bit of a hard time imagining the tv series (or mini-series more likely) picking up on future books as, if I recall correctly, they mostly all jump ahead in time and present an entirely new cast of characters.

…

Read More Read More

Black Gate Giveaway: Eberron Campaign Guide

Black Gate Giveaway: Eberron Campaign Guide

Comments 0 Comment

eberron-campaignLast month we announced we were giving away eight copies of the Eberron Campaign Guide, a 4th Edition D&D Supplement from Wizards of the Coast.

How do you win? By sending a two-sentence summary of a recent Eberron product to eberron@blackgate.com. The best eight — as selected by a capricious panel of barely-literate judges — will be published here, and the authors will be awarded the prizes.

That’s it. No forms to fill out.  No skill-testing questions. No money down. No fine print.  OK, maybe a little fine print, so sue us. It’s a contest, no one’s gonna believe it’s legit until they see some fine print.

It’s a mighty fine book, too.  Yes, that’s Edward Scissorhand’s dad on the front cover.  And his dogs Zipper and Papercut.  They bring a whole new level of menace to “running with scissors.” Ouchie ouchie.

Come on, this is the easiest contest we’ve ever run.  Maybe the easiest contest in the whole history of civilization.  I could even make it even easier by pointing you to a complete list of Eberron modules and sourcebooks to get you started, but that would be spoon feeding you, wouldn’t it?  Yes it would.

Time is running out to claim one of these fine D&D books, and perhaps to introduce yourself to the very cool Eberron setting. E-mail us at eberron@blackgate.com now.  Operators are standing by.

HBO’s Rome to hit the Big Screen

HBO’s Rome to hit the Big Screen

Comments 1 comment

rome-hboA while ago E.E. Knight posted a nice review of the two-season run of HBO’s Rome, calling it: “about 25 hours of what I consider the best Sword and Sorcery I’ve seen in about the same number of years.” Knight goes on to point out just how this historical epic satisfies the S&S itch, and I recommend that both fans and those unfamiliar with Rome but interested in bloody good adventure go check out Knight’s review.

It’s been more or less an open secret that Rome was headed for a big screen follow-up for some time (Knight’s review is from June of last year, and a commenter mentions just this fact), but a recent article from Entertainment Weekly has brought the rumors back to life and appears to indicate that Bruno Heller has finished the script for the film, and regulars Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson will be back. EW erroneously goes on to say this is a surprise, since both Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo appear to be dead at the end of the show. This was picked up by nearly every other reporting agency running this story — apparently not many of these entertainment reporters have bothered to watch the entertainment they report on, as a living, breathing Pullo is walking down the street at the close of Rome, and the off-screen death of Vorenus is ambiguous enough to suggest he lives on in hiding.

Anyway, whether or not this item is strictly news is open to debate, but it is ‘good news’ regardless, and it gets me interested to see how the film will develop. Now, if only they’d do the same for Deadwood, a show that met the same ignoble fate as Wild Bill Hickok in the Number 10 Saloon . . .

Black Gate Magazine Invades Facebook!

Black Gate Magazine Invades Facebook!

Comments 4 comments

bg-facebookYes indeed, Black Gate has carved out its own slice of Facebook territory and we want our fans on Facebook to stop by and add us to their list of fan pages. It’s bare bones at the moment,  but the boffins at BG HQ have rigged it to post all the updates from this site via networkedblogs. Expect more content in the future of sort Facebook is famous for, such as cuddly kitten youtube videos, Farmville status posts, and updates of what the BG bloggers are doing for lunch . . .

No, never! Expect genre news and links to great stuff happening on the web, conversations among BG’s amazing fans, and all the latest info on Black Gate.

With just the occasional cuddly kitten youtube video.

Cavelakes Adventurer Angry With ARKHOLD Crashes Dragon Into Office

Cavelakes Adventurer Angry With ARKHOLD Crashes Dragon Into Office

Comments 1 comment

orc-b-dayIf the constant litany of human suffering and human stupidity that is the 24 hour news cycle has got you down (gee, why would it?) then have a look at Fantasy World News, a news site that takes Yahoo news alerts and strategically replaces certain words with fantasy mainstays. For example, this from today’s news:

Boneshimmer Grovenight MacKillop becomes 1st halfling saint

The High Priest of the Rain God approved sainthood for Boneshimmer Grovenight MacKillop on Friday, making the adventurer known for her work among the needy Bailiwick’s first saint.

Is really this:

Mother Mary MacKillop becomes 1st Australian saint

Pope Benedict XVI approved sainthood for Mother Mary MacKillop on Friday, making the woman known for her work among the needy Australia’s first saint.

…

Read More Read More

The Year’s Best SF & Fantasy 2009, edited by Rich Horton

The Year’s Best SF & Fantasy 2009, edited by Rich Horton

Comments 2 comments

years-best-2I’m supposed to be putting the finishing touches on BG 14, figuring out how to use Google Ad words, and about a million other things tonight. But man, I am beat.

Besides, the copy of Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2009 I ordered finally arrived a few weeks ago, and it’s been sitting there on my desk, unopened. That’s just criminal. So I packed it in early tonight, and curled up with it in the big green chair.

As we’ve established here already, Rich Horton is some kind of crazy person.  It all started with his newsgroup at SFF Net, where he was reviewing every single magazine in the entire universe.  Or as close as damn is to swearing, as they used to tell me while growing up in Nova Scotia.

Then he began compiling lists of his selections of the best short fiction of the year, and we started reprinting them on the BG website (in 2005, 2006 and 2007.)

In between, he knocked out detailed articles exploring the rich history of the SF & Fantasy genres for virtually every issue of Black Gate, starting with Building the Fantasy Canon: the Classic Anthologies of Genre Fantasy: Part One, (BG 2) and continuing with things like an exploration of The Big Little SF Magazines of the 1970s (BG 10), and Fictional Losses: Neglected Stories From the SF Magazines (BG 11).

Now he’s turned his talents to something closer to home: making books.  He’s become an anthologist of note, with over half a dozen Best SF and Best Fantasy volumes to his credit, chiefly from Prime Books.  This year Prime has re-launched the series, with a snappy new cover design and a big bump in size and page count (to 540 pages).  This is a hefty volume, with 37 short stories, detailed author biographies, and Honorable Mentions.

There are a great many Best of the Year books in the genre, but so far this is my favorite.  More later as I make my way through the book.

Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek

Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek

Comments 32 comments

bg-14-cover3Black Gate 14 is a landmark issue — and at 384 pages, it’s also the largest in our history. 

It celebrates the growth and success we’ve seen over the last year, and it’s a big “Thank You” to all the readers who’ve supported us while so many small press magazines are struggling. We worked hard to get it out in 2009, but its sheer size and complexity (over 150,000 words of fiction, and nearly 25 full pages of art) made that impossible.  The issue shipped in March.

Special thanks are due to Contributing Editor Bill Ward, who assembled a huge 32-page review section, and Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones, for a 20-page gaming section.  Thanks also to Rich Horton, for his lengthy article on Modern Reprints of Classic Fantasy, and to Bruce Pennington for a magnificent cover.

What awaits you in BG 14? A young girl confronts an ancient evil on the rooftops of a decaying city, armed only with her father’s sword… A band of desperate men pursue the slave traders who stole their families across cold barrows where a dread thing sleeps… An ambitious witch finds her schemes for revenge may not be quite treacherous enough… And New York’s first karma detective discovers a simple case to re-unite two lovers conceals a sinister conspiracy. Includes new fiction from John C. Hocking, Michael Jasper & Jay Lake, Pete Butler, Martin Owton, Chris Braak, and a Morlock novella from James Enge!

Buy this issue — ­ only $18.95 plus postage and handling!
…

Read More Read More

Rich Horton reviews Black Gate 13

Rich Horton reviews Black Gate 13

Comments 2 comments

black-gateissue-13-coverEvery year, uberreviewer Rich Horton sets out to summarize the year in genre short fiction at his newsgroup on SFFNet.

Note I didn’t say “survey,” or “overview.”  Rich reads every story in every single magazine in the field — and more than a few outside it — and discusses each publication in detail.  It’s a process that takes months (not including reading time). As he put it in his final post last year:

I read various issues of 36 print magazines, 29 electronic sources, 50 original anthologies, 14 story collections with original pieces, 12 single story chapbooks, and a few other miscellaneous spots. I read a total of 2325 stories: 69 novellas, 434 novelettes, and 1823 short stories… word count total, a bit over 13.5 million.

Is he crazy? (That’s not a rhetorical question. The answer is probably yes.) But until he’s institutionalized, the rest of us benefit greatly from both his stamina and his superior taste.

How do we know his taste is superb? Because he likes Black Gate, for one thing.

…

Read More Read More

New Review of Black Gate 13

New Review of Black Gate 13

Comments 2 comments

black-gateissue-13-coverLuke Forney reviews the latest issue of Black Gate at his blog.

Black Gate kept my attention far better than any other fiction magazine… Almost all of the stories I found immediately wonderful, engaging, and very easy to lose oneself in. The quality was beyond impressive, and the extras (reviews sections) were brilliant.

Luke compares John C. Hocking to Robert E. Howard:

“The Face in the Sea” by John C. Hocking: This wonderful story tells of Viking-like people returning from a raid on their enemy’s stronghold to recover their princess, and one shaman’s all-out assault to stop them. A very well told story, reminiscent of Robert E. Howard. I’ll be looking for more by Hocking.

And was equally impressed by L. Blunt Jackson:

“Spider Friend” by L. Blunt Jackson: A brilliant fable-like tale, with an ending that I didn’t see coming, but that didn’t interrupt the wonderful style that Jackson worked throughout. One of the best “modern fables” I have read.

He also comments favorably on our non-fiction:

This issue also contained a number of comic strips, and two brilliant review sections. I have never seen a magazine have such a detailed, extensive reviews section that covered so many books. It was a wonderful surprise… The fiction reviews section was lovely, and covered far more than the large press magazines do.

He closes with a fine suggestion: 

Anyone who is a fan of adventure or fantasy should immediately check out Black Gate…  it contains a LOT of content (224 pages, full magazine size, not digest), good stories, interesting essays, wonderful departments, even an illustration for each story, which is a feature sadly missing in most other magazines. Grab issue 13 while you can, and keep your eyes peeled for the next issue!

You can read the complete review here.

Brent Knowles reviews Black Gate 13

Brent Knowles reviews Black Gate 13

Comments 1 comment

black-gateissue-13-cover-150Long-time reader and professional writer Brent Knowles recently posted a review of Black Gate 13:

I have every issue of Black Gate… a fantastic magazine. I subscribe to the print issue, but there is now a digital copy available too.

 Brent highlights several pieces, including “Naktong Flow” by Myke Cole:

A very strong and realistic, yet exotic, world, solidly anchors this story. Much like The Naturalist, which I’ll get to later, this is the kind of story that immerses you in a world first, a world that could only exist in this story, the only world in which this story could exist. Much of the ‘fun’ of reading a story like this is in being exposed to culture, that while based on our world is injected with such imagination and originality that it carries the story even if it is not that strong. And better yet, this story is strong, with an interesting protagonist. Great!

And “Spider Friend” by L. Blunt Jackson:

An unique fable, told competently, this is one of my favorite stories this time around. A man gains the blessings of spiders, but, as is so often the case is tempted to walk away from what is good in his life, for what he desires.

And the final installment of Mark Sumner’s novel The Naturalist:

 I have enjoyed the previous two parts to this story and the third is no different. This is a world I could imagine living in, it feels real, authentic, a variation of our own world with just enough of the marvelous/horrible to make this a tale of the fantastic. A very satisfying conclusion to a fabulous adventure. 

The complete review is here.

Thanks Brent! Stay tuned for issue 14, coming soon!