Black Gate

Black Gate magazine is now available in high-resolution digital format.

In addition to our regular print edition, Black Gate is now available for download as a high-resolution PDF. To help promote our new format, we’re making the complete contents — all 224 pages — of Black Gate 12 available for download for a limited time – for free!

Black Gate 12 is available as a single download, or in two smaller sections. Both versions are suitable for printing, and require a PDF reader (such as Adobe Acrobat).

• Black Gate 12 – Pages 1-112 [10.8 Meg]
• Black Gate 12 – Pages 113-224 [8.2 Meg]
• Black Gate 12 – Complete [18.9 Meg]

What awaits you in Black Gate 12? An intrepid thief discovers far more than he bargained for in an ancient, spider-haunted city… Giliead and Ilias probe the disappearance of mining town in a godless canyon, in one of their earliest adventures together… Morlock the Maker returns to the corrupt city of Sarkunden to confront an old nemesis — and a puzzle with no possible solution… Dabir and Asim join forces for the first time, as they encounter dark sorceries in an long-sealed tomb… and Tumithak meets his greatest challenge as he pits his wits against a Shelk scheme to drive humanity back under the earth!

All this plus a free solitaire RPG game from Dark City Games, an editorial, letters, reviews, art — and a complete Knights of the Dinner Table strip! What are you waiting for? Try the free download today!

“For John O’Neill, reading, writing, and publishing speculative fiction isn’t some hobby or leisure activity. It’s his greatest passion, and his quarterly magazine, Black Gate, reflects that. By publishing top-notch Adventure Fantasy written in high-quality prose, O’Neill sets out to win over new audiences while still satisfying steadfast lovers of the genre… O’Neill’s passion is unmistakable both within the pages of Black Gate and whenever he discusses writing.

Columbia College and Elephant Rock Productions have posted a lengthy video interview of Black Gate founder and editor John O’Neill.

In a wide-ranging discussion that covers the creation of the magazine, cross-genre and adult themes, mistakes writers make, and the kind of fiction he wishes he saw more of, John speaks at length on online publishing and the changing fantasy market.

View a complete transcript of the video interview here.

With the release of our new issue slated for July 7, we thought we’d give you some fiction excerpts and a look at the Table of Contents to tantalize your fantasy taste buds. James Enge’s Morlock is back, and so are Martha Wells’ wizard hunters, Giliead and Ilias. The redoubtable Dabir and Asim stalk into an all-new adventure courtesy of Howard Andrew Jones, and Kris the outrider from Black Gate 10 air-sails through another Ed Carmien tale. Joining these BG stalwarts are a host of new characters, freshly erupted from the minds of Todd McAulty, Constance Cooper, and John R. Fultz. And last but not least, we finally have the final Tumithak adventure, a fantasy classic from the late pulp writer Charles R. Tanner.

Excerpts from all of these are just a click away, along with first looks at all the great new art in BG 12 from the likes of Storn Cook, Mark Evans, John Kaufmann, Chuck Lukacs, Michael Vilardi, and John Woolley, plus some hints about the mountain of book and game reviews we have in store for you. So dive in, do some exploring, and get ready for the official BG 12 release on July 7.

EXPLORE BLACK GATE 12

It’s the capital of the fantasy publishing kingdom, the one con where everyone who is anyone comes together once a year to hobnob, sell, pitch, and perhaps even snag one of the most coveted accolades in the industry, the World Fantasy Award. Howard Jones and John O’Neill once again made the trek under the Black Gate banner, braving the wilds of New York to bring you back tales of pleasant panels, bustling bars, and delightful dealer’s rooms — all the things that make a con worthwhile.

READ THE ARTICLE

With the arrival of Black Gate 11, it’s time to clear some space out of the New Epoch Press warehouse. And that means it’s time for our very first Back Issue Sale.

Now’s your chance to expand or complete your collection of the magazine RPGNet calls “wonderful… fantasy fans couldn’t ask for a more comprehensive and worthwhile buy.” And Locus’s Nick Gevers says “Black Gate [contains] serious work… and magnificent storytelling.”

For a very limited time, any four back issues are the same price as a new subscription: $29.95, plus shipping and handling. And any eight are just $55! That includes our second and third issues, normally $12.95, and even our rare first issue, priced at $15.95! You can own our first four issues — a $51.80 value — for just $29.95! But hurry. Quantities of certain issues are very limited, and when they’re gone, they’re gone for good.

Black Gate 11 is now at the printers — and it promises to be our best issue yet, as Martha Wells, James Enge, Iain Rowan, and Mark Sumner all return with big new installments building on the action in Black Gate 10. Join us for the first meeting of Giliead & Ilias, as Morlock the Maker assists a small fraternity of warriors in desperate battle against the dreaded Boneless One, Dao Shi the exorcist comes face to face with an unkillable demon deep in the Underworld, and The Naturalist returns to civilization to warn of the approach of the terror from the interior.

That’s not all — Maria V. Snyder, Peadar Ó Guilín, William I. Lengeman III and many others offer exciting new stories. A dead wizard hires a thief to break into his tower and uncover a deadly secret, a man fights to save his son from a woman whose charms are literally irresistible, and a modern father is inducted into Valhalla after a particularly challenging roller coaster ride. All that plus four pages of Knights of the Dinner Table. It’s 224 pages of the best in modern adventure fantasy!

Follow the link to a sneak peek of Black Gate 11, with story excerpts, artwork, and even a look at “Neglected Stories from the SF Magazines” from Rich Horton. Subscribe Now so you don’t miss out!