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In 500 Words or Less: Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

In 500 Words or Less: Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

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oie_40735xngboxezBest Served Cold
By Joe Abercrombie
Gollancz (544 pages, £9.99 in paperback, £6.99 digital, June 2010)

Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about Steven Erikson being in my top five fantasy authors? Joe Abercrombie is in there, too – in fact, he’s probably higher than Erikson. The First Law trilogy blew me away, which makes it painful to say that its immediate sequel, Best Served Cold, left me a little disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong: this fantasy-style homage to Kill Bill is just as fast-paced and exciting as the First Law books. Monza Murcatto is a brilliantly flawed protagonist, and between the return of drunken mercenary Nicomo Cosca and newcomers like poisoner Morveer and numbers-obsessed killer Friendly, there’s plenty of Abercrombie’s dark humor. The twists and turns are intriguing, particularly with master assassin Shenkt.

But I found myself missing the epic scope, since I would’ve been surprised if (Spoiler Alert) Monza didn’t succeed in her revenge quest (End Spoiler). And while seeing familiar faces like High King Jezal dan Luthar and Vitari is great and all, along with references to other characters and elements, it’s almost like cameos by John Stamos and Bob Saget on Fuller House: it just reminds you that the original was better.

My biggest criticism is another returning character: Shivers, who appeared in the First Law trilogy as a young Northman with a grudge against Logen Ninefingers. In the previous books, Shivers was his own character, one of many distinct Northern characters and specifically a reminder for Logen about his past bloody crimes. For some reason, Shivers in this novel is like a paper cut-out of Logen without the heart: he has the same mannerisms, wants to be better but can’t, falls for someone who is clearly going to be a problem, and goes berserk with violence just like the Bloody-Nine.

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Gunslingers, Shapeshifters, and Ancient Animal Gods: The Children of the Drought Trilogy by Arianne ‘Tex’ Thompson

Gunslingers, Shapeshifters, and Ancient Animal Gods: The Children of the Drought Trilogy by Arianne ‘Tex’ Thompson

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The border town of Sixes is quiet in the heat of the day, but at sunset wake the gunslingers and shapeshifters and ancient animal gods whose human faces never outlast the daylight. Appaloosa Elim had to enter Sixes to find his so-called partner Sil Halfwick, who disappeared inside in the hope of making a name for himself among Sixes’ notorious black-market traders.

That was the premise of One Night in Sixes, the popular debut novel by Arianne ‘Tex’ Thompson. A sequel arrived in 2015, and the concluding novel in the trilogy is now scheduled to arrive in paperback in late December. Here’s all the details; links will take you to our previous coverage.

One Night in Sixes (464 pages, $7.99/$6.99 digital, July 29, 2014) — excerpt
Medicine For the Dead (480 pages, $7.99/$3.99 digital, April 9, 2015) — prologue
Dreams of the Eaten (384 pages, $8.99/$6.99 digital, December 27, 2016)

All three were published by Solaris. The covers are by Tomasz Jedruszek.

See all of our recent coverage of series fantasy here.

Space Colonies, Interstellar Fleets, and The Martian in the Attic: The Best of Frederik Pohl

Space Colonies, Interstellar Fleets, and The Martian in the Attic: The Best of Frederik Pohl

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The Best of Frederik Pohl-smallIn my continuing posts of Del Rey’s Classic Science Fiction Series, we now come to the third volume in the series, The Best of Frederik Pohl (1975). The introduction was done by none other than the writer and editor Lester del Rey himself (1915-1993). As with The Best of Stanley Weinbaum and The Best of Fritz Leiber, the cover art for Pohl’s volume was done by Dean Ellis (1920-2009). And as with Leiber’s volume, the author himself, Frederik Pohl (1919-2013), gives an afterword as well commenting on several of the stories within.

To call Pohl a giant of science fiction is a cliched understatement. Pohl wrote and edited science fiction for over seventy years. He won numerous awards and was editor for many years of Galaxy and If magazines. His mark on science fiction is absolutely indelible.

But, I have to admit, I had actually never read any of Pohl’s stories before this volume. So I came to The Best of Frederik Pohl with fairly neutral eyes, though expecting to read some great classic science fiction. What did I find? Let me comment on a few the stories in this volume that really struck me and then I’ll give some final overall thoughts on Pohl’s work.

The story “Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus” was a fairly on-the-nose satire against Christmas commercialism — a pretty easy target. But, surprisingly, this satire was set within the context of a love story about a department store manager seeking to marry the daughter of a very conservative missionary. Not what I was expecting. What was even more surprising was that this turned out to be a very heart-stirring little romantic tale, very unexpected given the cynical bite of the story’s overall point.

Interestingly, in retrospect, the sci-fi elements of this story seem fairly tangential now. In fact, I don’t remember exactly what the sci-fi elements in this story were. And this wasn’t the only story like this. I often found myself trying to remember exactly what made Pohl’s stories examples of science fiction. I’ll return to this point.

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Something Nasty, Something With Claws

Something Nasty, Something With Claws

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Whenever I have an idea for a story, it usually came from at least six different places, three or four or which I’ll have forgotten by the time the story is done. Let’s see how well I do this time:

I grew up in a house where bookshelves were the most important pieces of furniture, and I was happy to take advantage, but in a hidden corner of the basement was a particularly important shelf, the one where my dad kept his old 70’s science-fiction and fantasy paperbacks. Roger Zelazny, Harlan Ellison, Michael Moorcock, Gene Wolfe. Not a bad haul. In one of those books, a short story collection from Gene Wolfe, was a story called “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories,” which is about a child reading a story featuring a villain who he later imagines (or maybe not, it’s a Gene Wolfe story) breaking the fourth wall and discussing his role as a bad guy. He talks about how he and the hero seem to hate each other, but that backstage they actually get along and understood their interdependence.

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Cover Reveal: Damnation by Peter McLean

Cover Reveal: Damnation by Peter McLean

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Drake, the first novel in Peter McLean’s new series, was published in January. The highly-anticipated second novel, Dominion, will be released on November 2nd in the US, and November 4 in the UK and the rest of the world. Here’s what I said about Drake late last year.

Peter McLean’s first novel will be released in paperback by Angry Robot in early January, and it sounds pretty darn good.

Don’t believe me? Drake features a hitman who owes a gambling debt to a demon, his faithful magical accomplice The Burned Man (an imprisoned archdemon), the Furies of Greek myth, an (almost) fallen angel named Trixie, and oh, yeah. Lucifer. Dave Hutchinson calls it “a gritty, grungy, funny, sweary noir thriller with added demons. Don Drake is a wonderful creation.” I told you it sounded good. Drake is the opening installment in a new series titled The Burned Man.

Black Gate is very proud to present an exclusive cover reveal for the third novel, Damnation, scheduled to appear on May 2 of next year. See below for additional details of the book, and a high-res pic of the cover.

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An Experiment in Gor: What Are John Norman’s Books About, Really? The Hidden Secret of the Counter-Earth Saga is an Over-Abundance of…

An Experiment in Gor: What Are John Norman’s Books About, Really? The Hidden Secret of the Counter-Earth Saga is an Over-Abundance of…

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tarnsman_of_gor_vallejo_coverI’m positive that I read the first book in the [Counter-Earth Saga/Tarl Cabot Saga/Chronicles of Counter-Earth/Gorean Cycle/Gorean Saga/take your pick], sometime back in junior high. That would be Tarnsman of Gor, first published in 1966 by Ballantine, which recounts how Earth professor Tarl Cabot is mysteriously transported to our solar system’s hidden tenth planet orbiting the sun in a position exactly counter to Earth’s. There he encounters a Barsoomian-inspired sword-and-planet environment. He quickly adapts, becoming a Gorean swordsman and assimilating into the culture of his adopted planet.

If I read any of the sequels, I can’t recall — although I remember enjoying the first book, at least the first part of it recounting Talbot’s strange experiences (involving a mysterious package, I believe) and subsequent relocation to another world. As The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), a huge tome sitting here on my bookshelf, notes, the first Gor books were passable Edgar Rice Burroughs pastiches, and that’s the impression I came away with too. As a boy, I was a huge fan of ERB’s John Carter of Mars stories and was looking for something else along those lines.

The Encyclopedia goes on to condemn later volumes in the series (which now total 34), noting that they “degenerate into extremely sexist, sadomasochistic pornography involving the ritual humiliation of women, and as a result have caused widespread offence.” DAW, which published the series from volumes 7 through 25, apparently dropped Norman for this reason (Naughty Norman!), and the subsequent 9 volumes are only available in e-book editions.

As a collector and purveyor of vintage sci-fi and fantasy paperbacks, I happen to have several Gor books sitting in a pile here beside my office desk. I will be posting them to eBay soon. I have, on occasion, picked one up and opened it at random to read a paragraph or two.

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Get Cozy with Tor.com Publishing’s Winter 2017 Titles

Get Cozy with Tor.com Publishing’s Winter 2017 Titles

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Tor.com Publishing has given us a peek at their upcoming fall and winter titles, and it looks like another dynamite line-up, with novellas by Black Gate author Ellen Klages (“A Taste of Summer,” BG 3), Seanan McGuire, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Adam Christopher, Emma Newman, Paul Cornell, Maurice Broaddus, and many others — including the sequel to the Nebula Award-winning Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. Here’s the complete line-up:

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire (192 pages, $15.99, January 10, designed by Jamie Stafford-Hill)
The Fortress at the End of Time by Joe M. McDermott (268 pages, $19.99/$4.99 digital, January 17, cover by Jaime Jones)
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages (220 pages, $14.99, January 24, cover by Gregory Manchess)
Binti: Home (Binti #2) by Nnedi Okorafor (176 pages, $14.99, January 31, cover by David Palumbo)
Idle Ingredients (Sin du Jour #4) by Matt Wallace (192 pages, $15.99, February 7, designed by Peter Lutjen)
Cold Counsel by Chris Sharp (368 pages, $21.99/$4.99, February 21, cover by David Palumbo)
Agents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. Kiernan (128 pages, $11.99, February 28, designed by Christine Foltzer)
Standard Hollywood Depravity (L.A. Trilogy) by Adam Christopher (176 pages, $14.99, March 7, cover by Will Staehle)
Brother’s Ruin by Emma Newman (160 pages, $14.99, March 14, cover by Cliff Neilsen)
Chalk by Paul Cornell (260 pages, 17.99/$4.99, March 21, designed by Peter Lutjen)
Buffalo Soldier by Maurice Broaddus (168 pages, $14.99. March 28, cover by Jon Foster)
Winter Tide (The Innsmouth Legacy, Book 1) by Ruthanna Emrys (368 pages, $25.99 in hardcover/$12.99 digital, April 4, cover by John Jude Palencar)
Proof of Concept by Gwyneth Jones (176 pages, $14.99, April 11, designed by Drive Communications)
Lightning in the Blood (Cold-Forged Flame #2)  by Marie Brennan (112 pages, $11.99, April 25, cover by Greg Ruth)

All are published in trade paperback. Unless otherwise noted, the digital prices for each is $2.99. See all the details here.

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New Treasures: High Stakes: A Wild Cards Novel, edited by George R.R. Martin & Melinda M. Snodgrass

New Treasures: High Stakes: A Wild Cards Novel, edited by George R.R. Martin & Melinda M. Snodgrass

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wild-cards-high-stakes-smallWild Cards is one of the longest-running shared universes in existence, outlasting Robert Asprin’s Thieves World, Emma Bull and Will Shetterly’s Liavek, C. J. Cherryh’s Merovingen Nights, and many others (the only one with a comparable run I can think of is Janet and Chris Morris’ Heroes in Hell, which began in 1986). The first volume, Wild Cards, was published in 1987 by Bantam Books; there have been 23 novels and anthologies since then, from 31 authors and four different publishers. That’s a heck of a run.

The premise of the series is pretty appealing for anyone who likes superheroes or pulp fiction.

In the aftermath of World War II, an alien virus struck the earth, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Some were called aces – those with superhuman mental & physical abilities. Others were termed jokers – cursed with bizarre mental or physical disabilities. Some turned their talents to the service of humanity. Others used their powers for evil.

Wild Cards is their story.

It’s been in the news recently primarily because it’s the next big series licensed to television by George R.R. Martin, hot on the heels of his globe-spanning success with Game of Thrones. Universal Cable Productions (The Magicians, Mr. Robot) acquired the rights this summer, and brought on co-editor Melinda Snodgrass as executive producer.

The 23rd book (excuse me, “mosaic novel” — really an anthology with a fancy name) in the series is High Stakes, written by Melinda M. Snodgrass, John Jos. Miller, David Anthony Durham, Caroline Spector, Stephen Leigh, and Ian Tregillis, and edited by George R.R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass. It was released in hardcover by Tor on August 30.

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John Crowley’s Aegypt Cycle, Books One and Two

John Crowley’s Aegypt Cycle, Books One and Two

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613744Elsewhere in the hallowed halls of Black Gate, you can find my musings on what I consider to be among the best and most endearing fantasy novels ever written, Little, Big. Perhaps its author, John Crowley, could have hung up his spurs after that one, certain that his honorifics were now firmly in place, his spot in the pantheon assured. But then, Little, Big was never a major financial success, never “popular,” and besides, Crowley is that rare jewel, a writer who is also a thinker, and he wasn’t done thinking.

Among the works that have followed is The Aegypt Cycle, beginning with The Solitudes and Love and Sleep, then extending into Demonomania and Endless Things. I read The Solitudes in early 2015, and, having finished, set it down with a pensive hmmm, the same restless yet satisfied noise made by those who encounter an attractive puzzle box more devious and brilliant than themselves.

At the risk of sounding like a bent brown puppet from The Dark Crystal, let me repeat that: Hmmm.

Little, Big is sufficiently mysterious for most mortals, the equivalent of a buffet so satisfying and sumptuous that one reaches the end and returns at once to the beginning, eager to begin again. (Which I, in fact, did; I read the damn thing twice in a row.)

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Future Treasures: Where the Time Goes by Jeffrey E. Barlough

Future Treasures: Where the Time Goes by Jeffrey E. Barlough

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Back in July, Fletcher Vredenburgh reviewed the opening novel in Jeffrey E. Barlough’s Western Lights series here at Black Gate.

I’m not exactly sure what made me buy Dark Sleeper… I’m thinking it was more the Jeff Barson painting of woolly mammoths pulling a coach across a dark, snow swept landscape. Whatever the reason, I’m happy I did, as the book turned out to be a very strange and often funny trip through a weird and fantastical post-apocalyptic alternate reality.

In Barlough’s fictional world the Ice Age never fully ended. With much of its north covered by ice and snow, medieval England sent its ships out around the world looking for new lands… With great cities such as Salthead and Foghampton (located around the same places as Seattle and San Francisco), the western colonies flourished and expanded. Then, in 1839, terror struck from the heavens… Something crashed into the Earth, and almost instantly, all life except in the western colonies, was obliterated and the Ice Age intensified. Now, one hundred and fifty years later, the “the sole place on earth where lights still shine at night is in the west.”…

For nearly twenty years now Barlough has been creating a truly unique series that has seems to have escaped too many readers’ attention… If you have the slightest affinity for the works of Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, or the steampunk works of Tim Powers and James Blaylock, then I highly recommend Dark Sleeper.

The ninth novel in the series, Where the Time Goes, sees Dr. Hugh Callander return home to find the town of Dithering gripped by fear. Livestock are being lost, and townsfolk are mysteriously disappearing. Is it poachers, thieves or murderers? Or might the ancient tales of a ravenous beast in the nearby cavern of Eldritch’s Cupboard be true? Where the Time Goes arrives in trade paperback from Gresham & Doyle on October 31st.

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