Black Gate

If you’ve been reading this site for more than, say, ten minutes, you’re probably aware that I’m a big fan of anthologies. And I’m especially fond of the Best of the Year anthologies.

It’s definitely that time of the year. Jonathan Strahan’s The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Seven, was released in May (we covered it here), and Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2013 Edition arrived on July 10 (here).

Gardner Dozois’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection was published on July 23, and Paula Guran’s The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2013 Edition will debut on August 20. The other major contender, David G. Hartwell’s Year’s Best SF 18, has been delayed to December.

And now there’s a new kid on the block. Newcomer Steve Hayes has assembled a promising volume dedicated to the best in British fantasy, including tales from Mark Morris, Lavie Tidhar, Steph Swainston, Lisa Tuttle, and many more. If I had to guess, I’d say the contents run towards the Dark Fantasy side of the spectrum, just based on the subtitle at the bottom: Discover How Dark British Fantasy is Willing to Go.  Here’s the complete description.

From the post-apocalyptic American West to the rural terror in New Zealand, this major anthology has evil spirits, bin-Laden style assassinations, steampunk, sexual dysfunction, a twisted version of Peter Pan, the folklore of standing stones, mermaids, alien tour guides, zombies, gruesome beasts, voice-controlled police states, environmental disasters and off world penal colonies. Unmissable.

Featuring (among others) Simon Bestwick, Joseph D’Lacey, Cate Gardner, Carole Johnstone, Tyler Keevil, Kim Lakin-Smith, Alison Littlewood, Cheryl Moore, Mark Morris, Adam Neville, Lavie Tidhar, Sam Stone, Steph Swainston, E.J. Swift, Lisa Tuttle, Simon Unsworth, Jon Wallace.

It contains a great many stories from names I’m unfamiliar with, which isn’t a bad thing. I’m always on the lookout for new talent, and this seems like a great way to discover it.

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Read More Read More

Usually when I’m looking for new reading material, I turn to one of my old favorites. Or I’ll try the latest novel by a BG contributor, or by an author I’ve met recently at a convention. It’s a rare thing these days when I crack open a book by someone I know absolutely nothing about. But sometimes I miss those days when the whole field was new and I approached every book with no expectations — nothing but a willingness to be entertained and transported. In those days, I was constantly delighted, surprised by almost every book I read.

And you know what? I think the two are connected.

Once upon a time, every author I tried was new and all I knew was wonder and magic. Now I read exclusively the same small circle of authors and very little surprises me anymore. So to recapture that wonder again, I try the simplest thing: I read new authors. Writers like Bailey Cunningham, whose first novel, Pile of Bones, first in the Parallel Parks series, was just released by Ace Books.

In one world, they’re ordinary university students. In another world, they are a company of heroes in a place of magic and myth called Anfractus…

The Cree called the area Oscana, “pile of bones,” a fertile hunting ground where game abounded. The white settlers changed that to Wascana. And centuries later, it became Wascana Park, a wooded retreat in the midst of the urban sprawl of Regina.

For a select few, who stay in the park until midnight, the land reverts into a magical kingdom, populated by heroes and monsters. They become warriors, bards, archers, gladiators. In the city called Anfractus, they live out a real-life role playing game.

All harmless fun — until they find themselves in the middle of an assassination plot which threatens to upset the balance of everything. Politics are changing, and old borders are about to disappear. The magic of Anfractus is bleeding into the real world — an incursion far more dangerous than the students suspect. Only they know what is happening — and only they can stop it…

Pile of Bones was published July 30th by Ace Books. It is 321 pages, priced at $7.99 for both the paperback and the digital version. The sequel is Path of Smoke.