Black Gate

Weirdness surrounds you, trust me.

I know that’s a bold statement considering the only thing I know about you is that you’re a Black Gate fan, but then again, one might argue that information alone is enough.

But I can go one step further; I can actually prove it.

Just head over to www.weirdus.com and click on “stories by state.” OK, you won’t find anything there yet, as this part of the website isn’t completely finished. But if you click on “stories by category” you’ll find the categories broken up by state and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

What you have just discovered is that no matter where you live in the good old US of A, there are stories about your hometown that will likely curl your hair. If you’re very lucky, enough stories have been gathered by the research team of Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman to create an entire book. So far there are thirty in all with new ones being released every six months or so.

Weird Illinois hit the book stores in 2005, and when I picked up my copy I hunkered down on a Sunday afternoon and didn’t get up until I had turned the last page. The stories ran the gambit from urban legend to documented hauntings, to real events grotesque enough to barely be believable. The local editor Troy Taylor (each book has someone from that state doing the heavy lifting) says the stories are all chosen for being a little “left of center.”

That’s an understatement.

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ORC STAIN Volume 1 collection coming in July…

ORC STAIN, VOL. 1 TP
story JAMES STOKOE
art & cover JAMES STOKOE
JULY 28
168 PAGES / FC
$17.99
For a million millennia the world has cracked and convulsed under the indomitable mob of the orc. Savage, bloodthirsty creatures, they are without number, staining nearly every corner of the globe. The mighty Orc Tzar, newest leader of the mob, marches ever north to find the lost organ of a forgotten god. Only a lone one-eyed orc with a mysterious gift can find the key to breaking the cycle forever.
Collects ORC STAIN #1-5
RETAILER WARNING: MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES

A Masterwork of Transcendent High Fantasy

“Is she Weird? Is she White? Is she promised to the Night?”
 — The Pixies, Bossanova 1990

“When I was nine, about a year after I learned how to read, I started to write.”
 — Tanith Lee, LOCUS, April 1998

 

Introducing Tanith Lee is seldom necessary.

The majority of fantasy fans already know her name. After 77 novels and 300 short stories, among them such seminal fantasy classics as the Birthgrave trilogy, the Wars of Vis trilogy, the Tales From the Flat Earth quintology, the Secret Books of Paradys quadrology, and the Secret Books of Venus quadrology, her storytelling powers are still in full effect.

In a publishing world that does not always honor its Great Ones, it is often possible to miss out on the latest and greatest works of the field’s most gifted writers. Even a writer as established and lauded as Lee can get lost in the desperate shuffle to market and promote “hot-sellers.” Quality often takes a back seat to what the marketing department thinks will sell…and some amazing works of fantasy get less than the attention they deserve.

Case in Point: Tanith Lee’s latest masterpiece The LIONWOLF Trilogy. The series consists of three books that chronicle the birth, life, death, rebirth, and redemption of a rampaging man-god who strides red-handed across a world of endless winter and primordial savagery. The books are: Cast a Bright Shadow, Here in Cold Hell, and No Flame But Mine. Chances are you’ve missed seeing these books on your local bookstore’s shelves…which is a tragedy in and of itself. Like much of Lee’s previous work, this is a trilogy that no self-respecting fantasy fan can afford to miss. In today’s world of online booksellers — led by the grandaddy of them all, www.amazon.com — you no longer have to settle for what shows up on your local bookstore’s shelves. Thank the Gods for that…

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Once a Bedouin girl tamed a crooked stallion — and the Arabian breed was born. A tale of legend and desert war.

     Behind her, Salsabil heard the drumming of hooves. At the awning of the family tent, with her pursuer thundering after her, she whirled. Sand sprayed under her heels. She stood tall, flinging up her arms.
      The mare came charging downhill at full speed, head tucked close against her chest and hooves crashing through the loose scree. Straight at her. Salsabil stood like a rock. Her sight grew dim. Her outstretched fingers trembled. But she did not move.
     At the last instant, with her nose barely an inch from the girl’s breast, the war-mare stopped. She flung her elegant head high, danced before Salsabil upon hooves smaller than the feet of a girl-child. And Salsabil gazed up and up at the rider on the mare’s back.
      She looked into his bearded face, and fear struck her in the heart — for it was the face of a skeleton. But she could not allow him to pass.

Sylvia Volk was born in western Canada. This is her first published story.

 “On a Pale Horse” appears in Black Gate 14. You can read a more complete excerpt here. The complete Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek is available here.

Art by Aaron Starr.

The Newest Must-Read Fantasy Comic…

 

“And the Orcs took the fortress on the west slopes of Mount Rerir, and ravaged all Thargelion, the land of Caranthir; and they defiled Lake Helevorn.”
 –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion

“Violator! Desecrator! Turn around and meet the hater!”
 –Rob Zombie, “Demonoid Phenomenon”

 

Orcs seem to be popping up everywhere these days. I’ve done my share of complaining about this. I’ve raved about how Orcs should be kept in Tolkien books…after all, he invented the beasties as a counterpart to his magnificent Elves. (Nevermind that that actual word “orc” existed before in reference to a water-monster.) Today there are even entire novels dedicated to Orcs.

And, to my great delight, at least one spectacular comic book.

ORC STAIN is the creation of writer/artist James Stokoe, and is published by Image Comics. This series “For Mature Readers” is a brand-new offering, with only two issues on the stands so far. However, it grabbed my attention on both a story and art level (a seemless blend) and quickly rose to the top of my must-read list. In fact, any fan of fantasy adventure fiction, sword-and-sorcery, dark fantasy, monster comics, or simply Those Who Dig Orcs owes it to himself to read this amazing experiment in non-corporate comics.

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The crumbling passage led to an underwater city, filled with marvels, wild magic… and secrets.

The village witch rowed Newyn to the tainted place, the ocean cove the locals called ya sangra liu — the bloody harbor. No one knew what had happened there, except that once it had not been filled by the sea.
     “There.” It was a toothlike stone structure that stuck out of the water to roughly waist-height, in the middle of the miniature bay. “Everyone knows, you walk down that way, you can breathe.”
      Newyn studied the protrusion. It was manmade, circular, perhaps the ruined top of a tower. “Do you breathe water, like a fish, or is there air?”
     “You’re not floating, if that’s what you mean. You can walk, run, speak if you find anyone to speak to. Near enough to air, even if the fish swim in it.”
     “And others have gone down, and come back.”
     The witch half nodded, half shrugged. “Come back, yes. But not always whole.”
    “Why did they go?”
     “Some folks come back ranting about gold… I’d think you might like gold.”
     “Oh, I do,” Newyn said, so softly it was almost a hiss. “I do.”

Isabel Pelech has been published in Talebones, Tickled by Thunder and Dreams & Nightmares. She lives in Tennessee with two gray cats.

“The Wine-Dark Sea” appears in Black Gate 14. You can read a more complete excerpt here.

The complete Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek is available here.

Art by Mark Evans.