Black Gate – Page 188 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

What if King Harold had Prevented the Norman Conquest: After Hastings by Steven H Silver

Sunday, July 12, 2020 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

Cover designed by Laura Givens

Steven H Silver is one of Black Gate‘s most prolific contributors. He produced many reviews for the print magazines, sold me the terrific short story “The Cremator’s Tale” back in 2013, and has written an astonishing 471 articles for the blog.

Steven’s many accomplishments don’t end with Black Gate, however. He’s an acclaimed editor, co-editing three DAW anthologies with Martin H. Greenberg (Wondrous Beginnings, Magical Beginnings, and Horrible Beginnings), and the two volume Selected Stories of Lester del Rey for NESFA Press. His most recent anthology is Alternate Peace (June 2019), co-edited with Joshua Palmatier. From 2004-2012 he was the publisher and editor of ISFiC Press, and his annual fanzine Argentus has been nominated for the Hugo Award multiple times. In fact Steven has received 17 Hugo nominations over the years.

Last week Steven’s writing career entered an exciting new phase with the publication of his long-awaited debut novel After Hastings, a masterfully constructed alternate history from one of the field’s true experts. I asked Steven to say a few words about it for BG readers, and this is what he shared:

After Hastings is an exploration of a world in which King Harold of England successfully beats back the Norman Conquest but finds himself facing other enemies, both domestic and foreign, leading him to jump start the reformation four hundred years early.

After Hastings was published by Ring of Fire Press on July 10, 2020. It is 347 pages, priced at $15.99 in paperback and $5.99 in digital formats. The cover was designed by Laura Givens. Order copies here.

See all our coverage of recent releases by Black Gate staff here.

James Davis Nicoll on Five Science Fiction & Fantasy Works Inspired by Role Playing Games

Sunday, July 12, 2020 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

The Order of the Stick 4 Don't Split the Party-small

I enjoyed James Davis Nicoll’s recent posts here at Black Gate, Ten Classic Unplayed RPGs, and Ten WTF Moments from Classic RPGs. James and I were both introduced to role playing games in Canada in the late 70s, and he shares both my fascination and enduring sense of wonder with the early games of that era.

James maintains his own site, jamesdavisnicoll.com, one of the better SF book blogs. (This month he’s reviewed Roger Zelazny’s 1969 minor classic Creatures of Light and Darkness, David Gerrold’s A Matter for Men from 1983, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s just released Mexican Gothic, about a perfect blend of old and new in my book.) But what I want to highlight today is his regular column at Tor.com, and in particular his June 10 article “Five SFF Works Inspired by RPGs.” Mostly because it showcases one of the greatest webcomics ever created, Rich Burlew’s brilliant Order of the Stick.

Of course, the standard by which RPG-themed satire is judged is Rich Burlew’s long-running Order of the Stick (2003 to present). What began as a gag-a-strip stick-figure webcomic mocking the quirks of 3^rd and 3.5^th edition D&D quickly grew into something more. Sane Man fighter Roy Greenhilt has assembled a ragtag gang of eccentric colleagues and set out to defeat the evil lich Xykon. Seventeen years later, the lich is still… uh, “alive” may be the wrong word… active.

What began as a simple plan to find and kill an undead being of unparalleled power and evil has spiralled into an epic tale featuring grand sieges, true love, tragic death, character growth, and increasingly alarming revelations about the likely fate of this world. It’s an impressive work. There are reports that a conclusion looms, so this would be a good time to catch up on the archive. Note that print collections are available.

The article also discusses J. Zachary Pike’s Dark Profit Saga, Meg Syverud & Jessica “Yoko” Weaver’s webcomic Daughter of the Lilies, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s 2016 novel Spiderlight, and Phil Kahn and T Campbell’s long-running webcomic Guilded Age. Read the whole thing here.

Vintage Treasures: The Aliens Among Us by James White

Saturday, July 11, 2020 John ONeill Comments 21 comments

The Aliens Among Us James White-back-small

The Aliens Among Us by James White. Ballantine Books, 1969. Cover by Paul Lehr

I’ve read very little by James White, and that’s a serious oversight.

White was an Irish SF writer who’s not very well remembered today, but he was a big deal in SF circles in the 80 and 90s. He began writing professionally in 1953, and published some 20 novels and five collections in a career than spanned nearly five decades. His last novel Double Contact appeared in 1999, the year he died.

White’s most popular creation was Sector General, a deep space medical installation that treats all the races of the galaxy. It was the setting for a long-running series — a dozen novels and collections — published between 1957-1999. Most of the stories were fairly light fare, low-stakes galactic hospital drama, but their enduring popularity earned White a solid rep. A total of four omnibus collections were published, one by the Science Fiction Book Club (Tales of Sector General, 1999), and three by Orb, Beginning Operations (2001), Alien Emergencies (2002), and General Practice (2003). Believe it or not, all three of the Orb volumes are still in print, nearly two long decades later. That’s an impressive legacy.

If White can keep omnibus editions in print for 20 years, why do I say he’s not well remembered? Because while Sector General remains popular among older fans, White’s star has otherwise dimmed significantly. How little demand is there for his work? Five years ago when I won a nearly complete set of James White — 24 vintage paperbacks — on eBay, I was the only bidder. The price? $5.

I still think White speaks to modern audiences, and that’s why I’m still talking about him. Today I want to point you towards his second collection, The Aliens Among Us, published by Ballantine in 1969.

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Demanding Answers on the Harlot Table in the Dungeon Masters Guide

Saturday, July 11, 2020 Suzanne Anderson Comments 9 comments

Emirikol the Chaotic, by Dave Trampier. From the Dungeon Masters Guide (TSR, 1979)

So. Some of my older gentlemen friends are feeling upset and disenfranchised by Wizards of the Coast’s disclaiming of the values and mindsets of early D&D. It feels like a betrayal to them, for what I’m sure is a variety of reasons.

But I have, on more than one occasion, wanted to share this iconic illustration from the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide with kids in my middle school club and stopped. Because I remember the steel in my daughter’s eyes as a preteen, squinting at the facing page and saying, “Hey, what’s that?”

Pointing, of course, to the obligatory harlot table. “How come there are 10 extra ugly terms for women in the harlot table, but nothing for mercenaries, thieves, nobles, or tradesmen?” Cocked eyebrows that demanded to know why I would accept this rubbish at all.

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Rogue Blades Author: He Himself was in Every One of Them

Friday, July 10, 2020 Ty Johnston Comments 0 Comment

The following is an excerpt from Rusty Burke’s essay for Robert E. Howard Changed My Life, an upcoming book from the Rogue Blades Foundation.

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night

From the cradle to the grave, Life is one long roleplaying game. Every day presents us with new situations that require us to make choices, and those choices, while opening up new opportunities, will generally close off other possibilities. (Unless certain physicists are right, and each possibility opens a new universe. But that’s another essay altogether.) Of course, in Life the game is enormously complex, because each of us is playing many characters, many roles, often juggling several at once, and each of these roles is very interactive, depending to some degree on how other people respond to the character we are playing, and how we respond to theirs. Fortunately, most of us slide in and out of these roles unconsciously: if we had to actually think about what our role in the scene is and how we should play it, I think we would most likely flub our lines.

We don’t always recognize when we’ve come to a crucial decision point, one which will set the course for our future. Spring 1971: I was in college, in a Religious Studies class, and struck up a conversation with a guy who was doodling some great comics in his notebook. As we talked, I casually remarked that I’d given my comics, baseball cards, and other ‘kid stuff’ to my brother. Next class, Charlie Williams tossed a comic onto my desk and said, “Read that and tell me it’s kid stuff.”

It was Conan the Barbarian #4, “The Tower of the Elephant,” and the first page pulled me in. Not only was it my introduction to the work of Robert E. Howard, but Charlie guided me into the whole world of Marvel Comics, which for some reason I had missed. (I read Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos during a war comics phase when I was about twelve or thirteen, but somehow managed to be unaware that Marvel did superheroes, as well. I was a DC guy, especially Green Lantern and Batman, all the way. Probably poor distribution to the comics racks at the few stores in my community.)

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New Treasures: Murder Ballads and Other Horrific Tales by John Horner Jacobs

Friday, July 10, 2020 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

A Lush and Seething Hell Two Tales of Cosmic Horror-small

Murder Ballads and Other Horrific Tales-small

Covers by Jeffrey Alan Love

John Horner Jacobs’s new collection Murder Ballads and Other Horrific Tales has arrived from JournalStone, and my, my. It looks very handsome on my bookshelf right next to A Lush and Seething Hell, his 2019 collection of two novellas of cosmic horror. Yes indeed. The fabulous covers are by Jeffrey Alan Love, and they do look very sharp side by side.

Murder Ballads collects 10 tales of weird horror, and has been called “masterful… marvelously eerie” by Publishers Weekly, in case you let things like reviews sway you (instead of cool cover art, which is the way we prefer to be swayed here at Black Gate.) Here’s the description.

A terrifying collection of horror and crime noir from the author of Southern Gods and A Lush and Seething Hell.

Featuring ten tales, two never before in print, Murder Ballads and Other Horrific Tales is an exciting glimpse into the dark territories of the human heart.

These are coming-of-age stories. Stories of love and loss, grief and revenge. Survival and redemption. From old gods to malevolent artiﬁcial intelligences, vampires to zombies to ghosts, Jacobs exposes our fears and worst imaginings.

CONTAINS THE SEQUEL TO SOUTHERN GODS

The sequel to Southern Gods they mention so breathlessly in that last line is the title story, a novella that PW calls “a southern gothic extravaganza.” Here’s a look at the back cover.

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Goth Chick News: Who Doesn’t Love (Halloween) Legos?

Thursday, July 9, 2020 Sue Granquist Comments 0 Comment

Nothing is quite as satisfying as a good Lego project. It must be a hold-over feeling of accomplishment from childhood that has caused a serious surge in Lego fandom in the last ten years, boosted still further these days by the fact we’re mostly stuck at home. Lego credits its recent success to adult fans who find building Lego projects relaxing, which I can personally vouch for, at least until you step on one.

Lego is still privately held by the Kristiansen family in Denmark, but recently released financial info has Lego sales up $5.5 billion in the first half of 2020. Difficult as it is to imagine, the company was on the brink of ruin about 15 years ago, but today is cited a one of the biggest turnarounds in corporate history due to embracing themed tie-in sets and a multi-generational fan base.

Speaking of themed tie-in sets, I’m always on the lookout for a new Legos, telling myself I’ll eventually turn my collection over to someone’s child (unlikely). And Lego, like me, considers any time of year fair game for a Halloween offering which is why I’m particularly excited about their announcement this week.

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Future Treasures: Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

Thursday, July 9, 2020 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

It’s been six long years since we’ve seen Harry Dresden.

The Dresden Files was one of the first big breakout fantasy hits of the 21st Century; beginning with Storm Front in 2000, and continuing at roughly a book a year until Skin Game, the 15th novel in the series, was published in 2014. Author Jim Butcher took a long pause after that — but now Harry Dresden returns in his long-awaited sixteenth novel, Peace Talks, which arrives in hardcover from Ace Books next week.

Tor.com broke the news last December with an announcement that included a handy summary of the series to-date:

A contemporary urban noir series that has been described as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer starring Philip Marlowe” (Entertainment Weekly), the Dresden Files follows Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, as he takes on supernatural cases throughout the city and an alternate magical realm. Peace Talks follows wisecracking private investigator Harry Dresden as he joins the White Council’s security team to ensure negotiations between the Supernatural nations of the world remain civil. Harry’s task is challenging, because dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago — and everything he holds dear.

A book as hotly anticipated as this doesn’t need early reviews to heighten the anticipation… but there’s no reason they shouldn’t try. Here’s a snippet from Publishers Weekly’s review.

Butcher ramps up the tension for wizard Harry Dresden in this open-ended 16th installment… When Thomas Raith, Harry’s half-brother, attempts to assassinate the leader of the Svartalves, one of the groups in attendance, Harry comes under suspicion for his role in the crime. With the aid of vampire Lara Raith and human detective Karrin Murphy, Harry frees Thomas from prison and certain death. Along the way, he discovers a new threat that could upend both the mundane and supernatural worlds… When Butcher finally pushes the story forward, readers are rewarded for their patience with gritty magical worldbuilding and bursts of dark humor.

Peace Talks will be published by Ace Books on July 14, 2020. It is 352 pages, priced at $28 in hardcover and $14.99 in digital formats. The cover is by Chris McGrath. Read the first six chapters for free at Jim Butcher’s website.

See all our recent coverage of the best forthcoming releases in SF, fantasy and horror here.

If I Were a Movie Maker: Dell Science Fiction Reviews

Wednesday, July 8, 2020 Gabe Dybing Comments 0 Comment

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Analog Science Fiction July August 2020-small

Analog cover by Dominic Harman

This issue of Asimov’s starts out with a bang, with two standout stories.

In a perfect world, the first of them, “Nic and Viv’s Compulsory Relationship,” by Will McIntosh, will be optioned for a feature length romantic comedy starring the latest and hottest Hollywood crushes. The female lead will be played by someone who can convincingly be a pragmatic professional. The male lead will be well-liked and unpretentious.

We also should enjoy the two other important cast members — the people with whom our heroes are not supposed to be — despite their too-obvious flaws. They’re just not right for our true lovers, and it’s no one’s fault, really.

Here’s the plot: the city manager, an A.I. (a fourth, important casting choice), endeavoring to make her city even happier, forces our two leads to go on a series of dates. Even though these two individuals already are “in love” and engaged to others, the A.I. insists that this is a mistake: she has analyzed the data and she insists that our favorite potential couple actually is meant for each other. Romantic comedy gold, right?

With the bonus of a sci-fi element. Of course, setting these two up as a test run for the A.I.’s eventual all-city dating service is only part of the story. If you want to know more — and if the A.I. is right, if these two actually are “meant” for each other — you will have to read the tale. Or, better yet, in that perfect world, wait for the movie.

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Neverwhens, Where History and Fantasy Collide: Of Lambs and Lizardmen

Wednesday, July 8, 2020 Greg Mele Comments 8 comments

The Ring-Sworn Trilogy by Howard Andrew Jones: For the Killing of Kings (Feb 2019), Upon the Flight of the Queen
(November 2019) and the forthcoming When the Goddess Wakes (April 2021)

A bit of prologue and some full disclosure to the Gentle Reader

The purpose of this column has been looking at the challenges of historicity vs. fantasy in the process of world-building; well at least when the fantasy in question is trying to be either realistic or set in our world or a near-neighbor. From contrasting the visual departure of Jackson’s LotR films as a more effective means of showing the vast sweep of Middle Earth’s history, to critiquing the swordplay of the Witcher TV show, to interviewing authors who play in both the worlds of Historical Fiction and Fantasy, I’ve come to realize we have a pretty clear continuum:

Historical Fiction – just what it says. Whether it’s set in the Paleolithic or WWII, it’s a story set in our own past, with the ostensible goal of painting a portrait of that time and place.
Historical Fiction with Elements of “Magical Realism” – really more of a technique of “literature” but the story is more or less as above but there may be hints or some unexplained and unexplainable element.
Historical Fantasy – this is a specialty for folks like last month’s interviewee Scott Oden. Our historical past, only elements of magic, monsters, etc., exist, something like a “secret history.” A lot of traditional sword & sorcery exists here, but so does the fantastical work of writers like Judith Tarr or G. Willow Wilson.
Low Fantasy in a Secondary World – the world I NOT ours, and may not even be based on any clear cognate of our civilizations, but it’s “realistic” in the sense that it’s technology and structure follows our historical models. Magic and monsters exist, but farming gets done with an iron plow and three-field rotation, people ride horses and camels (or something like them), etc. A lot, if not most, of fantasy fits this model and fantasy.
High Fantasy – Magic is powerful and sweeping, there are non-human races who can do magical things, the gods may be capable of manifesting themselves or their will, etc. A lot of epic fantasy fits into this mode.

We can quibble on where those lines are (Tolkien is High Fantasy, but is Martin?), and maybe there are further subdivisions (for example, Urban Fantasy overlays the last two), but the definitions work for this column because the further you go from #1 on the continuum, the less important “historicity” becomes.

Which brings me to my guest….

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