Search Results for: New Edge Sword

Dark Muse News: Blue Fire: A Jirel of Joiry Novella

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In February 2025, Black Gate covered Molly Tanzer’s release of “Jirel Meets Death” (published with permission from Moore’s estate); and in March 2026 Black Gate’s Dark Muse News covered Tanzer’s next story, “Jirel in the Forest of Night.” These were brought to us by Brackenbury Books, the same outfit that champions New Edge Sword & Sorcery magazine. And now, Dark Muse News (your biweekly Black Gate blog) has coverage of Brackenbury Books’ current campaign, bringing the first-ever Jirel of Joiry…

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Dark Muse News: Reviewing Arcane Arts and Cold Steel by David C. Smith

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Arcane Arts and Cold Steel (Pulp Hero Press, December 24, 2025) From History to Writing Sword and Sorcery, Pulp Hero Press has us covered In 2019, Pulp Hero Press published Brian Murphy’s Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery, which was notably covered by David C. Smith (link to review) and John O’Neill (link) on Black Gate. O’Neill highlighted that Brian Murphy was one of the earliest contributors to Black Gate, from way back in 2012! Six years have passed since the publication of Flame…

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Dark Muse News: Horrific Art – Interviewing Tim Waggoner

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This Dark Muse News column continues its coverage of Beauty in Weird Fiction/Art via interviews (a series that began in 2014 on my author blog and was taken up by Black Gate in 2018). We’ve hosted authors such as Carol Berg, Anna Smith Spark, Darrell Schweitzer, CSE Cooney, Scott Oden, CS Friedman,  Bryn Hammond…. and many more… the latest being  Waclaw Traier. Now we corner author Tim Waggoner, who has published over sixty novels and eight collections of short stories. He’s a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker…

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Dark Muse News: Sword & Sorcery Chain Story (#14-#18)

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In August 2025, we hailed the emergence of a second Chain Story project championed by Michael A. Stackpole. This is a Sword & Sorcery-focused, contagious set of connected (“chained”) stories. Each is: A standalone tale Readable in any order Free to read Interconnected via a theme involving a Crown Stories are being released every few weeks. We’ll round up groups, but check the Chain Story website. for the latest. In this post we highlight the latest set of five, Episodes 14-18:…

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Dark Muse News: Affirmations and Exploits of a 50+ Year Old Miniature Gamer

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For this round of Dark Muse News, we’ll be seeking affirmations. I’m older than the typical kid who plays with toy-soldier figurines (well, I’m over 50) and love to play with plastic figurines. If you are like me, and need affirmations on occasion that it is okay to be a kid still (and perhaps even okay to spend a load of hobby money on boutique board games), then this post is for you.  We’ll highlight H.G. Wells, Peter Cushing, and…

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Ghosts and Death Songs on Mars: Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, edited by John Joseph Adams

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Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom (Simon & Schuster, February 2012). Cover by Mark Zug Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom has “Inspired by the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs” on the cover. I hesitated about picking this one up. A note on the back said: “Not licensed or authorized, or in any way affiliated with, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.” This suggested some kind of controversy surrounding the publication and it seems awfully easy…

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The Chain Story 2 – Sword and Sorcery – Episodes 9-13

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This August, we hailed the emergence of a second Chain Story project championed by Michael A. Stackpole. This is a Sword & Sorcery-focused, contagious set of connected (“chained”) stories. Each is…. A standalone tale Readable in any order Free to read Interconnected via a theme involving a Crown Stories will be released every few weeks, so check the Chain Story website. We have guides to Episodes 1-3 and Episodes 4-8, and this post introduces Episodes 9-13!

Blazing New Trails: The What Rough Beast? Campaign, and an Interview with Author Bryn Hammond

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Black Gate has been tracking the inception and growth of New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine, starting with Micheal Harrington’s 2022 interview with Oliver Brackenbury (champion and editor of NESS), through 2023 with NESS’s first two magazine releases (also Greg Mele’s review of #1), and then into 2024 with NESS’s first book “Beating Heart and Battle Axes and its two-novella combo book Double-Edged Sword & Sorcery, and (deep breath)… most recently… NESS‘s publication of a NEW Jirel of Joiry tale! (2025).

Tor Double #17: L. Sprague de Camp’s Divide and Rule and Leigh Brackett’s The Sword of Rhiannon

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The seventeenth Tor Double, includes two stories, L. Sprague de Camp’s Divide and Rule and Leigh Brackett’s The Sword of Rhiannon, which are both fantasy stories masquerading as science fiction. Divide and Rule was originally serialized in Unknown in April to May, 1939. Divide and Rule is the first of two de Camp stories to be published in the Tor Doubles series. It includes de Camp’s first of two stories in the series (both of which will be reviewed this…

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