The most popular topic at Black Gate last month was the new edition of the classic SF role playing game Traveller from Mongoose Publishing. And the most popular blogger was our roving games reporter M Harold Page, who covered the new edition in two posts that both made the Top Ten. Well done, Mr. Page! (However, we need to talk about those expense reports from that Altairian space bar. What exactly is a “Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster?”) Meanwhile, back here on…
One of the things readers frequently ask me for is updates on their favorite Black Gate authors. We published hundreds of writers in the decade-plus the magazine was alive, and at least as many in the 10 years that we’ve been running the blog… that’s a lot of talented authors to keep tabs on! Nevertheless, we do our best. Here’s a quick snapshot of the current and upcoming releases from some of your favorite Black Gate writers. ElizaBeth Gilligan (“Iron Joan,” BG…
Over at io9, Cheryl Eddy takes a look at 20 of the most intriguing titles arriving this month, including a whole bunch of novels, collections and anthologies we haven’t gotten around to yet. Her list features titles from Robin Hobb, Haruki Murakami, Timothy Zahn, M.R. Carey, Foz Meadows, Martha Wells, Robert Jackson Bennett, Marie Brennan, Kit Reed, and others. The list includes the latest collection from Black Gate author Ellen Klages, Wicked Wonders. The author of The Green Glass Sea presents…
Worldcon 75, the 75th World Science Fiction Convention, has announced the finalists for the Hugo Awards and for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and we’re delighted to share them with you here. May we have the envelope please! Best Novel All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor) A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager) The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit) Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris) Death’s End, Cixin Liu (Tor)…
The top article at Black Gate in December was Foz Meadows’ “Unempathic Bipeds of Failure,” a look at the relationship between fiction and politics, which was read over 4,000 times in a scant handful of days here, before moving to its permanent home at Amazing Stories. The second most popular blog post last month was Derek Kunsken’s enthusiastic film review for Star Wars: Rogue One, “I Am One With the Force and the Force Is With Me,” which I edited and…
Over at The Verge, Andrew Liptak has posted a handy little reader’s guide titled “New Adventures: all the best science fiction and fantasy books coming out in August.” It appeared way back on August 1, but I just got around to reading it now, which really makes it All the Best SF and Fantasy I Missed in August. But whatever, it’s packed with lots of great recommended reading, and anyway September looks a lot quieter than August, so maybe I…
I find myself growing steadily more impressed with Angry Robot Books. I write only about the releases that interest me in my New Treasures columns, and in the last few months I’ve given more space to Angry Robot than any other publisher. Most intriguing of all, they’re willing to take a chance on new and emerging authors, which means in the last few years they’ve introduced me to more exciting new talent than any three other publishers combined. Just in…
Over at Kirkus Reviews, the tireless John DeNardo checks in with his regular monthly report on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You’ll Want to Read. This month’s list includes Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal, An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows, Behind the Throne by K. B. Wagers, Early Days: More Tales from the Pulp Era edited by Robert Silverberg, Spellbreaker by Blake Charlton — and the latest novel by Drew Magary, The Hike. Here’s John’s take on…
Who doesn’t love a good debut novel? Science fiction and fantasy are all about discovering new and wonderful things… and what’s more new and wonderful than discovering a great new writer, capable of transporting you to amazing worlds? Last month at the Barnes & Noble blog, Ross Johnson compiled a terrific list of 10 particularly promising debut novels of SF & fantasy. Over the last few weeks, I’ve read and seen enough to know that Johnson has a very keen…
Over at Tangent Online, reviewer Herbert M. Shaw weighs in on the May/June Uncanny, which features a lot of tales of the undead this issue. “The Sound of Salt and Sea” by Kat Howard When the ghost of a brash face from his past returns, it is up to an island’s mortal protector to right a recent wrong. Secluded to a tropical are where the dead rise at low tide, the protagonist describes his struggle as the sole protector with a wide…