Search Results for: p C Hodgell

Neither Beg Nor Yield, edited by Jason M. Waltz

Sword & Sorcery is a clenched fist thrust into the sky, a raised middle finger in the face of the Unknown, an epithet spat into the dirt through a rictus of bared teeth. S&S demands an attitude of not merely surviving but of dominating living, all else—everything else—be damned. The heroes of S&S continue living deeply until there are no more breaths to take. The only -ism S&S promotes is LIVE!-ism. Absolutely a rebellion against meaninglessness, it also fully embraces…

Read More Read More

A Potent Draught of Distilled Fairy Fruit: Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

I’m back with a new column. Each first Friday of the month I’ll be writing about a work of fantasy I’ve never read (or read only once a long time ago; I insist on room for maneuvering!). Because of Lin Carter’s magnificent taste, it may at times seem I’m simply going through titles from his Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, but my goal is to rummage around in the basement and attic of fantasy, exploring works that preceded, or exist outside…

Read More Read More

Vintage Treasures: Imaginary Lands edited by Robin McKinley

Imaginary Lands (Ace Books, 1985). Cover by Thomas Canty By 1985 Robin McKinley was already a star. Her breakout novel The Blue Sword (1982) was a nominee for both the Mythopoeic Award and the Newbery Medal, and two years later The Hero and the Crown (1984) won the Newbery Medal, one of the most coveted accolades in children’s literature. If there was a hotter new writer in the field at the time, I can’t think of her. In 1982 Ace Books had…

Read More Read More

That’s All (for now)

Over five years: 55 Short Story Roundups, each of at least four stories, making for a minimum of 220 reviewed. It’s probably at least half-again as many. 157 Book Reviews, including 11 books by Glen Cook, 7 by PC Hodgell, 7 by Andre Norton, 6 by TC Rypel 12 Essays That’s how much I’ve written at Black Gate since my inaugural post, The Best New Sword & Sorcery of the Last Twelve Months. I should also add I co-wrote a…

Read More Read More

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in March

The most popular topic at Black Gate last month was the Gary Con gaming convention in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Gary Gygax’s home town. Part 1 of my convention report, in which I detailed the angry fallout among Pathfinder licensees to Paizo’s announcement of an impending Second Edition — including the “Pathfinder by the POUND!!” liquidation at the Frog God booth — was our most popular post for the month, by a pretty wide margin. Part 2 of my report, a 17-photo pictorial…

Read More Read More

Birthday Reviews: March Index

January index February index At the one quarter mark in our journey through the year, here’s a look back at the birthday reviews that appeared at Black Gate in March. March 1, Wyman Guin: “Trigger Tide” March 2, Ann Leckie: “The Unknown God” March 3, Arthur Machen: “The Coming of the Terror ” March 4, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison: “The Last Voyage” March 5, Mike Resnick: “The Evening Line” March 6, William F. Nolan: “Starblood” March 7, Paul Preuss: “Rhea’s Time” March 8,…

Read More Read More

Why I’m Here – Part Two: Some Thoughts on Old Books and Appendix N

Four years ago, I posted an explanation of what I’m trying to do with my reviews for Black Gate. My stated goal was, and remains, to be someone who says to readers, “Here’s a book I think you’ll get a kick out of.” There were several people who did that for me, turning me on to books and authors I still hold dear, and I want to do that for others. Like most fans of something, I want to convince people the things…

Read More Read More

Son of Tall Eagle by John R. Fultz

The tree was a god with a thousand arms. Crawling on its skin I was less than an ant. I had come to the khaba forest to hunt the Ghost Serpent. For six days I tracked it across the high realm of branch and leaf. I followed it past the ruined wrecks of Opyd nests and skeletal remnants of its former victims. I watched it stalk and devour a wounded jaguar, swallowing the carcass whole. Eventually I followed the great…

Read More Read More

The Top 50 Black Gate Posts in October

Sword and Sorcery dominated the stage at Black Gate last month. The most popular topic in October was the new S&S magazine from industry pioneers Joseph Goodman and Howard Andrew Jones, Tales From the Magician’s Skull, which showed up twice in the Top Ten, first with a far-ranging interview with Joseph and Howard (and their undead overlord, the Talking Skull), followed by a report on the blockbuster Kickstarter that funded the first two issues. Gaming and game news were definitely popular as well….

Read More Read More

A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden

To you, I am orcneas. To the Dane, I am skraelingr. The blasted Irish would name me fomorach,” Grimnir said, then smote his breast with one black-nailed fist. “But I am kaunr! Do you understand now?” Grimnir from A Gathering of Ravens   You know me: I’m the guy who reads mostly old swords & sorcery novels and short stories. Aside from a few by Milton Davis and P.C. Hodgell, I haven’t read many new S&S novels. My experience with contemporary fantasy…

Read More Read More