To start off the new year, Black Gate‘s Robert Rhodes reviews the first volume in a new trilogy of novels penned by a fresh voice on the fantasy scene, Wisconsin’s Patrick Rothfuss. This story was seven years in the making, and it shows. Click inside to discover how Rothfuss’ world of fantasy and magic differs in intriguing ways from the work of past masters like Lewis, Tolkien, and Rowling.
Black Gate‘s David Soyka examines two new offerings from Apex SF & Horror Digest and Subterranean Magazine, in the process delineating the modern boundaries of horror. In tales by notables with names like Shepard, Creasey, Tuttle, Priest, Bisson, Tidhar, and Ford, there’s a wide swath cut between subtle creeping dread and rank gratuitous gore. Which is more effective in a literary sense? Or as pure visceral terror? Come inside to find out…if you dare.
Fantasy readers well know Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane and Karl Edward Wagner’s immortal warrior Kane, but there is another Kane in fantasy. Michael Moorcock is most famous for his Elric novels, but back in the sixties he penned a Sword-and-Planet trilogy that owes much to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars, one featuring a hero named Michael Kane. This fall, Paizo Publishing re-released the first novel in the series as part of their Planet Stories imprint. But after four decades, does it hold up? Black Gate reviewer Ryan Harvey delves into this new edition to find out.
Judith Merkle Riley writes tales of Middle Ages history and romance spiced with potent amounts of the occult and supernatural. Three Rivers Press has recently brought two classic entries in her Margaret of Asbury series back into print. If you’ve never sampled Riley’s fiction, read Black Gate‘s review by Amy Harlib to find out what you’ve been missing.
Two of the shining lights in the fantasy editing field are Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Over the years they have brought out a staggering amount of quality fantasy fiction in both book and magazine form, and the many awards they’ve won stand as a testament to the quality of their selections.
Join Black Gate reviewer Mark Rigney as he delves into one of their latest anthologies, containing tales from writers as diverse as Jeffrey Ford, Paul Di Filippo, Peter S. Beagle, and Lucius Shepard.
Since 1999 Jenn Reese has made a name for herself writing fantasy tales at times whimsical, contemplative, and moving for markets as diverse as Strange Horizons, Flypaper, and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword and Sorceress book anthologies. Now we finally have a novel from her, one with plenty of romance and exotic, kung-fu crime fighting to keep you reading. Black Gate’s Rich Horton gives you the details.
A few weeks ago we presented an interview with the head of Paizo Publishing. Now Black Gate‘s Ryan Harvey reviews the newest release in their Planet Stories line of pulp reprints. It’s a volume of tales featuring C. L. Moore’s S&S heroine extraordinaire Jirel of Joiry, and it’s one of the most complete Jirel collections ever assembled — read on to find out why.
This week Black Gate turns its attention to the comics medium, as reviewer D. K. Latta investigates the latest earth-shattering miniseries to be presented in novel form by DC Comics. Is this outburst of existential mayhem (written by Greg Cox) truly something new, or does it follow in the timeworn footsteps of Crisis on Infinite Earths and its prodigious progeny of universe-altering storylines? D. K. has the answers inside.
Flesh eating mutants, golden apples, post-apocalyptic witches, and a crazy little thing called Love — just another day in the office for Black Gate reviewer David Soyka. This week he reviews notable offerings from Fantasy and Science Fiction and Interzone, issues featuring the work of authors such as Ted Chiang, John Lanagan, M. John Harrison, and Gwyneth Jones. Which one prompted David to exclaim, “Cormac McCarthy, eat your heart out!”? Click the link and find out.
This week Black Gate’s Thomas M. MacKay presents a short overview of the latest collection of stories from Patricia A. McKillip, the popular fantasy writer and two-time World Fantasy Award winner. If you like original, lyrical fantasy presented in a series of eclectic tales, then Harrowing the Dragon is for you.