I made a fascinating discovery today. I was reading one of the books by the dead George Carlin (if I called him ‘the late’ or ‘the lamented’ George Carlin, he would rise from the dead and crush my skull), enjoying some great laughs from his satirical observations about people and government. I then put down that book and picked up a collection of essay by the equally dead philosopher Bertrand Russell. And I found that his opinions, tone, and attitudes…
By John R. Fultz from Black Gate 13, copyright © 2009 by New Epoch Press. All rights Reserved. It began an hour before dusk, when shades of red and purple filled the sky, and the first of the evening stars glittered above the towers. The Glimmer Faire entered through the North Gate, three vivid wagons preceded by the marching orchestra of inhuman musicians. Laborers heading home from a long day’s work, beggars gearing up for night shifts, merchants closing down…
By Ryan Harvey Copyright 2007 by New Epoch Press. All rights reserved. In the influential anthology Sword and Sorceress (DAW 1984), editor Marion Zimmer Bradley dedicated the collection of fantasy with female heroes to C. L. Moore, “who gave us Jirel of Joiry, the first woman to take up her sword against sorcery. And to all of us who grew up wanting to be Jirel.” The red-haired, yellow-eyed, and lioness-fierce sword-wielding Jirel has an unassailable place in contemporary popular culture,…
By Ryan Harvey Copyright 2007 by New Epoch Press. All rights reserved. A fierce warrior, magically born from a troll mother in the shape of a man, leads a troll army against the might of the elves. He stares at the troll king and mutters to himself: “I will succeed to your throne — but what good is that? What good is anything?” Thus speaks Valgard, half of the protagonist of The Broken Sword. His words contain ambition contradicted with…
by Ryan Harvey All rights reserved. Copyright 2006 by New Epoch Press. When Robert E. Howard discovered the character Conan in 1932, his writing took on a feverish intensity as the barbarian warrior turned into a literary obsession that allowed his creator’s natural skills and inclinations as a writer to bloom. Likewise in 1932, when Clark Ashton Smith discovered the last continent of dying Zothique, he knew that he had found the ideal setting for his poetic and dark imagination…
By Ryan Harvey Copyright 2007 by New Epoch Press. All rights reserved. In the beginning, there was Clark Ashton Smith… …in the end, there was Clark Ashton Smith. Smith was a one-man literary movement, an alpha and omega unto himself. Although a major early fantasy innovator whom many later writers credit as an influence, he did not begin an ongoing trend in fantasy fiction as some other pioneers did. Contrariwise, he seems to have borrowed his style from almost no…
(Print Medium Only) By Dave Truesdale Copyright 2008 by New Epoch Press. All rights reserved. A word or two about the following list. It contains 214 stories from various 2007 print publications only: magazines, single author collections containing one or more original stories, and original anthologies. They come from some 35 publications originally published in 2007. This is by no means a complete list of the print publications featuring original fiction from 2007, but it does represent all of the…
The first few issues of Black Gate magazine have seen rave reviews from some of the most respected publications in the industry, including Locus, Interzone, SF Site, and many others. Here are some brief excerpts from some of the highlights. Where possible, links to the complete review are provided. Year’s Best Volumes The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #14 2003 Edition Edited by Stephen Jones Even Weird Tales wasn’t as good looking as Black Gate: Adventures in Fantasy Literature….