Search Results for: Soyka

Congratulations to Black Gate on 3,000 Blog Posts!

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I feel like one of the service staff at a restaurant, waiting excitedly at the entrance for their 10,000th customer. Minus the cool food service uniform. Ryan Harvey’s article on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ The Oakdale Affair, which went live less than an hour ago, was our 3,000th post. Congratulations to Ryan — and indeed, to the entire Black Gate staff. The Black Gate blog was the brainchild of Howard Andrew Jones, who suggested I replace the outdated site he and…

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Merry Christmas from Black Gate

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The lights are dim at the Black Gate rooftop headquarters, and there’s a light dusting of snow on all the desks. I dropped by to pick up the leftover egg nog from the Christmas party and discovered a rare thing: a deserted office. Even Goth Chick’s minions seem to have slipped their chains. The only noise I hear comes from deep in the comic archives, where the tireless Mike Penkas is scribbling a Christmas Red Sonja post, muttering “For the love of…

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Librarians to the Rescue: Worldsoul by Liz Williams

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Worldsoul Liz Williams Prime (311 pp, $14.95 in paperback, August 2012) Reviewed by David Soyka The stereotypical image of your local librarian is that of a dowdy, matronly spinster who is constantly telling you to “shush” while your adolescent self is trying to do something vastly more interesting (usually involving a person with whom you are sexually attracted) than figure out the Dewey Decimal system. And, these days with whatever we need to find out only a Google away, who…

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Uncle Ray is Dead

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Ray Bradbury has died, chronologically at age 91, though he managed throughout his career to maintain the awe and wonder of a 12-year old. Here is a picture of him surrounded by one of the many anachronisms he loved,  something called printed books. And here’s something I wrote a while ago about his influence on me.

Cosmic Crimes Stories #2

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Okay, I don’t really know anything about Cosmic Crimes Stories. I’d never even heard about it until today. But I know it’s cool. And let’s be honest — that should be good enough for you. What is Cosmic Crimes Stories? I’m operating a little on faith here, since I’ve never actually seen a copy. But according to the website, it’s “a biannual digest of science fiction and fantasy crimes and criminals.” Um, what? A little more digging reveals that it’s a magazine…

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Not So Short Fiction Review: The River of Shadows

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The River of Shadows (Book III of the Chathrand Voyage Series) Robert V.S. Redick Del Ray (592 pages,$16.00, April 2011) Reviewed by David Soyka My purpose here is simply a warning. If you are part of that infinitesimally small [and ever smaller] band of dissidents with the wealth, time and inclination to set your hands on the printed word, I suggest you consider the arguments against the current volume.  To wit: the tale is morbid, the persons depicted are clumsy…

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Black Gate 15 Complete Table of Contents

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The theme of our massive 15th issue, captured beautifully by Donato Giancola’s striking cover, is Warrior Women. Eight authors — Jonathan L. Howard, Maria V. Snyder, Frederic S. Durbin, Sarah Avery, Paula R. Stiles, Emily Mah, S. Hutson Blount, and Brian Dolton — contribute delightful tales of female warriors, wizards, weather witches, thieves, and other brave women as they face deadly tombs, sinister gods, unquiet ghosts, and much more. Frederic S. Durbin takes us to a far land where two dueling gods pit their champions against…

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Fantasy Magazine Issue 48 Arrives — Including George R. R. Martin, Tanith Lee and Holly Black

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The March 2011 issue (#48) of the excellent Fantasy magazine is now online. This issue includes original fiction from George R. R. Martin, Tanith Lee, Holly Black, and Genevieve Valentine. It is the first issue assembled by the new editor, John Joseph Adams. Nonfiction includes author spotlights, and the articles “Three Real Historical Figures Who Embarked Upon the Hero’s Journey,” by Graeme McMillan, “Five Fantasy Worlds That You Wouldn’t Want to Visit,” by Te Jefferson & J. Corbeau, “From Story…

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New Year Short Fiction Roundup

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I’ve contributed book reviews to the SF Site since 1998 (wow, that’s a long time); in fact, it was the first on-line “publication” I wrote for (and, yes, you can end a sentence with a proposition, though, technically, I haven’t).  That’s where I “met” John O’Neill, which explains how I wound up here (for those of you wondering how that could possibly have happened).  You can see a list of all my SF Site reviews here. My latest review in the…

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Best American Fantasy comes to an End

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Over at Ecstatic Days, Jeff VanderMeer has announced that the annual anthology series he founded with Ann VanderMeer, Sean Wallace, and Matthew Cheney, Best American Fantasy, has wrapped up after three volumes. The first, published in 2007 by Sean Wallace at Prime Books and edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer, was an eclectic and delightful mixture of fantasy assembled from Zoetrope: All-Story, Analog, McSweeney’s, Zahir, Strange Horizons, The New Yorker and others sources, featuring nearly two dozen writers I’d never heard of. The second offered…

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