Black Gate – Page 498 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

Goth Chick News: All Hail the Scream Queen, Back for Halloween #11

Thursday, September 21, 2017 Sue Granquist Comments 2 comments

First, a moment of fan girl squee’ing…

Okay, here we go.

Second generation scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis is returning to play her iconic character Laurie Strode in what Universal Pictures promises will be the eleventh and final installment of the Halloween franchise. Curtis’ character will have one last confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago when the original movie opened in October, 1978.

John Carpenter will executive produce and serve as creative consultant on this film, joining leading horror producer Jason Blum, who’s behind The Purge and Paranormal Activity franchises. In case you forgot (and who really could?) the Halloween films were launched by Carpenter from his own original script; it and the nine films that followed have grossed nearly $400 million worldwide.

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New Treasures: New Fears, edited by Mark Morris

Thursday, September 21, 2017 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

This delightful treasure showed up unbidden in my mailbox this week. It’s advertised as the first of a new series of original horror anthologies, which would be a major addition to the field. Editor Mark Morris (Toady, Vampire Circus, and The Society of Blood) gave the scoop to Ginger Nuts of Horror earlier this year.

Having grown up reading the Pan and Fontana Books of Horror and Ghost Stories, plus numerous other anthologies edited by the likes of Peter Haining, Michel Parry, Richard Davis and Mary Danby, it has always been one of my keenest ambitions to edit an annual – and hopefully long-running – non-themed horror anthology of new, never-before-published stories for the mass market.

Now, thanks to Titan Books, I’ve finally got that chance. I’ve signed an initial contract for two volumes of New Fears, with hopefully more to come in the future… In the first volume you’ll find stories which explore ancient myths in new and innovative ways, stories of human evil, stories of unnamed and ambiguous terrors, and stories where the numinous and the inexplicable intrude upon what we perceive to be reality in unexpected ways. You’ll find humor, and hope, and grief, and sadness, and regret, and impenetrable darkness. You’ll find stories that surprise you, unsettle you and shock you. But most of all, you’ll find stories that grab you and draw you in and compel you to keep turning the pages.

New Fears contains brand new fiction from Adam Nevill, Ramsey Campbell, Angela Slatter, Nina Allan, Chaz Brenchley, Kathryn Ptacek, Christopher Golden, Alison Littlewood, and many others. See more details here.

Here’s the complete TOC.

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Axiom Verge: Retro Gaming At Its Finest

Thursday, September 21, 2017 Matt Drought Comments 6 comments

Over the past few years retro-gaming has been on the rise. From the NES Classic, to the upcoming AtariBox, many companies are releasing games and devices that pull at your nostalgia, allowing you to relive some of the gaming moments from your past.

Along with retro gaming, indie game development has rocketed over the past few years. Independent game developers with small budgets and small teams are creating new games and experiences in a variety of genres, leading to the creation of compelling stories and incredible pieces of art.

In 2015, Thomas Happ created a sci-fi game that matched the wonder and exploration of a nearly bygone era. An era of 2 dimensional side scrolling games, featuring exploration, with an emphasis on combat, puzzle solving, and powerups. This game is called Axiom Verge.

Axiom Verge features many of the game mechanics from classics such as Zelda, Castlevania, and Metroid. This game and many others similar to it are often categorized as a “metroidvania” game. The comparisons between Axiom Verge and Metroid are more than a subtle nod, with the difference being Axiom Verge takes those ideas and expands on them.

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Amazing Stories, December 1964: A Retro-Review

Wednesday, September 20, 2017 Rich Horton Comments 2 comments

The cover to this issue is by Robert Adragna. Interiors are by Adragna and George Schelling. The editorial concerns Sam Moskowitz’ series of Profiles of SF writers, and signals a change to essays by Moskowitz addressing SF’s treatment of certain themes, beginning in this issue with a discussion of Philip Jose Farmer and — you guessed it! — sex and SF.

The article — a fairly long one — begins with a review of some of the SF stories that occasioned controversy by brushing up against sexual issues, and continues with a detailed look at Farmer’s career to date (1964), including of course the controversy surrounding “The Lovers,” but also mentioning I Owe For the Flesh, the first version of To Your Scattered Bodies Go, which had been written for a contest in the early ’50s, and won, and was lost (I understand) after the contest sponsor (Shasta) ran out of money. On the whole, it’s an interesting and worthwhile piece, one of the better things I’ve seen from Moskowitz.

Robert Silverberg’s book review column covers Alfred Bester’s collection The Dark Side of the Earth, Fritz Leiber’s novel The Wanderer, and The Astounding Science Fiction Anthology, edited by John W. Campbell, Jr. Silverberg approves of all three books, and reserves especial praise for The Wanderer — a book which, I would suggest, has not retained much of a reputation (I myself have not got through it on two tries, though it has been a long time, and I suppose I should give it another chance.)

The stories are:

Short Novel

“The Further Sky,” by Keith Laumer (20,000 words)

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Making it on the American Grub Street: Hired Pens, Professional Writers in America’s Golden Age of Print

Wednesday, September 20, 2017 Sean McLachlan Comments 3 comments

0821412043 Last month I posted here about Researching the Habits of Highly Prolific Authors for a book I’m working on. Black Gate reader John Hocking kindly suggested in the comments section that I read Hired Pens: Professional Writers in America’s Golden Age of Print, by Ronald Weber. I took him up on his advice and I’m sure glad I did.

This book looks at the careers of writing and editing from the nation’s earliest days until the end of World War Two. Weber shows us a parade of successful writers and editors — many well-known to this day, many more now forgotten — who found success in the ever-changing market for American popular periodicals.

Until the middle of the 19th century, American writers were hampered by the lack of international copyright laws. Newspaper and magazine editors filched English publications for free and saw no reason to pay homegrown talent. As the population grew and both American and British writers managed to get their governments to set up legal barriers to such theft, the market for American writing blossomed.

These writers certainly didn’t waste their time moaning about their lack of inspiration and hoping the muse would visit them. As prolific and successful Western writer Zane Grey said in a letter to a friend:

This morning I had no desire to write, no call, no inspiration, no confidence, no joy. I had to force myself. But when I mastered the vacillation and dread, and had done a day’s work — what a change of feelings. I had a rush of sweet sensations.

This is a common thread throughout the book. In example after example, we are shown that writer’s block is a myth and that writers should not — indeed, must not — sit around all day twiddling their thumbs. These writers worked hard.

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Future Treasures: Quillifer by Walter Jon Williams

Wednesday, September 20, 2017 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

It’s been a good week for review copies here at Black Gate (see some of the recent arrivals here). But the moment Quillifer arrived, I knew it was the most significant release of the current crop, by a pretty good margin.

Walter Jon Williams has had an extraordinary career, displaying an easy mastery of cyberpunk (Hardwired, Angel Station), military SF (Dread Empire’s Fall), SF police procedural (Days of Atonement), light-hearted fantasy (the Majistral series), space opera (Aristoi), contemporary disaster (The Rift), and even the Star Wars universe (The New Jedi Order: Destiny’s Way).

Quillifer, the tale of a young man forced to flee his beloved home and find his fortune among goddesses, pirates, war, and dragons, is his long-awaited foray into epic fantasy. It’s the first in an ambitious new series from one of the most respected authors in the genre.

Quillifer is young, serially in love, studying law, and living each day keenly aware that his beloved homeport of Ethlebight risks closure due to silting of the harbor. His concerns for the future become much more immediate when he returns from a summery assignation to find his city attacked by Aekoi pirates, leading to brigands in the streets and his family and friends in chains.

First, he has to survive the night. Then, he has to leave his home behind and venture forth into the wider world of Duisland, where he can find friends and allies to help avenge his losses and restore Ethlebight to glory. His determination will rock kingdoms, shatter the political structure of Duisland, and change the country forever.

Quillifer will be published by Saga Press on October 3, 2017. It is 530 pages, priced at $27.99 in hardcover and $7.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Gregory Manchess. Learn more at Williams’ website, and read Emily Mah’s interview with the author (“Why UFOs Are Actually Made of Bread, and Other Little Known Facts”) here.

Modular: A First Look at Starfinder 1: “OMG! All Your Trope Are Belong To Us”

Tuesday, September 19, 2017 M Harold Page Comments 0 Comment

256 Starfarer Combat Technician Pic — Well-authored and beautifully illustrate

256 Starfinder Core — Does for Science Fantasy what Dungeons and Dragons did for “traditional” Fantasy.

“Dad, we can’t get the Starfinder combat system working…”

“Look, Son, it’s a D20 system, so Armor Class reduces the chance of being hit, rather than absorbs damage.”

“OK. I get it now! You’re the best, Dad!”

(Tousles hair) “That’s what Dad’s are for, Son.”

OK it didn’t quite go like that. For a start, I did not in fact tousle my 13-year-old son’s hair since (a) it’s shoulder length and he gets cross if you tangle it, and (b) he’s 13. Even so, it was a “life’s full circle” Country and Western moment of the same order as when non-geeks teach their kids to throw a rabbit or skin a baseball or whatever.

However, Kurtzhau was indeed encountering a D20 system for the first time, the engine at the heart of Starfinder, Paizo’s new Science Fantasy (it uses that term in the text!) system, with which he’s pretty much fallen in love. The blurb says it all.

The Starfinder Roleplaying Game puts you in the role of a bold science-fantasy explorer, investigating the mysteries of a weird and magical universe as part of a starship crew. Will you delve for lost artifacts in the ruins of alien temples? Strap on rune-enhanced armor and a laser rifle to battle undead empires in fleets of bone ships, or defend colonists from a swarm of ravenous monsters? Maybe you’ll hack into the mainframe of a god-run corporation, or search the stars for clues to the secret history of the universe or brand new planets to explore. Whether you’re making first contact with new cultures on uncharted worlds or fighting to survive in the neon-lit back alleys of Absalom Station, you and your team will need all your wits, combat skill, and magic to make it through. But most of all, you’ll need each other.

Inspired by my son’s enthusiasm, I decided to take a look myself…

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September/October Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Now on Sale

Tuesday, September 19, 2017 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

The September/October F&SF is the 68th Anniversary issue, and it contains some nice special atractions, including fiction by Robert Reed, Michael Swanwick, Tina Connolly — and, most surprising of all, a brand new novelette by the brilliant Samuel R. Delany, who hasn’t appeared in F&SF in 40 years. Here’s a snippet from Charles Finlay’s intro.

Throughout his career, Delany’s work has pushed the boundaries of sf to address more adult situations and issues, particularly at the intersections and language and memory, sexuality and society. He returns to these themes again in his first new science fiction story in a decade… this new story would get an NC-17 rating at the movies and is not appropriate for younger readers.

It’s tough to compete with the return of a Grand Master, but Michael Swanwick manages it with his cover story, “Starlight Express.” Here’s Jason McGregor’s review at Tangent Online.

Via Flaminio’s eyes we learn about Roma in the far, far future and the woman who seemed, not to go to the carrier beam of the transmission station relic as suicidal people often do, but to come from the carrier beam where, as far as most people know, people haven’t come from for millennia. How her universe has changed, and how she changes his, makes the bulk of the tale.

I could understand seeing this as a dull and underplotted story if the poetry of it all doesn’t speak to you but, if it does, it’s a really remarkable story (if more bitter than sweet) which strongly evokes deep time and vast space and an enduring humanity… beautiful. Recommended.

Read Jason’s complete review here.

I note that the cover price has increased a buck this issue, to $8.99 — still a bargain, if you ask me. Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

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The Hammer and the Blade by Paul S. Kemp

Tuesday, September 19, 2017 Fletcher Vredenburgh Comments 10 comments

With the hammer-wielding (sort of) priest Egil and the (not really) rogue Nix, Paul S. Kemp created his entry for the classic swords & sorcery duo contest. They made their debut in The Hammer and the Blade (2012).

We meet them media res as, in search of treasure, they prepare to penetrate the last defenses of an ancient tomb. Like characters in a classic buddy movie, they bicker and banter.

“You may have heard but you didn’t reply, so let me restate. Are you acquainted with a door I couldn’t open? I press the question only to illustrate your softheadedness, as demonstrated by a faulty memory. It’s important you understand your limits.”

Egil tossed the sliver to the ground, tore a strip of cloth from his shirt, and pressed it to his leg wound. “There was that time in the Well of Farrago–”

Nix shook his head emphatically. “That was not a door.”

Egil looked up, thick eyebrows raised. “It had hinges, a handle. It opened and closed. How can you say–”

“It was a hatch.”

“A hatch?”

“Of course it was a hatch, and only a fool priest of the Momentary God would confuse a door with a hatch. A hatch is a different thing from a door. A hatch is troublesome. You see? Does having an eye inked on your head make your other two blind, or otherwise detrimentally affect your cognition?”

“Well enough,” Egil said at last. “It was a hatch.”

“Now you’re mocking me? I hear mockery.”

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Superheroes, a Wise-Cracking Demon, and Warrior Dinosaurs: To Hell and Back by Matthew Hughes

Monday, September 18, 2017 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Costume Not Included Matthew Hughes-small

I consider Canadian author Matthew Hughes to be one of the most gifted short stories writers at work today. Much of his output — including his two book Gullible’s Travels series, his 2004 novel Black Brillion, and his Tales of Henghis Hapthorn (Majestrum, The Spiral Labyrinth, and Hespira) — is set in his Archonate Universe, which is profoundly influenced by Jack Vance. John DeNardo says “His Archonate universe is a wonderfully compelling far future that mixes fantasy and science fiction.”

But Hughes is also responsible for a quirky superhero trilogy published as paperback originals by Angry Robot between 2011 and 2013, back before the publisher had the reach and acclaim it enjoys today. As a result, the series didn’t get the exposure I think it deserved… a shame, since I think the topic is quite timely, and Hughes’ comic gifts make him almost uniquely suited for the material. If you’re a fan of superheroes, To Hell and Back is a series that deserves your attention.

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