Black Gate

I often forget that, in addition to doing double duty as editor of two leading magazines (Lightspeed and Nightmare) and one of the most celebrated and successful anthologists in the industry (Cosmic Powers, What the #@&% Is That?, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy), John Joseph Adams also edits his own line of novels for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. In his editorial in the most recent issue of Lightspeed, John brings up up to date on the exciting novels he’s bringing our way.

My latest novel acquisition for John Joseph Adams Books is Upon a Burning Throne and The Blind King’s Wrath, the first two books in a new epic fantasy series by Ashok K. Banker, about a group of siblings battling for control of a vast empire while a powerful demonlord pits them against each other… In July, we’ll be publishing two books: (1) Carrie Vaughn’s novel, Bannerless — a post-apocalyptic mystery in which an investigator must discover the truth behind a mysterious death in a world where small communities struggle to maintain a ravaged civilization decades after environmental and economic collapse; and (2) Sand by Hugh Howey, a reissue of his acclaimed indie-published novel.

In September, we’ll be publishing Retrograde by Peter Cawdron, a hard SF novel about an international colony of astronauts on Mars, who have been prepared for every eventuality of living on another planet except one: What happens when disaster strikes Earth?

In October, we’ll be publishing Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories by Hugh Howey, a short story collection including three stories set in the world of Hugh’s mega-hit Wool… In November, we’ll be publishing Molly Tanzer’s Creatures of Will and Temper — a Victorian-era urban fantasy inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which an épée-fencing enthusiast and her younger sister are drawn into a secret and dangerous London underworld of pleasure-seeking demons and bloodthirsty diabolists, with only her skill with a blade standing between them and certain death.

A bit further out, in Spring 2018, we’ll have The City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp, about a magician with a talent for finding lost things who is forced into playing a high-stakes game with the gods of New Orleans for the heart and soul of the city.

This month’s Lightspeed offers original fantasy by Adam-Troy Castro and Kendra Fortmeyer, plus fantasy reprints by Greg Hrbek and Amal El-Mohtar, as well as original science fiction by Bruce McAllister and Susan Jane Bigelow, alongside SF reprints by Tobias S. Buckell and Seanan McGuire. The non-fiction includes author spotlights, Book Reviews by LaShawn Wanak, a review of The 100 TV show by Jenn Reese and Christopher East, and an interview with Steven Barnes by Christian A. Coleman.

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The May issue of The Dark has new fiction by A.M. Muffaz and Eliza Victoria, plus reprints by Samantha Henderson and Damien Angelica Walters. Charles Payseur at Quick Sip Reviews thinks highly of the Muffaz.

This is a story of sinking horror, of death and the proximity of death, of abuse that everyone agrees to look away from. The piece focuses on Tentzin, a man who delivers supplies to a house where the dead are prepared to be fed to griffons as part of the culture’s death rituals. The keeper of the house and preparer of the dead, Nurgu, lives there with his son, Dolgo, and his new wife, Tashi. New wife because she was delivered like a sack of salt to Nurgu following the death of his previous wife… It’s a creepy story that does a great job building up the world in order to reveal the shadow living at its heart. The action isn’t fast but there is a deep power to it and an uncomfortable silence left in its wake. A great read!

The May cover is by Vincent Chong. Here’s the Table of Contents for issue #24, cover-dated May 2017.

“The Bone Beaters” by A.M. Muffaz
“The Lark Ascending” by Samantha Henderson (from Tomorrow’s Cthulhu, 2016)
“Queen Midnight” by Eliza Victoria
“When We Taste of Death” by Damien Angelica Walters (from Exigencies, 2015)

The Dark is co-edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Sean Wallace, with assistance by Jack Fisher. It is published online and in digital formats, and includes two original stories and two reprints each issue. You can read issues free online, or help support the magazine by buying the ebook editions, available for the Kindle and Nook in Mobi and ePub format. Issues are around 50 pages, and priced at $2.99 through Amazon, B&N.com, Apple, Kobo, and other fine outlets — or subscribe for just $1.99 per issue. If you enjoy the magazine you can contribute to their new Patreon account here. You can also support The Dark by buying their books, reviewing stories, or even just leaving comments.

Read the May issue here, and see their complete back issue catalog here. We last covered The Dark with the March issue. See our May Fantasy Magazine Rack here, and all of our recent Magazine coverage here.