Black Gate – Page 609 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

Fantasia 2016, Day 11 ,Part 1: Fragmentation and Fistfighting (Holy Flame of the Martial World and the Fragments of Asia 2016 Short Film Showcase)

Tuesday, October 4, 2016 Matthew David Surridge Comments 0 Comment

I’d marked four screenings on the Fantasia schedule to attend on Sunday, July 24. The first two were both at the small De Sève Theatre: a presentation of the 1983 Shaw Brothers film Holy Flame of the Martial World (Wu lin sheng huo jin), followed by a short film showcase. The showcase, Fragments of Asia 2016, promised half-a-dozen pieces from across Asia, both animated and live-action. Afterward I’d have time for food, and then two more movies would follow. Before all that, though, came one of the films I’d immediately highlighted when I first saw what was playing at this year’s Fantasia.

Each of the last two years I’ve been covering the Fantasia festival, they’ve shown a vintage film from the Shaw Brothers Studio, a classic martial-arts movie house from decades past. After last year’s Buddha’s Palm (Ru lai shen zhang) and 2014’s Demon of the Lute (Liu zhi qin mo), I was eager to see what would follow. That turned out to be Holy Flame of the Martial World, directed by Lu Chin-ku from a script he wrote with Cheung Kwok-Yuen from a story by Siu Sang. (I’ve seen references saying it was based on a comic, but can’t find a title or creator credits.) The print we saw was on 35mm film, possibly the last remaining such copy, and followed an equally-vintage trailer for Secret Service of the Imperial Court, also directed by Lu.

Holy Flame of the Martial World is one of several films from the Shaw Brothers house in the early 80s that turned to special visual effects to try to draw audiences in the wake of the success of Star Wars. The formula of ritualised martial-arts combat from earlier movies was expanded with mystical powers, supernatural beasts, and energy beams, all in the service of an aesthetic bent on entertaining the audience first, last, and always — character development and dramatic coherence be damned. In this case, the story’s engagingly complex and mostly coherent, with martial-arts factions proliferating, mystical quests, and a final high-powered showdown. A young couple are killed by baddies, and their infant son and infant daughter raised by enemy kung-fu teachers. Eighteen years later, the two children (Max Mok and Yeung Ching-Ching), without knowing the true story of their parents or who each other really is, seek the different halves of the ultimate weapon, the Holy Flame.

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September Short Story Roundup

Tuesday, October 4, 2016 Fletcher Vredenburgh Comments 4 comments

We’re still in the midst of a swords & sorcery renaissance that started around a decade ago, and now there’s a broader pulp one going on as well. Between the first issue of Skelos and the third of Cirsova, September saw a hurricane of short stories involving swords, wizards, warriors, pirates, and space pirates. Good times ahead! At least that’s my hope.

I first became aware of Skelos‘ then-impending existence with a flurry of internet activity announcing a Kickstarter this past spring. On the pledge page the magazine was heralded as “A horror and fantasy journal featuring short fiction, essays, poetry, reviews, and art by both seasoned pros and talented newcomers!” I found those words impossible to resist, and kicked in enough money to get myself billed in its pages as a benefactor, and be rewarded with a print copy and a four-issue e-book subscription.

When the print copy of Skelos 1 appeared in my mailbox last month, I was very impressed with its look and feel. The cover is decorated with a nicely creepy Gustav Doré illustration and the inside is filled with great black and white art.

Skelos is edited by a triumvirate comprising Mark Finn, Chris Gruber, and Jeffrey Shanks, but the introduction was written by Finn alone. The co-editors are looking to have an an ongoing conversation with their readers and are “willing to learn as we go, if you’re willing to talk to us about the thoughts behind the words and pictures. We want everyone to walk away feeling like they learned something new, or at least, were heard and understood.” It may be “too ambitious to try and bridge the gap between Classic Weird Fiction and New Weird Fiction,” but where they intersect is what the trio find interesting, and what Skelos intends to investigate. While there are very specific references to authors and artists from the early days of weird fiction (Lovecraft, Moore, Bok, and Finlay), there aren’t any contemporary ones. If that sounds a little vague, I believe it’s deliberate, as Skelos is still a work in progress.

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Future Treasures: The Collected Short Fiction of Ursula K. Le Guin from Saga Press

Tuesday, October 4, 2016 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

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I write about a lot of upcoming books in my Future Treasures columns. But I can honestly say I haven’t been this excited for a pair of books in years.

Saga Press is publishing a massive two-volume collection of short stories and novellas from the legendary Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the finest writers we have. Le Guin has published 21 novels — including The Left Hand of Darkness (1970) and The Dispossessed (1974), both of which won Hugo and Nebula awards, and the Wizard of Earthsea series — but my love for Le Guin began with her brilliant short fiction. Stories like “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow,” the World Fantasy and Nebula Award winner “Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight,” and the Nebula Award-winning “Solitude.”

The two books, sold separately or in a deluxe box set, are must-have volumes for any serious science fiction collector.

The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin collects virtually all of her award-winning longer fiction, starting with 1971’s “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow,” the tale of a scientific expedition doomed to end in madness and death unless two of its members can unravel the secrets of a very alien planet, through 2002’s “Paradises Lost,” in which the fifth generation on a giant colony ship find their way of life — and their mission — threatened when a strange new religion sweeps through the ship.

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Does Netflix Know Me Better Than I Know Myself?

Monday, October 3, 2016 markrigney Comments 6 comments

It’s late. The rest of my family has gone off to bed. I, however, have some busy work to accomplish. Folding laundry, perhaps. Packing up some gifts to send to my nephews. So what form of media do I power up to help me pass the time? Netflix, of course. As of now, it’s movie night. And why not? Netflix knows precisely what I want to see. Right?

Based on my previous viewing habits, Netflix has provided a sumptuous spread, a whole raft of tempting suggestions. There’s even a section entitled “My List,” which confuses me no end, because several of the titles (Atari: Game Over and The Act Of Killing among them) are ones I’ve never heard of, much less added to a playlist.

In theory, Netflix knows me well. But do they? The first lineup of choices is headed “Because I watched Jessica Jones,” and because I delved into all things Marvel and fantastical, I am now expected to sample Daredevil, which I don’t plan to do because I generally don’t care for super heroes (Jessica Jones was well done, but overlong, and I never finished).

Sense 8 pops up next, a slick show with terrific performers, but its Matrix-makers have only one solution to all problems, and that’s force. Season one will do for me. Flash, no. Arrow, no. More superheroes! Blacklist? I saw the pilot, and I adore James Spader, but sometimes craft can swallow heart. I wasn’t tempted to watch episode two.

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Interzone #266 Now on Sale

Monday, October 3, 2016 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

The September/October issue of Interzone magazine is now on sale, with a cover by 2016 cover artist Vincent Sammy, “Heaven Spots” (click the image at right for a bigger version.)

This issue is pretty intriguing. Or, at least, Kevin P Hallett’s Tangent Online review makes it sound pretty intriguing. Here’s Kevin on Malcolm Devlin’s “The End of Hope Street.”

The twelve houses on Hope Street faced a strange blight in this horror mystery novelette. One by one, the sinister blight consumed each house making it unlivable. Failure to leave resulted in death; failure to stay away resulted in death. The displaced residents found temporary sanctuary in the other houses on the street. In all but one, that is. For Daniel Dormer, the patriarch at number twelve, felt that all this had happened to his neighbours for a reason.

When Daniel’s house was the only one still livable, he had to face the consequences of his petty prejudices.

The author develops the characters well and uses the mystery to pull the reader through the story. The enigmatic blight hangs over everything leaving the reader with many questions to answer. A pleasant and intriguing tale.

And Tade Thompson’s “The Apologists.”

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Bogart’s The Caine Mutiny

Monday, October 3, 2016 Bob Byrne Comments 6 comments

I’m fortunate in that the powers that be at Black Gate let me roam way off topic once in a while. The fantasy stuff isn’t really a stretch, since that’s at the heart of Black Gate itself. Other times, I’m just talking about something I really like. Such as, say, Humphrey Bogart.

The first two posts (The Return of Doctor X and The Maltese Falcon) about the greatest actor of all time actually fit within the Black Gate milieu. The third (about Bogie and George Raft), not really. Today’s has a military tie-in, which is a sometimes Black Gate subject.

Bogart had broken through in 1941 and was still a superstar in 1954, when he made three very different types of movies. The second, Sabrina, was a light-hearted romantic comedy, costarring Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. I actually prefer the remake, with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Gregory Kinnear.

The third, The Barefoot Contessa, was a ponderous, garish melodrama. Four-time Oscar winner Joseph Mankiewicz directed, with Ava Gardner and Edmond O’Brien co-starring. The movie collapses under its own weight.

Say it Again, Sam – Bogie only managed to secure one Oscar: for The African Queen. He certainly deserved more.

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The Fierce Love of Thieves: Thieves of Islar by James Shade

Sunday, October 2, 2016 Damien Moore Comments 3 comments

Some of us think of our siblings as friends for life. Those of us who have siblings also know that much of the time, your bonds can transcend friendship, and sometimes not in a good way. Both forms of love between siblings are lovingly rendered in James Shade’s debut novel, Thieves of Islar.

Young Jaeron, Chazd and Avrilla deAlto lose their father, Henri, in a tragic house fire. To avenge him, the siblings form a guild with their closest friends and relatives in order to squash his murderer under their feet. But that’s not the only mystery Jaeron intends to solve, unbeknownst to his siblings. And their father’s murderer has a diabolical plan in mind.

Shade has a brilliant way of painting exquisite portraits of his characters. His description of the deAlto’s Uncle Ardo and his regrets remains firmly lodged in my memory. Shade gives every character who appears in his tale a purpose, and he renders their purposes with tremendous care. There’s a reason why you’ll come away remembering the names of the core characters.

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New Treasures: The Family Plot by Cherie Priest

Sunday, October 2, 2016 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker, the opening novel in her 6-volume steampunk pulp Clockwork Century series, was nominated for both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Her other novels include Fathom, Maplecroft, and the Eden Moore trilogy. Her latest is a contemporary haunted house tale, released in hardcover by Tor last month.

Music City Salvage is a family operation, owned and operated by Chuck Dutton: master stripper of doomed historic properties, and expert seller of all things old and crusty. But business is lean and times are tight, so he’s thrilled when the aged and esteemed Augusta Withrow appears in his office, bearing an offer he really ought to refuse. She has a massive family estate to unload — lock, stock, and barrel. For a check and a handshake, it’s all his.

It’s a big check. It’s a firm handshake. And it’s enough of a gold mine that he assigns his daughter Dahlia to personally oversee the project.

Dahlia preps a couple of trucks, takes a small crew, and they caravan down to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the ancient Withrow house is waiting — and so is a barn, a carriage house, and a small, overgrown cemetery that Augusta Withrow left out of the paperwork. Augusta Withrow left out a lot of things. The property is in unusually great shape for a condemned building. It’s empty, but it isn’t abandoned. Something in the Withrow mansion is angry and lost. This is its last chance to raise hell before the house is gone forever, and there’s still plenty of room in the strange little family plot…

Cherie Priest’s The Family Plot is a haunted house story for the ages — atmospheric, scary, and strange, with a modern gothic sensibility that’s every bit as fresh as it is frightening.

The Family Plot was published by Tor Books on September 20, 2016. It is 365 pages, priced at $25.99 in hardcover and $12.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by FORT.

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The Wonders of Fairwood Press

Sunday, October 2, 2016 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

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I first met Patrick Swenson, publisher and editorial mastermind at Fairwood Press, back in the late 90s. I think it might have been James Van Pelt who introduced us, after I wrote a review of Patrick’s magazine, TaleBones. I helped Patrick negotiate with a squatter who was sitting on the address he wanted for his website (unsuccessfully, as I recall.) At the time, Fairwood Press was a small press underdog, with only a handful of titles to its name, but a fast-growing reputation.

Fastforward about 17 years, to Worldcon in 2016. I was walking through the sprawling dealer’s room when I spotted Patrick sitting behind a table groaning under the weight of dozens and dozens of eye-catching science fiction and fantasy books, from some of the biggest names in the industry — including Robert Silverberg, Michael Bishop, Jay Lake, Carrie Vaughn, Devon Monk, Tom Piccirilli, Tina Connolly, James Van Pelt, and many others. Could this possibly be the same Fairwood Press?

Yes, as it turned out.

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Old Dark House Double Feature IV: Two Haunted Honeymoons

Saturday, October 1, 2016 William I. Lengeman III Comments 2 comments

For this Old Dark House Double Feature I’ve chosen two films that are unrelated except for the fact that they share a title — Haunted Honeymoon. You might rightly make the argument that the earlier of these movies is more of a standard whodunit than an old dark house movie, but the coincidence was too good for me to pass up.

Haunted Honeymoon
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1940)
Directed by Arthur B. Woods
Screenplay by Monckton Hoffe, Angus MacPhail, and Harold Goldman
Starring Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings

Dorothy Sayers isn’t really a household name nowadays but she was a rather well-known mystery writer during the so-called Golden Age of mysteries, which lasted for a few decades, starting more or less in the Twenties. Busman’s Honeymoon, the source for this movie, first saw the light of day as a play, in 1936. A year later Sayers converted it to a novel and a few years after that it made its way to the big screen. Over on this side of Atlantic the movie was given the name Haunted Honeymoon, since few of us Yanks probably known what a busman’s holiday is (a holiday where you spend doing the same kind of thing that you usually do for your job, says Merriam-Webster).

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