Black Gate – Page 675 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

Why We Shouldn’t Hunt The Trope To Extinction

Thursday, March 10, 2016 Peter McLean Comments 6 comments

The incredibly addictive TVTropes.org website has this to say about the trope :

Merriam-Webster defines trope as a ‘figure of speech.’ For creative writer types, tropes are more about conveying a concept to the audience without needing to spell out all the details.

Wikipedia uses a lot more words to say basically the same thing.

It’s important to understand that this doesn’t make the trope a cliché, but rather a sort of shorthand for writers to convey an image or concept or character to the reader in as few words as possible.

The poor old trope had had a lot of bad press in recent years. A lot of people seem to want to deconstruct the little critter, or subvert it or discredit it. Basically people seem to want to hunt the trope to extinction, and I think that’s unfortunate.

Now I agree some members of the trope herd have got a bit long in the tooth and are probably due for culling. No one really needs to read another fantasy novel where a simple farmboy turns out to be the Chosen One / Long Lost Heir who is foretold by prophecy and destined to save the world, do they? No, so the “Farmboy” trope is probably due to meet the huntsman, and I think the “Damsel in Distress” has probably had her day too.

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Analog, November 1971 and October 1972: Two Retro-Reviews

Thursday, March 10, 2016 Rich Horton Comments 6 comments

John W. Campbell died in July 1971. He had been editor of Astounding/Analog for 34 years. His name appeared on the masthead through December of that year, along with remaining editorials. Presumably Kay Tarrant did the work necessary to keep the magazine going, possibly, some suggest, even buying new stories, until the new editor was chosen. Ben Bova took over officially with the January 1972 issues. (Rumor has it that Charles Platt, of all people, was one of those considered for the job; a more obvious possibility was Frederik Pohl, who said he was asked to apply. [He had left Galaxy at about this time, and was as I recall editing books for Bantam.])

So I thought I’d consider an issue from the end of Campbell’s tenure, and one from the beginning of Bova’s: November 1971 and October 1972.

The November 1971 issue has a cover by John Schoenherr. Interiors are by Schoenherr, Kelly Freas, and Leo Summers. Campbell’s editorial, his second-last, was called “The Gored Ox,” in which he inveighs against the press’s desire to print anything they want (inspired by the Pentagon papers). The Science article is by Margaret Silbar, who contributed 16 pieces of non-fiction to Analog between 1967 and 1990. It’s called “In Quest of a Humanlike Robot.”

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Future Treasures: World’s End by Will Elliott, Volume 3 of The Pendulum Trilogy

Wednesday, March 9, 2016 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

In The Pilgrims (2014), the opening volume of Will Elliott’s Pendulum Trilogy, down on his luck London journalist Eric Albright discovered a strange red door on the graffiti-covered walls under a bridge near his home. When the door opened and gang of strange bandits — including a giant — dashed out and robbed a nearby store, Eric and his friend Case decided to go through the door… to the land of Levaal, a fantasy kingdom populated by power damaged mages, stone giants, pit devils, and a mountain-sized dragon sleeping beneath a great white castle. In Shadow (2015), Eric and his new friends found themselves in the thick of a brutal war. And in the third and final volume, World’s End, coming later this month from Tor, Levaal faces the final battle in an age-old war between worlds. One more fantasy trilogy brought to a successful close! Every time that happens, we bake a cake.

When Eric Albright, a luckless London slacker, and his pal Stuart Casey went through a battered red door under a railway bridge, the last thing they expected to find was another world. There lay the strange, dark realm of Levaal, whose tyrant lord Vous has ascended to godhood. The great wall which has divided the land has been brought down, setting loose a horde of demonic Tormentors. In their sky prisons, the dragons are stirring, set to defy their slumbering creator and steal humanity’s world.

Shilen, a dragon cloaked in human form, has convinced Eric and Aziel, Vous’s daughter, to help free the dragons from their sky-prison, or Earth will be destroyed. She promises great power, and safety for all Eric’s favoured people, but Shilen has an ulterior motive, for the dragons wish to control humankind completely.

World’s End will be published by Tor Books on March 22, 2016. It is 432 pages, priced at $26.99 in hardcover and $12.99 in digital format. The cover is by Cynthia Sheppard.

The Castles of Gondar, Ethiopia

Wednesday, March 9, 2016 Sean McLachlan Comments 6 comments

The palace of Fasiladas, Gondar, Ethiopia.

The building in this photo looks a bit strange. It appears European but also has a style uniquely its own. One might be excused for thinking that this is European Colonial architecture in some far-off colony, but in fact it was built by one of Ethiopia’s most anti-colonial emperors.

The Emperor Fasiladas reigned from 1632 to 1667 and was a strong ruler right from the start. Like the Merovingian kings and the Moroccan sultans, Fasiladas had to contend with powerful noble families who had close connections to their local tribes and clans. Ethiopian emperors would spend much of their time in the saddle, going on “visits” to their provinces with large armies in tow.

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New Treasures: Mort(e) by Robert Repino

Wednesday, March 9, 2016 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Robert Repino’s Mort(e) is an unusual book.

In his article “Five Books in Which Giant Insects Ruin Everyone’s Day” at Tor.com last year, Eric Smith described it thusly:

An epic science-fiction thriller out on January 20th, Mort(e) introduces you to a world that’s been conquered by hyper-intelligent giant ants… Tired of mankind’s treatment of the world, the ants have risen to take the planet, and have made other animals self-aware. It’s an epic battle between humans, ants, dogs, ants, cats, ants, raccoons, ants, and it is incredible. And the protagonist, a housecat named Mort(e), will stick with you long after you close the pages.

I found the newly released trade paperback at the bookstore this week, and was impressed enough with the accolades on the back cover to bring it home. Mort(e) was included in Andrew Liptak’s Very Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Book Of 2015 at i09, and listed as an Amazon Best Book of January 2015. BookRiot called it “Absolutely incredible.. The apocalypse has never, ever been this entertaining.” (Click the cover above to see the complete text.)

I’ve been intrigued by anthropomorphic fantasy ever since I first read Watership Down, and this one sounds right up my alley. Mort(e) was published in hardcover on January 20 of last year, and was reprinted by Soho Press on February 9, 2016. It is 358 pages, priced at $16 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by Napo Ng.

Series Fantasy: The Half-Light City by M.J. Scott

Wednesday, March 9, 2016 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

Three years ago I received a package of review copies from Roc Books that included Iron Kin, which turned out to be the third book in a dark fantasy series called The Half-Light City. I was intrigued enough by the cover and the description to dash off a quick New Treasures article, and also to order the opening volume, Shadow Kin.

And truthfully, after that I sort of forgot about it. Until I stumbled on all four books in the series at Barnes & Noble on Saturday. Now, it’s nothing new to come across a fantasy series at B&N (frankly, it’s a lot tougher to find books that aren’t part of a series), but what interested me was that — wonder of wonders — this one was complete, and all four books were right there on the shelves, mine for the taking. Hallelujah, it’s some kind of miracle.

You have to understand that my weekly Saturday trip to the bookstore routinely goes like this. Browse the shelves until something catches my eye. Ooooo, that looks cool. Wait, is this part of a series? Of course it is, why do I even ask. What volume is this? Crap, number six? How the hell did I miss five previous volumes? Never mind, I’ll just grab the first one. They don’t have it? Come on! Looks like I’m reading The Hobbit again this weekend.

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February 2016 Locus Now on Sale

Tuesday, March 8, 2016 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

While I was at my local Barnes & Noble on Saturday, picking up the new issues of F&SF, Analog, and Asimov’s, I was delighted to see the February issue of Locus peeking out from behind Mystery Scene. I don’t always have the best luck finding Locus on newsstands, and I really didn’t want to miss the February issue.

The February Locus is always a special event… it’s their annual Year in Review issue, and this one does not disappoint. It has detailed looks back at the best new books and short fiction from the last twelve months by virtually all of their reviewers, including Gardner Dozois, Rich Horton, Jonathan Strahan, Russell Letson, Faren Miller, Gary K. Wolfe, Cheryl Morgan, Ellen Datlow, Paul Kincaid, and many others. It also includes the 2015 Locus Survey ballot, their annual Magazine Survey, a long interview with Tom Doherty, and — as always — plenty of reviews of short fiction and books. There’s also an obituary of David G. Hartwell, and a promise of additional appreciations next month.

In addition to all the news, features, and regular columns, there’s also the indispensable listings of Magazines Received, Books Received, British Books Received, and Bestsellers. Plus Letters, and an editorial. See the complete contents here.

We last covered Locus with the December 2015 issue. Locus is edited by Liza Groen Trombi, and published monthly by Locus Publications. The issue is 62 pages, priced at $7.50. Subscriptions are $63 for 12 issues in the US. Subscribe online here. The magazine’s website, run as a separate publication by Mark R. Kelly, is a superb online resource. It is here.

See our March Fantasy Magazine Rack here, and all of our recent Magazine coverage here.

Vintage Treasures: Try a Little Sturgeon Caviar

Tuesday, March 8, 2016 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

I started what eventually became a casual series of posts about Theodore Sturgeon back in June 2014, when I wrote a brief piece on his 1979 collection The Stars Are the Styx. It was casual because I’d make another entry in the series only when I acquired another of his collections. The result was eight posts over roughly two years, not a bad stretch, really.

The only real drawback to this system is I’ve been dying to do a post on his 1955 collection Caviar, perhaps my favorite of his many books, and a copy has not tumbled into my hands for many years. So I’m breaking with my system (and had to troop upstairs and root around on the shelves until I found a copy, no small accomplishment) to bring you this report. You’re welcome.

Why is Caviar my favorite? Nostalgic reasons, mostly. It contains “Microcosmic God,” the first Theodore Sturgeon tale I can remember reading, and still one of my favorites.

Also, I had a lot of fun tracking down the various paperback versions, especially the 1977 Del Rey edition with the brilliant cover by Darrell K. Sweet (above right), which pretty clearly has publisher Lester del Rey putting in a cameo appearance as “Microcosmic God”‘s genius inventor James Kidder.

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Big Magic in a Business Suit

Tuesday, March 8, 2016 Comments 0 Comment

Marshall Versus the Assassins-small — 12th century and mystic conspiracy stuff — Go!

So I am doing a historical project for a client. I’ve done this before several times now: “12th century and mystic conspiracy stuff — Go!”

How does this chime with Elizabeth “Eat, Love, Pray” Gilbert’s Big Magic that was all about; “Be serious about having fun being creative but don’t burden it or yourself by taking it too seriously or expecting too much from it”?

What happens when your creativity becomes a serious thing because (a) people are paying you for it, and (b) you are using it to pay other people (like shops that sell food your children eat)? What happens when you are (c) doing it to order?

In my case we’re talking writing fiction. In other cases it could be sword fighting (I know several people who do this professionally), writing, costuming, dancing, burlesque…(we know who you are).

How do you play for money?

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The Lost Level by Brian Keene

Tuesday, March 8, 2016 Fletcher Vredenburgh Comments 2 comments

Lost worlds, pocket universes, dimensional traveling: these are things that warm my heart. Barsoom, the World of Tiers, and the Land of the Lost are places I want to see. A sword-swinging hero and warrior princess, well that’s pretty great by me. If your reactions are like mine then you are Brian Keene’s target audience for The Lost Level (2015), his love song to a certain kind of glorious pulp adventure that there aren’t enough of anymore. On the acknowledgements page he spells out explicitly the artists whose works helped inspire The Lost Level: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Sid and Marty Krofft, Roy Thomas, Joe R. Lansdale, Mike Grell, John Eric Holmes, Karl Edward Wagner, Otis Adelbert Kline, Carlton Mellick III, and H.G. Wells. A tantalizing roll call of pulp genius. I am definitely this book’s target.

See that cover to the left? Even before I read a glowing review from Charles Rutledge, someone whose opinion I trust, that cover (by Kirsi Salonen) bellowed “BUY ME!” so loud and clear I knew I couldn’t hold out for long. Briefly, The Lost Level is the tale of a man from Earth lost in a different dimension, and his adventures alongside a warrior princess and a furry, blue alien. Now that I’ve read it… well, I really love the cover.

Brian Keene is best known as a prolific writer of gonzo horror (38 novels and 10 story collections over 13 years). His first novel, The Rising is credited with helping spark the current zombie craze, but I think it’s too good to merit the blame. I’ve only dipped a toe into his vast body of work but it’s been fun, if a little bloody. His established talent, coupled with that eye-popping cover, led me to have high hopes for the book.

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