Black Gate – Page 747 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

Uncanny Magazine Issue 7 Now on Sale

Wednesday, December 2, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Editors Lynn and Michael Thomas celebrate the success of the Uncanny Magazine Year Two Kickstarter, which raised over $32,000, in their editorial in the November/December issue.

The fact that you’re reading this tells you that we were successful. Not only did Year Two fund, we reached every initial stretch goal. Year Two will have all of the content that Year One had, plus a spiffy new webcomic by the amazing Liz Argall…

We are so grateful and honored to be doing this again. We love Uncanny Magazine, and we believe we’re publishing important, quality Science Fiction and Fantasy stories, poems, podcasts, and essays, featuring diverse voices and pieces with a certain Uncanny point of view. Based on the fact that so many people support us with Kickstarter, through subscriptions, and on Patreon, clearly a large portion of the community of SF/F readers, creators, and fans agree.

The November/December issue contains original fiction from Elizabeth Bear, Ursula Vernon, Alex Bledsoe, Karin Tidbeck, and Yoon Ha Lee, a reprint by Alaya Dawn Johnson, nonfiction by Aidan Moher, Annalee Flower Horne and Natalie Luhrs, Deborah Stanish, and Tansy Rayner Roberts, poems by Mari Ness, Sonya Taaffe, and Lisa M. Bradley, and interviews with Yoon Ha Lee and Alex Bledsoe.

All of the content became available for purchase as an eBook (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) on November 1, 2015.

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Heather Hildenbrand on Her Path to Becoming a Hybrid Author, Resources for Authors, and Hot Guys on Motorcycles

Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Emily Mah Comments 0 Comment

Heather Hildenbrand began as a self published author and quickly advanced to the point that she could live off her income. These days she’s a hybrid author who coaches others who want to follow in her footsteps.

Even her publishing company, Elephantine Publishing, shows new authors the ropes to better equip them for self-publishing or finding a good traditional publishing deal.

She is the author of The Dirty Blood Series (fantasy) and The Imitation Series (science fiction) and primarily writes young adult and new adult fiction.

I had the pleasure of chatting with her over Skype on her career to date, how she got where she is, and what advice she has for others starting out.

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British Museum Presents Egypt: Faith After The Pharaohs

Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Sean McLachlan Comments 0 Comment

Seated figure of the ancient Egyptian god Horus, wearing Roman military costume, limestone, Egypt, 1st–2nd century AD © The Trustees of the British Museum

Ancient Egypt is famous for its elaborate religion with a multitude of deities and an obsession with the afterlife. While there have been many exhibitions on ancient Egyptian religion, it’s rare to see one that traces Egypt’s transformation from a land that was mostly pagan to one that was mostly Christian, then mostly Muslim, with a strong tradition of Judaism running through it.

Now a major exhibition at the British Museum, Egypt: Faith after the Pharaohs, uses about 200 objects to explore the history of religion in this fascinating country. The first gallery emphasizes that Egypt still has a sizeable Christian community. While that community has been targeted by extremists in recent years, there is also a large amount of cooperation between the two faiths. Photos from the Arab Spring show Christians making a protective ring around Muslims as they pray, and the Muslims returning the favor around churches on Sunday. The Western media tend to skip these stories of tolerance for more ratings-friendly tales of bloodshed, thus giving a skewed picture of the situation. As one of my old newspaper editors said, “If it bleeds, it leads.”

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Vintage Treasures: Brother Assassin by Fred Saberhagen

Wednesday, December 2, 2015 John ONeill Comments 10 comments

Fred Saberhagen’s Berserker series was one of the most popular military SF series on the market during my formative reading years (the other, to which it was frequently compared, was Keith Laumer’s Bolo.) Today the Berserker novels, with their desperate battles against ancient planet-destroying engines of destruction, would be called space opera, but back then we just called them science fiction.

The first book, Berserker, was a collection of short stories originally published in IF magazine between 1963-66. It was released by Ballantine Books in 1967. But it didn’t become a series until the sequel, Brother Assassin, the first full fledged Berserker novel. It was released by Ballantine with a Richard Powers cover in January 1969 (above left).

This book has an interesting history. The early Berserker books were re-released by Ace Books in the late 70s with brand new covers, with Brother Assassin sporting the exceptionally fine piece by Michael Whelan (above middle). It was so fine, in fact, that the concept was stolen by Arbor House for the cover of the first book in Roger Zelazny’s Merlin series, Trumps of Doom, seven years later (see below).

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io9 Founder Annalee Newitz Departs as Site Joins Gizmodo

Tuesday, December 1, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

The changes at io9 have begun, as the site begins restructuring in preparation for its upcoming merger with design and technology blog Gizmodo. Perhaps the biggest change occured yesterday with the departure of founder Annalee Newitz. In her public goodbye, Newitz wrote:

Today is my last day at io9 and Gizmodo. It’s been a long, astounding road, to say the least. I founded io9 back in 2008, and I watched it journey from the farthest reaches of space to its current home under this atmosphere bubble on Ceres… In January of this year, I took on the role of editor at Gizmodo, and since then, Charlie Jane and I have been integrating the world of io9 into Gizmodo. It’s kind of like we joined the United Federation of Planets….

And this is where my path diverges from io9 and Gizmodo. This past year managing both sites taught me that I’m not actually interested in being a manager. I want to write.

Annalee Newitz was one of io9‘s most talented writers, and we certainly understand her desire to pursue a writing career. Katie Drummond will take over from Newitz, and Charlie Jane Anders (whose own first novel, All the Birds in the Sky, will be released by Tor on January 26) will continue as Editor-in-Chief.

io9, one of the most popular locations for SF fans on the web, was launched in 2008 by Newitz and Anders. It covers science fiction, fantasy, comic books, science and technology. The site is owned by Gawker Media, which is restructuring its many holdings to focus more on politics (Gawker’s other holdings, including celebrity gossip site Defamer and Valleywag, which covers Silicon Valley, will be closed down). The merger with Gizmodo has apparently been in the works for months; when completed, io9 will become a section of Gizmodo, and io9.com will redirect to Gizmodo. All existing content will be preserved.

Future Treasures: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Tuesday, December 1, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Susan Dennard is the author of the popular Something Strange and Deadly series from Harper. Next month she launches the Witchland series from Tor with the opening novel Truthwitch. The early reviews have been very strong, with Books of Wonder saying it’s “Full of magic, unbreakable friendships, and purpose… a lush and wonderful adventure tale.” Look for it in early January.

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery,” a magical skill that sets them apart from others. In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble — as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires. Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her — but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

Truthwitch will be published by Tor Teen on January 5, 2016. It is 416 pages, priced at $18.99 in hardcover and $9.99 for the digital version.

Only War for Christmas: How to Defend Warhammer for Teenage Boys

Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Comments 8 comments

Kurtzhau army — …telling stories, reading books, engaging with craft…

Older relative: “Well I’m not buying him (nose wrinkle) Warhammer.”

Fellow parent: “Oh God, Warhammer. We’re trying to steer him away from that!”

Another parent: “But it’s sooo expensive.”

It’s the run up to Christmas and people want to know what older and teenage boys want, and — just like with books — the boys, the geeky ones at least, want the wrong things.

Except of course, I think these are right things and I want to yell:

There’s this thing you can get that coaches boys in applied game theory, and keeps them telling stories, reading books, engaging with craft, and gathering with friends away from a screen (sometimes even organising them). It also enables them to talk to older boys and adults as peers, and take their place in a multi-generational community… No, it’s not an educational game. No… it’s not an after school club… It’s… Warhammer!!!

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New Treasures: Ghost in the Cogs edited by Scott Gable and C. Dombrowski

Tuesday, December 1, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

I’ve been hearing quite a bit about the new book from Broken Eye Books, Ghost in the Cogs, an anthology of steam-powered ghost stories, and not just because it has a story by our very own Howard Andrew Jones. Here’s what Howard had to say about it:

It’s the first time in years I’ve had a story published that didn’t feature Dabir and Asim or one of my Pathfinder characters. In this instance, it’s an alternate steampunk world with zeppelins and haunted temples and a sort of Robin Hood, Gentleman Jim, who adventures with his trusty second story gal Big Jane. They get into a scrape when they’re hired to steal a fabulous treasure that turns out to come with a few drawbacks. I had a blast writing it and I might draft more in the same world with the same characters.

The book contains no less than 22 stories, from such talented writers as Siobhan Carroll, Howard Andrew Jones, Eddy Webb, Nayad Monroe, Christopher Paul Carey, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Richard Dansky, Nick Mamatas, Liane Merciel, James Lowder, and many others.

The always reliable Keith West saw fit to give the book a feature review at his excellent blog, Adventures Fantastic. Here’s part of his review.

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The Fionavar Tapestry Book 1: The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay

Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Fletcher Vredenburgh Comments 10 comments

While Guy Gavriel Kay is probably best known for his fantasies set in lightly fictionalized versions of the real world — such as The Lions of Al-Rassan or the Sarantine duology — his first book was The Summer Tree (1984). It’s the opening volume of The Fionavar Tapestry, a trilogy of epic high fantasy that manages to cram into its pages nearly every important Germanic or Celtic myth you can think of. You want a dark lord in an impregnable northern fortress? Check. How about noble elves practically glowing with an inner light, and noble blond horse-nomads? Double check. Considering that at the age of twenty, Kay was picked by Christopher Tolkien to help him collate his father’s papers into The Silmarillion, it’s understandable.

The Summer Tree is a book of beginnings and setting the pieces on the table. The game that will be played out in the two succeeding books, The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road, is the usual one of long-imprisoned dark lord frees himself and sets out to get right this time his efforts to subvert creation and rule the world. Or in this book’s case, THE WORLD. Fionavar is the first world, the one from which all others, ours included, spring and are but shadows of.

The book opens in Toronto where five grad students, Jennifer, Kevin, Kimberly, Paul, and Dave go to hear Prof. Lorenzo Marcus lecture at the Second International Celtic Conference. He reveals to them that he is really Loren Silvercloak, a sorcerer from another world, and he would like them to travel back there with him for two weeks. In one of the book’s weaker moments, it doesn’t take much to convince them to go along. Dave balks at the last minute, which results in him arriving in a far different part of Fionavar than his friends, and having several chapters all to himself. What none of them knows is that while Loren has said he simply wants them to cross over in order to be present at a celebration for the king, the reality is he knows they have yet undetermined roles to play in Fionavar.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Five

Monday, November 30, 2015 markrigney Comments 0 Comment

Linked below, you’ll find the fifth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. In this latest dice-roll of adventures and misadventures, Maer takes steps to learn self-defense, we re-visit the Spur, and we spend some quality time with my favorite villain, Mother Sand –– if villain she truly is. I do love a complex character…

Oh, and a bonus! We meet, at last, a Sindarin. Face-to-face. Yes, the hooks are baited for Chapter Six, to follow in two weeks’ time.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles, I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture.

Bear in mind that this is a true serial. I haven’t written to the end; I couldn’t publish all at once even if I wished to do so. I do have the overall arc of the piece ever more firmly in mind, but as to how exactly I’ll write from Point A to Point Z? I predict it’ll be one complication at a time – minimum. I do promise this: I’ll dole out the breadcrumbs of story just as fast as I can tear them from the fictive loaf, and when we reach the end, we’ll get there simultaneously.

Welcome to adventure, In the Wake Of Sister Blue.

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