Black Gate – Page 809 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

June 2015 Analog Science Fiction Now on Sale

Tuesday, May 19, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

I don’t usually cover Analog Science Fiction and Fact here at Black Gate — in fact, I think the most recent issues we’ve covered were April 1980 (containing George R.R. Martin’s “Nightflyers”) and August 1968. When it comes to science fiction, Analog is about as hard as it gets, and the magazine has always been proud of the fact that it doesn’t publish anything so fluffy as fantasy.

But I’m happy to make an exception in this case. The June 2015 issue of Analog happens to be the 1000th issue, a landmark well worth celebrating.

Analog first appeared in January 1930, as Astounding Stories of Super-Science, under editor Harry Bates, and it has been published continuously ever since. Over the course of 85 years, Astounding/Analog has become the most important magazine in the history of science fiction and fantasy, and it continues that proud tradition today under editor Trevor Qachari.

In celebration, this issue has special columns from emeritus editors Stanley Schmidt and Ben Bova, and genre historian extraordinaire Mike Ashley, as well as fiction from Sean McMullen, C. C. Finlay, Ted Reynolds and William F. Wu, Richard A. Lovett and many others, all under a great cover by Vincent DiFate.

Here’s the complete list of contents.

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Celebrating Pulp Fiction Magazines at Windy City Pulp & Paper

Monday, May 18, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

If you’ve been following Black Gate for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me mention the Windy City Pulp & Paper Show, my favorite local convention (my detailed report on the 2013 show is here).

It’s difficult to capture the scale and feel of a show like Windy City with a blog post, however. Fortunately, I was very pleased to discover an in-depth documentary on the show on YouTube. Created by Krovia TV and just released today, this twelve minute and 35 second video gives you a great sense of the scope of the show, and has some nice interviews with founder Doug Ellis, and several exhibitors and buyers, such as Tom Roberts of Black Dog Books, Steve Spilger, Tim Isaacson, Fred Taraba, and others. It’s a great way to get a taste of Windy City without leaving your comfy chair.

See the complete film here, or click on the clip above.

Belated Movie Reviews #5: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Monday, May 18, 2015 Adrian Simmons Comments 6 comments

Continuing the story from my last post (Belated Movie Reviews #4: The Road Warrior), we come to the final movie of the original trilogy: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (MMBT).

Since this was a big Hollywood movie, the sound is good and the visuals are good — both pretty much run rings around the first two. This film, as opposed to The Road Warrior, is a bit more expansive, which is only logical, given that they can’t just repeat the conflict from the other two movies. Meaning they couldn’t simply have a mad-dog gang leader, or a siege, without looking lame (I’m looking at you, Highlander 3).

So they delved deep into shades of grey. Very, very grey. Setting up a conflict that isn’t so much two-sides-of-the-same-coin as as two jackasses out to get each other.

To the makers’ credit, MMBT really contains no “bad guys” at all. Just antagonists, opponents and opportunists. Aunty Entity says it up front — this is all really more of a family affair. Max is just a dude caught in a clash of two mighty wills, and as usual, he just wants his car back.

The movie lacks some connective tissue. Why is the gyrocaptain from Road Warrior here? Isn’t he the leader of the Great North Tribe? And while it makes sense that Max and the gyrocaptian don’t recognize each other at first (Max is all swathed against the wind and sun), it is pretty clear that the gyrocaptian does recognize him later — although he doesn’t particularly do anything. In fact, while he could barely keep his trap shut in RW, the gyrocaptain doesn’t say much of anything at all in this one.

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New Treasures: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Nine, edited by Jonathan Strahan

Monday, May 18, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

The first — and one of the finest — of the Best of the Year collections has arrived: Jonathan Strahan’s The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Nine. Strahan has crammed 28 stories into his latest anthology. He published the complete table of contents earlier this year, and it looks fantastic. Here’s the description:

DISTANT WORLDS, TIME TRAVEL, EPIC ADVENTURE, UNSEEN WONDERS AND MUCH MORE!

The best, most original and brightest science fiction and fantasy stories from around the globe from the past twelve months are brought together in one collection by multiple award winning editor Jonathan Strahan. This highly popular series now reaches volume nine and will include stories from both the biggest names in the field and the most exciting new talents. Previous volumes have included stories from Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Cory Doctorow, Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth Bear, Joe Abercrombie, Paolo Bacigalupi, Holly Black, Garth Nix, Jeffrey Ford, Margo Lanagan, Bruce Sterling, Adam Robets, Ellen Klages, and many many more.

This kicks off the Best-of-the-Year season; there will be over a dozen more released from various publishers between now and October.

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The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Wrapping up Jeremy Brett’s Adventures

Monday, May 18, 2015 Bob Byrne Comments 2 comments

Click here for parts one and two of this look at Jeremy Brett’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

The second installment of Granada’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes kicked off on August 25, 1985 with The Copper Beeches. Tapped for the role of one of the Canon’s most dastardly villains, Jephro Rucastle, was veteran actor Joss Ackland. Back in 1965 he had starred opposite Douglas Wilmer’s Holmes in The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, playing her former suitor, Philip Green.

Other tangential Holmes-related efforts had included John Cleese’s disastrous parody, The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It and an episode of the BBC series, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, based on the anthologies edited by Hugh Greene.

And in 1989 he would play the King of Sweden in Christopher Lee’s Sherlock Holmes & The Incident at Victoria Falls. Ackland’s Rucastle is one of the most memorable evildoers in the entire Granada series; menacing in a creepy but understated way.

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Vintage Treasures: The Arabesk Trilogy by Jon Courtenay Grimwood

Sunday, May 17, 2015 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

Jon Courtenay Grimwood’s Vampire Assassin Trilogy (The Fallen Blade, The Outcast Blade, and The Exiled Blade) has earned him an enviable rep as a fantasy author. But I first became acquainted with him over a decade ago with The Arabesk Trilogy, a trio of acclaimed novels that had the unusual distinction of being nominated for both the British Science Fiction and British Fantasy Awards.

The Arabesk Trilogy isn’t easy to describe. It’s sort of an alternate history fantasy cyberpunk hard-boiled detective series, if that makes sense. The point of divergence with our reality is 1915, with Woodrow Wilson brokering a peace accord that prevents World War I from expanding outside the Balkans. All three books are set in Alexandria, in Islamic Ottoman North Africa (called El Iskandriyah in the novels), in the 21st century. The main characters are Raf, a genetically enhanced ex-street criminal now posing as a rich Ottoman aristocrat, and the hallucinatory fox Tiriganiaq, who frequently accompanies him.

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Check Out the Hyperborea Adventure Kickstarter

Sunday, May 17, 2015 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

A little over two years ago, I reviewed Jeffrey Talanian’s delightfully inventive RPG Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, a massive boxed set created in homage to the original boxed edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Time has not diminished my admiration; it remains one of my favorite games released in the last ten years. In fact, my only criticism — as I mentioned in my review — was the small number of supporting products.

That’s why I was so pleased to see a new Kickstarter, for the Hyperborea Adventure Three-Pack, a campaign created to fund the publication of a trio of deluxe adventures for the game: Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes by Jeff Talanian, Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess, by Joseph D. Salvador, and Beneath the Comet, by Ben Ball. These sword-and-sorcery adventure modules will each flesh out a different chuck of Hyperborean geography, and each is suitable for use with other games, such as Labyrinth Lord, Castles and Crusades, Swords & Wizardry, and of course, the game start started it all, D&D.

The campaign has a goal of $14,000 and, after less than 48 hours, has already raised over $12,000. Stretch goals include inside cover maps, additional art, and bookmarks, and I think the odds are good that more will be added. Check out all the details here.

Black Gate 4 is Sold Out

Sunday, May 17, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Black Gate 4, originally published in Summer 2002, is now sold out.

BG 4 featured the start of a major fantasy series from Hugo Award-winning author Bill Johnson, a new novelette from David B. Coe, and fiction from Cory Doctorow, Tina Jens, Mark McLaughlin, Patrice Sarath, Keith Allen Daniels, and many others. The terrific cover art was by Charles Keegan. Here’s the issue summary:

A Chicago pub where the ghosts of Blues legends gather to swap tales and jam one final time… a post-apocalyptic cityscape where automated bombers still cruise overhead and the last rock band hears the sound of extinction… a wild west where a trio of demons test the wits of a lone bounty hunter… and the dungeons of Chateau Machecoul, where an aging knight comes face-to-face with a horror unlike anything he’s ever known.

Since the end of the print version of Black Gate, we’ve been selling the last of our back issues at ridiculously low prices. BG 14 and 15 were cover priced at $15.95 and $18.85 each, but now you can get any two two issues for just $15 — plus $5 for each additional issue after that. That includes our rare first issue. Get our first three issues for just $20!

Stock is running very low on most of our early issues, however, and we sold our last copy of BG 4 today. Back issues of Black Gate contain original short stories and novellas from Michael Moorcock, Charles de Lint, James Enge, Cory Doctorow, Devon Monk, Harry Connolly, Martha Wells, Howard Andrew Jones, Myke Cole, and many others.

Get all the details on our back issue sale here.

Future Treasures: Mech edited by Tim Marquitz and Nick Sharps

Sunday, May 17, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Last year we told you about Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters, the book that founded Ragnarok Publications. Since then I’ve been very impressed with the astonishing energy from Ragnarok’s founders, Joe Martin and Tim Marquitz. In their first year they released 22 titles, and their recent releases have included Martin’s Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries. and Rogues, which we covered here, Stacey Turner’s Grimm Mistresses, Kenny Soward’s Gnomesaga trilogy, and many others.

Ragnarok recently announced plans for a companion anthology to Kaiju Rising, Mech: Age of Steel, edited by Tim Marquitz and Nick Sharps. Here’s the scoop:

Growing up there was only one thing I loved more than giant monsters and that would be giant robots! The anthology will feature a diverse array of tales from some of the genre’s finest talent (including some returning favorites from Kaiju Rising) and each story will be accompanied by a piece of interior art by either Frankie B. Washington or Oksana Dmitrienko (the latter’s work is seen throughout Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues)…

The Mech: Age of Steel Kickstarter campaign will launch in Q3/4 2015 and feature stories from some of the genre’s finest talent.

They’ve already announced a preliminary line-up of authors for the book, and it includes several names that will be familiar to Black Gate authors, including Martha Wells and Jennifer Brozek, as well as Jeremy Robinson, Graham McNeill, C.L. Werner, and many others.

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Professor Patrice Caldwell on Exploding Cows, Peanut Buster Parfaits, and Why Grand Masters Flock to Portales, New Mexico

Saturday, May 16, 2015 Emily Mah Comments 0 Comment

The Jack Williamson Lectureship is a little known, hidden gem of science fiction. Taking place every April in Portales, New Mexico, it always attracts an impressive list of authors, who gather in an unnaturally high concentration in places such as the local Dairy Queen.

I’ve attended the Lectureship for over a decade, so I remember the days when Jack was alive and we held events in his house. He was a brilliant, unassuming man who was one of the founding fathers of science fiction. Words such as “psionics,” “terraform,” and “genetic engineering” had their first appearance in his fiction, and he also coined concepts such as The Prime Directive and androids. He was the second ever SFWA Grand Master and holds the record for publishing stories in more consecutive decades than any other author (nine decades in total!)

This year I sat down with Professor Patrice Caldwell (far right in the picture above, next to Connie Willis and Betty Williamson, Jack’s niece). Patrice coordinates the Lectureship every year, and we took a moment to discuss Jack’s legacy, and this annual event that honors him. If you’ve never heard of the Jack Williamson Lectureship, listen up! It’s an event you won’t want to miss.

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