Black Gate – Page 849 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1952: A Retro-Review

Tuesday, May 12, 2015 Matthew Wuertz Comments 6 comments

With this issue, Galaxy completed its second year of publication. That’s 24 issues of top-notch science fiction. It’s tough to match that stamina, and I applaud H.L. Gold, his staff, the authors, and the artists for staying the course.

“Delay in Transit” by F. L. Wallace — Denton Cassal is a sales engineer, traveling toward the center of the galaxy to solicit a top scientist to work for his company on an instant communication device. His journey takes him through Tunney 21, a planet inhabited mostly by Goldophians, who look somewhat like seals. Equipped with an AI device named Dimanche, Cassal is able to read people based on their body chemistry and temperature. He’s being pursued, but Dimanche’s intelligence and advice give Cassal confidence, provided he’s willing to listen.

This piece was reprinted in Bodyguard and Four Other Short Science Fiction Novels From Galaxy edited by H. L. Gold in 1962. In this issue, however, it was credited as a novella. I liked the use of the AI as well as the setting of Tunney 21. Wallace also does a nice job with the pacing.

“The Snowball Efect” by Katherine MacLean — To prove the value of sociology (and his own department), Wilton Caswell meets with the university president to create a list of rules for an organization to employ in order to grow membership. If an organization adopts the rules and shows growth, then the president has quantitative proof of the depatment’s value; the underlying principles of philosophy can promote success to all graduates. Caswell and the president choose the Watashaw Sewing Circle for their experiment and then withdraw to see what happens. It turns out that the rules work. They work so well, in fact, that the sewing group expands into a broader organization — one focused on civic welfare and politics.

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Catching Up With Numenera

Tuesday, May 12, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

I got to know Monte Cook back when Black Gate was still publishing fiction. He’s a talented writer, and he sent me a short story I would have loved to have published. Alas, the magazine was already dying at that point, and we weren’t able to do business.

But I’ve kept an eye on his publishing ventures and, like everyone else, was astounded when his Numenera Kickstarter raised an almost unprecedented $517,255 in September 2012. He used the money to launch Monte Cook Games, which in August 2013 delivered the Numenera Corebook, a gorgeous 416-page full color rule book and campaign guide. I finally bought a copy at the Games Plus auction in March, and I’ve spent the last few weeks pouring over it.

What’s so special about Numenera? Monte had an enviable reputation in the gaming industry — he was an editor at Iron Crown Enterprises and, with Jonathan Tweet and Skip Williams, co-authored the famous third Edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Some of his more notable creations are the D&D modules Labyrinth of Madness and Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, as well as many Planescape adventures and the mammoth Ptolus campaign setting, based on the home game used to playtest third edition.

But it’s far more than just Monte’s reputation that’s fueled the success of his latest endeavor. Numenera has a great premise. The setting is Earth, a billion years in the future. The inhabitants of our planet live amidst the ruins of eight unimaginably powerful civilizations, each of which mastered arts and technologies they cannot even begin to understand. Artifacts from those civilizations lie in the earth — or walk the land. Some of them are incredibly powerful; some are unspeakably dangerous. And some of them are alive.

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Dragonfly: A Tale of the Counter-Earth at the Cosmic Antipodes by Raphael Ordoñez

Tuesday, May 12, 2015 Fletcher Vredenburgh Comments 6 comments

Much of my reading is for sheer entertainment. It’s like a carnival ride: you pay your money, get whipped around a little, then deposited back on the ground. The next day a fond memory of the overall experience lingers on but the details have faded away. And that’s cool. I have never regretted the time or money spent on an Agatha Christie or Stephen King novel. I’ve passed many an enjoyable hour reading (or watching) a decent bit of fiction for a transient thrill. But sometimes, there’s something so compelling about about a book that I’m drawn to it again and again over the years.

There are certain books on my shelf that have an aura around them. Three that leap to mind are The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, The Last Coin by James Blaylock, and Faces in the Crowd by William Marshall. In each, the combination of prose, plot, and character drew me in so deeply that I feel the desire, for various reasons, to revisit them from time to time.

With the first, I’m looking each time to absorb and understand a bit more of Bulgakov’s dense work. It’s a great story, rich with ideas on art, politics, love, and religion. With the second two I recapture a bit of the sheer joy I felt the first time I encountered the vivid characters and utterly bonkers plots. When it comes to books in this class, I can remember when I first read them, under what circumstances, and where I got them (Science Fiction Book Club, The Forbidden Planet (NYC), and borrowed from the St. George Public Library, Staten Island). I suspect Raphael Ordoñez’ Dragonfly will get added to this list.

Dragonfly is the first of a planned tetralogy. In this day of calculated, mass-marketed, trend-following books, here is a self-published adventure, practically handcrafted, with cover, map, and interior art all done by Ordoñez himself. It tells of a young prince let loose in a world of steam engines, complacent aristocrats, and tunnel-dwelling workers, and a social order on the verge of being overthrown. Ordoñez’ style hearkens back to the likes of A. E. van Vogt and Jack Vance, as well as Edgar Rice Burroughs. Heck, as you can see from the cover, Dragonfly would look right at home on a shelf full of volumes from the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series.

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Adventures in RPGs: Long Arc or Short Arc?

Monday, May 11, 2015 markrigney Comments 6 comments

AD&D carried me from middle school right through college, and about seventy-five percent of the time, I wound up as the referee. The core group with whom I played continued right on getting together for another fifteen years or so after graduation, engaging in annual reunions all over the country.

And I kept right on refereeing. After all, I had unfinished stories to “tell.” These story arcs played out over weeks, months, semesters, and then years. Many remain unfinished to this day. In the main, the rest of the group enjoyed my epic, often convoluted approach. For better or for worse, we weren’t much for hack-and-slash, in-and-out heroism.

Or were we? I’ll never forget Eric S. musing, as one reunion year wound down, that it sure would be nice if for once we could storm the castle, rescue the maiden, and be done.

His wistful comment stemmed in part from my having that very year posed a variant on that longed-for maiden-in-the-tower paternalistic standby: Orcus hired the party to rescue a damsel in distress, but this particular blushing violet turned out to be a truly enormous, deformed frog that had to be kissed in order to… well. Let’s just say there aren’t enough kisses in creation to make the wife of Orcus any more desirable.

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The Dark Issue 8 now on Sale

Monday, May 11, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

The Dark continues its tradition of great covers, with a marvelous contribution this month from gaming artist Angus Yi. Check out his website here.

The Dark is a quarterly magazine co-edited by Jack Fisher and Sean Wallace. The eighth issue features four all-original short stories:

“The Ghost of You Lingers” by Kevin McNeil
“An Ocean of Eyes” by Cassandra Khaw
“A Shot of Salt Water” by Lisa L Hannett
“Momentary Sage” by Eric Schwitzgebel

You can read issues free online, or help support the magazine by subscribing to 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. A one-year sub (six issues) is just $15 – subscribe today.

If you enjoy the magazine you can also support it by buying their books, reviewing stories, or even just leaving comments. Read issue 8 here, and see their complete back issue catalog here.

We last covered The Dark with Issue 7.

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

Future Treasures: The Hanged Man by P.N. Elrod

Monday, May 11, 2015 John ONeill Comments 3 comments

P.N. Elrod is known chiefly for her series about Chicago vampire detective Jack Fleming, whose first case is to solve his own murder. The Vampire Files ran for a dozen novels between 1990 and 2009, starting with Bloodlist.

Her new series, Her Majesty’s Psychic Service, opens with The Hanged Man, a Victorian urban fantasy thriller, on sale next week.

On a freezing Christmas Eve in 1879, a forensic psychic reader is summoned from her Baker Street lodgings to the scene of a questionable death. Alexandrina Victoria Pendlebury (named after her godmother, the current Queen of England) is adamant that the death in question is a magically compromised murder and not a suicide, as the police had assumed. After the shocking revelation contained by the body in question, Alex must put her personal loss aside to uncover the deeper issues at stake, before more bodies turn up.

Turning to some choice allies — the handsome, prescient Lieutenant Brooks, the brilliant, enigmatic Lord Desmond, and her rapscallion cousin James — Alex will have to marshal all of her magical and mental acumen to save Queen and Country from a shadowy threat. Our singular heroine is caught up in this rousing gaslamp adventure of cloaked assassins, meddlesome family, and dark magic.

The Hanged Man will be published by Tor Books on May 19, 2015. It is 336 pages, priced at $24.99 in hardcover and $11.99 for the digital edition.

See our complete survey of the top releases in May here.

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

Monday, May 11, 2015 Bob Byrne Comments 7 comments

Last week I posted part one of our look at Granada’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett.

The Adventures were divided into two parts; seven episodes in the first; six in the latter. A Scandal in Bohemia aired on April 24, 1984. Can it be thirty-one years since Jeremy Brett first graced television sets as the great detective? Scandal was actually the third story to be filmed.

Producer Michael Cox wanted Brett and his Watson, David Burke, to become comfortable with their roles before filming one of the most famous tales in the Canon, so he didn’t start taping with this one.

Watson enters their Baker Street lodgings, having been gone on a trip. He sees the empty syringe case and fears his flat mate has turned to cocaine. Shortly after our first vision of Holmes, Brett gives the “My mind rebels at stagnation” speech. It is completely understated but still paints a portrait of Holmes’ need for work (compare it to the over-the-top reading of Matthew Frewer).

The script is remarkably faithful to the story and is filled with original dialogue from Doyle. The influence of Sidney Paget is blatantly obvious. The King of Bohemia’s unmasking is a replica of the original drawing, and Brett’s ‘drunken groom’ disguise is nearly identical to Paget’s drawing. We even get the famous “Good Night Mr. Holmes” scene.

David Burke is as far from Nigel Bruce as one can imagine. He is thoughtful, intelligent, amusing without being a buffoon and utterly dependable. There is a valid film reason for Bruce’s un-Canonical portrayal as comic relief, but Burke reinvents Watson as his original self: the way Doyle wrote him.

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New Treasures: The Daedalus Series by Michael J Martinez

Sunday, May 10, 2015 John ONeill Comments 9 comments

I overlooked Michael J. Martinez’s The Daedalus Incident, the opening volume of The Daedalus Series, when it first appeared in 2013. That turned out to be a mistake. By the time The Enceladus Crisis arrived last May, it was clear that this was a major new science fantasy series. Tor. com called it “adventurous, original, and a blast to read,” and GeekDad summed up the second volume splendidly:

Wooden sailing ships battling it out in space, Earth astronauts discovering an ancient alien temple on one of Saturn’s moons, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, undead French soldiers, Venusian jungles, and corporate espionage… This isn’t steampunk, okay? This is something new and unique and completely entertaining.

The third volume — featuring undead soldiers, Royal Navy frigates sailing the Void between worlds, dark alchemy, alien slave trade, and extra-dimensional incursions — was published last week, bringing the story to a climax deep in the jungles of Venus. It’s hard for me to keep up with everything that crosses my desk these days, but I think I might just have to make time for this entire series. The Venusian Gambit was published by Night Shade Books on May 5, 2015. It is 320 pages, priced at $15.99 in trade paperback and $10.99 for the digital version.

Goodbye, Innsmouth Magazine

Sunday, May 10, 2015 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

I was dismayed to find, as I was cataloging our recent magazine coverage for the Late April Magazine Rack, that the delightful digital horror zine Innsmouth Magazine, published by Innsmouth Free Press, released its final issue last summer.

In a post titled “Goodbye, Innsmouth Magazine,” the editors offered a brief explanation:

Well, it had to happen sometime. Innsmouth Magazine says a fond farewell with its final issue, number 15, this spring. We’ve had fun putting together this little zine, but don’t make enough sales to keep it afloat. So, it must go.

It’s always a sad milestone when the field loses another fine magazine. The good news is that Innsmouth Free Press continues, and has recently produced some terrific books, including Jazz Age Cthulhu by Jennifer Brozek, A.D. Cahill, and Orrin Grey, and the anthology Sword & Mythos, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles. The final issue of the magazine, #15, is still worth your attention, and contains plenty of good stuff:

Innsmouth Magazine uncoils its tentacles with seven stories of the Weird and the macabre. Do you dare to stay in “The Peach Room”? Can you survive “The Lust of Ebon Teeth”? Could it be true that “The Ocean is Eating Our Graves”? Fiction by William Meikle and many others. Welcome to our final issue!

Innsmouth Magazine was edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles, and available exclusively in digital format for $4/issue. We last covered Innsmouth Magazine with issue #4. You can still purchase back issues through Amazon, Smashwords, Weightless Books, or right at their website.

Vintage Treasures: Crompton Divided by Robert Sheckley

Sunday, May 10, 2015 John ONeill Comments 4 comments

Robert Sheckley (July 16, 1928 – December 9, 2005) was primarily a science fiction writer, producing hundreds of short stories and roughly two dozen novels, including The Status Civilization (1960), The 10th Victim (1966), and Dimension of Miracles (1968). From time to time, however, he turned his hand to fantasy, as in a trio of comic fantasies written with Roger Zelazny, Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming (1991), If at Faust You Don’t Succeed (1993), and A Farce to Be Reckoned With (1995).

In Crompton Divided (1978), published in the UK as The Alchemical Marriage of Alistair Crompton, Sheckley stepped into Philip K Dick territory. Alastair Crompton is diagnosed with virus schizophrenia in his youth, and two dangerous aspects of his personality are medically separated from him and allowed to grow and develop on their own: the self-indulgent Loomis, who embodies all of Crompton’s lust, and the dangerously violent Stack, who got all of his rage. When he reaches adulthood the mild Crompton, despite the fact that he is repulsed by them, sets out on a Jungian quest to re-integrate his personalities and become a whole person.

The bizarre case of Alistair Crompton

He is a tortured soul. Separated at an early age from two conflicting personalities, Alistair Crompton has hatched a daring scheme to reintegrate himself. Installed in different host bodies and dispatched to distant planets, the two other Alistairs have developed lives of their own: Loomis — as grossly self-indulgent and amoral as Alistair is moderate and prim. Stack — as vicious and impulsive as Alistair is meek and cautious. What happens when the original Alistair reengages himself first with Loomis, then with Stack? Discover for yourself in this odyssey by one of the grand masters of science fiction. It’s mind-bending.

Crompton Divided is an expanded version of the novella “Join Now,” originally published in the December 1958 issue of Galaxy. It was published by Bantam Books in November 1979. It is 182 pages, priced at $1.95. I bought an unread copy online for about 50 cents earlier this month. The cover is by Paul Lehr.