Mary Stewart, September 17, 1916 – May 10, 2014

Mary Stewart, September 17, 1916 – May 10, 2014

Comments 2 comments

The Hollow Hills-smallMary Stewart, my wife’s favorite author, died last week.

I’ve read only a handful of Stewart’s novels. Her Merlin Trilogy — The Crystal Cave (1970), The Hollow Hills (1973), and The Last Enchantment (1979) — is one of the top-selling Arthurian sagas of all time, hitting bestseller lists around the world. It was her only fantasy series, but it instantly made her one of the most popular fantasy authors of the 70s.

But I got used to seeing the covers of her romantic mystery novels. My wife re-read them constantly. Alice is a voracious reader and she’s read widely in both mystery and contemporary fiction, but at least once a year she pulls out one of her tattered Mary Stewart paperbacks.

“Why are you constantly re-reading those, when you have so many others to choose from?” I asked her once, shortly after we were married.

“Because these are the best,” she said simply.

Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy eventually extended to five novels, including The Wicked Day (1983) and The Prince and the Pilgrim (1995), but her gothic romance included Madam, Will You Talk? (1954), Thunder on the Right (1957), Nine Coaches Waiting (1958), My Brother Michael (1959), The Moon-Spinners (1962) — made into a 1964 Walt Disney film starring Hayley Mills, This Rough Magic (1964), The Gabriel Hounds (1967), Touch Not the Cat (1976), Thornyhold (1988), Stormy Petrel (1991), and her final novel, Rose Cottage (1997).

Mary Stewart lived in Edinburgh, Scotland. She died on May 10th at the age of 97.

A Knight Dies in Bed

A Knight Dies in Bed

Comments 5 comments
Marshall Versus the Assassins-small
(Nobody but I know what really happened during the Marshal’s last two missing years in the Holy Land.)

This week, in AD 1219, Sir William the Marshal died in his bed.

The Marshal was old by the standards of the time — 72! — and made a good end: heard his daughters sing, gave alms to the poor, made sure his knights would get their Christmas cloaks, bade his much-younger wife farewell, then joined the Order of the Temple to die in seclusion a few hours later.

So, 795 years ago a knight succumbs to old age. What of it?

The Marshal died in his bed, not because he avoided hazarding himself in battle, but because when he did take the field, no man might withstand him.

Two years previously, at the grand age of 70, the Marshal led the charge into the City of Lincoln.

It was a key battle in one of those messy civil wars the Middle Ages did so well. Lords who had rebelled against King John now fought on against the young King Henry III. Worse, they had French backing and Prince Louis of France was rampaging around England with a large army.

When the council named the Marshal as the King Protector, the old knight had wept. He’d literally fought his way up from landless tournament knight to powerful magnate (think Conan meets William Thatcher from Knight’s Tale), had won a reputation as the Greatest Knight, but now History would remember him as — I translate liberally from the Norman French — “That stupid old codger who lost England to the French.”

However, he took up the challenge and, along with a gang of aging action heroes, set out to put to bed the results of a generation of misrule.

The turning point was the Siege of Lincoln, a strategic city in the Midlands. (If you play Medieval II Total War, think “Nottingham, but to the north east.”) The French had carried the town, but the castle still held.

…

Read More Read More

Goth Chick News: 2013 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Goth Chick News: 2013 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Comments 6 comments

Doctor SleepBack in March, we gave you the list of nominees for the The Horror Writers Association’s 2013 Stoker Awards for superior literary achievement in horror, in a variety of categories. The Bram Stoker Awards were instituted in 1987 and the eleven award categories are: Novel, First Novel, Short Fiction, Long Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction Collection, Poetry Collection, Anthology, Screenplay, Graphic Novel, and Non-Fiction.

The 2013 awards were distributed at the Association’s annual award banquet on May 10, 2014, at the World Horror Convention in Portland. Black Gate and Goth Chick News would like to congratulate the following authors and editors for their superior achievements and suggest you start loading up your Amazon wish list immediately.

Lifetime Achievement Awards

  • R.L. Stine
  • Stephen Jones

For Superior Achievement in a Novel

  • Stephen King – Doctor Sleep (Scribner)

…

Read More Read More

New Treasures: End of the Road edited by Jonathan Oliver

New Treasures: End of the Road edited by Jonathan Oliver

Comments 5 comments

End of the Road Jonathan Oliver-smallBack in March, we saluted Solaris and their rapidly expanding line of anthologies — a rare thing in today’s market — in a post titled “Is the Original SF and Fantasy Paperback Anthology Series Dead?”

In researching that article, I discovered Solaris had released a standalone anthology of original fantasy fiction in December: End of the Road. I ordered a copy, it arrived last week, and I’m very happy to say that I’m not disappointed.

Each step leads you closer to your destination, but who, or what, can you expect to meet along the way?

Here are stories of misfits, spectral hitch-hikers, nightmare travel tales and the rogues, freaks and monsters to be found on the road. The critically acclaimed editor of Magic, The End of The Line and House of Fear has brought together the contemporary masters and mistresses of the weird from around the globe in an anthology of travel tales like no other. Strap on your seatbelt, or shoulder your backpack, and wait for that next ride… into darkness.

An incredible anthology of original short stories from an exciting list of writers including the bestselling Philip Reeve, the World Fantasy Award-winning Lavie Tidhar and the incredible talents of S. L. Grey, Ian Whates, Jay Caselberg, Banjanun Sriduangkaew, Zen Cho, Sophia McDougall, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Anil Menon, Rio Youers, Vandana Singh, Paul Meloy, Adam Nevill and Helen Marshall.

Jonathan Oliver is the editor-in-chief of Solaris and Abaddon. He has two novels out with Abaddon Books, The Call of Kerberos and The Wrath of Kerberos, and three other anthologies: House of Fear, The End of the Line, and the World Fantasy award nominee Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane.

End of the Road was published by Solaris Books on December 15, 2013. It is 304 pages, priced at $7.99 in paperback and $6.99 for the digital edition. The moody and effective cover is by Nicolas Delort.

The Thrill of Writing, the Agony of Revision

The Thrill of Writing, the Agony of Revision

Comments 6 comments

Revising cartoon-smallComposing a new story, especially a novel, is a thrilling experience filled with highs and lows, slow days and fast ones, sweat and tears (and occasionally a little blood). In a lot of ways, the writing is the “fun part” of being an author. However, that wonderful time is always followed by the worst part of being a writer.

Revision.

All right, I’m being a little hyperbolic. Revision isn’t all bad. It’s certainly a challenge to take a pile of words and try to shape them into something that sort of resembles art, or at least an interesting story. But it’s also a lot of work. And, for me, the worst part is getting started.

Right after I finish the first draft of a manuscript, I put it away for a couple weeks. The goal is to forget what I wrote as much as possible so that when I sit down with it again, I can attempt to see it with fresh eyes. But here’s the problem. There is an immutable law of writing that first drafts always suck. Always. There was a time when I didn’t think so, when I thought my first drafts were pretty damned good. Yeah, I was too stupid to know better.

Now that my blissful ignorance has worn off, I approach these “first re-reads” of a manuscript with equal parts of excitement and dread. And the excitement part evaporates quickly after reading the first few pages, leaving me with only dread, growing over my head like a cloud of impenetrable darkness as I wade deeper and deeper in to the morass which I’d like to think has the potential to be a decent novel.

…

Read More Read More

Weird Tales 362 on Sale Soon!

Weird Tales 362 on Sale Soon!

Comments 3 comments

Weird Tales 362-smallOur roving correspondent — and new Online Editor for Weird Tales magazine — Douglas Draa reports on the latest issue of the world’s oldest (and arguably greatest) fantasy magazine.

Weird Tales magazine and Nth Dimension Media are pleased to announce the pending publication of the Spring 2014 issue of Weird Tales magazine. Continuing the successful concept of themed issues, #362 is our unsettling, but entertaining, Undead issue.

And as always, there is also a sizable amount of un-themed fiction included in this issue. Issue #362 contains a mixture of themed and un-themed weird fiction and poetry along with sprinkling of non-fiction. Some of the Contributors to Issue #362 “Undead Issue,” along with many other talented writers, are Ron Goulart, Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, Darrell Schweitzer, Jane Yolen, M. R. James & Helen Grant, and James Aquilone.

This issue also contains an exclusive interview with Joyce Carol Oates, and a new short story written for Weird Tales by Minimum Wage comic book artist, Bob Fingerman, whose work influenced Walking Dead creator, Robert Kirkman. The front cover art is by Danielle Tunstall with a Richard Matheson tribute painting on the rear cover by Jeff Wong.

This is the third issue produced by Nth Dimension Media, under new editor Marvin Kaye. We’re told the issue has gone to the printers and will be on newsstands (and in subscribers mailboxes) in the very near future. We have an electronic reviewer’s copy in our hot little hands and we’ll be reporting on it shortly.

In the meantime, here’s a peek at the complete table of contents.

…

Read More Read More

Viking Art, Magic, and Wisdom at the British Museum

Viking Art, Magic, and Wisdom at the British Museum

Comments 2 comments

The Hunterston Brooch, c. 700, Hunterston, Ayrshire, Scotland. Gold, silver, amber. Diam. 12.2cm. Runic inscription says, ''Melbrigda owns this brooch'. Copyright National Museums Scotland.
The Hunterston Brooch, c. 700, Hunterston, Ayrshire, Scotland. Gold, silver, amber. Diam. 12.2cm.
Runic inscription says, ”Melbrigda owns this brooch.’ Copyright National Museums Scotland.

 

They journeyed boldly;
Went for gold,
Fed the eagle
Out in the east,
And died in the south
In Saracen land.
— Gripsholm Runestone (AD 1000-1100)

 

The British Museum has come up with another blockbuster with its new exhibition, Vikings: Life and Legend. Bringing together hundreds of artifacts from around the world, this massive exhibition tells about Norse life, art, and beliefs through everyday objects, works of art, magical objects, and even an entire Viking ship.

There are many surprises. For example, a whalebone axehead from Greenland dating to 1000-1300 AD shows that far-flung Norsemen in harsh regions used whatever material they had at hand. I’m sure the owner of this axehead wanted a real one of iron — the axe appears to have broken at the socket! There are also charming reminders of family life, such as some wooden toy boats from Dublin dating to around 800-1050 AD.

…

Read More Read More

Vintage Treasures: Marianne, The Magus, and the Manticore by Sheri S. Tepper

Vintage Treasures: Marianne, The Magus, and the Manticore by Sheri S. Tepper

Comments 4 comments

Marianne The Magus and the Manticore-smallI’ve written a lot of Vintage Treasures articles (over 400 now, believe it or not.) Most of them feature collectible paperbacks and virtually all of them — even the old Ace Doubles from the 1950s — are inexpensive to acquire for the patient collector. It’s very, very rare that I discuss one that costs as much as a new paperback, for example.

Sheri S. Tepper’s Marianne, The Magus, and the Manticore is an exception. Used copies start at $10 – 15 on both Amazon and eBay and copies in good shape will run you closer to $40. It’s not particularly old — published in 1985 — and it’s not even all that rare. So why is it so expensive? Because it was published just before her groundbreaking novel The Gate to Women’s Country (1988) and the Hugo-nominated Grass (1989). In other words, before Tepper became a Big Name in the industry. The book was reprinted once, in 1988, but has now been out of print for nearly 30 years. Tepper has a great many fans, and the law of supply and demand dictates that the volumes in this trilogy are likely to be hot properties for some time.

Legacy Of Magic

Marianne was born to luxury in the tiny nation of Alphenlicht, nestled in the mountains between Turkey and Iraq. The her parents died, leaving control of their fortune to the older brother she fears. Struggling to make her way as a student in America, Alphenlicht seems as unreal as a fairy tale, her childhood there as distant as a dream…

… Until the Magus comes to claim her, and the Black Madame to destroy her, and the Manticore to hunt her down through the streets of another world. For there is magic in the land of Alphenlicht. Magic in Marianne’s blood, and magic in her soul…

Marianne, The Magus, and the Manticore was followed by two sequels in what’s now known as the Marianne series: Marianne, The Madame, and the Momentary Gods (1988), and Marianne, the Matchbox, and the Malachite Mouse (1989). A 592-page omnibus volume, The Marianne Trilogy, was offered briefly in paperback by Corgi in 1990 — it’s a great value, if you can find it.

…

Read More Read More

Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1951: A Retro-Review

Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1951: A Retro-Review

Comments 4 comments

Galaxy Science Fiction November 1951-smallGalaxy s November, 1951 issue began (as it usually does) with a foreword from the editor, Horace Gold. Gold addresses the purpose of science fiction, stating:

What science fiction must present entertainingly is speculation. Not prophecy, but fictional surmises based on present factors… When a story hits a future development on the head, it should be considered a minor accident; its main job was not to predict but to conjecture what might happen if certain circumstances followed certain lines of development.

Regarding the basic plotlines around science fiction, such as interplanetary flight, time travel, and the like, he writes: “Will these worlds ever exist? They may or may not; it doesn’t matter. The possibility is what counts in science fiction, not the certainty.” He concludes that writers “are examining prospects, pleasant and unpleasant alike, and that, if it produces good stories, is the legitimate province of science fiction.”

“Sea Legs” by Frank Quattrocchi — Robert Craig leaves a life of deep space service to live on Earth. But Robert has never known that world; in fact, he has never known constant gravity. He finds there are many more regulations on Earth than in space and that loyalty to the government is of utmost concern. Soon, Robert ends up breaking rules he never knew existed and he flees into radioactive territory to try to escape incarceration.

It took me some time to get into this story, but by the point Robert is on the run, I was finally rooting for him. I think there was enough setup for this to be the opening chapters of a novel, so it seemed like too much to me.

…

Read More Read More

Four Modules

Four Modules

Comments 6 comments

B1 In Search of the Unknown-smallOne of the many interesting divides among devotees of “old school” roleplaying games, particularly those who favor Dungeons & Dragons, concerns the place of the adventure module. An adventure module is a product detailing a locale to be explored or a situation to be resolved. By many reckonings, the first such module appeared in 1976, written by Pete and Judy Kerestan. Entitled Palace of the Vampire Queen, it described the five-level dungeon inhabited by undead – including the Vampire Queen herself – and other unpleasant things. Held captive within the dungeon is the daughter of a dwarf king, providing a motivation for the characters to become involved beyond glory and gold. While it isn’t notably clever in its conceptions, the module was groundbreaking in that it showed there was market for prefabricated, portable adventures rather than relying solely on the referee’s own efforts. It’s little wonder, then, that modules quickly became a staple of TSR’s catalog, as well as those of other publishers.

The issue some old schoolers take with adventure modules is that they, to borrow Gygax’s famous phrase from Volume 3 of the 1974 edition of D&D, “do … your imagining for you.” More importantly, modules unconsciously establish not only a notion of what an adventure is and ought to be, but they also establish the outlines of a fantasy setting rather than leaving all of these up to each referee to decide for himself and his own campaign. I’m somewhat sympathetic to this point of view, since I know well how powerful an influence TSR’s modules exercised over my own youthful imagination. At the same time, many of these modules served as helpful models to me as I started creating my own dungeons, adventures, and settings. Likewise, they provided a point of commonality between myself and other players, regardless of where they lived or with whom they played. When I met others at local games meets or conventions (or, nowadays, online), we can reminisce about our shared experiences fighting through the Caves of Chaos or the wonders we saw when we first beheld dark fairyland of the Vault of the Drow.

…

Read More Read More