Black Gate – Winter 2010 (Issue 14) – Part 3

NOTE: Black Gate Issue 14 was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by New Epoch Press.


After looking at the first two parts of the latest issue of Black Gate, it is time to read the final third! The novellas really took the cake for the middle section, and had me really excited about the last part of this juggernaut of a magazine. This time around, we have six short stories, two poems, the book review section, and the Knights of the Dinner Table strip.

“The Lady’s Apprentice” by Jan Stirling: This story of a once powerful lady who is now old and poor was slow paced, with a conclusion that seemed like it could have been a little more developed, but it was well-written, which helped make it more readable.

“The Wine-Dark Sea” by Isabel Pelech: An assassin hidden behind a full body mask sets out to return a woman’s son to her. Not a bad tale, it had some intriguing images, but seemed to miss a bit of the zest of “Adventures in Fantasy Literature” that I was looking for in a magazine with that line on its cover.

“On a Pale Horse” by Sylvia Volk: This story of a girl who seeks to tame a unicorn is one that just didn’t grab me, and I ended up not finishing it. I suppose horse stories aren’t quite my thing, and this one just didn’t pull off the rest of the aspects to make me keep reading.

“La Señora de Oro” by R.L. Roth: This epistolary tale of a man out seeking gold to buy his farm from the bank is very engaging, playing with some nice horror themes, and really drawing out the protagonists character. The story races to a conclusion that was plenty rewarding. A nice piece after a couple of disappointments.

“Building Character” by Tom Sneem: An entertaining tale of a character being run through a novice writer’s series of stories, this one manages to be both engaging and funny. A nice piece to build towards the end.

“Broadcaster” by Arthur Porges: This poem builds a neat image, and flows quite nicely.

“Folie and Null” by Douglas Empringham: Another tale that just seemed to flop for me. In this case, a man on the run finds a hideout that is more than it seems, but the story didn’t do much for me at all.

“Spanish Dance” by Arthur Porges: Another nice piece by Porges. He certainly captures images nicely, and is a good fit for this magazine.

The book review section is hefty, which is a nice treat. Black Gate always has a wide variety of reviews, and this issue is no disappointment, giving reviews of a large number of books from all over the genre. The reviews are well-written, and certainly are nice to get a grasp on before setting out to buy new books, as well as introducing some volumes from smaller publishers that the average reader may not have heard about.

The volume wraps up, as usual, with a Knights of the Dinner Table: The Java Joint comic strip, in which one of the characters plans on confronting Neil Gaiman for stealing his ideas. The extra-long strip was a fun way to close such a large issue, and manages to be plenty funny.

All-in-all, the tail end of this issue was a bit of a disappointment, not giving me as many winners as I had hoped after reading the first two-thirds. However, the overall issue (please see reviews of Part 1 and Part 2 also) is a winner, giving you a lot of content, most quite good, for a decent price. Fans of fantasy are highly encouraged to grab a copy, or get a subscription, and support a magazine that is putting out some solid stories.

Black Gate – Winter 2010 (Issue 14)—Part 2

NOTE: Black Gate Issue 14 was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by New Epoch Press.


I recently worked my way through the exciting first third of the newest issue of Black Gate, and now it is time to return to the magazine for part two of our three part journey. This time we will see 3 novellas, 3 short stories, and 1 poem, listed below with individual comments.

“Devil on the Wind” by Michael Jasper & Jay Lake: This tale of a witch heading to town to collect her coven’s “tax” on the citizens was one that fell entirely flat for me. I just couldn’t enjoy this one. After the level of enjoyment I took from my last Jay Lake piece, The Specific Gravity of Grief, this one was a major let down.

“The Price of Two Blades” by Pete Butler: A story-teller and entertainer sits down to learn a new story for his repertoire, and finds much more. This is an absolutely brilliant piece. The novella flew by, playing both with action fantasy and the art of telling stories. One of the best pieces of short fiction I’ve read from 2010, it would be an injustice for this one not to win some awards.

“The Girl Who Feared Lightning” by Dan Brodribb: A brief and wryly humorous tale of a security guard who has to deal with a rather supernatural problem. Brodribb presents a tale that works, but I wonder if it wasn’t as funny as it was supposed to have been.

“Wanted! A Clown Incognito” by Aamir Aziz: The first poem of the volume, this one wasn’t bad, although I have trouble giving a more substantial review of brief poetry than that.

“Destroyer” by James Enge: A tale of Enge’s popular character, Morlock the Maker. Morlock leads a family through hostile territory, trying to pass through a valley in the middle of a gigantic mountain range. With insect-like enemies on all sides, Morlock does everything he can to lead his charges to safety. This was my introduction to Morlock, and I will certainly be on the lookout for more, including both of Enge’s Morlock books out from Pyr.

“The Natural History of Calamity” by Robert J. Howe: The last novella of the collection is another winner. While I found this tale of a karmic detective in a case far deeper than she ever imagined to have an ending I didn’t find satisfying, the plot was very engaging, working as a mystery novella along with its fantasy trappings. I will be looking for more from Howe.

“Red Hell” by Renee Stern: In a steampunk-esque environment, criminals work off their debt to society as laborers. However, when one man is framed, he’ll do anything to escape. This one started of slow, but got better as it went along. It wasn’t one of the highlights of this issue, but it wasn’t too bad.

The second of the three sections proved to be even better than the first. Despite weak opening and closing stories, the novellas in particular stole the show. Stop back again in a couple weeks for the third and final part of my look at Black Gate issue 14, reviewing “The Lady’s Apprentice” by Jan Stirling, “The Wine-Dark Sea” by Isabel Pelech, “”On a Pale Horse” by Sylvia Volk, “La Señora de Oro” by R.L. Roth, “Building Character” by Tom Sneem, “Broadcaster” by Arthur Porges, “Folie and Null” by Douglas Empringham, “Spanish Dance” by Arthur Porges, an extended book review section, and a special 8-page Knights of the Dinner Table strip.

Black Gate—Winter 2010 (Issue 14)—Part 1

NOTE: Black Gate issue 14 was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by New Epoch Press.


There are fewer and fewer successful genre magazines these days, and you would be hard-pressed to find a fantasy magazine out there better than Black Gate. It is a solid magazine with good content, and very much worth the entry fee. After a long period since Issue 13, Issue 14 was released, and it is a behemoth. Gigantic doesn’t begin to describe it. So, with that in mind, I am going to take a look at the newest issue of Black Gate over three segments, each covering (very) roughly one third of the magazine.

The issue starts with John O’neill’s always entertaining editorial, this time on “Tiny Empires” and his experiences with wargaming. We then get the letters section, before diving into the stories and articles.

“Dark of the Year” by Diana Sherman: In a world where children are taken by shadowy demons if they are unnamed, one man sets out to find a name for his orphaned granddaughter. I found the ending to be a bit predictable, but this is an entertaining story never-the-less. The quest of the grandfather was one that carried you right along.

“The Hangman’s Daughter” by Chris Braak: In a world of non-human but human-like sentient species, one little girl must face a childhood nightmare that is far more real than people want to believe. I found this one entertaining, with a bit of a slow start but a satisfying conclusion. The repetitive parallel paragraphing for the protagonist’s dreams didn’t work for me at all, but they luckily didn’t crop up too often.

“The Bonestealer’s Mirror” by John C. Hocking: Brand the Viking, along with his companions, stop to investigate a signal fire, only to find a town beset by a terrible creature that steals the bones from its victims’ bodies. Hocking proves, yet again, to be a top-notch storyteller worthy of the mantel of the next Robert E. Howard, yet he fills his tales with a sterling originality that would be done a gross disservice by labeling it anything other than purely Hocking. The plot, the characters, the setting: all are wonderful, and a joy to explore. The day a collection of Hocking’s Brand stories comes out is the day I wait in line to buy a copy.

“The Word of Azrael” by Matthew David Surridge: This tale of a man on a lifelong quest in search of the angel of death grasps the moody, mystical quality of both dream and myth, and weaves it throughout. The story carries you along without effort, and is certainly wonderful to read. It occasionally got a bit too slow and tried a little too hard to add poetics to its setting, but I still found it to be a solid story from an author I will be looking for more from.

“Back to the Future: Modern Reprints of Classic Fantasy” by Rich Horton: A wonderful essay from a man entrenched in the genre, Horton explores host of publishers who are bringing back some unjustly forgotten classics. While most will be familiar with some of these, few will be familiar with all, and the essay brings up both authors and books that I will be keeping an eye out for. A wonderful essay.

“The Mist Beyond the Circle” by Martin Owton: When slave-dealers kidnap their families, ten people set out to get them back, using a little mysticism, a little fighting of beasts of the dead, and a dab of murder. I had a bit of trouble getting into this one at first, but it got better as it went along.

“Freedling” by Mike Shultz: A middle-of-the-line story, not great but one that I feel I won’t think much about and will forget soon enough, this tale is of a young girl and an evil sorcer who are trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building.

“The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying” by Alex Kreis: A very short story, this one is an open letter to the people Gharad oppressed as their dictator, now that he has been defeated and thrown into prison. A fun piece of fluff, but without much to really impress me.

We then are given a 20 page gaming review section, covering a huge host of titles. I am very much of the opinion that the review sections are among the highlights of each issue of Black Gate, and I am not proven wrong this time around.

A solid start to Issue 14, stop by in a couple weeks for part two, which will look at “Devil on the Wind” by Michael Jasper & Jay Lake, “The Price of Two Blades” by Pete Butler, “The Girl Who Feared Lightning” by Dan Brodribb, “Wanted! A Clown Incognito” by Aamir Aziz, “Destroyer” by James Enge, “The Natural History of Calamity” by Robert J. Howe, and “Red Hell” by Renee Stern.

Black Gate—Spring 2009 (Issue 13)

Moving back to the realm of short stories after far too long an absence, I snagged the latest issue of Black Gate off of my shelves to finally sit down and read it. What with all of the bouncing around lately, and Black Gate's over-sized format, it would have been difficult to pop in and out on the bus, so I was very happy to finally settle down with it for a bit. After a wonderful editorial on the origins of SF Site (a website you must check out), and a letters column (that is sadly missing in most fiction magazines today), the stories begin.


“The Beautiful Corridor” by Jonathan L. Howard: A short piece on a woman who is working her way into the center of a temple full of traps to find a holy figure, Howard does an excellent job of keeping the story light-hearted, and the pace swift. This is a very fun story, and an excellent introduction to my reading of Black Gate.

“The Good Sheriff” by David Wesley Hill: Hill presents a “weird western,” with a cowboy from Texas trying to find his way home from a land of demons and monsters. A very well-told tale that takes a very odd idea and plays with it rationally. Well worth the read.

“The Face in the Sea” by John C. Hocking: This wonderful story tells of Viking-like people returning from a raid on their enemy’s stronghold to recover their princess, and one shaman’s all-out assault to stop them. A very well told story, reminiscent of Robert E. Howard. I’ll be looking for more by Hocking.

“Behind the Magic of Recluse” by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.: An interesting article about the scientific underpinnings of the magic system Modesitt uses in his Recluse series. It seems like it would have been more informative to a reader familiar to his series, it was still a very neat look at an alternative to the generic magic systems.

“Naktong Flow” by Myke Cole: An interesting story with more of an Eastern cultural flavor, Cole tells us of a country making a last ditch effort to rid themselves of an evil. It felt like it was less about adventure and action and more about setting and mood, and it fit in just the right spot in this issue.

“The Murder at Doty Station” by Matthew Bey: A light tale that was okay, but not great. Its brevity helped it, but I felt it was a bit forgettable.

“The Evil Eater” by Peadar Ó Guilín: A wonderful story that mixed in just the right amount of horror. Another new author to check out more of. This story of a restaurant of more than good food is a great read.

“Bones in the Desert, Stones in the Sea” by Amy Tibbetts: A sad, poignant, and well-written story that made the cultural in the story seem perfectly incorporated, playing a large part without feeling forced. Tibbetts presents us with a tale of a brother’s love for his sister, and how far he will go to protect what is hers after her death.

“Spider Friend” by L. Blunt Jackson: A brilliant fable-like tale, with an ending that I didn’t see coming, but that didn’t interrupt the wonderful style that Jackson worked throughout. One of the best “modern fables” I have read.

“The Naturalist, Part III: St. George and the Antriders” by Mark Sumner: I haven’t read this one yet, but it looks brilliant. I got to it, but I wanted to save it for another time, as it is a bit longer, and wasn’t quite what I appeared to be in the mood for. However, I promise to return to it, and will give you all of the details.

There were a few other stories in here that I felt rather apathetic towards, in part as they weren’t quite up my alley, and in part because of an overly busy schedule. This issue also contained a number of comic strips, and two brilliant review sections, one on gaming and the other on fiction. I have never seen a magazine have such a detailed, extensive reviews section that covered so many books. It was a wonderful surprise to find them in here. I’m not into roleplaying, so the one section wasn’t much in my interest area, yet I still found some neat reading in it, and glad that I skimmed it on a whim. The fiction reviews section was lovely, and covered far more than the large press magazines do. A wonderful assortment of books were discussed. One day I may attempt to see if I can’t sneak my way into there somehow.

All in all, Black Gate kept my attention far better than any other fiction magazine has. As opposed to copies of Asimov’s, where I find some things I like, and others that just don’t appeal to me, Black Gate contained not a single story that I detested, and only a couple I was ambivalent to. Almost all of the stories I found immediately wonderful, engaging, and very easy to lose oneself in. The quality was beyond impressive, and the extras (reviews sectionS) were brilliant. Anyone who is a fan of adventure or fantasy should immediately check out Black Gate (and their website allows you to buy a single issue “preview copy”). For the cover charge, it contains a LOT of content (224 pages, full magazine size, not digest), good stories, interesting essays, wonderful departments, even an illustration for each story, which is a feature sadly missing in most other magazines. Grab issue 13 while you can, and keep your eyes peeled for the next issue!

7/10