John O'Neill (3)

I've been reading the Black Gates in order. I hate to say, but this is my least favorite issue so far. That's not to say that there aren't some good tales here, but the over all choices aren't as good as some of the past issues.

The Whited Child
Story about a cycle that ties in with the nature of a mountain range. Very odd, but I did enjoy it.

Payment Deferred
Morlock is being hassled by another wizard who desires his fame. This wizard is too clever for his wizardly britches in this story, which also contains a good bit of humor. Another strong outing for Morlock and the intriguing world he inhabits.

The Thrall
A story about a really screwed up society that has many people who can simply command others to do whatever they wish. Command as in a spell type of command. There is a price, as whoever uses this ability suffers some serious physical side effects depending on how powerful their command is.
On one level it appears to be about a brainwashed society who don't look beyond the surface of what their leaders are feeding them. If that is the case, then I guess the main characters are like fantasy versions of Joe the Plumber lol

Seijin's Enlightenment
This story is about a samurai and his code. In his travels, he happens across a fellow who causes him to question his code, which, in this case, brings into question his very reason for existence. How does he handle the answers? Very good tale, but I am biased as I love martial arts.

Pets
a story about some kids catch a wierd fish.

The Hand That Binds
This is basically a retelling of Beowulf from the eyes of a foreign bard who happens to be living with the people that Grendel is terrorizing. Somewhat interesting.

It's a Wonderful Con
An over confident con man attempts to rip off a guy in a santa suit, just for kicks.

The Longday Hunt
Well written tale of a boy attempting to achieve success in a tribal task that might have some inadvertent serious consequences. Somewhat interesting.

The Final Flight of Major Havoc
Major Havoc is doing the groundhog day. He can't handle the truth.

A Touch of Crystal
Urban Fantasy (?) involving a young woman who works at a new agey establishment. It's funny reading of her thoughts, she reminds me of a couple of ladies I know who work in the local vitamins/herbal health shop.
A couple of the customers coming into the store spark the action, and it is humorous to see what she thinks or does at each point. I'm partial to hematite myself, so any tale that works it into the plot is ok by me :)

Black Gate Fantasy Classic: The Fifth Dimension Catapult
First published in Jan 1931 Amazing Stories of Science Fiction.
I've highly enjoyed each of these Black Gate pulp classic reprints. This story is also a lot of fun.

An amusing quote from the main character:

So he pulled out a case and lighted a cigarette and said sardonically, "The fifth dimension? That seems rather extreme. Most of us get along very well with three dimensions. Four seems luxurious. Why pick on the fifth?"

Retro Hugos That Will Never Be 1954 and 1955
Another interesting research article, where a boatload of tales written in 1954 and 1955 are considered, and a case made for various tales to be considered for a retro-hugo. And also why it won't happen. He also goes over some other years, such as 1953. There are mention of a lot of authors first stories appearing, etc.

Reviews of the following games:
o Northern Crown: New World Adventures
o Explorers Handbook (Eberron)
o The Secret of Zir'an Core Gamebook
o Frostburn (D&D)
o Sandstorm (D&D)
o Stormwrack (D&D)

Reviews of the following books:
o His Last Command: A Gaunt's Ghosts Novel (Warhammer)
o Tumithak of the Cooridors (entertaining review)
o In Lands That Never Were: Tales of Swords and Sorcery
o The Historian
o Four and Twenty Blackbirds
o Dragon Rider
o The Dark Hills Divide, Land of Elyon Book 1
o The Black Angel
o The Death Collectors… (lisätietoja)

Another good issue of Black Gate. 208 pages. There is quite a variety of fantasy tales here. I'll take a stab at categorizing the tales below.

Turning of the tiles
Survival Horror/Humor in ancient China?
Another story of Dao-Shi. These stories are fun, since the guy is an exorcist. The thing is, he is really a fake. Which is ok, until he runs into a real spirit. There is a good bit of humor here, simply in how Dao-shi thoughts as things are happening.

Turn up this crooked way
Odd Sorcery
Morlock has to find his shoes (easier said than done). The characters in this story are fun. The terrain, elements, even the shoes, everything seems to have its own personality.

Heat Waves
Rural Fantasy (I hope)
The story is about a young girl waiting on her parents after church, and trying not to pee in her pants. In some way, she is telepathic (i think). There might be spiritual beings, or maybe it's all in her head.

The Carrion Call
Middle ages survival horror?
This might have been a swords and sorcery, or maybe historical fantasy. But it is told from the perspective of two young kids whom search a haunted battlefield for their fathers body. There is an interesting underlying theme of Norse religion giving way to Christianity. Some genuinely creepy and scary parts here.

Winters Touch
Magical tragic fantasy?
Two young witches (?) find an injured boy. They want to nurse him back to health, but they will have to somehow convince their father of this. Good character development here.

Mortal Star
Swords and Sorcery at a tribal level
This is my favorite story in this issue. Very interesting setting. Here, some humans are very long lived, if not immortal. But when their time is up, they have to travel to a place whispered to them by their guiding star. This story is about that journey, and the ramifications of surviving or failing in that journey.
Another nice part is the people are regarded as a nation. It's a tribal relationship they have, and I found it very interesting. Also, the main characters here are almost all women, as they are the ones who are capable of achieving the Wielder status.

Fat Jack and the Spider Clown
Sci Fi?
I didn't like this story all that much, it was just ok.

The Nursemaids Suitor
Historical Fantasy?
I'm not sure if this is based in an actual historical period, but it might be. Medieval times, and a nursemaid with an heir escapes a castle under siege with a soldier who loves her. There is some interesting prose, elephants, and basically a lot of hiding/stealth. Her goal is to protect the baby. His goal is to marry the girl.

The History of the Ace Doubles
I always enjoy these well researched articles in Black Gate. This one has all kinds of great information on Ace Doubles. So if you are a collector of Ace Doubles, you would love this.

Reviews of the following games:
o Tekumel
o Races of Destiny (D&D)
o Blue Rose
o All Wound Up (zombie board game)

Reviews of the following books:
o Valnir's Bane: a Blackheart Novel (Warhammer)
o The City of Towers, The Dreaming Dark 1: (Eberron)
o Lords of Swords
o The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane
o Dead as a Doornail
o Dead Beat: A Novel of the Desden Files
o Diary: A Novel
o Bad Men
o Strange Cargo
o The Shadow of the Wind
o The Family Trade: Book One of the Merchant Princess
o The Bad Place
o The Ancient Legacy… (lisätietoja)

This is a great issue of Black Gate.

There are several stories here that I absolutely loved reading.

"Two-Skins" is one of my favorite stories so far from Black Gate.
Here you have a Roman type of society that is ever encroaching on the two-skins, who live in the wilds of nature. The civilized society will go out and capture entire villages of these two-skins and force them to fight in a kind of gladiatorial arena. The two-skins get their name from an ability to morph into an avatar of an animal. What strikes me as interesting is how the roles seem completely reversed, and the civilized people seem more barbaric than the two-skins.

"Tumithak of the corridors" was another that I couldn't put down.
This is one of the older pulp stories, and it is quite interesting. Imaging that mankind had been driven underground so long ago that nobody remembers having lived on the surface. There are a few dusty legends, but that's about it. This is the story of a young man who discovers that humanity lived above ground centuries ago, and he makes a vow to return to the surface.… (lisätietoja)