I don't subscribe to many magazines, but Black Gate: Adventures in Fantasy Literature is one of them. I just received my first subscription issue, and I have to say that buyer's remorse is simply not a concern as this issue, Black Gate's fifth, is easily the best of the lot. Editor John O'Neill is showing a deft touch in his development of talented new writers who are not afraid to ignore the overly stylistic postmodernism which, consciously or not, infects far too many of the short fiction world's more established names.

CS Lewis once said that his sense of the magical was always equated with "northerness" in his private vocabulary, and I think that the great Chronicler of Narnia would thoroughly approve of the Spring 2003 issue, which really should have been the winter issue given its distinctly northern theme. Winter, snow, magic, sadness, wolves and the US-Canadian border all factor into the stories here, and I should not be at all surprised if more than one of these works were to be found competing for genre awards at the end of the year, such is the quality of the writing.

Black Gate appears quarterly, runs just under ten bucks an issue, and is excellent value for the money. I've subscribed to it; if you enjoy fantasy fiction that is more interested in the story and the characters than structural posturing, you really should too.

Short Stories: The short stories were very strong in this issue, pretty much across the board. While The Mourning Trees was easily the weakest of the lot as it attempted to make do with playing off the emotional pull of a mother's fear for her child instead of doing much with either characterization, action or even logical consistency, it still had its moments. Stand at Llieva is an excellent piece of magically tinged military fiction, tautly written and compelling throughout. The combination of Spanish Conquest era weaponry and battle magic was intriguing and I'd like to see the concept developed further. Michael Payne's Law and Justice, set in the same world as his "Blood Jaguar", was more interesting for its sans-human world of intelligent talking animals and superbestial avatars than for the story itself, but it is highly original and is told in an easy, relaxed style that fit the setting nicely. One might have wished for a little more sophistication with regards to the Very Bad Religious Fanatics from Bassingthwaite's Barbarian Instinct and perhaps a little less acerbic town-and-country banter as well, but I quite enjoyed the story itself and its conclusion is bang-up great.

La Desterrada is pretty good, although the scarcely concealed gender issue added nothing to the story, and could almost have been set in the same world as the previously mentioned Stand. I found North a complete success, full of the deep pathos for which the author overtly aims. It is sad, yet bordering on uplifting, and its chilling lupine metaphor leaves one afterward with much the same unsettled feeling as one of de Maupassant's darker stories. My favorite in this issue was the cover story, Two-skins in which Shawn Johnson shows how the gladitorial entertainment of Rome might have looked from a participant's perspective, if Rome was not bordered by naked, sword-wielding Gauls, but nature-centric shape-changers instead. The story is powerfully emotional, full of action, and leaves one with a real sense of somber satisfaction.

Novelettes: The classic reprint, Tumithak of the Corridors serves as reminder of how far the fantasy genre has come in its craft, and how much it has lost in its spirit and understanding of the great themes of literature. Tumithak is not out to discover himself, nor does he go on a journey to learn that he really just has to learn to be true to his feelings, he is instead a true hero, a giver of hope to the downtrodden and an exemplary defier of overpowering evil. And Todd McAulty goes from strength to strength in There's a Hole in October, proving that he is rapidly becoming an author with whom to reckon. This tale of supernaturally-gifted children on the run from an inhuman malevolence is ominous and exciting, with excellent characterization, pace and action. I am extremely impressed by this guy, who in his first two publications has set himself a tough standard to uphold. Here's hoping he does it! McAulty is definitely a writer to watch.

Non-fiction: Bassingthwaite's section on roleplaying games is as in-depth and comprehensive as before, and as his short story in this issue shows, he is an engaging writer. One only wonders where he finds the time for all this RPG reading, much less playing. Lalumiere's Comics Cauldron is as esoteric as ever, though it did feel a little phoned-in this time and demonstrated more insight into the reviewer's attitude regarding mass-market capitalism than I felt was necessary. Stay on target, young Jedi! The book reviews were disappointing, particularly those for "Heir Apparent" and "Shadow and Light", both of which featured reviewers who felt the need to attack the genre's favorite bugaboo of religious conservativism, which not only threatens the women of the Ann Bishop novel, but also the children of America, apparently. The ludicrous ignorance of Judeo-Christianity's salutary effect on world history has long been rife within our genre, but I find it increasingly tiresome, especially from those attempting to engage in moralizing finger-wagging. At the other extreme, of course, is the comic Java Joint, which, quite simply, rules....

"..."'The Wheel of Time' saga is, like, the very essence of heroic fantasy. It's practically endless! That's the whole point, Sara!"

Presentation: Black Gate is thick, halfway between a trade paperback and a regular magazine. The covers are beautiful, both in terms of the art and the production. The paper is heavy, the font has been upgraded; so too is the image-printing as well as, from what I did NOT notice, the proof-reading. I'm still not a huge fan of the interior art style, but then, I never like White Wolf's graphics either, so I suppose I'm past it or something. Overall, the quality is head-and-shoulders above the cheap and miniaturized format of the Analog/Asimov/SF&F mags.

Text Sample: "Oh, wow!" exclaimed Father. "Joey, there are whales in the bay!"
"Not whales," said the Indian. "Orca. Wolves of the sea."
Joey shuddered. "Wolves?"
Samuel touched his arm. "Nothing to fear, Joey. Would you like me to tell you about them?"
Joey nodded.
"A long time ago, one of my ancestors, a Haida man from Nootka in Vancouver, found two young wolf pups on the beach. Because the man's wife had recently drowned, he took the wolf cubs home and raised them, so that he would not have to live alone with the sadness. One day, after the wolves had grown, the man saw them swim out into the ocean and kill a whale. They brought the whale back to the shore and shared it with the man. Every day it went like this. Soon there was so much meat lying on the beach that it was going bad. When the Great Above Person - god of the Haida - saw this waste, he was angry. He made a storm and brought down a fog. When the wolves swam out to sea, the fog hid the whales. The wolves couldn't find any whales to kill. Thwe waves were so high that the wolves could not find their way back to the shore. They had to stay in the ocean. These wolves became sea wolves. Whale hunters."
"Can you see them?"
"No." "Listen for them. There, in the bay. To the North."


- From North, by Brian A. Hopkins. Black Gate Magazine, Spring 2003

To the Reviews page