Black Gate (magazine)
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Black Gate is a glossy, quarterly fantasy magazine founded in 2000 and published by New Epoch Press. Using the slogan "Adventures in Fantasy Literature," Black Gate primarily features original short fiction up to novella length. While the apparent emphasis is on adventure and sword and sorcery stories recalling the heyday of the pulp magazine, the stories use stronger characterization and plotting as would be expected in contemporary fantasy and science fiction.
In addition to fiction, Black Gate also features reviews of fantasy novels, graphic novels, and role playing game products. This is suplemented by columns and articles reflecting on fantasy literature's past as well as the occasional interview. Every issue contains the comic Knights of the Dinner Table: Java Joint by Kenzer & Company of Knights of the Dinner Table fame.
Much of the fiction is by lesser known or new authors but noted contributors included Michael Moorcock, Mike Resnick, Charles de Lint, and Cory Doctorow. As a semi-regular feature, Black Gate reprints rare adventure stories from earlier decades, or work from more recent years that the editors feel has been neglected. For instance, past issues have featured serialized Tumithak novels from Charles R. Tanner.
[edit] Critical Response
On its debut, Black Gate received strong reviews in Locus and elsewhere, many citing the sheer size of the issues (usually 200+ pages) and the high production values. This has proved quite ambitious, though. Various production problems have led to publication less frequent than the intended quarterly schedule. Nevertheless, John O'Neill has made a public commitment to readers and advertisers to get production back on track and more frequent publication of the recent issues tend to support that claim.
[edit] Editors
- John O'Neill, 2000 to present
- Howard Andrew Jones 2006 to present
In 2006 John O'Neill announced that Howard Andrew Jones would be joining the Black Gate staff as Managing Editor.
