BlackGate - Todd McAulty (and others)
If you subscribe or happen to buy issue 12 of BlackGate, you MUST READ the story by Todd McAulty. It is Superb!!! (Issue 12 was also offered as a free PDF download–it may still be availabe at the website–check to see!)
One of the things the magazine BlackGate allows is longer stories. The Soldiers of Serenity by McAulty read like a novel. In so many short stories, the payoff is quick, sometimes dirty. Just as you “get” the characters, the story is over. Not So Here. McAulty took his time. He introduced characters. He ran down corridors. He twisted a bit…he teased. It’s all ordinary, right? But you knew every character held a key, every detail mattered. I kept wanting to check to see how much story was left because I just KNEW the pay-off was a few pages away! I couldn’t read fast enough! WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, DAMMIT?????
I can’t even tell you what kind of story this is, because it would ruin one of the surprises–that’s part of the key. You’re reading along, wondering, “So what is this story? Where’s the speculative element?” Then you think you know…
Even if you don’t like short stories (and there are ever so many that I don’t–the short story isn’t my favorite form!) But anyway–this story was entertaining, smart, twisted.
An excellent read.
Update: 8/10/08
The story Knives Under Spring Moon by Ed Carmien is also very good. The first part is a little slow, but the payoff comes very nicely with the later action and mysterious buildup of certain characters and concludes very satisfactorily.
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Hi Bear!
Thanks for the great comments on my story. I’m really pleased you enjoyed it. What did you think of the rest of the issue?
Todd McAulty
Webmaster
Black Gate
http://www.blackgate.com
Comment by Todd McAulty — August 8, 2008 @ 1:14 am
Hi Todd! I’m thrilled that you stopped by! Sorry it took me so long to reply–your comment got caught in my spam bucket and I didn’t notice it until just now.
Yours was by far my favorite, but as you can see from the edit/update, I also enjoyed Knives Under Spring Moon. Howard Andrew Jone’s piece “Whispers from the Stone” was good as well. I like it even better now that I’ve set it down for a while. When I first finished it, I had these lingering questions about why this and why that, but what stayed with me was the atmosphere. I loved the “Indiana Jones” feel of it.
I also finished reading the classic story, Tumithak. Those classics are always interesting, but I don’t know that they’ll ever be my favorite. I like today’s pacing better.
Some of the artwork was particularly good in this issue, (The piece that went with the Knives story stood out as a favorite) but then BlackGate is exceptional about putting in good art.
I haven’t finished reading yet; there’s still more stories! That’s the other treat about the magazine–more than just two or three and nice long pieces!
Comment by Maria — August 13, 2008 @ 8:15 pm