Thought for the Day

"An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself."

~ Charles Dickens

Day of the Triffids

A cheery song about the Eco-Apocalypse that is The Day of the Triffids, as realised by 2000AD artist Henry Flint. I kid you not.

 

Short Story Saturday: Small Press Saturday?

I seem to be writing more and more short stories for Small Press publications this year. (And this after I decided not to task myself with writing twelve shorts in 2012!)

Yes, I still write short stories set within the worlds of Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000 and Pax Britannia on a semi-regular basis but my horror portfolio and weird fiction library are growing thanks to the wonders of the Small Presses. These are the publications where I get to try out new ideas, new ways of writing, which I believe is making me a better writer, with some of the techniques learned slowly starting to slip through into my more 'mainstream' work - if any of it could ever really be called mainstream!

So with that in mind, today I'm going to update you on a couple of Small Press things I've got going on.


Saturday 30 June - the Forbidden Planet London Megastore will be hosting an event with a difference – welcoming a host of authors and editors from four small press publishers into a mini convention in our very own store! This will include Pandemonium Fiction and I will be among those signing copies of Stories of the Smoke.

Saturday 30 June - is also the scheduled release date for Resurrection Engines, edited by Scott Harrison and published by Snowbooks.

July 2012 - will see the publication of World's Collider, the shared world anthology I've been involved in. In fact my story is the first in the collection and kicks everything off. Edits when back this week so everything appears to be on schedule. Fifty million people died in the Collision. They were the lucky ones…



More news on  Resurrection Engines and  World's Collider when I have it. Until then...

Gamebook Friday: Stormslayer review

It's a bit of a blast from the past, but here's a great review of my sixth Fighting Fantasy gamebook Stormslayer that came out when the book did in 2009.


After years of peace, the kingdom of Femphrey is at war again - only this time it is with the elements! Devastating storms sweep across the country, destroying all in their path. Blizzards and floods threaten some areas while others suffer the worst droughts seen in centuries. But is this climate chaos all it appears to be? Or is there some dark design to this meteorological meltdown? You are a seasoned adventurer, known throughout the land. You have battled giants and slain dragons, but how can even a veteran warrior like yourself fight the weather? Are you ready to take up the challenge and face the perils that await you within the eye of the storm?


Firstly, I must state that Stormslayer is massive! Although it has the same amount of numbered paragraph entries as the previous two books, there is a lot going in this book. Also, unlike the first two books, the adventure is not set on the continent of Allansia, but in the Old World (check out your copy of Titan for details). In addition, it is an entirely new adventure! No mere reprint here. 


In this book, as in the others, you get you choice of three pregenerated characters or creating your own. I decided to play Gorrin Silverblade, as his description reminded me of a fantasy Indiana Jones. You also get to choose two magical items as well as your mystical sword, Wyrmbiter. Of course, as I chose a pregenerated character, my items were already chosen for me. These items, by the way, have a bearing on the adventure as it unfolds. 


In this adventure you find yourself on the trail of a renegade elementalist, who has created an elemental device capable of destroying the realm. Your quest leads all over the land (and under the ocean), as you seek out the items you require to defeat him and the elementals at his command. Not only that but it’s also a race against time! The whole adventure has a truly epic feel to it and barrels along at a great pace, as you race across the land, gaining items and making allies. 


Jonathan Green has penned a really great adventure worthy of Jackson and Livingstone. It really captures all the things I love about Fighting Fantasy, danger, excitement, great puzzles, vivid descriptions of incredible places and vile villains! Furthermore, Green’s words are ably accompanied by the incredible illustrations of Stephen Player. Have I completed my quest? No, but I can’t wait to give it another go!

Brady Webb


You can pick up your own copy of Stormslayer here.

Steampunk Thursday - 5 stars for Time's Arrow: Black Swan!

Part 2 of my eBook serialised Pax Britannia novel Time's Arrow has received another glowing review which I thought I'd share with you here.

Familiar events and characters... are recombined into new patterns. Like all good spies Ulysses finds a pretty girl to help him ... but is she more of a hindrance? Is our heroine really our villainess in disguise? This is the question people are being asked to vote on at the end of the second part, to be picked up in Time's Arrow: White Noise.

Jonathan has taken a relatively new idea: that you need to be engaged with your audience by making things interactive, and combined it with traditions of the chose your own adventure genre. We're given the main body of the story, but we get to chose how to interpret the events and thus set the course for the next section of the book. And it's hard; a fortnight after reading part two I have no idea how to vote.

You can read the full review here, and pick up your own copy of Time's Arrow: Black Swan here.

Warhammer Wednesday: Oblivion cometh

"The Emperor commands us.
Dorn guides us.
Honour shields us.
Fear our name, for it is vengeance."

~ From the teachings of Rhetoricus

HERALD OF OBLIVION

You are a veteran Space Marine of the Imperial Fists Chapter. Equipped with powerful Terminator armour and armed with the deadliest weapons that the Adeptus Astartes wield, you are a symbol of the Emperor's might. Trapped aboard the space hulk Herald of Oblivion and the only survivor of your squad, you must fight your way through the aliens and heretics that infest the star vessel and find a way to escape the horror and return to your Chapter.

Tie-in Tuesday: Doctor Who The Eternity Clock launch trailer