David Moody's Blog, page 58
April 15, 2015
Free ebooks via Bitlit
By now I guess you know my philosophy – I only want people to buy the same book once. If you buy a paperback, I want you to be able to download the ebook version for free. Similarly, if you buy an ebook then wish you’d bought a print edition, I think you should only have to pay the paperback cost less the price you originally paid for the ebook.
Economics and practicalities sometimes make achieving these aims difficult, but I’m always on the look out for ways to simplify the process. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce Bitlit.
Bitlit is an app, available for iOS and Android. It’s beautifully simple: you take a shelfie with your camera (ie a picture of your bookshelf), and the app scans the titles you’ve got, identifies them, and directs you to free or low price versions of the books you already have in print (where available). I’m pleased to say that we’re making Infected Books titles available free via the service, and you can now download STRAIGHT TO YOU, AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION, TRUST and STRANGERS for free from Bitlit (as long as you own a print version, of course).
Don’t want to use Bitlit? Already own the ebook? Visit the Infected Books site for more information.
Free ebooks via Bitlit is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER
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April 14, 2015
Are you trying to tell me something?
Is long-time reader Jami Sroka trying to tell me something? #zombiesoap #undeadbathroomhabits #washingacorpse Thanks for the present Jami!
Are you trying to tell me something? is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER
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April 11, 2015
28 Weeks Later
Back in January I wrote a piece about 28 DAYS LATER. The film went down reasonably well with my kids and we soon settled down together to watch the sequel, 2007’s 28 WEEKS LATER.
Interestingly, if you look back at my earlier piece, you’ll see that I enjoyed 28DL more than I had previously. I felt like it had improved with age. 28WL had the opposite effect, however, and I didn’t warm to it as I had the earlier film. As always, a synopsis and trailer follows, and my thoughts are after the jump.
Six months after the rage virus was inflicted on the population of Great Britain, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start again. But not everything goes to plan.
At the time I made no secret of the fact I didn’t hold out a lot of hope for 28WL. It felt like an inevitable but unwanted sequel, and it would have been so easy for the film-makers to cash in on the unexpected popularity of the first film and tread the same well-worn path again. To their credit, that wasn’t what we got. Though I didn’t find the sequel completely satisfactory (and I’ll explain why in a minute), 28WL is a compelling, intelligent and welcomingly original follow-up.
I think that has a lot to do with the set up. Rather than continue the action from the first film or tell another alternative outbreak story, director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (who also wrote the screenplay along with Rowan Joffe) takes the brave decision to fast-forward in time (though some might argue that decision was to an extent forced given the probable title of any 28DL sequel). This has some real positive effects. It gives a glimpse into the post-post-apocalypse (something that’s always fascinated me) and allows the action to take place in an unpredictable, alien-feeling environment. The use of London and the Isle of Dogs as a backdrop is inspired. As well as providing a familiar anchor to the reality of present-day UK, it also demonstrates effectively how the rage virus has brought capitalism to its knees. There are no ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ any longer – there are just refugees.
28WL is a great looking film. Though not shot with the same unsteady urgency or low-fi video feel of the first movie, the colour palette and grittiness leaves you in no doubt that you’re still knee deep in the horror of the same post-virus UK. As before, the speed and bloodiness of the rage virus is exciting and terrifying in equal measure, and once the deadly germ is back out in the open (not really a spoiler – you just knew that was going to happen, didn’t you?), the sequel moves along at a cracking pace.
The cast are excellent, particularly Robert Carlyle as Don, Imogen Poots as his daughter Tammy, Catherine McCormack as Alice and Rose Byrne as the American military doctor tasked with getting Don’s kids out of the infected zone before the area is ‘cleansed’ once and for all.
The film has a wonderful opening which, in a few frantic minutes, introduces Don and Alice and tells us everything we need to know about their respective characters. It’s all over YouTube if you haven’t seen it. I’m grateful for these scenes for another reason, which you may have heard me mention before. Go back in time a decade-or-so to when 28DL was first released, and you’d have been hard pressed to find much in the way of zombie fiction and movies being released. As I said in my last piece, largely because of the similar settings, 28DL was often mentioned in the same breath as the first three AUTUMN novels. When a character at the beginning of 28WL talked about wine as having ‘notes of autumn’, folks took that as being a deliberate nod to my books. It wasn’t, of course, but it was nice to dream and it resulted in a little bonus publicity for my series which was gratefully accepted.
I’ve praised the look of 28WL, the set-up and the performances, so what’s not to like? There’s plenty of gore and action, and some cracking set-pieces… My frustration is that the story seems to hinge on a few tenuous coincidences which disrupt the otherwise reasonably plausible plot of the film. Don pops up in just the wrong place at just the right time a little too often for my liking, and these forced moments feel at odds with the logic of the rest of the movie. That said, I heartily recommend you watch 28WL if you haven’t already. If you enjoyed the first film, I’m sure you’ll like the second. It’s a sequel that continues the overall story without needing to go over old ground, and it’s good enough to make 28 MONTHS LATER (which was mooted back in January) something I’d be very, very interested in seeing. I’d love to write it, actually. I have some very cool ideas…
If you haven’t seen the film, it’s available on DVD and VOD from all the usual outlets. In the meantime, help yourself to this short which was produced for the UK DVD release. It was filmed on the set of 28WL and is well worth five minutes of your time.
28 Weeks Later is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER
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April 7, 2015
April 2, 2015
The Mammoth Book of Sherlock Holmes Abroad – out today
Today sees the release of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES ABROAD, which contains my short story A CONCURRENCE OF COINCIDENCES. From the back cover:
“In this wonderful anthology of new stories, Sherlock Holmes travels to the far ends of the Earth in search of truth and justice. A host of singularly talented writers, while remaining respectful towards Conan Doyle’s work, present a new and thrilling dimension to Holmes’s career. A full list of contributors include: Simon Clark; Andrew Darlington; Paul Finch; Nev Fountain; Carole Johnstone; Paul Kane; Alison Littlewood; Johnny Mains; William Meikle; David Moody; Mark Morris; Cavan Scott; Denis O. Smith; Sam Stone and Stephen Volk.”
As I mentioned previously, writing this story was a completely new experience for me, and it was one I enjoyed immensely. I’m really pleased with how my short turned out, and I hope you enjoy it.
The book is published by Constable and Robinson in the UK, and will hit the shelves in the US on July 15 from Running Press. Pick up your copy from: AMAZON.COM / AMAZON.CO.UK / The Book Depository / Waterstones / Barnes & Noble / Indiebound.
The Mammoth Book of Sherlock Holmes Abroad – out today is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER
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March 29, 2015
The Machine
In between writing, meetings and loads of other stuff, I’ve been catching up on a few movies I managed to miss over the last couple of years. THE MACHINE is a film I’d had my eye on since I saw it on the schedule of Grimmfest back in 2013. I finally got to see it last week, and I have to say, I was impressed. Stylish and smart, the film has an effortless Quatermass meets Blade Runner vibe which I couldn’t resist. Here’s a synopsis and the trailer. My thoughts follow:
Two computer programmers fall in love as they create the first ever piece of self-aware artificial intelligence, which is designed to help humanity. But things go wrong when the MoD steal their breakthrough and teach it to become a robotic weapon.
Writer and director Caradog W. James’ film is reassuringly bleak. Set in the near future with the UK in the midst of a Cold War with China, scientist Vincent (Toby Stephens) spends his days in an underground complex developing artificial intelligence programs for the Ministry of Defence, using soldiers who are near death as subjects for his experimentations. Unbeknownst to his boss (Dennis Lawson), his real focus is on finding a cure for his dying daughter. He meets scientist Ava (Caity Lotz) who begins working with him, only to meet an unfortunate demise when she’s caught snooping around the base. Vincent then creates an indestructible AI in Ava’s image.
This is a good-looking and well acted film. As I’ve already mentioned, it has an evocative atmosphere which brought to mind some of my favourite dystopian science-fiction. It addresses some interesting themes, not least the application of technology and artificial intelligence: can it ever be a force for good, or will increasingly powerful computers and machines bring about our inevitable demise?
The film moves briskly along and has a suitably creepy aesthetic: 1970’s set design meets 21st century technology, all set to a brilliant synthesiser soundtrack. From the injured (and repaired) soldiers communicating in their own mumbled and unintelligible language, to the birth of the Ava-AI, to the development of Vincent’s daughter’s story and the haunting ending of the movie, this is good, intelligent stuff filled with memorable visuals. I’m glad I finally got to see THE MACHINE, and I’m pleased to add it to my long list of movie recommendations.
The film is available now on DVD and Bluray and to stream on Netflix (in the UK, anyway – not sure about anywhere else). I hope you enjoy it!
The Machine is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER
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March 25, 2015
The Hate continues to spread… now Turkey’s been infected!
I’ve just discovered that a new edition of HATER is released this month. SALGIN (which translates as Epidemic) is about to be published in Turkey by Artemis. This is my first Turkish release, and it’s very satisfying to see new versions of the book still hitting the shelves after all this time. Incredibly, the first, self-published Infected Books edition is almost nine years old, and it’s six years since Thomas Dunne Books in the US and Gollancz in the UK gave the book its first mass market releases. I actually think HATER is more relevant today than ever. There are a lot of uncomfortable parallels to be drawn with some current world events…
But whenever I mention HATER, I get a flood of questions asking ‘what about the movie?’. You’ve had years of me telling you to be patient, that I’ll have some news soon. Just a little while longer now, I promise. Things are beginning to happen.
Salgın, benim Türk arkadaşlar tadını çıkarın! (thanks, Google translate!). If you’re new around here and haven’t yet read the HATER series, visit www.thehatertrilogy.com now.
The Hate continues to spread… now Turkey’s been infected! is a post from: David Moody - author of AUTUMN and HATER
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