Jonathan Green's Blog, page 102

Charitable Endeavours

Today, seeing as how it is Christmas Eve and the season of giving, Barnaby Eaton-Jones announced the total raised for charity by the Robin of Sherwood: The Knights of the Apocalypse Indiegogo campaign. And that total is...

£18,000!
That's £9,000 each for The Sherwood Forest Trust and The British Red Cross, Richard 'Kip' Carpenter's two favourite charities.

Congratulations to all involved, and a special thank you to everyone who purchased my novelisation of the script perk.

Don't forget, you can pre-order the brand-new four-disc box-set coming in 2017 here, at the Spiteful Puppet website!

Christmas Explained: Y is for Yule Cat

Don't complain when you get given socks and a home-knitted sweater again this Christmas - the gift-giver might just be saving your life!

In Iceland, the Yule Cat - or Jólakötturinn - is a carnivorous monster that will devour you if you do not make it an offering. But it’s not just any offering; you must specifically put out new clothing - a wool sweater, socks, anything - for the cat to have in the cold winter.

The clothing is put out because you are supposed to show off the new clothes you got for Christmas. And be warned, the demon cat will know if the clothing is old!

The emphasis on the legend is to ensure that everyone has presents at Christmas, encouraging Icelanders to work hard prior to the festive period, so that they can afford to purchase their loved ones new gifts. And if you do not receive new clothes, you can’t offer anything to the Yule Cat, and you will most assuredly be eaten.


You will find a host of other such unusual, and downright disturbing, Christmas traditions described inside  Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts !

Gamebook Friday: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

It's some time since I worked with Neil Rennison to re-imagine Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's classic Fighting Fantasy adventure gamebook The Warlock of Firetop Mountain , so it is very satisfying to actually have a moment to sit down and play the game, and discover screens like this...


Or this...

The game looks great! Russ Nicholson's original artwork has been given a touch of colour...


And the whole experience of exploring Firetop Mountain is now enjoyed in three dimensions...

Even the combat system has been given an overhaul...

If you've yet to experience the wonders of Tin Man Games' adaptation of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, you can pick up a copy here (with the game coming to iOS platforms next year).

Christmas Explained: X is for Xmas

Every year more than 400 million people celebrate Christmas around the globe, which makes it one of the biggest religious and commercial festivities in the world. But have you ever wondered why Christmas is so often shortened to Xmas?
In fact, the practice dates back further than you might suspect, ans has nothing to do with devaluing the Christian festival, as many people believe. In reality, both Christ and Christmas have been abbreviated for at least 1,000 years. The word Christ appears in Medieval documents as both 'XP' and 'Xt' and can even be found in this form in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle from 1021. By why were those particular letters used?

To find out more you'll have to pick up my book  Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts !

Steampunk Thursday: New Pax Britannia Reviews!

Even though the first  Pax Britannia  novel was published almost ten years ago, some people are still coming to the series for the first time. And when it's someone who enjoys the stories they devour the lot pretty quickly, thanks to the wonder of eBooks.

One such reader is Bob Marlowe who has recently posted reviews of all the  Pax Britannia  books - Al Ewing's as well as mine - and here's what he has to say about them.

Unnatural History
"A readable style which flows along nicely with enjoyable characters... Very enjoyable evocation of a pulp style and there are plenty more to come. A recommended read."

Leviathan Rising
"Here we have a cocktail of Agatha Christie, Titanic, The Poseidon Adventure, the X-Files and dear old Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and with Green's enjoyable pulpy style, it's a good read."

Human Nature
"The story itself is quite simple but well structured (things in the prologue that seem irrelevant are revisited later) and the good pulpy style of Green makes for a well paced roller coaster."

Evolution Expects
"As ever, a cocktail of monsters, steam punk and nods to well know characters & stories etc. including this time a Bond like board meeting scene, a character named Brundle after the 1987 version of The Fly and a bit of Talons of Weng Chiang amongst others... This series shows no signs of letting up, both novel and novella are a well-paced read, guaranteed to liven up any journey to work."

Blood Royal
"The writing is of the usual high standard with a monster infested St Paul's Cathedral especially well described... I love this series -and am sad I've less than halfway to go to the end."

Dark Side
"I had the feeling Jonathan Green had as much fun writing this as I had reading it. There's the usual tributes to films, book et al that he's enjoyed , the First men in the Moon and Voyage dans la Lune and every chapter takes its name from a film e.g. The First Men in the Moon, Sphere... These stories will never be on the Booker Prize shortlist but the Booker winners I've read were never this much fun!"

Anno Frankenstein
"Naturally this is a blockbuster mix that we have come to expect of monsters and set pieces and does not disappoint, Green handling all the ingredients with his usual skill."

Time's Arrow
"The influences here are Edgar Allen Poe's Murder in the Rue Morgue, The Island of Dr Moreau and The Phantom of the Opera, characters names including Moreau and Leroux. The new characters work well and the story races along at Green's usual pace."

If you're yet to sample the delights of the  Pax Britannia  steampunk universe, you can buy the books and eBooks here.

Christmas Explained: W is for Wassail

The word 'wassail' comes from the Old English 'waes hael' meaning 'be healthy', but came to denote the practice of travelling from house to house, demanding food and drink in return for a few verses of whatever carol the singers could remember at the time.
Did you know...?The expression 'to drink a toast' originates with the custom of wassailing?

You will find many other such tasty morsels of information in my book  Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts .

A Wassail Bowl, full to the brim!

Christmas Explained: V is for Vikings and Victorians

Two different groups of people, separated by hunderds of years, that have both had a huge impact on the way we celebrate Christmas today.

To find out more, read Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts !

Christmas Explained: U is for Unbelievable Value

Unbelievably, this year Christmas dinner could cost you as little as £21.46 for a family of eight, which works out as £2.68 a head!

To find out more, follow this link, and to find out more about the history of the traditional Christmas dinner, order yourself a copy of Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts.

Christmas Shopping!

While you're consider what to get a loved one this Christmas, or even what to add to your own Christmas wish list, you might want to consider the following titles. Simply click on the book cover to find out more.

Christmas Explained: T is for Turkey with all the Trimmings

Surveys show that on average we will eat our way through as many as 6,000 calories on Christmas Day alone which, according to the British Dietetic Association, may be a result of overindulging on second helpings, snacks and alcohol.
Whilst we are likely to put on an average 5lbs (2kg) in weight over the Christmas period, the Christmas meal is not the main culprit. In fact, the traditional turkey roast can be very good for us.
The problem is that over Christmas we can eat roughly three to four times more food than we actually need. Meaning that we can end up in the New Year weighing a lot more than we did. It also means we are storing up problems for the future. After all the extra calories have to go somewhere. These extra calories will be laid down as fat, and it’s those extra few pounds that can do you harm in the long term.

So what does the average Christmas Dinner mean for our bodies? Here are the nutritional facts:

CHRISTMAS DINNERChristmas DinnerCaloriesFatRoast turkey(90g)149 kcal4gRoast potatoes(85g)127 kcal4gStuffing(100g)231 kcal15gBread sauce(45g)42 kcal1gRoast parsnips(90g)102 kcal6gBoiled carrots14 kcal0gBrussel Sprouts32 kcal1gGravy(50g)17 kcal1gCranberry sauce(30g)45 kcal0gPork sausage(20g)62 kcal5gBacon(40g)135 kcal11gTOTAL956 kcal48gCHRISTMAS DINNER EXTRASChristmas Dinner ExtrasCaloriesFat1 slice of Christmas cake(70g)249 kcal8g1 portion of chocolate log (30g)101 kcal3g1 portion of cheese and biscuits394 kcal27g1 portion of mixed nuts (40g)243 kcal22g1 portion Christmas pudding (100g), custard and brandy butter587 kcal22g1 mince pie and double cream368 kcal25g1 glass of mulled wine245 kcal0g


Of course there are plenty of ways of ensuring you don't overindulge over Christmas - but what would be the fun in that?
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You will find many other such tasty morsels of information in my book Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts.