Jonathan Green's Blog, page 148

YOU ARE THE HERO receives its 50th 5-star Amazon review!

I thought it a worthy landmark to celebrate. My history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks has received its Return to Firetop Mountain of reviews. That's right, the 50th review of my 50th published book has been posted on Amazon.co.uk, and it's another 5-star one.



Here it is in its entirety.

In case you haven't yet picked up a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO yourself yet, you can still do so here.

Guest Author April - David Guymer

My latest book, Slayer, marks 14 books and 16 years since the first novel of the Gotrek and Felix storyline, Trollslayer, introduced us to the doom-seeking dwarf, Gotrek Gurnisson, and his chronicler, Felix Jaeger. Over that span, they’ve slain villainous rat-men, daemons, dragons, vampires, hordes of zombies, and taken time out for numerous short stories, novellas and side novels. The author has changed more than once over that time, as has the Warhammer world itself, but Gotrek and his long-suffering companion have carried on slaying with a characteristic blend of action and humour. But now their long career comes to an end. Gotrek and Felix’s final adventure takes them through the wreckage of the world’s last days, battles on land, in the air, and deep beneath the halls of the mythical Fortress of the First Slayer. Readers can look forward to all of the action and laughs that they rightly expect from a Gotrek and Felix novel, but with the added tragedy of approaching the end of the Slayer’s long quest for a mighty doom.

Follow David Guymer on twitter @Warlord Guymerhttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5406240.David_Guymerhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Gotrek-Felix-Slayer-David-Guymer/dp/184970841X

The Sharkpunk Interview - Toby Frost

Toby Frost is well known for his Space Captain Smith stories, set in the comedy science fiction universe of the British Space Empire. So you can imagine how pleased I was when Toby agreed to write a brand new, original Space Captain Smith story for SHARKPUNK ...


Sharkpunk: What, do you think, is the reason for people's enduring fascination with sharks?Toby Frost: I think it’s because they seem so deadly, and so unsympathetic. They’re perfectly made to kill things, and they’re completely unlovable. Even rats have nicer eyes. A shark is like a biological missile: they don’t even stop moving around to sleep. There’s a line in Alien about the Alien being unclouded by conscience, remorse or delusions of morality – that, to most people, is what a shark is like. They’re perfect villains. Of course, they’re also rather impressive animals, but that’s not the point, at least here...
SP: What was the inspiration behind your story Deep Black Space?TF: I’d mentioned the void sharks in the first novel of mine that was published, Space Captain Smith, but I felt that I hadn’t quite done them justice. But I needed something beyond them just randomly attacking. It seemed “logical” that someone sufficiently crazy would have been breeding them or trying to domesticate them, with predictable consequences. That sort of thing seems to happen a lot in space.
SP: What challenges, or surprises, did you encounter in writing your story?TF: It’s surprisingly difficult to make shark-related puns – at least, new ones.
SP: If you had to pick a favourite shark, which would it be?TF: It’s got to be the Great White shark, hasn’t it? They’re the classic shark, but with all the dials turned up to 11. That said, the basking shark is pretty impressive. It’s rare for an animal to be awe-inspiring whilst drifting through life with its mouth wide open.
SP: Do you have a favourite fictional shark (in books, comics, films, or video games)?TF: Well, Jaws is the Citizen Kane of angry shark films. But it’s hard not to like the Pathetic Sharks from Viz, and I’ve got a certain amount of time for the bizarre creature in Sharktopus. It must have been very confused, especially since it seemed to have both a mouth and a beak.
Thanks, Toby!

By day, Toby Frost lives the life of a mild-mannered law reporter. By night, he is the author of five comedy science fiction novels about the misadventures of Captain Isambard Smith of the British Space Empire, published by Myrmidon books. He has also written several short stories and the Warhammer 40,000 novel Straken for Black Library. He is currently working on a fantasy novel.
His website is at www.TobyFrost.com.



The fifth Space Captain Smith adventure End of Empires is available now.

Thought for the Day

"A good idea is insistent; it just keeps knocking on the door. But bad ideas just leave you alone after a while."

~ Graham Linehan, comedy writer

Guest Author April - Ian Whates

Pelquin’s CometIan Whates
Ian Whates’ first novel in three years is the opening volume of a new space opera series which takes recognised tropes and turns them on their heads.  The series is set in an age of expansion, with humanity spreading out to the stars aided by caches of ancient alien technology which they don’t fully understand.  Man has recently encountered its first extant alien culture, the Xters, and the two races eye each other warily across ragged and fairly arbitrary borders, not really competing for habitat due to physiological differences, but not trusting each other either.
The book’s unlikely central protagonist is a banker, Drake, whose constant companion, Mudball, is a cute bundle of fur mistakenly thought of as a pet.  In reality, Mudball is far more than he seems.
The crew of the freetrader Pelquin's Comet – a rag-tag group of misfits, ex-soldiers and ex-thieves – set out to claim a cache of alien technology that they hope will make them rich; but they are not the only interested party and find themselves in a deadly race against the authorities and corporate agents. Contending with enemies without and within, they are forced to do so under the watchful eye of an unwelcome guest: Drake, agent of the bank funding their expedition; a man with a past that is fast catching up with him, a man who may prove to be the greatest threat of all.

(Cover art by Jim Burns)

Sharkpunk Saturday - Kim Lakin-Smith

Kim Lakin-Smith is a Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy author of both adult and children’s fiction.


Sharkpunk: What, do you think, is the reason for people's enduring fascination with sharks? 
Kim Lakin-Smith: In the regimented sterility of the modern world, sharks have come to represent the virile savagery of unpoliceable Nature. They are uniquely designed to represent threat, from their tiny, dead-seeming black eyes to their angular fins, recessed jaw, projecting snout and rows full of oblique, serrated, ever-replacing teeth. Apex predators in the Deep – that unknowable world where the Earth’s crust bubbles and alien species phosphoresce and the darkness stretches – sharks cannot be domesticated or placated. Instead, it is we who are quite literally caged if we dare to go among them.

SP: What was the inspiration behind your story Goblin? 
KL-S: Without giving too much away, I wanted to focus my story on the most extreme version of a living monster. I am always fascinated by genetic modification and biomechatronics; Goblin explores the fragility of the human body and how the power of the shark is sustained even at a biomolecular level.

SP: What challenges, or surprises, did you encounter in writing your story? 
KL-S:  For me, the challenge is always to balance research with storytelling. I find that rooting my fiction in fact is the best way to breathe life into scenarios and characters. This is especially true of Science Fiction; the science is the binding agent which unites the imagination’s creative flow. In terms of surprises, I didn’t expect the ‘punk’ aspect of my story to be in the form of a scary little girl who likes to dance with the devil – especially if that devil lives in a lightless pool in a cavern hundreds of feet below ground.

SP: If you had to pick a favourite shark, which would it be? 
KL-S: Read my story to find out ;-)

SP: Do you have a favourite fictional shark (in books, comics, films, or video games)? 
KL-S: Hmm, a favourite may be stretching it. But the movie, Jaws, did have a profound effect on me. For some unintelligible reason lost to the eons of Time, my dad decided it would be a good idea to take me to see a showing of Jaws at the senior school he taught at. This was around 1976, a year after the movie’s official release. I was four years old. I think it probably goes without saying that I was more than a little traumatised by the event! But what really cemented this event in my mind was the movie themes album my two elder brothers decided to purchase soon after. Blocking both doors out of the living room, my brothers - a.k.a. Dementors - played the Jaws theme over and over while mimicking the snapping jaws of said fish. Hearing the terrifying drawl of those two alternating tuba notes was enough to send me into a screaming frenzy! These days, I am more restrained in my reaction to the Jaws soundtrack. Externally at least. In truth, my inner four year old me is still pegging it for the door before a grinning brother tries to block it!

SP: Apart from your story in Sharkpunk, what's coming next from Kim Lakin-Smith? 
KL-S: This year I am concentrating on writing my latest adult Science Fiction novel. There are historical passages in the book and I need to get the research spot on. It is a bit of an epic. My novelette, ‘Black Sunday’, will be reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, out from Prime Books, July 2015. I’m speaking on panels at various events over the year, including the SFWeekender, the Writers Conference at the University of Nottingham, Eastercon, Edge-Lit, and Bristolcon.


Kim Lakin-Smith is a Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy author of adult and children’s fiction. Kim’s short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including the 2011 British Science Fiction Association shortlisted, ‘Johnny and Emmie-Lou Get Married’ (Interzone Issue 222). Her novel, Cyber Circus, was shortlisted for both the British Science Fiction Association Best Novel and the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel 2012. Cyber Circus’s twin novella ‘Black Sunday’ has been selected for The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, Prime Books 2015.

Guest Author April - Nik Vincent

Since both last year's novels were co-writes, I’m going to sneak in a little something extra. Smiles.

Fiefdom from Abaddon Books was a spin-off from Dan’s Kingdom strip for 2000AD, and I’d wanted to get my hands on it for long form fiction since its inception. It's always a pleasure to work with the husband, but I think this particular novel played to my strengths, and he rather let me run with it. Fear not, the novel stands alone.
http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/book-reviews-latest-literary-releases/8853-book-review-fiefdom-a-kingdom-novel
I also had my first independent short story The Stranger Cards published in the Dangerous Games anthology, edited by Jonathan Oliver for Solaris. I was thrilled to find myself in some great company.
https://thebookbeard.wordpress.com/tag/nik-vincent/
Solaris has since bought my first independent novel, Savant, to be published in 2016, so watch this space.

The Sharkpunk Interview - Richard Salter

Richard Salter describes himself as a 'Writer of sorts...' and he is an editor as well as an author.


Sharkpunk: What, do you think, is the reason for people's enduring fascination with sharks? 
Richard Salter: I reckon it's that iconic image of the dorsal fin moving through the water, like a preview of what's to come, a warning flag letting you know it's time to get the hell out of the water. You can draw two sides of a triangle with a wavy line at the bottom, and everyone will know what it is. Also teeth. Lots of teeth.

SP: What was the inspiration behind your story Sharkbait? 
RS: Nothing specific. The idea I pitched was mostly the structure the story ended up with, though my helpful editor helped me define the nature of the titular little girl. I'm not sure where it all came from, other than a feeling of panic that I wouldn't be able to write a story without ANY fantastical elements. So I came up with the idea of the girl who can "charm" sharks, and I knew I wanted her to be called Sharkbait. Everything else came from there.

SP: What challenges, or surprises, did you encounter in writing your story? 
RS: Anything that requires me to do any level of research is a challenge for me. It feels too much like work so I tend to hurl oodles of unreal stuff into my fiction, be it time travel or ghosts or magic, to avoid having to actually know anything. I can get straight down to the fun part, the writing! It was a struggle to ground my fiction in a more "realistic" setting. There are supernatural elements to the story, but they're not overt and most of the narrative concerns a diamond heist that goes wrong and the consequences thereafter.

SP: If you had to pick a favourite shark, which would it be? 
RS: I think Mr Wonderful himself, Kevin O'Leary. Never a dull moment in the Shark Tank (the US equivalent to Dragon's Den) with Mr Wonderful around!

SP: Do you have a favourite fictional shark (in books, comics, films, or video games)? 
RS: I'm tempted to go with the plastic one from the 1966 Batman movie. It terrified me as a six year old! My slightly more serious answer would be the sharks in Open Water. That film terrified me as an adult! The sharks are treated realistically (as far as I can tell) and the tension as they circle nearer and nearer to the stranded couple is masterfully handled. In fact now I feel the urge to dig that one out and watch it again.

SP: Apart from your story in Sharkpunk, what's coming next from Richard Salter? 
RS: I am working on a super-secret project for a fairly big series that's tremendously exciting but also very hard work. It has consumed all my writing time for months, so for now there's nothing new that I can talk about. I did recently have my first novel released. It's called The Patchwork House and it's a haunted house story with a time travel twist. Reviewers are saying it's very scary, which is very nice to hear. I'm also busy promoting Fantasy For Good, which is an anthology of fantasy fiction I co-edited featuring the likes of Neil Gaiman, George R. R. Martin, Piers Anthony, Kelley Armstrong, Michael Moorcock, Carrie Vaughn and a ton of other talented folks. All proceeds go to the Colon Cancer Alliance, so please do check it out.

Thanks, Richard!


Richard Salter is a British writer and editor living in Toronto, Canada. His debut novel, The Patchwork House, is a ghost story with a time travel twist. He co-edited Fantasy For Good, a charity anthology featuring huge names in the genre such as Piers Anthony, Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin and Michael Moorcock, which benefits the Colon Cancer Alliance. He has written short fiction for Doctor Who and Warhammer, and has a story in This Is How You Die, the sequel to the popular Machine of Death. Find out more at http://www.richardsalter.com

Guest Author April - Gareth L Powell

 I have the third monkey book, MACAQUE ATTACK, which was released in January. This means the trilogy is now complete. 

The Guardian called it “Barnstorming” -  and there are links to buy it here:

http://www.garethlpowell.com/portfolio/cover-reveal-macaque-atack/

Thought for the Day