Jonathan Green's Blog, page 159
November 21, 2014
Gamebook Friday: YOU ARE THE HERO gets a mention on Knightmare.com
Last Sunday a piece appeared on Knightmare.com about
YOU ARE THE HERO
, as the aforementioned TV show gets a mention in the latterly mentioned book.
To find out more, click this link. To buy YOU ARE THE HERO (which currently has 33 5-star reviews), click here.
To find out more, click this link. To buy YOU ARE THE HERO (which currently has 33 5-star reviews), click here.
November 17, 2014
Thought for the Day
"All we have left are irony and sarcasm. And internet memes."
~ Lavie Tidhar, World Fantasy Award-winning author
~ Lavie Tidhar, World Fantasy Award-winning author
November 14, 2014
Gamebook Friday: SciFiNow on YOU ARE THE HERO
"Must read now!"That's SciFiNow's verdict on YOU ARE THE HERO . The reviewer also gives the book 5 stars, so what more do you need to know?
If you ever enjoyed wiling away an afternoon with a Fighting Fantasy gamebook, then you'll love YOU ARE THE HERO .
Lavie Tidhar's A Man Lies Dreaming , and Scott K Andrews' Timebomb are also reviewed in the issue and are also of 'Must read now!' status, so what are you waiting for? ;-)
November 12, 2014
Warhammer Wednesday: Free Shipping!
If you've yet to pick up Herald of Oblivion , or Shadows Over Sylvania , or The Armageddon Omnibus , or Iron Hands , now's your chance, with free shipping until this time next week.
Go on, you know you want to.
November 10, 2014
November 9, 2014
The History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks at the Kilburn Literary Festival
Last Sunday I gave a talk on the history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and how
YOU ARE THE HERO
(the book on the same subject) came to be, as part of the inaugural Kilburn Literary Festival.
It was great to make new friends and to see some familiar faces among the audience, including Magnus Anderson and The Forest of Doom illustrator Malcolm Barter (which was a totally unexpected, but very pleasant, surprise)! A special shout-out must go to Andrew and Jamie,
Andrew, Magnus and Jamie, listening attentively to my talk.
Another pleasant surprise, courtesy of Mr Malcolm Barter.
I knew I'd find a use for those books one day.
Thank you to Geraldine, Kayla and Maria who organised Kilburn LitFest, and here's to doing it all again next year.
It was great to make new friends and to see some familiar faces among the audience, including Magnus Anderson and The Forest of Doom illustrator Malcolm Barter (which was a totally unexpected, but very pleasant, surprise)! A special shout-out must go to Andrew and Jamie,
Andrew, Magnus and Jamie, listening attentively to my talk.
Another pleasant surprise, courtesy of Mr Malcolm Barter.
I knew I'd find a use for those books one day.Thank you to Geraldine, Kayla and Maria who organised Kilburn LitFest, and here's to doing it all again next year.
November 7, 2014
Gamebook Friday: YOU ARE THE HERO
There's a fantastic (and detailed) review of
YOU ARE THE HERO
on RPG.net that I thought I would share with you. Here are just some of the highlights.
"The entire book oozes flavour. The images evoke a sense of atmosphere and - for me and no doubt other older fans of the series - a sense of misty-eyed nostalgia."
"The whole tome gives me plenty of pleasure from beginning to end. There were more than a few ‘Oh, yeah! I remember that!’ moments and plenty of material that makes me look at my Fighting Fantasy collection and want to add more to it."
"An excellent read that takes old gamers like me back in time, as well as being an incredibly interesting history lesson in the early days of gamebooks and British gaming for the regular hobbyist to enjoy. Highly recommended."
You can read the review in its entirety here, and you can pick up a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, here.
"The entire book oozes flavour. The images evoke a sense of atmosphere and - for me and no doubt other older fans of the series - a sense of misty-eyed nostalgia.""The whole tome gives me plenty of pleasure from beginning to end. There were more than a few ‘Oh, yeah! I remember that!’ moments and plenty of material that makes me look at my Fighting Fantasy collection and want to add more to it."
"An excellent read that takes old gamers like me back in time, as well as being an incredibly interesting history lesson in the early days of gamebooks and British gaming for the regular hobbyist to enjoy. Highly recommended."
You can read the review in its entirety here, and you can pick up a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, here.
November 6, 2014
Steampunk Thursday: More Pax Britannia Reviews
Unnatural History - 5 stars!
Unnatural History is the first book in the steampunk-flavoured alternative history series Pax Britannia. Author Jonathan Green has crafted a vision of contemporary Britain where Queen Victoria still reigns over a British Empire that covers a quarter of the world.
The police are staffed largely with automata, airships crowd the skies, and London Zoo's Challenger Enclosure is stuffed full of dinosaurs. Against this backdrop, dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver is engaged to investigate an apparently routine break-in at the Natural History Museum...
The pace is quick, and the action exciting. Quicksilver is not a bulletproof hero, and gets thoroughly smashed up on a number of occasions. His principal ability appears to be his sheer dogged tenacity to get the job done even when battered to a pulp... This is an effortlessly entertaining pulpy read, and seems to be pretty much perennially free on Amazon Kindle. Do take a look, chaps.
Anno Frankenstein - 4 stars!
My first foray into the steam punk universe of Pax Britannia, but pleasingly the novel does not require you to have read the previous books, it stands well on it's own... An easy book to get into and a hugely enjoyable read and I will now be seeking out the further books in this series. Packed with action and adventure this is like a novel version of a 2000AD comic and I don't mean that in a bad way.
Unnatural History is the first book in the steampunk-flavoured alternative history series Pax Britannia. Author Jonathan Green has crafted a vision of contemporary Britain where Queen Victoria still reigns over a British Empire that covers a quarter of the world.The police are staffed largely with automata, airships crowd the skies, and London Zoo's Challenger Enclosure is stuffed full of dinosaurs. Against this backdrop, dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver is engaged to investigate an apparently routine break-in at the Natural History Museum...
The pace is quick, and the action exciting. Quicksilver is not a bulletproof hero, and gets thoroughly smashed up on a number of occasions. His principal ability appears to be his sheer dogged tenacity to get the job done even when battered to a pulp... This is an effortlessly entertaining pulpy read, and seems to be pretty much perennially free on Amazon Kindle. Do take a look, chaps.
Anno Frankenstein - 4 stars!
My first foray into the steam punk universe of Pax Britannia, but pleasingly the novel does not require you to have read the previous books, it stands well on it's own... An easy book to get into and a hugely enjoyable read and I will now be seeking out the further books in this series. Packed with action and adventure this is like a novel version of a 2000AD comic and I don't mean that in a bad way. November 5, 2014
Dragonmeet 2014 - Saturday 6 December 2014
In just over a month I shall be attending Dragonmeet 2014 as a guest author. Gaming industry legends Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone will also be in attendance.So if you're yet to pick up a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO , or if you just want to find out more about how the book came to be, buy a ticket today and I'll see you there.
November 4, 2014
Why I'm embracing NaNoWriMo again
As Chris Baty says on NaNoWriMo's very own blog, “Don’t be offended if you encounter some good-natured ribbing; the idea of writing a novel in a month deserves to be laughed at.”I'm not sure I'm entirely down with with idea of NaNoWriMo these days. Writing a 50,000 novel (or should that be novella?) in a month is rather ridiculous, and, if achieved, should really just be the beginning of the process. How long will finishing it take? And what about rewriting? And how about submitting it to an agent or editor?
That said, this year I am embracing NaNoWriMo again. The reason? I'm juggling so many writing projects at the moment that I need something to help me order them all and make sure that daily progress is being made in all areas.
So, I shall be updating my NaNoWriMo project page on a daily basis, and I'll let you know how I get on at the end of the month.
Wish me luck!
