Jonathan Green's Blog, page 170

Take Back the Skies, by Lucy Saxon

Take Back the Skies  is the impressive YA debut of 19 year-old novelist Lucy Saxon*.

It tells the story of Catherine Hunter, born into privilege, who to escape her regimented existence as the daughter of a government official in the land of Anglya, cuts her hair, disguises herself as a boy and becomes Cat, escaping her former life by stowing away on board the tyrium-powered skyship Stormdancer. She soon learns that what she has been told about the world beyond the borders of Angyla is a lie, and that she is the one who possesses the knowledge that could bring a crumbling and corrupt empire to its knees, if only she has the courage to initiate such dramatic change.

So far, so familiar, but the plot that develops - whilst being overwhelmed at times by the will-they-won't-they relationship of then two young leads** and lacking tension at others - is something unexpected, rich in world-building detail, politically complex, and full of twists and turns that will keep the reader gripped right up until the story's dark denouement.

The book's Steampunk influences are clear but, despite all the different interpretations of Steampunk that already exist in literature, they are given a new spin here by Saxon. And to have such a book as your first published piece of work is impressive indeed.

Thanks to those kind people at Bloomsbury Books, I have one copy of  Take Back the Skies  to give away. To be in with a chance of winning it, simply answer this simple question.

From where did Lucy Saxon take her pen name?
Simply email me at info@jonathangreenauthor.com with your answer, your name and your address and you answer be put into the proverbial hat with all the other hopefuls. The draw will take place two weeks today, on Sunday 20 July 2014 at midday (BST).
Good luck!
Lucy Saxon signing at the London MCM Expo, May 2014.

* Many reviews make much of the fact that Lucy is 19, and was only 16 when she wrote the first draft of Take Back the Skies. I can only put this down to sour grapes. (My own first book, Spellbreaker, was published when I was 21.)

** But then this is a YA novel.

Short Story Saturday: STORIES OF THE КУРИТЬ [SMOKE]

Almost a year ago now, in August 2013, Jared Shurin of Jurassic London, the publishers of Stories of the Smoke, got in touch to say that my short story Necropolis, along with several others, had been sold overseas - to Russia! This was exciting news indeed, as I had never had anything of mine appear in Russian before.

It turned out that SNOB magazine and the British Council had run a big feature on Dickens that inspired some new Dickensian short stories from Russian authors. SNOB, in partnership with the British Council, were interested in publishing a volume with a similar theme - which would also include new work from contemporary Russian authors. The British Council, who were instrumental in the creation of Smoke, connected everyone, and it all worked out neatly from there.

The stories selected were:

"Uncle Smoke" - Archie Black"The Hound of Henry Hortinger" - Michelle Goldsmith"Necropolis" - Jonathan Green"Bullseye" - Sarah Anne Langton"Cuckoo" - David Thomas Moore"An Unburdening of the Soul" - David Thomas Moore"The Collection" - Esther Saxey"The Pickwick Syndrome" - Kaaron Warren
Most excitingly is that right now, copies of the book are being sent from Russia via diplomatic courier to the British Council, and from there they will be distribute to the others. As soon as I have some photos of the books (and my first story published in Russian), I'll post them up here.

Until next time...

Gamebook Friday: FIGHTING FANTASY FEST 2014 where YOU ARE THE HERO

Just in case you didn't happen to see it yourself earlier this week, both Fighting Fantasy Fest and YOU ARE THE HERO appeared on the SciFiNow website on Wednesday.


You can read the post for yourself here. Alternatively, you could just click this link and buy your ticket for the gaming event of the year. ;-)

Steampunk Thursday: Atomic Bark!

A year and a half ago (on the 12th day, of the 12th month, of the 12th year of the 21st century) I appeared on the Atomic Bark radio show along with legendary graphic novel creator Bryan Talbot. Well the show has finally been uploaded to YouTube and you can listen to it here. (I appear at about the 12:40 mark.)

Warhammer Wednesday: Mission GW - The Plaza

It's been a while, but I found myself in the Plaza GW store in central London yesterday evening, where I happened to bump into manager Matthew Greaves who I had last seen when he was running the Covent Garden store.

As well as catching up on my latest Warhammer release, and reminiscing about the first Codex: Chaos, Matthew was interested to hear about YOU ARE THE HERO and the forthcoming Fighting Fantasy Fest.

While I was there I also managed to take a few snaps as inspiration for possible future projects, and was particularly impressed by the Tyranid attack on an Ultramarines outpost.

Helbrute.


The Swarming.

 A Warsphinx, going to war.

John Blanche and Leo Hartas to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014

Joining the already impressive roster of guests attending Fighting Fantasy Fest on Sunday 7 September 2014 at the DoubleTree Hilton in Ealing, West London, are Leo Hartas, the Fighting Fantasy cartographer, and John Blanche, the man who illustrated Steve Jackson's legendary Sorcery! series.

Both Leo's maps and John's artwork appear in YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks , and if you're coming along to Fighting Fantasy Fest, you could ask them to sign the book for you. If you're not already attending Fighting Fantasy Fest, you can buy your ticket by clicking this link.

Thought for the Day

"Science fiction is the concerns of the present observed through the lens of the future."
~ Jonathan Green, Author

Short Story Saturday: Sticks and Stones

It's been a while since I've had anything new out from the Black Library, but on Thursday this week my Orcs 'n' Empire story Sticks and Stones (or should that be Sticks 'n' Stones ) was released as part of Warhammer Week.


It features the first appearance in fiction of a Rogue Idol of Gork (or should that be Mork?)* and that should be all you need to know to go out and download it for your eReader of choice. But in case you need a little more persuading, here's the blurb...

War against orcs and goblins is never easy for the soldiers of the Empire. Their foes are savage and brutal and revel in battle… and never more so than when a mighty idol of their gods marches to war alongside them, fuelled by magic and the power of the Waaagh! In the midst of battle, it falls to Rutger Erlang and his pistolier comrades to deal with the manifestation of Gork (or is it Mork?) and prevent the total destruction of the Empire army.

You can purchase Sticks and Stones by following this link. And if you like the story, then why not check out some of my other Warhammer tales and Black Library publications?



* Just as Sir Dagobert's Last Battle featured the first appearance in fiction of an Arachnarok Spider, with Shadows Over Sylvania** featuring the second. :-)

** I can't believe two years have passed since I wrote  Shadows Over Sylvan ia!

Gamebook Friday: Five reasons why you need to be at Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014

If you've not already purchased your ticket for FIGHTING FANTASY FEST 2014 - the world's first convention dedicated to Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks - here's why you should.

1) You will not only get to listen to the Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, the co-creators of Fighting Fantasy, give a talk about the history of their gaming and publishing phenomenon, you'll also be able to get your FF treasures signed by them, and even hang out in the Black Lobster Tavern with them!

2) The Adventurer's Backpack goodie bag that is included in the price of every ticket is chock full of awesome merchandise, with many of the items being exclusive to the event, such as the limited edition Zagor miniature and the collectible convention programme - not to mention the bag itself!

3) There are a host of special guests coming to FIGHTING FANTASY FEST, including legendary fantasy artists Chris Achilleos, Russ Nicholson, Malcolm Barter and Tony Hough. Tin Man Games and Inkle Studios will also be there to talk about their latest FF and Sorcery! app releases, and Tin Man are even generously giving away a download code to all attendees. And on top of that Arion Games will be running demo games of Advanced Fighting Fantasy!

4) One of the highlights of the day will be an auction of rare - and highly collectible - items of FF memorabilia from the Warlocks' own hoard, including a pair of swords made to promote the Deathtrap Dungeon video game and now hard-to-find classic Fighting Fantasy computer games.

5) Quite simply, Fighting Fantasy Fest is going to be a unique experience. There has never been an FF event like it before, and YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks is going to launch on the day. Just think, when FF is celebrating it's 50th anniversary in 2032, you'll be able to look back and say, "I was there!"

So click this convenient link and buy your ticket today. And don't delay! The first 100 ticket buyers will receive a copy of the extremely hard to get hold of 25th hardback edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

And if you have bought your ticket, tell all your friends about FFF 2014, via email, your blog, Twitter (#FFF2014), Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Instagram, or whatever your social media networking tool of choice is.

And hopefully we'll see you on Sunday 7 September...

Thought for the Day

"I tend to find in writing that a lot of my characters can get quite forceful when I'm trying to create them. It's almost like they are fully formed and I'm just trying to figure out what they are."
~ Lucy Saxon, Novelist