Anthony Horowitz's Blog, page 4
August 29, 2012
Oblivion Compeition: Win “Power of Five” goodies!
So while everybody is eagerly awaiting Oblivion, Walker Books have cooked up a nice little competition to win an exclusive Power of Five – Oblivion tshirt and a set of Power of Five books.
A little geographical research is required – well Anthony literally went to the ends of the earth to research the story – the least you could do is take a trip to Wikipedia!!! : )
Click the link below for more details.
August 17, 2012
New Series of Foyle’s War
Michael Kitchen returns in a new series of Foyle’s War on ITV
ITV, Acorn Media, and Eleventh Hour Films today confirmed a new series of Foyle’s War starring Michael Kitchen and created by celebrated novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz.
Set during the early period after World War Two, Foyle will focus his attention on the world of espionage as he gathers secret intelligence in support of Britain’s security, defence and the Government’s foreign and economic policies.
The stories will range from Foyle identifying highly placed atomic spies to a true story of government corruption. A world of transition where the values and certainties of the war have given way to austerity, exhaustion and doubts about the direction the new government is taking.
In his new role as a Senior Intelligence Officer, Foyle discovers that the British establishment is rife with communist sympathisers and traitors. In this delicately balanced period in history, 1946-47, Foyle will use all his intelligence, guile and intuition to keep the country safe.
Said Michael Kitchen: “It’s great to be wanted and a pleasure to be back.”
August 10, 2012
Sherlock Holmes – The House of Silk available in paperback 30th August, 2012
It is November 1890 and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are enjoying tea by the fire when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221b Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks.
Intrigued, Holmes and Watson find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events, stretching from the gas-lit streets of London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston and the mysterious House of Silk . . .
House of Silk
Reviews
Perfectly paced, entirely unpredictable, edge-of-seat exciting and a total joy from start to
finish – SUNDAY EXPRESS
An exciting, well-crafted novel – SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
It seems improbable, if not impossible, but it s true Holmes is back at his best – INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
There is a suitably baffling mystery and the great detective is on top form. It’s very
good? dare I say as good as the original? – LITERARY REVIEW
THE HOUSE OF SILK is superb - DAILY TELEGRAPH
Enthusiastically replicating the spirit, style, suspense and atmosphere of Conan Doyle’s
stories, this skilfully crafted homage is an irresistible read – THE SUNDAY TIMES
Horowitz has captured Holmes Heaven – THE TIMES
March 28, 2012
Anthony Horowitz at Christ Church on 01/04/12 – Oxford Literary Festival
Liz Kessler, Gareth P Jones , Simon Hart and Camilla de la Bedoyere. Chaired by Anthony Horowitz. Blue Peter Book Award
Age 7+
The children's events at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival reach their grand finale in the hall that was the model for Hogwarts Hall in the Harry Potter films. The four shortlisted authors in the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award will tell you about their outstanding books – Liz Kessler's time-travel story A Year Without Autumn; Gareth P Jones's hilarious tale of a teenage werewolf, The Considine Curse; Simon Hart's timely and fascinating Countdown to the London 2012 Olympic Games; and the eyebrow-raising Discover the Extreme World, presented by one of its authors Camilla de la Bedoyere.
The event will be chaired by Anthony Horowitz, who is one of the authors on the Blue Peter shortlist for the ten best books of the last ten years. Entry is free to the first 50 Blue Peter badge holders accompanied by a paying adult. Booking is by phone only and you must show your badge on the door.
Related Event
Artist:
Anthony Horowitz
Date:
Sunday, April 1st 2012
Time:
4:30pm
City:
Anthony Horowitz in
Oxford
Venue:
Christ Church
Address:
St. Aldates, Oxford, OX1 1DP
Venue phone:
01865 276150
Country:
UK
Admission:
£6
Box office:
0870 343 1001
Buy tickets
Notes:
Liz Kessler, Gareth P Jones , Simon Hart and Camilla de la Bedoyere.Chaired by Anthony Horowitz
Blue Peter Book Award
Age 7+
The children's events at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival reach their grand finale in the hall that was the model for Hogwarts Hall in the Harry Potter films. The four shortlisted authors in the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award will tell you about their outstanding books – Liz Kessler's time-travel story A Year Without Autumn; Gareth P Jones's hilarious tale of a teenage werewolf, The Considine Curse; Simon Hart's timely and fascinating Countdown to the London 2012 Olympic Games; and the eyebrow-raising Discover the Extreme World, presented by one of its authors Camilla de la Bedoyere. The event will be chaired by Anthony Horowitz, who is one of the authors on the Blue Peter shortlist for the ten best books of the last ten years. Entry is free to the first 50 Blue Peter badge holders accompanied by a paying adult. Booking is by phone only and you must show your badge on the door.
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January 10, 2012
Anthony discusses writing Sherlock Holmes on the SkyArts Book Show
Anthony discusses writing Sherlock Holmes on the SkyArts Book Show
Sherlock Holmes, House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz is available now!
Anthony Horowitz shares his fascination with legendary characters and talks of his new Sherlock Holmes novel
A writer with more than fifty books under his pen, Anthony Horowitz is one of Britain's most published authors as well as a successful screenwriter. He is both creator and writer of the ITV series Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders and Collision.
Born into a wealthy Jewish family, the inception of Anthony's childhood seemed more promising than that of an average boy. Nevertheless, Horowitz turned out to be an unhappy, obese child who turned to story-telling to entertain himself and his fellow students at boarding school which, he dubbed as a brutal experience. It thus comes as no surprise that his younger years were to stigmatize him and lead to his authoring of many books for children and it is perhaps also the reason why he remains fixated on his primary childhood escape; adventure stories.
Another Horowitz trademark is his obsession with legendary characters. In the late 1980's he worked with Richard Carpenter on the Robin of Sherwood television series and also novelized three of the episodes.
It wasn't until the new millennium that Horowitz began his most successful series of novels with the book Stormbreaker, which gave rise to the famous character Alex Rider, a 14-year-old spy. Alex Rider, the movie came out in 2006.
This year. Horowitz makes a return to his dedication for legendary characters with a new Sherlock Holmes novel, The House of Silk. We can't wait to read it.
VIDEO: Anthony Horowitz chats about the pressures and pleasures of penning the new Sherlock Holmes
December 16, 2011
A SMALL CHRISTMAS SURPRISE…READ ON!
First of all, apologies to everyone who logs onto my website. I know I appear here far too infrequently. But if you took a quick look at my workload, you'd see that I've been horrendously busy this year. Here's a list of the projects I'm working on right now:
DIRTY GOLD – a new eight-part series for ITV
FOYLE'S WAR – it's not definite but we may be coming back in 2013 and I've already started the research
OBLIVION – the last part of the Power of Five (Gatekeeper) series
TINTIN 2 – the sequel to The Secret of the Unicorn
ARSENE LUPIN – an action film for Warner Brothers
ALEX RIDER – a short story for World Book Day
So although I know I ought to blog more often, sitting down at my computer is a bit of a strain. (Something exploded in my right eye a couple of weeks ago. I saw a doctor…well, I saw a blurry doctor. He says it'll be fine if I rest a bit. Not easy.)
Anyway, here's a quick Christmas update of what has been a fantastic year. And there's a special Christmas present, as usual concealed in the text!
The big thing in 2012 was undoubtedly THE HOUSE OF SILK, my take on Sherlock Holmes. It's my first successful adult novel – though anyone aged around 13 and over will quite possibly enjoy it. There's nothing embarrassingly physical in it but it does have what critics might call "an adult theme" and it's fairly violent. But I think it's as pacey as an Alex Rider novel with plenty of action so do give it a try.
The reviews for the book were fantastic and for a brief time I was a number one bestselling author in Taiwan, which is certainly a talking point. But if you think I'm giving up writing for teens…no way! I'm about 160,000 words into OBLIVION which is the long-awaited fifth volume in my Power of Five series following RAVEN'S GATE, EVIL STAR, NIGHTRISE and NECROPOLIS.
I think it's going to be a fantastic book though I should warn you that it has a pretty bleak conclusion…but then (like the title suggests) it is about the end of the world. It takes place in the UK, America, Egypt, Italy, Brazil and Antarctica and on January 12th I'm off to the last of these to spend a little time among the ice and the glaciers, absorbing the atmosphere. I actually hope to write the last pages of the book there for delivery to my various publishers in April. We're looking at publication in October 2012. It will, by the way, be more than twice as long as any book I've ever written -but I'm confident it's not too long.
Otherwise, 2011 saw the transmission of INJUSTICE on ITV over five nights in June. It was also well received and the audience stayed with us until the end which is the important thing.
And, of course, SCORPIA RISING was published in May. The last ever Alex Rider book (until I write YASSEN, which I hope to start next year). It was really sad to say goodbye to Alex and quite a few people were annoyed with me because of the shock ending. But I think I did the right thing. I tried to make each Alex better than the one before and hope I ended on a high note. Actually, I've just finished a 10,000 word short story about Alex Rider which will be available as a download on World Book Day. At the moment the title is A TASTE OF DEATH – I'm waiting to hear if my publishers like it.
This was the year that I met – which was fairly intense. I've been asked to work on the sequel to the extremely successful Tintin film which opened in November. A few months ago I found myself in a hotel room in Paris, talking to him and to Peter Jackson. I felt like a sheep, lost in the fog and caught between two mountains. All quite scary, really. I'm trying not to be overawed but these are probably the most successful film directors on the planet. But I read Tintin when I was eight. I know the books inside out. I even wear Tintin underpants. With a bit of luck, the collaboration will go well.
The worst thing about 2012? The departure of my chocolate Labrador who (the best way of putting it) went for a long walk. He had been credited in every one of my books but his name always changed so he appeared, variously, as: Lucky, Mucky, Plucky, Yucky, Lenny, Loony, Limpy, Louis, Lupus, Loser and Fang. By the end of his life he was hopelessly confused. In fact, if I shouted "Fire!" he'd come running. I still see his ghost from time to time, padding behind me, so I don't need to get another dog. And he will continue to appear in the books.
But let's end on a cheerful note. Your surprise present is the first chapter of OBLIVION. I shall ask Liam, the brilliant designer of this website,(Editors Note: Anthony's been at the Christmas Sherry a little early!) to conceal a link somewhere on this page. This is a world exclusive. Not even my publishers have read the book yet. I'll be interested to know what you think.
By the way, if you want to know what I'm up to – and in particular how the books are getting on – I've started tweeting again. If you want to follow me, you can find me @AnthonyHorowitz
That's it. Have a great Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Anthony Horowitz
Clerkenwell – December 15
PS: Anthony decided to hide the first chapter of The Power of Five: Oblivion in Charles Dickens' house! Call that a clue if you like!
December 5, 2011
House of Silk – The Washington Post Review
Somehow, though, Anthony Horowitz — well known as the author of the Alex Rider novels for young people and the scriptwriter for a number of British television series (most notably "Foyle's War") — managed to free the manuscript a few years in advance of that century mark. All readers and Sherlock Holmes fans will be grateful that he has.
Read the full review by Michael Dirda in the Washington Post
November 24, 2011
House of Silk Audio Excerpt
Orion Books have posted this short excerpt from the audio version of Sherlock Holmes : The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz.
November 9, 2011
House of Silk Review by Lesa’s Book Critiques
It’s a story only Dr. Watson can tell. And, Anthony Horowitz does a wonderful job in capturing the voice and the atmosphere that readers of Conan Doyle’s adventures remember. If you were ever caught up in the stories, the fog and hansom cabs, the clubs and politics, the crime of Holmes’ London, you’ll be caught up once again in this extraordinary piece. Welcome to The House of Silk.
House of Silk Review by Lesa's Book Critiques
It's a story only Dr. Watson can tell. And, Anthony Horowitz does a wonderful job in capturing the voice and the atmosphere that readers of Conan Doyle's adventures remember. If you were ever caught up in the stories, the fog and hansom cabs, the clubs and politics, the crime of Holmes' London, you'll be caught up once again in this extraordinary piece. Welcome to The House of Silk.
