Night of the Kraken Readalong

Anyone curious as to what my 12th Doctor gamebook Night of the Kraken is like, you can join a readalong here on Tardis Guide now, and help choose how the adventure progresses.

Cover Reveal - The Tides of Innsmouth

Yesterday, at Dragonmeet, Aconyte Books revealed the cover for my second Arkham Horror Investigators Gambook, The Tides of Innsmouth. And here it is...

The cover art is by Joshua Cairós, with cover design by Nick Tyler. Joshua also provided the cover art for The Darkness Over Arkham, and The Tides of Innsmouth follows the same pattern of having a location and one of the Investigators featured in the adventure, appearing inside the cutout of a gribbly monster that may make an appearance too.

I love this cover for all sorts of reasons, but many of those would count as spoilers, so I'll just say that the clouded moon being the monster's eye is definitely one of them.

One of the cool things that Aconyte Books were giving away on their stand was a mock-up of The Arkham Advertiser newspaper.

This in-world artefact includes an advert for The Darkness Over Arkham, among other books, and another that ties in directly to The Tides of Innsmouth. So, make of that what you will..

The Tides of Innsmouth will be published in April 2025.

Gamebook Friday: Dragonmeet 2024

I will be at Dragonmeet on Saturday 30 November 2024, where I will be joining Sir Ian Livingstone on the Fighting Fantasy stand in the Upper Trade Hall (indicated by the small blue tent under the ACE Gamebooks logo on the map below).

Click on the map to enlarge it.

I will have copies of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks to sell, and Sir Ian will have copies of MAGIC REALMS: The Art of Fighting Fantasy that we worked on together, both of which were published earlier this year.

I will also have some phsyical copies of the 'TWAS and HEOROT RPGs with me, so do come along and check them out. Maybe I'll see you there.

Tie-in Tuesday: The Magpie and the Bat

At the start of the month, the second Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook - The Tides of Innsmouth - was announced. However, in truth, I had already written a second Arkham Horror gamebook, although, admittedly, it was a short one. So, you can think of it as AHIG 1.5, if you like.

Last week, Issue #3 of the Dark Horse comic Arkham Horror: The Terror at the End of Time was released. The back matter of the comic consists of the opening 10 sections of this mini gamebook, which is called The Magpie and the Bat. In it, you take on the role of dilettante Jenny Barnes, whose Investigator Profile appeared in the back of Issue #1.

So, while you're waiting for The Tides of Innsmouth to be published next spring, or if you have yet to sample what an Arkham Horror gamebook is like, why not pick up a copy of The Terror at the End of Time #3 today, and check it out?

Doctor Who Day 2024

Doctor Who was first broadcast on this day 61 years ago!

Recently, I have been playing with the Gallifreyan translator on the official Doctor Who website. Below are the names of three of my Doctor Who books - two gamebooks and one novel - in the language of the Time Lords.

The Horror of Howling Hill

(A 10th Doctor gamebook)

Terrible Lizards

(An 11th Doctor novel)

Night of the Kraken

(A 12th Doctor novel)

Gamebook Friday: Black Friday Bargains

As it's Black Friday Week*, you can currently get hold of the 'TWAS RPG, The 'TWAS Advent-ure Calendar, and the Christmas in July supplement at a knockdown price.

Featuring phenomenal artwork by Tony Hough and containing a Santa's sack-load of Christmas content for your favourite festive RPG, why not check out the titles at ACE Gamebooks Roleplay on DriveThruRPG now?

* I think that's a thing.

 

Steampunk Thursday: Scarlet Traces anthology on sale now!

Rebellion are clearly having a massive clearout of their warehouse since loads - and I mean loads - of grpahic novels and other books are heavily discounted over on their webstore.

Among the books that have been knocked down massively in price is the Scarlet Traces short story anthology, which includes a contribution from me: Wonderful Things.

Another book that is currently massively discounted is Judge Fear's Big Day Out and Other Stories, which features four of my Judge Dredd short stories - Psimple Psimon, One-Way Ticket, You'd Better be Good, for Goodness' Sake, and Miracle on 34th and Peltzer.

So head over to the 2000AD webstore now and grab yourself a bargain!

Gamebook Friday: Jonathan Green to attend Dragonmeet 2024

I must apologise for the lack of Gamebook Friday updates recently. I have in fact been very busy working on multiple gamebook projects, but I still can't say very much about them. However, there will hopefully be at least one announcement at Dragonmeet this year.

I will be attending Dragonmeet on Saturday 30 November 2024, where I will be joining Sir Ian Livingstone on the Fighting Fantasy stand in the Upper Trade Hall (marked in blue on the map below).

I will have copies of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks to sell, and Sir Ian will have copies of MAGIC REALMS: The Art of Fighting Fantasy that we worked on together, both of which were published earlier this year.

I will also have some phsyical copies of the 'TWAS and HEOROT RPGs with me, so do come along and check them out. Maybe I'll see you there.

Gamebook Friday: The Tides of Innsmouth

This week, Fantasy Flight Games and Aconyte Books announced the title of the second Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook that will be published next spring.

As with the first Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, The Darkness Over Arkham, the book includes profiles for three new Investigators - Silas Marsh the Sailor, Kōhaku Narukami the Folklorist, and Marion Taveres the Trawler.

However, you can also play as any of the Investigators from the first book, the three bonus Investigators currently available from the Aconyte Books website, or even as Jenny Barnes the Dilettante or Joe Diamond the Private Investigator, who appear in the back matter of the Arkham Horror comic book The Terror at the End of Time #1.

That means you can currently play as one of 11 unique Investigators. Not bad, eh?

You can expect a cover reveal and more information about the adventure towards the end of the month. However, as part of Arkham Nights this week, a brief snippet of me talking about the book was played into the livestream of Unfathomable - From the Abyss on Halloween. (You'll find me at 00:04:44.)

Gamebook Friday: Spooky Season Sale Now On!

The ACE Gamebooks Spooky Season Sale is on now, over on DriveThruRPG. The PDFs of all the ACE Gamebooks and RPGs are on sale for just 99p each until the end of the month.

So, if there's a title missing from your collection, or you fancy giving the 'TWAS RPG or Heorot a go, now is the perfect time to complete your collection.

'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas

The QVC shopping channel is selling Christmas pajamas, and mince pies are already on sale in the supermarkets, so it seemed like a good time to remind you that 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas is available to buy from DriveThruRPG and is the perfect festive RPG for your family or gaming group.

Simply click on the images below to find out more.

Gamebook Friday: Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 Merch

It may be two weeks since Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 took place in London, but you can still pick up your FFF5 merch here.

Also, if you were unable to attend the event - or you did attend, but you would like another one - you can currently pick up this bundle on Ebay.

It includes a copy of the collectible programme and autograph book, the Deathtrap Dungeon lanyard, and two 'greenspine' dice featuring the Fighting Fantasy Fest logo in place of the 6 spot.

Cthulhu Wednesday: La Oscuridad Sobre Arkham

Available now from Minotauro is La Oscuridad Sobre Arkham, the Spanish language edition of The Darkness Over Arkham. 

If you are an Iberophile, or you have a Spanish-speaking friend who you think might enjoy trying to solve a murder mystery in Lovecraft's Arkham, you will find links to buy the book here.

And of course, you can pick up the English language version via Aconyte Books.

Gamebook Friday: Magic Realms - The Art of Fighting Fantasy

Now available from all good book retailers*, is the long awaited Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy, by Sir Ian Livingstone and Yours Truly. The official launch party was held at the Barnes Bookshop on 5th September, attended by Sir Ian, while plenty of people picked up a copy last weekend at Fighting Fantasy Fest 5.

I was on BBC Radio Somerset on 5th September, talking about the new book and the Fighting Fantasy series in general. You can listen to the 12 minute interview with Vicki Clark for the next 22 days here. (The bit you want begins at the 2hr 16min mark.)

Vicki Clark of BBC Radio Somerset and Yours Truly.

Sir Ian and I will be signing copies of Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy tomorrow, Saturday 14th September 2024, at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London, from 2:00-3:00pm. So, maybe I'll see you there.

* I am aware that those people who backed the book through Unbound have yet to receive their signed copies and I am very sorry about this. Unfortunately Sir Ian and I have no control over when the rewards are sent out, but we have expressed our disappointment to the publisher.

Gamebook Wednesday: Upcoming Livestreams

Ken Boyter will be conducting a live playthrough of The Darkness Over Arkham this evening, Wednesday 28th August 2024, at 6:30pm BST on the EdraTales Twitch channel.

And tomorrow night, Thursday 29th August 2024, at 9:30pm BST, Julian Sparrow will be playing through Secrets of Salamonis, the 40th anniversary Fighting Fantasy gamebook I co-wrote with Steve Jackson, on the Babel_17 Twitch channel.

Gamebook Friday: Interview med Jonathan Green

Following the release of Varulvens hyl, I was interviewed by Morten Gottschalck for the Danish gamebook community.

In case you speak Danish, or you fancy giving Google Translate a workout, you will find the interview here.