Gamebook Friday: The Tides of Innsmouth reviewed on Cosmic Circus

After reviewing The Darkness Over Arkham last year, Cosmic Circus is back with a review of The Tides of Innsmouth.

Having given The Darkness Over Arkham a sterling 8 out of 10, The Tides of Innsmouth hasn't fared quite so well, having been given a score of 7 out of 10. But that's still very respectable as far as I'm concerned.

"This isn’t the first choose-your-own-adventure game book from Aconyte I’ve reviewed. It isn’t even the first one written by Jonathan Green. I enjoy how these books draw you in by being more involved than just “pick a number”. There are, of course, many different paths to choose from, but dice rolls, items acquired, and character attributes affect your options. This turns a simple book into a game and makes it more engaging."

To read the whole review, click here. To buy The Tides of Innsmouth, click here.

New Book Day: The Tides of Innsmouth

The Tides of Innsmouth, my second Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook is published today by Aconyte Books.

The book actually went on sale for the first time at the UK Games Expo at the weekend, and had sold out by 11:00am on Saturday, which was amazing.

The reviews have also started to come in and they make very satisfying reading for the person who wrote the book.

Just as The Darkness Over Arkham had the profiles of three Investigators included within it - those for Agnes Baker the Waitress, Nathaniel Cho the Boxer, and Rex Murphy the Reporter - there are three new Investiator profiles in The Tides of Innsmouth - Silas Marsh the Sailor, Kōhaku Narukami the Folklorist, and Marion Tavares the Trawler.

However, you can also play the adventure using any of the Investigators from The Darkness Over Arkham, or those that appear on the Aconyte website, or even those that appeared in the Dark Horse comic, The Terror at the End of Time.

To pick up your copy of The Tides of Innsmouth, click here.

I'm loving Joshua Cairós's cover art,
while Nick Tyler's design work is excellent as ever.

Gamebook Friday: Can You Solve the Murder?

This week, I was excited to receive an advanced reader copy of Antony Johnston's new interactive crime novel Can You Solve the Murder?

I was fortunate enough to be a beta reader for this last year. Since then a few changes have been made to the story, including the gender of one of the main characters, so it will be interesting to give it another read now.

Here's the publisher's blurb...

There’s been a murder at Elysium, a wellness retreat set in an English country manor. You arrive to find the body of a local businessman on the lawn – with a rose placed in his mouth. It appears he was stabbed with a gardening fork and fell to his death from the balcony above. But that balcony can only be accessed through a locked door, the key is missing, and everyone in Elysium is now a suspect…

Gather the evidence and examine the clues. Choose who to interview next, and who to accuse as your prime suspect. But remember that every decision you make has consequences – and some of them will prove fatal… 

Do you have what it takes? Can YOU solve the murder?

The great thing about Can You Solve the Murder? is that while it isn't a gamebook in the style of Fighting Fantasy or ACE Gamebooks, it isn't simply a branching narrative like a Choose Your Own Adventure story, where everything is revealed at the end.

There are clues to be collected and a puzzle to be solved. At the end, in classic murder mystery style, you have to declare who you think the murderer is. But you can't just guess who it might be - you have to have the evidence to back up your suspicions.

I met Antony Johnston for the first time last year after Fighting Fantasy Fest, despite having both worked for Abaddon Books when the imprint started out, and he is a huge gamebook fan. In fact, he wrote a glowing review of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire.

Can You Solve the Murder? will be published by Penguin Books* in June 2025.

* Parent company of Puffin Books, who originally published the Fighting Fantasy series.

Beowulf Beastslayer flash sale!

Following the succes of the 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas flash sale, today I am offering you the 5th anniversary hardback of Beowulf Beastslayer at half price!

The price below includes post and packing within the UK. If you are based overseas and would like to buy a book, please email info@jonathangreenauthor.com rather than using the PayPal button.

Beowulf Beastslayer (£20)

5th anniversary hardback edition of the fourth ACE Gamebook, individually numbered and signed by the author.

Includes Midgard map endpapers, high quality paper, bonus chapter featuring designer's notes and artist Russ Nicholson's sketchbook, and an exclusive, collectible bookmark.

500 sections in length.

'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas flash sale!

As Christmas is over, and the New Year is approaching, I have some signed copies of the 5th anniversary collector's hardback edition of 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas for sale at half the usual price!

To make the most of this Dead Days offer and buy one, simply click on the PayPal button below.

The price below includes post and packing within the UK. If you are based overseas and would like to buy a book, please email info@jonathangreenauthor.com rather than using the PayPal button.

 

'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas (£20)

5th anniversary hardback edition of the fifth ACE Gamebook, individually numbered and signed by the author.

Includes red endpapers, high quality paper, 13 colour plates by artist Tony Hough, bonus chapter featuring designer's notes and artist's sketches, and an exclusive, collectible bookmark.

500 sections in length.

Moon Knight: Age of Anubis - signed copies available now!

I have some signed copies of Moon Knight: Age of Anubis for sale. To buy one, simply click on the PayPal button below.

The price below includes post and packing within the UK. If you are based overseas and would like to buy a book, please email info@jonathangreenauthor.com rather than using the PayPal button.

Moon Knight: Age of Anubis (£12)

Out of print paperback edition of the third Marvel Multiverse Missions gamebook, signed by the author.

300 sections in length.

When N’Kantu, the Living Mummy, escapes his sarcophagus and steals an artifact that turns swaths of mankind into zombies, Moon Knight steps in to save the day… But is hampered by an eager Egyptologist whose choices seem to influence his personalities and strengths. As Moon Knight and the Egyptologist chase N’Kantu from the streets of New York to navigating traps, tricks, and riddles within an ancient temple in Egypt, the two uncover an evil ritual that will begin a battle between gods over the power of life and death. Only the Egyptologist holds the key to unraveling the dark plot… everybody’s lives are in their hands!

“If you loved gamebooks, solo adventures, Moon Knight, ancient Egypt or just want to kill a bit of time in a fun and engaging way this is the book for you!”

A Reader Lives a Thousand Lives

“This was an absolute joy to read (over and over again) and I think even when you've perfected the route, you could easily come back to this one later on and do it all over again with the same enjoyment!”

Amazon.co.uk

“Jonathan Green's skillful storytelling, the interactive gameplay elements, and the incorporation of the Marvel universe make it a must-read for those seeking an immersive and interactive reading experience.”

Goodreads

Gamebook Friday: The Terror at the End of Time

Out now from Dark Horse Comics and Fantasy Flight Games is the first Arkham Horror Comic, The Terror at the End of Time.

Written by Eisner-nominated master of horror Cullen Bunn - with art by Andrea Mutti, colours by Valerio Alloro, letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and wrapped in a cover by Rafael Albuquerque - The Terror at the End of Time tells the story of adventuring socialite Jenny Barnes and her search for her missing sister Izzie. She is aided in this task by private investigator Joe Diamond, but eldritch horrors await them in the town of Arkham, Massachusetts.

The reason I mention this is because printed in the back of the comic are Character Sheets for the two Investigators featured in the strip. This means you can now play through my Arkham Horror gamebook, The Darkness Over Arkham, as either Jenny Barnes or Joe Diamond, bringing the total number of Investigators available to date to eight!

YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks

YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks is published today by Snowbooks, featuring brand new cover art by none other than Iain McCaig.

Fighting Fantasy gamebooks – the publishing phenomenon of the 1980s – has sold over 20 million books worldwide, in over 30 languages. But when Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone sat down to write the original Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, they could not have predicted that this one, simple adventure would go on to spawn over 100 titles, let alone begin to guess at the impact it would have on a generation of children growing up in the 80s.

Part history, part celebration, YOU ARE THE HERO chronicles four decades of the Fighting Fantasy phenomenon. Written by Jonathan Green (author of eight Fighting Fantasy gamebooks), this mighty tome will appeal to anyone who ever whiled away a washed-out summer holiday with only two dice, a pencil, and an eraser for company.

As well as updating and revising the text from the original two volumes of YOU ARE THE HERO, there is a significant amount of new content, particularly concerning the 40th anniversary of Fighting Fantasy in 2022.

Not only that, but you can either read the book from cover to cover, or you can read it as a gamebook. Those blue boxes you can see in the sample spread above give you the option of turning to different sections (there are 400 in total) that are in some way related to the paragraphs you have just read.

If you have read the book already, please consider posting a review here.

The Darkness Over Arkham released in the UK today

The Darkness Over Arkham, the first Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebook, is published as a paperback in the UK today, courtesy of Aconyte Books.

When a renowned professor is found dead, it’s up to the Investigators of Arkham to discover what occult horrors were behind his fate. Pick your path, Investigator, and collect allies along the way to hunt down his killer before they strike again. However, Arkham is full of mysteries, with many wishing to keep the truth buried, and who are hungry to usher in a new era full of death and darkness to devour the world you know it. Can you stop them before it is too late?

The book includes profiles for three Investigators - Agnes Baker the Waitress, Nathaniel Cho the Boxer, and Rex Murphy the Reporter. There are also three more Investigators available as downloads from the Aconyte Books' website - Stella Clark the Letter Carrier, Amanda Sharpe the Student, and Skids O'Toole the Ex-Con. All of them can be used to tackle the adventure contained within The Darkness Over Arkham.

When the book was launched in the US, Jordan Sorcery and I did a live readthrough of part of the adventure which can you watch below.

If you have read The Darkness Over Arkham, please do post a review on Amazon. Unfortunately, when the book was first released, it received some 1-star ratings with no accompanying reviews*, which has really skewed the book's aggregated score. We could do with some more balanced reviews, and fairer ratings, to help rectify that situation. In anticipation, thank you for your support.

* Something which I think shouldn't be allowed.

Gamebook Friday: ACE Czech Gamebooks

There are currently seven ACE Gamebooks in print in English, through Snowbooks, but by the end of the year there will be six ACE Gamebooks available in Czech courtesy of Mytago, when RONIN 47 is released by the publisher. And here's the cover, featuring Neil Googe's awesome artwork...

Dracula: Curse of the Vampire is now available in Czech and recently received this fantastic review.

"This book isn't just a rehash of the original into a playable version, it's a clever and fun mix of various vampire and mythological stories. The Vampire's Curse is written in an accessible, understandable way, and as a stand-alone work it is the ideal gateway to the world of interactive novels for all new players. However, even seasoned veterans will be completely satisfied. Get ready for an unforgettable journey into the world of darkness!"

~ Petr Eller, for Imago

Click on the images below, to check out the Czech editions of the other ACE Gamebooks currently in print.

World Dracula Day 2024!

Today is World Dracula Day, the anniversary of the publication of Bram Stoker's Dracula. But now you can be an active participant in the story, thanks to Dracula: Curse of the Vampire. Here's what author Antony Johnson had to say about the sixth ACE Gamebook...

Dracula: Curse of the Vampire is now available in five different languages - English, Polish, German, Hungarian, and (the latest) Czech.

All the editions of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire that have crawled their way out of the grave so far...

The Czech edition of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire, published by Mytago.

My Dracula: Curse of the Vampire collection.

If you have yet to try Dracula: Curse of the Vampire for yourself, why not make today the day you do?

Tie-in Tuesday: The Darkness Over Arkham

If you would like to read a review copy of The Darkness Over Arkham, my first Arkham Horror gamebook months before it is published, you can apply to be a Netgalley reviewer here.

You are an Arkham Investigator – your choices will decide the outcome of a terrible murder mystery and a sinister plot threatening Arkham – in this brand new gamebook adventure in the world of Arkham Horror.

When a renowned professor is found dead, it’s up to the Investigators of Arkham to discover what occult horrors were involved. Pick your path, Investigator, and collect allies along the way to hunt down his killer before they strike again. However, Arkham is full of mysteries, with many wishing to keep the truth buried, and who are hungry to usher in a new era full of death and darkness to devour the world as you know it. Can you stop them before it is too late?

The Darkness Over Arkham is released in the US and as a global eBook on 7 May 2024, and in the UK on 18 July 2024.

Moon Knight: Age of Anubis - out today in the UK!

Moon Knight: Age of Anubis is out in paperback in the UK today!

When N’Kantu, the Living Mummy, escapes his sarcophagus and steals an artifact that turns swaths of mankind into zombies, Moon Knight steps in to save the day… But is hampered by an eager Egyptologist whose choices seem to influence his personalities and strengths. As Moon Knight and the Egyptologist chase N’Kantu from the streets of New York to navigating traps, tricks, and riddles within an ancient temple in Egypt, the two uncover an evil ritual that will begin a battle between gods over the power of life and death. Only the Egyptologist holds the key to unraveling the dark plot… everybody’s lives are in their hands!

“If you loved gamebooks, solo adventures, Moon Knight, ancient Egypt or just want to kill a bit of time in a fun and engaging way this is the book for you!”

A Reader Lives a Thousand Lives

“This was an absolute joy to read (over and over again) and I think even when you've perfected the route, you could easily come back to this one later on and do it all over again with the same enjoyment!”

Amazon.co.uk

“Jonathan Green's skillful storytelling, the interactive gameplay elements, and the incorporation of the Marvel universe make it a must-read for those seeking an immersive and interactive reading experience.”

Goodreads

To buy your copy of Moon Knight: Age of Anubis follow this link.

Gamebook Friday: Moon Knight Reviews

Moon Knight: Age of Anubis, my first Marvel gamebook, was released on Tuesday in the US as a paperback and around the world as an eBook.

I'm pleased to say that it is currently in the Top 100 Best Sellers in Movie Tie-In Fiction on Amazon.com and has received a number of pleasing reviews. Here are just some of them.

Moon Knight: Age of Anubis is released in the UK on 23 November.