Thought for the Day

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

~ Albert Einstein

Iron Hands - Fracking Awesome!

Here's what readers are saying about the re-issue of my Warhammer 40K novel Iron Hands:

"Iron Hands is fracking awesome , space marine novel, I loved it from start to finish."

"This is a great book and well worth the read I have a copy of when it first came out and I am now re-reading it again. It's just as good if not better the second time around."

Isn't it about time you read Iron Hands?

Yes, it's time for another Writers Round-up!

And today we have Scott K Andrews on the doubts that occasionally beset any writer...

Veteran comics pro Gordon Rennie tells us what not to do when it comes to comic writing...

Black Library scribe Sarah Cawkwell writes about the joy of deadlines...

And finally there's William King on the subject of inspiration...

Until next time...

Human Nature - a new review

Thanks to David Kenyon for this:

Another exciting chapter in the Pax Britannia series by Jonathan Green... Yet again I wasn't let down by a fast paced novel full of action set pieces. I wasn't sure what to expect from this one to be truthful as the first act deals with the theft of the Whitby mermaid and offers some great action as Quicksilver searches for the thief in a pastiche of 'Oliver', but with monkeys and some Holmesian references as well...which I enjoyed.

Jonathan is like a magpie, collecting gems of literature and giving them a steampunk twist... I adored the second act and read it very quickly as I couldn't put it down. I've always loved a monster story and love body horror and this series has given me some great monsters to visualize in my mind.

The author also does some abominable things to his hero... What I loved about this act was that my favourite character Nimrod had a chance to shine...

As I've said before, if you want some fabulous monster writing in a world of steampunk, dashing and daring characters you will love this series. I'm already into the next book Evolution Expects and it's gotten off to a great start.

You can pick up your copy of Human Nature here, or buy it along with Unnatural History and Leviathan Rising as part of The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus here.

Update of the Spider God

Temple of the Spider God - my first digital gamebook - has received a update (Version 1.1), made up of some minor content updates and bug fixes. But most importantly, as requested by the fans, the number '7' has been added to the title and icon, just as with the earliest Gamebook Adventures.

And there's been another interesting development regarding Spider God that you can read about via the Tin Man Games blog here.

Mission: Games Workshop - Stratford

On my way to north Wales for the SFX Weekender 3, I stopped off in Stratford and, while I was there, popped into the local GW store (as is my wont). I was met by a very welcoming Adam Townsend (the store manager) who proceeded to enthuse about everything the Black Library does all how wonderful it is. Which was nice.

There was also plenty in the store to impress me, but most of all it was the Rat Ogres and the Imperial Fists that attracted my attention. After all, the former appear in my short story Sir Dagobert's Last Battle and the latter in my forthcoming 40K gamebook, Herald of Oblivion.

Rat Ogres are cool

Imperial Fists - also cool

Happy Birthday, Mr Dickens!

Today is the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birth. Naturally there are all sorts of celebrations taking place in and around London, and across the media to mark this momentous occasion, throughout the year.

My own tribute will appear in Stories of the Smoke, to be published by Pandemonium Fiction in April. This anthology also features tales by Adam Roberts, Archie Black, Sarah Lotz, Rebecca Levene, Aliette de Bodard, David Bryher, Alexis Kennedy, James Wallis, Sarah Anne Langton, Jenni van der Merwe, David Thomas Moore, Lavie Tidhar, Kaaron Warren, Michelle Godlsmith, Esther Saxey and Glen Mehn. Not to mention an introduction by Christopher Fowler and illustrations by Gary Northfield.

Stories of the Smoke is edited by Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin. A portion of the proceeds from all sales of Stories of the Smoke is donated to English PEN, and you can pre-order your limited edition hardback now.