Gamebook Friday: 100 Aker Wood

The ninth ACE Gamebook, 100 Aker Wood, is coming to Kickstarter on Tuesday 12 May 2026.

As you will doubtless be able to tell from the title, 100 Aker Wood is inspired by the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne.

Winnie-the-Pooh was published 100 years ago this year, on 14 October 1926, and the plan is to publish 100 Aker Wood early in 2027. (Please note, the image to the right is not the final artwork for the cover but merely a placeholder.)

It is unnusual because the story is told through just 100 sections, but will still include everything you would expect from an ACE Gamebook.

It is also an interactive folk horror story, about grief and guilt. To explain much more than that at this stage would be difficult without giving away too many of the book's secrets. But rest assured that 100 Aker Wood will be a more subtle take on the idea than some other recent adaptations*, and will have a pervading atmosphere of creeping dread.

Other influences on the adventure include Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood (which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985) and Stephen King's Pet Sematary (which the author considers his most disturbing and terrifying novel).

I'm not entirely sure what made me think of merging Winnie-the-Pooh with Pet Sematary, but what clinched it for me was when I considered how Christopher Robin misspelt 'Acre' on his map of Hundred Acre Wood, just as the children of Ludlow, Maine, misspelt 'Cemetery' on the sign they made to mark the resting place of their much-missed family pets.

If all of this has you intrigued, check out the Kickstarter preview page and click the button to be notified when the campaign launches. You could also subscribe to my newsletter.

* And I use the word loosely here.

Gamebook Friday - JG to attend PLAY: Festival del Gioco

I will be attending PLAY: Festival del Gioco in Bologna, Italy, from Friday 22nd - Sunday 24th May 2026. I will be there as the guest of Vincent Books, who publish the Italian editions of the ACE Gamebooks series.

Talking of which, available for the first time at the event will be NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters! - which has a new title, I Mostri Dell'Isola Che Non C'è, and a new cover...

I love this image!

Two new covers, in fact!

It's great to see another piece of Kev Crossley's art on the cover of the special edition.

I will be signing copies of my ACE Gamebooks - including the Italian editions of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland and The Wicked Wizard of Oz - as well as the recently released L'Oscurità su Arkham.

So, if you're going to be at PLAY: Festival del Gioco, do stop the Raven Distribution stand and say, "Ciao!"

Gamebook Friday: JG to attend Fantasy Festival 2026

This autumn, I will be attending Fantasy Festival in Denmark. The event takes place in Esbjerg over the weekend of Saturday 19th - Sunday 20th September 2026.

Here I am, looming over the other Guests of Honour
like some kind of gamebook ghost.

While I am there I will be interviewed by Danish gamebook author and translator Morten Gottschalck, and I will be involved in a quiz as well.

Danish gamebook author and translator Morten Gottschalck.

Not only that, but one of my gamebooks, which has not yet been translated into Danish yet, will be released on Saturday 19th September 2026 - more on that later. So, over the course of the weekend you will find me signing copies of my books at the Faraos Cigarer stand.

Here I am, in one of the Faraos Cigarer shops in Copenhagen
last October when I visited Denmark for the first time.

If you're in Denmark and visiting Fantasy Festival 2026, do pop by and say hello.

If other gamebook-related news, the Japanese language edition of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks is published today by GroupSNE.

Short Story Saturday: The Iron Code

One Kickstarter only finished on Thursday, and here I am telling you about another.

Currently funding on Kickstarter is The Iron Code, an anthology of stories in honour of David Gemmell, which will be published to mark the 20th anniversary of his passing.

As the Kickstarter says, "Pick up your sword and your axe and prepare to be dazzled by some of the best fantasy fiction you will ever read." And a story by Yours Truly.

Publisher Ian Whates, of Newcon Press, asked 21 authors to write 21 new short stories to celebrate the man's life and his work. Among those contribution authors are Dan Abnett, M. R. Carey, John Gwynne, Joanne Harris, Juliet E. McKenna, Mark Lawrence, Gavin Smith, and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

By supporting this Kickstarter - which is currently 342% funded! - you will receive a copy of the book ahead of its official release date. In addition, your name will be listed in the Roll of Honour at the back of the book, acknowledging your support (unless you choose not to be included).

To find out more, click this link to visit The Iron Code Kickstarter project page.

Gamebook Friday: Valiant

Now that Valiant has been out for a couple of weeks, people have started to share how they have got on with the adventure. Like the people behind The Markov Dossier.

Jordan Sorcery also mentioned the gamebook on his channel today.

Gamebook Friday: Dracula Anniversary Hardback

As of writing, the Kickstarter campaign for the 5th Anniversary Hardback of the ACE Gamebook Dracula: Curse of the Vampire, has just 6 days left to run, but is already 56% funded.

There is now a no frills hardback reward available for £50. So, if you've been holding back from backing the Kickstarter, maybe this option is for you.

If you haven't backed the project yet yourself, here's a reminder of what you will be getting:

• 
  A hardback of the 1,000 section adventure, in which you can play as either Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, Dr John Seward, or Count Dracula. This will differ from the original hardback in that the cover will be red with black printing on it.
• Known errata will be corrected in this new edition and backers of the Kickstarter will have their names featured inside.
• Each book will be individually signed by the author.
  

Those people who back at the £70 or £120 reward levels will also receive the following rewards:

• 
  A collectible bookmark, only available with this edition of the book.
• A pack of 10 postcards featuring Hauke Kock's artwork.
• A pair of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire themed black dice.
• A golden pin badge in the form of Dracula's crest.
  

So don't delay, back today! And please share the project far and wide with your contacts on social media.

Thank you.

New Book Day: YOU are Valiant!

Today sees the publication of Valiant, the first Warcradle Studios Gamebook.

It is the Dystopian Age.

YOU are Valiant, an agent of the Crown Ministry of Intelligence, an unsung hero, working in secret to keep an unstable world from igniting into all-out war. Victoria may reign as Queen, but it is the super-science of the Enlightened that dominates the world thanks to their discovery of otherworldly technologies. The great global superpowers strain against the uneasy detente that exists between them. All it takes is the right agent in the wrong place, so after a secret mission goes disastrously wrong, all that stands between a shadowy conspiracy and global ruin is YOU!

Her Majesty is counting on YOU to end this threat.

Only YOU can save Queen and Country - and perhaps the world!

In the lead up to the release of Valiant, Warcradle Studios have published a series of blogs about the book. One of these is about the lore of the world of the Dystopian Age, which you can read here. They have also published an interview with Yours Truly about the experience of writing the adventure, which you can read here.

Valiant is illustrated throughout by Neil Googe, who also illustrated RONIN 47. So, to finish with today, here are some of his incredible illustrations from the adventure.

You can purchase Valiant direct from Warcradle Studios here.