Jonathan Green on The Geek Pride Cast today!

I will be the guest on The Geek Pride Podcast again tonight, Monday 18 September 2023, talking about all things Moon Knight: Age of Anubis, and gamebooks in general, no doubt.

The interview will be streamed live at 9:00pm BST via YouTube, Facebook and Twitch, but will also be available for you to enjoy later at your leisure.

You can watch my previous appear on The Geek Pride Podcast below.

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.

Tie-in Tuesday - Moon Knight: Age of Anubis

In case you haven't been following my Twitter and Facebook feeds, Moon Knight: Age of Anubis, my first Marvel gamebook, is published in the US today in paperback today, and around the work as a global ebook! Several reviewers have read it already, and the good news is they like it.

Here's what the Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub have to say about the book:

"I know less than nothing about Moon Knight and am about five movies behind in the MC Universe, but thankfully it didn’t matter one iota. I have a massive amount of nostalgia-laden affection for adventure gamebooks anyway, and this one is an absolute blast... The story itself is solid and of good quality. This is much better than some of the writing found in old “Choose Your Own Adventure” type books (I write this with fondness for those books, of course)...   More than anything, it’s a sense of adventure that shines through loud and clear. That’s the most important part of this gamebook: the enthusiasm of the author is contagious. My character may have lost multiple times, but Moon Knight: Age of Anubis is a sure winner!"

And The Cosmic Circus has scored it 8/10:

"I am happy to report that Moon Knight: Age of Anubis was more than a one-hit wonder. I read it through multiple times without repeating many scenes. And even with a couple of repeated scenes, each round felt unique and held my interest. What’s more, I know that I still have plenty of scenes I never even got to. This means that I can read it through several more times (at least) and get different adventures each time... So if you’re looking for some fun and have an hour to spare, pick up Moon Knight: Age of Anubis and save the world with Moon Knight!"

You can order your copy of Moon Knight: Age of Anubis here.

Gamebook Friday - Moon Knight: Age of Anubis

Today's big news is... I've written a Marvel: Multiverse Missions gamebook, as announced on the Aconyte Books website today. Here's the cover blurb.

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!

The placeholder cover features a picture of Moon Knight battling Ghost in a blizzard.

I was approached to write the third title in the Marvel: Multiverse Missions series last September, having previously supplied technical assistance on the first two books, You Are (Not) Deadpool and She-Hulk Goes to Murderworld.

I was delighted when I was offered multiple super heroes to choose from to be the focus. I subsequently wrote up three different proposals and the one which everyone liked the most, including Marvel, was Moon Knight: Age of Anubis. This makes it the second gamebook I've written inspired by the mythology of Ancient Egypt - the first, of course, was Curse of the Mummy.

The book will be released in the US on 5th September 2023 and in the UK on 23rd November 2023.

Gamebook Friday: Curse of the Mummy is 25 years old this year!

My third Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Curse of the Mummy, will be 25 years old later this year*. I was recently reminded of this fact when Family Green visited the Tutankhamun exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London. (Tickets are still available.)

It must be the fourth time I've seen artefacts from King Tut's tomb - twice in situ in Egypt, and once before in the UK - and I even wrote my university thesis on Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egyptian Art. So you won't be surprised to learn that Curse of the Mummy isn't the only thing I've written that was inspired by the wonders of Ancient Egypt.

Egyptian death and the afterlife: mummies (Rooms 62-3)** appeared in The Book of the Dead, published by Jurassic London in 2013.

Then there was Worthless Remains, a Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia story that was published in Clockwork Cairo: Steampunk Tales of Egypt. (There was also a Spring-Heeled Jack story called Favoured Son that was never actually written but which had a strong Egyptian theme.)

Wonderful Things came out last year in Scarlet Traces: A War of the Worlds Anthology, and even featured Howard Carter as the protagonist!

Of course, any Warhammer 40,000 story about the Necrons - like as But Dust in the Wind - comes with an automatic Ancient Egyptian hit, but in my most recent such tale, Journey of the Magi, is a double whammy, since a trio of Thousand Sons' sorcerers are the protagonists.

I also have an idea for a Egyptian-themed Scrooge & Marley (Deceased) story, and the ACE Gamebook I will be writing next is another cursed tome - Dracula - Curse of the Vampire - which will be illustrated by Martin McKenna, who also happened to illustrate Curse of the Mummy!

* This is going to be a regular thing now, since I've been published every year since 1993. There was a hiatus from 1998-2001, when I didn't have any books published, but in that time I still had short stories and magazine articles come out in the name.

** Which has to be the weirdest title I've ever used for a published story.

Short Story Saturday: Scarlet Traces

When I returned from MantiCon, last weekend, I was delighted to find the hardback of the Scarlet Traces anthology waiting for me. Edited by Ian Edginton, contributing authors were simply given the brief of writing a story set somewhere within the timeline of the Scarlet Traces comics written by Ian, and illustrated by D'Israeli (a.k.a. Matt Brooker).

I first discovered Scarlet Traces when it appeared in the Judge Dredd Megazine, the series having originally been conceived as a partially animated serial, intended for the now-defunct website Cool Beans World.

The premise, for anyone who doesn't know, is that after the Martians' failed invasion of Earth, in H G Wells' The War of the Worlds, the British Empire retro-engineers the aliens' technology and uses it to expand even further. But the Martin menace is not done, and something is draining young women of blood whose bodies are being washed up on the banks of the Thames near Whitechapel...

There are now numerous graphic novels continuing the saga, and I had the original one signed years ago by D'Israeli. I took as the launching off point of my story something that is mentioned in passing in one panel in Book 2, The Great Game. Fans of the Pax Britannia series may find the writing style feels a little familiar and it features two of my ongoing interests, Ancient Egypt and Mars.

Scarlet Traces: A War of the Worlds Anthology is published by Abaddon Books on 5th September, and is the third anthology I have been published in this year.