Best of the Year

This has been a great year for me on the creative front. I’m looking forward to making even greater things happen in 2012! Thanks to all those who have followed the blog this year (officially or unofficially): I wish you a fantastic New Year. This seems an appropriate post to end 2011 on. The British Fantasy Society was kind enough to review my novel Atlas Infernal. The BFS site can be found here. They had this to say about the novel:

“This is one of the Black Library’s best books of the year. The characters are all believable, the plotting is full of action, inventive and original. The set pieces work well, and never is it predictable or clichéd. A definite winner.”



Not a bad accolade to end on. I can live with that. ; )

Cheers

Rob

Great News!

To conclude 'Seven Days of Damnation', I have some fantastic news from my publisher Black Library. My novel Legion of the Damned is due to be released in April. Print copies will be on sale from then and hopefully I’ll be signing a fair few at Black Library Live this year. For those of you eager to read the next novel in the ‘Space Marine Battles’ series now, however (as a special Christmas treat) Black Library have brought forward the Ebook release date of Legion of the Damned to... TODAY!


If ‘Seven Days of Damnation’ has further whetted your appetite for action-packed Space Marine fiction involving the Legion of the Damned, you’re interested in the newest stories from Rob Sanders or you simply need to break in a brand new Kindle – click the link below and read Legion of the Damned over a very Merry Christmas.







Legion of the Damned (Space Marine Battles) by Rob Sanders – Ebook



If you have enjoyed ‘Seven Days of Damnation’ and are interested in regular updates for this blog (I am a fairly frequent blogger!) then click here or the Facebook icon on the side bar and ‘Like’ on the author page beyond. Merry Christmas!

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 1

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 2 - Game On!

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 3 - New Skin

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 4 - Damnation's Calling

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 5 - Visions of Damnation

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 6 - Legion of the Damned Extract

Legion of the Damned Extract

During the 'Seven Days of Damnation' I've been covering a range of different aspects of the Space Marines known as the Legion of the Damned. The principle aspect that concerns me as an author, however, is writing about the Damned Legionnaires. Black Library released a snippet from the novel a few weeks ago and a number of you asked for a longer extract. Those readers lucky enough to be granted early copies of the Horus Heresy novel Deliverance Lost will have been treated to a longer extract, as part of a teaser contained at the end of the book. With it being the season of goodwill,and as part of the 'Seven Days of Damnation', I thought I might treat interested blog readers to the same. I have been faithful to the original teaser, despite the fact that I have since made a few minor edits in readiness for the novel publication.


The blurb reads as follows:

"Following the trajectory of a blood-red comet, the berserk World Eaters blaze a path of destruction across the galaxy in its wake. The small cemetery world of Certus Minor appeals to the Space Marines of the Excoriators Chapter for protection, but the force dispatched to deal with this grim threat is far too small and their losses against the renegades are high. Just as all seems lost, salvation is borne out of legend itself as sinister spectral warriors descend upon this planet of the dead, and the enemies of the Imperium come face to face with those who have already travelled beyond the realm of the living..."

In the following extract we join the Excoriators Space Marine Chapter during their doomed participation in the honorific competition, the Feast of Blades. We are introduced to one of the novel's main characters, the Chapter Champion Zachariah Kersh - also known as 'the Scourge' - and, of course, the titular Legion of the Damned. Enjoy!



‘HOW GOES THE Feast, Brother?’ called Apothecary Ezrachi, across the frigate Scarifica’s tactical Oratoria. Corpus-captain Shiloh Gideon stood at a rostrum decorated with runeslates and scrolls of vellum. As Ezrachi approached, the small gathering of bondservants about the rostrum peeled away. The Apothecary’s right leg was a full bionic replacement and almost as old as Ezrachi himself. While robust and powerful, it sighed with hydraulic insistence and lagged a millisecond behind its flesh-and-bone equivalent, giving the impression of a slight limp.
‘The Feast of Blades goes badly,’ the Corpus-Captain lamented. ‘For the Excoriators, at least.’
‘How many?’ enquired the Apothecary as he approached.
‘Too many,’ Gideon snapped, running a palm across the top of his tonsure-shaven scalp. He grasped hair that grew like a silver crown around his skull in obvious frustration. ‘We lost three more to our Successor Chapter kin this morning in honorific contestations. Occam, Basrael and Jabez. Occam fought well but not well enough. I thought Jabez was dead. I don’t think anything is going to stop that Crimson Fist. The Feast may already be their’s.’
‘Brother Jabez will live,’ Ezrachi assured him. ‘Just.’
Gideon didn’t seem to hear the aged Apothecary.
‘Shame begets shame,’ the captain said. ‘Our failure at the Feast is tied to the loss of our Chapter’s sacred standard. I can feel it.’
‘Your head is full of Santiarch Balshazar’s sermons. I honour the Primarch, but Dorn lives on through our flesh and blood, not dusty artefacts,’ Ezrachi insisted. ‘The loss of our standard is a mighty blow, but in truth it was but a blood-speckled banner.’
‘Rogal Dorn himself entrusted his sons - our Excoriator brothers - with the standard over ten thousand years ago,’ the corpus-captain said. ‘It displays the Second Founding’s decree and is threaded with the Honours of every battle fought in our long, bloody history; it carries the distinctia of the Astartes Praeses and our service in garrisoning the Ocularis Terribus; it bears the Stigmartyr - the emblem that the Chapter adopted as its own.’ Gideon turned to present his own ivory shoulderplate, adorned with the scarlet symbol to which he made reference: a gauntleted fist clenching the length of a thunderbolt-shaped scar. ‘It is much more than the blood-soaked rag to which you allude and I’ll have you mind your irreverence, Apothecary.’
‘I meant no offence, corpus-captain,’ Ezrachi replied plainly, slapping the adamantium scaffolding of his thigh. ‘As you well know, there is more than a little of my own blood splashed across that standard.’
‘Our brothers fight for a broken honour,’ the captain continued, oblivious to Ezrachi. ‘We are accursed. The Emperor’s eternal fortitude, once absent in the brother that surrendered the banner, is now absent in us all. It is our collective punishment.’
‘Is it not our way?’ Ezrachi put to him. ‘Do not the Excoriators of all Dorn’s sons feel the loss of the Emperor deepest? Do not the Excoriators alone know our Primarch’s true grief, the agony of his redemption and the cold wrath of his renascence? Do we not purge his weakness and our own from this shared flesh through the Rites of Castigation and the Wearing of Dorn’s Mantle?’
‘This is beyond our inheritant sin,’ Gideon said miserably. ‘The loss of the Honoured First Company; the near assassination of our Chapter Master; the failure and near decimation of the Fifth; and now this – one hundred years of humiliation in the making, right underneath the disapproving noses of our Legionary kindred. All as spiritual censure for the loss of Dorn’s gift - the very embodiment of our Adeptus Astartes honour.’
‘We have lost a great symbol,’ Ezrachi admitted, ‘but not what the standard symbolised. That is alive and well in the hearts of every Excoriator who bears his blade in the Emperor’s name. As they do here brother, at the Feast of Blades.’
‘Blades drawn in disbelief and sheathed in failure,’ the corpus-captain said grimly.
‘Is our standing in the Feast really so dire?’
‘I’m pinning our hope on Usachar and Brother Dathan. Usachar is a squad whip and a veteran; Dathan is young but fast and has a way with a blade.’
‘Some hope, then,’ Ezrachi said.
‘Usachar is chosen against Knud Hægstad of the Iron Knights and young Dathan has drawn Pugh’s champion,’ Gideon reported. ‘It’s never easy crossing blades with those chosen to wear the Primarch’s plate, but with the Imperial Fists defending their title and the Feast fought on a First Company-conquered world - I don’t rate our chances. Even if they win, they’ll have to face that damned Crimson Fist in the next round. It’s fairly hopeless.’
‘So,’ the Ezrachi put to the corpus-captain, ‘it’s time.’
‘I would enter the arena myself, but for the desperation it speaks to our brethren.’
‘Making your decision all the easier and more forgivable,’ the Apothecary persisted. ‘You have no choice. Give the order: let me set free the Scourge.’
‘I would not do that for a hundred worlds,’ Gideon snarled. ‘He’s afflicted and has damned us all. Dorn has seen fit to punish him. The Scourge can rot for all I care. The Darkness is his to endure and I for one would not spare him his agonies.’

I AM IN a place... of darkness. I have never been here: yet I know it well. My mind - like my body - is in sensory overdrive. Something far beyond my genetic inheritance, beyond the rigors of Chapter indoctrination and the suprahormones roaring through my veins. This moment feels more acute, more vivid and keener than any I have formerly experienced. Every molecule of my being is devoted to it. Like the seconds have been honed to a razored-edge.
Despite the intensity of this experience, the world about me is dark and indistinct. Everything, from the walls to the floor beneath my feet, is cloaked in a peripheral haze. I try to focus, but anything upon which I settle my eyes assumes the quality of screaming shadow. The howling gloom spreads like a stain, running into everything else and framing me in a vision of smeared charcoal.
I wander the labyrinthine nightmare of this place, weapon in hand. Searching. Splattered with blood that is not my own. Knowing that brothers both lost and true clash about me. There is gunfire. There is death. I can hear calls of distant anguish. I cannot make out the words but know that they are laced with venom and cold reason. The hot ring of blades fills the air, before power beyond my comprehension is unleashed in the bleakness beyond. I feel its unnaturalness wash over me. My hearts hammer in unison. I am running. Fearful, but not for myself.
I erupt from the maze and come to a halt in an open space. A giant archport blazes with the light of a nearby globe, set against a pin-prick darkness. I know not this world, yet its reflected radiance draws me in. I am where I cannot have been: above Ancient Terra. The vista rolls and I feel the movement deep inside of me. I am aboard a vessel. A bastion of Angels. A cathedral amongst the stars. The bridge expanse beckons.
As I step between the armoured bodies, that litter the deck in anonymity, I come to realise that this is not a colossal command deck: it is a throne room. Before me are three titans: fallen and terrible in the murderous ruin they have committed – one upon the other. Two mighty brothers lay twisted and broken on the steps. Their god-flesh is still, their fratricide over. The chime of battle hangs about their corpses. Their weapons decorate the deck. My own falls to the floor.
Then, the centrepiece of the slaughter. The Father of All lies amongst his fallen family. The Emperor of Mankind. A beacon in the darkness. Withering to look upon. Impossible not to.
I approach as one might his doom. Hesitant. Uncomprehending. Child-like. The moment overwhelms me and tears cascade down my blood-flecked cheeks. I fall to my knees. I weep over my Emperor, for there is nothing left to do. No higher power to whom I can appeal. With His body held to mine I roar my defiance, like an infant freshly ripped from the womb. A new coldness clings to me. It saturates me with its despair. I sink deep within myself and find a greater darkness there. An Imperium without an Emperor. A fatherless humanity. An eternity without direction.
I quake. I know only fear and fury at an empty cosmos, devoid of answers. His head, in my arms, rolls to one side. His eyelids fall open and His divine gaze fixes upon the blazing archport. Dead eyes set on the dead space beyond. But there is a figure. Something I had not seen before. There and yet not. An armoured shape that steps from the darkness into silhouette, glorious against the Terran glare. Unlike my stygian surroundings or the Emperor, eclipsed by his own brilliance, the figure falls into harrowing focus. Its movements are slow and deliberate and as, it walks towards me, it grows in stature and menace.
An ally? An enemy? There are no shortage of either, dead on the deck about me. I think of my Emperor and tighten my grip on his malevolence-mauled body. I clutch only the crisp air of the bridge to my chest, for the Emperor’s hallowed form has gone. I remain kneeling, as though my legs are now part of the deck. My mind is overwhelmed with a grief beyond grief. I sit. I watch. I dread.
The revenant approaches. Its searing plate is of the blackest night. Each ceramite boot is wreathed in spectral flame. I look on as its incandescent steps fracture and frost-shatter the metal of the deck beneath them. The ghost-fire curls and crooks its way about the figure as one burned at the stake. It slows to an appalling stop and looks down on my kneeling form. Before me is an Angel of Death. A brother of the beyond. Devoid of Chapter markings, the armour speaks only of the grave: a rachial nightmare of rib and bone, a skeleton set within the surface of the sacred plate. Beneath, the ghastliness goes on. The faceplate of its helmet is smashed and a ceramite shard missing. The bleach-white of a fleshless skull leers at me. The glint of a service stud. The darkness of an eye socket that burns with unnatural life. Perfect teeth that chatter horribly.
‘What are you?’ I manage, although it takes everything I have left to brave the utterance.
It says nothing, but reaches out with a raven gauntlet. A bone digit protrudes from the splintered ceramite fingertip. I watch it drift towards my face with horror. The thing touches me. And I scream.




Seven Days of Damnation: Day 1

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 2 - Game On!

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 3 - New Skin

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 4 - Damnation's Calling

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 5 - Visions of Damnation

Visions of Damnation

One of the aspects of writing for Black Library that I especially like is working with other creative people. For my money, editors are the unsung heroes of the publishing process but it’s good for an author to remember there are a whole host of creative people who work hard to ensure that a piece of published fiction is a success. The people right at the vanguard of the whole process are the front cover artists and I particularly like working with them. There is something pretty magical about sending an artist narrative background material and samples of text and then - some time later - seeing that material interpreted in a piece of artistically-rendered genius. This process works in reverse, of course, when writers look to pieces of art for inspiration. The reason why artists are at the vanguard of the publishing process is because - beyond the text title - the front cover artwork prompts the readers’ first emotional reaction to the text. This happens on the bookshop shelf and also on the internet. The front cover art is the ambassador for the text, setting a tone and working hard to create initial interest and expectation.

On this blog I have spoken about the fantastic work of Stefan Kopinski. Stefan was responsible for Atlas Infernal’s atmospheric and evocative front cover. Stefan really tapped into the novel’s ‘Eye-of-Terror’ dark insanity. He also effectively gave Czevak his official 'face'. I talk a little more about Stefan and his work here and his website can be found here. Jon Sullivan worked on the cover for my first novel, Redemption Corps. Jon was spot on with the material I supplied at the same time as conveying the raw, indomitability behind Major Mortensen’s every word and action. I really feel for artists, however, when the reader misses out on the full glory of their work. Often a piece of art is significantly cropped in order to serve the needs of the cover. This is often necessary but still sad. Here, for instance is Jon’s uncropped piece of art for Redemption Corps and here is Stefan's for Atlas Infernal. Even if you own the novels (and I hope you do) the imaginative detail and skill are certainly worth a second look.

Jon Sullivan produces the artwork for the covers of the Space Marine Battles series and always does a brilliant job. His website can be found here. I was lucky enough to be working with Jon again on Legion of the Damned. He excelled himself again, rendering the accursed crusaders of the Damned Legion in glorious spectre-colour (rather than Technicolor) detail. There are several elements to admire in the full artwork for the cover. Legion of the Damned takes place on the cemetery world of Certus-Minor, and Jon did a great job of representing the dour, funereal stone of the landscape and distant city. The invading force of the Cholercaust Blood Crusade numbers innumerable Khornate cultists, Traitor Space Marines and monstrous daemons, is represented in Jon’s artwork by an attacking horde of willowy, vicious Bloodletters and Furies. The Legion of the Damned are obviously the centrepiece of the artwork and cover. I adore what Jon has done with these spectral warriors. They must appear brutally corporal at the same time as otherworldly and ethereal. Firepower from the grave! Jon totally pulled this off. My favourite aspect of the piece is the golden flame with which each Damned Legionnaire is imbued. The representations here don’t really do the full piece of artwork justice. I invite you to examine it in its full glory here.











I think that it’s also appropriate to pay homage to some of the great amateur Warhammer 40K artwork on the internet. I am not above showcasing such talent on the blog and similarly respect the skill and imagination such work requires. Keep it coming!

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 1

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 2 - Game On!

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 3 - New Skin

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 4 - Damnation's Calling

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 6 - Legion of the Damned Extract

Damnation's Calling


Today we’re bouncing back to the representation of the Legion of the Damned in the Warhammer 40k tabletop game. We’ve looked at the cool miniatures – but what can you do with them? Choosing to take a squad of Legion of the Damned with your regular force of Space Marines confers certain advantages. The Damned Legionnaires are a must for players who not only wish to add a little variety to their force but also the supernatural advantages of a rule-set particular to this spectral cadre of Elite troops.

The first advantage to taking a squad of the Legion of the Damned is their enhanced profile.

Damned Sergeant
WS-5 BS-4 S-4 T-4 A-1 I-4 A-2 Ld-10 Sv-3+

Damned Legionnaire
WS-4 BS-4 S-4 T-4 A-1 I-4 A-2 Ld-10 Sv-3+

Damned Sergeants are allowed the same equipment and weapon choices as regular Tactical Squad Sergeants, but in terms of close combat, can do more with them. A WS of 5 gives Damned Sergeants extra killing power usually reserved for characters like Space Marine Librarians and Chaplains. Even veteran Sergeants of Vanguard, Sternguard, Assault or even Terminator squads receive this advantage. The Damned Sergeant has two attacks with which to bring his close combat capabilities to bear: but so do regular Legionnaires. Each Damned Legionnaire also has two attacks, again better than regular Space Marines and equal to veterans and Sergeants. It is the Leadership scores of these spectral warriors that really stand out. Being supernatural beings themselves, they are not easily spooked and therefore – even under the most horrifying of circumstances – they remain dauntless and are unlikely the fail a Leadership test.

The Legion of the Damned bring with them a set of rules that reinforce their reputation as ghostly warriors that appear as if from nowhere to avenge their Adeptus Astartes’ brethren without doubt or fear.

Fearless
The Legion of the Damned automatically pass all Morale and Pinning tests they are required to take, meaning that regardless of the circumstances (lost comrades, encountering Terrifying creatures etc.) they never lose their cool and retreat from the battlefield.

Aid Unlooked For
The Legion of the Damned appear at their battle brothers’ side - in the right place at the right time. This is represented in this rule that gives a squad of Damned Legionnaires to ability to Deep Strike, appearing on the tabletop as though reserves on a turn designated by a dice roll. They can do this even if the mission specifies that troops cannot ordinarily do this. They can materialise anywhere you need them. Usually, troops need to roll a scatter dice to represent the inaccuracies of teleportation or poor tactical intelligence. Damned Legionnaires appear where they are needed, however, and get to re-roll the scatter dice, meaning they are much more likely to appear where they are absolutely required.

Slow and Purposeful
The Legion of the Damned move like the damned – slow and purposeful. This means that they do not always move at the same speed as other infantry. They move as though they are constantoly in difficult terrain, meaning that although they look creepy as hell and unstoppable, their movement every turn is always dependent upon the die. They are also, however, ‘Relentless’ and this means that they can shoot with rapid fire and heavy weapons counting as stationary, even if they moved in the previous movement phase, and are also allowed to assault in the same turn as they fire them. Supernatural warriors indeed!

Unyielding Spectres
This rule gives the Legion of the Damned an invulnerable save. When powerful weapons strike ordinary Space Marines in their power armour, the ability of the armour to shield the Space Marine from harm is compromised. 3+ is an impressive save but when a heavy weapon like a missile launcher or lascannon blasts a Space Marine in the chest, it takes a little more than armour plating to save him. Being supernatural beings, the Legion of the Damned can walk straight through the maelstrom of heavy weapon strikes and other impacts of powerful weapons without any modification to their save. Their armour always saves them on a 3,4,5 or 6. A major advantage.


For more details of these rules and weapon / equipment choices for the Legion of the Damned, check out the Warhammer 40,000 Rule Book and Space Marines Codex. This rule set, as well as the enhanced profile, make the Legion of the Damned an incredible asset to the Space Marine player. Even if this still doesn’t sway you, they still look cool and creepy on the battlefield!

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 1

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 2 - Game On!

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 3 - New Skin

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 5 - Visions of Damnation

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 6 - Legion of the Damned Extract

New Skin


Late post today. Just like the Legion of the Damned – appearing at the last moment. Exciting news. Suppose you don’t want to orchestrate an entire army of damned crusaders and instead want to get inside the power armour of a spectral warrior yourself. You could make a mock set of plate from papier mache, paint on some bones and flames and douse yourself with flour for that ghostly look. If you do – take a picture and pop it on the web: I want to see that! If you prefer to don armour of the pixelated variety, then you’re in luck. The Space Marine Game (available for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC) have now released a purchasable skin for the Legion of the Damned (pictured above). You can become a Damned Legionnaire for 240 Microsoft points (£2.39/$2.99). I’m off to get mine now! If you are not familiar with the Space Marine game, check out the trailer below.



Seven Days of Damnation: Day 1

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 2 - Game On!

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 4 - Damnation's Calling

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 5 - Visions of Damnation

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 6 - Legion of the Damned Extract

Game On!

For some people, fiction simply isn’t enough. After reading about characters blasting the hell out of each other, some of you want to take the experience to the next level. You want to direct those characters yourselves. For some the Xbox 360 calls. With a controller and a comfy seat, you can become the character and direct their actions. Might I recommend the excellent Space Marine Xbox 360 game if you want to do just that. For some, however, directing one killing-machine character is one-hundred too few. For some, carnage finds expression in the tactical realism of tabletop gaming, in which players get to direct the actions of entire armies. Warhammer 40,000 is one such game.

Fortunately, the Legion of the Damned - from my upcoming novel of the same name – have their own miniature range. If you suspect that your regular troops are going to get smashed, then it’s a good idea to bring along these spectral crusaders, who can appear from out of nowhere on the battlefield and help you turn the tide against your opponent. What’s more, in my humble opinion, the Legion of the Damned are represented in some of the most atmospheric and downright creepy miniatures out there. A little something to unnerve the enemy, as the dice are being rolled. Check these out:


























Seven Days of Damnation: Day 1

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 3 - New Skin

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 4 - Damnation's Calling

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 5 - Visions of Damnation

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 6 - Legion of the Damned Extract

Seven Days of Damnation

With my next novel Legion of the Damned (see right) hitting bookstore shelves in April - and hopefully not staying on them for very long - I thought that it was time to highlight the arrival of the Damned Legionnaires with a sequence of blog posts. First up is background. The Legion of the Damned have a fascinating background - detailed in numerous editions of the Index Astartes, codexes and White Dwarf Magazines. This material was my first port of call when it came to planning the novel and served as an inspiration while writing about the Damned Legionnaires and the mystery of their macabre intrusions on the grim reality of the 40K universe.


The Legion of the Damned are a strange and unexplained occurrence. In times of great adversity the Legion will come to the aid of Space Marines in battle, turning crushing defeat into glorious victory, or even protecting the Imperium from some terrible catastrophe.

Documented appearances of the Legion of the Damned are few and far between. They seem to move throughout the galaxy, coming to the aid of hard-pressed Space Marines in what appears to be a random manner. These silent warriors are Space Marines in appearance, their black armour adorned with chilling images of bone and fire, yet they are not of any known Adeptus Astartes chapter. Most eyewitnesses dispute even the Legionnaire’s mortality, for an eerie glow suffuses their sable armour and a halo of ghostly fire dances about their feet. There are corroborated accounts of Legionnaires enduring firepower that would annihilate mortal men. The bolters carried by Legionnaires, though in aspect no different to those of other Space Marines, discharge flaming projectiles that can pierce the strongest armour. Nothing can stay the spectral wrath of the Legion.

The nature and origin of the Legion of the Damned is a topic much debated by scholars. Some believe the Legion to be the survivors of the lost Fire Hawks Chapter, transmuted into a new and terrible form by the warpstorm that claimed their vessel. Others consider the Legion to be an extension of the Emperor’s superhuman will, time-lost saviours or even the vengeful and immortal spirits of Space Marines slain in the Imperium’s many wars.

Who, or what, guides the Legion of the Damned is an enigma to all save the beneficent Emperor himself. They appear only in times of greatest need, coalescing unexpectedly out of the fires of a desperate battlefield to turn disaster into victory. The Damned Legionnaires fear no foe, and they fight with a chill precision that few mortal warriors can match, passing through the bloody ground like vengeful ghosts. When the battle is done and the foe eliminated, the Legion of the Damned depart as suddenly as they arrive. They seek neither reward nor thanks from those they save, and leave only the bodies of the slain and an enduring mystery in their wake.

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 2 - Game On!

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 3 - New Skin

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 4 - Damnation's Calling

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 5 - Visions of Damnation

Seven Days of Damnation: Day 6 - Legion of the Damned Extract

"Fantastic Read"

I was surfing the web and came across this rather excellent site called Imagined Realms blogging out of Melbourne, Australia. The blogger, who I know only as Sigil, read my novel Atlas Infernal and was kind enough to give it the full review treatment in the blog’s ‘Reviews in Motion’ section. It is a review in three parts, dealing with early promise and artwork, impressions of Atlas Infernal at the half way point and finally a considered review of the novel upon completion. I’m really intrigued by Imagined Realms’ approach to the review process, breaking it down in this way, and really enjoyed reading Sigil’s insights and observations on Atlas Infernal. I encourage you to check out the review and further bloggage from Imagined Realms.

Reviews in Motion – Atlas infernal 1.1

Reviews in Motion – Atlas infernal 1.2

Reviews in Motion – Atlas infernal 1.3

Science Faction: The World Does Not Look The Way You Think It Does...

I am a science fiction writer but I have always been interested in science in general. I find Chemistry a bit dry but both Biology and Physics both stir the imagination. Here on Rob Sanders Speculative Fiction, both Science Fiction and Science Fact meet in the monstrous hybrid that is ‘Science-Faction’! Up today: the recent discovery of planet Kepler 22-b. The exciting thing about Kepler 22-b is that although huge it is an Earth-like planet recently discovered by astronomers in another solar system. Kepler’s sun is remarkably like our own and the planet itself occurs in a habitable zone, at a distance from its sun that would allow life as we know it to exist there. At this distance, liquid water might also be able to exist on the planet’s surface.


People have always been interested in the search for new worlds and new life. With new technological advances, the discovery of these Earth-like planets becomes a more frequent event. It’s not just the hardware: we are increasingly aware of what we’re looking for. Even before these advances, interest in such worlds was hot. Science Fiction writers explored worlds like these in their work feeding a hunger for detail and adventures in such environments among readers. I’m very happy to be part of that tradition, as both writer and reader.

Looking at artistic renderings of far off worlds reminds me of our own fair planet. Most people have a good idea how our home planet appears, either as the blue marble spinning through space or represented on a map. The world does not necessarily look the way you think it does, however. Here are three revealing and disturbing ways in which the Earth can be viewed differently.


1. The Map You Know And Love Is Simply Wrong


The maps in atlases, on children’s bedroom walls and in classrooms is well known and understood by the general populous to be a fair representation of the globe in pictorial form. This is called the Mercator Projection and although being very common, presents us with a problem. The shapes, and crucially, the sizes of features of the Earth’s layout are distorted. On the Mercator map, the areas furthest from the equator are exaggerated. This means that the world does not in fact look like you think it does when looking at the map. For example, on the Mercator, Greenland looks almost as big as Africa when in fact Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland. Alaska is almost as large as Brazil on the Mercator Projection map when actually Brazil is 5 times larger than Alaska. The issue with this - apart from what you have been taught and shown just being wrong – is that such pictorial distortion also distorts the way people view the world. People equate size with power and importance and the Mercator Projection map makes continents dominated by Western, First World countries like North America and Europe appear larger than they are. Continents dominated by Third World countries like South America and Africa conversely look smaller than they actually are. In terms of my own country, the British Isles looks a respectably large island on the Mercator but in actual fact is pretty tiny. There isn’t a map that’s been drawn that doesn’t have some issues with representation, but for a different view of the world, with continents and countries resisting this distortion and shown relative to their true sizes, you might want to check out the Gall-Peters projection map. It appears weird but the truth often does.



2. The Map You Know and Love Is Simply Upside Down


Maps likes the Mercator and even the Gall-Peters Projection universally represent the world from North to South. This makes sense to most people since they equate North with up on a map and the North Pole at the top of the planet. What’s the problem with that? The problem is that there is no up or down in space. There is no North or South. North and South are labels we give to specific orientations. What is up or down, in respect to the planet as a whole, as viewed from space, is completely open to interpretation. Maps, however, tend to put North America and Europe at the top and South America and Africa at the bottom. This is no accident. Once again, people equate power and importance with being at the top and disadvantage and unimportance with being on the bottom. The rather arbitrary view of the planet in this way continues to reinforce prejudices that exist towards countries and peoples in these positioned locations. Viewing a reversed map can be unsettling but perfectly natural. In fact, the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph of the Earth taken by Apollo 17 and reproduced in thousands of books, did not originally look the way it did. There is no up or down in space. When the astronauts took the picture, the Southern Hemisphere was at the top and the Northern Hemisphere at the bottom. NASA reversed the photograph so it conformed with expectations of the globe in relation to its representation on maps. It seems up really can be down and down can be up.



3. How The Hell Do You Really Know What The World Looks Like?
Really. How can you KNOW? Pictures, maps and diagrams can be doctored and changed for even the most innocuous of reasons. Are you an astronaut? Have you been up there and had a look? We place a great deal of trust in representations that reduce complexities down to easy to understand pictures and schematics. People honestly believed that the world was flat until enough of them (from whichever direction they were travelling) struck out across the horizon. Surely it would be naive to believe that we have come to understand everything about our planet – even the way it really looks. Forget the ‘Blue Marble’ and NASA’s up-close misrepresentation and tampering. Probably the most unsettling representation of the Earth – and to bring us full circle – is this photograph of the Earth transmitted back from Voyager 1. The Voyager probe was launched in 1977 and is now passing through the outer reaches of our solar system at a distance of over six billion kilometres (which is still microscopic in galactic terms). That’s how the world looks - a tiny blue dot, totally alone in the darkness of deep space.