Rob Sanders Speculative Fiction

Celebrations and Appellations

2012-02-25T18:48:00.008Z

Happy Birthday, Warhammer! Indeed, Warhammer has reached the grand old age of 25 – which isn’t half bad for a gaming and fiction milieu. It can now legally drink, smoke, drive, impregnate another fantastical universe and marry without our consent (but hopefully not in that order). Past and present devotees are celebrating in different ways. Parent company Games Workshop, for example, held a huge party across its hobby centres – staging timed tabletop battles, painting competitions and releasing limited edition miniatures to mark the occasion.

Warhammer has brought me a great deal of entertainments and enjoyment – both as gamer and author – over those 25 years. I was fortunate enough to spend the celebrations at Warhammer World in Nottingham, where I was signing copies of Legion of the Damned and The Primarchs for eager readers. I was in good company. My Black Library colleagues Graham McNeill and Andy Smillie were also in attendance, signing copies of Iron Warriors: The Omnibus and Gotrek and Felix: The Anthology, respectively. The blogs of both authors can be found on the side bar.

I would like to say a big thank you to all the people who bought and brought books for me to sign. It was brilliant to meet you and chat. Particular highlights for me were an opportunity to sign my entire back catalogue - short stories, limited editions and all - and the opportunity to see fantastic miniature renditions of Bronislaw Czevak and his Inquisitorial retinue from Atlas Infernal, created by one of the competing gaming groups. (Guys – if you are reading this, the photo I took with my iphone is terrible and doesn’t do your work justice, so I won’t post it yet. If you can contact me through the blog and send me another, I’d really appreciate it, because I was seriously impressed!) I’d also like to say thank you to Eddie at GW for all the organising. Cheers!

Signed in Blood

2012-02-22T17:14:00.004Z

I will be signing copies of my new Space Marine Battles novel Legion of the Damned at the Black Library stand during the 'Warhammer 40,000 Doubles Event' in Warhammer World on Saturday 25th February (this weekend, for people like me who try to live their lives without a calendar). I will be there from midday, so feel free to drop by. See you there! The fantastic Graham McNeill will also be signing copies of Iron Warriors: The Omnibus and pre-release copies of his new audio drama, Eye of Vengeance.

I am also looking forward to meeting people at Black Library Live! 2012, that takes place on Saturday 3rd March – more of that later. Also, don’t forget the newest of Black Library’s events – the Black Library Weekender 2012, which takes place on Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th of November at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel. Check out the website for further details and to purchase tickets for this great new event.

I am reliably informed that I can’t actually sign books in blood – mine, your own or your enemy’s – at the above events. Something about Health and Safety regulations...Who knew?

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2012-02-19T18:20:00.004Z

Well, this is a first for me. I’ve never had a book trailer before. This is a trailer created by my publishing company Black Library to advertise my newest fiction release called Legion of the Damned. One of the things I particularly love about this is that the book technically has its own mood music or theme tune. I’d like to say a big thank you to Rob Ashley White – one of Black Library’s skilled Techmarines – for his great work on this. Really made my day. Just press play. Watch the trailer. Then grab yourself a copy of the book. In that order. The novel is now up for pre-order or you can download the ebook right now.

My Spotless Mind

2012-02-15T17:33:00.023Z

It was Valentine’s Day yesterday and at the end of the day I settled down to a romantic film with my loved one. The film in question was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It was a second viewing of this film for me and I had (ironically) forgotten how much I liked it. It was also super-suitable. Not only was it a romantic film - suitable for the demands of the day - it was an excellent piece of science fiction. I like clever films - as I like clever fiction – and Eternal Sunshine is appropriately ambitious and structurally experimental, while at the same time drawing understated but heart-wrenching performances from its two leads: Jim Carrey (who can be very good) and Kate Winslet (always very good).

I won’t ruin it for others by paraphrasing the narrative: the story, however, is refreshingly honest about the nature of romantic relationships at the same time as keeping the audience on their toes with interesting visuals and playful organisation. As a piece of science fiction it is not only a cerebral film with something to say, it also manages to effortlessly work in a highly original chase sequence. In fact, re-watching the film, it reminded me that Christopher Nolan’s (still excellent) Inception wasn’t perhaps as original as initially thought. The supporting cast (Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson) are all excellent, with their sub-plots all feeding thematically and structurally into the main story. As Director, Michael Gondry manages to give the film a visual style that is both authentic and surprisingly distinctive at the same time. Most credit deserves to go to the writing genius that is Charlie Kaufman: it is almost as though the entire film, in its glorious detail and cleverness was splurged fully formed onto celluloid from the man’s brain. Kaufman pulls off both an Academy Award winning script and a great piece of science fiction at the same time. The film is that rarest of beasts – a science fiction romance, that is very satisfying as both.

Here are five more, that although not in the same class as Eternal Sunshine, are in the same category. That said, Groundhog Day is pretty damn good too. Perhaps you can think of more.

Groundhog Day
Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an egocentric Pittsburgh TV weatherman who, during a hated assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, finds himself repeating the same day over and over again. He uses this unusual event to try a woo his producer, Andie McDowell.

The Time Traveller’s Wife
Eric Bana is Henry DeTamble, a Chicago librarian with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel randomly as he tries to build a romantic relationship with his love Claire, played by Rachel McAdams.

The Lake House
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as Alex Wyler and Kate Forster, respectively an architect living in 2004 and a doctor living in 2006. The two meet via letters left in a mailbox at the lake house they have both lived in at separate points in time; they begin to fall in love, carrying on correspondence over two years, remaining separated by their original difference of two years.

Meet Joe Black
Brad Pitt plays Death, who decides to spend some time on Earth as part of a recreational and research undertaking. He chooses billionaire on the brink of death Anthony Hopkins as his guide in exchange for a few more days of life, but Death does not figure on falling in love with Claire Forlani - Hopkins’ daughter - along the way.

Kate and Leopold
Hugh Jackman plays a duke who accidentally travels through time from New York in 1876 to the present and falls in love with career woman Meg Ryan modern day New York.

Valentine's Day 'Massacre'

2012-02-14T15:36:00.008Z

It’s Valentine’s Day and while roses have been bought and romantic meals are being made, in fairness, my word association response to ‘Valentine’s Day’ is more likely to be ‘Massacre’ than ‘Saint’ or ‘Card’. Talk of massacres brings me back to Legion of the Damned, in which the Cholercaust Blood Crusade intends on putting every man, woman and child to the blade on the cemetery world of Certus Minor. Romantic. Red, at least, is the Blood God’s colour. Legion of the Damned has been getting some nice attention, particularly from the review site The Founding Fields, who have been kind enough to devote another review to the novel from another reviewer. This time, Lord of the Night is at the helm. I’d like to thank him for choosing the novel and taking the time to record his thoughts and reactions. I encourage you to check out his review below.

Legion of the Damned Review by Lord of the Night - The Founding Fields

The Primarchs

2012-02-11T17:24:00.003Z

I’m really happy to announce my inclusion in the Black Library anthology called The Primarchs. This is really exciting for me, since The Primarchs belongs to the New York Time Bestselling Horus Heresy series. My last contribution to the series was my short story The Iron Within. The Iron Within, as my first foray into the Heresy universe, was very well received and can be read either here as a short story ebook or as part of the Age of Darkness anthology. If listening is your thing then you can listen to The Iron Within here as an audio short, read by the excellent Jonathan Keeble. I really enjoyed the setting and the new possibilities that writing in the Horus Heresy era offered.

I share the pages of The Primarchs with three other great Black Library authors: Gav Thorpe, Nick Kyme and Graham McNeill. Each of these writers has announced their novellas – which you can check out on their blogs, the links to which are situated on the side bar. My novella is called The Serpent Beneath and focuses on the involvement of the twin primarchs Alpharius and Omegon in the unfolding Heresy. I have a real passion for the Alpha Legion and have enjoyed their entries in the series so far. I have written about the Legion in the 40K setting and particularly appreciate their modus operandi. The blurb for the anthology reads as follows:

“Created in the Emperor’s own image, the primarchs had long thought themselves to be princes of the universe and masters of their own destiny – they led the Space Marine Legions in glorious conquest of the galaxy, and no enemy of the Imperium could stand against them. However, even amongst this legendary brotherhood, the seeds of dissent had been sown long before the treacherous Warmaster Horus declared his grand heresy. Gathered within this anthology are four novellas focusing on some of the mightiest warriors and leaders that mankind has ever known – Fulgrim, Lion El’Johnson, Ferrus Manus and the twin primarchs Alpharius and Omegon – and the roles that they may have yet to play in a war which threatens to change the face of the Imperium forever.”

The Primarchs is available from June and can be bought directly from the Black Library website here but if you are attending the 'Black Library Live! 2012' Event in Nottingham on March 3rd then you will be able to pick up a copy a full three months early!

9.5/10

2012-02-07T16:57:00.003Z

It is still another month before my novel Legion of the Damned is released in paperback. I was fortunate enough to get an early release for the ebook version of the novel and have been enjoying some early reviews. This is one that particularly stood out - and not only the rating (a personal best, for me!) Shadowhawk writes for the veteran reviewing site The Founding Fields, where many a Warhammer 40K novel review can be found, as well as his own site Sons of Corax. As I’ve said in the past on the blog, I particularly enjoy thoughtful reviews in which the reviewer demonstrates their emotional and intellectual connection with the text. I get this in spades in Shadowhawk’s review of Legion of the Damned. I'd like to say thank you for the time and effort he put into both reading the novel and writing the review. Check out the review here:

Legion of the Damned by Rob Sanders – Book Review [Shadowhawk] The Founding Fields

Apollo 18

2012-02-04T22:10:00.004Z

I finally got to watch this recently and had been looking forward to the film. The reason for this was the science fiction setting of the movie: I’ve always found the moon conspiracy stuff fascinating and fertile narrative ground for film and narrative. I loved Capricorn 1 as a child and I was hoping that Apollo 18 could recreate some of that magic – just in a different fashion.

The film follows the factually cancelled 'Apollo 18' mission to the moon - that is secretly reinstated in the movie. It is filmed in a found-footage style made famous by The Blair Witch Project: the idea being that recovered footage from the moon has found its way onto the internet and has been edited for our scrutiny. The suggestion is that there is a reason the United States (or any other country for that matter) didn’t return to the moon: that they discovered something horrific there that required further investigation.

The film very much follows in the footsteps of the Paranormal Activity Series, which in itself isn’t a bad thing. Audiences swiftly become jaded to series tricks, but the first Paranormal Activity film (up until the denouement) did scare a lot of people at the cinema and can be quite creepy, watched in the house on your own with the lights off. Unfortunately, Apollo 18 doesn’t even have the same cheap-thrill charm as that first film. It’s not that Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego’s instincts are off about the setting. The lunar surface could have made a sinister landscape and the LEM an appropriately claustrophobic location. The effects are good and the actors, Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen and Ryan Robbins, do a fine job. It’s the direction Lopez-Gallego and writer Brian Miller take the story that’s the problem. They have some fun with some of the moon hoax details (not unlike the attempt made by Transformers 3) but ultimately take us to a fairly dull place in terms of narrative and tension. In this way I think of Apollo 18 as a missed opportunity. There’s a good initial idea in there but I feel that even with the actors cast and sets built, Apollo 18 could have risked and benefitted from a last minute change to the script and story.

One interesting thing I did discover when checking the film out on IMDB was that the movie in its entirety only cost $5 million dollars to make. That’s pretty cheap for a film that is heavy on handsome extra-terrestrial sets and lunar landscapes. The film models its style on real Apollo footage – even down to the movement of astronauts and vehicles on the moon and in the zero-gravity conditions of space. The actual Apollo 11 mission cost $335 million dollars – which equates to $1.75 billion dollars today. Sticking with the conspiracy theme, it would have been cheaper to have faked going to the moon than actually going there! Certainly, in these cash-strapped times, Director Lopez-Gallego gets plenty of authenticity for his measely $5 million.

Words of Honour

2012-01-30T21:10:00.003Z

A freedom of information request has revealed the list of people who rejected an honour from the Queen between 1951 and 1999. Literary names were prominent amongst those to have said no to CBEs, OBEs and knighthoods in the annual New Year or Birthday Honours list. I find this list very interesting. What particularly grabbed my attention was the number of speculative fiction luminaries on the list.

This is not to say that I find authors who have accepted Honours objectionable. Far from it. There are many deserving science fiction and fantasy authors who already have my respect, admiration and love of their literary works, regardless of whether or not they have accepted such royal recognition. A good example of this is JB Priestley, whose play An Inspector Calls is a masterpiece and often interpreted to hinge on fantastical or science fiction elements. Priestley - whose work often examines issues of class difference – was awarded an Order of Merit after refusing both a knighthood and peerage.

I do, however, reserve a special respect for those writers who have explored the problematic relationship between the ruling classes (or pseudo-ruling classes as the current Royal family might be considered) and those they consider below them in the social order – and translated these insights into action. Science fiction and fantasy texts often dramatise the concerns of the here and now. They remind us of important truths, deliver forgotten warnings and give fictional form to harsh realities that readers sometimes find difficult to appreciate and differentiate in their own worlds. One example of this might be the fact that human beings should long have learned that we are all equal citizens of this planet and the parts we choose to call individual ‘countries’. There should be no chosen or special peoples. One person’s blood is worth no more than another person’s. There are no names (especially made up ones – like Windsor) that make you more deserving of a spectacularly wealthy, influential and carefree existence, while everyone else has to work hard for their success. Science Fiction and fantasy texts are replete with examples of the parasitically powerful, who live off the ignorance of people they consider less than themselves and prosper from their underlings' lack of will to do act against such unfairness and inequality. Some authors have not forgotten the examples of their heroes and when offered knighthoods and Honours from such institutions have felt compelled to respectfully decline. They should, in turn, be ‘honoured’ by their readership for standing by the beliefs they communicated to us through their literary works. Five deserving science fiction and fantasy writers on the list cited above are:

Roald Dahl (From The BFG to Tales of the Unexpected)

CS Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Aldous Huxley (Brave New World)

JG Ballard (The Crystal World and many science fiction short stories)

Robert Graves (The Greek Myths)

"Good Enough For Shakespeare"

2012-01-24T17:40:00.004Z

This caught my eye. It is from a newspaper article by journalist Mathilda Gregory. It's nice to see "fanfiction" writers get a bit a love and respect.

"Fanfiction, playing with characters and worlds already created elsewhere, can be a thrilling creative outlet for all kinds of people. The most enjoyable works of fiction present us with convincing worlds; we believe our favourite characters existed before "once upon a time" and go on existing after the final full stop. It's not surprising then, that the best stories can be irresistible playground to some writers. Yes, quality varies. A lot of fanfiction is, indeed, terrible: it's amateur fiction published, unedited online. What were you expecting? But, like any kind of literature, fanfiction can be sublime or ridiculous. There are some real gems out there, that are every bit as original as works with no previous owners.

Isn't it time we gave the art of remixing stories it a little more respect? After all, it was good enough for Shakespeare."

Forbidden Lore

2012-01-19T11:26:00.001Z

I don’t get very much opportunity to indulge in the aural aspects of the internet. The internet, for me, is largely words and images. When I do listen, it’s usually something on YouTube (accompanied by images). Podcasting, therefore, is not an area that I paid a great deal of attention to. There are some fantastic sites offering podcasts out there, so I’ve started to discover. One such place is The Independent Characters, where hosts Carl Tuttle and Geoff Hummel review and analyse new Warhammer 40,000 gaming and fiction releases. Listening to Carl and Geoff, it struck me what a professional operation The Independent Characters is and how informed and thoughtful the hosts are about the material they review.

I was thrilled to see that before Christmas, the pair devoted nearly an hour of one of their ‘Forbidden Lore’ podcasts to reviewing my novel Atlas Infernal. These guys gave the book the full treatment and talked in great detail about aspects of the novel and characters that they enjoyed. I want to thank Carl and Geoff for choosing Atlas Infernal for The Independent Characters, reading the novel so thoughtfully and taking the time to review it so extensively. Thanks guys. You can visit The Independent Characters here and tune into their weekly Warhammer 40K observations. They are a well deserving addition to my blog section ‘The Scene’ (on the sidebar) in which I am gradually placing sites worthy of attention.

The Atlas Infernal podcast can be found below. You can listen to it directly from the site using a bar near the bottom of the page. Carl and Geoff take care of some podcast housekeeping stuff right at the beginning but you can cut in at about 3 mins 50 seconds (what podcasters call ‘Time Stamping’) where the hosts begin talking about the novel. The review continues until the end of the programme. If you have a few minutes to spare, I encourage you to check it out.

Atlas Infernal - Forbidden Lore Podcast: The Independent Characters Podcast

Soundtracks to Write By 6#

2012-01-13T19:17:00.002Z

I really enjoy listening to film soundtracks while I’m writing. There’s a lot of fantastic stuff out there. The trick is finding it or remembering it from a great film you have enjoyed. Films don’t always have to great in order to produce really stirring soundtracks. The Time Machine (2002) starring Guy Pearce is an enjoyable film that in fairness could have been a lot better. It does have some nice touches. Serious brownie points go to the film being helmed by director Simon Wells, who just happens to be the great-grandson of the writer of the original (and genre-defining) novella HG Wells. The film does, however, benefit from a seriously uplifting and epic soundtrack. A particular favourite of mine are several tracks that chart the time traveller’s genius and construction of his time machine. I also like tracks that celebrate the Eloi. Both are included in the suite below. The soundtrack was composed by Klaus Badelt, who was also responsible for some fine work on the soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl with Hans Zimmer. Enjoy.

Science Faction: Unlikely Saviour

2012-01-11T17:33:00.003Z

First things first. I’m not coming at this from the point of view of either an environmentalist or climate denier or anything like that. I find this story interesting from the perspective of a writer. The world is delightfully complex and news stories like these remind us not to get too entrenched in one position or another. It seems that even your survival might depend upon a completely opposing point of view to your own.

It appears that human pollution - essentially carbon dioxide emissions – is deferring the next Ice Age. In the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists write that according to their latest study the next Ice Age would begin within 1,500 years - but carbon emissions have been so high that it will not. The atmospheric concentration of CO2 would have to fall below about 240 parts per million before the glaciation could begin. The current level is around 390parts per million and even if we stopped our carbon emissions dead tomorrow, it would take about 1,000 years to drop.

The scientists behind the study said "It's an interesting philosophical discussion - 'would we better off in a warm world rather than a glaciation?' and probably we would."

Perhaps environmentalists wouldn’t agree. What is interesting about this is not whether one side is right or wrong. The environmental arguments are well known. It obviously does not make any sense to pollute your own environment. From a writer’s perspective, it’s interesting to look at the paradox here. Reducing carbon emissions, it seems, will lead to harsh existence for humanity and a world in which we will not be able to feed our populations. The environmental arguments will ring pretty hollow in a world where half the population is going to die. Forget humans for a moment – imagine the mass extinction of animal and plant species that an Ice Age will result in. Ironically, it seems poisoning our planet is acting towards the preservation of these species.

Ultimately, it probably comes down to the extent to which you pollute the planet. Environmentalists will rightly warn against complacency, but in a world where the arguments against climate change are almost a religion, it’s interesting for the advocates of these arguments to reassess their position: to not become complacent themselves. The planet is complex and we cannot hope to know everything about it. There’s nothing wrong with scientists and supporters of both sides of the argument admitting that when it comes the dynamics of an entire planet’s climate system – across a period of time much longer than humanity has been in existence – there are many things that they simply do not know.

Entering The Dark Fortress

2012-01-10T16:45:00.001Z

I am in the middle of (slowly) building a section on the blog called ‘The Scene’, that can be found on the sidebar. The Scene identifies some blogs, review sites and interesting places on the internet that I've enjoyed devoted to Speculative Fiction, the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres and specific settings within – for example, Warhammer 40,000. Usually I come across these great places to hang out as a result of interest expressed in my creative work or reviews of my novels and short stories – and will continue to do so.

The Dark Fortress is one such place, and recently featured a review of my novel Atlas Infernal. I’d like to thank Isiah on The Dark Fortress for taking the time to write such a thoughtful response to the novel. The Dark Fortress can be found here.

"The Dark Fortress

Atlas Infernal Interview

Welcome to the insane world of High Inquisitor Czevak.

I've not read much 40K Black Library material recently other then the Horus Heresy books, so I was a bit skeptical when first starting this (a Christmas 2011 gift) as my 40K reading palate had become a bit jaded. But Atlas Infernal proved a real tonic.

As a reader you are following the frenetic journey of the likeable rogue of an Ordo High Inquisitor Czevak and his retinue in their mission to thwart the Thousand Sons' Ahriman and Sorcerer Korban Xarchos in re birthing the daemon Mammoshad to be used as their vassal of destruction.

Czevak is well supported by an interesting retinue of heretical characters including an Inquisitor Interrogator, a Relictors Chapter techmarine, a bound daemon within a daemonhost, a warp-seer navigator (and accompanying servo-skull) and various Salvar Chem-Dogs Imperial troopers, amongst others. All are aboard a rogue trader ship captained by a female ex-navy captain. The characters are well-formed, each having enough to make you think they are more than skin deep and you have a real empathy for their fates. No mean feat in a lively 402 page narrative.

It's a good old fashioned adventure story through the realms of the Eye of Terror that takes place during the Thirteenth Black Crusade. You'll have ship-to-ship battles aplenty, battle Khornate pirates, Nurgle Guard infantry, Grey Knight terminators and Thousand Son Space Marines, various daemons and eldar; and be constantly chased by eldar Harlequins and the Thousand Sons in their efforts recover the webway atlas that Czevak stole from the Black Library. Harried from all sides Czevak's retinue have no 'side' of their own, yet Czevak's self-belief that what they're doing is right for the Empire and possibly of great benefit to the ailing Emperor himself binds them together as a solid team.

There is a rich vein of interesting and ghoulish Dark Mechanicus cult and xeno artifacts littered throughout to play with as well as very strange worlds and civilisations to explore. The latter often depressing in their Nurgle-infested decay and atrophe. And everywhere the Thousand Sons are hell bent on killing billions to reach their ultimate goal.

The story is well written and thought through. The literary device of weaving the start of the story through the body of the book in Interregna 'Chorus' chapters is at first odd but makes total sense come the story's conclusion. At no time does it sink to the usual cheap-thrill common denominator blood-fest that is often the downfall of other BL novels. There's an integrity of vocabulary and thought that remains at the same high quality throughout — so full marks to the author and editor for that.

Conclusion
A fast-paced adventure that took me by surprise by its quality and intelligence if I'm honest by an author I haven't encountered before. It's very hard to put down once you get up and running with it. If he writes another in this series then I'd definitely buy it.
4/5"

Q & A

2012-01-09T16:46:00.004Z

There is never a shortage of views around me - mine and other people’s - and it seems no shortage of interviews, either. January is the month of the Q&A. No sooner had I finished responding to an interesting set of questions for Civilian Reader, than new blog-on-the-block Imagined Realms asked me if I’d mind answering a few more. The more the merrier, as far as I’m concerned. Check it out.

Imagined Realms Interview

F is for...

2012-01-07T16:33:00.021Z

You turn right. Unfortunately, you have disturbed a flesh-eating ghoul.

If you wish to crap your leggings, TURN TO PAGE 261.

If you wish to offer the ghoul some provisions from your backpack (or your body), TURN TO PAGE 32.

If you are thinking, 'Damn, should have turned left', then flick back to the PAGE you no doubt are still are marking with one finger and pretend this never happened.

Fighting Fantasy books. Looking back at these influences, it seems apparent that from even an early age I was a reader who wanted a degree of control over the characters and narrative. Between my love for the Choose Your Own Adventure books and the Fighting Fantasy books of my childhood, it appears obvious that I would want to take complete control of the reading experience as an author in my own right. Fighting Fantasy books were gamebooks set in a fantasy realm in which you controlled a character and could make decisions regarding how the character progressed through the story. Your character had recorded ratings for different skills (like combat) that were used to determine the outcome of certain situations as you progressed. The idea was not only to enjoy the story but also to be part of it and through a certain degree of luck and skill, get through to the end alive.

The significant difference between Fighting Fantasy books and Choose Your Own Adventure books was the introduced element of chance. A reader didn’t simply live or die on the basis of a decision. Dice introduced an element of luck that added an extra dimension to the experience of reading and narrative outcome. With these books you could choose to take items that might or might not have significance later on, choose skill sets that might benefit you and actually get legitimately lost on your journey, if you weren’t careful about the decisions you made. Another great addition were maps and an established background: a realm or range of interrelated realms in which a significant number of adventures took place. They also expanded to include classic science fiction and dystopian settings. I spent many hours with these books and found them to be highly enjoyable. Part game, part story – in which you are the hero.

While the Fighting Fantasy series were incredibly popular – a publishing phenomenon, really – an honourable mention should go out to some of the other series that helped to popularise the format. I especially liked the Golden Dragon series (that had their own punchy style), the humorous and engaging Grailquest (about a young hero called Pip in King Arthur’s kingdom), Lone Wolf (that developed a large, committed following) and The Cretan Chronicles (adventures in Ancient Greece).

I’m glad to say that the phenomenon remains with us today. My publishing company produced a gamebook only last year called Hive of the Dead by my esteemed Black Library colleague CZ Dunn. Jonathan Green, author of the popular Pax Britannia series, is the writer of many popular Fighting Fantasy gamebooks including his latest, the fun and inventive Night of the Necromancer. Jonathan has also moved with the times and made the transition to gamebook adventures as Apps for the iphone and ipad. His first one of these is called Temple of the Spider God and is already proving popular.

I leave you, however, with my top 5 Fighting Fantasy books from the Eighties. Honourable mentions go to Sword of the Samarai, The Citadel of Chaos, House of Hell, Caverns of the Snow Witch, Midnight Rogue, Battleblade Warrior and Freeway Fighter. See if you agree.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

E is for...

2012-01-05T18:36:00.006Z

The Empire Strikes Back. Back to creative influences with one of the most influential pieces of cinema in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre. For that reason alone, I won’t bother to provide a summary of the plot and characters. If you haven’t seen it – I advise you to do so: you’re in for a treat. It is by far the best of all the Star Wars films. It does everything right: the settings are varied and exciting; the main characters become as interesting as they ever get; the story gets darker and sheds earlier narrative naiveties; for its day (1979) the special effects and choreography are wonderful; the soundtrack was exhilarating; all the best aspects of the first film are retained and then further built upon.

I remember the first time that I saw this movie. As a child I had entered a corner shop video store (remember them?) with a couple of friends. There was a wall-mounted television set and the lady behind the counter had just popped a VHS cassette into the video player. The Empire Strikes Back started. Two hours later I became aware of reality again. My friends and I had been so enthralled by the beginning of the movie that we had sat down on the carpet and watched the entire film while other customers mooched about us, perusing the shelves and making their rental choices. The lady behind the counter gave us a kindly and knowing smile as the three of us got to our feet. We sheepishly made a pretence of looking around the video store, before saying thank you and leaving – stepping into the brightness of the daylight outside. The experience stayed with me, as did the film. I think that from a young age the film undoubtedly inspired and influenced me creatively. Check out the 1979 trailer for the film (that seems largely made up of explosions!)

As a creative extension of my childhood interest in the film, I also remember regular trips to the supermarket to buy Star Wars figures. The myriad of new characters The Empire Strikes Back introduced really gave the impression of a universe beyond the screen. My favourites were always the rarer figures, based upon characters only really glimpsed in the background of scenes from the film. I suppose that even then I revelled in the opportunity to imaginatively fill in the blanks, contribute to the character backgrounds and add a narrative of my own.

Civilian Reader Interview

2012-01-04T19:01:00.002Z

A new year. What better way to start it than with an in-depth interview?

The Science Fiction and Fantasy genre is growing. It has produced its fair share of classics and has always enjoyed a robust core following. It also maintains a popular presence in the imagination of gamers and cinema lovers. The internet has provided a further springboard for the genre's interests, with a myriad of blogs, forums and websites devoted to championing speculative fiction.

Among these, Civilian Reader has emerged an important voice. I have long enjoyed Stefan Fergus' perspectives and feel that he has a real love for the genre. I find him to be thoughtful both in his reviews and also about the process of reviewing. You can imagine that I was thrilled when he contacted me, asking if I'd like to do an interview for Civilian Reader.

I encourage you to check out the interview here - in which I have a good deal to say on a range of subjects. I also encourage you to regularly check in with Civilian Reader and enjoy Stefan's views and recommendations.

Best of the Year

2011-12-31T11:47:00.003Z

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!

2011-12-25T20:06:00.000Z

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

2011-12-24T17:01:00.008Z

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

2011-12-23T19:21:00.013Z

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

2011-12-22T23:22:00.009Z

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

2011-12-21T22:06:00.006Z

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!

2011-12-20T17:19:00.019Z

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

2011-12-19T17:39:00.011Z

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"

2011-12-16T18:43:00.004Z

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...

2011-12-07T21:25:00.013Z

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.

D is For...

2011-11-23T17:01:00.003Z

David Mitchell. Not the comedian – the author. Mitchell is responsible for the novels Ghostwritten, Number9Dream and Cloud Atlas – all of which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Mitchell is a deft writer, who loves experimenting with structure and perspective. The novels are pieces of literary fiction that effortlessly explore certain science fiction ideas and concepts – although he is not regarded as a science fiction writer.

Ghostwritten is probably my favourite and was Mitchell’s first novel. It takes the reader around the world through a series of subtly interconnected narratives, from a doomsday cult and Sarin gas attack in a Tokyo subway, through stories in Mongolia, St Petersburg, London and finally New York. The final narrative deals with an artificial intelligence that has become sentient called the Zookeeper. The Zookeeper calls a talk radio show called the Night Train to debate with the host the moral question of allowing humanity’s continued and damaging existence on planet Earth. The host, of course, considers the call a prank but indulges the caller, not realising that the Zookeeper is actively making a real decision. The narrative then brings us back to the subway terrorist attack in Tokyo in a fascinating conclusion to the book.

Even more ambitious is the novel Cloud Atlas, in which Mitchell moves through time rather than space. The novel is composed of narratives, the first beginning as a journal by a passenger on a sailing boat, touring the Pacific islands in 1850. This narrative is encapsulated and part of the story that follows, which concerns the letters of a composer living in Belgium in 1931. This in turn hands over to a murder mystery set in California 1975 and so on. The middle sections of the book are the most fascinating – each section moving further and further into the future – one story becoming part of the next. A genetically engineered clone called Somni~451, who works in a restaurant in a near-future dystopian Korea, observes the previous story as a holographically projected ‘orison’. This then connects to a story about primitive humans in post-apocalyptic Hawaii. The brilliance of the story-telling is truly revealed as in the second half of the novel we work our back through the narratives and back through time. It is pretty masterful. What is even more impressive is Mitchell’s control of language. Each narrative has its own style, from the 1850s journal, through the 1930s letters, the futuristic ‘orison’ and the degraded / evolved language of the tribespeople in a post-apocalyptic paradise.

Mitchell’s concern for detail that informs, his structural experimentation and thematic ambition definitely had an effect on me as a reader and a writer. David Mitchell himself has won the John Llewellyn Rhys prize for fiction and has been nominated for the Man Booker Prize twice. I highly recommend him.

Bad Sex

2011-11-22T18:33:00.005Z

Some of you following this blog will know that I have spoken in the past on the merits and issues associated with horror writer Stephen King. He has undoubtedly written some enjoyable and genre-defining novels and deserves his place as the ‘King’ of Horror. I am less appreciative of his writing-by-numbers approach to the creative process - which might be fine for King – but unhelpfully prescriptive for others. I am immediately distrustful of writers who dictate rules for other writers and artists. These rules seem totally ignorant of the literary and cultural developments of the past fifty years: poststructuralism; postmodernism; post-anything. What century did King think he was in when he postulated such unbreakable rules? This is discussed in greater depth here.

Personally, if you’re going to follow anybody’s advice, you might as well follow William Goldman’s famous declaration that ‘nobody knows anything!’ Something that Stephen King seems to know a little about is writing a bad sex scene, apparently. He has been nominated for this year’s ‘Bad Sex in Fiction Award’, awarded to one writer each year in order to (according to The Literary Review) "draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it". King has been nominated for his time-travel romance, 11.22.63.

Misfits Report Card: Season 3

2011-11-21T16:23:00.008Z

Misfits surprised me. I didn’t think I’d like it. Perhaps it was something about the way it was advertised. I had no idea that it had a supernatural element to it and thought it was simply about a group of young offenders on community service. For those who have not get experienced it, stop reading and go buy the boxset: it is a very good British science fiction series about a group of young offenders who experience a strange storm while out picking litter and are gifted with amazing and sometimes problematic super powers.

I enjoyed the first and second series but thought that they might experience a problem with the third, since Robert Sheehan wasn’t returning. The loss of the Nathan character bothered me a little. Annoyed me, possibly. The actor had done well out of the project and I thought it was a little churlish of him not to see it through to some kind of conclusion (most series do not have that long a shelf-life). I’m sure he’s been offered all kinds of roles but I think he jumped ship a little too soon. Wasn’t there any way of him honouring his commitment to both the material that had initially promoted him and his new opportunities?

Anyway, that isn’t the problem for Season 3 of Misfits. The series, appropriately, took the loss in its stride and wisely moved on without making much of Nathan’s absence. In fact, one of the strengths of Season 3 is the new character of Rudy Wade. His ‘power’ opens up a range of new opportunities and the actor, Joseph Gilgun, is entertaining to watch. The character very much occupies Nathan’s position in the group while at the same time making it his own. Not an easy transition.

The problem for Misfits Season 3 is not character-based. It’s ‘power’ based and ultimately started at the very end of Season 2. While finding Season 3 entertaining and watchable, I don’t like the way the writers felt the audience’s attention span could not be held with the old ‘powers’. There was still a lot to be done with invisibility, telepathy, personal-history time-travel and hypersexuality – as well as immortality (if Nathan’s character had continued). The Smallville-style myriad of powers given to different people on the estate was working also, giving the group an endless supply of varied problems and enemies. Swapping the powers around at the end of Season 2 has been kind of confusing. There is also an issue in so much as these new powers have been used quite sparingly in the first half of the third series, which isn’t particularly satisfying. The aspect I find most difficult is the nature of the new powers. I know the in-joke is supposed to be that the new powers were a rubbish exchange – but they still need to be interesting to watch. Alisha’s clairvoyance / remote viewing seem to have had very few applications so far. Curtis’ gender-bending abilities were an interesting single-episode study but are pretty useless, otherwise. Kelly’s rocket scientist intellect appeared like a joke that would be quickly solved with an early re-exchange of powers. Kelly has retained this narratively-useless power, however: perhaps she will have to defuse a bomb or something in some kind of finale? Simon’s precognition only seems to have stopped him falling off a wall so far – his Parkour-inspired gymnastics and ability to keep Alisha interested seem more impressive by comparison. When these are juxtaposed with the abilities of other characters in the series (like the power to travel through time and space and change human History) – the Misfits' powers pale in comparison.

So, am I enjoying Season 3? Yes, but having elegantly avoided a difficult problem right at the beginning through clever script work and casting, it seems to have run into some other issues. Time for a list...

Top 5 Misfits Powers (in order of preference)

1) Immortality

2) Telepathy

3) Precognition

4) Personal History Time Travel

5) Invisibility

C is For...

2011-11-19T16:23:00.006Z

Choose Your Own Adventure books. I used to love these books as a kid. This was clearly the author coming out of me at an early age. I wanted more control in my fiction. Nowadays this kind of control is achieved through the glorious interactivity of console and computer games. In the early Eighties, however, choosing to turn left or turn right, fighting enemies or running away, was determined by questions posed at the bottom of pages and flicking halfway through the book (an added element of suspense) to find out what fate awaited your character. Although the books themselves varied in quality and imagination, the concept of the Choose Your Own Adventure books was a piece of genius. Readers could actually become the main characters in the books they were reading – influence storylines through decision making and even die (in a fictional sense!) if they made poor choices. The series ran into hundreds of books and became a publishing phenomenon.

I remember reading a lot of these books and the series often wandered into the realms of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Interestingly, my two favourites were more down to earth choices: The Deadly Shadow, which involved the global hunt for a Russian spy that was literally a ticking time bomb, and Mountain Survival – a plane crash in the Rocky Mountains survivalist story that Bear Grylls would have been proud of. I have fond memories of these
books as a child.

Do you remember any?

B is For...

2011-11-18T17:34:00.004Z

Blake’s 7. A trip to the late Seventies required for this one. This is an Alphabet of Influence or Inspiration and I have to e honest and say I was a young child when Blake’s 7 was shown initially. It was a piece of British television space opera, undoubtedly created to cash in on the cinema success of films like Star Wars. It had woefully poor special effects and sets, in comparison, but was popular in its time. The series was a piece of dystopian fiction about a group of political renegades led by a freedom fighter called Blake and their fight against the oppressive forces of the totalitarian Terran Federation. They escape incarceration and steal a spaceship as part of their getaway that turns out to be an alien vessel called The Liberator. The Liberator is faster and more powerful than anything the Federation has and Blake and his band of revolutionaries and criminals (his ‘Seven’) use the ship to both escape and take the fight to the Federation. The series follows these adventures. In this respect, Blake’s 7 shares a great deal in common with the more recent science fiction series Firefly.

I remember little of the characters and plots: I don’t even remember the titular character, coming to associate the series with another main character called Avon. This suggests that as a child I came to the series late. Seeing Blake’s 7 through the eyes of a child, I could overlook some of its clear weaknesses. Taken as a product of its time, however, it was unusual and interesting. Its dark and pessimistic tone appealed to me, as well as the fact that it seemed to concentrate on anti-heroes as opposed to characters in a clear-cut conflict between the forces of good and evil. The ship was cool, also – even if the effects were not and both the artificial intelligences, Zen and Orac, came to be characters in their own right. Blake’s 7 remains highly regarded to this day, often achieving high positions in science-fiction polls. Many consider Blake’s 7’s enduring legacy to be the long-term story arcs that are now commonly employed by American science-fiction series and are absent from Blake’s 7’s contemporaries. The series is often the centre of rumours concerning its re-issue or re-invention but for the time being the Blake’s 7 universe lives on in the audio adventures of fellow Black Library author James Swallow. His blog can be found on the bar to the right.

A is For...

2011-11-17T17:20:00.009Z

Writers do not operate in a cultural black hole. They are influenced by what they read, they watch and experience. They are influenced by texts from both their youth and their present. This is an unavoidable consequence of a free exchange of ideas. Many writers are happy to have influenced other writers – influence being a form of compliment, however big or small. New Historicism is a category of literary theory that deals exclusively with such a process. For New Historicists, ideas do not exist in a vacuum and there are no instances of truly isolated genius: all writers are influenced by history, their personal history of experiences and the cultural expressions of the time.

I thought it might be a good idea from time to time to pay compliment to the speculative texts (science-fiction, fantasy, horror etc.) that have influenced me – both in a big and small way. These might be books, pieces of non-fiction, cinema and television, cartoons and comics – anything that I feel has influenced me in some way and colours my creative perspective: an ‘Alphabet of Influences’. Today we start with A and perhaps on the surface an unusual choice. Arnold Schwarzenegger . He might be a limited actor, a staunch Republican and infamous womaniser - and I don’t think that I can forgive him for the last two of those – but his project choices across the 1980s and 1990s kept the science fiction and fantasy genre strong. Of course, full credit needs to go to the writers and directors of those films, but Schwarzenegger’s involvement did ensure certain projects got made and helped push such speculative genres further into the mainstream. There is some cheese among these choices – no doubt. I’m not ashamed to say that I did enjoy some of his films during that period and some are still very watchable today. The key thing for me is that he visibly championed a set of genres that other actors and creatives had neglected, helped make them commercially successful and therefore ensure their further expansion. Here are my top seven Schwarzenegger science-fiction and fantasy films. See if you agree.

1. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

2. Predator

3. The Terminator

4. Conan the Barbarian

5. The Running Man

6. Total Recall

7. Red Sonja

Electronic Shoeboxing #5

2011-11-16T16:52:00.005Z

This time the scissors – like internet diving rods – zeroed in on a nice review for my first novel Redemption Corps. I found it on a reading community called Cafe Libri and the kind reviewer was a man called Kendall Fontenot. Part of the idea behind Electronic Shoeboxing is to help me keep track of responses to my work - building up a collection in one place – and also to recognize the effort readers go to when not only buying and enjoying a book but also posting their thoughts online. Anyway, thanks Kendall!

'Rob Sanders' "Redemption Corps" adds a wonderful character to Warhammer 40K's Imperial Guard Novel series in Major Zane Mortensen. Having read a number of the Warhammer books, I can honestly say that few characters have been as fleshed out in one tale as much as Mortensen.

"Redemption Corps" centers on Mortensen and his loyally lethal band of storm-troopers as they take on one suicidal mission after another. The Redemption Corps open the book by taking on a Volscian uprising aboard the "Deliverance." From there, they take on a planet seemingly hungry for rebellion and then tackle a rescue mission on a deathworld. These missions eventually culminate in a final face-off with a surprising enemy on a world literally facing complete destruction.

As the Redemption Corps cuts their way through each mission (losing many of their own along the way), it becomes obvious to Mortensen that these missions all have one point to them: to have him killed.

Preceding every chapter of the book is a glimpse into future events that does somewhat throw off the flow of the book. While these drop a number of clues and introduce numerous characters that do not appear until later in the tale, they don't ruin the enjoyment of the story at all.

Fans of Warhammer might not like the treatment of a particular group of warriors in this book, but their portrayal isn't that big of a stretch. You can find a similar portrayal of this particular group in one of the short stories in "Legends of the Space Marines."

As already stated, Mortensen is a fully developed character. Coming in with almost as much growth and description is Cadet-Commissar Koulick Krieg. He plays a very important role in this tale. Sanders develops this particular character slower, but it's this slow development that allows the reader to appreciate Krieg that much more.

A few members of the Redemption Corps (as well as a few strays they pick up along the way) do get some development. Vedette and Sarakota are two very interesting characters who I'd love to see in their own adventures down the road. I hope that Mortensen and Krieg return in more stories as well.

If you enjoy other Black Library titles that feature the Imperial Guard like "Cadian Blood" or even titles featuring the Astartes, you'll probably enjoy "Redemption Corps." It's an action-packed adventure full of page after page of violence, adventure, and suspense. Highly recommended.'

Infraction Police!

2011-11-09T22:21:00.006Z

Lately, fellow author Aaron Dembski-Bowden has been blogging about the time-consuming dangers of posting on forums. Today I ran foul of a different kind of forum danger: moderator infraction. I had been posting on a forum, talking to some nice people about shared interests and shooting the interweb breeze. It is fair to say that the forum was not dedicated to my publisher Black Library or associated with their products. Wherever I post, like many people, I include a signature below my comments. This tends to be my blog address. I opened my email today to find that I had communication from the forum moderator, informing me that they had removed my signature from a post I had made. Okay, I thought. There was nothing explicitly about that in the conditions, but if they felt it was necessary. Chalk that up to a warning. Won’t do that again. But wait - I opened my next email to find that I had been issued with an ‘Infraction’ and had lost a ‘point’. This sounded serious. I didn’t know I had a point: and now I had gone and lost it. It seems that because I had posted more than once in a day and my blog address was displayed on that post also, I had to be punished. Presumably as an example to other disobedient posters. Perhaps the moderators are afraid of some kind of uprising. I daren’t go back. I can’t remember how many posts I made on that day and therefore how many cumulative infractions I have racked up (before I knew they were infractions). I fear being seized as soon as I try to cross the border. It only takes a mouse-click, you know. The second email informed me in no uncertain terms that I had committed the cardinal sin of ‘Unsolicited Advertising’ when I included my blog address in my post signature – the forum equivalent of kerb crawling or indecent exposure.

This is all a great pity. I had been talking to some nice and interesting people. Perhaps they had been making extra efforts to be nice because they were being forum-policed so stringently - I will never know. I'm just glad I made it out alive. I’ve said before on here that I’m not a fan of unnecessary rules and prescription and this is another example. The internet is about communication. Without people writing on their sites, internet forums would be empty. What is the point in getting people together in one place if you are not going to allow communication? There are many nice people on forums and running forums and I’m interested in talking to them, but these rules are just silly. They might have a place on Panfu or Club Penguin but they are ridiculous as part of internet forums where grown men and women from all over the world exchange views and ideas.

I have some advice for my friend Aaron, with whom I share some sympathy. Your problem is solved. Danger-averted. Add your blog address as your post signature and your access to internet forums will automatically be restricted!

Can The Undead Smell You?

2011-11-08T14:34:00.004Z

The Walking Dead is progressing nicely and I’m enjoying the desperate adventures of Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes and his rag-tag group of survivors. I was talking about The Walking Dead on a forum the other day, however, and it occurred to me that the series might be breaking its own rules. This doesn’t stop me enjoying the series but the zombies do seem to be behaving differently in different seasons. In Season 1, Rick and several survivors escaped from a zombie swarm by hacking apart a corpse and draping rotting flesh over themselves as they shambled away. This, of course, reminded me of the excellent scene in Shaun of the Dead where the group take an amateur dramatics course in how to walk and moan, like a zombie. When it starts raining on the funk-covered Rick, the deputy sheriff is plunged immediately into peril because the zombies can now smell him. In Season 2, however, the zombies seem to have lost this ability. Rick and the survivors can hide under cars when hordes of zombies shuffle past and they remain undetected. Ducking below bushes and hiding behind corners seems enough to keep Shane safe from mobs of the undead in a high school.

AMV, the company that produces The Walking Dead, advertised a set of rules that they were using for their zombies before airing the first season. How do they match up to what we see zombies doing in the (still excellent) series?

Zombie Rule #1: Ability to run is based on the amount of time a zombie has been undead, and how much decay has set in.

Zombie Rule #2: Zombies decay but at a much slower rate than humans, and it's still possible to differentiate between young and old zombies.

Zombie Rule #3: Zombies are like lions: if they've eaten, you can walk by them without fear, but a pack of hungry zombies will attack you.

Zombie Rule #4: The quickest speed of any zombie is a shambling run. see Night of the Living Dead. NO sprinters exist.

Zombie Rule #5: Zombies are not dexterous. They cannot pick up or use any items more complex than a rock or a stick.

Zombie Rule #6: Zombies have poor eyesight but they do have a strong sense of smell.

Zombie Rule #7: Zombies cannot speak but can communicate by pack mentality. The herd tends to move together if they sight food.

Zombie Rule #8: There is no overt recognition of people or places, there is a sense of familiarity that can dictate where a zombie moves.

Zombie Rule #9: There's no known cause of the zombie mutation, but it's suspected to be a virus or infection.

Zombie Rule #10: Once you're bitten you'll die and reanimate as a walker. How long it takes is related to the nature your bite.

Best Episode... Ever!

2011-11-07T14:18:00.011Z

Some series get better the further they progress and others tend to lose their way. The X-Files was more than a series – it was a late Nineties phenomenon. Every week, two FBI Agents, one a sceptic and the other a believer, investigated the strange, the supernatural and cases that defied scientific explanation. What made it special and gave it the cultural oomph to translate from genrevision to the mainstream was largely achieved in the early series – the first primarily. It wasn’t David Duchovny or Gillian Anderson, although they were both excellent. It was the writing. Audiences couldn’t get enough of the original concept – which in turn traces its origins from Seventies shows like Kolchak the Nightstalker. Even now, shows that fairly unashamedly advertise themselves as X-Files wannabes vie for our televisual attentions. On top of the obvious appeal of the concept, audiences were treated to weekly 40 minute instalments of weird, investigative delight layered on top of a character-driven ‘will-they-won’t-they’ romantic sub-plot akin to the dynamics in Moonlighting. Alas, despite having all of this going for it, The X-Files did end up losing its way and was never better than its first season. The reasons for this are debateable. I was always a fan of the ‘monster-of-the-week’ episodes and felt that a sub-story involving a specific group of alien creatures – what some called a ‘mytharc’- came to unreasonably dominate. These episodes always struck me a less interesting and possibly lazier.

I know what I think is the Best Episode from Season 1 of The X-Files. It would be interesting to know what other people think, however. The following classic ‘monster-of-the-week’ episodes appear on a poll on the side bar. Feel free to click on the names, check out the twenty second trailers for the episodes and vote for the one you remember most fondly. Better than that, watch Season 1 again!

Ep.2 Deepthroat

Ep.5 The Jersey Devil

Ep.8 Ice

Ep.14 Gender Bender

Ep.17 E.B.E.

Ep.19 Shapes

Ep.20 Darkness Falls

Ep.21 Tooms

Electronic Shoeboxing #4

2011-11-04T09:29:00.007Z

The scissors are out again and I've reached for the Electronic Shoebox. This time my attentions have fallen on a great blog called 'Kaughnor's Cave', where I discovered a nice review for Atlas Infernal. I have copied the review here but if you wish to check out 'Kaughnor's Cave', and why wouldn't you, then follow this link.

"I picked up this book solely becasue the cover intrigued me. What the heck was this human doing wearing Harlequin gear I thought. Now, I'm not one to do book reviews, but I really enjoyed this one. I had just finished reading Path of the Seer (which was good as well) and was hungry for more Eldar fluff. I'm not going to go into the substance of the novel; rather just touch on what I liked about the book.

For starters, the Harlequins, as portrayed in the Infernal Atlas, kick ass! They manhandled Space Marines, Iconic Chaos Space Marines and even Deamons. I liked that a lot. All too often it seems that the Eldar are always being portrayed as the 40k whipping boy. I mean how many times has the Avatar bit the dust to a generic space marine hero. Anyway, the Harlequins are a force to be reckoned with in the book which was nice.

What stood out to me was the fact that the novel did not portray the GW war torn universe in the cardboard black or white manner which seems to be the norm. The protagonist is one crazy character that adventures in the grey areas of the fluff. I found it refreshing.

Finally, if your like me and starved for Eldar fluff, the book does touch on the Black Library and the interactions between Harlequins and Craftworld Eldar. I realize not cannon, but its nice to read a story that fleshes out the Eldar background.

Anyway, if you want a fun light read, I recommend giving Atlas Infernal a try."

What Would Rob Do? – Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’

2011-11-03T21:32:00.012Z

Back to ‘What Would Rob Do?’ Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ is a classic. It has been one of my favourite movies since childhood – so I’ve had a decent amount of time to think about what I might have done if I’d been caught up in the terrifying circumstances on ‘The Nostromo’. Beware: spoilers below.

‘The Nostromo’ is a commercial towing vehicle dragging an oil refinery through the stars on a return journey to Earth. The crew are awoken from their suspended animation by a beacon from a nearby planet in deep space and landing on the small, primordial world mount of investigation. The beacon belongs to a crashed, fossilised alien vessel and turns out to be a warning. One of the crew is dragged back to ‘the Nostromo’ with an alien parasite attached to his face. An attempt to cut it from his face fails and results in the spilling of acid blood. The blood melts through the decks and almost burns a hole in the space ship’s hull, endangering everyone on board. The parasite implants an embryo in the crew member that spectacularly erupts from his chest is a horrifying birth scene. The alien hides in the dark corridors and air vents of ‘the Nostromo’, growing to maturity before preying on the defenceless crew – snatching them one by one. When only Ripley – the ship’s Third Officer – and the ship’s cat ‘Jones’ remain, they abandon the ship and set it for self-destruct. Thinking the alien is dead, Ripley prepares the lifeboat for suspended animation until she discovers the creature alive and secreted aboard the lifeboat. Ripley is forced to fight for her life in the close proximity of the lifeboat and – with the use of a harpoon gun, a space suit and a bulkhead – blows the alien into space.

This one strikes me as pretty simple and really comes down to what you are willing to lose to get rid of the alien. Using crew members as bait is unethical and after the creature demonstrates its lethality and acid blood, direct confrontation with the alien is not advisable. The lifeboat can only take three (a design oversight, might I say), so abandoning ship is not an option. By the time the creature is killing crew members there is still a good deal to play for. The objective is to get rid of the creature without further loss of life, while at the same time limiting damage and infection of the expensive ship and cargo.

After Brett’s death, when the alien’s full capabilities are made known, if I had been a crew member I would have advised against the strategy of using incinerators and hunting for the creature alone through the air ducts. Beyond the obvious danger, this strategy seems to me to have very little chance of success even if Captain Dallas survives the hunt. Dallas knows this when he begins to crap himself and wants out of the dark duct system. I would have advised (and feel that this plan would have appealed to the crew) that one small section of the Nostromo - probably the one containing the environmental / life support controls – be sealed off. The pressure bulkheads should be locked off and the crew should occupy the small section with the air, artificial gravity and heat contained within. Air ducts to the section also need to be sealed off – welded shut if need be. All other doors, vents and bulkheads should be left wide open. Airlocks all over ‘the Nostromo’ should then be opened and the atmosphere violently expelled. Close the air lock. Re-pressurise. Pump an atmosphere back into the ship. Repeat. As many times as you like until you feel sure that the damned creature has been sucked through the ship (with other objects and debris) and out into space.

Of course, it might be argued that the creature could have held on through repeated expellations. It is certainly strong enough, but the idea is to surprise the monster and flush the thing out through the airlock – perhaps even on the tenth, twentieth or fiftieth attempt. This certainly has a better chance of getting rid of the alien menace than chasing it through the ship with a flamethrower. In various Alien films, the vacuum of space seems to be the creatures’ Achilles Heel. Its lethality is checked at least a little in atmosphereless, zero-gee conditions. I could not know that on ‘the Nostromo’, however, but I believe that expelling the atmosphere has a much better chance of getting rid of the creature without loss of life than other potential plans. Even if the creature’s robust hide is broken as it is smashed against architecture on the way out of the ship, alien acid blood is going to be sucked out with the creature. Even if it doesn’t, the airlocks are already open so the danger is much less.

Ultimately, that is what Rob would do. That said, I might have listened to Parker: after all, Parker told the rest of the crew to ignore the beacon. ‘The Nostromo’ would never have landed on the alien planet or taken the parasite / creature on board. When the parasite is aboard, Parker advocates freezing the affected crew member – which might have actually worked. It might have at least saved the crew of ‘the Nostromo’, but would probably have infected and doomed Earth!

I Am The Law!

2011-11-02T21:36:00.002Z

I am not a great fan of rules and laws for creative processes (see my previous mauling of Stephen King) but as a frequenter of social media, blogs and forums, I have to accept that there are certain online posting behaviours that are repeated to such an extent that you might as well create laws and observances for them. I was astonished to learn that many already exist, have their own names and everything. Here are a few. While I don’t personally endorse them as hard-and-fast rules in online discussions, you might have observed them in action.

1. Godwin’s Law
Godwin’s Law was created by attorney and writer Mike Godwin in 1990 and states that "As a web discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

2. The Law of Exclamation
This was first invoked on FactCheck.org in 1998 and states, "The more exclamation marks used in a posting, the more likely it is a complete lie. This is also true for excessive capital letters."

3. Pommer’s Law
First proposed by Robert Pommer on rationalwiki.com, the law states: “A person's mind can be changed by reading information on the internet. The nature of this change will be from having no opinion to having a wrong opinion.”

4. Skitt’s Law
Skitt’s Law is an online version of Murphy’s Law. Simply put, the law states that "any post correcting an error in another post will contain at least one error itself".

5. Danth’s Law
Danth’s Law is named after a user on the role-playing gamers’ forum RPG.net. It instructs that “If you have to insist that you've won an internet argument, you've probably lost badly.”

6. DeMyer’s Law
Ken DeMyer, a moderator on Conservapedia.com, has several ‘laws’ but his Second Law states that “Anyone who posts an argument on the internet which is largely quotations can be very safely ignored, and is deemed to have lost the argument before it has begun.”

7. Cohen’s Law
Created by Brian Cohen in 2007, Cohen’s Law states that: “Whoever resorts to the argument that ‘whoever resorts to the argument that... …has automatically lost the debate’ has automatically lost the debate.”

The Cold Equations

2011-11-01T23:08:00.002Z

Something made me think of this. I can’t quite work out what but it reminded me of a short story I read in a compilation when I was a kid. The story had been adapted several times for radio and television but I encountered it again as a Twilight Zone episode that I had happened upon years later. The story is a science-fiction classic: ‘The Cold Equations’ by Tom Godwin, originally published in Astounding Science Fiction in 1954. It tells the story of an Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) making its way across an interstellar frontier, carrying urgently needed medical supplies for a colony on a distant planet called Woden. The only crew is a single pilot called Barton, who discovers a stowaway aboard the ship – an eighteen year old girl. The girl, called Marilyn, hid aboard the vessel to see her brother, who is stationed on the colony on Woden. The problem is that the frontier is colossal and empty. The Emergency Dispatch Ships are disposable, one-way vessels – carrying only enough fuel to get their essential cargo, pilot and vessel itself to the planet surface of their destinations. Marilyn’s extra weight has used more fuel than the vessel can afford and the ship’s computer informs Barton that unless the problem is rectified, the ship will run out of fuel and crash into the planet surface. Both Barton and Marilyn will be lost, as well as the precious medical cargo that will save the lives of Woden’s colonists. Barton and Marilyn are confronted with ‘The Cold Equations’ of the story title and hard choices must be made.

I won’t ruin the ending but upon a re-read and re-watch, ‘The Cold Equations’ impressed me with its simplicity and power. It is widely anthologised, multiply-adapted and is respected as one of the best science fiction tales ever told. It is not without its flaws but for such a short piece of fiction it delivers on multiple levels: it’s a puzzle, a moral quandary, a tragic drama and a cautionary tale. I encourage you to experience it as short story (‘The Cold Equations’ by Tom Godwin – Public Domain copy) or the twenty minute, nineties low-budget television adaptation. Enjoy.

Soundtracks To Write By 5#

2011-08-24T06:43:00.001+01:00

Today we go for something with a little more soul. Some soundtracks roll with the bombast and excitement of adventure and peril. Others chart darker and more meaningful territory. This track, ‘Crossing the Atlantic’ from the soundtrack to the movie Amistad, charts to capture of African villagers, their brutal enslavement and transportation in horrific conditions across to Atlantic to slave plantations waiting for them in the Caribbean. This track has it all: the fear and confusion of the Africans, the senseless barbarity of which human beings are capable and the rising, indomitable endurance of the human spirit. The music feels almost heavy with the weight of emotion and historical significance – yet inspires with a momentum that amounts to a dramatic irony. We know the ultimate fate of the people on the ship.

Electronic Shoeboxing #3

2011-08-23T08:28:00.004+01:00

Some nice comments here about Atlas Infernal from a reviewer called Glitnir on Goodreads, which I promptly snipped from the interweb with my digital scissors. The cutting now finds a new home in my Electronic Shoebox.

"Four out of five stars. I really enjoyed this book-that's 2 in a row from recent BL publishing! The protagonist is both likeable and frustrating, and the travels through the Eye of Terror were wonderfully depicted. The brutality of Ahriman and the chaos realm were no less icy than the haunting footsteps of the Harlequins. There was some description of the Black Library, though I would've liked to seen more (simply because it's so mysterious and been shrouded in the 40k mythos for so long). The intricacy of the plot was also appealing, and the layout of the chapters (in theatrical format) was a nice touch. Sanders really produced a good work here."

Happy to oblige, Glitnir.

Interview - Phonics and Phrenology

2011-08-22T09:42:00.007+01:00

Two further questions and answers from my aforementioned author interview.Enjoy!

6) Silly question: The cover art of your first novel, Redemption Corps, portrayed the hero as bald. Now the cover art of your second novel similarly suggests a certain deficiency in the hair department on the part of your second major heroic character. What’s going on with that?

Ha! No conspiracy. Bald men are not taking over the future. This all comes down to the way in which the artwork for novel covers is commissioned. The publisher sends a brief out to an artist for the cover of a novel. I’m asked to write a section of that brief with advice, information and extracts from the work in progress to guide the artist. They work closely with the brief but are ‘artists’ in their own right and so the execution of the cover illustration is down to them. An artist called Jon Sullivan did my cover for Redemption Corps and Stef Kopinski did Atlas Infernal. Both artists did a fantastic job. I will be working with Jon again on the cover for my third novel, Legion of the Damned and hope Stef will produce the cover for any future Czevak novels. As for the baldness, I’m responsible for Major Mortensen’s – it’s part of his character’s back story. As for Czevak, his hair (or lack of) never came up as a significant issue in the novel and therefore is not part of the brief. I think that since Czevak is such an intellectual heavyweight in the novel, perhaps Stef decided to flag this with a Professor X / Mace Windu-style dome. What can I say: it suits him.

7) For the record, how do you (each reader will no doubt have their own ideas on the matter!) pronounce Czevak? See-vak? Zee-vak? Zeh-vak? Or some other way?

You are, of course, correct: it doesn’t matter how the reader specifically pronounces the name. It will not interfere with their enjoyment of the novel. I have heard several different pronunciations – for example a ‘ch’ sound at the beginning – like Czech. The 40k galaxy is broad and wide, however, with a good deal of room for diversity and interpretation. I personally interpret the name phonetically as ‘Zeh-vak’. It has a Slavic, no-nonsense feel to it while at the same time being suggestive of someone unusual and possibly exotic with the silent ‘c’. Even the ‘z’ sound that leads the pronunciation has a rare, superlative quality: there’s only one ‘z’ tile in Scrabble and it is worth 10 points! The ‘v’ and the ‘k’ produce a harsh, angular and ultimately satisfying resonance that lingers after the name. This degree of forethought might seem unnecessary but names are important to writers because they are important to readers. Gaz is the apprentice to an electrician, whereas Sebastian lectures in the Classics at Cambridge. If the names were reversed, then Gaz the Latin lecturer or Sebastian the ‘Sparky’ might strike people as unusual enough to pause and comment on in real life. If the names were reversed in a novel then such a detail might actually threaten the reader’s wilful suspension of disbelief and therefore their enjoyment of the text. Czevak’s name is unusual and therefore attracted my attention. If he had been called, I don’t know - Rob Sanders -then I doubt I would have written about him at all!

What's In The Box?

2011-08-21T11:14:00.011+01:00

Last night I watched ‘Super 8’, written and directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is set in 1979 and centres on a train crash in a little Ohio town. Something mysterious is contained in one of the freight containers, that escapes and is witnessed by a group of kids making an amateur zombie film with a Super 8 camera. Many people haven’t seen ‘Super 8’ yet, so I won’t review the film here. In the past, I’ve felt that Abrams struggles with his endings: I’ll let you decide whether he suffers the same in ‘Super 8’ or whether he knocks it out of the park. What I will say is that Abrams’ script gives the young cast lots to work with and that the actors (Joel Courtney, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Gabriel Bosco, Zach Mills and particularly Elle Fanning) do a fantastic job.

‘Super 8’ firmly falls into the ‘What’s in the Box?’ film category. This got me thinking about other great ‘What’s in the Box?’ film scenarios. Here’s my Top 5. Beware – spoilers follow.

5) The Omen
Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and Patrick Troughton battle the Antichrist in a bleak 1976. Peck suspects his child isn’t his own and has been swapped with another at birth. Uncovering the coffin of his son’s actual mother, he prizes open the lid only to find the remains of a jackal inside...

4) Ronin
Ex-CIA operative Robert De Niro signs up for a covert mission in Paris in which he is to join a group of international mercenaries in their attempt to recover by force a briefcase carried by a group of Russian gangsters for the Provisional IRA. Car chases and fire fights ensue with all parties fighting a capture-the-flag game across Nice and Paris in an effort to claim the case. What’s in the case? Your guess is as good as mine...

3) Castaway
Fed-Ex manager Tom Hanks is flying across the Pacific on a cargo plane that hits a storm and crashes. Stranded on a desert island, Hanks must fight for survival with only the random contents on the Fed-Ex parcels washed up from the crash. One parcel is decorated with an emblem resembling a pair of wings, which gives Hanks the idea for a plan to escape the island. The package remains unopened and Hanks even takes it with him on his solo voyage across the barren Pacific. When he is rescued by a passing ship and returned to his life in America he travels around re-purchasing and delivering the contents of the parcels he used to survive. He delivers the package displaying the winged emblem to a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, but no-one is home to open it. He simply leaves it with a note claiming, ‘This package saved my life...’

2) The Fly
Brilliant but eccentric scientist Seth Brundle invents teleportation. Unfortunately, during a test run in which he attempts to teleport himself from one telepod to another, Brundle fails to notice that a fly has been trapped in the pod with him. What comes out of the other pod is half-human, half-fly but the most horrific aspect of this is that Brundle does not realise this at first and slowly degenerates, transforming horrifically from man to fly...

1) Se7en
Detectives Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are on the trail of a serial killer murdering people in ways inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins. Ingenious enough, John Doe (the killer) actually turns himself in to the police three quarters of the way through the film and as part of a deal to go to prison for his crimes and not plead insanity, claims he will lead the two detectives to the remaining bodies in his series of seven killings. Taking them out into the scrub, the three wait while a delivery truck arrives with instructions to drop off a small box for Brad Pitt. Freeman opens the box, horrifically uncovering that the head of Pitt’s wife within. ‘What’s in the box?’ Pitt yells. The maniacal John Doe tells him and despite Freeman’s entreaties, Pitt executes the serial killer – turning the murderer into the last victim in the series of seven...

For Whom The Bell Tolls

2011-08-20T10:38:00.000+01:00

Just read a fantastic review by a gentleman called CrusherJoe on the site Bell of Lost Souls. Since I’m having a tidy up of the entire internet and trying to put all Atlas Infernal related material all in one place, I thought it deserved coverage here on the blog. The website Bell of Lost Souls or BOLS can be found here.

“Inquisitor Czevak leads a ragtag, fugitive fleet across the galaxy for the future
of all humankind in this new novel by Rob Sanders.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit I'm fascinated by the Holy Ordos. Having said that, when given the chance I jumped at the opportunity to give this new book a read. I wanted a novel that would provide an expansion on the world of the Inquisition, and Atlas Infernal did not disappoint.

When I read a Black Library book, I like to think in terms of how the world and characters expand on the game ideas and themes. For example, it's one thing to play an inquisitor, it's another to imagine what they represent in the "real world". The true strength of Atlas Infernal is its depiction of an Inquisitor and his retinue. Allow me to explain: when you see an Inquisitor in an army list, he or she was more often than not accompanied by an Inquisitorial henchman warband. Sure, you can see why that would be in terms of the game -- they amplify the combat prowess of the Inquisitor and/or multiply his usefulness by the effect he has on the game. But why would a member of the Holy Ordos have a gaggle of folks around them? After reading this book, you know -- because henchmen are like the inquisitor's Swiss army knife, each one of them is a resource, a tool for the Inquisitor to exploit to accomplish his goals. Czevak's retinue of "tools" consists of a junior (in terms of rank) Inquisitor, a drug-addicted psychic and her servo-skull, a Relictors Techmarine, a Rogue Trader and her ship, some Guardsmen, and a Daemonhost. The way this ragtag group works together -- sometimes willingly, sometimes deluded by Czevak -- gives a great deal of insight into what makes these bands of henchmen work. To me, it was quite fascinating.

Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Czevak has some very lofty goals indeed, and some very powerful enemies. As perhaps the only human "invited" to visit the Eldar's Black Library (and subsequently escape the Harlequins that guard it), he possesses some very unique knowledge -- namely, how to actually get to the Black Library -- and there are certain entities that would do pretty much anything to gain that knowledge, not the least of which is Ahriman of the Thousand Sons. Needless to say, having knowledge that Ahriman desperately wants to possess doesn't exactly extend your life expectancy.

Fortunately, Czevak is extremely resourceful and just intelligent enough to be a worthy adversary to the Thousand Sons sorcerer, because the main thread of story involves Czevak's desperate attempt to thwart one of Ahriman's more involved, apocalyptic plots. I won't reveal what the plot is nor its goals, but it is suitably epic in scope, nature and complexity -- Tzeentch would be proud. The kicker is, Czevak is forced to work against this plot while being relentlessly pursued by his former Harlequin jailers, which as presented here are far more formidable than Eldar story-telling dancers. Also, did I mention that Czevak's own Ordo Xenos isn't exactly happy with his more "radical" approach to his duties? Nor the other Ordos and Grey Knights? He is definitely a wanted man -- good thing he has his retinue to help him out.

And that's the strength of this story, really. Yes, there is definitely some exposition on the inner goings-on of the Inquisition. The plot jumps back and forth in time and the once the full extent of Ahriman's plot is revealed, take a moment to soak it up. But amongst all the fate-of-the-galaxy stuff going on, it is really the way Czevak and his merry band work together that saves both themselves, and countless others.

The only real issue I have with Atlas Infernal is what I will call the "final escape", in the last chapter prior to the epilogue.. It felt...rushed. Tacked on. It smacked of deus ex machina to me and while, yes, considering the subject matter that may not be too far-fetched, but I wish some other way of resolving that plot-line had been devised.

But even that gripe doesn't take away from the overall strength of the work. Atlas Infernal has been my favorite Black Library book in quite a while -- yes, to me, it was that good. I recommend it.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

What do you think of the Inquisition being fleshed out? Isn't it interesting that Rob Sanders chose the Ordo Xenos, perhaps the order we know least about, to write a novel about? Wouldn't it be great to have your own retinue of henchmen to carry out your orders?”

As a side note, there is a sneaky clue contained in this post relating to my next published project, which you might be able to identify. It's not The Da Vinci Code or anything but it is there. : )

Interview - Bronislaw Czevak and Doctor Who

2011-08-19T09:10:00.009+01:00

This is Part 3 of my serialised interview. In this section I respond to questions regarding Czevak’s enemies in Atlas Infernal and comparisons between the Inquisitor and the Doctor.

4) Czevak’s attitude to danger, his often ingenious solutions to trying situations, his reverse aging and his cadre of followers cannot help but bring to mind a certain television time traveller. How do you feel about comparisons between Inquisitor Czevak and Doctor Who?

I have no problem with those comparisons at all. Doctor Who is immensely popular and well loved and it is not an unfair comparison to make. Inquisitor Czevak has in his possession the Atlas Infernal: an ancient tome of long forgotten construction and genius that allows him to navigate the labyrinthine expanse of the Webway – a network of interdimensional tunnels utilised for faster-than-light travel across the galaxy. The Webway was left behind by an ancient race that millions of years before the evolution of humanity, left behind gates on millions of planets across the cosmos. With the Atlas Infernal, Czevak can traverse the Webway and move between far flung worlds and across the empires of the galaxy’s dominant species. The combination of these capabilities, as well as the secrets of the Black Library of Chaos at his disposal (the location from which the inquisitor originally stole the Atlas Infernal) means that Czevak would certainly give the Doctor a run for his money. Like the Doctor, Czevak is everywhere – blasting back and forth across the galaxy, a bane to his powerful enemies and combating evil in many forms.

Although there are some similarities in terms of situation, Czevak and the Doctor are two very different characters. Czevak does not share the Time Lord’s sentimentality and has a true genius’ dispassionate outlook. Czevak does what has to be done, regardless of the cost to himself, those around him and the galaxy as a whole. Whereas the Doctor seems to have a weakness for twentieth century Brits, Inquisitor Czevak surrounds himself with witches, heretics and daemonhosts. He is not a tour guide: he invites into his retinue only those who might survive his lethal adventures – those that have the power and talents to help him defeat potent enemies and save the galaxy, one world at a time.

The comparisons are well observed, however. It think it is fair to say that if you enjoy Doctor Who then you’ll enjoy Atlas Infernal.

5) Czevak and his motley band of associates take on a diverse range of foes in Atlas Infernal – from Chaos space marines and daemons to loyal servants of the Imperium – did you have a ‘shopping list’ of baddies you wanted to include from the outset?

Inquisitor Czevak is one of the only humans to have been allowed access to an alien
repository of forbidden lore and knowledge of galactic evil called The Black Library of Chaos. Czevak is afflicted with a meme-virus - an illness resulting in a voracious hunger for knowledge and the equivalent of a photographic memory. This makes him very much like an information addict. Spending time in the Black Library with such an affliction means that he soaks up arcane lore and detail from thousands of alien and corrupt books, tracts and artefacts like a sponge. Retaining this information is both a blessing and a curse for the inquisitor. Everyone wants the information locked away in his mind: the servants of dark gods, daemonic entities, the Imperial Inquisition to which Czevak himself belongs and even the ancient alien guardians of the Black Library, that regard the knowledge in his possession as a galactic liability. A long shopping list of enemies who will all stop at nothing to acquire Czevak and these secrets. Putting his knowledge to good use, Czevak uses what he has learned to stay one step ahead of his myriad enemies and turn their ambitions to dust.

Role Model

2011-08-17T23:26:00.010+01:00

'Captain Convertion' has been busy both reading my Horus Heresy short The Iron Within from The Age of Darkness and crafting a representation of Tauro Nicodemus, one of the story’s main characters. Brother Nicodemus is a legionary champion of the Ultramarines, Tetrarch of Ultramar and a member of Primarch Roboute Guilliman’s Honour Guard and has bad news for the Iron Warriors garrison on Lesser Damantyne. I am, of course, honoured that Captain Conversion has brought Brother Nicodemus to life on the battlefield. Excellent conversion. I hope that he brings his Ultramarines (or Iron Warriors!) luck with the dice. Perhaps the title should be ‘Roll Model’. 'Captain Convertion’s work is showcased on his new blog here.

What Would Rob Do? – John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’

2011-08-17T12:07:00.008+01:00

'What Would Rob Do?' is a little game I like to play after watching films. It originated many years ago after watching Titanic (cons: hammy villain; traditionally labelled as a chick-flick; Celine Dion) (pros: James Cameron; Kate Winslet/Leonardo DiCaprio – both regarded as very capable actors; spectacle of the ship going down). After the film, I got to thinking about the amount of time the steerage/ Third Class passengers spent waiting. This amounted to hours and in the film the characters suspect that the ship is going down. They are also fully aware that the First Class passengers are being prioritised for the lifeboats. 'What Would Rob Do?' Leonardo DiCaprio seems pretty handy in the film (and would know his way around hammer). Why spend all that time smashing up below decks and trying to get both of the lovers onto a lifeboat (unlikely)? Why not just build a lifeboat? People survive the sinking of the Titanic by simply clutching to floating wreckage. How hard would it have been, for the more practically minded steerage passengers, to use materials from below decks to make basic life rafts – barge them through the railings and launch them by throwing them overboard? It seems strange that DiCaprio –who demonstrates his creativity in solutions to other problems in the film and understands the dangers of the water temperature – doesn’t hit on this. That’s what Rob would do! In the film, at least.

Last night I re-watched John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). An excellent film, a science-fiction/horror classic and certainly one of the best films from that year. I really enjoyed watching it again. I found, however, that in the same way as Titanic, the ending bothered me. Not because it isn’t a fantastic ending. It is and Carpenter made exactly the right decision. I did, however, ask myself ‘What Would Rob Do?’ There are spoilers for the end of the film from this point on, so if you haven’t watched it then I recommend you do and should come back to this later.

At the end of the film, helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell) has seemingly succeeded in blowing up the US Antarctica Research Station upon which he is stationed, in an effort to destroy an extraterrestrial creature, extracted from a crashed space ship buried in the ice, that has infected the base and research personnel. The creature assimilates organisms (horrifically) on a cellular level and can then imitates them perfectly. It has assimilated organisms on thousands of different worlds and can therefore chimerically assume the appearance of anything – and often disgusting mixtures of alien creatures and human/animal assimilates. This means that MacReady has had to toast most of his colleagues with his flamethrower in order to eliminate the alien (hiding inside imitations of the base scientists and auxiliary staff) and torch the camp. In the last few moments, with the job done - the camp aflame and MacReady settling down to freeze to death - another base member, Childs (science-fiction veteran, Keith David), returns. He claims he saw another member of the base head out into the snow and he followed him. He then got lost in the blizzard but MacReady blowing up the base guided him back. There is a fantastic stand-off where both men, suspecting each other is infected with the alien, admit that if they have any nasty surprises for each other then there is very little they could do about it. While watching the base burn and sharing a bottle of whisky, Childs asks what they are going to do. We leave them with MacReady commenting, ‘Why don’t we wait here for a little while... see what happens...’

So, What Would Rob Do? I wouldn’t have blown up the base in its entirety – that’s for sure. The creature seems intent on survival and escape and that is exactly what I would do. In the closing stages of the film – MacReady and the scientists use their remaining snowdozer (all other forms of transport and communication were destroyed earlier in the film) to level parts of the camp. They then use extraordinary amounts of stored fuel to raze the base to the ice. I would have destroyed the base, but first I would have loaded the snowdozer with as much fuel as it could carry and a fat tarpaulin of supplies (food etc. – plenty of water in the Antarctic). After destroying the base I would have left in the snowdozer, dragging my supplies behind me. Where would I head? The nearest base - the Norwegian camp - has been similarly destroyed and the coast is too far for the snowdozer to reach. Requiring shelter from the Antarctic conditions and needing to get away from the alien (if it survived), I would head for the uncovered spaceship. If there are any further aliens inside they are going to be frozen. The buried spaceship – just a little distance from the Norwegian camp – would provide shelter until Spring and then with better conditions, I would head back to the remains of the US or Norwegian bases – both of which would receive rescue teams in the wake of camp communication loss. I’d experience some serious quarantine time but I’d make it. And that’s ‘What Rob Would Do!’

Interview – Length and Skill!

2011-08-16T07:56:00.003+01:00

Here is the second part of the author interview serialised on the blog yesterday. The following answers deal with the important (and not mutually exclusive considerations) of length and skill.

2) How long did the book take to write? Did you plan it all down to the finest detail before you started or did you loosely sketch it and then see where the story took you?

Given a straight run, it takes me about three months to write a book. It is a little more complicated than that, however, since working in a school means that I don’t have a straight run. Projects often have to fit themselves around the demands of the school year. Every writer has a different way of approaching a book. I like to have an initial pitch to sound out my editors and make sure they feel as I do that the book has an appeal. I also like to make sure that it doesn’t conflict with anything else anyone is writing for them at that time. I then furnish a synopsis/chapter break-down with the characters and events required to tell the story. This is to ensure that the narrative has an emotional integrity, holds together and makes sense. The trick here is not to include too much detail. My editors check this also. Another experienced pair of eyes is really useful here. I read some books and watch some films and television programmes that contain nonsensical plot holes that you could drive a bus through. You don’t want to get tens of thousands of words into a project before you discover one of these, so editors’ comments at this stage are useful. Then comes the hard graft. Writing a 100,000 word novel is not easy. It takes real stamina and commitment, no matter how much you’re enjoying the process. I keep the synopsis loose and functional to enable the creative juices to flow during the actual writing of the novel. Characters, setting and the mechanics of the plot are all fleshed out here and there is an element of seeing where a scene, section of dialogue or sub-plot takes me. This, of course, takes place within the safety net of a good deal of planning already undertaken. The finished article then goes to my editors (hopefully somewhere near the deadline) for several read throughs and technical checks to ensure it still makes sense and is as free as possible from errors. Done.

3) Do you feel that your day job as an English teacher and the skills you need for that have helped you to write the novel?

Do you need to be an English teacher to write a novel? No. Does it help if you are? I certainly think so. I read a good deal. I have taught English, English Literature, Drama and Media across all age ranges and I have a First Class Honours in English and History. All of these things require the deconstruction of other people’s texts on a daily basis. It is not unreasonable to suggest that this experience has benefitted me when writing books of my own. If you pick up a Rob Sanders novel then I can guarantee you will be reading a text into which an enormous amount of imagination and skill has been invested. Atlas Infernal is only my second novel, however. I am at the beginning of this process and have much to learn as I develop as a writer. Being a teacher certainly teaches you the importance of the learning process - of reflection and continual improvement. I’m in this for the long haul and to last the distance you have to be inventive, adaptable and be prepared to learn from any mistakes you make.

Interview – Creation and Inspiration

2011-08-15T12:44:00.005+01:00

I recently did an interview for my local newspaper The Lincolnshire Echo regarding the release of my second novel Atlas Infernal. Since the interview appeared in a local publication I thought it might be fun to serialise it here. A big thanks goes to Dan Sharp at the Echo who conducted the interview and who bravely champions science fiction in word and deed.

“1) The book is set in the universe of Warhammer 40,000 but where did the idea for Czevak and the Atlas Infernal itself come from? What inspired their creation?

Warhammer 40,000 is a shared fictional ‘universe’ in the same way as there are many different writers telling their own stories in the Doctor Who universe, those belonging to DC and Marvel, serial crime dramas, The Simpsons or even the recent James Bond novels. It is a communal sandbox where everyone gets to play in their own corner and create their own part of that universe. This can create a very rich experience for readers. They can experience a range of different voices and approaches within a common setting with which they grow increasingly familiar. The Warhammer 40,000 universe provides the setting for a highly enjoyable game based in the far future, but knowledge of the game is not required in order to enjoy the novels. Many people all over the world buy novels and read stories based in its universe without ever playing the game.

One of the most rewarding aspects of a shared universe is collaboration. This doesn’t mean writers working together on projects. It means writers leaving loose ends all over the universe, that can be picked up by other writers who see opportunities. This also appeals to readers who appreciate the interrelated nature of the material to which they have made a commitment. Inquisitor Czevak was a character of significance in the Warhammer 40,000 universe but nothing had been written specifically about him. His presence is alluded to in different situations during the fictional history of the background but next to nothing was known about him personally, what he had done and his ‘present’ whereabouts. I spotted this opportunity and immediately wanted to tell his story.

Czevak is an Imperial Inquisitor – a man charged with rooting out heresy and corruption across humanity’s stellar empire - a galactic witchfinder: purging worlds of alien cults, daemonic intrusions and mutants cursed with unnatural powers. Czevak operates within an area called The Eye of Terror, a region of space where hell and reality overlap. Using an ancient tome called the Atlas Infernal he navigates his way across daemon worlds, where evil gods and their corruptive powers hold sway and the rules of reality, let alone physics, rarely apply. One of the most direct influences on Czevak’s creation, therefore, was the epic poem The Divine Comedy and Dante’s journey through the nine circles of Hell.”

Soundtracks To Write By #4

2011-08-14T14:02:00.003+01:00

Sometimes underrated films produce some excellent soundtracks. Sunshine falls very much into that category. We have an Academy Award winning director, a Saturn Award winning writer and an excellent cast with a really juicy science fiction concept to play with. The film works on so many levels and I enjoy it a great deal, but for the last minute desire to please the mad axeman / horror crowd. Fortunately, the soundtrack - by John Murphy – spends more of its time exploring the desperation and intensity of human emotion aboard the Icarus II, against the backdrop of interstellar emptiness and the life and death contradiction that is our nearest star. This is a track demonstrating all of the above called The Surface of the Sun, but in reality the soundtrack is worthy in its entirety. If you haven't, you should also check out the film.

'Atlas Infernal' Reviews

2011-08-13T12:50:00.003+01:00

More positive reviews for Atlas Infernal are rolling in and it is a real pleasure for me to give them extra pixel-inches here. The following is from a reviewer with the evocative name DemonicTalkin on the Lisburn Gaming Club forum.

“Atlas Infernal recently released by Rob Sanders features Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak. Recently escaped from the Black Library he plays a dangerous cat and mouse game deep in the Eye of Terror both with the mysterious Eldar Harelquins and the arch sorcerer Ahzek Ahriman.

This book was bought by myself on a whim and all I can say is that I am very glad I bought it. The characters are very well realised and are a welcome addition to the 40k universe. Not wanting to spoil things too much I will say that it is always nice to see another daemonhost; what can I say I'm a radical at heart.

The plot is fast paced and while there are a couple of shifts back and forwards in the chronology it is separated enough not to confuse. One aesthetic I really like is that the chapters are split into acts with characters announced in almost a stage direction way; very much in keeping with how the harlequins exist in the universe.

Also I was pleasantly surprised to see how well Ahriman's portrayal was written. There has been a tendency for Chaos Marines to be rather one-dimensional panto-lite villians (see battle for the abyss and the blood angels omnibus) and it was good to see that Ahriman was treated well (even if Rob Sanders seems to like the word cerulean just as much as Mr Abnett likes wet leopard growls).

One thing I would hasten to add however is that if you are a total newcomer to the 40k universe I would recommend starting with something a little less immersed as it is a little in-depth. A good example of this is a discussion mentioning the various inquisitorial factions which could go over the head of a newcomer.

All in all this is a very good introduction to Inquisitor Czevak and having read the short story in the BL chapbook for this year I hope it is not the last.

Score: 9/10

Verdict: BL writes inquisitors damn well.”

Big thanks to DemonicTalkin for reading Atlas Infernal and taking the time to review the novel. The Lisburn Gaming Community can be found here.

Electronic Shoeboxing #2

2011-08-11T15:28:00.003+01:00

Continuing with my feverish collection of all things relevant and interesting, I came across this review of Atlas Infernal by Anne Marie at an online Warhammer Community called ‘the Astronomican’. She had some nice things to say about the novel: here is the review, warts and all.

“Finished reading the Atlas Infernal by Rob Sanders, and while I could gnash my teeth on the fact of typos and simple spelling errors, they were only a handful in comparison to some blatant errors I have read in other Black Library books. It was an entertaining read and certainly a book capable of holding its own in the Inquisitorial series already published, but one flaw I felt it had was there was too much crammed into one novel.Sanders writes about everything from daemonhosts to rogue traders to the Harlequin masque to the crone worlds in the Eye of Terror. The book suffers from having too much content placed in its pages, when it could stand to be unveiled over a series of novels. Even a trilogy of Czevak novels would have been a good bet, not a sudden information dump where I had to go back and skim the last few pages to ensure I hadn't missed something of importance. I was hoping for the time line to advance but the reader is still firmly entrenched in M.41 as the 13th Black Crusade is underway. Then again, Sanders may have something else in the works for this eccentric cast of characters in the future...

The characters were all wonderful in their own way. Ahriman is mostly written through a series of flashbacks taking place during the 13th Black Crusade, but he is as cold, aloof and as in control as he was in A Thousand Sons, though much darker in thought and deed. He was the main reason I bought the book and though Sanders' take of Ahriman's character is different to McNeill's, I enjoyed both portrayals of a pre- and post-Heresy Ahzek Ahriman. Czevak comes across as a delightful character and makes me think of the 11th Doctor. A Living Saint is involved, a warp-seer with no training who has a pet/sibling relationship with a daemonhost, a Relictors Space Marine Tech-Priest, and Klute - Czevak's apprentice - is the most level-headed in the whole bunch.

I think the times when Sanders writing truly shines is when he writes about the Eldar developments - Czevak in the Black Library, the Harlequins hunting him and how they simply seem to be everywhere at once. He sheds light on why the Harlequins are the best of all the Eldar race.I commend Sanders for giving the reader a further look into the dark lore of 40K and the daily habits of the people onboard the rogue trader vessel to the worlds inside the Eye. The book Czevak runs around with, the Atlas Infernal, is going to be one of those items which causes a butterfly effect across the entire galaxy. Something so small yet holding so much potential for mischief to be managed.

Cons: Too much sudden information, a tendency for run-on sentences, the usual BL editing errors, the Pariah gene used as a conventional tool too often.
Pros: Harlequins demonstrating why they are some of the greatest Eldar warriors and powers in 40K, Grey Knights, Ahriman, rogue traders, the Eye of Terror, daemons actually manipulating people, the Black Library, etc. etc. etc.

A worthwhile read. I would give it an 8/10.”

Thanks for the critique and the time you spent on the novel, Anne-Marie. I’m going back to the novel now with a magnifying glass to see if I can spot any of those pesky typos. : )

The ‘Astronomican Warhammer Community’ can he found here.

So Many Questions...

2011-08-10T17:02:00.003+01:00

The Black Library Bolthole is an excellent forum where there is an Ask the Authors section, for asking Black Library authors questions about their novels. This is unusual in publishing, since most authors do not have the benefit of such close contact with readers, and in turn, readers can get questions off their chest in respect to existing or forthcoming novels. A win / win. Embarrassingly - for reasons I won’t bore you with – I have been neglecting my page on the Ask the Authors section and had amassed a large number of unanswered questions. Rather than dribble the answers in I decided to throw myself at the task of answering the questions and managed to address each in turn in one mammoth sitting. So, if you have asked a question lately, you will definitely find that it has been answered. If, on the other hand, you haven’t – don’t let that stop you. If you have any questions then I’d be happy to answer them. A link at the side of this page exists for your convenience.

Problem fixed!

Soundtracks To Write By #3

2011-07-26T19:42:00.002+01:00

Some tracks can’t wait to get to their bombastic fanfares. Some are playful and full of character. There are some pieces that hold their cards to their chest, building slowly and ascending with emotional range. The two tracks that follow fall into that final category. They are brave in their early restraint and their movements subtly affecting. Both pieces have vertiginous climaxes that are well worth the wait. Each puts the listener at the centre of this intensity and significance: certainly a fertile and inspirational place for a writer to be.

Both tracks are by the excellent Hans Zimmer. The first is called Journey To The Line from the soundtrack to the equally excellent film, The Thin Red Line. The second is simply called Time from the climax to the brilliant Inception. Enjoy.

Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse

2011-07-22T19:10:00.003+01:00

I had a strange conversation on the way home. One of my sons had seen a post-apocalyptic children’s programme where all the adults in the world had disappeared. This led into a conversation in which he asked me what he should do in the event of some kind of apocalyptic event, if he were similarly left on his own. Before I knew it we had been talking for some time on the subject of where best to head, preferred modes of transport, avoiding mobs of survivors, what to do about water, where to find food while everyone else is rioting in the supermarket aisles etc. It was an interesting conversation. His questions were serious and my answers – after some initial light-heartedness – were increasingly serious also. This reminded me of an article I had read about the Centre for Disease Control issuing advice regarding what to do in a Zombie Apocalypse. I’d initially thought that it was a joke. Apparently not. There is indeed a page on the CDC website devoted to this subject. So, if you are worried about what to do during a Zombie Apocalypse (I don’t mean selecting a baseball bat over a chainsaw or the 357. Magnum over the pump-action) and need a plan, you could do a lot worse than taking the advice of Rear Admiral Ali S. Khan, MD and Assistant Surgeon General, who leads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR). He’s thought it through and you should too!

http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/

Soundtracks To Write By #2

2011-07-21T18:54:00.006+01:00

Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? I don’t know. I know Oscar Wilde had a fairly definite position on the issue. No sooner have I initiated the ‘Soundtracks to Write By’ blog entries than Heresy Online joins the movement. I’m going to have to agree with Bane of Kings at Heresy that the Eleventh Doctor’s tune is pretty damn special. Here it is. Life reflecting art reflecting life back at itself. What do you think of that, Oscar? Talking of life and art, Oscar Wilde would have made an excellent Doctor.

For Services To The Blog

2011-07-21T18:50:00.002+01:00

Double blog entry today. A big thanks to Aaron Spuler who helped me out with some minor but important alterations to the blog. The site looks classier for it and I should have done them myself. Image is important in this game. Brother Spuler nominated for the Iron Halo for services rendered to the Blog. Now that Aaron and I have bonded over the fires of website design features, I am going to send the gentleman a friend request on Facebook. We have colour schemes to discuss!

A Thousand Words

2011-07-20T20:32:00.005+01:00

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll go easy on the old lexis and let the images do the talking. This is the cover art work for my novel Atlas Infernal by the excellent Stef Kopinski. You can enjoy more of his stunning work here. This is the full, un-cropped illustration without the design features and title. In the piece we get to see Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak getting to grips with a daemon world denizen. Click on the image to see more of its warped and gorgeous detail.

Soundtracks To Write By #1

2011-07-19T20:32:00.007+01:00

I lead a busy life in a busy house. I don’t have the luxury of a writer’s retreat – a cabin in the woods or a cottage on an isolated island. I do have a shed, like Roald Dahl, but it’s full of junk. In such circumstances a pair of headphones can help to create an enclosed space. Any music can provide a barrier. When I’m writing I tend to favour choices that stir the emotions. Some are bombastic pieces, some delicate and atmospheric, some quirky and exciting. They provide a creative ambiance – a wall of sound against which the mind’s eye can be projected.

I listen to a range of pieces at any one time – the vast majority coming from cinematic soundtracks. The great thing about soundtracks is that they already have drama and emotion written into their movements. I’d like to share some of my favourites - not in any particular order - from time to time and encourage others to indulge in the magic of individual tracks. Also, good films can have lousy tracks and awful films can be blessed with some excellent music. For me the tracks exist in isolation: I like the films to which some tracks belong and dislike others. The first is the soundtrack suite from the film Apollo 13 by James Horner.

Electronic Shoeboxing

2011-07-17T16:11:00.003+01:00

Like sportspeople and actors, writers try to keep track of reportage and responses to their works / performances. They cut out reviews from magazines and profiles / interviews from newspapers and keep them in a folder or shoebox. The internet complicates this rather old-fashioned process, simply because of the sheer number of responses there might be to a particular text on any one day. It is also difficult to cut responses out of the internet. It occurred to me that this blog might be an appropriate place to set up an ‘Electronic Shoebox’ – a place where relevant snippets can be stored and enjoyed.

Like many Black Library writers I am a sporadic haunter of discussion boards and forums relating to speculative fiction and the specific setting / sub-genre in which I write. Heresy Online is one such hang out, where a range of opinions - both positive and negative - are exchanged in relation to Black Library books. Forums are a mixed bag for all writers. There are no authors, BL or otherwise, that receive universally good or bad feedback on such sites. Apart from the ‘Ask the Author’ section at the Black Library Bolt Hole, I tend not to intrude on such conversations (largely due to time constraints), but in fairness, I know authors that do and enjoy debating the merits of specific opinions with friendly forumites. The best thing about discussion boards for any writer, regardless of their genre, is the almost immediate nature of feedback. Before the advent and popularity of the internet, writers and publishing companies had much less of an idea regarding the specifics of what their readers thought and wanted.

Anyway, I digress. Here is a review from Heresy Online on Age of Darkness – the Horus Heresy anthology in which my short story The Iron Within can be found. I’ve reproduced the snippet regarding The Iron Within below but the remainder of the review, detailing responses to all the fantastic stories contained within Age of Darkness can be found here.

“The Iron Within – Rob Sanders

Finally, Iron Warriors!! We have waited long enough (I’m a fan as you can see). This story addresses the loyalties of the Iron Warriors left to garrison the compliant planets, and how they view their now traitorous primarch. The stage is set for an awesome siege with a fortress of unusual characteristics. The main Warsmith is brilliantly portrayed (having been a victim of the Hrud campaign), and the devious tactics he has up his sleeve provide an outstanding climax.

A ten out of ten for Rob Sanders, I hope much more from him going forward."

Never Let Me Go

2011-07-16T10:42:00.002+01:00

Last week I checked out a film called Never Let Me Go. It is a British science-fiction film by Mark Romanek, starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield. There were three big pulls for me with this movie. First, it is a British science-fiction film and these are so rare that they are worthy of attention for that reason alone. That said, the respectable Monsters - which I previously reviewed – also falls into that category. Secondly, the film is based on the novel of the same name by Booker prize winning author Kazuo Ishiguro. Thirdly, it was adapted for screen by Alex Garland, writer of Sunshine and 28 Days Later.

For those who have not read the book or seen the film I won’t give away the central conceit, but I will say that it shares science fiction ground with many other films examining the same issues. The visual style was completely fitting in its suggestion of period / British drabness and I thought that the acting was excellent from the three leads. Their delivery was understated, yet effective – even in Keira Knightley’s case – but it was really Carey Mulligan that did a great deal with very little.

The most striking aspect of the film for me was the way in which the protagonists accepted their fate. I know in my head that this is an exceptionally brave decision for both Ishiguro and Garland in being so faithful to the book’s ending. So frequently in cinema – and science fiction films – the protagonists rebel against their designated fate and do everything in their power to resist the consequences of compliance. In Never Let Me Go the emotional landscape is determined not by highs of escape or the fears of fighting back against the system. The undulations are a great deal more subtle: love lost; the agony of isolation; the burden of loneliness and not knowing your place in the world. I wanted the characters to throw off the chains of eventuality and break free. When the story went in another - and looking back, entirely logical direction - I did feel the emotional absence of the fight and the heart-thumping satisfaction of escape. It is difficult to tell if this is a failing in the film or simply what I was intended to feel. I suspect the latter and for this reason it is an excellent, heart-wrenching and fitting conclusion. This was perfect for the novel and very restrained for Garland, but there is a reason why I hankered for characters I had grown to like to resist their fate. There is a reason why so many science fiction films dealing in similar subject matter are obliged to indulge their protagonists’ desires to battle the system. They all, in their own way, represent the irrepressibility of the human spirit. Frustratingly – and perhaps intentionally so – the human spirit and the desire to survive, seems to be demonstrated by everyone else living in Never Let Me Go's universe but – with the exception of a few minor rebellions and fantasies - not in the novel’s main characters.

If you are looking for some Saturday night, high-octane, science-fiction-actioner then you shouldn’t pick up Never Let Me Go. It is a film of ideas, excellent acting and subtlety. Its science-fiction conceit is not a peripheral concern and runs straight through the story’s heart but will probably leave audiences with an appetite for high-budget, CGI, American sci-fi severely wanting. Approached with appropriate expectations, most will find it a brave and engaging film.

Atlas Infernal... at-last

2011-07-14T21:24:00.008+01:00

I was doing so well...

I blame this one on my day job. Exam / coursework season just blitzed me. I am intensely jealous of some my Black Library colleagues, who only have to worry about hitting their own deadlines. I have to worry about my own and a couple of hundred students as well. Oh well, exam season is over but at the time I simply couldn’t keep the plates respectively called ‘full time job’, ‘Legion of the Damned' and ‘blogging’ all spinning at the same time. Unfortunately one had to take a back seat (more like it had to be gagged, tranquilized and dumped unconscious in the boot) and that one was the blog. I also have an apology to make over at The Black Library Bolthole, where my questions have been piling up unanswered.

Anyway, I’m glad to be back. I’d like to kick off with my second novel, Atlas Infernal - that was released while I was off air and has been getting some great feedback. If you haven’t checked it out yet, can I encourage you to do one of four things: you could read an extract from the novel here; you could read a review of Atlas Infernal from the good people at The Founding Fields here; you could read a second review of Atlas Infernal from more good people at The Founding Fields here; or you could click on the link opposite and buy the novel in its entirety (rather than simply teasing yourself with extracts and reviews). That’s enough about Atlas Infernal now: lots more on it later.

I intend to get back to the kind of blogging regularity I enjoyed earlier in the year – but don’t hold me to it. : ) Thanks for the kind comments in my absence.

Monsters

2011-04-27T18:27:00.006+01:00

This week I watched a film called Monsters. It is that rarest of breeds, a British science-fiction film - although it is not actually set in the UK. A NASA space probe crash lands in Mexico and infects the Central American rainforest with alien creatures. Photojournalist Andrew is asked by his wealthy employer to escort his daughter from South America back to the United States. Complications ensue and the prospect of a simple plane journey and his employer’s gratitude rapidly turn into a nightmare trek through the extraterrestrial infected zone.

Director Gareth Edwards does wonders with his budget of $500,000. Ordinarily the hide and seek antics of the alien creatures might appear to be a budget restriction – and undoubtedly they were – but Edwards does such a good job with the cinematography, tension and haunting quality of the film, that this doesn’t seem an issue at the time of watching. Edwards certainly deserves plaudits for his guerrilla-film making skill. The film’s central conceit is a good one: instead of seeing monster invasion mayhem we are treated to a journey through its apocalyptic aftermath. The representation of the aliens themselves is also interesting. They are a menacing nuisance, that has to be quarantined and contained using border controls and military intervention. This fresh approach is welcome and echoes a concept in District 9, which was another film I enjoyed.

More problematic is the script. There isn’t one. Edwards had his two leads improvise dialogue during the shoot. He shot four hours of footage which he then boiled down to the 94 minute running time. As a writer I dislike this approach. I feel that great films tend to begin with great scripts and pointing your camera at a pair of actors and hoping for the best doesn’t really cut it. The two leads also lack chemistry, which is all the more surprising given that they were actually a real couple.

I enjoyed Monsters. It kept me engaged while I was watching it. The problems arose afterwards for me. Edwards has undoubtedly achieved a great deal with a solid initial idea and a tiny budget. For this he deserves our respect and a larger budget for his next film. Perhaps I have been conditioned by the gluttonous CGI excesses of recent sci-fi fare but in the end I did come away from Monsters a little unsatisfied. More alien-lifeform-for-your-money and a well-crafted script could have turned this into something really great.

Everything You Need To Know About Writing Successfully 4

2011-04-23T11:21:00.002+01:00

The first of Stephen King’s rules is ‘Be Talented’. He is very careful to strictly define what he considers talent is in order that he doesn’t actually have to investigate the nature of talent. Essentially he passes the judgement onto other people. He states that he equates talent with being paid for your creative work. He tells us that talent has nothing to do with being ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but being published. Ultimately agents and publishers around the world get do decide what ‘talent’ is based upon what will sell. If the model Jordan ‘writes’ a book (or has one ghost written for her) then publishers will option it and readers will buy it. Is Jordan a talented writer? According to King she is. In this respect King is little interested in literary worth, narrative or linguistic skill. The soap writer is as talented as the Oscar-winning screenplay writer simply because they both got paid. Perhaps the soap opera writer got paid more. It doesn’t make the soap opera writer more talented. Since the soap opera writer is largely given the A to B plotline and established characters then it might be argued that he/she is a great deal less talented.

For King to begin his rules with ‘Be Talented’ and then not qualify what ‘talent’ is or how one might achieve such a state of being suggests that King doesn’t know. It is a cop out. Why should we listen to King at all? This is slippery of him. Anyone who commits their thoughts to writing in a creative way believes in their inherent talent to one extent or another. Truly modest people who believe they have no talent do not go around claiming that they do. King gets to feed writers’ self-belief without actually offering them anything useful. Imagine being told that by anyone else from whom you are taking professional advice. Qu. ‘How do I succeed at this?’ An. ‘Be talented’. Gee, thanks. Insightful.

Ultimately King’s definition is a poor one. There are many examples of writing that were not recognised as talented at the time of their creation but now are both critically lauded and make lots of money. The ‘multitude’ does not get to determine ‘talent’. It determines popularity. The two are different and King was unwise to use the word ‘talented’ in his rules. He did because he knows that most writers do not want to be popular without being talented and so he simply tells writers what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. If King is right then perhaps all writers and aspiring writers should raise their game. Perhaps real talent should be more exclusive. If you want to be talented, or more than talented according to King’s definition, then you need to do more than fulfil basic expectation and collect your pay check. Schopenhauer is probably closer to the truth when he said, ‘Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits the target no one else can see.’

‘Hellacious’

2011-04-21T18:19:00.003+01:00

This word grabbed my attention in review of Redemption Corps. Fortunately it does not describe the feelings of the reviewer James Atlantic towards the book, rather the nature of the situations the Redemption Corps find themselves in. This is such a good word that I fear I might have to recycle it. Words: a renewable source of inspiration. Now, what can I describe as ‘hellacious’? Mmmm.

In the meantime, the review can be found in its entirety here. Extra respect goes out to James, who I’ve discovered is a teacher. Perhaps that is why the word ‘hellacious’ is part of his extensive vocabulary.

Everything You Need To Know About Writing Successfully 3

2011-04-20T07:21:00.007+01:00

I have been looking at some of the rules laid out in Stephen King’s essay on successful writing. King has a great deal to say on the subject and indicates that there are a number of unbreakable rules that should be observed in order to be a successful writer. I have difficulty with unbreakable rules and have been examining several of his in order to determine whether Stephen King – undoubtedly a successful writer in his own right – can lay down the same rules for everyone else.

Today is King’s insistence that writers should, “Remove every extraneous word” in their texts. He goes on to say, “You want to get up on a soapbox and preach? Fine. Get one and try your local park. You want to write for money? Get to the point.” I have a problem with this one because, yet again, King seems to be taking fiction writing the way of the screenplay. In screenplays the writer provides the skeletal structure of the narrative – the action and dialogue. Descriptions (and particularly ‘adjectives’) are frowned upon because it is considered someone else’s job in the movie industry to scout a location, choose the colour of a costume, audition an actor etc. There is little point putting that kind of descriptive detail into the script if the location that has been described – using “extraneous” words like adjectives – cannot be found. What would be the point of describing the physical characteristics of a character for which an actor has yet to be cast?

You cannot use this approach with fiction. To do so and to instruct others to do so is stripping-out fiction for parts. It is cutting down prose to its barest essentials. Why would fiction writers need to do this? Are there pressing demands on the time readers have to commit to texts? If that were the case then surely they wouldn’t read the texts at all. King ignores a crucial element in the dynamics of reading, and therefore writing, when he makes such a bold and unhelpful claim. Visualisation. The reader does not have a location scout, costume designer or casting director. They create a picture in their mind of the characters and action unfolding in the story as they read on a millisecond by millisecond basis. Without some “extraneous” words like adjectives, how are they supposed to create the rich fictional worlds in which they like to spend time?

Leaving a certain amount open to interpretation is still a very valuable part of the process, but stripping down language in the way King suggests can create problems for the reader and then the writer. Imagine a tree. What colour are the presents beneath it? Oh, you were thinking about a tree in a forest. Silly me, when I wrote down that word without the support of any other “extraneous” words I didn’t tell you that it was a ‘Christmas’ tree. I am still being economical with language - for instance, you are now imagining the tree in a living room, since that is where most people encounter Christmas trees – but I am using “extraneous” words. King even does this in his own rule by telling us to soapbox in a “local” park. He felt that without that “extraneous” word there might be room for confusion: a person standing in the middle of a national park, for instance, talking to themselves. According to King we would also have to do away with any kind of imagery. Metaphor, simile and personification would all be superfluous to requirement because King suggests that all writers need to “Get to the point”.

On the other hand, the use of one hundred adjectives to describe the tree is probably unhelpful also. There is a balance that needs to be struck – a balance that King seems to ignore in giving such brazen and uncompromising advice. King could, of course, claim that he has been misinterpreted. Perhaps he should have used more “extraneous” words to avoid the confusion that can arise from supplying the reader with too little information. Part of that balance is determined by the individual reader and their personal attention span in respect to the text they are reading. Some modern readers can cope with texts written hundreds of years ago, that seem far less concerned with King’s preoccupation with getting to the “point”or murdering adjectives. Others cannot cope - and probably never will cope if they never choose to extend themselves with such texts. It is too demanding and too complex for them to follow. The result of this is boredom and they move on in turn to something ‘easier’. The continuance of King’s approach leads to a decrease in literary competence among readers as they become conditioned to simpler, stripped out text. This cannot be a good thing. A writer’s skill resides in making these kind of choices. Marrying text as best they can to the myriad of different readers out there. King cannot take that choice away from the writer or the reader. Stephen King is an important writer. He is not, however, more important than the mechanics of the reading process.

This Week I Have Been Mostly Playing...

2011-04-19T10:53:00.007+01:00

Left4Dead. I know I might be a little late to the party but what a great game this is! Left4Dead has many excellent features. The characters are appealing and both the digital designers and voice actors have done a great job. The locations are atmospheric and allow the creators to do things that are hard to accomplish in zombie films / television programmes: zombified city sections, night-time shooting etc. Its levels have a cinematic feel, which in turn are broken up into sections – again representing almost a screenplay-style structure. This is great for a gamer like me that likes to dip in and out, rather than playing for hours and hour on end.

The zombies are fantastically realised. The way they wander and then rabidly run down on you in terrifying hordes. When they’re not doing this, the sound effects and background music lends the whole game an appropriate creepiness. The zombies in this game aren’t just gross - which they are - they’re also scary. This is an aspect neglected in a lot of other games and films dealing with the same subject matter. The game AI has a great deal to do with this, so even when you are re-playing levels, zombies, mobs and creatures are waiting for you in different locations /come at you in different configurations. This lends the game a real jumpiness: another excellent feature.

The crowning achievement of Left4Dead, however, is the way you interact with the other characters / players. On single player there is a good deal of strategy. You have to work with your digital counterparts in order to get through the nightmare of individual levels. Again, the AI is very good at keeping the characters fresh in terms of dialogue and action on repeat outings. Left4Dead is at its best when played over the internet with other players. It is only then that the genius of the game’s design really shines through. You literally are then four strangers thrown together in a crisis and quickly learn to trust/distrust/rely upon one another. The designers have worked a key zombie genre trope into the game play. In zombie films there are always those characters that betray the group and those that form swift reciprocal friendships in lethal situations. If you also use headphones then you get to hear the shocked exclamations and expletives of other players, as they get pounced upon by the undead. You might also get a ‘Thanks for coming back for me’, when you hold your nerve and return to save a beleaguered player, swamped in a flesh-hungry zombie mob. All in all, a fantastic game!

Kicking Ass and Taking Names

2011-04-17T12:16:00.005+01:00

Just found this. The guys over at Rules Manufactorum have created statistics and gameplay rules for Major Zane Mortensen, from my novel Redemption Corps. The specifications demonstrate clear attention to detail and have sparked some debate over how the major’s inability to feel pain could be represented in game terms. Thanks guys. Hopefully, Mortensen kicks as much ass on the tabletop as he does in the novel!

Victories of the Space Marines: Reviews

2011-04-15T21:57:00.007+01:00

It is nice to see my short story The Long Games at Carcharias getting some love as Victories of the Space Marines receives some forum and blog reviews. Here is one from Three Color Minimum. Read and enjoy. If you haven’t read The Long Games yet then we are very much in cart before the horse territory. Can I suggest an excellent solution to this problem? Get down to your local book store and grab a copy of Victories of the Space Marines or, if you feel you can’t wait that long, click on the EBook version of the text on the bar opposite. It is really that easy.

‘Age of Darkness’ Reviews

2011-04-11T18:06:00.002+01:00

I have long enjoyed the reviews of Stefan Fergus on the blog Civilian Reader. His reviews are always thoughtful and fair, demonstrating a wealth of literary experience and an eye for detail. He has recently posted a review on the Horus Heresy short story anthology Age of Darkness. Age of Darkness contains my story, The Iron Within, and Civilian Reader has many nice things to say about it. Follow the link below to check out Civilian Reader and the review. Below that is Civilian Reader’s review of my first novel, Redemption Corps.

http://civilian-reader.blogspot.com/2011/04/age-of-darkness-edited-by-christian.html

http://civilian-reader.blogspot.com/2010/06/redemption-corps-by-rob-sanders-black.html

Everything You Need To Know About Writing Successfully In Ten Minutes 2

2011-04-10T10:25:00.007+01:00

I’m looking at Stephen King’s popular essay on writing, referenced in the post title above. King is an extremely influential writer but I feel that the advice he gives out to writers, and people on the road to being writers, often comes in the form of unbreakable rules. This approach is unhelpful and a kind of literary snobbishness. In doing so, King attempts to establish a kind of hierarchy in which he naturally places himself at the top. He ignores the possibility of a multitude of successful approaches to writing and fails to explain the existence of writers who have had more success than himself without using his rules. Also, sometimes he is just plain wrong. As I believe in the plurality of voices, I should not deny King his own. This is his take on the tools of the writer’s trade: dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopaedia.

Rule 5. Never look at a reference book while doing a first draft
You want to write a story? Fine. Put away your dictionary, your encyclopaedias, your World Almanac, and your thesaurus. Better yet, throw your thesaurus into the wastebasket. The only things creepier than a thesaurus are those little paperbacks college students too lazy to read the assigned novels buy around exam time. Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule. You think you might have misspelled a word? O.K., so here is your choice: either look it up in the dictionary, thereby making sure you have it right - and breaking your train of thought and the writer's trance in the bargain - or just spell it phonetically and correct it later. Why not? Did you think it was going to go somewhere? And if you need to know the largest city in Brazil and you find you don't have it in your head, why not write in Miami, or Cleveland? You can check it ... but later. When you sit down to write, write. Don't do anything else except go to the bathroom, and only do that if it absolutely cannot be put off.

Seems like good advice, delivered with a confidence that selling thousands and thousands of books can lend you. There are problems, however, and I draw attention to these not because I dislike King’s writing or fail to rate him as a writer. King’s advice is oft-quoted on the internet and in the kinds of ‘How To...’ books that many burgeoning writers have consulted at the beginnings of their careers. His advice is then presumably followed by many people who, if they had been allowed to follow their own path, might have generated something unique and exciting. Advice can be over-rated. To quote the Sunscreen song, “Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth”.

One of King’s assertions that I believe to be unnecessarily brutal is the authoritative indication that, “Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.” (Oops, Jon – that’s you and me gone!) I just do not buy this one at all. It’s like stripping a professional photographer of their lens attachments or a painter of their mixing palette. Use a thesaurus or don’t use a thesaurus – whatever gets the job done for you personally – but you can’t tell writers that they can’t use one: that any word used from one is “the wrong word”. For King, beyond it being “wrong” and there being “no exceptions”, it seems the main problem is the idea that writers may break their “train of thought”, their “writer's trance”, if they have to get up and go a search out a word in a thesaurus or consult a fact in an encyclopaedia. This sounds like it makes sense but it doesn’t take into account the significant consideration of requirements particular to King: the ironic suggestion that King might be a poorer writer than his peers in comparable circumstances. New Historicism is an important branch of literary theory that has received increasing attention over the last thirty years. New Historicists claim that, regardless of the individual talent of the writer, texts are products of the circumstances in which they were written. These circumstances might be broad and influential, like political or social ideas that find a voice in texts written at the same time as their appeal. Examples of this might be the tensions between Protestants and Catholics represented in plays by Shakespeare four hundred years ago to the global economic meltdown represented in fictional form today. ‘Historical’ circumstances don’t have to be so broad: they can be intensely personal. Events occurring in an individual writer’s life can therefore have a huge effect on their writing.

How does this relate to King? He tells us himself that he has to “hunt for”, “look it up” and “go” when doing anything that takes him away from what he defines as the writing process. You can almost see him getting up and rooting around his house, or at least his bookshelf, for his thesaurus. Actual writing for Stephen King is done, “When you sit down”. It suggests that he needs this unbroken concentration to write. This shouldn’t surprise us (from a New Historicist point of view) since it is well known that King wrote his early fiction - Carrie for example - in a caravan, on a manual typewriter.

We can see that King’s insistence on not using a thesaurus might come from two factors. Firstly, his initial writing experiences benefitted from a pattern of behaviour that included a sense of isolation – shutting himself away in a caravan and getting the job done undisturbed. Given what we know about King’s early poverty (making his own personal story all the more appealing) it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that he did not own all of the reference books he cites as belonging in the “wastebasket”. If he started out that way in the 1980s and generated some success from that approach, you can see why he feels he has not needed them subsequently. The second factor is technology. Most writers that came after King do not use manual typewriters. They use word processors and now have the benefit of the internet, where there is very little hunting for reference books required. Modern writers do not need a trip to the library or have to turn over their houses to find an encyclopaedia, to validate a fact or piece of information. Every reference source a writer might ever want (and many they won’t) is there at their fingertips, with very little to break their “train of thought”. Many modern writers have to maintain the “writer’s trance” while carrying out other activities or surrounded by their families in busy households. Many do not have the ‘luxury’ of an isolated caravan or cabin in the woods to retreat to every time they wish to write.

I do not intend to criticise Stephen King. He is undoubtedly a successful writer of clear skill. His advice, on the other hand, can be dangerous when taken out of the context in which it was given. King cannot be considered without bias. What works for King might not work for other writers. What works for other writers might not have worked for King. The biggest danger comes not from writers emulating King’s approach: it is everyone else accepting it unquestioningly. If everyone involved in the process, from the publishing industry to the readers, believe that good writing comes from stripping out texts of anything that might have come been found in a thesaurus - the “wrong” words as King puts it – then all novels will start to sound like screenplays and schematics. It is interesting to note that Stephen King himself has had a long standing interest in such writing – insisting on writing the script adaptations for his own novels. Writers at the beginning of their careers are often warned not to allow their texts to become ‘overgrown’ with adjectives and adverbs etc, the suggested image here being a crowded garden. There is something in this: you can have too much of even a good thing. On the other hand, ‘gardens’ stripped of any descriptive prose and devoid of thesaurus-consultation might be considered concreted over and bare. They are economical and easy to maintain but they are not places people wish to spend their time. They do the job but they lack ambition and beauty. I find it hard to believe that these are the equivalents of ‘good’ writing. The kind of writing, of which Stephen King in the 1980s, might have approved.

Legion of the Damned

2011-04-08T14:29:00.003+01:00

Black Library has just announced my upcoming novel Legion of the Damned on their ‘Coming Soon’ page. It is part of the successful 'Space Marine Battles' series. I’m very excited to be writing about Space Marines after my short stories The Long Games at Carcharias and The Iron Within. I decided to go in a slightly different direction with the novel. Rather than choose a ‘traditional’ Chapter to follow, I wanted to explore the Adeptus Astartes phenomenon known only as ‘The Legion of the Damned’ and their ghostly interventions on the blood-soaked battlefields of the 41st millennium. More details and cool internet art to follow.

Everything You Need To Know About Writing Successfully In Ten Minutes

2011-04-07T18:01:00.002+01:00

This is the title of a famous essay on writing by Stephen King. The essay largely takes the form of a list: the dos and do nots of creative writing. I’m not a fan of such lists. Some writers – even professional writers, with many years of experience – swear by them. Like anyone interested in writing, I have read many of these lists. Some are moderately helpful. Some are absurd.

King is undeniably a successful writer, although it is fair to say that his heyday was the 70s and 80s. He has a great deal to say about fiction and is much quoted on the subject of writing. My background is in Literary Theory, so I have a difficult time believing in the fixed, concrete nature of such an approach. It feels very much of a remnant of a bygone age. A postmodernist / poststructuralist approach to King’s writing rules and regulations, immediately undermines his absolute belief in a particular set of rules, since the dominating literary philosophy of the postmodern period prioritises the playfulness of creative approaches, the breaking of rules and the resistance of authority structures. We are doing things in fiction, film and art that ‘creatives’ before us would never have done, for fear of it breaking some kind of unbreakable convention. King’s essay is very much in that model.

There are, even in the essay, hints that King is uncomfortable with such an approach. King claims, as part of his rules regarding How to Evaluate Criticism:
“Show your piece to a number of people - ten, let us say. Listen carefully to what they tell you. Smile and nod a lot. Then review what was said very carefully. If your critics are all telling you the same thing about some facet of your story - a plot twist that doesn't work, a character who rings false, stilted narrative, or half a dozen other possibles - change that facet. It doesn't matter if you really liked that twist of that character; if a lot of people are telling you something is wrong with your piece, it is. If seven or eight of them are hitting on that same thing, I'd still suggest changing it. But if everyone - or even most everyone - is criticizing something different, you can safely disregard what all of them say.”

I have some respect for this facet of King’s insight, but within it are the seeds of the essay’s failure. We could take King’s list and those of many other writers and we would find many different pieces of advice, some even contradictory. This was, of course, always going to be the case. Why write a new list unless there is something different to add. Since, according to King’s own advice, “if everyone - or even most everyone - is criticizing something different, you can safely disregard what all of them say.” This means that we have to ignore King’s own advice: very postmodern.

Regardless of this – or perhaps because of it (King becomes a more interesting prospect when examined in this way) I would like to look at a number of King’s rules in subsequent blog entries. They are widely quoted and regarded as creative writing gospel: I would like to look at aspects I believe to be helpful to writers and those approaches that have clear deficiencies – despite the ardent fashion in which King and many other writers adhere to them.

Trailers That Are Better Than The Films They Preview 2

2011-04-05T20:06:00.002+01:00

This one came to mind straight away. This trailer for Terminator Salvation had everything going for it. The background music was an inspired choice and the clips chosen to advertise the film are all suggestive of something Terminator, but also something a little different. Throw in a Christian Bale monologue (not the one where he goes ballistic at Director of Photography Shane Hurlbut – but same film) and you have a movie that oozes everything that Terminator fans had been waiting for.

Once again, the same tone, grit and urgency never achieve realisation in the film. There are some good elements and some bad, but it seems to be the pacing that is out. Perhaps that is why the trailer is suggestive of a better film. It boils off the fat and presents a concentrated version of the feature. The film itself seems too leisurely – and not in a ‘soak up the gloom of the future’ used by James Cameron in the first of the franchise. Terminator Salvation could learn something from its own trailer. Take note McG.

The 'Age of Darkness' Approaches

2011-04-04T22:09:00.003+01:00

The Horus Heresy anthology Age of Darkness just got its own book trailer, showcasing the various authors contained within its covers. I am one of those authors I am delighted to say, and not just because it is pleasure and a privilege to share pages with these fantastic guys. Age of Darkness is the latest release in the million-selling and New York Times Bestseller List charting Horus Heresy series. Something special indeed. The anthology contains the following stories by the following authors:

• 'Rules of Engagement' by Graham McNeill
• 'Liar's Due' by James Swallow
• 'Forgotten Sons' by Nick Kyme
• 'The Last Remembrancer' by John French
• 'Rebirth' by Chris Wraight
• 'The Face of Treachery' by Gav Thorpe
• 'Little Horus' by Dan Abnett
• 'The Iron Within' by Rob Sanders
• 'Savage Weapons' by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Age of Darkness is released in May but is already doing great business on Amazon and direct from Black Library. I am also thrilled about an extract from my story The Iron Within being used to advertise the anthology. The extract can be found here.

Check out the trailer. Thanks to the guys at Shroud Films for their technical and creative wizardry. Oh, and I get the prize for the most ‘erms’ in one sentence.

Trailers That Are Better Than The Films They Preview 1

2011-04-02T16:00:00.007+01:00

Trailers are a kind of an art form. Editors in the film industry no doubt feel this way. After all, the trailer's job is to get the audience excited about the film in the first instance. Sometimes a film trailer can be considered better than the film itself. When I watch trailers for films and television series, I become excited about the prospect of the product's outcome. Often they are simply not as good as we might expect. On occasion the trailer has so much going for it that you come to consider where the director could have gone wrong. The trailer makers cannot really be accused of misrepresenting the film since they are only working with material from the product. If anything, the director needs to sit down with both film and trailer and think on whether or not her/his film actually does the promise of the trailer justice.

A good example of this is the teaser trailer for the Bryan Singer film Superman Returns. I don't particularly rate the director, I'm not a huge Superman fan and the film is now considered disappointing enough to warrent a re-boot. The trailer promises a great deal in terms of tone and expectation. A quality that the film never achieves. It's hard to comprehend how this came to be. The trailer could be previewing an entirely different film. Perhaps the re-booters of the franchise are looking at the trailer and are wondering what went wrong themselves, before they fully commit to a vision of their own. See what you think.

Victories of the Space Marines

2011-04-01T20:11:00.003+01:00

I haven’t really had much opportunity to talk about The Long Games at Carcharias, my short story for the ‘Victories of the Space Marines’ anthology. The story centres on Chapter Master Elias Artegall and the tragedies that befall his Astartes brothers, the Crimson Consuls.

This was my first outing with Space Marines and I wanted to get them just right. I settled on an invented chapter - because of what I wanted to do to them – and also because I wanted greater control over their background. The Crimson Consuls have a distinct and detailed culture and history that emerges across the story and I tried to be bold in the way the narrative sweeps through an entire Chapter. I feel that you either get Space Marines right or wrong: they are, after all, Games Workshop’s poster boys. I was a little anxious in terms of writing about them: perhaps a little reticent at first. So far, I have chosen to explore the narrative viewpoints of ‘human’ characters in the Warhammer 40,000 universe: Imperial Guardsman and Inquisitors etc. The further I got into the planning and actual writing, the more I came to appreciate the narrative challenges and opportunities that the Adeptus Astartes offer. The story was well received by my editor and shortly after I was asked to write an Adeptus Astartes short story for the ‘Age of Darkness’ anthology, which forms part of the best-selling Horus Heresy series. Not too shabby!

Advance copies of ‘Victories of the Space Marines’ were available at Black Library Live 2011 and early feedback has been very good. The anthology is available to buy in April and can be bought in print or as an e-book. The short story can be bought on its own as an e-text also (see right hand bar). As well as The Long Games at Carcharias, ‘Victories of the Space Marines’ contains stories by the excellent Jonathan Green, James Swallow, Gav Thorpe, Chris Wraight, CL Werner, Ben Counter, Steve Parker and Black Library debutant Sarah Cawkwell (who is excellent too!).

You Had Me At Hello.

2011-03-31T19:29:00.004+01:00

Headrush. Two posts in the same day. New World Order, people. Thought I'd start with something small. The Black Library Bolthole. There are forums and there are forums. The Black Library Bolthole takes some beating for three reasons. I hang around the Ask the Author section, answering questions and occasionally asking other authors for answers when I don't have a clue. Some of the best forumites on the internet also hang out there, choosing to shoot the breeze in preference to shooting down each other's points of view. My good friend and fellow author Sarah Cawkwell is the resident sheriff in town down there, keeping order and lending the whole affair a sense of class it really doesn't deserve. Anyway, the Bolthole has recently moved. The old site still exists and contains my answers to a myriad of sensible (and some less sensible) questions put to me by readers. The address for the old archived site is: http://z6.invisionfree.com/bljunkies/index.php?act=idx. The sexy new site can be reached using the link list on the side bar of this site. Look, they even have t-shirts! If you have any questions, feel free to use the direct link opposite and I'll get back to you. I'm off to go and answer some fresh questions there now.

Hello. Can We Start Over?

2011-03-31T18:55:00.004+01:00

Blogging. Given the choice between writing and blogging, I try to do the right thing and write. Blogging has a bad reputation. Almost as bad as forum-hopping, Facebooking and tweeting. All forms of procrastination. So I do try to be good. I stoke the fires of inspiration and keep the words coming. The fact is, I have a lot to blog about and the two processes aren't mutually exclusive. They feed into each other. I need to blog more regularly but in smaller, bite-size chunks. That's the way to go. You know I mean business this time. I've changed the blog appearance and everything.

Where The Hell Have I Been?

2010-10-05T19:30:00.001+01:00

You know you have been neglecting your blog when you’ve forgotten which buttons do what on the posting Dashboard. Have been busy with a whole myriad of things, many creative, some horrifying and some simply required. Among the horrifying was an ‘Ofsted’ inspection: teachers just love those, I can tell you. Clearing out my garage was just required. It could hold no more and something had to be done about it. A something that basically amounted to three full days transporting junk to the local dump.

I promised more Review highlights and since many people have been saying many nice things about ‘Redemption Corps’ I should really get on that, but other forthcoming projects demand the attention. The fantastic folks at Black Library have posted my next novel on their ‘Coming Soon’ section. It is called ‘Atlas Infernal’ and the appropriately epic sounding blurb is as follows:

Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak is a hunted man. Escaping from the Black Library of the eldar, Czevak steals the Atlas Infernal – a living map of the Webway. With this fabled artefact and his supreme intellect, Czevak foils the predations of the Harlequins sent to apprehend him and thwarts his enemies within the Inquisition who want to kill him. Czevak’s deadliest foe, however, is Ahriman – arch-sorcerer of the Thousand Sons. He desires the knowledge within the Black Library, knowledge that can exalt him to godhood, and is willing to destroy the inquisitor to obtain it. A desperate chase that will bend the fabric of reality ensues, where Czevak’s only hope of survival is to outwit the chosen of Tzeentch, Lord of Chaos and Architect of Fate. Failure is unconscionable, the very cost to the Imperium unimaginable.

Thanks to the blurb writer on that one. Good job! It’s a little known fact that authors do not tend to write their own blurbs – but do write their own books, you’ll be relieved to discover. We don’t farm that responsibility out. ‘Atlas Infernal’ is out in July so more on Bronislaw Czevak and his adventures later.

What else? I’m usually pretty cagey about future projects, but since other authors identified their contributions at ‘Games Day’, I can confirm that I too have a short story in ‘Victories of the Space Marines’, edited by Christian Dunn and out in April. Christian published my first work, so it’s always a pleasure to work with him and continuing that theme I can also announce that I have a short story in the forthcoming ‘Horus Heresy’ anthology ‘Age of Darkness’, out in May. Could I tell you more about these stories? Probably, but I won’t. Don’t want to ruin the surprise. You’ll see what I mean when you read them. You are going to read them, aren’t you?

Interviews

2010-06-26T17:39:00.002+01:00

Two sets of kind people to talk about. Firstly thanks to Dan Sharp, News Editor at the Lincolnshire Echo, my local newspaper. Dan has a keen interest in Science Fiction and was kind enough to request an interview after reading 'Redemption Corps'. A copy of the article can be found here:

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/Teacher-debut-novel-published/article-2327974-detail/article.html

Secondly, the great people at Black Library have uploaded an interview with yours truly about the writing of 'Redemption Corps' itself. It is well worth a read but then I would say that because I'm biased.

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Blog/Redemption-Corps-inside-story.html

Reviews

2010-06-13T13:43:00.013+01:00

Been away from the Blog for a while. Blogs are funny things. I’m torn between notifying people every time I blow my nose (as some people do) and reserving entries for events of significance. Lately I have been buried (in a good way) in my second novel, which is all but completed. The execution has been very smooth but the first half definitely materialised faster than the second due to the timing of what I like to call ‘unavoidables’.

People that know me understand that as well as being a writer I am also a Head of English at a secondary school. As well as my own creative future I also have a commitment to my students’ futures. A-Level coursework will not mark itself and GCSE students need their C grades and above. Some genius thought it might be a good idea to place the deadlines of both coursework and examinations for qualifications in all subjects under my purview (English, Literature, Media and Drama) all at the same time. This makes for difficult writing time. I love teaching but I love writing more. I look forward to the day when they don’t have to co-exist.

Anyway, something else that has been happening over this busy time is the materialisation of ‘Redemption Corps’ reviews on the web. This is a real perk of the job. Feedback. Authors get to digest the myriad of different responses that readers have had on blogs, sales outlets and forums – take on board recommendations and maintain aspects of the writing that are appreciated by fans. I thought that it would be good to select some material from various responses on the web to the novel here.

‘Redemption Corps’ is full of everything that makes a Black Library read a great one.’
‘What the reader gets here is a read that typifies the Warhammer 40K universe; unrelentingly brutal but full of characters and events that stir the blood and will keep you reading. Sanders is more than happy to show his reader that he has a keen eye for both of these, capturing future warfare (and the people who fight in it) in fine style.’
‘These are the moments where Sanders really shines. You can feel the tension in every footstep that a trooper takes, not knowing what’s round that next corner. You can feel bolter shells fly past your head and I found myself glad that it was the guys in the book who were the casualties of these, it meant that I was able to keep reading. Sanders also takes time to remind his readers that these moments of excellent military sci-fi are taking place in the Warhammer universe. Not only is he fully conversant with all the terminology but he hits the nail firmly on the head in his portrayal of just how bleak and dark this universe is.’
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review

‘A terrific story that kept me riveted until the end.’
Detra Fitch – Sci-Fi Huntress Reviews

‘The author provides very descriptive action scenes and sequences throughout the book.’
Amazon.com Review

‘A decent Imperial Guard novel.’
Amazon.com Review

‘Better characters, believable dialogue, a pretty intricate problem to be solved, and lots of things going on to advance the plot. I believe this is Sanders' first novel and it's one of the better ones in the Warhammer series. It might be interesting to see if he tries something of his own creation at some point.’
Critical Mass - Science Fiction

‘Whilst following some of the same traits that make this series so addictive, the two different arcs bring something new to the overall view of the complicated relationship of those under the Emperor’s banner. Add to this a well written tale, mud-splattered bloody combat alongside unforgiving redemption and it’s a tale that will give you something to savour.’
Falcata Times: Science Fiction Review

‘Redemption Corpse was a great read…Like Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts series, Rob Sanders manages to create a small unit of memorable characters that you can really grow with through the novel. With plenty of glimpses into the workings of the Adepta Sororitas and the Inquisition, the novel is full of 40K style intrique and politics as well as Stormtrooper action, shifting from the perspective of Commisar, to Stormtrooper to Navy pilot. The story was excellent.’
MyBattalion.com

‘A must have book for any Imperial Guard fan and worth reading just if you like the 40k universe.’
Millest’s Blog

‘Sanders is clearly a good writer. His characterization is really well done and his prose style is readable and intelligent.’
Bell of Lost Souls Reviews– Sean Dooley

‘Redemption Corps has some interesting twists and turns, and all in all, is an entertaining read.’
Truddenia

‘The novel featured absolutely hellacious situations and obstacles for Major Mortensen and his troops to fight their way through. To muddy the waters even further, Sanders made sure to inject the story with the medieval mindset of the 40k setting by spicing up the plot with issues like heresy and the zealously paranoid sisters of battle. He did an outstanding job of demonstrating just how intense and dangerous the Imperium can be. There is carnage, bloodshed, heroism, tragedy, and conspiracies within conspiracies.’
‘Sanders knows how to write action. This book is filled with mayhem and is done in such a way to further the plot as opposed to just being gratuitous. The Redemption Corps are brutal and their tactics and approach to combat was well depicted. They were featured in a variety of environments (including an interesting deathworld) and the different sorts of missions they engaged in prevented any of the action from getting stale. If you want to know what it would be like to experience war in the 41st millennium, this is a good place to start.’
‘Mortensen and Krieg work well together. Both characters are nuanced and charismatic. They each could stand on their own, but their interactions made the story pop. The conflict between the two helped to make them both more personable to the reader. Mortensen especially benefited from having such a strong antagonist as he is pretty monolithic. I found it impressive that Sanders was able to feature such strong characters without having one being so dominant that the other became marginalized.
The Sisters of Battle were well done. The author captured the essence of their over the top approach to matters of faith and service. The sisters definitely helped to set the appropriate mood for a 40k story and the intensely paranoid manner in which they persecuted Mortensen was satisfying and appropriate to the setting. Despite not seeing a whole lot from them on the battlefield, I think I prefer Sanders’ treatment of the sisters as opposed to how other authors have featured them.’
‘If you are looking for mayhem this is the book for you. Sanders is a master of carnage and creates gripping characters with charisma. He understands the essence of Warhammer 40k and splatters the mood of the setting all over the place.’
James Atlantic’s – Books, Writing and More!

Naturally, reviews are still coming in and I’ll update as appropriate (hopefully better than I have done of late). I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank readers for reviewing the book. Some in great detail. It is especially gratifying for an author to know that a reader has really taken the time to immerse themselves in the text.

Anyway, back to finishing the second novel. Until next time.

Extract Up

2010-04-14T21:30:00.002+01:00

The good people over at Black Library have put up a beefy extract from 'Redemption Corps' for your perusal.

http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/Redemption-Corps.html

Enjoy.

Beware Geeks Bearing Gifts...

2010-04-12T12:26:00.024+01:00

What is a geek? Am I a geek? Are you? It's difficult to find an agreed definition because it is a word that has changed over time. Geeks themselves have not changed - the rest of the world has re-orientated itself around them and therefore the label used to denote them. Stereotypes from the worlds of fiction, television and cinema abound and are too many to mention. We all know what we're talking about.
000Many of these characterisations are fairly derogatory but still harbour nuggets of truth. Author Julie Smith provides some insight into this with her own description:
000"He was the very personification of a 'geek', a bright young man turned inward, poorly socialized, who felt so little kinship with his own planet that he routinely travelled to the ones invented by his favourite authors, who thought of that secret, dreamy place his computer took him to as cyberspace - somewhere exciting, a place more real than his own life, a land he could conquer - not some drab, teenager's room in his parents' house."
000Some might feel insulted at this representation but Smith doesn't simply label the character as a geek with traditional trappings. She hints at a life of quiet desperation - a desire for something more - but explores to some extent one mechanism that the character has for dealing with the inherent banality and trivial disappointment of modern life. What the archetypal Chav blocks out with alcohol, violence (and market stall Burberry), the geek blocks out with passionate intensity - whether it be for the technical, scientific or fantastical.
000There has been a shift of late in the perception of the geek. Mainstream works of fiction are increasingly selecting geeks as their heroes, without referential nods to previous incarnations. Younger children can be harsh in their perceptions of the world: flick on Cartoon Network and you will be bombarded with crude representations of geek stereotypes, many situated for comic purpose and at best as necessary side kicks to the main character. Recent shows like 'Phineas and Ferb' place geeks unapologetically at the heart of their concepts and storylines - each episode unashamedly quirky and clever, encouraging young audiences to share in the delight of geekish capabilites and the boon of expertise and learning. On the other end of the spectrum, shows like 'QI' and personalities like Stephen Fry have enormous followings, shows where an enthusiasm for intellectual pursuit is respected and geek preoccupations are front and centre. Even the fashion world has acknowledged the influence of the geek in 'geek chic', where the style of cultural characters outside of the mainstream spectrum and the stereotypical features of geeks themselves have been adopted in lines and designs.
000This probably doesn't go far enough. Geeks in these examples are still very much on the periphery - which isn't a realistic interpretation of the world in which we live. As author China Mieville puts it, "Geeks run the world". If geeks are enthusiasts, people who are to one degree or another obsessed with intellectual pursuit for its own sake, then geeks and their influence are very much part of the fabric of modern life. I'm a teacher by trade. All teachers have chosen to become experts in their own fields in order that they might make experts out of others: because the world needs experts. Where would we be without the thousands of hours of intellectual pursuit that medical students commit to becoming doctors? Doctors are geeks. Musicians are geeks. Lawyers are geeks. Architects are geeks. Jounralists are geeks. Stock Market Traders are geeks. Comedians are geeks. Military advisors are geeks. Computer designers and technicians are geeks. Politicians are geeks. Arguably the most powerful person on Earth - Barack Obama - must be by that reasoning, a geek.
000It seems that the world is not ready to face that reality however. A leap forward requires two steps back. Extremely popular television shows (undoubtedly made by geeks) like Doctor Who and Glee might, on the basis of viewing figures, be considered mainstream guilty pleasures. People who do not consider themselves geeks watch them in their droves, despite the fact that these shows might be considered by geeks, for geeks, celebrating geek archetypal characters. Unfortunately the writers and producers of these shows failed to hold the line, however. They have betrayed the very sentiment that drove them to create / produce the shows in the first place. Within episodes of beginning, the geek icon that is the Doctor had to be legitimised in the popular mind by his coupling with Chavvy companions and Tardis visits restricted to periods in history that five year olds would recognise. The Glee Club did their stuff perfectly well for the first few episodes before legitimisation was required in the form of -yes, you've guessed it - cheerleaders and jocks joining the group (being just as good as the geeks who devoted their lives to the pursuit) and assuming half of the metaphorical and actual spotlight.
000Doesn't this take geeks back to being stuffed in lockers and the High School toilets of their 1980s cinemascapes? Isn't it time that the geek world order rallied? Time that the world faced the truth that it would be pretty screwed without geek guardianship? That geek movers and shakers, those with golden opportunities and influence over a wide range audiences, 'grow some' and have the courage of their convictions?

'Killer Titles'

2010-03-04T21:19:00.004Z

Titles shouldn’t be underestimated. They are not a bolt on, once a writer has completed a story or merely a heading for the sake of having one. A successful narrative is a team effort: every word must do its part and some more than others. The words in a title carry more of that burden because they are the acid test for the piece of fiction. They are the first words chosen by the writer that are seen by a prospective editor or agent or by a potential reader, scanning book spines along a shelf. Writers are judged on their titles in a microsecond. Second chances are rare. Titles need to give the reader an excuse for taking an interest. More of an interest, hopefully, than the excuse offered by the previous title on the pile or the shelf. Titles are the ambassadors of a narrative and if they make a poor impression or no impression at all, then those two or three words can cost a writer thousands.

Successful titles can achieve their aims in a number of ways. The first way in which they can do this is by arousing interest in the reader. The following titles spookily use the same word but essentially achieve the same thing. 15 Hours by Mitchel Scanlon and Execution Hour by Gordon Rennie both establish immediate interest with just two words. They simultaneously suggest a time limit and force the reader to ask a question – which automatically involves them. What happens in 15 Hours or on the Execution Hour?

As well as arouse interest, titles can also promise the reader a good time. The nature of this good time depends upon the genre in which the fiction is set, for example, in the Warhammer universes, action and violence tend to play a major role in a potential reader’s enjoyment of the text. The ‘War’ in ‘Warhammer’ tends to give this away and is an example of a successful title in its own right. Titles like Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill and Death or Glory by Sandy Mitchell accomplish this admirably. The titles say ‘lots of action to be had here’, without being too on the nose.

What a title really needs to do is create more than interest and engagement, however.Titles need to excite. Firstly, a title should excite the writer. It might give them a buzz of expectation and be part of the inspiration either for writing the story or showing it to others. Significant ‘others’ that they will need to excite with the title are potential editors, agents and reviewers: people for whom the title will be a deciding factor in them wanting to spend more time on the narrative. The short story collection Let the Galaxy Burn and Ben Counter’s The Bleeding Chalice both have titles that get me excited about the contents of the narratives. It is sometimes difficult to quantify what is and what isn’t an exciting title. If a writer can’t wait to share their title with others, as well as the story the title heralds, then the chances are the writer is excited about and has created an exciting title.

One gauntlet that all writers have to run is the possibility that their titles will be changed later on in the process. Movers and shakers in the collaborative part of the writing / publishing process will want to do this for a myriad of reasons. Should this be a reason not to strive for the above in a title? No. A writer cannot get to that point without exciting their editor, for example, with a killer title and so therefore even a title that isn’t used still has a role to play and a requirement to excite and be exciting.

The successful Horus Heresy Series is blessed with a myriad of exciting titles. Take the following three: Horus Rising by Dan Abnett, Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow and Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon. All three derive their excitement from giving the suggestion of being ‘in media res’ or in the middle of events. All three also contain verbs that lend them a sense of immediate action and plot movement. Nick Kyme's Back from the Dead achieves the same effect.

Other titles are successful in different ways. Some titles are particularly evocative or make it easy for the reader to picture a strange or unusual situation. Dead Sky, Black Sun by Graham McNeill achieves this. Some titles achieve a resonance or have a memorable nature that sticks with the reader after reading them. Ravenor and Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett are undeniably cool sounding names: they are unusual and contain interesting phonetic patterns that roll of the tongue in such a way as they are suggestive of gravitas or impending conflict. Faith and Fire by James Swallow also uses the sound qualities of the words – the alliteration created through repeated consonant sounds – that make the title easy to say and recall. Alliteration lends a title an almost poetic quality. Metaphors also make memorable titles, forcing the reader to become engaged in the process of combining two ideas to create a fresh and unusual third idea. Dan Abnett does this with the title The Armour of Contempt.

Can titles be successful without following these rules? The answer to this is yes. Space Marine by Ian Watson is about as on the nose as you can get and Nathan Long’s Zombieslayer sets up the straightforward expectation that the novel’s heroes will indeed slay zombies. This does not stop these titles from heralding successful books and in many cases, readers can come to expect them as part of the marketing angle – for example, the Slayer books. Despite this, many stories fall by the wayside, however, because their creators fail to give their titles the thought they need and deserve. Readers cast their eyes along bookstore shelves, skipping innumerable spines before having their interest piqued by a single title that makes them reach for the book (and then hopefully take it to the sales counter and ultimately read it). Feel sorry for the writers of those neglected texts, gathering dust on lonely shelves – but not too sorry. They fell at the first hurdle and failed to give their stories ‘Killer Titles'.

Rob S.

Musings

2010-03-04T21:15:00.002Z

I’m currently writing my second book for Black Library and recently got to thinking about the creative process. Many readers of speculative fiction find the creative processes of writers interesting – as evidenced in the success of events like BL Live and Games Day. If the creative content of the BL forum over the years is anything to go by, many of those readers wrangle with those creative processes themselves in their own fiction. With the return of the Black Library website and fresh submission guidelines, this interest and enthusiasm is due to for a resurgence. Beyond being a novelist, my background lies in literature and I’ve always been passionate about books and the ‘creative’ forces that ‘create’ them – literally something from nothing. I’ve considered doing many things with this blog, beyond helping to advertise my work. One thing I would really like to do is share this passion and explore this world in a little more detail. Here goes.

Black Library Live 2010

2010-02-17T09:17:00.005Z

A big thank you to all those who attended Black Library Live. It was a fantastic event. I really enjoyed meeting the BL fanbase and watching those advance copies of Redemption Corps sail off the shelves. A big thank you to Nick, Lindsey and George for organising and Mark for his help on the day. It was great to meet luminaries like Dan and Graham and I especially appreciated spending time with authors Mitchel Scanlon and Richard Williams, who both have stories in the forthcoming anthology 'Legends of the Space Marines'.

Redemption Corps

2010-02-16T19:39:00.003Z

'Redemption Corps' is an Imperial Guard novel set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It introduces the indefatigable Major Zane Mortensen and his air mobile storm-trooper regiment as they carry out spearheads, covert missions and special operations across the warzones of the Kaligari Cradle. If you like intrigue with your blistering action and characters you'll want to want to follow to the apocalyptic end, then 'Redemption Corps' is the novel for you.

'Redemption Corps' is available from April 10'.