Request for reviewers

Both The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus (Vol.1) and Pax Britannia: Dark Side are selling well at the moment (very well, in fact) so how those of you who've already read these awesome tomes post some reviews on Amazon (or whatever your book site of choice happens to be)?

If you do, you will earn my eternal gratitude. (Which is no small thing if the long-anticipated Zombiepocalypse* finally gets here.) And please let me know - either via this blog or by emailing me at info@jonathangreenauthor.com.

Cheers!

* That's a copyrighted term, by the way, copyright Jonathan Green 2010 - just now.

Blood Royal - reviewers needed

Now I know that although Blood Royal isn't on official release yet some of you lucky people have got a copy already, and have possibly even read it as well. Well, if that's the case, I would be eternally grateful if you would pop a review up on Amazon (or your preferred web store). As they say, every little helps...

Night of the Necromancer - another great review

There's another glowing 5-star review of Night of the Necromancer up on Amazon today, by one W J Turton, although strangely, from the date, it looks like it was posted before the coveted first review of the book.

Confusion over dates aside, it's the kind of review that writers dream of, so I'm going to post it in its entirety here:

Jon Green is now an established name in the Gamebook community. An author of no mean competence, he has (amongst other achievements) produced some celebrated titles in the long-running Fighting Fantasy series.

Night of the Necromancer is a tale that centres around the bloodthirsty murder of a proud knight in the kingdom of Ruddlestone. Slain upon returning from a crusade, the adventure concerns his spirit's quest for vengeance, determined to learn who ordered his death and to exact a fitting revenge upon them. It soon becomes obvious, however, that his own death is the least of his concerns...

Green's device of placing the adventurer as a Ghost is decidedly novel, and adds rather than detracts from the quest's theme. It is an excellent premise, combining acquired skills (the ability to control objects in much the same way as a Poltergeist, for instance) with solid storytelling - making for a creative tale with a great deal of reader/player involvement.

Green is also keen to strike a balance between appealing to older and younger audiences. This doesn't suggest that he is unsure of who to aim the book at, but indicates his capability as a writer to craft a work so as to be of interest to a broad spectrum. As a result, Night of the Necromancer is a book that can easily be enjoyed by teenagers and adults alike - the common element required for all generations is an imagination!

As a result, at this bargain price, Night of the Necromancer is certainly worth consideration, both to Fighting Fantasy fans and also anyone curious of the gamebook concept. Whether it is your first or just one of many, this volume doesn't disappoint.

Crisis on Coruscant and Night of the Necromancer climbing the charts

As of this morning, Crisis on Coruscant is at #93 in the Star Wars chart on Amazon, while Night of the Necromancer (which has only been out a matter of days) is at #71 in Amazon's Children's Science Fiction and Fantasy list. Not bad if I do say so myself.






I've you've bought one of the above for yourself, thanks very much. Why not post a review on Amazon and sent me the link.


If you haven't bought them yet - especially Night of the Necromancer - then what are you waiting for? You're missing out! (By the way, first link to a good review of NOTN on Amazon wins a special mention on this blog!)

Come on now, don't be shy

Stormslayer's been out for nearly a month now and Evolution Expects even longer, but they've yet to garner any reviews on Amazon, that bookseller to the world. Both have received critical acclaim elsewhere, but it never hurts to have a few (no less than 3, please) stars up on Amazon.

Now, I am fully aware that this blog post might be a bit of a 'be careful what you wish for moment' but if any of you good folk feel like submitting a couple of lines explaining what you have enjoyed about recent publications of mine then please, go ahead. You never know, I might find some way of thanking you in the future.

Fingers crossed...

Crisis on Coruscant - you heard it here first

Since the title recently went up on Amazon, I can now reveal that I have just finished writing a children's gamebook set within the Star Wars Clone Wars universe. It's called Crisis on Coruscant and casts the reader in the role of a padawan learner in the service of Jedi Master Shaak Ti.

Without giving too much away, I can reveal that the adventure features clone troopers, Chancellor Palpatine, Senator Padme Amidala, dramatic airspeeder chases through the planet-city of Coruscant, bounty hunters, a visit to Tatooine and a guest appearance by Jabba the Hutt himself.

Crisis on Coruscant will be published in January 2010 alongside another title, Dooku's Secret Army, and to celebrate I have set up a Star Wars page on my Amazon Associates Store to satisfy all your Jedi (or Sith) related needs.

This is weird

I have just had a very strange experience. I came across the video below purely by chance. It's basically a guy talking about his experience of playing Spellbreaker. Be warned, it lasts a good 8 minutes, but I watched it to the end.



On one hand it gave me a buzz realising that there's someone on the other side of the world who was equally frustrated and delighted by Spellbreaker (a book I wrote nearly 17 years ago!) and on the other hand, his comments gave the writer inside me something of a wake-up call. That said, it's a wake-up call I've had from other sources over the years and hoping has helped me to improve as a writer (particularly of adventure gamebooks).

You'll be able to judge for yourself come September, when Stormslayer, my sixth Fighting Fantasy adventure, will be published by Wizard Books. Just bear in mind that when I wrote Spellbreaker I was trying my darnedest to catch out the cheats, and as a consequence probably punished the honourable players too much as well. However, with Stormslayer I was aiming for a fun reading/gaming experience that would stand a number of re-plays. I look forward to reading your reviews on Amazon later this year.

What is Myrrh Anyway? Out this week!

Hark, for I am the bearer of glad tidings to you and all your kin. For lo, What is Myrrh Anyway? is out this week!

So that's all your Christmas shopping needs sorted, in one easy to read, easy to wrap book, that's the ideal size to fit inside your Christmas stocking!

What is Myrrh Anyway? hits the shops this Thursday, but you can already order it online at Amazon.

Ho, ho, ho.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

I found a more recent review of Howl of the Werewolf online the other day. Over to R Paterson of Hertfordshire:

When I was younger I loved the Fighting Fantasy books, so it was a shame that they were out of print for most of the Noughties. Now reprints of the originals are available along with some new tomes, this one among them. And what a thrill it was that the central theme was werewolves, creatures that have always scared me even though I love them to bits.

In this book a lot of the normal FF rules apply; you use skill, stamina and luck scores to determine how you fare in various situations and in combat with other people or various creatures. Other factors determine how you fare too, and not just possessions you pick up. You can also pick up certain codewords through being in specific situations or gaining facets of knowledge. This can affect what route you take further on through the book. There is also the fact you are carrying the eponymous curse and your Change score determines how lycanthropic you are. How this affects things is quite complex, but pick up the book and you'll see!

Most of the action takes place in a land called Lupravia, which is much like the Transylvannia of Universal and Hammer horror movies, with a fantastical spin on it. There are other werewolves there, along with other were-creatures, vampires, ghosts, mutated versions of various animals and magical creatures. You will certainly have some fun spotting nods to various other stories; The Wolfman, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Hound of the Baskervilles. Take particular routes and there are even times you might be tempted to think of Van Helsing, or Metz's Judderman commercial!

Punctuating the text are brilliant illustrations, as always. Some of them are bound to bring shudders - the illustration for paragraph 172 is positively stomach-churning. Going back to references, the illustration for paragraph 442 will give Dr Who fans a laugh.

What's best about this book is that you can complete your quest successfully (as I have) and then play the quest all over again and find a whole new route to take. A must for any gaming or horror nuts.

Amazon had the book ranked at 26,264. I wonder how many sales that equates to...

What is Myrrh Anyway?

Much excitement in the Green househould this morning, as my author copies of What is Myrrh Anyway? have arrived. And for what started out as a relatively short stocking filler of a book, it's actually turned out to be quite a weighty little book on the subject of Christmas and its traditions.So if you've always wondered why Christmas Day falls on 25 December (and not the 15 Augcember, for anyone who's seen the new series of Harry and Paul on BBC1), or can't understand why Brussels sprouts are always on the menu for Christmas dinner, then this little Christmas cracker of a book is the one for you.

The book isn't officially published by Icon Books until 2 October, but it is available to pre-order over on Amazon. And you can discover more fun and fascinating facts about the festive season over on the dedicated What is Myrrh Anyway? blog.

Ho, ho, ho.

Visit my store

I have recently created my own online store, with the aid of Amazon Associates, so if you would like to purchase any of the books written by myself simply follow the link at the top of the sidebar, or click here.