The Tibetan Skull Camera

If this doesn't somehow work it's way into the Pax Britannian milieu then I'm not doing my job properly.




To put it simply, I want one!

Human Nature

And if you enjoyed the post-modernist Frankenstein-isms of Human Nature, check this out...

Fruiting Bodies

And if you liked the novella Fruiting Bodies that appeared in the back of Al Ewing's El Sombra, then you'll probably appreciate these too...

Leviathan Rising

If you enjoyed the undersea shenanigans of Leviathan Rising, with its plethora of submarine monsters, then you'll like these...

The Pax Britannia Appreciation Society

Have you enjoyed the Pax Britannia novels published by Abaddon Books? Do you appreciate dipping into the latest El Sombra or Ulysses Quicksilver adventure? Have you ever thought, "I wish there was a group that I could join to show my appreciation of all things Pax Britannian?"


Well, thanks to the sterling efforts of Adam Sparshott, there is now a Pax Britannia Appreciation Society that you can join on Facebook. Simply follow this link to find out more.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here's hoping that Father Christmas brought you everything you hoped for and that you and yours have a happy and memorable Christmas.

Wishing you a
MERRY CHRISTMAS
and a
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Best wishes

Jonathan Green

And, in case you missed the post earlier in the week, here's a present from me.

Merry Christmas from Pax Britannia and Abaddon Books

Glad tidings I bring, to you and your kin...

Those very generous people at Abaddon Books have a seasonal gift for all eBook readers this year - a FREE Pax Britannia short story, by me, entitled Christmas Past. This special edition also has a couple of extras tucked away inside, including news of some upcoming titles.

Go to www.abaddonbooks.com/download and you can be the proud owner of a little seasonal madness from the world of Ulysses Quicksilver and Pax Britannia too!

Yo, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!

New review of Evolution Expects at Mass Movement Magazine

As the title of this post says, there's a new review of Evolution Expects, this time from Mass Movement magazine.

The bits I like are 'Part James Bond, part Indiana Jones, and part David Dickinson (yeah, seriously!)' and 'there are several neat set-pieces that would translate well to celluloid if anyone ever mustered a budget to try and recreate this in Hollywood, namely a show-down with clockwork spiders in an underground bottling plant and the destruction of a giant weather station hovering over Smog-smothered Londinium Maximum' and 'the series is quite addictive, in a cheap ‘n’ cheerful potboiler kinda way'.

You can read it for yourself here.

Steampunk Dragon

How cool is this?


Maybe I could include something like this with the Chinese in the world of Pax Britannia...

Anyway, if you'd like to buy a copy of this print, click here.

Alice in Wonderland

Like many people, I suspect, I felt that I knew the story of Alice in Wonderland even though I had never actually read Lewis Carroll's children's classic. And because of that I decided I wanted to write a story that drew heavily from both Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking-Glass. But first of all I decided that I had to read the originals before putting pen to paper myself (or rather fingers to keyboard).


Anyway, the upshot of all this is that today I started work on White Rabbit, a short story that's due to be printed in the back of Pax Britannia: Blood Royal. Now Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is due on 5 March 2010 and Blood Royal won't be published until April 2010, so it will be interesting to see how the two compare.


But just to get your senses in a state of surreal excitement, in preparation for next Spring, here's the trailer for the movie.

A Very Abaddon Christmas

Abaddon Books, the publishers of my Pax Britannia series of books, have made an exciting announcement today regarding a festive treat they've got planned for their loyal readers this Christmas. Check out their news blog here for more details.

Sherlock Holmes vs the Undead

What more could any discerning fan of the Pax Britannia and Tomes of the Dead series from Abaddon Books ask for? Unfortunately it wasn't my idea, but kudos to ace comics scribe Ian Edginton who has scripted the strip for Wildstorm.


To find out what happens when the world's number one consulting detective comes up against the brain-munching hordes of the Zombiepocalypse, click here.


Have to say, I'm loving this cover by Simon Coleby. It is one of my dreams to one day write a comic strip that he then illustrates.

Unnatural History - SFcrowsnest's 16th most popular book of the year!

I'm feeling rather pleased with myself right now, to be honest. The reason is I found out today that Unnatural History (the very first Pax Britannia adventure, starring dandy action hero Ulysses Quicksilver) is at number 16 in SFcrowsnest's top 100 Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction Books of 2009, as voted for by SFcrowsnest.com's readers.

(In case you don't know, SFcrowsnest is author Stephen Hunt's popular online SF, Fantasy and Horror magazine, which polls its readers every year to assemble a "top 100" books list.)

And in at number 34 was Al Ewing's El Sombra, so well done that man too! And if you enjoyed El Sombra, you'll be pleased to here that the sequel - Blood and Thunder - will be out next year!

Bizarrely Unnatural History and the Pax Britannia series were launched at Alf.Fiction in Derby a couple of years ago. And Stephen Hunt was also there promoting The Court of the Air. It really is, as they say, a small world...

Oh and I'm also feeling chuffed because Emerson (a.k.a. Zeo-X) Tung's rendition of the Steam Golem from Stormslayer has made it into Design Your Way's Best collection of robots illustrations. So champagne all round, I feel! Don't you?

Pax Britannia on your eReader

You can now pick up all of my Pax Britannia books for your eReader. To find out more click here.


One of the most gratifying things about this news item is Andy Severn's comment about the third Ulysses Quicksilver adventure: "I’ve just finished reading the BRILLIANT Pax Britannia book Human Nature..."

Gotta be happy with that!

Blood Royal & Dark Side

For various reasons (including Abaddon Books getting a new book distributor and possibly also because I just finished the final version of the manuscript today), the next Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia adventure, Blood Royal, will not now appear in the shops until April 2010, but I think you'll find it's going to have been worth the wait.



For one thing, it kicks off a new story arc for the dandy detective which will continue to be developed in next June's Dark Side, in which Quicksilver takes a trip to the Moon - steampunk style! But before then there's vampires, werewolves and clockwork killers to enjoy in Blood Royal, so why not reserve your copy now?

Evolution Expects reviewed

Came across this review of Evolution Expects the other day.

"Awesome." (4 out of 5 stars)

Nice and succinct, I think you'll agree.

One to watch...

The Fastest Steam Car in the World, tonight at 7pm on BBC 2.

An eccentric team of British engineers attempts to break the longest standing land speed record in the world in a steam-powered car built in a shed in Hampshire.

Driven by Hampshire-based tycoon Charles Burnett III and grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell, Don Wales, the attempt takes place at Edwards Air Force Base in California as the team goes in search of a runway big enough to break records on.

Abaddon Books gets a facelift

Exciting news! The Abaddon Books* website has had a make-over - and very cool it looks too. To check it out for yourself, along with news of Abaddon's first ever competition, click here.

* Publishers of the Pax Britannia series.

JG at Beyond Words 2009

Just a reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday 10 November, I shall be appearing at the Beyond Words Festival, at University College School from 2.30-3.45pm. I shall be talking briefly about the how I came to write What is Myrrh Anyway? and will then be hosting a fun - but challenging - Christmas quiz, as well as signing copies of my books. It's not too late to reserve your ticket for this event, just ring the UCS Box Office on 020 7433 2219, or you could try turning up on the day.


Might see you there.

What is Myrrh Anyway? at Ealing's leading Art and Craft fair

Just a reminder that I will be at St James' Art and Craft Fair tomorrow - Saturday 7 November - between 10.00am and 4.00pm, selling - and of course signing! - copies of What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.


I also have a limited number of copies of the brand new American edition of the book Christmas Miscellany available, as well as some of my latest Fighting Fantasy adventure gamebook Stormslayer.


Admission is free, so if you're in the area, why not pop along and say "Hello"?

We're going to need a bigger boat...

I was interested (and a little unnerved) to read of this savage attack on a 10 foot long Great White Shark.


The news report suggests that the monster that attacked it could have been a 20 foot long specimen, or perhaps it actually ran into something like this (seen below attacking a steamship), which reminds me of the plot of a certain popular steampunk penny dreadful Leviathan Rising.

Le Voyage Dans La Lune - Lego Steampunk style

The Dark Side cover look-i-like-e* posts continue with this...

For yet more Lego steampunk goodness, follow this link, or this one, or perhaps even this one.

* How should that be spelt?

Pax Britannia badges

A rather exciting package arrived in the post. Well at least I thought it was rather exciting because it contained these...


As part of my on-going efforts to self-publicise I've had some Pax Britannia badges made. One bears Simon Parr's new PB logo and the other is the central image from Mark Harrison's cover for Dark Side, which is coming next summer.

The first place where you will be able to get your hands on one (or two) of these beauties is at my talk at the University College School Beyond Words Festival next Tuesday afternoon, so book your ticket now!

New Moon

If you saw my post about Mark Harrison's fantastic cover for Dark Side the other week, you may have been wondering ever since where you had seen something like it before.

Well, it's highly possible that if you're a Mighty Boosh fan like me that you were thinking of this...





But the truth is that both the Mighty Boosh and Mr Harrison took their inspiration from French film-maker Georges Méliès black and white, silent, science fiction film A Trip to the Moon.


A Trip to the Moon was itself based on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells, which you can watch below, and which also inspired the Smashing Pumpkins' video for Tonight, Tonight.

Fantasy steampunk

Now, this isn't strictly about Pax Britannia, but it is about somebody's steampunk creations of elements that appear in my latest Fighting Fantasy adventure Stormslayer...

I came across this the other day, thanks to the magic of Google alerts...


I was absolutely blown away when I realised that someone had re-imagined a scene from Stormslayer and done such a fantastic job of rendering it in full colour. The level of detail is amazing, and it is totally faithful to a scene described in the book.

I did a little digging and discovered that the piece was by Emerson Tung (a.k.a. Zeo-X) who has also produced his own versions of the Steam Golem and the Tremor Worm from the book. (This guy should be concept sketches for movies!)


There's loads more to see through his online gallery which you can find here. And if you happening to be reading this, Zeo, drop me a line and say "Hi!"

Pax Britannia - the movie!

A little light reading for Halloween

Not busy tonight? Then lock yourself away from the ghost and ghouls that will undoubtedly be prowling the streets, snuggled down in your favourite leather armchair beside the fire and indulge in a little light Halloween reading.

But what to read? Well, you do a lot worse than the Pax Britannia ghost story Vanishing Point which appears in the back of Leviathan Rising, available now from Abaddon Books.

Forthcoming Events

There are a couple of events in November at which I shall be making a personal appearance.

The first is the Ealing Arts and Crafts Fair, where I shall be selling (and signing) copies of What is Myrrh Anyway? The fair is being held at St James' Church on Saturday 7 November, and I'll be there between 10.00am and 4.00pm, apparently in a marquee outside - so pray for good weather for me!

And then on Tuesday 10 November I shall be appearing at the Beyond Words Festival, at University College School from 2.30-3.30pm. I shall be talking briefly about the how I came to write What is Myrrh Anyway? and will then be hosting a fun - but challenging - Christmas quiz, as well as signing copies of my books. To reserve your ticket for this event, ring the UCS Box Office on 020 7433 2219.


Maybe I'll see you at one or the other? If you do pop along, say "Hi!" and tell me the blog sent you!

Brass and Bricks

If you're both a fan of LEGO and the steampunk genre, then you owe it to yourself to check out the following link.


And if you like steampunk, LEGO and Star Wars, check this out!

Steampunk LEGO

You can't beat a bit of steampunk LEGO, in my opinion, so here's some more of the stuff.


These last three were all inspired by Star Wars. My favourite has to be Jabba's steampunk'd sail barge.

Steampunk Treehouse

How would you like to own your own steampunk treehouse? You would? Well, in that case, you'd better click here.

New century, new look

Would you Adam and Eve it? The Pax Britannia blog has been around now for over 18 months and in that time has changed very little. So, seeing as how it is the 21st century (even though in the world of Pax Britannia it's still only the 20th) and seeing as how the PB books have recently had their own makeover, with the publication of Evolution Expects, I thought it was time to freshen things up here too.

The very cool banner logo is by designer extraordinaire Simon Parr and they'll be some more treats coming from him to this blog soon. You might have already seen his work on the front of 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine as well.

But for the time being, let me know what you think of the new look and whether there's anything else you'd like to see on the blog.

Until next time...