Saturday, 31 October 2009
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.
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Forthcoming Events
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
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...
Steampunk Star Wars - Part 2
More steampunk Star Wars figures, this time figures of R2-D2 and C3-PO.
Friday, 23 October 2009
Great review of Evolution Expects
There's a great review of Evolution Expects over at Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Follow this link to read it for yourself. To buy the book, click here.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
New steampunk series coming from Angry Robot Books
It's from The Bookman, a new steampunk epic by Lavie Tidhar to be published by Angry Robot Books in 2010.
A masked terrorist has brought London to its knees - there are bombs inside books, and nobody knows which ones. On the day of the launch of the first expedition to Mars, by giant cannon, he outdoes himself with an audacious attack. For young poet Orphan, trapped in the screaming audience, it seems his destiny is entwined with that of the shadowy terrorist, but how? Like a steam-powered take on V for Vendetta, rich with satire and slashed through with automatons, giant lizards, pirates, airships and wild adventure, The Bookman is the first of a series.
If you like your steampunk complete with lizard-overlords then it sounds like The Bookman is going to be right up your smog-shrouded street.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
The Robot Zoo
Possibly more clockpunk than steampunk but of interest nonetheless, The Robot Zoo - a menagerie of moving creatures that gives an insight into animal anatomy - is currently visiting the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, London.
This family exhibition, which is visiting London for the first time, consists of eight larger than life-size robot animals and 11 interactive displays, which allow visitors to explore animal life in more depth.
Using a clever mix of pipes, pistons, hydraulics, lighting and sound, these robotic figures offer an understanding of how these animals move, eat and survive in the wild.To find out more, click here.
Pax Britannia - a worldwide phenomenon!
If you ever drop by this blog from some far off destination, why not drop me a line and say "Hi!" There may even be a prize for the most far flung.
Pax Britannia - a worldwide phenomenon!
Grandville
Grandville is the latest steampunk-inspired magnum opus from writer/artist Bryan Talbot and is described as being like Sherlock Holmes directed by Quentin Tarantino starring anthropomorphic animals in an alternate Napoleonic Europe.The book stars Detective Inspector LeBrock, a badger with a keen eye for detail who’s handy with both guns and fists. This Scotland Yard inspector lives in a Britain that’s become a footnote, connected to France by railway, where Paris is the center of the steampunk European world. A murder puts LeBrock and his assistant on the trail of a giant conspiracy that could affect the entire Napoleonic Empire.
Part Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and part Rupert the Bear, inspired by the anthropomorphic illustrations of nineteenth century French illustrator J.J. Grandville and the retro-futuristic inventions and architecture of fellow Frenchman Albert Robida, you can pick up your copy of Grandville here.
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Viva la Steampunk!
You can read the very kind things ediFanoB has to say about my steampunk series here. And ediFano's devotion has earned him(?) a prize. A signed copy of one of my Pax Britannia novels will be winging his way in due course (and it could quite possibly be the brand new - in fact so new it's not been written yet - Dark Side).
If you are also a fan of Ulysses Quicksilver's adventures and the Pax Britannia books then let me know by posting a comment on this blog and you too could find a PB exclusive dropping through your letterbox!
Friday, 16 October 2009
Pax Britannia: Dark Side - you heard it here first!
Start a new life on the Moon!
You'll find incredible opportunities awaiting industrious individuals in the off-world colonies on Earth's most popular emigration destination.
And if you're simply looking to get away from it all at the Empire's most exclusive holiday resort, with weekly flights departing from the London spaceports, let us bring you the Moon in style!
From the architectural splendour of Luna Prime to the unrivalled calm of Tranquility and Serenity City, there really is something for everyone on Earth's favourite satellite.
See your world as never before when you experience Earthrise over the Caucasus Mountains. Visit the Island of the Winds and wonder at the Peaks of Eternal Light. Marvel at the magnificence of the Moon massifs and charter a solar yacht to voyage across the mysterious Sea of Dreams.
Or if it's adventure you're looking for, why not seek out old enemies and win new allies as you hunt for the killer of your nearest and dearest? While you're at it, investigate industrial espionage undertaken on an audacious scale. Partake in a breathless race against time across the dust deserts of the Ocean of Storms and witness the breaching of Man's final frontier firsthand.
So what are you waiting for? Murder and mayhem await you on the dark side of the Moon. But remember, in space no one can hear you hullabaloo.
And, as a special treat, here's ace artist Mark Harrison's cover for the book too, shown here for the first time anywhere!
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Fable III goes steampunk!
Exciting news from Lionhead Studios - their best-selling Fable series of games is about to get a steampunk make-over. You can read more about the land of Albion in a new age of steam here.
Steampunk FX
Fancy yourself as a bit of a steampunk-inspired inventor? Or perhaps you like to dabble with steampunk subject matter in your art. If so, you could do a lot worse than check out these cool stencils from Steampunk FX.
Leviathan
Not Leviathan Rising but simply Leviathan, as in the new book by Scott Westerfeld. This one is a must for all fans of steampunk that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.
What makes the world of Leviathan so different is that fact that (similar to the Pax Britannia series) conventional history has been given a whole new, imaginative spin.
It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.
Written by Scott Westerfeld and illustrated by Keith Thompson, it looks like a belter!
Now enjoy the awesome trailer that had been created for the book...
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
The first museum exhibition of Steampunk art
From redesigned practical items to fantastical contraptions, the exhibition, curated by Art Donovan, showcases the work of eighteen Steampunk artists from across the globe. So expect ’steam-powered’ computer mice, clockwork hearts, brass goggles and the latest state-of-the-Steampunk-art eye-pod.
A whole host of special steampunk-themed events have been planned (including one for Christmas) and they start today (and are listed below). And don't forget, to get you in the mood, Abaddon Books currently have five steampunk adventures in the Pax Britannia series already published, with Blood Royal coming soon and more to follow after that in 2010.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009, 07:00 PM
Special Event: Steampunk Curator's Talk
Art Donovan, curator of the current special exhibition gives his insider's view of the Steampunk movement and the story of the exhibition.
Saturday, 17 October 2009, 12:00 PM-04:00 PM
Family-Friendly Drop In: Lightning Strikes!
Lecture: Science and Technology in the History of Fashion
A public lecture by Sue Jenkyn Jones linked to the Steampunk exhibition. Sue Jenkyn Jones is course director for the MA in Digital Fashion Technology at the London College of Fashion. She is a consultant to the fashion industry and author of a number of books on fashion.
Friday, 30 October 2009, 12:00 PM-04:00 PM
Family-Friendly Drop In: Steampunk Big Draw
Saturday, 07 November 2009, 02:00 PM-04:00 PM
Special Event: Steam Silhouettes
Family-Friendly Workshop: Tick-Tock Clockwork
Find out how a mechanical clock works and make a clockwork mechanism. This session is suitable for children aged 9+ and must be booked in advance - either by emailing museum@mhs.ox.ac.uk or calling 01865 277280. A voluntary materials donation of £5 is suggested.
Sunday, 15 November 2009, 02:30 PM-03:00 PM
Table Talk: Cheap and Nasty?
Friday, 27 November 2009, 07:00 PM-11:00 PM
Special Event: Gaslight - late night opening
Wednesday, 09 December 2009, 07:00 PM
Special Event: Steampunk Film Evening
Certain films have been inspirational for the Steampunk movement, while in turn it has inspired some contemporary film-making. This film evening shows a programme of cult and new Steampunk films. More details available here shortly.
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Special Event: Makers' Day
Saturday, 30 January 2010, 02:00 PM-05:00 PM
Special Event: Steampunk Live Manikins
Saturday, 06 February 2010, 02:00 PM-04:00 PM
Family-Friendly Drop In: Magical Movies
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Special Event: 10/10 STEAM
Friday, 9 October 2009
NASA bombs the moon!
What is all this about? Has someone been reading the synopsis to my next Pax Britannia story Dark Side (coming in 2010)?
Walt's steampunk vision
We got to meet Mickey Mouse. If only we had got to meet this character...
Steam-powered Abraham Lincoln
Steampunk wallpapers
If, like me, you love images like these...
(And let's face it, what's not to love?)
... then you should really check out this blog.
A whole month of steampunk
It's always steampunk month here and it's definitely steampunk month for me as I'm now jugular deep in Pax Britannia: Blood Royal and the creative cogs at the Abaddon Books tree-carcass-processing factory are starting to make inroads into the follow up, entitled Dark Side...
The British Fantasy Society's review of Evolution Expects
PAX BRITANNIA: EVOLUTION EXPECTS
By Jonathan Green
Published by Abaddon Books, £6.99
Reviewed by Paul W. Smith
The latest in the alternative Earth Pax Britannia series, Evolution Expects takes us into a London where the population is under threat of a startling metamorphosis, a giant robot and masked vigilante, giving Jonathan Green further opportunity to expand on the futuristic vision of Britain the series has built up to date. We’re entering a world where the British Empire is still going strong with Queen Victoria on the throne for 150 years, retaining the rusting remnants of the industrial age alongside technical advancements. This is an Empire that’s increasingly stagnating and Londinium Maximum remains under an almost permanent toxic smog. Heroes and villains lurk amongst its vermin-infested streets.
Evolution Expects reintroduces Ulysses Quicksilver the dandified detective who’s is learning to cope with his newly transplanted ape’s arm, and Thomas Sanctuary, who’s now taken on the role of a masked jet-propelled vigilante dubbed Spring-Heel Jack. Their paths cross as they investigate the mysterious sighting of the Golem from Jewish myth and the shocking transformations that have befallen inmates in the Bedlam asylum, ordinary people that are now more insect than human. However, it becomes a race against time to solve the mystery before Prime Minister Devlin Valentine launches the Jupiter Station as an attempt to increase his popularity by cleaning up the city’s atmosphere. But already they have their hands full with gang warfare in the East End, and the alleged sighting of an old enemy, masterminding his latest scheme for domination.
This is a thoughtfully inventive tale where Jonathan Green relishes mixing Victorian Gothic with Sci-Fi adventure. His Londinium is a city which bears some semblance to our own reality but where scientific progress runs parallel with the over-extended trappings of the Victorian age. Giant robots and flying heroes co-exist alongside the opium gangs of Limehouse and the lunatics of Bedlam. There are nods to H.G. Wells and Conan Doyle, as well as to Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Bryan Talbot’s Luther Arkwright. Liberally sprinkled with dramatic set pieces and colourfully eccentric characters, Evolution Expects proves to be an entertaining read, with its own in-built rewards for readers of the whole Pax Britannia series to date, producing what amounts to an ongoing TV series in book form.
This volume also includes the satisfying short novella "Conqueror Worm". Set in 1797, it features the female secret agent, Cassandra Tyrrell, who rescues Sir George Sackville from highwaymen only to become embroiled in his family’s legend of the deadly Lambton Worm.
Friday, 2 October 2009
Steampunk tit-bits
First up there's this Lego airship.
Then we have this rather smart steampunk cuff bracelet.
But my favourite probably has to be this steampunk Pacman game.
