Subscribe to SFX Magazine and get four Pax Britannia books absolutely free!

If you haven't already taken up the offer, there's still a few days left for you to subscribe to SFX magazine and... Well, I'll let the guys from SFX themselves tell you:


Subscriptions are great. Not only do you get your monthly fix of SFX delivered straight to your front door early but you save oodles of cash by subscribing AND you receive a coverline free copy, available exclusively to subscribers!

Not bad eh? Best of all though for the next few days new subscribers will receive four incredible books from Abaddon’s steampunk range Pax Britannia: the first three Quicksilver books (Human Nature, Leviathan Rising and Unnatural Factory by Jonathan Green), and the first El Sombra book by Al Ewing.

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...

It's business time

Having put it off for far too long, I've finally had myself some business cards made.


The company I used is called MOO and I also should thank the guys at Abaddon Books here for letting me use the cover art from my Pax Britannia books.

Attack of the Automaton Spiders!

If you've read Pax Britannia: Evolution Expects, you'll remember the scene where Ulysses Quicksilver and Eliza run into a pack of robo-spiders. When I wrote this I obviously had something more clockwork in mind, but then I came across these the other day...


Perhaps if Pax Britannia was more cyberpunk than steampunk...

If you like these then you'll love this.

Rebecca Levene's Infernal Game

So, last night I found myself in the heart of London's theatre-land at the grand-sounding Phoenix Artists Club for the launch of Rebecca Levene's Cold Warriors (Book 1 of The Infernal Game series). And what an excellent night it was too!

Not only did I get to catch up with Bex herself, but we were all treated to an extract from the book read by the very talented Magnus. As well as receiving a glass of wine on entry, I also got given my very own Hermetic Division badge!

The back room at the Phoenix was rammed with guests and fans of Bex's and Abaddon Books and I was very pleased to see copies of Pax Britannia: Blood Royal for sale - and even had to sign a few too, one of which (I believe) will be auctioned online. (I'll let you have more details about t his when I know more myself.)

Rebecca Levene, proudly showing off her latest publication Cold Warriors, with David Moore of Abaddon Books

Amongst those there for the evening were the consumptive Scott Andrews (his new book Children's Crusade was on sale last night), Jenni Hill of Abaddon Books and her very tall beau Mike, and David Moore of Abaddon too (sporting a fantastic Optimus Prime top). I also spent a long time catching up with James Swallow, talking about all things 40K, 30K, audio dramas and how space marines are really stroppy teenage boys. (James's new Horus Heresy novel Nemesis is out later this summer.) And I shared a pint with (well, actually we had a pint each) Pye Parr, ace Pax Britannia designer and (as I discovered last night) Games Workshop geek.

I also got to meet (for the first time) Tom Brown (who I once had dealings with via the Black Library), Jason Arnopp (screenwriter, novelist and journalist), and (almost) met Ben Aaronovitch (who wrote Doctor Who off of the telly in the 80s!).

But a big shout needs to go to Jared Shurin and his delightful wife Anne Perry who organised the evening, had the badges made and generally made sure that everyone had a brilliant time. I was also delighted to be informed by Anne that my reference to Richard Owen in Unnatural History is one of the few positive references she's found to the great man (he gave us the word 'dinosaur, in case you didn't know) in literature. Jared happens to be the guy who won the competition I ran recently and it was very hard not to tell him what I had in store for him on the Moon.

Anne looking at her husband Jared with suitable awe (now that he's sporting a fine Pax Britannia badge). And there's that man David Moore again...

But enough of this bloggery (and shameless name-dropping). It's time to do some work.

Until next time...

Launch Party Giveaway!

If you live in London (or can get down here tomorrow night) you could score yourself a ticket for the launch party for Rebecca Levene's new book, The Infernal Game: Cold Warriors.

To find out how, follow this link.

Pax Britannia update

Just a quick update regarding the Pax Britannia steampunk series published by Abaddon Books.

Next month (June) sees the long-anticipated release of Blood Royal, the fifth Ulysses Quicksilver adventure and the first title in a new four book story arc.

Then, in July, we have Al Ewing's sort of sequel to El Sombra - Gods of Manhattan.

Come Christmas, and you've got the sixth Quicksilver adventure, Dark Side, to look forward to along with The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus, which collects Unnatural History, Leviathan Rising and Human Nature under one cover, along with some Pax Britannia short stories, under one cover.

And then some time next year there's this...

Where Pax Britannia leads...

Now, I don't claim to have invented the steampunk genre and I fully appreciate that other writers will be inspired by the same things as me but it's interesting, nonetheless...

I was told the other night that squid are going to be the next big thing, what with China Mieville's Kraken just out. I was then asked whether giant squid had appeared in the Pax Britannia books yet, and the answer was of course 'Yes!' in Leviathan Rising, published more than two years ago in March 2008.

It's just another example of where Pax Britannia leads, others follow.

In February 2007, the very first Pax Britannia novel Unnatural History was published. Last year it was voted 16th most popular book of the year over at SFcrowsnest. Then, eighteen months later, George Mann's Affinity Bridge was published, featuring a very similar setting and plot to that of Unnatural History. And then in January of this year we got Lavie Tidhar's The Bookman, the first in a steampunk series from Angry Robot Books.

Like I say, where Pax Britannia leads...

SFX's Summer of SF Reading

SFX's Summer of SF Reading kicked off last night with an event at Waterstone's in Piccadilly and I went along to rub shoulders with the likes of China Mieville, Dan Abnett and Sir Terry Pratchett himself (although I didn't get to speak to him as he was off for some supper by the time I got over to his side of the room).

It was a great evening, the focus of which was a panel of authors, chaired by SFX editor Dave Bradley, discussing the question "Millions of people watch SF on TV and at the cinema - why don’t more people read SF books too?”


After all that was said and done it seemed to me that millions of people don't watch SF on TV and at the cinema. Most of the time what they're watching is in fact fantasy, or other genres dressed up in a SF costume. Doctor Who is not science fiction - it's fantasy. Likewise Star Trek, Iron Man (and all his ilk), Avatar and Star Wars. They're all fantasy franchises really. Same is true of my own Pax Britannia books.

Anyway, I had a great time catching up with mighty Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent-Abnett and Graham McNeill, Dave Bradley and I discovered we have a mutual love of the humour (and fanboy references) in Iron Man 2, and I also caught up with the inestimable Jenni Hill from Abaddon Books (and her very tall fella Mike).

I also had the pleasure of meeting a genuine fan, one Joe Kelly, who remembers Spellbreaker from the first time round and loves my first novel The Dead and the Damned. (Made me quite nostalgic for Badenov's Band, as it happened.) He, Graham and I also spent some time discussing the ready made critical audience there is for Warhammer and 40K books.

When all's said and done, it was a great evening with much SF-related banter and a fair few gags too (and I loved China Mieville's description of what a science fiction movie is), so thanks SFX and thanks Waterstone's - perhaps we can do it again some time.

We have a winner!

It's been a couple of weeks since my sister-in-law ran the London Marathon in aid of the Devon Air Ambulance Trust, but I finally caught up with her on Friday. We put all the names of those people who so generously entered the competition I ran recently to win a walk on part in Dark Side into a metaphorical hat and she picked a winner.

But before I announce who it is on behalf of myself and my sister-in-law I would just like to say how delighted and overwhelmed we were by the Pax Britannia fans' generosity. The competition raised over £130 for the D.A.A.T. which was incredible, so thanks must go to all those who entered.

But, back to the business in hand. The winner of the Dark Side competition is...

Jared Shurin

So watch this space to find out how Jared will finally be immortalised in print later in the year.

Oh, and in case you're interested, my sister-in-law completed the Marathon in 4 hrs 20 mins.

Subscribe to SFX Magazine and get four (yes, four) Pax Britannia novels free!

I was flicking through the latest copy of SFX magazine the other day, when I came across this...


Apparently, if you subscribe to SFX now you'll get the first four Pax Britannia novels free. Which is nice.

So, if you want to catch up on Ulysses L Quicksilver's adventures before the imminent release of Blood Royal, now would appear to be the perfect time.