Pax Britannia: Blood Royal

Pax Britannia: Blood Royal continues to receive rave reviews, this one from the Midwest Book Review...

The fate of the world will be decided by the unseen. "Blood Royal" takes place in the alternate universe of the Pax Britannia as unusual creates roam Europe and America. Ulysses Quicksilver is faced with protecting civilization from the stranger mutations of creatures that threaten his home, all throughout London to the far reaches of Russia. Nonstop excitement, "Blood Royal" is a read that will prove hard to put down.

Merry Christmas!

Amazing Automatons: Ancient Robots & Victorian Androids

When we say that today’s rapidly changing technology is set to transform the way we live in unimaginable ways, we should remember that people thought much the same thing in earlier centuries - whether in the time of the clockwork revolution in the eighteenth century or as a result of the scientific advances of the Industrial Revolution in the Victorian era.

Click here to find some amazing examples of fascinating early robots and automatons, the creations of great engineering and marvellous imagination.

Pax Britannia: Dark Side - another glowing review!

Pax Britannia: Dark Side continues to go from strength to strength. Here, Gareth Wilson of the Falcata Times Blog says lovely things about what he calls the "cracking sixth title".

Fans of Jonathan's Ulysses Quicksilver will be rushing and demanding this title quicker than Nimrod can pour a stiff brandy.

As usual, Jonathan's writing is wonderfully descriptive alongside bringing a more vulnerable Quicksilver to the fore. Green's latest title bring Steampunk Victoriana to the readers imagination so much so, that it's going to be a long wait for Anno Frankenstein.

Finally, add some great dialogue alongside a return of an old friend or two which makes this Quicksilver's finest exploit to date. Whilst you can read this without having read the previous five, you'll have lost a lot of background as well as some serious world building which generates its own head of steam that will be hard to stop once you get going.

Pax Britannia: Silent Knight

Here's a little treat (hopefully) for all you Pax Britannia fans out there. As David Moore, Desk Editor at Abaddon Books, explains here, Pax Brtiannia has been receiving a lot of lover over the Internet of late. And so, by way of a thank you, here's a little Christmas gift from me to you.

Enjoy...

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - steampunk style

1884 - Horatio Kitchengame to the rescue!

Terry Gilliam has such a nightmare getting his own films made that he's decided to start helping other people instead. That, at least, is the case with Tim Ollive's 1884.

Set in 1884 - but supposedly made in 1848, "forty years before the birth of film" - it's a steampunk retro-future adventure in which our hero Horatio Kitchengame, fresh from visiting the Moon and claiming it for the British Empire, undertakes his most perilous journey yet...



Having watched the trailer for myself 1884 all seems rather familiar. I wonder why...

Pax Britannia the Movie anyone?

Pax Britannia book reviews

Yours in a White Wine Sauce! has some great reviews of most of my Pax Britannia novels.

There's Unnatural History, Leviathan Rising, Human Nature, Evolution Expects, Blood Royal and The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus Vol.1. Al Ewing's El Sombra also gets an honourable mention.

Meanwhile, people are feeling the love for Al's Gods of Manhattan here and saying lovely things about Blood Royal here as well.

House of Fear

Well, the cat's well and truly out of the bag, so I can mention this myself now...

Next year, Solaris Books will publish a second anthology of horror stories edited by Jonathan Oliver, after releasing the excellent The End of the Line collection to great acclaim this year. This time all the stories are themed around that staple of horror, the haunted house.

House of Fear will be published in the autumn of 2011 and includes tales to disturb and unnerve by such luminaries of the genre as Sarah Pinborough, Christopher Priest, Adam L. G. Nevill, Chaz Brenchley, Christopher Fowler... and me.

I'm delighted to be amongst such an esteemed line-up and it's no secret that I'm hoping it will lead to... well who knows? We'll just have to wait and see.

Killouettes

You ain't seen nothing like these before...

Eat like a Steampunk

Fancy having yourself a Steampunk feast? Then Steampunk Cookery is for you!

Pax Britannia: Blood Royal

How's this for a review?

Christmas is a time for lots of things and, for me, one of those things is to go back and revisit a favourite author or two when the weather outside is frightful... Jonathan Green sits firmly on that particular list with his ‘Pax Britannia’ series being just the right reading for this time of year...

The ‘Pax Britannia’ books are guaranteed to take you away from the tedium of everyday living and dump you right in the middle of a steampunk London where every shadow holds a knife and enemies of the Empire plot against the throne. You can tell that I highly recommend these books...

This brings me onto ‘Blood Royal’; a book that I’ve been saving up to read... I had my reasons for putting ‘Blood Royal’ to one side until now... Having said all that though, I still found myself wondering I hadn’t picked this book up a lot earlier. It’s one hell of an entertaining ride and I’m not going to wait as long before picking the next book up!

Usually, when an author throws everything (he can get his hands on) at the plot it will be at the overall expense of the story. Not everything will stick, for one thing, and that inevitably leads to a fragmented book that doesn’t flow anywhere near as well as it should. Not so with Jonathan Green and ‘Blood Royal’...

Just like watching your favourite ‘Indiana Jones’ film on Christmas afternoon (‘Temple of Doom’ if you’re asking...) ‘Blood Royal’ has it all going on and at such a speed that you are almost physically compelled to keep reading...

‘Blood Royal’ is another thoroughly entertaining read from Green that will set the standard for the rest of the books in this series. I’m hoping for more of the same from ‘Dark Side’ and will let you know how it goes...

Nine and a Half out of Ten

Nine and a Half out of Ten? Nine and a Half out of Ten! Fantastic!

To read more of this review of Pax Britannia: Blood Royal, visit Graeme's Fantasy Book Review.

Where Pax Britannia leads...

While Pax Britannia: Dark Side continues to garner great reviews, Paramount Pictures have just released the first official trailer for Transformers 3.



Coincidence? I like to think not... ;-)

Pax Britannia - a worldwide phenomenon!

It's official - Pax Britannia is a worldwide phenomenon. Yes, that's right, I've been browsing through Google Analytics this evening and have to say I'm astonished by what I've discovered.

Over the last year, this blog has received 9,238 visits from 3,018 cities in 108 countries and territories around the world. Someone on every continent on Earth (apart from possibly Antarctica) has checked it out at least once.

Apparently, Pax Britannia is more popular in Brazil than it is in the Netherlands. The least frequent visitors come from places like Yemen, Albania, Lebanon, Guam and Iraq. Most visitors come from London, followed by New York and then Birmingham. One person has visited from Quebec, as opposed to two from Panama City and five from both Minsk and Tel Aviv.

I could go on, but suffice to say Pax Britannia is known of and enjoyed all over the world. How's that for cool?

Legopunk

Arms Race

File under: Impressive Effort / Steampunk Movie / Wish-Fulfilment.

Spring-Heeled Jack

Spring-Heeled Jack is of course one of the heroes of Pax Britannia: Evolution Expects but he's made a few cameo appearances since then as well.

The character is, of course, based on the spectre that haunted Barnes Common during the 19th Century (and other parts of the country besides). The following video sums up what we know about this particular villain rather well.

Christmas shopping ideas

If you're still finalising Christmas presents, remember it's not too late to buy your loved ones (or yourself!) something from my book store.

If it's steampunk action and adventure that they're into, try my Pax Britannia books.

If they love gamebooks and fantasy adventures, try my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.

If it's Doctor Who or Star Wars, try these, and remember that you can have a Clone Wars story, written by me, personalised.

If it's non-fiction they enjoy, try Match Wits with the Kids, or one of my Miscellanies.

And if its the grim darkness of the far future where there is only war, or the grim darkness of a quasi-Medieval world that gets them buzzing, then try one of my Black Library novels.

Dark Side at The Eloquent Page

I stumbled across this earlier today. It's primarily a review of Dark Side, by one Mr Pablo Cheesecake, but it is more than just that. For it also has some very nice things to say about the Pax Britannia series as a whole and my writing in general.

(I also liked the fact that Mr Cheesecake appreciated the careful naming of the chapters in the book and gave the Ulysses Quicksilver novella Proteus Unbound - an added bonus story that appears after the main feature - a shout out too.)

Here's a choice bit about the novel itself:

This novel kept me hooked from page one. It struck me that the title works on two levels. It doesn’t just refer to the dark side of the moon but the reader also gets to experience the darker side of Ulysses character due to the events that unfold.

And here's what Pablo has to say about Pax Britannia:

Prior to Dark Side, each Quicksilver adventure in the series has essentially been a standalone affair, previous books are mentioned but only in passing... If I have ever had a criticism of the previous novels it has been that I wanted larger more involved story arcs and based on the ending of Dark Side my wish has been granted.

A new Pax Britannia novel is always a cause for excitement here at The Eloquent Page. Dark Side joins the existing novels as a worthy addition. Green has crafted yet another action packed rip-snorter.

And I quite liked this bit too:

The thing I like most about Green’s writing, and it’s in evidence here, is that he pays attention to the little details. This is what makes the world(s) of Pax Britannia feel so well realised.

Now, enough trumpet blowing. I'm off to write about vampires, werewolves and Frankenstein's children. (I tell you, Being Human's got nothing on this!)

A Very Steampunk Christmas

Join the campaign to make Ebenezer's Carol No. 1 this Christmas here!

A Very Steampunk Christmas

Join the campaign to make Ebenezer's Carol No. 1 this Christmas here!

Vote Pax Britannia for Steampunk book of the year!

Steampunk.com has launched its search for the 'Steampunk Book of 2010'. All that you have to do to nominate a book (or books) is leave their names, one per line, in a comment on this post at Steampunk.com. But what to nominate...?

Well, technically four Pax Britannia books (all of which qualify) were published in 2010 - Blood Royal, Al Ewing's Gods of Manhattan, Dark Side and The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus. But, according to the rules of the competition, technically any Pax Britannia book so far published would qualify.

So, if anyone feels like sharing the love for the alternate steampunk universe of Pax Britannia, go for it! And just let me know here.

Let's make Ebenezer's Carol No.1 this Christmas!

The plan:

To get Ebenezer's Carol, by The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, to No. 1 in time for Christmas. A proper steampunk Christmas song for Christmas No. 1!

What we need to do to achieve this:

1) For Ebenezer's Carol to chart it needs to sell roughly 8,000 copies. The single needs be downloaded as a single, and not as part of the A Very Steampunk Christmas EP. It's available now from iTunes, eMusic and Amazon.

2) So, forward this message to all your friends (be they steampunks or otherwise) but remind them that they must buy the song by itself for it to get into the singles chart.

3) Blog about this, post a link on your Facebook page, Tweet about it, but most importantly - buy the single Ebenezer's Carol!

4) Arrange events themed around this, call the local press, use your contacts - whatever you've got - and we could really make this happen!

This is a chance for steampunk fans to really make themselves heard and make a difference for the future of Christmas. The fate of Ebenezer's Carol and Christmas music itself is in your hands! Let's make Christmas 2010 a Very Merry Steampunk Christmas!

Have Yourself A Very Steampunk Christmas

Once upon a Christmas time, the much-vaunted title 'Christmas No.1' really meant something - it meant that a song had at least something to do with Christmas (even if it was just the inclusion of tubular bells, as in East 17's 'Stay Another Day'). Nowadays the Christmas No.1 is either going to be the latest X-Factor winner's* release or a song that's been championed on the Internet as an anti-Christmas song, like Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name'.

Well today a line has to be drawn and a stand has to be made. The Christmas No.1 must be reclaimed by Christmas, and with that in mind I am officially declaring that I shall be championing 'Ebenezer's Carol', by The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing, for Christmas No.1 2010.

If you would like to join me in my mission, please check out the Facebook page I have created for this cause, 'Like' it, and then download the single yourself. And let's have a Christmas song** as Christmas No.1!

* And I use the word 'winner' here advisedly.

** And it doesn't get much more Christmassy than Dickens' A Christmas Carol now, does it?

Christmas shopping sorted

What do you get the steampunk in your life this Christmas? Why, some exclusive Pax Britannia merchandise - that's what!

You can buy beermats emblazoned with the motto "Feel Better With Dr Feelgood's Tonic

Stout"

Dark Side notebooks

Dark Side mousemats

And even a Pax Britannia T-shirt* bearing the motto "Action and Adventure in a New Age of Steam!"

Just visit the Pax Britannia Christmas store here.

* Only available in large, I'm afraid.

Dr. Oh's Octopodiform Deterrent

'The Gentlewoman's Friend.'

Just because it's 1889 doesn't mean tentacles aren't a problem in your life.

Steampunks

My new office

Long time readers of this blog (and my Facebook updates) will know that the Green Family are in the rather protracted process of moving from London to that there Countryside. In our new place in deepest, darkest Wiltshire, I have no office. Yet. Basically, it hasn't been built. But today I saw a picture of how I want it to look when it is finally created from what is currently an over-sized garage. I want it to look like this!

You can buy your own custom-made tentacle for your own

Nautilus/Cthulhu-inspired writing room from this guy here. (Fans of Leviathan Rising take note.) Unfortunately my budget won't stretch to one but I am considering a steampunk clock for the wall. And who knows - if I get that long sought after three book deal - one day, who knows...?

Frankenstein's Monster vs Mr Hyde

Who would win?

Well, you'll just have to wait until next May to find out...

Pax Britannia: Dark Side

Abaddon Books have a link to the first review of Pax Britannia: Dark Side, along with a bit about the original inspiration for the book's very cool cover.

Cool.

Very cool.