Pandemonium: Stories of the Smoke

Coming in spring of 2012, Pandemonium: Stories of the Smoke brings you London as you've never seen it before - science fiction and fantasy in the great tradition of Charles Dickens.

Submissions are currently open for Stories of the Smoke and will close on 31 December 2011. Click here for our guidelines.

Pax Britannia - 'Best Ongoing Series'

Over at The Eloquent Page, Pablo Cheesecake has posted his review of 2011, in which he lists his favourite novel for each month and a couple of other categories.

And whaddya know? Pax Britannia has taken the 'Best Ongoing Series' title! As I posted earlier on Facebook...

Happy. With. That.

'Best Ongoing Series'

Steampunk by the coal scuttle-ful

Abaddon Books and its sister imprint Solaris Books are no strangers to steampunk. As you can see for yourself here.

Red-Handed - the result!

Red-Handed, the first part of Pax Britannia: Time's Arrow, has been downloaded and read by... God knows how many people, who have, I'm pleased to say, loved it!

They've loved it so much that they've gone online in their droves and voted for how they want my latest Ulysses Quicksilver novel to continue.

Voting closed on Sunday. The votes have now been counted and verified and the result is... Well you'll just have to follow this link to find out!

The Pax Britannia eBook 'Box' set

What do you get the eReader owner in your life, who doesn't already own the Pax Britannia novels in eBook form already? Why, the Pax Britannia eBook 'Box' set of course.

From now until the end of the December you can get 30% off the first three eBooks - Unnatural History, Leviathan Rising and Human Nature - when who purchase them together from the Sony Reader store.

Time's Arrow - Who Lives? Who Dies? YOU Decide!

Voting closes today to decide the fate of Ulysses Quicksilver in the latest Pax Britannia novel Time's Arrow.

Part 1 Red-Handed has been out for a couple of months now and fans have been reading of the British Agent of the Crown's latest exploits, then going online and voting for how they would like the story to continue in Part 2 Black Swan.

So if you've not yet voted, don't delay! Ulysses Quicksilver's fate lies in your hands!

A Steampunk Evening and the Phobophobia launch

Just a quick reminder to let you know that I shall be attending A Steampunk Evening, at Blackwell's Charring Cross alongside such luminaries as Kim Lakin-Smith, China Miéville, Philip Reeve, Adam Roberts, Lavie Tidhar and Plarchie the Squid this evening (Thursday 8 December).

And then tomorrow (Friday 9 December) you'll find me at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, and later at the British Fantasy Society open night at the Mug House, for the launch of Dean M Drinkel's Phobophobia horror anthology (published by Dark Continents).

Maybe I'll see you at one, or t'other... or both!

The A to Z of Christmas

The A to Z of Christmas is now well underway over at TheChrismologist.com. Don't forget to check it out every day (of the working week) for the next update.

In the meantime, if you've not checked it out already, here's what you've missed so far.

A is for Angels

B is for Baubles

C is for Cards, Cake and Candy Canes

D is for Dom and Danny Do Christmas and Doctor Who

E is for Elf

F is for Figgy Pudding

Time's Arrow - one week to go!

That's right - voting closes next Sunday, 11 December, so you've only got a week in which to download Time's Arrow: Red-Handed and then vote for how you would like the story to continue in Time's Arrow: Black Swan.

And in case you're still wavering as to whether you should buy it for your Kindle (or other eReader of your choice), then here's another tasty snippet from early on in the adventure...

The thunderous hammering came again, the impatience and ire in the voice rising from below growing in intensity.
“This is your last chance! This is the police! Open the door or I’ll have it broken down!” There was a tremendous crash from somewhere at street level. The owner of the voice was making good on his promise.
Staggering to his feet Ulysses scoured the room for anything that might enable him to escape.
There were only two ways out of the garret room – through the door or through the window.
For the briefest moment Ulysses wondered whether he should simply open the door and wait for the gendarmes to find him, and then worry about trying to explain to them how he came to be there, alongside a dead body.
But then what was he thinking? Who was going to believe that he had travelled through space and time to end up here? And what would they make of the scorch-marks on the floorboards, let alone the corpse lying in a pool of its own congealing blood.
He took a step backwards and caught his reflection in the cracked glass above the wash bowl.
He was in a worse state than the room. He was still wearing the scruffy suit he had purloined from Castle Frankenstein. His right hand was wet with blood, as were the knees of his trousers. The eye-patch and a few days growth of stubble didn’t help either.
He no longer looked like the bachelor once voted ‘Best Dressed Man of the Decade’ by The Strand magazine. If he had been a French policeman and had walked into the attic and found a stranger looking like that – with a dead man’s blood on his hands and the victim lying next to him – he would have pronounced him guilty as soon as the next man.
Worst case? The gendarmes would shoot first and ask questions later.
He looked at the door, noticing the key in the lock for the first time. Stumbling over, he tried the handle.
The door was locked.

Just Glue Some Gears On It (And Call It Steampunk)

Presenting, for your delectation and amusement, the most marvellous Sir Reginald Pikedevant, Esq.

Time's Arrow in SFX magazine - The full interview

I was interviewed for SFX magazine back in October and the piece appeared last month in the latest issue, which I blogged about here.

However, what finally saw print was only a fraction of the entire interview, which has now been posted on SFX.co.uk.

If you point your mouse here and click this link, you can read it in its entirety. As well as Pax Britannia, I talk about every from my newest gamebook Temple of the Spider God, to Fighting Fantasy and Warhammer 40K.

Time's Arrow - 10 days to go

There's only ten days to go now (or possibly less by the time you read this) before the polls close and I start writing Part 2 of Pax Britannia: Time's Arrow - a.k.a. Black Swan - based on how the public voted they would like the story to continue.

So, if you're yet to download Part 1, Red-Handed, he's a little taster to help you take that final step to making a purchase.

Gasping for breath, Ulysses took a moment to wipe away the moisture that had collected in the hollow behind his eye-patch.
And that was when he saw it.
It was emerging from the fourth floor window of a building at the end of the shadowed cul-de-sac. Eight feet tall, with arms like great sides of beef covered in thick black hair, it swung from the open window with startling grace and agility, launching itself towards the rungs of a fire escape another floor up, and reaching it with ease. From there the beast swung itself up onto the roof.
The massive ape landed not ten feet from him, its sledgehammer fists sending clouds of dust rising.
Ulysses froze.
The beast snorted and then its beady black stare fell on the exhausted, injured man, the atmosphere thickening between them. Ulysses’ heart thumped against the cage of his ribs, the bullet wound pulsing in unkind sympathy.
So palpable was the tension, he could feel it crackling from the beast and setting his hairs on end, like static electricity.

Follow this link to purchase your own copy of Red-Handed. Then, once you've read it, go here to vote for how you think Time's Arrow should continue.

Happy Birthday, Mark Twain!

As well as being Saint Andrew's Day, today is Mark Twain's 176th birthday.

Mark Twain would have been considered a Victorian, if he'd lived in Britain, but did you know that the creator of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn was a friend of inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla?

No? Well here's the proof.

The Adventures of Ulysses Quicksilver - reading order

A few people have asked me, now that there are so many Ulysses Quicksilver novels and novellas out there, what is the correct reading order?

First off, I would like to point out that every novel is a standalone story and so you can pick up the series anywhere, without fear of not knowing what's going on.

However, if you are keen to enjoy every snippet and nuance of the developing story arc, or you just like to start a new series at the beginning, then here is the order in which the stories should be read, which is chronological order in which the stories take place... kinda...

1) Unnatural History (novel) - May-June 1997

2) Leviathan Rising (novel) - July-August 1997

3) Fruiting Bodies (novella) - September 1997

4) Vanishing Point (novella) - October 1997

5) Human Nature (novel) - November 1997

6) Christmas Past (novella) - December 1997

7) Evolution Expects (novel) - February 1998

8) Blood Royal (novel) - March-April 1998

9) White Rabbit (novella) - May 1998

10) Proteus Unbound (novella) - May 1998

11) Dark Side (novel) - June 1998

12) Anno Frankenstein (novel) - September-October 1943

13) Red-Handed (The first part of Time's Arrow) - May 1998

(The novella Conqueror Worm is set in 1797 and stands apart as it is not about Ulysses Quicksilver at all.)

The countdown has begun...

Two weeks today I shall be sitting down to start writing the second part of my latest Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel Time's Arrow. Part 2 is entitled Black Swan, but as to what happens within it, well that's up to YOU!

If you've not already done so, download Part 1 - Red-Handed for the eReader of your choice, read the story so far and then go here to vote for how you would like the adventure to continue. But hurry! After all, time is ticking away!

Pax Britannia at Dragonmeet

I shall be at Dragonmeet tomorrow (Saturday 26 November) and so will my Pax Britannia books.

The event runs from 10.00am until around 6.00pm (I think), at Kensington Town Hall, and I'll be there for the whole day.

I'm there officially as the guest of Tin Man Games, but Cubicle 7 will be selling my Pax Britannia books over on their stand. So, if you want me to sign a copy of the latest Ulysses Quicksilver penny dreadful, feel free to ask.

I shall also be on a panel entitled 'Fiction and the Games Industry' with my esteemed colleagues Sarah Newton and Iain Lowson, running from 1.30pm - 2.00pm.

And while we're on the subject of Dragonmeet, m'colleague and games industry legend, James Wallis, is going to be interviewing m'colleague and games industry demigod, Ian Livingstone OBE, from 11.00am - 12.00pm with a Q&A session afterwards. I can guarantee it will be a great listen; Ian is the best after dinner speaker I know!

A Steampunk Evening - update!

The Steampunk Evening organised by the Pornokitsch guys, and taking place on Thursday 8 December, has had a timing update.

It will now be running from 6:00pm until 8:30pm, which basically means that if you attend you'll get to spend even more time at Blackwell's Charring Cross alongside such luminaries as Kim Lakin-Smith, China Miéville, Philip Reeve, Adam Roberts, Lavie Tidhar and Plarchie the Squid.

And remember, tickets are not necessary and the event is free to attend.

On the names of characters

People sometimes comment on the outlandish nature of certain character names in my Pax Britannia books, such as Credence Jones, Halcyon Beaufort-Monsoon, Gabriel Wraith Bainbridge Mills, and Ulysses Quicksilver (come to think of it).

But at least they're not as bad as this lot:

Time's Arrow in SFX Magazine

So, I'm in this month's SFX magazine.

That's right, me.

It's not one of my books that's being reviewed, it's part of an interview with Yours Truly about the startling steampunk experiment that is Pax Britannia: Time's Arrow.

That's it there, on page 23 of the Red Alert news section.

The piece includes a link to this.

And while we're on the subject of Time's Arrow, here's what one reader (who's entirely new to the series) had to say about Part 1 - Red-Handed:

I can say, as someone who has only read the first Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel before I read this one, it's fairly accessible. There's quite a bit of mention of earlier stories, but while I understood that I was coming in on the middle of a series, I didn't feel particularly lost. While this story very much seems to follow on from a cliffhanger in the previous book, I felt I had enough information to still enjoy it. Plus, once that cliffhanger was wrapped up, the new story was completely fresh and accessible.

What I ended up with was a fast-paced, science fiction, steampunk action-adventure, with some cute nods to genuine Victorian science fiction. The interactive part of the story was fun, and it's really got me looking forward to the next installment (which is why I was willing to skip ahead in the series). And now I've got some time to get caught up!

The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus (Vol.1) - a new review

From the Department of Awesomology:

A New Age Of Steam: The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus

Full disclosure time: I've never fully 'gotten' steampunk as a genre in fandom... These days it seems the genre is developing it's own voices in fiction and I recently cast my trepidation aside, donned my top hat and monocle, adjusted my sword cane and stepped out onto the foggy streets of a London that never was as I purchased and subsequently devoured Pax Britannia: The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus by Jonathan Green.

...someone has to keep the Empire from slipping off the edge and plunging headlong into chaos and that someone is our hero, Ulysses Quicksilver. Dandy, epicurean, swordsman, rake, and agent of the British Crown. The Omnibus chronicles the first three adventures of this unique hero...

Pure escapism at it's finest, The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus was a helluva good time... These are books that I would love to see adapted to the small screen, though I can't see anyone but David Tennant playing Ulysses and I fear he may already have played a similar role in the recent past. The setting of Pax Britannia is an engaging one, with it's desktop difference engines, robo-bobbies, and submarine cruise liners and overland rail lines. The urban sprawl is equal parts Conan Doyle and Ridley Scott, and the setting is so very much a mixture of the age of steam and the world of cyberpunk that it more than lives up to its genre. The characters are enjoyable, Ulysses himself being our cocky, improvisational, elegant hero who often finds himself way over his head but makes up for being out of his depth with a mixture of guile, pluck, and good old fashioned British ingenuity. His faithful batman Nimrod also deserves a mention, as does the long-suffering Inspector Allardyce, Quicksilver's Scotland Yard nemesis. Green's writing is engaging and fun, moving at a steady clip that makes each adventure great reading for a lazy Sunday or three. As a collected edition, the book is huge (clocking in at 734 pages)...

If you're looking for a fun read for the holidays that has an eclectic mix of the old and the new, I say give The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus a try. Recommended.

Happy. With. That.

You can purchase your copy of The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus (Vol.1) here.

Have you voted yet?

Just a quickie to remind you that you now have just under one month in which to vote on how you would like my latest Pax Britannia novel Time's Arrow to continue.

So download Part 1: Red-Handed here, read, inwardly digest and then go here to have you say with regards to what you think should happen next.

This is your chance to be part of publishing history, so don't let such an amazing opportunity pass you by. If you haven't already done so, buy Pax Britannia: Time's Arrow Part 1 today!

Hannibal - the pachyderm-droid

It was a sign of Raffles’ status and rank that he had been afforded the privilege of leading the Magna Britannian forces at Amiens into battle from atop his own personalised pachyderm-droid Hannibal. Before freedom-threatening war had come to the heartlands of Europe for a second time, he had served in India, where the vision of the monstrous robo-phant charging the gates of Bombay had sent many a revolutionary fleeing for his life.

The howdah shading Raffles and his batman from the weak rays of the milky sun – the commander-in-chief’s command post might have looked out of place, had it not been for the Magna Britannian iconography that had been worked into the ornate scrollwork of the giant droid’s flanks.

Raffles eased himself back into his chair. He could feel the comforting rumble of the boiler bubbling in the guts of the metal beast as its own engines were stoked with coke, ready for action. He was going to enjoy this. It was going to be a walk in the park, but he was looking forward to it anyway.

You can read more about Hannibal the pachyderm-droid and General Sir Henry Stamford Raffles's adventures in the Great Second European War within the pages of Anno Frankenstein. You can enjoy more pictures of steampunk animals here.

Ulysses Quicksilver, Hero of the Empire!

Ulysses Quicksilver and his various adventures have inspired a number of artists to produce their take on the character. The latest of them is Kit Cox who recently produced a portrait of the Hero of the Empire and another of Ulysses' loyal sidekick Nimrod, the bare-knuckle boxing butler.

Simon Parr (a.k.a. Pye Parr) has produced several pictures of Ulysses and Nimrod as well. Here are just a few of them.

And then there's Pax Britannia cover artist Mark Harrison's take on the character, most easily seen on the cover of Anno Frankenstein.

There are also a growing number of illustrations of masked vigilante Spring-Heeled Jack. The most recent is by that gentleman caricaturist Kit Cox again but Mark Harrison also produced a portrait of the character back when I was writing Evolution Expects.

Evolution Expects revisited

Caricaturist, raconteur and vaudevillian extraordinaire Kit Cox (a.k.a. Major Jack Union) has put his artistic skills to good use and realised a scene from my fourth Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel Evolution Expects. And here it is...

You can follow the latest exploits of Jack Union, Victorian Monster Hunter, here.

Kit is also currently taking commissions to produce cartoon caricature for discerning clients. If you would like him to do one for you, you can contact him here.

Pax Britannia at the MCM Expo - Let them eat cake!

I spent this last weekend at the MCM Expo (held at London's Excel Centre) as a guest of the Victorian Steampunk Society. I had a fantastic time, chatted to all sorts of people about steampunk, Pax Britannia and ebooks, and saw everything from the DeLorean from Back to the Future to multiple Doctors of various regenerations, not to mention genders. There was tea, there were biscuits, there was cake.

I have to say that genre fans are a wonderful bunch of people, but steampunks are a particularly charming and welcoming lot - and they get to wear the best outfits! So a big shout to Herr Doktor, Miss Emily Ladybird, Jack Union, Ben, Peter, Michelle, Alan, Leanna, Willoughby, Esther, Frances and of course my good friend Vincent.

But enough of me gabbing on... Check out my vlog, ideally with a cup of tea in one hand and a cake in the other.

Pax Britannia at the MCM Expo - 18 hours to go

I'm now counting down the hours until the MCM Expo where I shall be promoting my Pax Britannia books (as well as Temple of the Spider God if anyone's interested).

I've turned the flat into a veritable cottage industry, producing cakes as if I'm working in some kind of Victorian factory. Let me tell you, I'm glad I'm a writer and not a baker! Anyway, if you buy a book tomorrow or on Sunday, you can have a cake for free - until they run out that is!

Edible cupcake toppers produced (at very short notice and a very high standard) by Cake Topper Designs

As I mentioned the other day, I shall also have a small number of flash drives to sell which come pre-loaded with my last three Pax Britannia novels - Blood Royal, Dark Side and Anno Frankenstein - and the first part of Time's Arrow, Red-Handed.

If you'd like one, just come and find me in the Steampunk village at the sign of the French terrorist.

Pax Britannia at the MCM Expo - 1 day to go

Seeing as how it's effectively Halloween weekend when the MCM Expo is on, I thought it might be nice to offer buyers of my books a free ghoulish cake. I have to say this idea was inspired by* Arfon Jones and his personalised cupcakes, so I ordered myself some edible Pax Britannia logos** and this evening set about creating my new culinary masterpieces.

Now it seemed like a good idea at the time... but removing very thin icing from a backing sheet proved trickier than I anticipated. However, ten minutes in the freezer later and things went swimmingly.

Here are my first couple of efforts. The one on the left is blackcurrant and apple flavour, the one on the right choc 'n' blood orange.

So, two down... only another one hundred and eighteen to go...

* Or completely ripped off from...

** As designed by ace cover artist and designer Simon Parr, whose cover art to Time's Arrow Part 2 - Black Swan, will be previewed over the weekend too.

Pax Britannia at the MCM Expo - 3 days to go

As I posted the other day, I shall be at the London Comic Con MCM Expo (held at Excel London) this coming weekend - Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October. I will be attending as part of the steampunk contingent and promoting my Pax Britannia books. And today I have a rather exciting announcement to make...

I will have a limited number of memory sticks for sale, each one loaded with my three most recent Pax Britannia titles - Blood Royal, Dark Side, Anno Frankenstein - and Red-Handed, part one of my new novel Time's Arrow.

These all come in Kindle readable files and standard epub files. There are also two free short story ebooks, Eric Brown’s Blue Portal and Juliet McKenna’s The Wizard’s Coming. So there's plenty of content and on top of that you'll have a new memory stick with most of its 1 gig of memory still free!

So, if ebooks are your thing, why not drop by my table this weekend and pick up a memory stick loaded with more than a quarter of a million of Pax Britannia goodness and two bonus stories to boot?

Pax Britannia at the MCM Expo

Just a quick update to let you know that I'll be at the London Comic Con MCM Expo (held at Excel London) on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October. I will be attending as part of the steampunk contingent and promoting my Pax Britannia books, naturally.

So if you're going along, why not stop by the steampunk area, pick up the latest PB title and help yourself to a little treat at the same time? Want to know more? Then keep an eye on this blog over the coming days or pop along to the MCM Expo this weekend?

Pax Britannia: Time's Arrow - Red-Handed

The Ether is all a buzz at the moment with talk of Time's Arrow, Abaddon Books' bold publishing experiment.

Here's what some people have been saying about it, and Red-Handed, the first part of the book that's available for download now!

As a long time fan of the 'Pax Britannia' series I was looking forward to 'Time's Arrow' anyway; with Green at the helm as always the tone shouldn't be affected at all but it will be interesting to see where the readers take the story. ~ Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Once again Jonathan Green has written something that is, most importantly, great fun to read. From character names that will raise a smile to knowingly reverential nods to classical literature it is always a delight to see just what is going to happen next. I always come away from a Pax Britannia novel feeling thoroughly entertained. ~ The Eloquent Page

It's tough to review this first installment of the new Pax Britannia book fairly, since it is only the first third of the story. On top of that, not only do I, as a reader, not know where the story is going next, neither does the author... While this story very much seems to follow on from a cliffhanger in the previous book, I felt I had enough information to still enjoy it. Plus, once that cliffhanger was wrapped up, the new story was completely fresh and accessible... What I ended up with was a fast-paced, science fiction, steampunk action-adventure, with some cute nods to genuine Victorian science fiction. The interactive part of the story was fun, and it's really got me looking forward to the next installment... ~ Amazon.com

Time's Arrow - Who Lives? Who Dies? YOU Decide!

Big news on Abaddon Books re-vamped website today...

Red-Handed - part one of Ulysses Quicksilver's eighth adventure, Time's Arrow - is available for download here. And not only that, but the voting site has gone live too.

And the first review is already up on The Eloquent Page, as well. Here's a highlight:

Once again Jonathan Green has written something that is, most importantly, great fun to read. From character names that will raise a smile to knowingly reverential nods to classical literature it is always a delight to see just what is going to happen next. I always come away from a Pax Britannia novel feeling thoroughly entertained.

And here's another:

As eReaders are only going to continue to grow in popularity (I’ll be getting my hands on a Kindle Fire as soon as is humanly possible) it is great to see that publishers, like Abaddon Books, are taking these developments in technology into account when producing content. Kudos to Mr Green for his writing and the team at Abaddon for their tech wizardry. You all continue to do Mr U. Quicksilver Esq proud.

So, what are you waiting for? Buy Red-Handed for the eReader of your choice now! Then, once you've read it vote for how you want the story to continue here.

Oh, and inspired by this MAJOR PUBLISHING EVENT and Abaddon's spring (or should that be 'autumn'?) clean, I've given my own blog a bit of a makeover.

Out with the old...

Time's Arrow, Anno Frankenstein and House of Fear

Just a couple of things for you this autumnal Monday morning...

First up, the first part of my new Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel Time's Arrow is available for download now. If you've not heard, this is officially A Big Deal. You can find out more here.

Secondly, another great review of Anno Frankenstein has gone up on Amazon. Here's a highlight:

Green keeps the action setpieces coming thick and fast, and the motley assortment of villains, being Nazis, are eminently hissable. Together with the refreshing new setting, which I suspect the author will be returning to, this is possibly the best Pax novel yet.

You can read the review in its entirety here.

And last of all, but by no means least, there's another great review of House of Fear, the horror anthology just out from Solaris Books that includes my short story The Doll's House.

More conventional (but no less effective) tales are provided by Jonathan Green and Paul Meloy, both Villanova and the Doll's House are disturbing, and each builds to a powerful conclusion.

You can read the rest of the review here.