As we move into the next phase of the Horus Heresy
saga, Black Library have been working to make sure all the shorter
pieces of fiction will be available in dead tree form to everyone who
wants them; the War Without End collection will be hitting in a few months time (learn more about that book Here), but toward the end of 2016 that will be joined by The Silent War, an anthology of tales about the secret missions that underpin the entire Horus Heresy series; check out the badass hero team-up on the cover below...
While
loyalist and traitor forces clash on a thousand battlefields across the
galaxy, a very different kind of war is being fought in the shadows.
Rogal Dorn and his Legion prepare to defend the Solar System against the
armies of Warmaster Horus, even as Malcador the Sigillite charges his
many agents and spies with missions of the utmost secrecy. The future of
the Imperium is being shaped by unseen hands...
The Horus Heresy: The Silent War will contain fourteen stories by me, Chris Wraight, John French, Anthony Reynolds and many more.
Back in 2005, m'colleague Nick Briggs (Doctor Who
writer, actor and voice of many of the galaxy's greatest bad guys)
wrote an audio miniseries centered around one of the Doctor's most
iconic monsters - the Cybermen. In a darker story without the timelord
involved, Cyberman was a science-fiction political drama
in four episodes and it was popular enough that a second volume was
planned.
But being the super-busy guy he is, Nick couldn't find the time
to write Cyberman 2, so that gig was offered to me in 2009. I got to pick up where Nick's story left off and write a taut thriller about invasion, occupation and radicalization - and it remains one of my favourite pieces of work.
And so, it's great to see that Cyberman: The Complete Series 1 & 2 is returning in a compilation edition in May; you can read the official press release over at the Big Finish website Here, or click Here to pre-order the box-set on CD or digital formats.
It was the end of 2013 when I, like the rest of the planet, saw the first sign of No Man's Sky,
a science-fiction exploratory adventure game being developed by Hello
Games. I was caught by the strong visuals and aesthetic that seemed torn
from the covers of the classic SF novels I'd read as kid. It recalled
for me the artwork of Chris Foss, Angus McKie, Peter Elson, Jim Burns
and David Hardy, all of it gateways to distant frontiers and strange
alien worlds. I immediately knew I wanted to play it.
Fast-forward
a year or so. I'm in Guildford visiting another games studio and I
happen to pass by the office of Hello Games; I can't resist popping my
head around the door (to be greeted by a life-size cutout of the hero of
their first game, Joe Danger) just to tell them how cool No Man's Sky looks, and how much I'm looking forward to it.
Fast-forward
another few months, and out of the blue I get a call, which goes
something like this: "Hey, would you like to write some fiction for the No Man's Sky universe? Would you like to work with Angus McKie, the artist who drew the Terran Trade Authority books that influenced you so much as a kid? And also with Dave Gibbons, that guy who did Watchman and most of your favourite 2000AD comics? Would you like the opportunity to write a Heinlein-esque adventure story calling back to the golden age of 70's SF?"
Oh. Yeah.
So No Man's Sky
is coming out in the summer (June 21 in North America, June 22nd in the
Europe, and June 24th in the UK) and as well as regular-like edition
for PC and Playstation 4, there's a Special Edition slipcase pack of the
PS4 that includes a steelbook case, in-game extras, a book of concept
art and Adventures in No Man's Sky, co-created by Gibbons, McKie and me!
Sometimes a project comes along that's like a Perfect Storm Of Awesome,
and for me this is one of them. Not only am I getting to work with some
of my artistic heroes, but I'm also helping shape the lore of a very
cool gameworld and team up with an incredibly talented group of people
at Hello Games.
Check out the news page Here over at the official No Man's Sky site for more info; the No Man's Sky PS4 Special Edition is available now for pre-order.
Over the end of April - start of
May Bank Holiday weekend this year, the folks at the British Academy of
Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in London are running a live event for
anyone interested in a career in movies, TV or videogames. BAFTA Guru Live is an extension of their BAFTA Guru program (which you can learn about Here),
which features masterclasses and programs centered around jobs in the
entertainment industry, and I'm pleased to be taking part on April
30th's Games-focused day.
You can see the full Games Guru program by clicking Here,
along with panel notes and so on. I'll be taking part in a
discussion/Q&A called "The Storytellers" along with my fellow
BAFTA-nominated games scriptwriters Meg Jayanth (80 Days, Sunless Sea) and Rob Yescombe (Rime, Haze),
where we'll consider the craft of writing for interactive realms, and
what the opportunities are for those with stories to tell in digital
form.
