GAME OVER, man, GAME OVER

In the darkness of the arcade, the neon phosphor glow of the screen beckons you close. Attract mode flickering like dancing fire, you're drawn in, digging deep in your pocket for that shiny coin, thumbing it into the slot as the chiptune siren sings the fanfare for your arrival.
One hand around the joystick, the other splayed open to rest across the control buttons. Get Ready. 1-Up. Prepare to Qualify. Avoid Missing Ball For High Score. I Hunger...

When I was a kid, I barely made it out of the era of Disco with my sanity intact, and if I hadn't been bitten by the videogames bug (thanks to Space Invaders, Galaxian, Asteroids, Gorf, Tempest and a million more) I probably would have grown up well-adjusted.
Lucky for me, that bug laid eggs in my brain that later hatched and turned me into the writer of stuff that I am today.

I'm a gamer through and through, from my Binatone TV Master Mk.IV to my bleeding-edge octal-core PC, and so when I heard about m'colleague Jonathan Green's call for a horror fiction anthology inspired by classic videogames, I had to sign up.

Game Over hits on August 12th from the good people at Snowbooks, and features a dozen tales of gaming made to chill your blood; my contribution is a story called "Screen Burn", a speculation about the dark truth behind an unsolved mystery dating back to the height of the arcade era.

For more about Game Over, stay tuned to the anthology's official Facebook page Here and the Snowbooks site Here.

A new DEUS EX novel!

The biggest geekathon on the planet took place over the weekend at San Diego Comic Con, and many cool things were revealed there; among them was this:

Also in the works: a new novel written by @jmswallow, which will will be set between the events of Human Revolution and Mankind Divided!

— Deus Ex (@DeusEx) July 11, 2015

And indeed it is so. I've been writing for the Deus Ex franchise since 2008, with my work on the Human Revolution videogame, the Icarus Effect novel, The Fall for mobile platforms, the Fallen Angel novella (still available for free right Here) and most recently the forthcoming Mankind Divided game. 

Those are going to be joined by a new full-length novel I'm writing - the working title is Black Light - that will take the character of Adam Jensen from the explosive ending of Human Revolution and into the narrative of Mankind Divided two years later.

Familiar faces will return, new mysteries will be revealed, and more - look for the book next year around the same time as the release for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and keep an eye on this blog for more details in the coming months...

MECH: AGE OF STEEL is coming...

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that i freaking <3 giant robots.

I've been a mecha-head since I was a little lad, and that love of cool hardware truly blossomed when I discovered anime in my teens. Thanks to shows like Robotech, Mobile Suit Gundam, Metal Armor Dragonar (and later Patlabor, Martian Successor Nadesico, Neon Genesis Evangelion and others) I've kept alive that heavy metal thrill, kindling the flame anew when Pacific Rim rolled out.

So, naturally, when I heard that the gang over at Ragnarok Publications were assembling a new anthology dedicated to such things, I could not sign up fast enough.

I worked with Ragnarok on their previous short story collection about gigantic destructive things, Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters, and now I'm stoked to be joining an all-star crew of authors for Mech: Age of Steel - an anthology dedicated to giant robots of all kinds. Check out the awesome cover art by Victor Adame below...

 

Edited by Tim Marqutiz and Nick Sharps, along with me M:AoS will feature stories by Kevin J. Anderson & David Boop, Jody Lynn Nye, Graham McNeill, Peter Clines, Jeremy Robinson, Martha Wells, Jeffrey J. Mariotte & Marsheila Rockwell, Ramez Naam & Jason M. Hough, J.C. Koch, Jeff Somers, Matt Forbeck, Anton Strout, Bill Fawcett, C.L. Werner, James Ray Tuck, Jr.,  M.L. Brennan, Timothy W. Long, Jennifer Brozek, J.M. Martin, Kane Gilmour, Paul Genesse, Patrick M. Tracy, Andrew Liptak, Steve Diamond, Shawn Speakman, Mark Teppo and Mallory Reaves.

Mech: Age of Steel powers up later this year as a Kickstarter project, and there will be a bunch of neat perks and stuff for backers to get their hands on.

Check out the official Ragnarok Publications page Here and watch the skies for more info in the weeks to come...

Mecha! Hasshin!

NINE WORLDS 2015

So the delightful folks over at the Nine Worlds Geekfest event have been kind enough to invite me along to their convention this year, which is being held over the weekend of the 7th-9th August, at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel across from London's Heathrow airport.

As they describe it, "It’s about gaming, film, cosplay, fandom, literature, science, geek culture, meeting people and having a really big party" and you can find out more about the event by visiting the website Here.

I'll be along to talk about stuff - currently I'm on the dedicated Star Trek track but there may be more of me depending on how things shake out - and joining me will be a whole bunch of other interesting people, including my fellow Trek novelist Una McCormack and top gaming chap James Wallis. The current guest line-up is listed Here.

DEUS EX: MANKIND DIVIDED hits E3!

This week is the big E3 videogames trade show over in sunny Los Angeles, and as part of the hype extravaganza, m'colleagues at Eidos Montreal have been showing off new footage from Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, our new game and sequel to 2011's blockbuster hit Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Rather than waste time with words, I'll just let the game do the talking with a video dump...

You can also check out the amazing high def power of the Dawn Engine - the tech behind DXMD - in this brief demo showing the Golem City ghetto...

And lastly, here's producer Jean-Francois Dugas showing off a couple of live play-throughs of the Golem City environment from early in the DXMD story...