Tag Archives: book review

Slaughterloo is Here!

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My own copy of Slaughterloo

My own copy of Slaughterloo

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Look at the thickness of that spine!

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Having a flick through the pages.

The day is here (well it was yesterday but I do have to sleep) Slaughterloo Redux is in print, in boxes and being sent out to all those who ordered it from Alternative Armies.  You  can find out all about the book on the website and I will not repeat it here (there is also a folder of free files you can download too) as this is my personal blog and I just want to talk a little about the process of the book and the joy of its publication.

Back in the autumn of 2012 when it became clear that the original print run of Slaughterloo 2nd edition was going to run out the decision was made to update it and put it into one book instead of a boxed set.  The process of making one book out of three was larger than I originally though as not only had it to be combined but it had to be updated.  The rules mechanics did not change but the army lists and statistics tables had to be expanded and tidied up along with more new material added.  On top of this there was a new scenario to write and a new way of writing it (based on the Flintloque 3rd edition model) required.  Page after page all the way up to one hundred and sixty eight pages.  The biggest book I have ever worked on.  The authorship is of course split between myself and Alex Draper but I oversaw the digital layouts and artwork editing myself.  Over a hundred and fifty of Edward Jackson’s great ‘world of valon’ images are in the book and each of them had to be sized and rendered.  Topping out at 175,000 words the editing and proofing took three weeks to complete.  Hundreds of work hours but it was more than worth it as the book is a beautiful object in its own right.

You can see from the pictures in this posting, I wanted to show an actual copy instead of digital copy as normal, the quality of the print work and of the paper stock.  The book has a great weight and is a joy to flick through and read at leisure and that is before you get to the actual game (Alex’s rules are superb!).  You can read it as a reference book too.  In a time when prices go ever up for wargaming material and the content gets ever slimmer and font sizes ever bigger this bad boy gives you the works for just twenty pounds.  I believe in giving people a damn good read as well as a good game to play.

Unfortunately the weather in the UK did delay release and shipping by two weeks and by consequence this posting too.  Obviously I did not see this coming but the company has not had a single grumble never mind complaint about the delay.  Alternative Armies has many loyal gentlemen for customers, let me tell you.   Snow and wind did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm though.  Slaughterloo woohoo!

GBS

p.s. you might now ask how I am going to top this book…well 2013 is a long year and there is plenty of time.  Just you all wait and see.

Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis – Review

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A few quiet days for me online it seems, not due to me you understand but more my good lady’s visit to a high quality Spa leaving me with our three little tikes and the school run.  So I am here, not so much, but just as busy (I admire my wife, multi-tasking is a learned skill!) and you will have to to forgive me if my next few posts are shorter than normal.  I have to fit them around the routine of the house!  Right, with that out of the way where are we…a review of the novel Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis.

Above is an image of the book I have (in the middle), given to me by my dear friend Jim Brittain for Christmas but why show different covers.  The reason is one of them main factors for me in reviewing this book.  Put simply its terrible.  The middle cover does not tell the story at all, the one on the right is  a bit better but still not good and oddly the one on the left is the most accurate is somewhat uninspired.  Jim Brittain recommend I read Bitter Seeds and I was dubious at first as I am not really a world war two or fantasy fan but I tried and over the course of two days I was glad that I did.  While the cover fails to tell a tale the author is done a way, way better job of it.

Bitter Seeds as it turns out is part of a trilogy and I had no idea this was the case since I make a point of NOT reading online reviews or about the author allowing the book to stand instead on its own merit.  Here is a little tit bit of the plot:

The year is 1939. Raybould Marsh and other members of British Intelligence have gathered to watch a damaged reel of film in a darkened room.

It appears to show German troops walking through walls, bursting into flames and hurling tanks into the air from afar.

If the British are to believe their eyes, a twisted Nazi scientist has been endowing German troops with unnatural, unstoppable powers.

And Raybould will be forced to resort to dark methods to hold the impending invasion at bay.

But dealing with the occult exacts a price. And that price must be paid in blood.

The novel moves at the cracking pace and the settings of London, Berlin, England, France, Germany in the lead up to and during World War Two is excellently done.  Characters are superbly drawn and believable and the central idea of the book is original.  I do not want to spoil it but it mixes history with magic, the occult and super science too to give a brew that is potent and hold the interest very well.   There are tense moments and the action scenes are a delight to read.

Towards the end I realised that the book must be part of a series as there were several strands of the plot that went nowhere…but I assume that they will be revealed in the sequel(s).  My favourite character was Gretel, now that is a super power not to be taken lightly!  Warlocks and tapped Willpower are well matched…tough to say more without spoilers creeping in..so I won’t.  I will leave it at that.

I recommend reading this book if you are looking for something beyond the norm in science fantasy.  I might well get the next one this summer.

GBS

Charge! or How to Play Wargames – A book from Bob McAlister

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Back before Christmas my good friend Bob McAlister and his family sent myself and my own family a package all the way from their home in America (see this previous post).  I promised not to open it for a few days but what with work and family I kept it until the big day at Christmas and I stuck to this revised promise like a dog to a bone.  Indeed I often passed the box and my hand reached out…but no!  Waited.  When opened there were many goodies in the box for my Good Lady and my wee three too but I will stick to the gift sent to me.  I present to you a short review of Charge! or How to Play Wargames by Brig.P.Young & Lt.Col J.P.Lawford published by Athena Books in 1986.

Vintage wargaming books from before the ‘age of commercialism’ when it was a hobby for gentlemen and the idea of science fiction and fantasy on a table was truly outlandish are a pet love for me and I own quite a few including many of Fetherstone’s titles such as Complete Wargaming (which is better overall than this book but also far more in depth).  I had wanted ‘Charge!’ for a while but copies were expensive so Bob had done me a real favour by getting me a copy far cheaper in its native North America.  Charge! is written as a set of ‘horse and musket’ rules with attached scenario and introduction.  Despite thirty years passing the rules look very solid and I threw some dice and used my Flintloque figures for pieces and they worked well.  A lot like the kind of rules I like to write, flexible, fun, hobby based and no more complex than they need to be.  The book is split into two parts as far as the rules go, the basic game and the advanced game.  This is something lacking in British titles of this period and is something that has come over from the USA in my generation.

Charge! is not a book about Wargaming as such, it is a book of wargame rules that despite what the author says is best suited to wars of the high 18th century and not earlier or later periods.  I enjoyed reading it and will revisit it in the future too.  As far as I know this book is out of print but it can still be had for those who want to seek it out.  If you can get it cheaply, or from a good friend (!) then I recommend you do.  Thanks again Bob.

GBS

The Ironclad Prophecy by Pat Kelleher

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Back in November 2012 I got two books in the post and while I did not think I would get time to post a full review of either of them (and I was right too, time is short due to just now busy 15mm.co.uk is with orders!) I do want to say a little about the one I have just finished which is by Pat Kelleher.  I have pasted in below what I already posted about this book before moving on to an opinion:

Ironclad Prophecy by Pat Kelleher.

This is the second book in what is now three for Pat Kelleher placed in the ‘No Mans World’ setting.  I have the first one and Ironclad Prophecy has been out for a while but I wanted to read them in order so I got this one when I saw an advert for The Alleyman which follows it in the series.  Essentially the plot concerns the infamous 13th Battalion of the Pennine Fusiliers who simply vanished leaving a huge crater while fighting on the western front in WW1.  A mine you suppose…nope, they have been transported to an alien world where all manner of creepies wait for them.  The premise interested me as original and entertaining plus the author puts it across as a true tale by way of ‘letters and accounts’ from the period and a hush up by the British top brass.  Again begin with the first one Blackhand Gang, otherwise it will make no sense!

I enjoyed the book a lot.  It was slow to get going but once it did it was a racing ride of adventure packed with giant sky jellyfish and shoggoth type creatures.   There was no ending in the plot but it set up beautifully for the third book which I will be getting in my next book bundle in March for my birthday.  You can get the book from a lot of places but here is a link to Amazon which provides me with great service and you can read snippet reviews there too.  But from me I will say its a cracking read which if you like dark fantasy and world war one then you will love it.

GBS

Reading with total Abbadon

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Two new titles from the postman!

Sorry for the bad pun title but I could not resist it.  I came home this week to find a wee package waiting for me from Amazon (too lazy or busy to get to the bookshop, you decide which) containing two titles from my ‘wanna read’ list.  I treated myself for the extra hours I had put in on Slaughterloo Redux over the last month and am now faced with the choice of which to read first.  I actually want to read both so I might try and read them at the same time, having done this already with a novel and a history book over a couple of days.  So what are they?

Times Arrow by Jonathan Green.

Times Arrow is the elventh novel in the Pax Brittania series by Abbadon.  Set in an alternate universe it is fantasy fun adventure in a British Empire which steam dominates the globe.  This is the eight book (yes I own all of them) with the hero Ulysses Quicksilver who could quite easily have been a member of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen taking on the hun, the foe, the alien and the monstrous for Queen and Empire.  The plot of this one concerns Paris, murder and a trip to the Moon.  Streampunk adventure of the highest order.  While the plot alone makes me want to read it, as a writer, what also interests me is that this tale was actually penned in three separate parts and published on Kindle before this paperback edition was collected.  I would recommend starting with Unnatural History though as its the first one.

Ironclad Prophecy by Pat Kelleher.

This is the second book in what is now three for Pat Kelleher placed in the ‘No Mans World’ setting.  I have the first one and Ironclad Prophecy has been out for a while but I wanted to read them in order so I got this one when I saw an advert for The Alleyman which follows it in the series.  Essentially the plot concerns the infamous 13th Battalion of the Pennine Fusiliers who simply vanished leaving a huge crater while fighting on the western front in WW1.  A mine you suppose…nope, they have been transported to an alien world where all manner of creepies wait for them.  The premise interested me as original and entertaining plus the author puts it across as a true tale by way of ‘letters and accounts’ from the period and a hush up by the British top brass.  Again begin with the first one Blackhand Gang, otherwise it will make no sense!

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I might not get around to posting reviews of these titles due to time constraints but I should be able to put a micro review in the comments below…perhaps that will work.  Anyhoo…if this catches your interest go out and get reading with total abbadon!

GBS

Napoleon’s Army (H.C.B.Rogers) – Review

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My copy of ‘Napoleons Army’ by H.C.B Rogers published in the early 1970’s but still in print and available widely.

I had another book review planned on a science fiction paperback I just finished but I got passed a note yesterday that one of Alternative Armies customers who is also a member of the Notables Yahoo Group had asked if I knew of a good book about the French Army in the Napoleonic Wars.  Know of one I said…I own a load of them!  Sure I could help.   But which one to choose?  The notable in question had said it must be in English which narrowed the field and that it should have formations and structure of all arms of the army so that narrowed it again.  Lastly that uniforms were to be included in the book.  This took me back to one of my favourites namely ‘Napoleons Army’ by Colonel H.C.B Rogers.

This book has all that is needed.  Divided into sections including a history of the battles of the period the French fought in followed by Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers & Signals, Administration, Medical Services, Imperial Headquarters.  Then two accounts of the Third Corps at Auerstadt and in Poland ending with an Epilogue.  Each section has full information on structure, uniforms, weapons, ranks and more.  Importantly each section ends with a list of sources allowing further reading and proving the knowledge of the author.  I doubt anyone except a half mad games writer would need more information (though I own many of the books quoted as sources!) as this book is packed.  My own edition is nearly two hundred pages of easily read text with line drawings.  I have used it many times when creating material for Flintloque.

While my own edition can be had second hand or on ebay etc if you look, there is a current edition which is easily had for less than ten pounds.  Here is the Amazon UK link for it.

If you want a solid title on the French Army under Napoleon then this is the one.

GBS

Pax Omega by Al Ewing

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The cover of this book is a nightmare to take pictures of. Even Amazon had trouble! This is the best I could do.

This last week I managed to finish a book I had bought a while back.  It failed to grab me from the off but by the time I reached the middle I kept trying to find spare moments to read on.  The book is Pax Omega by Al Ewing.

I knew of Al Ewing from his work in the fantastic British Comic 2000AD where he has written many scripts including Zombo.  After this I bought his novel El Sombra on the back of the comic and also other Pax Brittanica novels set in that universe.  I really enjoyed El Sombra with its pulp trashy literature take on the motif of the western and also steampunk.  So with that in mind when I saw Pax Omega on the shelf of my local bookshop I decided to buy it.  I will admit the blurb left me a little confused.  Was this a novel or a collection of short stories?  The answer is a clever..both!

Doc Thunder’s last stand against a deadly foe whose true identity will shock you to your core! El Sombra’s final battle against the forces of the Ultimate Reich! The Locomotive Man in a showdown with cosmic science on the prairies of the Old West! Jackson Steele defends the 25th Century against the massed armies of the Space Satan! A duel of minds in the mystery palaces of One Million AD! Blazing steam-pulp sci-fi the way you crave it! From the Big Bang to the End Of Time – eleven tales from Pax Britannia’s past, present and distant future combine into one starspanning saga set to shake the universe to its foundations or destroy it! (from the book blurb)

Pax Omega is a series of stories that are linked together in ways that become clearer as the book progresses.  From the ancient past to the vastly distant future there are conflicts fused with vision and humour.  As I said it took me a while to get into the book and that turned out to be a shame because when the tale reached the point of bringing in El Sombra and Doc Thunder it was moving at a fine pace.  Reminding me of Flash Gordon of Dick Tracey as well as many other pulp heroes the book also made good use of ‘soundbites’ from other famous science fiction tales such as the ‘Robot Detective Decker’ and so on.  It also projected in places a flash into our own world with its troubles such as the Summer 2011 London Riots.   The language was florid and varied and I enjoyed that a lot.  It was bigger than life in places.  In fact there are so many settings in this book that you don’t know what is coming next at all!  This is pulp at its best..square jawed fighting and big speech making heroes and villains.

I recommend this book but I do also think that if you like the idea of Pax Brittanica you should seek out Al’s other books (El Sombra and The Gods of Manhattan).  I have not read Gods of Manhattan and it showed, I did not know who Doc Thunder was!

Mad..Inspired..Great Pulp Fun!

GBS

The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley – Review

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Given to me by Steve Young

At Salute 2012 my good friend Steve Young, talented miniature designer and musician, and all around great bloke gave me his copy of  The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley.  Jolly decent of him eh!

So it has taken me since late April to get to the point of reading it.  I really must take a picture of my ‘inbox’ of books which I swear to myself and all who buy them for me that I will read in the order of reciept.  It is a sight to be seen.  Well, this book broke the order.  Yes, I cheated and put it to the top of the list!  I had to otherwise you would not be hearing about it until Christmas at least.

Steve told me it was a great read and that it would be super material for some scenarios for Flintloque.  Being set in Scotland in the early part of the nineteenth century and featuring detective work along with gruesome action and the Undead as well what was not to like.  So I chewed my way through it at the weekend and the verdict?

The Edinburgh Dead is by an author whose other books I have not read so there was no comparison there.  It is well written and moves at a fast pace, the main characters are well drawn and the plot builds to a tense resolution.  I do not want to give spoilers so I will leave it with this.  A good read and set in a period and place not often used.  It is well worth picking up if you like grim and gritty with a Scottish flavour.

Recommended 🙂

GBS

p.s. see, I can write short posts!