To sci-fi fans, Sergei Lukyanenko is best known as the author of the Night Watch series (Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch, Last Watch, and New Watch) and the movies they inspired (Night Watch, Day Watch). But he’s actually one of the most popular modern writers in Russia. With his 1999 novel The Genome coming to the U.S. for the first time (paperback, digital), I spoke with him about the roots of this sci-fi detective novel.
Considering that it was only supposed to be a five year mission, it’s kind of amazing that Star Trek is still going strong more than forty-five years later. And not just in the movies. Pocket Book publishes more than a dozen new Trek novels and ebook novellas every year. But in talking to Greg Cox, who wrote the new Star Trek: The Original Series: Foul Deeds Will Rise (paperback, digital), and David Mack, author of Star Trek: Section 31: Disavowed (paperback, digital), about their new Trek novels, it’s clear there’s plenty of places for these characters to boldly go.
Over the years, there’s been games based on comic books and comic books based on games. But for Tales From Deep Space, a new game for Amazon’s Fire tablets made by Frontier Developments, the game and the comic are working-in-hand to tell the story. Which is why the following interview was done with both Frontier Developments’ John Law, the game’s Director Of Art, and Amazon Game Studio’s senior narrative designer Robert Ferrigno.
You might think that writing a book based on a video game just requires that you play the game a lot. Which is why no one is ever going to ask you to write a book based on game. Instead, they’ll probably ask John Shirley, who’s written a number of game-related novels, including the new Halo one, Halo Broken Circle (paperback, digital)…and not just because his research process involved more than a few rounds of “Team Slayer.”
With zombies in space, some people reading Timothy Johnson’s debut novel Carrier (Permuted Press: paperback, digital) might think, “Oh, so it’s like those Dead Space games.” But in talking to Johnson about the book, it’s clear that while he may have played those games, he was actually more inspired by movies…that also inspire those games.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Of all the surprises to be found in Sunset Overdrive (Xbox One), none come as far out of left field as when you recruit Buzz Osborne, the singer and guitarist from the Melvins, to help you out…and it’s really Buzz doing his own voice. But in talking to King Buzzo about his role in the game, it seems this gig was as far out of left field for him as well.
In The Life Of Reason: Reason In Common Sense, philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Which is good news for the kids at Mind Candy, who’ve just released the history-based strategic combat game World Of Warriors on iOS devices, with Android to follow. But in talking to Mind Candy’s studio director, Mark Knowles-Lee, it seems there’s more to World Of Warriors than just repeatedly beating the snot out of someone.
With the release of Hawk (Tor: hardcover, digital), fantasy writer Steven Brust has completed the fourteenth novel in his proposed nineteen book “Vlad Taltos” cycle. But in talking to him about it, it seems no one’s more excited to see what happens in it than Brust himself (and not, I’m happy to say, in a self-centered kind of way, either).
By calling his new book We Are Not Good People, you might think writer Jeff Somers has penned a confessional tome by a politician, professional athlete, or a guy in Coldplay. But in talking to Somers about this fantasy novel (Gallery Books: paperback, digital), it’s clear that there’s something more magical at work than just some guy admitting his sins.