Merry Christmas!

Yes, the picture is real, it is not photoshopped, and it was taken in snowy weather early in 2013 less than twenty yards from our house. We have a mammoth. I would say it's cool, but it's too awful a pun.

Merry Christmas!

SFFSat 13/12/2014 Sorrel in Silver

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is normally a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Unfortunately, SFFSat apparently isn't running this week, but I hope you enjoy my snippet anyhow!


Sorrel in Silver is now on sale on Amazon! This snippet is from Chapter Eight - Wrack is confronting another dragonlord, Starron.

 

The red dragon flung himself savagely at his rival.

When titans clash, mere humans need to take shelter. Two twelve-foot tall monsters, necks writhing, teeth glittering in the firelight, aimed for each other's throats. This was no gentlemanly duel. This was savage, primal; an attempt by each dragon to crush his rival. The only rule when there is a brawl between dragons is that humans need to get the volg out of there.

Except that the red dragon was my lover. And there was no lafquassing chance I was leaving that room until I knew he was victorious and that the squuming volg of a blue dragon was beaten to a pulp. And if I even suspected Wrack was losing, I intended to use my sorcery to hammer Starron. Wrack would be furious at any interference, but I didn't care. There was no volging way in squum I was going to let Starron hurt my dragon!

Wrack flung himself onto the blue dragon, driving him back against the west wall of the hall. Starron fastened his teeth on Wrack's wing, trying to bite into the powerful muscle of the upper part of the limb. Wrack snarled, red fire licking around his mouth, and slammed his other wing against Starron’s head, trying to dislodge him. Starron whirled, releasing his teeth and twisting his neck so that he could bite Wrack's neck.

 As always, comments appreciated.

Sorrel in Silver launched!

Sorrel in Silver is finally available! Amazon has approved the files for the paperback and the kindle versions, and you can now get the book here!

A pdf version is pending on DriveThru, and should be available by the end of the weekend, and there will be an .epub version on Lulu.

I intend to post a snippet from Sorrel in Silver in my usual SFFSat post - watch this space!!

I would add that if you haven't read Sorrel in Scarlet and Sorrel Snowbound then you should read them both first - Sorrel in Silver concludes the sequence of events that starts in the first two books.

SFFSat 6/12/14 Sorrel in Silver

This is my snippet this week for SFFSat. SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. Please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 


All being well, Sorrel in Silver should be released in about a week or so, Amazon willing! To celebrate, my snippet this week is the first dozen lines of the novel.

Whoever said two heads are better than one hasn't had to fight snarqs.

‘The brute’s right behind us!’ Kelhene shouted from the co-pilot's seat. Not the most helpful thing to tell me: I was only too well aware that a two-headed, acid-spitting, bat-winged serpent was tight on my tail. I flung the Cygnet into a dive, shoving the joystick forward and sideways to get the biplane out of its line of fire. The snarq opened both mouths and spat; two gobbets of acid hissed through the air towards us. A moment later, the world went black.

We had flown into one of the columns of thick, black smoke rising from the burning city below us. The airframe of the 'plane shuddered. One – or if we were really unlucky, both – of the acid spittles had hit us, of that I was certain. I could see absolutely nothing in the smoke, so hopefully the snarq couldn't see us either. It also meant that if there was anything in my path, there was no way of evading a collision.


As always, comments appreciated!

SFFSat 22/11/2014 - 21st Century Leda 6

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is the final part of 21st Century Leda. Our narrator is Zeus, dallying with a girl in a pub. He has led the girl into his bedroom, his intentions obvious. She has whispered that she knows who he is.

“Zeus” she whispers. Just the sound of my name gives me a warmth and strength, and I smile. 

 

“How did you find out?” I ask, but my hands are still concentrating on the buttons of her blouse. 

 

“Old god” she hisses. I'm not pleased by that description of me and firmly protest that I’m not so old. She smiles widely, and shakes her head. “Your time’s gone” she murmurs, her body tight against mine. “They don’t worship you any more.” My fingers are working on the strap of her bra, but she won’t shut up. “They worship us, now, not you” she adds. I lean down to kiss her again, but she’s being coy, turning her eyes downwards to my shoulder. “Our kind are the Gods, now, Zeus - they’ve created us by their worship.” Her mouth caresses my neck, and I can barely hear her as she whispers “Time for you to go.”

And her fangs sink into my neck.

 I hope you enjoyed this tale. Comments welcomed!
 

SFFSat 15/11/2014 21st Century Leda 5

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is 21st Century Leda. Our narrator is Zeus, dallying with a girl in a pub. He is leading the poor girl upstairs...

 

Up the stairs. Leda's smiling at me. Posters on the walls – Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt. Centuries ago the adornments would be carvings of me, of Aphrodite (working for Chanel, last I heard), or of Athene. I tighten my grip on Leda’s waist, and she squirms against me encouragingly.

As far as I can tell, she’s no relation to the last girl of this name I had. I can usually feel the blood in them, if they have any hint of my bloodline. And that’s why I’m still important – why I still matter. Most of you are pale, drab beings, without a fraction of divinity. You need me, refreshing your bloodlines, so that there are still gods walking the earth.

 

Trouble is, most of your women are using contraceptives – even my fecund seed can’t work miracles. Progress, eh?

 

First room off the top of the stairs - landlord keeps it for me. Close the door and gaze deep into her eyes (not that it’s her eyes I’m interested in). She whispers “I know who you are.”

Final part next week.

Comments appreciated!

SFFSat 8/11/2014 21st Century Leda #4

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is 21st Century Leda. Our narrator is Zeus, dallying with a girl in a pub, while he ponders on the fate of his fellow deities...

I'm not much more than a man now, without your worship. Enough adulation can bring forth a God in the space of a mortal lifetime or two. Maybe less, in this global village we now inhabit – I no longer scoff at stories that Elvis has been sighted alive. But when the glory days fade, we fade with them. You occasionally read about us, and there’s a few movies made that remind you of us – not that the ones I’ve seen are up to much, though Liam Neeson almost looks like me.

I'm better off than some. Loki's in prison in Germany for fraud, and Horus' airline business just went into administration.

Leda’s smiling. I slip an arm around her waist and gently lead her towards the stairs. I’m never quite sure whether it’s my masculinity that gets them, or that I'm the executive director of a company. Means I’m rich. May not be power, but it’s better than being a nobody, like Ares. I always thought he had some backbone – but since the advent of gunpowder he’s been a broken man. The God of War who replaced him was once an oriental Dragon, and he's quite at home with the savageries of modern conflicts.

 Comments appreciated!

SFFSat 1/11/14 21st Century Leda #3

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is 21st Century Leda. Our narrator is dallying with a girl in a pub - and has just admitted that he is actually a God. He continues to reminisce to himself...

I'd not seen Leda in here before, and she caught my eye immediately. Sitting at a side table, not far from the door, all on her lonesome, and smiled at me as soon as I walked in. She’s had a couple of alcopops, and she’s mellow and receptive - the way I like women. She’s quite cute – long, dark hair, heart-shaped pale face, big dark eyes, but a hint of strength in the jawline. A soft, low voice. And a nice display of curves. On the other hand, the clothing nowadays – stripping a girl can be really difficult. All these buckles, straps, clasps – too much like hard work in my view. Don't get me started on steampunk fashions. At least this one isn’t a Goth – so many girls think black makeup is fetching.

Still, Leda’s responding nicely. Almost too easy. Another drink, and I can whisk her upstairs away from the racket from the jukebox. I’ve had to give up so much – why shouldn’t I enjoy myself still? 

 With the same provisos as last week, comments appreciated!

21st Century Leda #2

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is 21st Century Leda. Our narrator is dallying with a girl in a pub - and has just admitted that he is actually a God. He continues to reminisce to himself...

Trouble is, we've become figures of fun in books for children or treatises on the classical world. I get bitter, sometimes. Three thousand years ago I was king of the world - now it seems the title has passed to some upstart called James Cameron. 

 

Was it your worship of us that made us divinities? We are still Gods… but without the prayers and the beliefs in us we are barely more than you mortals, now. We have to change, adapt, survive.

Or die. Apollo… he gave up centuries ago. The Sun King in France – that angered him. He wanted to smite Louis for his presumption… but by then Apollo was all but forgotten. So weak he could not change his form, let alone fire even one of his plague-bearing arrows. He couldn’t stand the shame.

Artemis, though, adapted. She’s a major fashion model – lesbian, of course. But they all are, so who takes any notice?

I would like to make it clear that the views expressed by the narrator of this story are not my views, and any complaints about him being misogynistic, bigotted and reactionary should be addressed to Zeus, c/o Olympus plc. 
I am also not responsible for anyone being struck by a lightning bolt as a result of any such conplaint...
With the above provisos, comments appreciated!

New Who - Deep Breath to Flatline

 

I've got to admit I've not been a great fan of Newu Who. I first watched Doctor Who when Jon Pertwee was the Doctor, and I've always thought of him and Tom Baker as being “my” Doctors. I've got a pretty good collection of classic Who on DVD, and in the main I prefer the original series to the current stories. There have been a few exceptions – there are about half a dozen New Who stories that I thought were very good indeed, including Empty Child, Blink and the Doctor's Wife. I also think there have been some absolute stinkers.

I was one of those who thought David Tennant was too brash and Matt Smith too young. To be fair, I don't think either was a bad Doctor, but neither really matched the ideal of the time-travelling Gallifreyan that I had in my mind.

 

Peter Capaldi, on the other hand, struck me as a perfect choice for the Doctor. He had sufficient gravitas and a strong screen presence, a face that was reminiscent of Jon Pertwee, and very considerable acting ability.

 The season started pretty well. Deep Breath was a good story, but Into the Dalek (whilst it had some very nice ideas and some very strong moments) had enough logical flaws and plot holes to sink a starship. Robot of Sherwood was great fun, but not great Who. It and Listen, the story that followed, both seemed to suggest a degree of promise.

 

 

Time Heist, on the other hand, was both obvious and illogical, and really didn't work.

The Caretaker, again, seemed to be working, but still didn't quite have the spark that the best Who stories have.

 And then we had Kill the Moon. Ouch. Probably one of the poorest stories I've seen. If anyone doubted that New Who is fantasy, not science fiction, this was a good proof. Classic Who endeavoured to put a gloss of “reality” into the science. It often got it badly wrong (I cringe at the sad excuse for astrophysics in Wheel in Space, and a good many of the stories failed basic science, but certainly from Jon Pertwee's time onwards the series tried to pretend it was SF not magic). Anyone with no more than a GCSE in physics can see the flaws in the science of Kill the Moon.

The Moon's “gravity is changing”. Because there's something growing inside. Fluctuating. But mass can't change. So gravity can't change. The basic structure was gibberish. And the creature that is born from the Moon immediately lays an egg that is of the same mass and is identical in appearance. And “bacteria” that look like spiders and spin webs? How this story got approved is beyond me – it fails on so many levels. And the Doctor leaving the decision to the humans also makes no sense compared with what he has done before. The logic of the character and the logic of the situation are entirely absent. Yes, the production crew want to make the Doctor darker and edgier, but he needs to remain the same character as before. And the big “event” of the story – the Doctor leaving Clara and co to make the decision – doesn't in the end have any consequences, making it ultimately pointless. The ending felt like a cop-out.

I don't mind saying that this episode disappointed me very badly.

 

Fortunately, Mummy on the Orient Express restored my faith in the series. I didn't expect to like the episode – it looked somewhat as though someone had come up with a neat image and a good title, and I was afraid the plot would be an irrelevance. I am very glad I was wrong – the story held together, the Doctor was magnificent, and the plot made sense. 

I didn't have problems with the science – yes, a starship built to look like a steam-train in space is daft, but it doesn't obviously break basic laws of physics. We've built some pretty bizarre ships and vehicles in reality, and the attempt to create something anachronistic for rich, paying passengers is not extraordinary. The plot held together, and the characterisation of the Doctor finally felt thoroughly right.

Which brings me to Flatline. I enjoyed Flatland many years ago. I was nervous of what Doctor Who would do with it.

I needn't have worried. This was an excellent episode, the internal logic consistent, the plot credible (as far as Doctor Who plots are ever credible) and the science not objectionable. And the character of the Doctor (both as played by Capaldi and as brilliantly emulated by Jenna Coleman!) was beautifully portrayed. This really felt like the “real” Doctor. If the new series can keep this up, then New Who might just grow up to be as good as its parent.

21st Century Leda

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

Having finished Blue Ice last week, I'm jumping sideways from hard science fiction into a story set in the present day. This is 21st Century Leda.

The Swan's not a bad pub, if a bit pseud. Landlord and I have an understanding. He’s got rooms upstairs, and he doesn’t talk to the missus.

The plasma TV’s got some braindead idiot deconceptualising (whatever that means) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The pool table by the naff wood panelled wall is surrounded by youngsters showing off, and the beer's not a patch on the stuff we used to drink. But that’s progress.

The chick across the table is gazing at me, admiring my manly physique. And so she should – I may be a bit (okay, a considerable degree) older than I was, but I’m still more male than most of these weedy yobs you get nowadays. I can still pass for being under fifty. Okay, only in a soft light, (one of the reasons I like this place) , but who’s quibbling?

I never used to bother with small talk. Grab the wench, sweep her off to some secluded grotto, and take my time deflowering her. But it doesn’t work like that now. The world’s changed - not for the better, in my view. Still, I’m a God – I can handle change.

Sorry, no prizes for guessing the identity of our narrator...

As always, comments appreciated!

SFFSat 11/10/14 - Blue Ice 8

 SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is the final part of Blue Ice. Anton deGama is in the rings of Saturn, planting bio-engineered plants on a chunk of ring ice, when he sees blue snowflake creatures moving towards him. He guesses that they have evolved from the bio-engineered life that humans have brought to the rings.


 

Anton briefly thought about wading in and shattering the fragile assailants, but his own words were whispering in his ears. The predators were trying to keep themselves alive. He could not just slaughter them out of hand.

And anyhow, the discovery of the parasites might well be worth a considerable sum, if he could keep them alive. Even if (improbably) the biotech firms weren’t interested, he had no doubt the vidnetworks would be. A slight grin crossed his face, just as Kellerman made a similar comment over the commlink.

Anton glanced up at Rose, and gave up the uneven battle with the predators. He gripped his umbilical, and jumped. Rose's photonsong deepened in welcome as he hauled himself through the hatch, and he felt her tune quicken. She had been attuned to him when she had grown, and was glad to feel him aboard her. He gazed down as the predators continued their slow-motion feeding frenzy with his crop. 

 

Not, perhaps, a good omen for a space gardener, he thought wryly as he unclipped his helmet, to be driven out of the garden by pests. He suddenly laughed out loud. As the discoverer of the predators, his would be the right to name them. In future years, he suspected people would wonder continually why he had named the blue snowflakes "Greenfly".

As always, comments appreciated!

SFFSat 4/10/14 - Blue Ice 7

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is the penultimate part of Blue Ice. Anton deGama is in the rings of Saturn, planting bio-engineered plants on a chunk of ring ice, when he sees blue snowflake creatures moving towards him. He describes what he sees to Kellerman as the creatures approach.

"You think they're some form of bio-tech sabotage, Anton?"

Anton shook his head, and then realised that she could not see the gesture. "Not really. I think they're some kind of rogue svenskites." Anton was staring at his blooms and their approaching demise. "We brought life into the rings, Kellerman. Svenskites, draxblooms, anazites, even singleships." He tiptoed carefully through the draxflowers, trying to use his shadow to hold back the blue tide. It was like using a bucket to put out a forest-fire. "Maybe this life has been here long enough to grow a few predators."

"In forty years?" He could have cut Kellerman's disbelief with a laser.

"Nearer sixty – the first svenskites must go back that far. Hard radiation, genetic changes... and the need to survive, Kellerman. Living beings grab hold of life pretty tenaciously - why should that be different for the life-forms we engineered?"

Next time, the final snippet, as deGama responds to what he has found.

As always, comments appreciated!

 

D&D 5 - Trinkets and magic items

I've been poring over the D&D5 PH again. I still like what I see. There's far too much to comment on everything, but a few aspects have caught my eye.

One of my pet hates in a lot of fantasy games and settings is the prevalence of Ye Olde Magic Item Shoppe – a shop, usually run by a level 20 wizard, selling a wide range of magic items. 

Such places miss the point about enchanted objects. Such things should be rare and wonderful and extraordinary – not just commodities made in their thousands in a magical factory somewhere. There needs to be a sense of wonder.

D&D5 agrees – the PH expressly comments that “you won't normally come across magic items... to purchase. The value of magic is far beyond simple gold”. Yes!

The new PH also contains about four pages of trinkets – odd objects that characters can have in their possession. I've seen a review on Amazon hotly complaining that these trinkets are useless, with no powers or benefits for the character possessing them.

This proves that the reviewer has not understood the point of these items. The trinkets are plot hooks. Objects a DM can seize upon to build a scenario, or even a campaign around. I've used such things more than once in starting a campaign – one character had an amulet that after many sessions proved she was of noble blood (and that the noble family in question intended to sacrifice her for evil purposes – but that's another story). Another character had a bracelet which turned out to be one third of an artefact that would open a portal to another world. Trinkets are the kernels of stories.

And that, once again, is why I like the look of D&D5. It is not setting out to create complicated mechanics systems so you can minimax characters – it is trying to tell stories.

SFFSat 27/9/14 - Blue Ice 6

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is part six of Blue Ice. Anton deGama is in the rings of Saturn, planting bio-engineered plants on a chunk of ring ice, when his colleague Kellerman sees something blue moving on the ice. Despite all common sense, Anton moves towards it, to see living creatures moving towards him...

Each creature was shaped like a snowflake hexagon atop a crystalline frond. The six panels could change their attitude independently, to grab sunlight and to focus it through the crude crystal lens at the base of the frond. The thing moved by directing the faint sunlight through the organic lens onto the ice below it: as the ice burned away, the spreading water-vapour pushed the creature onwards. It obviously relied on the marginal gravity of the fragment to keep it from drifting off into space.

Anton suspected the creatures were not greatly dissimilar to the draxbloom or svenskite plants that ringfarmers cultivated, clearly formed from the same silicorganic genetics. But Anton had never heard of anyone bio-engineering anything like this.

Kellerman was demanding that he reply. He finally murmured "They're alive, Kellerman."

"I was beginning to wonder if you were, Anton! What are alive?"

Anton briefly described what he could see, watching the creatures devouring his crop. Each one enfolded a draxbloom in its snowflake. The motion was so slow and sensual that Anton for a brief, delirious moment wondered if this was some bizarre mating ritual. But then he saw the flower petals shattering and the fragments being absorbed. This was a ritual of consumption, not reproduction.

As always, comments appreciated!

SFFSat 20/9/14 - Blue Ice 5

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is part five of Blue Ice. Anton deGama is in the rings of Saturn, planting bio-engineered plants on a chunk of ring ice, when his colleague Kellerman sees something blue moving on the ice. Despite all common sense, Anton moves towards it...

Anton could feel centrifugal force increasing as he got closer to the equator. This ring-chunk was nearly a kilometre long, and he was almost tiptoeing across the surface. Ahead of him, there was a crystal shimmer from the surface. A blue shimmer. Anton froze (an all-too-literal word) as he studied what he could see.

"DeGama! Get away from there, Anton! Get off the fragment! Anton! Talk to me!"

Anton could hear Kellerman punching keys, and guessed that she was disengaging from the Deep Space Observatory. He suspected that Jodrell University would not be amused at the delay in the repair works to their prime research tool. But his attention was on the two dozen cobalt blue shapes, each a metre across, moving slowly through his crop towards him. 

 

They were not anything he had ever seen before, but Anton had no doubt that they were alive.

 Next time, we find out what these things are.
As always, comments appreciated!
 

SFFSat 13/9/14 - Blue Ice 4

SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is part four of Blue Ice. Anton deGama is in the rings of Saturn, planting bio-engineered plants on a chunk of ice the size of an ocean liner, when his colleague Kellerman sees something blue moving on the ice. Anton moves towards it...

Anton needed a successful harvest to stay in business. He had chosen draxblooms because they were tried and tested – they would not give a large profit, but the bio-tech was well-established in the rings and was a safe option. 

 

"DeGama? What are you doing? Talk to me, groundhog!"

He checked his footing as he replied "I'm not losing my crop if I can help it, Kellerman. Keep your scope on me and warn me when I'm close."

"You're close now, dimwit! Get out of there, DeGama! Get back aboard the Rose and survey it from space!" Anton could hear Polestar's contralto rising in pitch as the ship responded to Kellerman's mood. 

 

All logic dictated that he get off the ice-cube. Anything abnormal was dangerous. He resolutely ignored common sense, and kept moving.

Sorry - still no reveal of what Anton is facing. Maybe there will be the start of an answer next time... As always, comments appreciated!

Cover Reveal! Sorrel in Silver

I have a cover!

Still only in early form, and it may change yet. Don't trust the barcode, either - it's a mockup just to see how it looks.

If anyone has any thoughts or reactions to it, I'd love to hear their comments!

No definitive release date for Sorrel in Silver, but I'm hoping for early to mid October.

SFFSat 6/9/14 - Blue Ice 3

It's good to see SFFSat back! SFFSat is a place where a number of authors post snippets from their written works, and give the opportunity for comments, support and encouragement. This is my snippet for it - please also explore the other blogs that are part of this set - you can find the information here. 

This is part three of Blue Ice. Anton deGama is in the rings of Saturn, preparing a harvest of yellow plants on a chunk of ice the size of a football field, when his colleague Kellerman reports that she can see a patch of blue - and that it is moving...

 

Kellerman's comment made no sense. All round him the ice shone with yellow petals, drinking in the thin sunlight. He could see no hint of anything amiss. Except... the equator had a faint cyanic tinge that had not been there before.

His helmet hissed again. "DeGama? I've got my scope on your rock. That blue colour is definitely moving."

Anton swore unthinkingly into his mike, evoking a sharp protest from Kellerman. Nothing – in his not inconsiderable experience – could make a chunk of ice change colour, except human action. And no one else had any right to be on this fragment.

"DeGama, that blue is moving your way." Kellerman's usually calm voice was carrying more than a trace of worry. A corner of Anton's mind registered that she did care about him, after all, but he was more concerned about avoiding his flowers as he walked across the ring chunk towards the mystery.

As always, comments appreciated!

A new Players' Handbook

The last couple of weeks have been somewhat fraught in real life – primarily illnesses and pressures of work. As a consolation present, Janet got me the D&D5 Players' Handbook (courtesy of Niche Comics who imported a handful of copies).

 
 

My initial impression of D&D5 was positive. My first skim through the full rulebook has not changed that. The character creation section emphasises characterisation and background over mechanics. The basic character sheet puts all the game mechanics into less than one side of A4 and then gives the rest of the sheet over to traits, personality, history, friends, allies, appearance, ideals and flaws. Not in a mechanistic style, either – these are matters for the player to come up with to flesh out each PC.

 

The mechanics system is simple and fast, and the baroque complexities of Pathfinder characters are replaced with simpler basic structures combined with variant suggestions that do not particularly rely on mechanics, more on how each character is played. The paladin, at third level, has to take an oath to confirm his or her outlook – but the oath can be one seeking vengeance or one seeking devotion to a deity. Suddenly we have two very different paladins.

Feats – which were becoming (IMHO) the bane of Pathfinder, are relegated to an optional rule, and greatly simplified in comparison to the vast number of detailed and complex Pathfinder feats.

The emphasis is on building characters, not complicated bundles of stats.

Artwork is less important, but I like the style for D&D5. Much more naturalistic, and also more sensible – just one example is a barbarian who is not clad in just a loincloth.

At the moment I think D&D5 looks better than any other iteration of D&D or similar RPGs I've seen (and I've seen a pretty wide range). So far I've only skimmed a tiny proportion of the PH, and we will have to await the DMG to get the overall picture, but thus far I like what I see. 

Thunderbirds

 

I've been a Thunderbirds fan since I was very, very little. 

 

It was about the only programme we watched on ITV when I was small. My father worked for the BBC, so it felt like treachery to be on the other channel, but it was worth it for Thunderbirds. 

 

The show had amazing machines and extraordinary technology. Some of the plots were pretty good, too.

      

The characterisation was functional (though the central characters were all given enough personality to be distinctive – I suspect the influence of Sylvia Anderson here). But it was the boys' toys that grabbed me. Not just the Thunderbirds craft themselves – though they were spectacular – but also the other craft that populated the landscape.

 

The Sidewinder. 

 

 Crablogger.

The helijets. 

Zero-X. 

And – of course – Fireflash. This was a complete world of the future, or how I wanted, at age 8, to think the future might look.

 

Thunderbirds was not Gerry Anderson's first or last series, but it was the one that caught the lightning. It is the show that most people remember of Anderson's oeuvre.

 

 

Yes, from a 21^st Century perspective (ironic, since the studio was Century 21), I can see the problems with all these atomic-engined craft, and the ecological impact of monsters like the Crablogger don't bear consideration. But at the time they felt extraordinary and wonderful. This was an optimistic view of the future that fired my enthusiasm for technology. The Thunderbirds theme tune – especially the fast theme that played behind the snapshots of the episode to come – still makes my heart pump faster and gives me a thrill of excitement.

This was a show about saving lives – rescuing people. Every other action series at the time seemed to involve killing enemies – this was positive and life-affirming.

 

 

It even had a decent female role-model in Lady Penelope: not that, as a pre-teen boy, I was desperately interested in such things at the time.

 

Not all of the thirty-two episodes were great. There are some that make me cringe (Mighty Atom comes to mind, as does Security Hazard – and don't even think about mentioning the Christmas episode). But some stories still stand out and work superbly even now. 

 

  

Terror in New York City, where the Empire States Building topples, is still one of my favourites, as is Sun Probe (with the wonderful dichotomy between the astronauts roasting and Virgil and Brains freezing).

  
 

I'm not going to deign to mention the appalling Thunderbirds feature film from 2004. There is apparently a new series in production, using a mixture of models and CGI. I wait with interest, but also with trepidation. Thunderbirds was a product of its era – I'm not confident that the lightning can be recaptured. 

 

But I will always have a great and abiding affection for the original.