Games

Harry Dresden is in trouble. He's inadvertently started a war between the vampires and the wizards' White Council, his girlfriend has suffered an unplanned magical transformation and he's in danger of being booted out of his house and office. When a new paying job comes along it seems like a great opportunity for Harry to get on top of his troubles...until he finds himself in the middle of another magical war. Summer Knight , the fourth novel in The Dresden Files , picks up some months after the events of Grave Peril and is the first book in the series to feature extensive continuity call-backs to previous volumes without a huge amount of exposition about what's been going on. Four books and twelve hundred pages into the series, I guess Butcher decided it was time to stop catering for newcomers and get on with business. Having covered evil warlocks, werewolves, vampires and ghosts in the first three books, Butcher explores the faeries of his setting in this volume (tho...

Westeros: Total War , a fan-made total conversion of Medieval II: Total War that will allow players to conquer the Seven Kingdoms with the faction of their choice, is making some serious inroads towards completion. However, progress could be speeded up if some experienced Coders, Skinners or Modellers could be found to lend their help to the project. Check out the TWCenter forum here to see what is needed, and hopefully we can be claiming the Iron Throne ourselves in 2012.

Yesterday the blog turned five years old. Wow, how did that happen? Half a decade ago I started the site on a whim following another poster's suggestion on the Westeros.org forum and it's gotten bigger and led to more interesting opportunities than I ever thought possible. Because of the blog I've met a large number of my favourite authors, got into contact with many more and been able to pursue some paid writing and editing work (more on this next year) which otherwise would not have been possible. All great stuff, made possible because people seem to like reading the blog. So, that's five years, 1,407 posts, well over 1.6 million site visits (and over 2.5 million page views) and 354 book reviews under my belt. Where from here? Onwards and upwards, hopefully (and definitely a page redesign at some point). Thanks to everyone for stopping by over the years. Sorry for the lack of cake :-)

Detroit, 2027. The human race is changing, with nanotech research and cybernetics technology making 'augmented' humans stronger, faster and smarter than their 'normal' forebears. Numerous groups are opposed to augmentation on ethical and religious grounds. Adam Jensen, chief of security at Sarif Industries, one of the leaders in augmentation research, is severely wounded when terrorists attack and destroy one of Sarif's labs. Saved by augmentation, Adam must investigate the attack, discover the motives of those seeking to destroy Sarif Industries and, ultimately, decided which side of the argument is the 'right' one. Human Revolution is the third game in the Deus Ex franchise, serving as a prequel to the events of the original Deus Ex and its lacklustre sequel, Invisible War . Set twenty-five years before the first game, Human Revolution helps show how that world of nanotech and enhanced humans came into existence. As a prequel, Human Revolution require...

Developers Almost Human are working on a new dungeon crawl game entitled Legend of Grimrock . The game is a lovingly-crafted tribute to dungeon-crawling games of yesteryear, such as Dungeon Master , Eye of the Beholder , Knightmare , Black Crypt and Lands of Lore , and even features the same tile-based movement of those games, as well as a similar combat and inventory interface. Here's the trailer: Looks like a lot of fun, though what modern gamers more used to the likes of Skyrim will make of it is unclear. But for older gamers hankering for some old-school gaming, it could be just what the duergar ordered. The game is currently scheduled for release in early 2012 on PC and Mac.

Harry Dresden, Chicago-based wizard for hire, finds himself drawn into a new case. A plea from a helpless young woman sets him on a course that will lead to a cataclysmic showdown with an old enemy, and may cost Dresden that which he cares about the most... Grave Peril is the third novel in the Dresden Files series of urban fantasies and an important turning-point in the series. The first two novels, Storm Front and Fool Moon , were entertaining but little more than enjoyable fluff. Grave Peril is a considerably darker and more personal book, with Butcher's writing much more confident and assured as he puts Dresden through the emotional wringer. Whilst reading the book I was in put in mind of those 'gamechanger' episodes of Buffy and Angel when Joss Whedon would rip up the status quo by doing something to the characters that hurt them badly and established a new paradigm he would have fun setting up and exploring. Grave Peril expands the cast of the Dresden Files wit...

A good find by HaraktheHirsute on the Westeros.org board . This is the letter George R.R. Martin wrote to Marvel Comics in 1963, published in Fantastic Four #20 when he was 15: There you go. From such small seeds etc.

The Empire of Tamriel is under a dark threat. The Emperor has been assassinated, leaving behind no heir. Portals to the dimension of Oblivion are opening all over the Empire, unleashing demons and monsters upon a defenceless population. The Blades, guardians of the Empire, seem unable to resolve the crisis. It falls upon a single hero to bring peace back to the Empire...if he can be bothered, that is. Oblivion is the fourth game in the Elder Scrolls series of roleplaying games (the fifth, Skyrim , came out a few weeks ago). Originally released in 2006, Oblivion was the first game in the series to be developed with the latest generation of video game consoles in mind as well as the series' traditional home on PC, and was an early showcase for the graphical capabilities of those consoles. Five and a half years on, it remains an impressive game, even if time has not been kind to many of its niggling faults. Like the first three games in the series - Arena , Daggerfall and Morrowin...

Via Westeros , we have some info on the DVD and Blu-Ray releases for Game of Thrones , Season 1. The first season will be released in the UK and USA (and some other territories as well, from the sound of it) on 20 March 2012, about three to four weeks before Season 2 debuts on DVD. As well as all ten episodes, the set will include a plethora of special features. The Blu-Ray will have the following exclusive items: The Complete Guide to Westeros: an interactive guide to Westeros and Essos, their key locations and noble houses etc. There are also 24 exclusive histories of the Seven Kingdoms told by the characters. Anatomy of an Episode: a guide to the creation of an episode from start to finish, in this case the sixth episode, A Golden Crown . In-Episode Guides: in-feature infoboxes that provide information about characters, locations and histories whilst each episode plays. Hidden Dragon Easter Eggs: find the hidden dragon eggs to unlock more exclusive content. The following features wi...

Here are some interesting images from the recent Game of Thrones trailer released by HBO: Rory McCann returns as Sandor Clegane, the Hound, now a member of King Joffrey's Kingsguard. Apparently Sandor's role, which was somewhat under-emphasised in Season 1, will be beefed up for Season 2 to something more like that of the books. It may also just be the lighting, but his make-up for this season looks markedly better as well. The Painted Table of Dragonstone. It's good to see it's in the series, but it does appear to be a smaller and less grandiose version of what is described in the novels. Stephen Dillane as King Stannis Baratheon. The production team have opted not to have Stannis bald, as in the novels, but otherwise have gone for a stern look more in keeping with his depiction in the books. Theon Greyjoy meets a drowned priest of the Iron Islands. In a change from the books, this is a miscellaneous priest rather than his uncle, Aeron 'Damphair' Greyjoy. This ...

Tor UK have signed up Mark Charan Newton for a new fantasy series, starting with a two-book contract. Provisionally entitled Drakenfield , the new series will be a first-person narrative featuring a private investigator solving crimes in a fantasy world. Newton claims this series will dial down the 'weirdness' from his Legends of the Red Sun sequence and be more like historical fiction, citing C.J. Sansom as a possible reference point. The first volume is very tentatively set for publication in mid-2013.

HBO have aired an interesting behind-the-scenes video for Season 2 of Game of Thrones , showing us our first glimpses of new characters. Keen-eyed viewers can spot Stannis, Melisandre, Davos and Margaery Tyrell. Season 2 of Game of Thrones is currently scheduled to start airing in April 2012.

Thousands of years from now, the myriad colony worlds of Hain (including Earth) are being reunited under a new interstellar government, the Ekumen. Genly Ai is the First Envoy, who sets foot alone onto the surface of the frigid planet of Winter (Gethen to its inhabitants) to bring offers of trade, peace and alliance to the people of the planet. However, the genderless inhabitants (who only have sexual urges and genders for a brief period once a month) are sceptical of Ai's claims, and he soon finds himself a pawn of political factions in two neighbouring countries eager to use or discard him as they see fit. The Left Hand of Darkness was originally published in 1969. It is set in a shared future history which Le Guin has used for several other novels and short stories, though foreknowledge of these other works is completely unnecessary to read this book. The novel also has a formidable reputation as one of the most critically-acclaimed science fiction novels in the history of the ...

Hadrian and Royce are partners in crime, a mercenary and thief who make a living working for the various nobles who rule over the lands of Avryn but spend most of their time feuding with one another. One particular job ends with Hadrian and Royce being arrested and charged with regicide. Determined to prove their innocence and take revenge on those who framed them, they set out on a quest that could change the fate of Avryn and the whole world. Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria Revelations series is already a proven success, with both small press and self-published editions of the books selling well. Orbit have picked up the series and recast the original six books as three omnibuses, bringing them to a wider audience. Whilst this laudably rewards the author's success, it also raises the stakes: standing out from the crowd in self-publishing is one thing, but how does Sullivan's work stack up compared to the current fantasy heavyweights? The answer is...okay, actually. Sullivan...

The American cover art for China Mieville's next novel, Railsea , has been revealed: Hard info on the book - due out in May 2012 - is scant at the moment, but from advance pagination (though we should remember this is highly unreliable) and some other hints, it sounds like this might be Mieville's second YA novel , though that is far from confirmed. More news as I hear it.

The film version of Suzanne Collins' novel is due for release on 23 March, 2012 and stars Jennifer Lawrence (most recently seen in X-Men: First Class ) as Katniss Everdeen. Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz and Toby Jones also have supporting roles. The film has a good cast and Lawrence is a rising talent who should be great in the lead role. Director Gary Ross also has some interesting form, with his most notable previous movies being Pleasantville and Seabiscuit .

David Yates, the director of the fifth through eighth Harry Potter movies, has revealed that he is working on a Doctor Who feature film. Apparently the movie will not tie in with the existing continuity of the TV series, presumably meaning a new cast but based on the same premise. At the moment neither Russell T. Davies (who resurrected the show in its current incarnation in 2005) nor Steven Moffat (the current showrunner/producer) are involved with the project, though BBC Enterprises are working on the movie. In particular, Jane Tranter, the person who brought back Doctor Who in 2005 whilst working as Head of BBC Drama, is producing. Tranter and Yates previously collaborated on the BBC mini-series State of Play , probably the finest British television series of the 2000s. The poster for the 1965 Doctor Who feature film. Although this news has sent paroxysms of nerdrage through the Internet, this is actually the third time this has happened. Back in the 1960s two feature films were...

There is a war in the digital realm. The nefarious military leader Rolleston has unleashed Demiurge, an ultra-powerful AI which seeks to control and consume everything else on humanity's computer networks, to guarantee himself ultimate power. A band of opponents and self-appointed freedom fighters, led (reluctantly and often shambolically) by ex-soldier Jakob Douglas, have fought back by unleashing their own AI onto the net to expose everyone's dark and dirty secrets, which has not gone down well with the great and the good who rule the Solar system. Of course, Jakob also had to go and call this AI 'God', utterly enraging the (very large) religious portion of the human race as well. Still, God has won the first round, banishing Demiurge, Rolleston and their followers to the colony systems. With Rolleston and his forces gathering strength in the colonies and preparing for a fresh assault on Earth, it falls to Jakob and his colleagues to pursue them and finish the job tha...

David Brin is making his long-awaited comeback in June 2012, with the publication of Existence , his first novel in a decade. The cover blurb: Bestselling, award-winning futurist David Brin returns to globe-spanning, high concept SF. As he did in his New York Times bestselling novel Earth , David Brin takes on the rapidly accelerating rate of change in technology in a very human way. Telepresence. The neural link world wide web, where a flash crowd can gather in an instant if something interesting is happening. We see it today--one man in Pakistan live-tweets the assault on Osama bin Laden, and the whole world turns to watch. A revolution in Egypt is coordinated online. Into the maelstrom of world-wide shared experience drops a game-changer. An alien artifact is plucked from Earth's orbit; an artifact that wants to communicate. News leaks out fast, and the world reacts as it always does: with fear and hope and selfishness and love and violence. Existence is packed with te...

Here's a knotty problem for a studio to face. What happens when you decide to make a fourth film in one of your biggest franchises, but without any of the three major actors who made the first three films so watchable (particularly when your third movie was a bit of a dog and only saved by their performances)? The decision to make X-Men: First Class as a prequel to the existing movies that was fully open to newcomers was a canny one, allowing 20th Century Fox to effectively reboot the series without throwing away the continuity of the previous films, but the side-effect of losing Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen must have caused some consternation in the office. However, by bringing in director Matthew Vaughn, hot off the acclaimed Kick-Ass , and casting James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as the younger Stewart and McKellen, the studio showed some good judgement (which they could have done with on the third movie). First Class is set in 1962, roughly forty years be...

Young lawyer Ryan Newman has lost his job and is left feeling depressed and contemplating suicide. Taking up an offer to dogsit his neighbour's pooch, he is bemused to find that he sees Wilfred as a guy in a dog costume, whilst everyone else sees him as a real dog. Wilfred, a pot-smoking connoisseur of movies and TV, befriends Ryan and helps improve his self-confidence...but he also commits random acts seemingly designed to annoy and undermine him. As their relationship develops, Ryan tries to work out who or what Wilfred really is. Wilfred started life as an Australian TV show before being transplanted to the USA, with co-creator/actor Jason Gann reprising his role as the eponymous man/dog/hallucination/whatever. It is a surreal show mixing elements of relationship dramas with comedy, geek-friendly references and even hints of tragedy. The show's central 'mystery' - who or what is Wilfred? - is kept at a fairly low ebb through most of the first season, only really eme...

Mark Charan Newton's hard-to-find debut novel, The Reef , has been re-released as an ebook by Tor UK. Originally released in 2008 as a limited print edition by Pendragon Publishing, The Reef is set in the same world as Newton's Legends of the Red Sun sequence, but thousands of years and many thousands of miles removed from the events of that series. It's a strong debut novel and well worth checking out.