Collections

The Collections

Here are tales of adventure and derring-do, of danger and excitement, of astonishing ideas and unforgettable characters. Some stories are set in far off lands, some set right here on earth. Some are novels, some are comics, some are apps and ebooks, others are choose-your-own-adventure style books or board games or card games:

Frankenstein interactive novel

The figure moves closer. Lightning fills the interior of the hovel with a momentary furnace-glare. The face looks back at me, yellow eyes and bared teeth in a face like a skinned animal.

The fiend that I created stands before me for a moment, haloed redly in fiery light. Then impenetrable darkness swallows everything.

‘Did you kill William?’

There is no reply. I reach out, groping towards him, but my hands sweep at empty air. I can hear the door swinging in the wind. Another lightning flash shows that he has fled.

* * *

The year is 1792 and in his Paris laboratory, Victor Frankenstein is building a man. This unique literary app places you in conversation with Frankenstein himself as his story unfolds. You will develop a relationship with him, either as the voice of his conscience or as the inner demon driving him on to hubris and destruction. The choice is yours.

Conceived, designed and written by Dave Morris using Inkle Studios’ remarkable interactive text engine, this is a revolutionary new kind of interactive fiction that Salon.com described as “more moving than the original novel”.

The book is available for both iOS and Android platforms, and an Epub3 edition is forthcoming.

Find out more.

 

Can You Brexit?

Can You Brexit

How do you make sense of a complicated subject like Brexit? One politician says one thing, another says the opposite. The stream of assertion and counter-assertion soon becomes overwhelming. No wonder many people threw up their hands and just made an emotional decision.

The only way to get your head around something as huge, complex and multi-stranded as Brexit is to experience it for yourself. Games allow you to see the consequences of each choice you make. They let you experiment with counterfactuals and weigh up conflicting goals. They let you discover the true picture for yourself.

Dave Morris says: “Jamie and I spent more than a year getting this book right. We’ve been boning up on economic forecasts, talking to experts, reading whopping great select committee reports that would break your toe if you dropped them. We used a core turn-based structure that should interest gamebook designers – and of course Jamie, who’s a Roald Dahl Funny Prize winner, brought his distinctive brand of humour to the whole thing. So it’s hopefully thought-provoking but funny, informative and nail-bitingly tense too.”

Now find out if you can negotiate Brexit without breaking Britain.

 

Critical IF gamebooks

Critical IF books are interactive adventures with a difference. You can be a mutant with the power to warp reality. A buccaneer whose sword and pistol are a match for any foe. A daring rogue leaping between rooftops. A wizard who can command the elements. Be anyone you can imagine. Choose from almost five hundred different character types, each with their own unique skills.

Strong stories, vivid settings and compelling characters make Critical IF the game-changers of the interactive fiction genre. Put yourself at the heart of the story.

Now turn to 1.

 

Golden Dragon gamebooks

A classic series of gamebooks from the heyday of the genre. Travel to antique lands, haunted swamps, lonely woods, ruined castles, fearsome jungles, lost temples. Do battle against wizards, vampires, hobgoblins and foul fiends. A pencil, an eraser and two dice are all you need to embark on your quest. Success and vast riches – or failure and sudden death – will depend on the decisions you make.

Are you ready for adventure..?

 

Binscombe Tales

Binscombe is a place where things go bump in the night and often in the daytime too. Here you will find stories to prick the imagination, quicken the pulse, and chill the blood. It is a place where waiting for a bus may take a lot longer than you think, where the rustle in the bushes is likely to be something considerably more secretive and more dangerous than a badger, where inanimate objects may have strong views of their own, and where past, present and future sometimes collide with pyrotechnic results.

Collected here for the first time in a three-volume set, these twenty-six classic tales by John Whitbourn are some of the most acclaimed and widely anthologized in modern weird fiction. So grab your favourite tipple, draw your chair close to the fireside, and settle back to have your blood chilled and your imagination thrilled by a true master of sinister storytelling. Read more

 

Dirk Lloyd

Dirk Lloyd, has a dark secret – in fact he is a dark secret. Dirk may seem to be an ordinary schoolboy, but in fact he’s the earthly incarnation of the Dark Lord, supreme ruler of a faroff magic realm and leader of great armies of orcs and warriors, intent on destruction and bloody devastation. Following a colossal final battle between the forces of good and evil, the Dark Lord is defeated and hurled by his arch-foe’s spells into the Pit of Uttermost Despair. And at the bottom of the Pit lies…a modern-day supermarket car park. Welcome to our world, Your Dirkness.

And so begins Dirk’s battle to recover his dignity, his power, and his throne. Along the way he faces the inconvenience of being fostered by a do-gooding family, the Purejoies; the torture of endless hours of drudgery at the Whiteshields Brainwashing Centre (aka school); a vengeful headmaster; two interfering Psychotic Persecutors (psychotherapists); and constant laughter and disrespect when he attempts to marshall his lackeys and lickspittles (friends) to do what he wants them to.

Dirk makes friends with the son of his foster family, Christopher, and the local Goth girl, Sooz, and together they attempt to cast a spell that will transport Dirk back to his homeland. But inevitably not everything goes to plan… All hail the Great Dirk!

Frankenstein’s Legions

This epic steampunk horror novel by John Whitbourn follows the fortunes (and otherwise) of Julius Frankenstein, nephew of the infamous baron, and Ada Lovelace, pioneer computer programmer, as they evade assassins, spies and resurrected soldiers in their quest to solve a murder — Ada’s. It’s alive!

Mirabilis

There’s a green comet in the sky and things are getting strange. Every day, fantasy and reality are getting harder to tell apart. Witches in bottles, warmongering cabbages from the planet Pluto, and a pteranodon roosting on the Eiffel Tower. Or is it a pterodactyl?

Jack Ember is caught between two very unreliable mentors. Talisin is a two-thousand year old wizard or an escaped madman – or possibly both. The Kind Gentleman is the sort of faerie godfather who’ll grant you three wishes you can’t refuse. Both of them have plans for Jack, who’s spent his life dreaming of adventure and now is about to get a lot more of it than he bargained for.

Mirabilis is a full-colour graphic novel series drawn from the pages of Random House’s weekly comic “The DFC”. A fast-paced adventure epic for all ages from 12 years and up. Let the Year of Wonders commence!

The radio broadcasts of A J Alan

“Good evening, everyone (or good morning, afternoon or night, as the case may be). First of all, I should like to express my gratitude to Sir John Reith and the staff of the B.B.C. for all the courtesy and assistance I have received from them. I should also like to take this opportunity of thanking the large number of listeners who have written me such charming and appreciative letters. They have given me no end of encouragement. As regards my stories: everything I say over the microphone is taken down in shorthand and transcribed afterwards, and when the idea of publishing my experiences was mooted I began to try to turn them into something like English. However, after a glance at my first efforts in this direction, the editors called loudly for the transcript of the shorthand notes and insisted on using it instead. You must, therefore, blame them and not me if any of the expressions in my book seem to verge upon the colloquial.” – A. J. Alan, January, 1928. Tune in to find out more

The Fabled Lands

The Fabled Lands give you an entire world to explore, opening up your own adventures in strange places, amongst curious creatures and exotic cultures.

How you play is entirely your choice. Some enterprising souls choose to explore and build their wealth, while others follow the many quests that are offered. Read more

Dragon Warriors

Dragon Warriors is a fantasy role-playing game wher you can choose to take the roles of gallant heroes in a world of fantasy. Are you ready to undertake the dangerous missions and adventures, to pit your wits, weapons and magical abilities against the fearsome foes and challenges?

Some do it for money, some for honour, and some for darker, more personal reasons. What will you choose?

The Way Of The Tiger


Ever wanted to be a master ninja in a fantastical world of orcs and goblins? Well now you can, as the Spark Furnace brings the number one selling series of game books, Way of the Tiger, back to life!

Massive hits in the 80s and 90s, spawning a series of number one video games, a full Way of The Tiger collection is coming to Spark Furnace soon…

Fangleworth’s – the factory of tomorrow!

Fangleworth’s has a unique claim. It’s the world’s first and only fully automated factory. That’s because it’s staffed and run entirely by robots.

When Hiram T Fangleworth built them back in the day, our robots were state of the art. But hey, that was a long time ago. Nowadays, let’s face it, people are more interested in blogging and tweeting than they are in the world of tomorrow. So, we have to ask… Did the future get too high-tech for robots?
We manufacture miracles – with a warranty!

Billy Graves: Bonesman

Billy Graves is a typical kid. His main problems are keeping up at school, dodging bullies, getting to the shower before his sister each morning, and coping with his parents’ separation. Then Billy’s life changes the day his grandfather dies and he inherits the Skeleton Key. Billy learns that he’s the last in a line of Bonesmen – hereditary shamans whose duty is to guide troubled spirits through to the next world.

We know what you’re thinking. All this characters-and-feelings stuff is all very well, but where are the insane sorcerers? The 5000-year-old golems? The grisly murders? The midnight grave robbing? The grand schemes to wrestle the secrets of immortality from the gods? The crimes against reality itself..?

Don’t worry, we’ve got all those too.
Is there anybody there?