MASSIVE NEWS UPDATE ALL UP IN YOUR FACE

Here I am! Things have been a bit mental for a while, but now I've got the chance, allow me to PIMP THE HOLY WHATSIT OUT OF LOADS OF THINGS.

First things first: METAHORDE by John McCuaig and Sean T. Page.

This is the latest in the Ministry of Zombies series of zombie books from Australian publishers Severed Press. Whereas the previous books have taken the form of 'historical texts' this is an actual novel, and is pretty darn good. The initial set-up is a bit 'been there, done that' as we're introduced to a world in ruins, with survivors of a zombie apocalypse living in fortified settlements. However, we are also introduced, straight off the bat, to this novel's not-so-secret weapon: the idea of the metahorde itself. Basically, zombies have started to show signs of a 'hive mind' - in other words, once enough of them are together, they share a collective "intelligence". It is an intriguing and original concept that I certainly haven't seen utilized in zombie fiction before.

Enter a plucky band of survivors, including a boffin, his two assistants, and a gung-ho squad of soldiers. The boffin (Carter) has figured out that the zombies are massing, and sweeping across the world, obliterating all in their wake. So far, a few settlements have been wiped out, with his (an ancient fort in France) next on the menu. Together, our ragtag bunch set off for a power plant on the predicted route of the zombie horde, with the aim to blow it up as they pass, (hopefully) stopping them.

What I like most about this book is the sheer speed at which events unfold. Dilemmas and apparent answers are brought up and revealed in quick succession, making you wonder how on earth the story's going to progress. Thankfully, rather than running out of steam, METAHORDE continues to pick it up with surprise after surprise. I don't want to spoil any, other than mention the very unexpected introduction of a particularly suicidal cult of religious extremists (again, something I haven't seen done before in a zombie book).

METAHORDE is perhaps more action than horror, but that's not a bad thing. There were a few typos and some slightly odd formatting (line breaks when they didn't need to be any) that occasionally took me out of the story, but other than that it's a fast-paced read with humorous dialogue and well-written locations - I could easily envisage all the places that the characters find themselves in, which is worth more than you might think.

If you'd like to get a copy (which, obviously, I recommend you do) you can find it on Amazon.
You can find out more about Sean T. Page HERE!
You can find out more about John McCuaig HERE!

NEXT! The long-awaited/oft-delayed NO MORE HEROES by myself and Bill Tucker!

I can't even tell you how long it's taken for this book to see the light of day. Basically, it ended up being dropped by the original publisher due to financial reasons. Thankfully, Matt Nord (who appears in it, and whom I've shared book-space with before) stepped up to the plate and has released it. Everyone involved helped fuel my passion for this by exercising extreme patience and support, for which I can't thank them enough.

But what's it all about, Wayne? Shut up and I'll tell you!

On November 20th, 2009, a catastrophic event dubbed The Cataclysm wiped the world's greatest heroes and villains off the face of the planet and created a death toll stretching into the millions.

Though most of the world survived, it is now in the grip of the super villains who avoided The Cataclysm. It may not have been quite the victory they expected, but it is the outcome they wanted: all the heroes are dead and the world is theirs...

Or so they believe...

It's a shared world anthology, in which characters - both good and evil - crop up in other stories, to build up a central narrative. The world is in the grip of supervillains, but one-by-one, heroes are making themselves known...Bill and I created a roster of characters for people to use, and they've done so admirably! The stories in here run the gamut from comedy to tragedy, with plenty of action and some extremely cool use of powers. Of course I'm going to gush about it, but I'm supremely proud of this anthology. I honestly believe there's nothing (or very little) like it out there at the moment. If you really do believe in supporting 'the little guy', then please, for the love of all that's holy, get a copy :) THANKS!

Get it HERE and HERE! More info on this book can be found via the No More Heroes blog! --> http://nomoreheroesanthology.blogspot.co.uk/

PENULTIMATE NEWS! The art collective I run with my friend has applied for funding for a film festival. As you can imagine, this has taken a lot of my time up, what with writing funding bids and attending meetings like a proper businessman/adult, but it's all very exciting. The main thing we hope to do is run filmmaking workshops (as that's my background). You can find out more about this HERE!

FINAL NEWS! My band, Handsome Bastards, are back off our self-imposed hiatus and are working on new material, with the aim to do an album/tour next year. The most exciting news is that we were played on BBC radio last night! Not only that, but they'd like us to go in and do a live session!!! You can hear the radio show HERE (we're on from a bit after the 1hr 30 min mark) and keep up-to-date with our handsome shenanigans HERE. 

And that's HOW for NOW!

I can't get enough of this group at the moment. Plus this video's cool!