Michael Stockin
Lord
This now.
Compared to Stoker and Shelley, I much prefer Wells. He is able to set the scene with fewer words and less prone to over detailing everything.
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Compared to Stoker and Shelley, I much prefer Wells. He is able to set the scene with fewer words and less prone to over detailing everything.
willlucv
Vassal
I'm reading this at the moment, having listened to the original version on Lewis Davies's Oldhammer Fiction Podcast.
I absolutely love the Dark Future setting and stories, especially Jack Yeovil's take on it. It tends to get characterised as Mad Max inspired, but the similarities are actually fairly superficial (I absolutely love the Mad Max films btw). Dark Future is all about gonzo Americana tropes turned up to eleven, combined with a hefty dose of cyberpunk, Cthulhu mythos and alternate history.
I came across this book quite by accident on ebay. It is a GW publication on their Black Flame imprint from 2006, but (loosely) based on the 1993 original which was a short story. Unusually for GW at the time (who were fully vertically integrated at this point) Black Flame were tackling some non Workshop properties including novelisations of the Final Destination films.
Interestingly Yeovil (Kim Newman) has remixed and reworked elements of the original story and also updated both the setting which is now in the Dark Future of 2021 (as if anything bad was going to have happened in that year!) and the references, so a lot of the real life characters are people who were prominent in the 00s. He has also added a preamble set in the mid-19th century which reminds me of the Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet and altered some of the events from the earlier story. If you are aware of both versions it is quite odd, I don't think I've ever seen this done before. I haven't finished reading it yet so I'm not sure which version I like better. I suspect the short story was a bit tighter but its nice to have something a bit different to read as well.
Black Flame reprinted or redid most of the original Dark Future stories in this period and also did some new works, American Meat and Golgotha Run (the latter was apparently a crossover with the Dr Who universe, published around the time that the tv series was revived).
Bong0_clive
Vassal
Yes, Dark Future game is quite Mad Max, and everyone assumes that's what they'll be getting, but the books are much more like Cyberpunk.
I love all those books. But I have not read the newer ones.
I didn't realise he'd adapted it for the re-release, that's quite interesting.
I love all those books. But I have not read the newer ones.
I didn't realise he'd adapted it for the re-release, that's quite interesting.
willlucv
Vassal
I suppose the Dark Future game and the setting has much more in common with the original Mad Max film, which is sort of pre-apocalyptic (where society is in decline but hasn't broken down completely) and not the later films which depict a post-apocalyptic reversion to barbarism and tribal societies. I always thought the game was quite heavily influenced by Steve Jackson's Car Wars, especially as it was preceded by Battlecars which was essentially GW's version of the US game.
In Dark Future the corporations tend to rule the roost so weaponry and equipment is still freely available (unlike in Mad Max). Cybernetics and medical advancements are also an important element. Its also a lot more hi-tech so vehicles can be fitted with sophisticated weapons systems including things like laser cannon.
The very real existence of dark gods and demons is another departure from the Mad Max setting, which does in fact resemble the modern 40k setting in some respects.
Eric
Administrator
So does this make that the third version of Route 666? I have Yeovil's short story version (51 pages) in the the Route 666 collection (David Pringle editing) which was published in 1990:
Then in 1993 there was a longer full novel - Route 666 by Yeovil which is marked Copyright 1993, published 1994 by Boxtree:
Which is in the smaller more standard paperback size and runs to 245 pages, so whilst not super long it'd not call that a short story. So I'm wondering did Yeovil re-write that 245 page version for the 2006 story you have or is that a different rewrite of the older 1990 short version or is that the same at the 2006 version? Just wondering if it's worth getting the later editions? The longer version starts with a chapter called Prologue: The Book of Joseph. Not that I've read it in many years so I don't really remember it. Although I did re-read some other Dark Future not too long ago!
Then in 1993 there was a longer full novel - Route 666 by Yeovil which is marked Copyright 1993, published 1994 by Boxtree:
Which is in the smaller more standard paperback size and runs to 245 pages, so whilst not super long it'd not call that a short story. So I'm wondering did Yeovil re-write that 245 page version for the 2006 story you have or is that a different rewrite of the older 1990 short version or is that the same at the 2006 version? Just wondering if it's worth getting the later editions? The longer version starts with a chapter called Prologue: The Book of Joseph. Not that I've read it in many years so I don't really remember it. Although I did re-read some other Dark Future not too long ago!
willlucv
Vassal
It's looks to me as if they reprinted the 1993 version, not the 1990 version (which the 1993 version derives from anyway). It certainly has the prologue and runs to about 250 pages, which, given the slightly larger size of the Boxtree books means they're the same length. Were there pictures in the Boxtree edition?
willlucv
Vassal
As an aside does it say anywhere who did the cover art for the anthology? It looks like something from 2000AD from around that time, Simon Bisley or Greg Staples or someone.
Brother Meredith
Lord
Unmistakably Bis artwork!
Michael Stockin
Lord
Do like the Bis. His Slaine was a game changer for me, though as it goes not my fav Slaine artist, but when 2000AD had the Bisley Slaine art... woah.
Brother Meredith
Lord
Aye, Mike McMahon was the best artist for the series IMHO.
Fighelm
Baron
Oh yes, totally!Some artists do imprint with certain stories - macneil with chopper, Bisley with slaine, boland with dredd and Anderson, ezquerra with robohunter, Gibson with halo Jones... 👍
[Edit: 54yo & my mind is going... I meant Carlos with Johnny alpha/ strontium dog, Ian Gibson with robohunter And halo Jones]. "Good grief Charlie Brown"...
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Michael Stockin
Lord
He was great.
Fighelm
Baron
Word. Met him once (sat with John Wagner) at an inaugural comic festival (LICAF) up here in Kendal. Lovely, lovely bloke. John was a bit grumpy (like an old married couple they were). Scolded John when he took a sharpie to sign across his artwork on one of my old apocalypse war comics... Made oi larf.
Bong0_clive
Vassal
Woah woah woah. Bolland with Dredd? You must be mistaken. There's one towering name over the Dredd strip
Fighelm
Baron
Nope. You must be thinking Belardenilli. 🤔
Fighelm
Baron
... Forgotten also the brilliant Arthur Ranson for button man & psi judge Anderson ('Shambala' was top, top story and the artwork...). As much as I love Carlos, the work by ranson wowed me as a teenager, well, blew my mind actually. I mean look at his pics from Shambala. His website https://www.arthurranson.com/index.php/
