Not much news this week, so instead Ed provides us with another book review…

Okay, this one is not for horror, but if you’re a gamer or love history as I do, you will love this book. This is Conn Iggulden’s first novel, but with writing as good as this it definitely won’t be his last. The Gates of Rome is the first in a series of novels by Iggulden that explores the life of one of history’s greatest men, Julius Caesar. I’ve read many novels on Caesar but this is by far the best ever! The plot is clean, the characters are revived into living people, not the stuffy old same old, same old, that we’ve come to expect from such historical fiction. [more]

review by Ed WettermanOkay, this one is not for horror, but if you’re a gamer or love history as I do, you will love this book. This is Conn Iggulden’s first novel, but with writing as good as this it definitely won’t be his last. The Gates of Rome is the first in a series of novels by Iggulden that explores the life of one of history’s greatest men, Julius Caesar. I’ve read many novels on Caesar but this is by far the best ever! The plot is clean, the characters are revived into living people, not the stuffy old same old, same old, that we’ve come to expect from such Historical Fiction.

Iggulden knows his stuff. He has taken many of the great stories of Caesar, as well as what was happening in Rome and added enough fiction to make it one of the greatest retellings I’ve found. Here is the hype from the back cover:

Sweeping us into a realm of tyrants and slaves, of dark intrigues and seething passions, Conn Iggulden brings us a magnificent novel of ancient Rome—and of the early years of a man who would become the most powerful ruler on earth.

In a city of grandeur and decadence, beauty and bloodshed, two boys, best friends, dream of glory in service of the mightiest empire the world has ever known. One is the son of a senator. The other is a bastard child. As Gaius and Marcus grow to manhood, they are trained in he art of combat by one of Rome’s most fearsome gladiators. For Marcus, a bloody campaign in Greece will become a young soldier’s proving ground. For Gaius, the equally deadly infighting of the Roman Senate will be his battlefield. And for both, the love of an extraordinary slave girl will be an honor each will covet but only one will win. But as Rome is thrust into the grip of bitter conflict, Gaius and Marcus’s friendship will be put to the ultimate test….

Writing: 5 Stars

Iggulden writes the way I wish I could. His prose is flawless and easy to read. He is not trying to impress the reader with his own intelligence, but desires to tell a story in the best way possible. That’s my favorite type of writer. The tale begins with a scene from Gaius and Marcus’s boyhood and the reader quickly comes to understand the bonds between the two. This is the perfect prelude for an epic fantasy tale. In fact, as I read it, I constantly thought of my own fantasy campaign that Mark Ramsey and I have been running for several years now. A truly enjoyable read.

Plot: 5 Stars

The plot is fast paced and the action intense. The interplay of the characters is flawless and many times I felt I was watching a movie rather than reading a book. The London Times stated, “If you liked Gladiator, you’ll love Emperor.” I have to agree wholeheartedly. The plot shows the boys growing up to become the men that will bring the Roman Republic down, and set the stage for Octavian to become the first Emperor of Rome. They are trained by an ex-gladiator that is the perfect npc type, and each character is well developed and well rounded. Warning, you will come to care for these characters!

Gaming Uses: 5 Stars

Emperor: The Gates of Rome is a great resource for anyone playing in or running a Romanesque game, or in a similar fantasy setting. The presentation of the slaves, the soldiers, the infighting, politics of the Senate, and the battles are all top notch and could easily be brought into a game setting. In my own fantasy world, we have developed a nation named Lothaen, that is very similar to the Roman Republic and is also on the cusp of disaster. Reading this book led me to think of several plot points to add that will make great adventures for the future.

Final Score: 5.00 +

Well, what else is there to say. I love this novel. I’ve already begun reading the second in the series called Emperor: The Death of Kings. I have to say, of all the novels I’ve read in 2005, this is the best, and I highly recommend it.

review by Ed Wetterman
If you’re a big fan of zombies, then you should check this book out. Do you remember those really geeky fellows in high school? You know the ones; they were into science, history, fantasy, and roleplaying. Nah! I’m certain no one you ever knew was like that. Laymon takes the quintessential nerd a step farther in Resurrection Dreams. Here’s the hype from the back of the book:

Back in Ellsworth High there was definitely no one weirder than Melvin. All the kids made fun of the way he dressed, the way he acted, everything about him. Vicki was the only one who stood up for him, but even she was horrified when he dug up a dead body and tried to bring it back to life with power from a car battery.

That was years ago, but Vicki still has nightmares about Melvin. Now she’s back in Ellsworth and she knows she’ll have to see Melvin again. He’s just been released from the institution and he’s acting even weirder than ever. His experiments with the dead have progressed, and as soon as he can get Vicki where he wants her, he can make his most twisted dream a reality.

Writing: 4 Stars

Laymon is a professional writer with quite a horror resume. He knows his stuff and moves the story along very well. I found I really enjoyed the main characters he introduced, especially the heroine, Vicki Chandler, and her very enjoyable best friend, Alice (Ace) Mason. Ace really steals many of the scenes, as her cool manner and quick tongue makes the character very real and someone I’d like to be friends with! Melvin, the geeky villain, is pretty two-dimensional, and never shows any further depth than the deranged ex-mental patient geek who wants to unlock the secrets of bringing the dead back to life. Actually, I’d have given the writing five stars, except the book is full of sexual situations, even when they aren’t necessary. I found his treatment of human sexuality to be very juvenile, and a distraction from what was a good horror tale.

Plot: 4 Stars

Laymon moves the plot along well, with few wasted scenes. However the sexually explicit scenes are very gratuitous, appealing to me as a thirteen year old boy but not as an adult man. I was surprised by a few of the happenings in the book, especially the “How do you kill the dead?” scene. He also invoked a sense of Tarantino-esque humor, where I laughed at scenes that were so bizarre and horrific as to be funny. Imagine your zombie girlfriend is totally devoted to you, but you love a living girl, and the zombie is jealous. It made for an enjoyable read.

Gaming Uses: 4 Stars

Resurrection Dreams had some good gaming ideas that could easily be snatched by the inventive Game Master and placed into a modern horror type game. Melvin, inspired by Frankenstein, tried many methods of resurrecting the dead and failed time and again, until he finally attempted a ritual from page 621 of Curses, Spells, and Incantations by Amed Magdal, translated from the Coptic by Guy de Villier. The ritual involved cutting the corpse’s midsection and carving the “Face of Ram-Chotep.” This ritual was further enabled by the chewing of a root into a paste and pushing it into the cut with his tongue. The zombie is thus animated, and other than an extreme thirst for sex and blood, is controlled by the person who inserted the paste. This bizarre zombie is almost a cross between the classic living dead and the more modern vampire, and could be an enjoyable addition to any horror campaign.

Final Score: 4.00

This novel was a fun read, but the overwhelming sexuality was too much for me and distracted from the overall story arc. The book is otherwise well written, with good characters and a fun read. It is definitely meant for a mature audience.

review by Ed Wetterman
Dean Koontz scores big with his newest novel that revitalizes the Frankenstein monster in the 21 st century. To quote another reviewer, “Koontz has a knack for making the bizarre and uncanny seem as commonplace as a sunrise.” (People). I really enjoyed this novel and see it as having a goldmine of gaming ideas within it. The back cover teaser states:

Every city has secrets. But none as terrible as this. His name is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who’s traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Detective Carson O’ Connor is cool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks. Her partner Michael Maddison would back her up all the way to Hell itself—and that just may where this case ends up. For the no-nonsense O’Connor is suddenly talking about an ages-old conspiracy, a near immortal race of beings, and killers that are more-and-less than human. Soon it will be clear that as crazy as she sounds, the truth is even more ominous. For their quarry isn’t merely a homicidal maniac- but his deranged maker.

Writing: 5 Stars

What can one say regarding such a prolific and fine writer? I’ve enjoyed many of his books over the years and this one is one of his best. While I’m not crazy about the name the Frankenstein monster has chosen for himself—Deucalion—I do understand why he chose it. For pure reading enjoyment of sci-fi, horror, and modern suspense, this book is terrific.

Plot: 4 Stars

The plot moves very well, and Koontz interweaves the various story threads very well. The only reason I give him a 4, rather than a 5, is that the book ends on a cliffhanger, and truly in the middle of the story. Now I have to wait till this summer to get the next one. ARRGGHHH! Koontz originally plotted this story for a sixty-minute pilot for USA Network. After a director and a “wonderful” cast was assembled, the script was lengthened to a two hour version. But then, as with many great shows, the Hollywood establishment decided to make radical changes to Koontz’s vision and the deal fell through. Koontz decided to tell the story in novel form, and was joined in this endeavor by Kevin J. Anderson.

Now I must be honest here. I really do not like Kevin J. Anderson’s writings. I hated the Star Wars novels he penned, as I thought he had the characters doing things that didn’t support what we knew about them. I have purchased at least five Anderson novels, and the last one, I quit reading after about fifty pages. IMHO he is the worst prolific writer out there. I know he has his fans, and if you’re one of them we must simply agree to disagree. All that being said, don’t let his participation in the novel prevent you from getting it.

Gaming Uses: 5 Stars

This book is full of gaming uses. Dr. Frankenstein has found ways to extend his life, as well as to create better constructs for many different purposes in his ultimate plan at world domination. He leads a major corporation, and is a powerful, rich personality. Like the original Frankenstein monster, the new creations are flawed in that they recognize how monstrous they truly are, and this flaw makes them all too human. The various creations have different abilities and skills, and would make for a great ongoing Modern Horror/Suspense game. The original Frankenstein monster has also matured, spending the past century studying the nature of man, and attempting to understand his own macabre place in the world.

Final Points: 4.75 (Extra points given for enjoyment!)

I really loved this novel, and highly recommend it to all Modern Horror gamers everywhere. In fact, check out our April Issue of Modern Dispatch, as I’m taking a new gaming look at the Frankenstein legend.

It is a new year, with new hopes, dreams, and games. While the President is off celebrating his inauguration, I thought I would do the same with a not-so-brief update on what 12 to Midnight has in store for the coming year.

For starters, we had our annual Board of Directors meeting on January 15 th, and I was elected company President for 2005. You may wonder, “What happened to Ed Wetterman? What does this mean for the company?”

The answer to the first questions is: he is right here. Ed is a vital part of this company—I daresay the heart of it—and he is not going anywhere. Ed helmed an excellent 2004 term as President and safely navigated us through the sometimes turbulent waters of our first full year in existence. Unfortunately, he has had a lot on his plate outside the company and was ready for a break. I went into the kitchen at an inopportune time, and when I came back I was President.

The answer to the second question is even easier. Practically nothing is going to change. Even though the company is structured like a corporation, internally we operate more like a studio. We share writing and editing duties, and we all have equal votes on important matters. Everything we do is highly collaborative, and I am sure is the reason for our high quality. When three or four people pour over a project like we do, it almost HAS to be good. What will change this year is that we will be stepping out from behind our iconics more. It has been fun bringing Jackson, Lance, and Dr. Maclanahan to life here on the site, but I think maybe we have done our job too well. To some folks, we are the iconics. It is time you get to know the real us.

Looking ahead, we have great things planned for 2005. RPG Objects invited us to share publishing duties for Modern Dispatch, and our first issue will be out in a little more than a week. After that, look for a new issue from us every four weeks. The comment we read most often about us on forums is “12 to Midnight—they do great work, but they sure aren’t prolific.” This year, Modern Dispatch is going to help turn that around. We have some really neat things in store for the Dispatch, as you’ll see in the very first issue. Just like with most magazines, you can buy issues individually or you can save quite a bit by subscribing.

Our next big project is a departure from the norm— our first game aid, called Green’s Guide to Ghosts. Green’s Guide is a ghost-hunting “how to” book written from Jackson Green’s perspective. (So I’m already going back on my statement about stepping out from behind the iconics. Actually it was co-authored by myself and Ed Wetterman) It includes separate advice for players and GMs on how to conduct a ghost-hunt, an equipment guide, a template for converting any character to a ghost, three adventure outlines, and much more. What do I mean by much more? Lots and lots and lots of adventure ideas. What you won’t see are advanced or prestige classes, skills, or feats. Blood & Spooks by RPG Objects has already covered that territory. Green’s Guide compliments that product rather than competes with it. It is in the last round of edits and will be heading to layout very soon. Look for the d20 version in the next 60 days and a Savaged version following closely.

More than 60 days out we have an adventure by Weekend Warriors author Jerry Blakemore. Weathered is set in Pinebox, and falls somewhere between Last Rites and Bloodlines in terms of scope. I don’t want to give away too much yet, but believe me you won’t be disappointed.

Ed Wetterman and I are both in the early development stage of a total of three adventures, including “Last Rites II”. As Ed has mentioned in the forums, the Last Rites sequel has been a big challenge because the first one set the bar so high. We have lots of ideas–the challenge is in picking and choosing which ones fit while retaining everything that made the first adventure so fun. We are shooting for a release to coincide with the two year anniversary of the first adventure’s release in mid-August.

We have also been working with a handful of freelancers on various projects. Our policy is to not publicly disclose projects until we have a first draft in hand, but I can tell you we have outside writers working on five adventures and one game aid. We are always open to fresh proposals. Just check out the writers’ guidelines link in the menu.

Finally, we have every intention of supporting all our products in both d20 System and Savage Worlds editions. While the d20 System is still the 800 lb. gorilla of game systems, we are all big fans of Savage Worlds. On the rare occasions when we can all get together and game, we do so with ole’ Smiling Jack on the character sheet.

From all of us, thank you for supporting us in our first year and a half of existence. Literally, without you it is all for nothing. Please stop by our forums and let us know what you like, what you don’t, and what you want to see from us in the future.

Preston P. DuBose
President
12 to Midnight, Inc