Thursday 25 July 2013

Review update!

First, to those asking for updates on progress with Legendary's REVIVER movie, the script is currently being written. Patience! The folk at Legendary are a little busy with Man of Steel, Pacific Rim and Godzilla at the moment.

Second, I've not posted up any review links since launch day, so I thought it was about time to round a few up...


www.impactonline.co/reviews/1346-the-impact-review-reviver

"gripping and unique... Reviver is one hell of a fantastic ride, an amazing first novel. I’ll be keeping my eye on Seth Patrick; he’s bound to rise high in the genre."


www.guardian.co.uk

"a skilfully plotted and compulsively readable supernatural thriller"

 
www.lep.co.uk/what-s-on/reviews/books

"From its arresting first sentence through an opening chapter that is so irresistibly and hair-raisingly seductive and into a story bristling with originality and descriptive excellence, this is truly a book to savour.

...melds crime and the paranormal in a cracking, page-turning thriller.

An impressive, intelligent and exciting debut."

 

readerdad.co.uk/2013/07/12/reviver-by-seth-patrick/

"Crackling pace, believable science and characters worth spending some time with make Seth Patrick’s debut a must-read for fans of horror, crime, science fiction, noir.

Without doubt, one of my favourite books of the year from an author whose novels are sure to become a regular feature on my bookshelves. You can’t afford to miss it."


 
zombiehamster.com/reviews/books/reviver-seth-patrick-2/

"walks the line between criminology thriller and supernatural fantasy exceptionally well"


 
 www.milorambles.com/2013/06/09/reviver-by-seth-patrick-book-review/

"Impressive, intelligent and well crafted.

If you’re a fan of the supernatural, horror or the crime thriller genre then I think you’ll love this book. For some reason I couldn’t get Michael Koryta out of my head when reading Reviver, it’s that good!

Dark, accomplished, exceptional and rare."




Tuesday 23 July 2013

Total War: Rome 2 Takeover

REVIVER author by night, games developer by day, that's me.  And given that I'm in the final few weeks of getting Reviver Book Two finished while also in the final few weeks of development on Creative Assembly's latest game, I'm VERY BUSY.  More coffee!

That new game is the massive (in every way!) Total War: Rome 2.

I've come full circle: nearly thirteen years ago, when I first got a job with Creative Assembly, it was to work on the original Rome game.

The world's gaming media were there for the Rome 2 preview event that was held earlier this month in Cinecitta Film Studios in Rome.  Within a huge marquee in the middle of the vast set of HBO's Rome, journalists were given the first taste of the new game, playing through the Prologue Campaign.

I was very lucky to be one of the developers attending, ready to give help when needed, and I thought I'd share some pictures of the event to whet your appetite. No spoilers, mind you - you'll have to wait until the likes of Gamespot, IGN and Eurogamer give their take on what they saw.

It was a great day. Incredibly hot, and our nerves were going as the temperature in the marquee soared, but even though some of the PCs got hot enough to melt lead, we had surprisingly few failures, thanks to the top notch IT support we'd brought with us.  All those sacrificial offerings had paid off!

Arriving in Italy, we soon learned that Sega (who own Creative Assembly) also happens to be an Italian slang word for, er, masturbation. A quick change of T-shirt was in order for some, who'd been wandering through the airport and the hotel lobby, oblivious that they were wearing shirts with WANK on 'em. Luckily I'd been wearing my REVIVER shirt. Shameless self-promotion never did anyone any harm...

Here I am, just to prove I was actually there:





Sprawling back streets with genuine Roman graffiti...

Note the authentic ancient Roman fire extinguisher, the Romans being famous for their insistence on Health and Safety. You can never be too careful when there are pigs around...
 
 



The game awaits...

 
 
The troops assemble outside ready to drill. "Ctrl-A attack, lads!"
 


Night falls, and the traditional Ancient Pink Lighting kicks in. Ale from all conquered lands is summoned!

Total War Devs, ogling genuine old stuff in the actual real world. WHAT! GET BACK TO HORSHAM AND WORK!

The Colosseum part of the set, very impressive. Hang on...

Pantheon-like temple on set... and how everything looks from inside, when you fall through what you thought was stone.


The actual Pantheon. Bigger, and more made-of-actual-stone.
 
Well, that's it for my Preview of the, um, Total War: Rome 2 Preview. I have to go and work on my book, now. More coffee!