Those Were The Days.... Andy Remic Revisits His Spectrum Blasphemy

Wotcher all,

You may or may not remember, early last year, when Andy Remic went and made himself a ZX Spectrum game based on the second Combat-K novel, Biohell.

Feel free to head back and check out the press release; I had to brush up on it my own self.

Yes, that's right, one of the old "GO NORTH/KILL GOBLIN WITH ENCHANTED SWORD/GET KEY/OPEN DOOR WITH KEY/LOSE WILL TO LIVE" stylee command adventure games we all used to play as a kid* written for a system that came out nearly thirty years ago.

He wrote it on a Spectrum, as well. It's not like he got an emulator for this. Andy Remic has a ZX Spectrum. Don't take my word for it, look at this:


This kind of tells you what you need to know about Andy Remic. I fecking love Andy Remic. The dude suffers from terminal whimsy. He makes all these horrific short films on a shoestring budget. His books are these referential, precipitous, deranged, acid-fuelled rants that read like Aliens was recast with the guys from Red Dwarf. Sometimes I wonder if he dares himself to write the things he does. The other day he offered his Facebook and Twitter followers this quote from his work-in progress, Cloneworld:

“Infantry,” growled Mrs Strogger.
“Oh yeah?” snarled Franco, popping up from between her legs like some rabid, bruise-covered, blood- and saliva-smeared last-minute self-ejected caesarean.

See what I mean? You couldn't be more hardboiled than Andy Remic without replacing parts of yourself with steel. I come across people describing his stuff as silly or shallow and I wonder why they even picked up the books. It's like complaining about Spike Milligan's poor grasp of iambic pentameter. Not wrong, but talk about missing the point...

And then he creates a Spectrum adventure game based on his latest nutters-with-guns-vs-mutant-zombies mescaline trip, including commands (and responses) such as:

>COMMAND SIR?eat corpse
>Not on my watch, compadre.
>COMMAND SIR?_

Anyway, the inestimable Mr. Remic has been invited by Del Lakin-Smith at Wordpunk.co.uk to to write a nostalgic look back: at the decision to create something as genuinely insane as this, at re-learning how to program in BASIC, at running a competition for the first person to solve the game. The article, including links to download the game and a compatible emulator, can be found here:

Click to read Andy Remic's article

Kick ass.

See you soon,

David



* Those of us who didn't go out to get fresh air and excercise and meet girls, that is.

"Theme Planet" Cover Teaser

Wotcher all,

Okay, even Cloneworld is months away, so this is way ahead of itself, but...

The final cover of Theme Planet, the fifth novel in Andy Remic's Combat-K series, turned up in Jon's inbox this afternoon.

Here is your extra-special double-exclusive ultra-secret teaser reveal:


Pretty sweet, huh?

As you were.

David

Andy Remic releases 'Hardcore' promotion video

There aren't many authors who would dress up in a rubber nurse's outfit to promote their military SF novels.

I'm just sayin'.




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Jeffrey Thomas interviews Andy Remic

Over at his blog Jeffrey Thomas, author of Deadstock and Blue War, interviews fellow Solaris Books author Andy Remic.

"Andy Remic first came to my attention as a fellow writer over at the Solaris imprint, and when I delved into his initial book with them, WAR MACHINE, he hooked me with more fast-paced, hyper-imaginative action and thrills than one could imagine being packed between two covers..."

Read the rest of the interview here.


Andy poses with his chainsaw, while Jeffrey wears a mask he's welded himself. We make 'em macho here at Solaris Books.

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And now, a message from Andy Remic...

HARDCORE, the new Combat K novel, is officially out 4th January 2010. However, those nice folks at Solaris Books and Forbidden Planet have teamed up to let me do a “pre-publication” signing event at Forbidden Planet in Liverpool. Why Liverpool you ask? Well, my mother’s side of the family originate from Liverpool, so I have blood there, and family there—– should be fun!!

So, if you want your hands on a copy of HARDCORE nearly a month earlier than official publication, or just fancy a coffee and a chat, please drop in!

- Andy Remic


Solaris Books is pleased to announce a signing by our best-selling, hard-hitting military SF author, Andy Remic.

He will be signing Hardcore at Forbidden Planet, 92 Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 4HY, on Saturday 12th December from 1 – 2pm

In a far future where a Junk alien scourge multiplies across Quad-Gal, Combat K are charged with finding the Junk’s homeland and annihilating the enemy. Mission: a quick SLAM drop to Sick World, a long-abandoned hospital planet once dedicated to curing the deformed, the insane, the dying and the dead. As daylight fades, so hibernation ends. The Medical Staff of Sick World, the doctors, nurses, patients and deviants, abandoned with extreme prejudice, a thousand-year gestation of hardcore medical mutation and accelerated healthcare technology; they can smell fresh meat. And Keenan, Pippa and Franco face their toughest battle yet.

You’ll never look at a nurse the same way again.


Andy Remic is a British writer and teacher with an unhealthy love of martial arts, kick-arse bikes, mountain climbing and computer hacking. The new master of violent, high-octane science fiction, Hardcore is his seventh novel and follows the characters from the massively successful Combat-K series. he has been hailed as ‘the new David Gemmell’, and was recently nominated for the David Gemmell award.

Solaris Santa

Just a quick note to say that those great people at Forbidden Planet have got a whole load of signed stash up for sale on their website, including books by Solaris authors Andy Remic and Juliet McKenna.

Signed copies of Andy Remic's Combat-K novel Biohell are still available here, and signed copies of Juliet McKenna's Irons in the Fire, the first volume in her epic series, the Chronicles of the Lescari Revolution, are for sale over here.

A good idea for a Christmas present, eh?

-Jenni (moonlighting as one of Santa's elves)