Writing
I write sci-fi/speculative novels and whatever short stories come into my head.
Details on my currently available ebooks below, as well as purchase links.
The Misdaventures of Stank and Bohdrum
The Misadventures of Stank and Bohdrum are retrofuturistic mystery/detective stories. On a future Earth, where our current civilisations were wiped out centuries ago, newly emerging nations must learn to live with the knowledge and technology we left behind.
Captain Stanek ‘Stank’ Dobrovsk, a rationalist spy, and Ernst Bohdrum, a rural storyteller, are plunged together into a series of wicked problems they can only solve by struggling against their existing ideas of the world.
If you enjoy the mix of rational enquiry and mystery offered by Asimov, Conan Doyle or LeRoux’s Rouletabille series, combined with the fantasy world-building and British sensibilities of Michael Moorcock and Terry Pratchett, you’ll find plenty to love about The Misadventures of Stank and Bohdrum ebooks. They are suitable for ages 13+.
Read my ‘What is science and why do we need it?’ and ‘What are Stories and Why Do We Need Them?’ blogposts for an explanation of what inspired me to write them, or scroll down to learn a little more about the world and characters of the series in my Holovid Handbook videos.
Revolution of the Mind
The Misadventures of Stank and Bohdrum #2
What makes us do what we do? Have we any real freedom in our decisions and behaviour?
These questions and more face Captain ‘Stank’ Dobrovsk and Ernst Bohdrum as they try to bring peace to a land caught in a decades-long conflict between a cruel dictatorship and desperate rebel forces - all further twisted by the tales and technology of the Ancients.
Stank must face up to the harrowing past that shaped his single-minded thirst for knowledge. Bohdrum once again finds himself questioning the motives of his companion, not to mention his own behaviour and reliance on stories to make sense of the world.
Their mission is only made more difficult when rumours of a mythical dragon become a deadly possibility...
Revolution of the Mind is a retrofuturistic mystery continuing the themes of Struggle to Make Sense of it All: the tools we rely on to uncover the truth, and the illusions we conjure to spare ourselves from it.
Struggle to Make Sense of it All
The Misadventures of Stank and Bohdrum #1
How do you make sense of a world that seems impossible?
For Ernst Bohdrum, the answer is simple: stories - to be precise, the stories of the Ancients. Their technology was so advanced, so unfathomable, how could their stories not be true as well?
Captain ‘Stank’ Dobrovsk is less convinced. He believes in a process; a careful, rigorous process almost lost to time, known only to himself and the other members of Great Burn’s Protectorate.
When their investigation on an uncharted island leads to catastrophe, they must struggle with their own and each others’ beliefs to make sense of everything they found - extraordinary islanders; enemy agents; incredible machines; and long-hidden secrets - not just to find the truth, but to decide what they should do with it.
Set on a future Earth, with emerging civilisations thrown into disorder by the technologies we left behind - including a few we haven’t yet invented - Struggle To Make Sense of it All is a retrofuturistic mystery exploring the tools we use to make sense of our world, particularly scientific enquiry and storytelling.
The Misadventures of Stank and Bohdrum Holovid Handbooks
Discover more about the world and characters of The Misadventures of Stank and Bohdrum retrofuturistic mystery ebook series in the videos below.
Holovid Handbook #1: Introduction
Holovid Handbook #2: The World and its History
Holovid Handbook #3: Technology
Holovid Handbook #4: The Protectorate
Holovid Handbook #5: Ernst Bohdrum
Holovid Handbook #6: Captain Stanek ‘Stank’ Dobrovsk
Short Stories
My short stories tend to focus on characters with emotional and psychological imbalances brought on by the expectations and pressures of our complicated modern lives. I’m currently working to finish a collection of these - more details to follow later.