The Fine Young Capitalists’ begins their first online project allowing any women to have their chance at creating a video game In 2011, the Video Game Industry took in over $16 Billion dollars but despite women representing 45% percent of the game playing audience they directed less than 2% of the Games. In combination with […]

Solaris is very proud to announce the follow-up to Tony Ballantyne’s critically-acclaimed novel, Dream London. “Tony’s Dream London was this poetical, phantasmagorical, satirical, and fantastical mash-up of a book, a real joy to read and a world I didn’t want to leave in a hurry,” said Solaris editor-in-chief Jonathan Oliver. “I’m delighted then that we’re […]

Matt Forbeck has been a bit busy over the past year. He started a series of Kikcstarters to support and promote a crazy idea: that he could write and prepare for publication one novel a month for twelve months. I caught up with Matt recently to ask him about one of the most recent books in that series, Monster Academy 1: I Will Not Eat People.

Angels are everywhere.

They are under the everyday world, behind it, beyond it. They are sent by the God-Machine to enact its will through time and space, delivering messages, building infrastructure, protecting some people, killing others. You were one of those angels…

But not anymore.

Now you are one of the Unchained, a fallen angel who defected to the human race. Yours is a world of false identities and clockwork conspiracies, stolen faces and hidden works of the Machine.

You cannot — will not — return to the sterile embrace of Heaven.

All you can do is reign in Hell.

The Flames Rising RPG Design series continues with Eric Staggs from Spectacle Publishing.

The Darkest Age is a Horror RPG set in a grim, alternate history. Enter the gritty and dangerous world of Europe in 1350, as an unusual strain of the bubonic plague ravages the countryside and those afflicted don’t just die. Faced with extinction, the people of Europe are forced to survive in any way they can. Characters face death, disease and the myriad undead, as well as cannibals, xenophobic city-states, and religious strife in an unending battle for the resources that mean survival.

Eric tells us about his process of creating the game.

Hey there fans of Flames Rising! I gotta tell you, I was pretty excited about diving into issue #3 of the Dept. of Monsterology. So far the issue has been well written, possesses some good, witty dialogue, and the artwork has been spot on in setting the feel and tone of this pulp-supernatural series. Issues 1 & 2 were interesting rides while building up to some serious trouble for both Team Challenger and Team Carnacki. Things were already going downhill for Carnacki by the end of issue #2, and trouble loomed on the horizon for Team Challenger. So how does issue #3 fare?

Valiant Entertainment is proud to announce that it has partnered with Catalyst Game Labs to produce role-playing and tabletop games featuring Valiant’s award-winning library of comic book superheroes. The partnership will lead off in mid-2014 with the release of the Valiant Universe RPG—Valiant’s first-ever role-playing game, designed for the Cue System (the Origins and ENnie awards-nominated system first published in Catalyst’s 1950s Rockets/Rayguns/Robots RPG, Cosmic Patrol). Subsequent releases, spotlighting a wide array of Valiant properties, will follow in 2015 and beyond.

The edge between superhero and villain has never been sharper. In the Valiant Universe RPG, players will immerse themselves in a dark and gritty world where every mission and every battle has deadly consequences. Whether playing X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Shadowman or even the all-powerful Toyo Harada—or any of dozens of characters—Valiant’s most fearless heroes will unite for the first time in a roleplaying game, allowing you to join their stories and create new ones! Whether you’re a longtime fan or brand new to the Valiant Universe, this is the only source you’ll need to bring Valiant’s leading characters to life in a fantastic superheroes setting!

Since 2003, FlamesRising.com has supported first-time novelists and veteran authors through our interviews, reviews, and excerpts. Our chapter previews, which are hosted with permission, are one of the most popular features of our website.

If you’re an author (or publisher) seeking an outlet to host your horror, dark fantasy, or dark science fiction excerpt, we invite you to join FlamesRising.com. Since we are a website, it’d would be helpful if you saved your excerpt in a format conducive to the web. To add your preview to this feature on our site, please review our Submission Guidelines and use the Contact Us page.