Game of Plagues

September 14, 2020

Game of Plagues

You can get a copy of Game of Plagues in eBook or paperback by clicking this link. Scroll down to learn more.

The ZINTER-19 zombie virus

Blurb from Game of Plagues

ZINTER is coming. Specifically, ZINTER-19 - the latest strain of the dreaded zombie virus.

The coming plague presents significant problems for the people of Pundlia. Following decades of mismanagement, corruption, and horror, the Healers Service finds itself ill prepared for an outbreak of the sniffles - let alone the most virulent zombie virus in a century. Even worse, the scoundrels who made this mess are still very much in charge.

Officially, the spineless Boronymous Jubbly runs Grand Pundlia. Unofficially, his warlock Düm Leavings spearheads the thrust of governance (although only if his plans line up with wealthy backers like the tabloid king Slurdoch the sorcerer).

Finding themselves trapped in this distended dystopia are people like the embattled junior healer Iris Stubfinger; the embittered task-peon Ayesha Bashir, and the embroiled sorcologists, Drs Mr and Mrs Downer.

Will the government manage to act against type and save its subjects from the plague? They will if they can find a way of helping their friends profit from it, certainly. If not, it may be easier to just let everyone go undead.

You can buy Game of Plagues in eBook or paperback by clicking this link!

Creation Notes

I can't imagine Game of Plagues will be the last zombie satire of the pandemic, but it might be the first! Please let me know if anyone hit publish before I did. So far I've only seen this tweet.

I began writing in April after a planning stage in which I listed all of the ridiculous cock-ups the government had overseen. No doubt more subtle satires of the pandemic will emerge, but I've taken the heavy-handed approach here - so heavy-handed I've literally gone through keyboards. It seemed like an appropriate direction, anyway. I've not seen much that's happened this year and thought:

"Someone should delicately pooh-pooh this."

Anyone living in Britain will recognise which characters are based on real people and which scenes are based on real-life fiascos. It's just different to real life because it's a fantasy setting - so the virus is a zombie virus, and the prime minister is a spineless jellyfish-man with no idea what he's...

wait...

...is that different to the reality?

Moving on, anyway, the pandemic has exposed a number of things, like the fact that:

The government exists solely to hand out private contracts to corporations who have shown nothing but incompetence in delivering private contracts.
The so-called 'free media' is bought and paid for by five men - men who will literally encourage their readers to catch a virulent disease if it helps them avoid a dip in readership.
The infrastructure we spent the past few decades selling off would really have come in useful.

I've tried to touch on all that in the book when I'm not arsing about going on about wizards and snake-cats. Hopefully it just about holds together!

Like all the other Tumultiverse books, the message of the book can be summed up as:

"The ultra-rich are eating the future and we need to stand together to stop them."

The only difference is that in this novel, the protagonists have to 'stand together' two metres apart.

Characters and Creatures

Here are some of the creatures you'll be meeting in Game of Plagues (credit to Zuza Gruzlewska):