Mark Hodder's Blog

The famous Victorian-era explorer, eroticist, linguist, author and cartographer (to name but a few of his talents) Sir Richard Francis Burton teams up with his eccentric and notorious friend, the poet Algernon Swinburne, to first solve the mystery of why history has split into a multitude of variants and then deal with the consequences.

Their adventures are chronicled in the following publications:

THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF SPRING HEELED JACK (novel)
In which Sir Richard Francis Burton realises that history has somehow gone off the rails and, after teaming up with Algernon Swinburne, learns that Spring Heeled Jack is the cause.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE CLOCKWORK MAN (novel)
In which a figure from an alternate future attempts to change the course of an alternate past, and the disruptive resonance of black diamonds is identified.

EXPEDITION TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON (novel)
In which Sir Richard Francis Burton travels through Africa to secure a black diamond, is projected into the future, and learns a hard lesson about consequences.

THE SECRET OF ABDU EL YEZDI (novel)
In which an attempt to start over is interfered with by a man who comes sideways and back in search of power and immortality.

THE RETURN OF THE DISCONTINUED MAN (novel)
In which a case of Spring Heeled Jack redux sends Burton & Co careening into the distant future with many fascinating stops en route.

THE RISE OF THE AUTOMATED ARISTOCRATS (novel)
In which Burton & Swinburne are born again, resonances cause social upheaval, and the broken processes of Time are finally repaired.

STRANGE AFFAIRS AND CURIOUS CASES: A BURTON & SWINBURNE COMPANION, Vol. 1 (eBook)
In which various incidents are recounted and Burton dreams of dragons.

WHEN RED PETALS FALL: A BURTON & SWINBURNE COMPANION, Vol. 2 (eBook)
In which, in an atrophying alternate history, Burton & Co tidy up loose ends and dreams of dragons are clarified (perhaps).

In preparation:

THE BLACK PENTAGRAM: A BURTON & SWINBURNE CASEBOOK, WINTER 1862–3 (novel)
In which Burton & Co. battle a cabal of black magicians. (Episodes are currently being posted at a rate of about one a month on Patreon for $5+ subscribers: https://www.patreon.com/MarkHodder). I should finish the novel by early summer. ETA for publication probably early 2019.

TITLE TBA: A BURTON & SWINBURNE COMPANION, Vol. 3 (eBook)
Further short stories and vignettes. ETA 2019.

Related:

SHERLOCK HOLMES: SIR RICHARD BURTON’S FINAL CHAPTER (eBook)
In which Sherlock Holmes responds to a request from Algernon Swinburne to assist an elderly Sir Richard Francis Burton.

THE BEETLE (eBook)
In which a member of the supporting cast, William Cornish, encounters the mysterious child known as The Beetle.

And watch for:

VIGNETTES (online)
Starting imminently, and throughout 2018, I shall be posting Burton & Swinburne vignettes on Patreon, exclusive to $2+ subscribers. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MarkHodder

Novels can be ordered from your local bookshop (support bookshops!). The eBooks are exclusive to Kindle and can be purchased via Amazon.com.

By becoming one of my patrons, you can give material support that enables me to reduce teaching time and increase my writing time. In return, you will gain access to a great deal of frequently posted exclusive material relating to Burton & Swinburne, Sexton Blake, my various other writing projects, plus insights into my creative processes. You will be able to engage with me directly, ask questions, make requests, offer suggestions, and so forth. Patronage begins at $1 per month, which is considerably less than the price of a coffee. The greater your support, the better the rewards you can access. There are public posts on my Patreon page, which will give you some idea of what Patrons can see. Take a look: https://www.patreon.com/MarkHodder

Algy says: “What! What! What!”

Hello. Having finished my Burton & Swinburne series, I've been hard at work on a new project. The first novel in this projected new series is currently undergoing its final edit prior to being submitted to publishers. To find out more about it, and to get inside my creative process, please take a look at my Patreon page, here: https://www.patreon.com/MarkHodder

If you sign up and make a pledge, there are rewards waiting for you, including exclusive content.

Enjoy!

Since (and including) my 2009 debut—THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF SPRING HEELED JACK—I’ve written eight novels and a scattering of short stories (short stories neither herd nor swarm, they only scatter). By the end of the year, it will be nine novels. My current project currently stands at 130,000 words. I’m two chapters into the third act, which means the total length may well touch 200,000, giving it a George R. R. Martinesque girth (I refer to his books not to his waistline). It’s my longest novel...

Gollancz is on a mission to publish the complete Michael Moorcock oeuvre, with the exception of those books—such as the Pyat quartet—that are still in circulation. This is my great opportunity to once again revisit one of my all-time favourite authors. I'm pre-ordering each volume the moment it appears on Amazon, and have so far received DAUGHTER OF DREAMS, DESTINY'S BROTHER, SON OF THE WOLF, CORUM: THE PRINCE IN THE SCARLET ROBE, CORUM: THE PRINCE WITH THE SILVER HAND, GLORIANA; OR, THE UNFU...

The BLAKIANA website is currently undergoing a complete reconstruction, which is going to take some considerable time. Not only am I redesigning it and moving it to a different server, but I've also made it a subsection of "MARK HODDER PRESENTS" ... a website I'll be using to cover all my various works.

In the meantime, there's extremely good news for all Blake fans. Obverse Books has become the licensees of Sexton Blake, meaning the relaunch of the famous Sexton Blake Library is finally under...

I'll be signing EXPEDITION TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON in London's Forbidden Planet Megastore on April 14th from 4 - 5pm. Come say hello!

I just finished reading The Second Deluge by Garrett P. Serviss. Rather enjoyed it, though not much happens and there's zero character development. The story is little more than a description of an epic event. Perhaps at any other time I'd have given up on it, but somehow it fitted my mood.

It strikes me that the definition of Steampunk is rather a flexible one, due, in part, to the word "punk" having a more politicised significance in British English than it does in American. I was in my mid-teens when the punk movement railed against the established order back in the late 70s, and my generation still retains the attitudes that were formed back then. To us, the establishment was bigoted, brutal, uptight, and clearly representative of everything that is wrong with imperialism, m...

A very insightful review of EXPEDITION TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON has been published over at Voyages Extraordinaires. Cory Gross is kind enough to finish it with:

"Overall, Mark Hodder's Burton and Swinburne trilogy has been one of the few pleasures of recent genre literature. When goggles and the anti-authority scamps who wear them is a primary scenario and plot-driver of most books, his meditation on time, fate, Scientism, Libertarianism, and the malleability of personhood by historic cont...

It's been a hard-working but very rewarding year for me. As usual, I've spent far too much time sat at my computer hammering the keyboard, but my labours have, at least, borne fruit. THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE CLOCKWORK MAN was well-received, with reviews being 99.9% positive. Middle volumes in a trilogy are tricky beasts. On the one hand, you have to continue the story told in the first novel, on the other, you have to foreshadow events coming in the third book, and amid all that, you also have...