Fiction: Ace of Wands - Author's Note
Authors Note and Bibliography under cut (If you're interested, read the fic first!)
Hellbane: Prologue and Part One
Hellbane: Part Two
Hellbane: Part Three
Hellbane: Part Four and Epilogue
This story is based on a TV series that aired between 1970 and 1972. It is set some 15 years later (1988) and was written in 1991 and first published in March 1994. In coding this for electronic publication I have not altered the original text, (apart from some spelling and punctuation corrections). It therefore reflects the attitudes of the characters and of the times. And the technology. No mobile phones, no internet, no 'Starbucks'. The terrorist activities referred to are the IRA bombings of London in the early-80s. The London Underground had not been subjected to bombing (since WWII) but had experienced two major disasters, at Moorgate in 1975 and the Kings Cross fire in 1987.
References to the 'Occult Crisis' are a tribute to Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman's work on Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and The Books of Magic which were as inspirational in their way as Ace of Wands itself.
I am very conscious that some of the background is not incompatible with the magical world of Harry Potter (which was also having an occult crisis of its own in the late-70s…). Maybe one day I will write a crossover. But this isn't it.
The background research sources for the original story were:
Books:
The Necronomicon - Abdul Alhazred (Tr. Dr. J Dee, Ed. George Hay) 1970 Neville Spearman
Modern Ritual Magic - Francis King 1987 Prism Unity
Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco (Tr. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.) 1989 Secker & Warburg
Bluff Your Way in the Occult - Alexander C. Rae 1988 Ravette Books Ltd.
The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure - Dave Rogers 1988 Boxtree Ltd.
The Thoth Tarot - Lady Frieda Harris
Does the Horse Explode? - Peter Jarvis 1989 BBC Television Training
Journals:
Man, Myth and Magic - Vols. 1-7
Timescreen - Issues 6, 10 & 16
The Books of Magic - Vols 1-4 Neil Gaiman (& cie)
Swamp Thing - Issues 37 - 50 Alan Moore (& cie)
Hellblazer - Issues 1-40 Jamie Delano (& cie)
Kid Eternity - Issues 1-3 Grant Morrison/Duncan Fegredo
Television:
My primary source is, of course, Ace of Wands itself, in particular:
Seven Serpents, Sulphur and Salt - Trevor Preston (1971)
The Power of Atep - P J Hammond (1972)
Also helpful were:
Dramarama: Mr Stabbs - Trevor Preston (1984)
No Frills - Janey Preger (1988)
Hellbane: Prologue and Part One
Hellbane: Part Two
Hellbane: Part Three
Hellbane: Part Four and Epilogue
This story is based on a TV series that aired between 1970 and 1972. It is set some 15 years later (1988) and was written in 1991 and first published in March 1994. In coding this for electronic publication I have not altered the original text, (apart from some spelling and punctuation corrections). It therefore reflects the attitudes of the characters and of the times. And the technology. No mobile phones, no internet, no 'Starbucks'. The terrorist activities referred to are the IRA bombings of London in the early-80s. The London Underground had not been subjected to bombing (since WWII) but had experienced two major disasters, at Moorgate in 1975 and the Kings Cross fire in 1987.
References to the 'Occult Crisis' are a tribute to Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman's work on Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and The Books of Magic which were as inspirational in their way as Ace of Wands itself.
I am very conscious that some of the background is not incompatible with the magical world of Harry Potter (which was also having an occult crisis of its own in the late-70s…). Maybe one day I will write a crossover. But this isn't it.
The background research sources for the original story were:
Books:
The Necronomicon - Abdul Alhazred (Tr. Dr. J Dee, Ed. George Hay) 1970 Neville Spearman
Modern Ritual Magic - Francis King 1987 Prism Unity
Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco (Tr. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.) 1989 Secker & Warburg
Bluff Your Way in the Occult - Alexander C. Rae 1988 Ravette Books Ltd.
The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure - Dave Rogers 1988 Boxtree Ltd.
The Thoth Tarot - Lady Frieda Harris
Does the Horse Explode? - Peter Jarvis 1989 BBC Television Training
Journals:
Man, Myth and Magic - Vols. 1-7
Timescreen - Issues 6, 10 & 16
The Books of Magic - Vols 1-4 Neil Gaiman (& cie)
Swamp Thing - Issues 37 - 50 Alan Moore (& cie)
Hellblazer - Issues 1-40 Jamie Delano (& cie)
Kid Eternity - Issues 1-3 Grant Morrison/Duncan Fegredo
Television:
My primary source is, of course, Ace of Wands itself, in particular:
Seven Serpents, Sulphur and Salt - Trevor Preston (1971)
The Power of Atep - P J Hammond (1972)
Also helpful were:
Dramarama: Mr Stabbs - Trevor Preston (1984)
No Frills - Janey Preger (1988)