david j rodger

David J. Rodger is a British science fiction & fantasy author and game designer best known for his novels set in a near-future world of corporate and political intrigue. So far he has published seven novels; five that are set in the same world: God Seed; Dante’s Fool; Iron Man Project, Edge and Living in Flames and two, Dog Eat Dog, and The Black Lake set within the world of Yellow Dawn. Yellow Dawn is a role-playing game set in the same future world as his novels, ten years after it has been devastated by a terrible mutagenic virus. Rodger's novels often combine high-tech intrigue and political/corporate machinations with elements of the Cthulhu Mythos, as created by H.P. Lovecraft. Rodger's contributions to the Mythos include the creation of several new Great Old Ones through his novels Edge, Dog Eat Dog and Living in Flames, and the use of the Outer God Nyarlathotep in the novel God Seed. In Yellow Dawn Rodger's interpretation of the Mythos, in particular the Great Old One Hastur, is a major part of the background material. Rodger also published Shadows of the Quantinex, a large-scale campaign expansion for the Yellow Dawn game. Rodger has also written Cloudy Head, a children's story illustrated by Kenn-Ole Moen, and Murder at Sharky Point, a murder mystery game. Rodger recently put together a collection of his favourite short stories of the last 15 years in Songs of Spheres, including a brief intro about each story. Rodger spent 8 years working for a non-departmental government agency, developing a virtual communications service within the IT Division, before moving into commercial project management for a UK media company. In 2000 Rodger's presence on the Internet got him a place in the BBC documentary Through The Eyes of the Young, directed by Chris Terrill. Rodger now lives in Bristol, England, with a Braun coffee-maker, writing from a house on a hill with a view of Earth's curve.

You can follow him on Twitter @davidjrodger

"Atmospheric and Creepy" - Alison Flood, The Guardian (UK)

NOVELS: Sci-fi & Dark Fantasy

YELLOW DAWN : Post-apocalyptic fiction and role-playing game

SHORT STORIES: click here to view list

Very Stephen King feel to it. Excellent horror story. Tightly written and fast-paced. – Simon Pyne - DOJO

"Atmospheric and Creepy" - Alison Flood, The Guardian (UK) ( The Black Lake)

H.P. Lovecraft would be proud of you – Floyd Hayes, New York ( Dog Eat Dog )

Really engaging characters and plenty of pace. ‘Unputdownable' is such an overused phrase, but this is in that category.” ( Iron Man Project )

The richness of the descriptions and characters make you get into the story so much that you don't want the book to have an end. ( EDGE)

This is really, really good stuff. I'd go as far to say it's the best Sci Fi horror I've read in ten years. I can't think of anything that beats it in terms of action, the innovative ideas per page quota is off the chain, the characters are deep and real. Drobna is the best anti-hero in the genre. A total bad ass, he makes Mad Max look like Stephen Fry. ( Dog Eat Dog )

A compact grenade of sharp tech ideas, (in)human fury, revenge, ancient bloodlines and chilling supernatural horror, all set to explode in your mind as it builds to it’s gruesome climax. The tale rips forward at a frenetic pace, barely lets up. The overall flavor feels like a Guy Ritchie movie as inspired by H.P. Lovecraft by way of early Gibson. This is not to say it’s derivative in any way. The universe he has built is his own and with each book the lore gets rich, deeper and more compelling. The tight cast of characters play off each other well, strong dialogue and surprising twists with the interpersonal dynamics keeps the reader turning the pages. I devoured this book in two days, staying way past my bed time in my eagerness to uncover the dark secrets and how it would all play out. A thrilling read and recommended to anyone, even readers new to DJR’s world. ( Living in Flames )

The main characters are wonderfully described and you really get under their skin. It's a wonderful story with the typical unexpected turns. It's not the usual pulpy Mythos story either, it's subtle and mature affair. I can really recommend this book for everyone, especially Stephen King, Cthulhu and cyberpunk fans. ( EDGE )At one point when I got off the subway I had to sit on the horrid wooden seats to continue reading, despite being on my way to work. ( Dog Eat Dog )

I read a lot of SF and Fantasy and I would say that DeD is definitely in the Top 10 percent of what I read ( Dog Eat Dog )

Great story, full of dread and menace – Pete Haughie, Leipzig (Arnos Vale)

Hauntingly engaging, spooky and intriguing, Cloudy Head will stay with you for days. (Cloudy Head)

I'm starting to pick up your style now. Things are never as they seem. When you're halfway through the book, what you are guessing as the end, is way off! When you think its done, there is more. Really hard to guess whats next even. Kept me reading until 5am!” ( Dante's Fool )

The atmosphere and setting is brilliant (Devil's Spring)

My copy of Dog Eat Dog arrived today. I sat down just to flick through it; next time I looked up I was 84 pages in! Utterly gripping, your best work yet. ( Dog Eat Dog )

Without doubt David J Rodger's best to date; I've read Iron Man and God Seed and you can see a real maturity, a strong clear narrative that allows the post-apocalyptic zombie dystopia to bleed through like a dismembered corpse under a cotton sheet ;) Some really chilling moments, some great action and a fully-realised and plausible shattered society. I cannot wait to see more novels set in the world of Yellow Dawn..please, Mr Rodger! ( Dog Eat Dog )

A palpable hit. I read this twice in quick succession, both times getting goosebumps in the early Dead City scenes, and later with the tales final lines. The greater insight into the nature of the zed wave given here and in “The Tainted Moor” add a new dimension of creeping horror to an already terrifying phenomenon. Bravo! (House of Heavenly Light)

Hi. Just wanted to express to you how good your short story is and how much I enjoyed reading it. Your writing, the relentless pace and self-assured voice really draws one in. It's very clean, sharp and dynamic. – Irini, New York (House of Heavenly Light)

Genuinely scary stuff. There's some truly disturbing imagery and ideas here, executed with a deft hand. I love the echoes of Lovecraft's “The Colour Out Of Space” and “The Whisperer in Darkness”, and the greater inclusion of the Hastur mythology in the world of Yellow Dawn adds a wonderfully nightmarish aspect to an already chilling atmosphere. – Chris H, Bristol (The Tainted Moor)

The setting provokes an atmosphere of disquiet and unease. As the tle unfolded the quiet beginning of it developed into frightening and sickening revelations and the end left me feeling thoroughly unsettled. In a good way of course. That hollow from things left in a manner that doesn't seem right in the ways of the universe at all. Twisted and perverse in a very dark fashion. I look forward to learning more about the universe of Yellow Dawn, and I love the aspect in which the “influence” and “Infection” originates. Enjoyed the read and the styles of writing you have used to approach both House of Heavenly Light and The Tainted Moor. – Sammi, Arizona (The Tainted Moor)

Really fantastic sci-fi/horror novel. Some genuinely terrifying zombies in it too! – Adam Lee ( Dog Eat Dog)

I can't wait to put my hands on another of David's novels and same will happen to you if you give 'Edge' a well deserved chance. ( EDGE)

Keep up to date with current projects and see gems found in weird and wonderful corners of the web. Get sneak previews of work in progress and enjoy special discounts. Like this page and I'll send you a free short story.

A piece of work I commissioned from designer Ben Chapman has now gone viral and become a bit of an Internet meme. 600,000 hits on one version alone. Read more via Ben's Tumblr site: Dr. StrangeViral or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Meme.

April has been a "no writing month". Part of a new regime I'd developed to establish some balance in my life again. Too much writing, no enough time for friends and socials. May will see me returning deep into the latest novel, The Social Club, the third book (non-sequential) to be set in the post-apocalyptic survival horror universe of Yellow Dawn. It follows Dog Eat Dog and The Black Lake (which recently received critical review in The Guardian newspaper website UK) – all three of which are separate stories but sharing the one universe. Another five novels exist taking place in this shared universe before Yellow Dawn wrecked such global havoc and devastation, you can view all of these novels here.

The Social Club is based on the idea of London partially surviving Day Zero intact but being taken over by the Power of Eight Group. Senior verifier Jadon Purgo is tasked with recovering a body from the Thames. But he is quickly removed from the investigation and the body is declared a nobody who took his own life. It's not in his nature to walk away and Purgo starts to probe, uncovering a conspiracy with roots that burrow deep into the very origins of London as a survivor Settlement. So the story is very much as post-apocalyptic detective thriller. I'm enjoying writing it (working with these visuals). It's also great to be back with the Power of Eight Group. They first made an appearance in the near-future (way before the apocalyptic events of Yellow Dawn) novel called Iron Man Project.

I recently collaborated with the fantastic American voice artist, Cody J Johnson, on an audio book version of the short story Masters of Chaos. Scroll to bottom of pace for the embedded YouTube player where you can listen to it.

Got Kindle? You can now buy all of my books from Amazon for Kindle. I've taken full advantage of the great pricing model Amazon offers authors and made all these novels available for £2.90 ($3.99 USD or 3.20 euros. Browse available books here. Alternatively, you can buy them as iBooks via iTunes store. And of course, you can still get everything in paperback from LULU.

You can follow updates on work in progress via my blog - click here to view

September - December 2012 Burn out and life issues. I took a break from writing. Went to Sicily and New York. Sicily was very special for me as I finally got to see where Jean-Luc Korda and the Carthew Trust have their HQ in the novel Iron Man Project). And New York, is, well... New York. *beams a smile* Fun hang out with my publicist (and partner in crime over there) who shares my love of The Inn Ear - on Spring Street - real ale and whiskey chasers. Check out his most recent business creation: World's Fastest Agency. August 2012 Magical medieval city of Krakow - including the jaw-dropping salt mines and the harrowing murder camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. July 2012 My Yellow Dawn player group completed a chilling year-long campaign; the epic and potent Chaosium product - Horror on the Orient Express. It was a definitive proof of concept, the flexibility of Yellow Dawn: being able to absorb a major story from another system into it. Read session notes here. June 2012 I locked myself away in a remote cottage in the isolated West Pembrokeshire for a week; lighthouses, storms and writing. Bliss. May 2012 I was in the incredible island nation of Malta, one of the most incredible places on Earth - left a deep lingering impression on my brain that led to me coming back and writing a novel in 7 weeks (The Black Lake - due for release August 2012). April 2012 saw me riding the Orient Express (Pullman). March 2012 I relaunched the epic, plot-rich, globe-spanning campaign Shadows of the Quantinex, a vast investigation that allows characters to uncover the truth behind what caused the apocalyptic event known as Yellow Dawn and join a race against time to stop the architects of that cataclysm from doing it again. In the same month I launched my 7th book,Songs of Spheres, a collection of my favourite hand-picked short stories in one book; press release. February 2012 Completed a year of work updating my RPG Yellow Dawn - The Age of Hastur (2.5). (press release); accompanied by a hardback version. In the same month I launched 6th novel, Living in Flames, which is a near-future (cyberpunk) horror story set in Bristol, England (download press release). Read a review of Living in Flames. January 2012, 2011 was certainly an interesting year for me - you can read my highlights of 2011 here. November '11, Great News: I scored a five star review on Amazon for my novel, Edge; very pleased it and weaves into the overwhelmingly positive feedback I've been gaining for other work: makes all the effort worthwhile. October '11, I wrote a free scenario called Kingdom of Shadows: based on Roman Polanski's classic occult thriller – The Ninth Gates; it can be used for Yellow Dawn, Call of Cthulhu or any RPG system that handles the supernatural. August '11, I took a step away from the brain-breaking task of reworking Yellow Dawn to put together a little study of the occult symbolism and meanings behind my favourite Polanksi film, The Ninth Gate. July '11, I penned a little article about the "Curious Case of the Sandstone Wall". June '11, article about my entrance into the Amazon Kindle market. May'11 I died 3 times in one night in the city-wide Zombie chase event, 2.8 hours later: pics & vids here. Feb'11 Meanwhile, it's been a great start to the year. In 41 days I wrote 14 short stories; suffered some serious eye-ball burn. Dec '10 I launched my 5th novel, Dog Eat Dog, the first to be set within this post-apocalyptic world of Yellow Dawn. SFX plug my work: Earth's greatest sci-fi magazine, SFX – plugs my novel Dog Eat Dog.. Examiner.com runs an interview with me : written by Michael Tresca, a piece about Yellow Dawn, its origins and my plans for the future of the RPG. Read here . Fantastic fan review – Murder At Sharky Point : great response for the dinner party game & murder mystery download. Read…

Masters of Chaos is a short story of speculative fiction. This YouTube link is the complete work. Learn more...