"The Black Book" by Simon Brading, out now.

[Simon Brading]

Hello all!
I have a new book out now, "The Black Book", the first in a new series set in a post-apocalyptic Japan.


Kayo Watanabe is a champion gymnast and the daughter of the next prime minister of Japan, but that won’t help her survive in the violence and lawlessness of the Black Book.

There is only one punishment for committing a crime and when Kayo is falsely convicted of using illegal substances to win a gymnastics competition she is sentenced to the night and has to fight not only to clear her name, but also just to stay alive.

Available on kindle in the US HERE and in the UK HERE

 

[Simon Brading]

The series is set in a Japan that finds itself alone in the world after barely surviving a nuclear war which destroyed everyone else.
Most of Japan was left an uninhabitable wasteland, but an experimental shield technology protected the centre of the country, including Tokyo and Kyoto. The entire population was squeezed into this 350 mile wide area, creating massive overcrowding problems and taxing food supplies, giving rise to civil unrest. A massive building project and the creation of the NutriRation, a liquid food available for free, went some way to solving the problems, but it wasn’t until a curfew was imposed, dividing the night (Kuro, or the Black Book) from the day (Shiro, or the White Book), that Japan was able to start healing.
Those citizens who commit crimes of any type or severity are banished to Kuro, but the night isn’t just for them, it is also for those that want to live how they want, without the restrictions and strict laws of the day and for those that wish to recreate the glory days of Japan, when the country was ruled by the samurai clans and the only law was the sword.

 

[Coiler]

Congratulations!

 

[Charles EP M.]

What made you pick Japan as the setting? Just as simple as "you know what's cool? Japan"?

 

[Simon Brading]

What made you pick Japan as the setting? Just as simple as "you know what's cool? Japan"?

I've studied martial arts for more than 20 years, took Japanese language classes at university, have read a lot about Japanese history, worked in Japan as a ballet dancer and am a fan of Samurai films and (some) Japanese literature...
I have always wanted to act in a swords and samurai kind of film, but it's looking less and less like that is ever going to happen and letting my imagination run wild on something like this is a pretty good alternative!

 

[Simon Brading]

Just a quick update - The Black Book is now available in both PAPERBACK and HARDCOVER for those few analogue readers still out there!

 

[Coiler]

I have always wanted to act in a swords and samurai kind of film, but it's looking less and less like that is ever going to happen and letting my imagination run wild on something like this is a pretty good alternative!

Funny enough, I have relatives from Hong Kong: So naturally the Asian places I've chosen for story settings are Cambodia, Myanmar, and East Timor.

 

[Simon Brading]

Funny enough, I have relatives from Hong Kong: So naturally the Asian places I've chosen for story settings are Cambodia, Myanmar, and East Timor.

I suppose we write what we know, or at least what we can relate to. The hardest parts of my writing are always the bits that are necessary, but that involve things that I have no experience with.

 

[Coiler]

I suppose we write what we know, or at least what we can relate to. The hardest parts of my writing are always the bits that are necessary, but that involve things that I have no experience with.

You may have misunderstood my post. I was saying that I wrote about the areas I did not have a personal connection to instead of the ones that I did.

 

[Simon Brading]

You may have misunderstood my post. I was saying that I wrote about the areas I did not have a personal connection to instead of the ones that I did.

Sorry, yes, I did misunderstand! I'd had a long day.

 

[ChrisNuttall]

Funny enough, I have relatives from Hong Kong: So naturally the Asian places I've chosen for story settings are Cambodia, Myanmar, and East Timor.

I actually lived in Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) for a while and I set a book chapter there ... and someone recognised it!

Congrats!

 

[Simon Brading]

I actually lived in Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) for a while and I set a book chapter there ... and someone recognised it!

Congrats!

I love it when that happens! I made my London and Barcelona very recognisable in the Displacers series, even sneaking in my grandparents actual house for one location!