James Swallow's Blog

This week marks two decades since the first time I got to write for that most quintessential of British science fiction heroes – the Doctor!

In 2005, Big Finish Productions released Singularity, an audio drama featuring the 5th incarnation of the Timelord and his travelling companion Turlough – in the story, they arrive in a wintry near-future Moscow and encounter an insidious, secret invasion by beings from the very end of time that may change the course of human existence…

Russia, the ne...

Last month, the second V: UK box set was released, an all-new reimagining of the 1980s alien invasion drama series V set (as the title suggests) in the United Kingdom. Check out the trailer below, which sets the scene for the new series…

In the first three episodes in the V: UK – Visitation box set, the alien Visitors arrive over the capital cities of Earth with a promise of peace and prosperity – but their true intention is an invasion by stealth, and only a rag-tag group of civilian r...

Twelve years ago, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist was released, the last (to date) entry in the iconic stealth-action videogame series… Five years ago, it was officially announced that Netflix would be bringing the series and it’s hard-eyed lead character Sam Fisher into an animated adaptation…

So for Splinter Cell fans like me, the wait has been a while – but the first season of Splinter Cell: Deathwatch will be hitting Netflix this week, and I’m excited to see Sam’s return (not ...

In 1995, Fox TV aired a single season of a gritty military sci-fi series created by the minds behind The X-Files and the Final Destination movies; Space: Above And Beyond mixed drama and action with a war-story narrative, but it was cut short after just 23 episodes, ending on a cliffhanger that would never be resolved. Like a lot of lost shows from that era, this one is ripe for a reboot…

I enjoyed Space immensely, reminded by it not only of classic military fiction, but also SF novels li...

Earlier this week, I talked about another project anniversary for the month of August, marking a decade since my involvement on Disney Infinity 3.0 with Ninja Theory, Disney Interactive and Lucasfilm (read that blog here).

But my work writing Star Wars: Twilight of the Republic’s storyline and scripting the dialogue for Disney Infinity’s Star Wars prequel cast and Star Wars: Rebels characters wasn’t my only job on this blockbuster “toys-to-Life” title; in fact, I actually worked on three othe...

Another project anniversary passed recently, marking a decade since my work on Disney Infinity 3.0 and Star Wars: Twilight of the Republic – and what an adventure that was, getting to work with amazing folks at Ninja Theory, Disney Interactive and Lucasfilm on something I’d been wanting to do since I was a kid… Visit the Galaxy Far, Far Away and write a Star Wars story.

This is a tale of highs and lows, of hit games and cancelled projects, of what was and what might have been; and ther...

Each year, the International Association of Tie-In Writers (IAMTW) presents the Scribe Awards at San Diego Comic Con, celebrating excellence in the field of tie-in fiction with awards for novels, short stories and young adult fiction – and it gives me great pleasure to announce that A Cage of Sky, part of the Star Cops: Blood Moon series, shared the the win this year in the category of Best Audio Drama!

I was up against some amazing writers and very stiff competition – so much so that thi...

Most sci-fi fans of a certain age will remember where they were when they saw first an alien named Diana eating a guinea pig; back in 1983, writer-producer Kenneth Johnson concieved the miniseries V, an alien invasion story that wasn’t all about blowing up national landmarks and eradicating the human race, but looking at the politics of occupation, collaboration and resistance through a modern, critical lens. It was a timely show back then, and the themes it examined are still very relevant toda...

My latest Star Trek tie-in novel Toward The Night has been out for just over a month now, and I’m pleased to say it’s a Amazon Number #1 bestseller, and the reviews have been great!

“Highly reccomended” – Phillip Brian, Matters With.
“A worthy entry in the growing list of Kurtzman-era Star Trek novels” – Kyle Hadyniak, TrekNews
“A classic planet-of-the-week story with plenty of character stuff, adventure…incredibly delightful.” -Shastrix.com
“Swallow’s writing is excellent, he nails the char...

In April, my 12th Star Trek tie-in novel Toward the Night was released by Simon & Schuster in hardcover, eBook and audiobook editions; this was my first book with the Strange New Worlds crew and I had a lot of fun working on it!

Today I’m posting an “author commentary” piece here to highlight and annotate some of the concepts that appear in this story.

Spoiler Warning! These notes give away story points from Toward The Night and some episodes of the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds televi...