“Ashes & Iron” is a science fiction short story appearing in ADVENTURES IN NO MAN’S SKY, a fiction booklet packaged with the Special Edition of the videogame NO MAN’S SKY.
Adventures in No Man’s Sky is a promotional book included in the limited edition release of the game for the PlayStation 4. It contains two tales set in the No Man’s Sky universe: the comic Cargo, written by Dave Gibbons and illustrated by Angus McKie, and the short story Ashes and Iron, written by James Swallow and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.
AUTHOR’S NOTES:
It was the end of 2013 when I, like the rest of the planet, saw the first sign of No Man’s Sky, a science-fiction exploratory adventure game being developed by Hello Games. I was caught by the strong visuals and aesthetic that seemed torn from the covers of the classic SF novels I’d read as kid. It recalled for me the artwork of Chris Foss, Angus McKie, Peter Elson, Jim Burns and David Hardy, all of it gateways to distant frontiers and strange alien worlds. I immediately knew I wanted to play it.
Fast-forward a year or so. I’m in Guildford visiting another games studio and I happen to pass by the office of Hello Games; I can’t resist popping my head around the door (to be greeted by a life-size cutout of the hero of their first game, Joe Danger) just to tell them how cool No Man’s Sky looks, and how much I’m looking forward to it.
Fast-forward another few months, and out of the blue I get a call, which goes something like this: “Hey, would you like to write some fiction for the No Man’s Sky universe? Would you like to work with Angus McKie, the artist who drew the Terran Trade Authority books that influenced you so much as a kid? And also with Dave Gibbons, that guy who did Watchman and most of your favourite 2000AD comics? Would you like the opportunity to write a Heinlein-esque adventure story calling back to the golden age of 70’s SF?”
Oh. Yeah.
That’s not the end of the story, though; a little later, Hello Games got in touch and asked me to write some more lore for No Man’s Sky – this time for the game itself.
COVER GALLERY
MAKING-OF VIDEO
