The Midnight Chronicles
Two stories based upon the ZX Spectrum games “Lords of Midnight” and “Doomdark’s Revenge” by Mike Singleton.
The Lords of Midnight
The official novelisation of Mike Singleton’s epic 1984 ZX Spectrum game.
The Lords of Free and Fey must battle the evil Witchking in the icebound realm of Midnight whilst the newly revealed son of the Moonprince must seek the destruction of the source of the Witchking’s power, the Ice Crown.
Do you want dawn?
About The Lords of Midnight
Mike Singleton’s epic 1984 ZX Spectrum game is, perhaps, the definitive title for that remarkable Sinclair Research 8-bit computer. At the time the game was ported to both the Commodore 64 and the Amstrad CPC, later on to Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.
More remarkable is that Mike crammed 32,000 panoramic views, gameplay, graphics and an epic story into the tiny confines of the ZX Spectrum’s 48k of memory. It is a game that is still played today and remembered fondly by many.
A novelisation of the gameplay was promised as a competition prize for the first player to mail in evidence of completing the game. The prize was never awarded and that book was never written… until now.
The Lords of Midnight is the epic tale of Lord Luxor’s struggle against the evil Witchking Doomdark, who has cursed the realm of Midnight into eternal winter.
With the aid of the mysterious and mercurial Rorthron, Luxor finds out that he descended from a royal line of ancient Moon-princes, giving him power over the Moon-ring. Only through this can he challenge the Witchking’s might in battle.
Alongside him stands Morkin, his newly discovered son, who is the only person who can endure the Witcking’s terrifying Ice-fear and Corleth, a member of the elusive race known as the Fey.
Luxor must rally both the Free and the Fey to his banner to stand a chance of defying the Witchking, but Midnight holds many other secrets amongst its ice-bound landscape. Time is short, politics are rife and the Witchking’s armies are already on the move.
“It is clearly written by someone who has actually played the game extensively and who understands the characters and their motivations. Within the events of the novel most readers will probably recognise various tactics and stratagems that they themselves have employed. The author also manages to successfully dovetail the two different ways to complete the game, the roleplaying quest and the militaristic wargame campaign. A masterful novelisation.”
Doomdark’s Revenge
The official novelisation of Mike Singleton’s second epic 1984 ZX Spectrum game.
The Witchking, Doomdark, has been defeated, but peace is short lived. A strange warning is received; it tells of the evil designs of a fearsome sorceress who had a pact with the Witchking before his death.
Under threat of invasion, the Moonprince must undertake a perilous journey beyond the Frozen Wastes, into the unknown realm of the Icemark.
Dawn breaks…
About Doomdark’s Revenge
Mike Singleton produced Doomdark’s Revenge within a few short months of the Lords of Midnight being published. Visually similar, the game expanded the game-play dramatically over the previous work.
Rather than being static individuals merely awaiting their doom, the characters within Doomdark’s Revenge moved around on their own, with aims and objectives. There were also rather a lot of them, a total of 128!
The map was larger, now up to a colossal 48,000 possible views and there were now five races present, those of the Fey, Dwarves, Barbarians, Giants and the Icelords.
The prize for completing the game this time was a set of metal miniatures set in an Icemark setting portraying the main characters from the story. This was won by Richard Harris, who still owns it after all these years!
The story of Doomdark’s Revenge takes up immediately after the events of the previous adventure. Luxor and his friends receive a strange warning from afar, telling of the impending wrath of a fearsome sorceress who had a pact with the Witchking before his demise.
Her realm lies far to the north and east of their homeland of Midnight. Before long, Luxor is forced into a desperate quest beyond the Frozen Wastes, into the hostile territory of a strange realm known as the Icemark.
“Drew has done it again! In Doomdark’s Revenge, he has taken all the characters, the lore and packaged it all in a gripping can’t put it down read. This is a must read for any fans of the land of Midnight and the Icemark.”
“Doomdark’s Revenge stands on its own two feet as a credible and enjoyable fantasy novel. Where it excels is as a worthy and authentic adaptation of a deeply-loved and groundbreaking strategy game.”