Kal is not having the best of times. Though the changes that have taken place since his last visit to the Outer World - and in particular London - fascinate him, the job he needs to complete is turning out to be a full set of frustrations and confusions.The fact that his friends keep on killing themselves to escape from some horror he cannot feel only adds to his woes.Worst of all, the man in whose head he lives knows he is there ... and has no interest at all in being told...

Know this: I never wanted to be a soldier! People in uniforms scared me. My brothers - who were a lot older than me - scared me and they were all in the Army Cadets. I was happiest with my nose in a book, because you know where you are when someone else is describing their adventures on an Alien Planet.And yet in 1988 I, Richard Roots, accidentally collided with the British Army. There were triumphs, and there were tears. There was even some mud involved!Here is a truth: I ...

Almost all of the poems in this book were written in the 20th century. Looking back on them now I can see where I was experimenting with voice, characterisation and storytelling within the form of a poem. The publication venue for some of these works was Magma Magazine – a venture which I helped to start and which is still going strong more than two decades later.A lot has changed in the world since I wrote these verses. The internet has transformed the process of developing and wo...

A sequence of love poems, written by Rik Roots. You have been warned!

In this, the second decade of the twenty first century, the Internet became – more. More than a static repository of knowledge. More than a set of venues for buying and selling goods and services. It became a place where people lived.Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, Reddit, Snapchat, WhatsApp ... Match, eHarmony, Tinder, Grindr ... if you haven't got a presence on these venues, then do you really exist?The Internet shapes ...

For most people, Christmas is a time of joy; for some it has become a time of lonely sorrow.For Snowdrop, Christmas is about to become a timeless place of fear, horror – and unimaginable loss.On the hill above the Marshes, someone watches; some thing waits …

The jungle city of Bassakesh holds the keys to the future of the Vreski Empire; it is the sole source of the valuable Vedegga dye.Delesse, the Governor's daughter, is marrying Loken, heir to one of the most powerful Clans in the Empire.When plague disrupts the wedding plans, Delesse, with her friends, has to fight to save the city, punish its enemies, and marry the man she loves.

These 22 poems are some of my earlier work, from the poems that survived the post-puberty bonfire up to around the turn of the century. There's no over-arching theme to the poems as such, but if you look carefully you'll be able to spot the various experiments and approaches I was trying at the time.

A sequence of poems by Rik Roots. This chapbook is dedicated to those who are gone before their time,too many of whom I knew and loved.

I first had the idea for the facets series of poems in January 2000, produced first drafts fit for criticism in March 2000, and continued to revise and review over the following months. Final drafts started to be produced late in 2000, with the last poem completed (if these things can ever be "completed") in May 2001.

Welcome to this, my second collection of poems. This set of poems may (or may not) be about marginal people and marginal societies. None of the people described in these poems are real – they've all emerged fully formed from my imagination. Feel free to draw whatever conclusions you like from this admission.

Welcome to this, my first collection of micro-fiction. Within these pages you will discover a range of characters looking to tell their stories – some more surreal than others – in various styles and voices. Suffer alongside Frank as he recovers in hospital from an accident; watch young Jacob discover a new form of entertainment; follow Jack as he breaks free of the confines of his bathroom.But most importantly, enjoy these stories. After all, I wrote them for you.