Novel free download on consoles

Best-selling fantasy and science fiction author Darren Reid is to release his debut fifty page graphic novel as a free download on March 9.

Xevicom Forever will be available to download for a limited period , with a number of versions being prepared for release including PC, Wii, PS2, DS and PSP browser enhanced editions.

Author Darren Reid said, "It was my first writing project. I had set myself this goal of writing and producing a three issue comic which I could keep writing and producing if it proved popular. Unfortunately the production process became bogged down in delays and it was more or less buried by the middle of 2005."

Reid added, "The stunning graphics in the book were rendered by Michael Bushnell, Alex Cowles and George Williams who each illustrated different parts of the story giving the graphic novel a number of very different styles from stark and bold Indian inks to traditional comic art techniques through to digital paintings."

The story within the graphic novel follows the origins of three new heroes in the nightmarish future of Xevicom city. A dark and twisted tale of broken lives and shattered dreams, Xevicom Forever is a glimpse into the lives of the three protagonists.