Spikez

Richard is a secondary school teacher, children's author, and nature lover with a fondness for hedgehogs. He is currently writing and promoting the Spikez series of novels, where roadkill and robotics become one. Spikez is the first in a series of three books about an unlikely group of animal cyborgs, who have all been constructed by the UK military. The story was road-tested by students from primary and secondary schools, and also given a nod by university academics in the field of artificial intelligence from across the country. The alpha version was printed in October 2012 and a revised version was formatted for Kindle in January 2013. Look out for upcoming novels Making Trakz and Spikez: Red Dragon in paperback and on kindle by the end of the year. Richard currently works as a Media teacher in London and lives with his wife and three children (plus two orphaned hedgehogs) in Welwyn, Hertfordshire.

"A new hero in hedgehog form - more fun than Sonic!" Hugh Warwick, Ecologist, Writer (A Prickly Affair, Hedgehog, Linescapes, The Beauty in the Beast) and passionate fan of the hedgehog; "Spikez is an accessible, stimulating read that introduces children with new concepts in technology and encourages them to develop an interest in the surrounding nature. I wish it had also been around when I was younger!" Dr. Mohammad Majid al-Rifaie; Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence, Researcher at Goldsmiths, University of London and Committee Member in the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behaviour (SSAISB); "It's a wonderfully original concept ... It reminded me very much of Animal Farm at the very beginning and I certainly see the parallels with The Animals of Farthing Wood (another childhood favourite of mine)."Amy Lewis, British Wildlife Trusts; "I really enjoyed the plot, the action sequences, the technical details, the web referrals and the emerging philosophical issues, and I pretty much empathised with Spikez/Prickles although I am not an adolescent hedgehog." Dr David Dewhurst, Secretary of the Cybernetics Society; "Not only a great read but helps to encourage children to think about wildlife on a larger scale. Fantastic!" Amazon Review; "Relevant and topical, whilst also entertaining and well written. Would thoroughly recommend it for those looking for books to encourage their children to read." Amazon Review

• see free sample of Spikez on Amazon Kindle