The books
The books
The books so far…
Sam’s written a bunch of books. Some are non-fiction and support his work with coaches and organisations, and others are interactive fiction.
Non-fiction
Sam has contributed to, written, and edited several books about coaching. These include:
- How to Thrive as a Coach in a Digital World (Open University Press, 2021) looks at technology across the full coaching lifecycle, highlighting benefits, risks, and ethical dilemmas.
- Superhuman Coaching (Hanwell Publishing, 2022) goes through ten technologies coaches might be interested in using to make their coaching more interesting, innovative, and impactful. It was illustrated by the talented Miranda Reed.
- The Coaching Buyers’ Handbook (Libri Publishing, 2023), co-edited with Professor Jonathan Passmore, draws from a wide range of experts to answer 50 of the most common questions asked by coaching programme managers, coachees, and line managers.
- The Digital Coaches’ Handbook (Routledge, due 2024), also co-edited with Professor Jonathan Passmore, explores the world of the coach who uses technology in their practice.
- The chapter on Organisational Coaching in the next revision of The Complete Handbook of Coaching (SAGE, due 2023), co-authored with Katharine StJohn-Brooks, draws on a broad range of sources to bring this seminal text up-to-date.
- Case studies, interviews, and quotes used in books about coaching ethics, creative reflective practice, and diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging.
Interactive fiction
Sam goes by Samuel Isaacson when he’s writing interactive fiction. These books take a lot of planning and are easy to make mistakes when writing, and every so often one of those mistake slips through the cracks. If you’re here because you’ve noticed an error in one of them, please check the Errata page. If it isn’t listed there, please do get in touch!
So far, these books are:
- The Entram Epic, a science fiction trilogy:
- In The Altimer (2019), YOU find yourself called upon to prevent a team member from sabotaging your spaceship. This is due to be released in Czech in 2023.
- In New Gaia (2019), YOU travel across a Martian city to weed out the alien infestation and prevent an invasion.
- In Solar War (2021), YOU return to earth to uncover the alien masterplan, and enter an interstellar battle to destroy the threat at its heart.
- Escape From Portsrood Forest, a comic fantasy that puts YOU in the shoes of a brave knight trying to get out of an enchanted forest while trying to remember what you did the previous night. This was followed by The Bradfell Conspiracy, in which YOU, the brave knight, solve a murder a find a chaotic friend in a fantasy city.
- You’re a Wizard!, a gamebook aimed at children aged 6-10, and was illustrated by a talented tattoo artist, Lee Hesketh.
- Betrayal in Neo Sybaris, a cyberpunk thriller in which YOU work to either betray your fellow Insurgents, or root out the true traitor.
- Guilt of Years Emerging, an interactive melancholic poem in which a character known only as “the man” experiences loss…and hope.
- Problematic Protective Poisonous Purple Paint, a 100 section-long joke in which YOU stare at some paint drying in order to protect the universe from destruction.
Where to get the books from
The fastest way to get most of Sam’s books is from Amazon. You can also order signed copies here! Doing this will take a few days longer and will be a bit more expensive, because Sam has to source them from Amazon one at a time.
If you’re thinking of ordering a large number, please ask here to see what discounts are on offer.
Praise for Sam Isaacson’s books
“It oozes quality…
It’s stunningly good…
Possibly the best gamebook I’ve ever read.”
PAUL STAPLETON, AUTHOR OF THE CURSE OF SALTASH MINE, WRITING ABOUT THE ALTIMER
“Achieving progress in this gamebook often hits the sweet spot, that complete euphoria knowing that you’ve managed to add a further part of the mystery…Put in the effort, and this gamebook pays back ten fold.”
JAMES SPEARING, OWNER AND CURATOR OF MY GAMEBOOK ADVENTURES, WRITING ABOUT ESCAPE FROM PORTSROOD FOREST