Thursday 22 August 2013

Out of the pit they come...

Any ideas what this might be?


That's right, Iain McCaig has sent through his rough sketches of the images he's producing of the Bloodbeast and Zanbar Bone the Night Prince for YOU ARE THE HERO.

Iain has stayed quite close to the original designs but, as he points out, they are very retro and not at all how he would go about designing either of the characters today. He has expressed an interest in giving them a complete overhaul, and I'd be interested in hearing your views on the subject.

Remember, this is the man who, since illustrating City of Thieves and Deathtrap Dungeon, has gone on to design Darth Maul, one of the most memorable characters in modern movies, and is currently working on Start Wars Episode 7. And he's offered to give a couple of Fighting Fantasy icons a fresh lick of paint for the new millennium!

(I know, I can't quite believe it either.)

Please let me know what you think by commenting on this post, or via the YOU ARE THE HERO Facebook page, but do bear in mind the final decision will be mine and mine alone. I know which way I'm leaning at the moment, but I'd be interested to hear what you'd like to see too.

Saturday 17 August 2013

The Legend of Firetop Mountain

I am currently well into the first edit of YOU ARE THE HERO (thirty years of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks in thirty chapters) and I've been struggling with, of all things, chapter names.

At one point I had toyed with giving all of the chapter names a common theme. I have now decided against that, but if I had gone with it, here's what the chapters could have ended up being called. Can you work out what each one is about? (Admittedly, some are more obvious than others.)

Chapter 1 - The Origins of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 2 - The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 3 - The Phenomenon of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 4 - The Art of Firetop Mountain 
Chapter 5 - The Older Brother of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 6 - The World of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 7 - The Cartographers of Firetop Mountain 
Chapter 8 - Firetop Mountain in Space! 
Chapter 9 - The Magazine of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 10 - Beyond Firetop Mountain
Chapter 11 - Tales of Firetop Mountain – Part 1
Chapter 12 - Tales of Firetop Mountain – Part 2
Chapter 13 - The Chronicles of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 14 - Leaving Firetop Mountain
Chapter 15 - Tales of Firetop Mountain – Part 3
Chapter 16 - The Dungeoneers of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 17 - A Decade of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 18 - Tales of Firetop Mountain – Part 4
Chapter 19 - The Young Pretender of Firetop Mountain 
Chapter 20 - The Fall of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 21 - Lost Tales of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 22 - The Trialmasters of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 23 - Return to Firetop Mountain 
Chapter 24 - The Heirs of Firetop Mountain (or Tales of Firetop Mountain – Part 5) 
Chapter 25 - The Silver Peak of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 26 - The Fandom of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 27 - Le Sorcier de la Montagne de Feu
Chapter 28 - The Digital Adventures of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 29 - The Film Makers of Firetop Mountain
Chapter 30 - Thirty Years of Firetop Mountain

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Derek the Troll, by Lew Stringer


What's that, you say?

"Is that the new Derek the Troll strip by Lew Stringer, commissioned for YOU ARE THE HERO, a history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks?"

Why, yes it is!

(Well the start of it anyway.)