Gamebook Friday: Stormslayer, Martin McKenna, and Spellbreaker

A had a surprise on Facebook on Wednesday when I was tagged on Facebook, on a post showing a series of stills from Channel 4's 24 Hours in A&E. Why had I been tagged? Because the photos showing a man in the waiting room playing a Fighting Fantasy gamebook to help pass the time, and the gamebook in question was Stormslayer*.

Was this you? If it was drop me a line!

Talking of my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, of the seven I have written, one was illustrated by Stephen Player (Stormslayer), one was illustrated by Alan Langford (Spellbreaker), two were illustrated by Tony Hough (Knights of Doom and Bloodbones), and three were illustrated by Martin McKenna (Curse of the Mummy, Howl of the Werewolf, and Night of the Necromancer).

Martin has recently listed a number of his Fighting Fantasy illustrations on ArtPal, including the covers he produced for the Wizard Books' edition of Bloodbones and Spellbreaker. You can marvel at his artistry here and order prints of his illustrations yourself.

While we're on the subject of Spellbreaker, next month marks 25 years since its publication. To commemorate the occasion I will be running a prize draw at the UK Games Expo next weekend. If you buy a book from me over the course of the three days, you will be entered into the prize draw for a chance to win a signed, limited hardback collector's edition of my latest gamebook, NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters!

* Penned by Yours Truly, in case you didn't already know.

Gamebook Friday: Steam Golems, Stormslayers and Sunday the Seventh of September

As a result of being tagged in a recent post on the British Steampunk Community Facebook page, I discovered Micro Art Studio's Steampunk miniatures, amongst which I found this Security Golem...

After reminding me that I need to write a piece for SFX magazine about Ted Hughes' The Iron Man, the miniature made me think of my own Steam Golem from Stormslayer...

Stephen Player, the artist who illustrated Stormslayer, teaches an illustration class and has used the art brief for the book with his students. As a result, every once in a while new interpretations of his original illustrations appear online, usually over on DeviantArt, such as these...

The last of these images is by the artist Emerson Tung. Emerson also created an alternative image of the Eye of the Storm (the giant fish-shaped brass flying machine) from the book, which appears in YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

And of course YOU ARE THE HERO is going to have its official launch at FIGHTING FANTASY FEST 2014 on Sunday 7 September. Buy your ticket now and become a part of Fighting Fantasy history yourself.

Gamebook Friday: Stormslayer images

A trio of blog posts for you this Gamebook Friday...

Stephen Player - the artist who illustrated my sixth Fighting Fantasy gamebook Stormslayer - has been in touch this week too*. He also lectures at the San Francisco Academy of Art, and his Fantasy illustration students having been producing more illustrations based on the Stormslayer art brief.

And I thought you might like to see them...

Captain Katarina, Scourge of the Eelsea

 

The Abyssal Horror

 

Khaddan Khan, Master of the Thundering Horde

Tremor Worms

Muldwych the Mad Monk attacked by Marsh Wraiths

 

The Ferrovore

Larni the Huntress and the Yeti

 

The Birdmen of the Screaming Canyon

 

The Giant

 

The Magma Beast of Mount Pyre

 

The Stormdrake and the Eye of the Storm

Some of these are simply awesome and surely the artists responsible have fantastic careers in art ahead of them. Who knows, maybe I'll get to work with some of them one day.


* I've heard from Russ Nicholson as well.

Happy Birthday, Balthazar Sturm

Did you know that the evil genius behind the weather chaos in Stormslayer has his own Facebook page? Well you do now. And did you know that today is his birthday?

Balthazar Sturm doing his best Yul Brynner impression

Happy Birthday, Balthazar Sturm!

Gamebook Friday: The Magma Beast

This is an interesting story (at least I think so) and one I've been meaning to tell for a while...

Every once in a while (being the slightly vain, slightly insecure writer that I am) I search the internet for things relating to my books. Sometimes these are pictures. So anyway, a while ago I stumbled on this beautiful painting of the Eye of the Storm from my Fighting Fantasy gamebook Stormslayer.

Out of curiosity I then started looking for pictures of other things people might have illustrated based on Stormslayer. I came across this...

And these...

And finally this.

To me this last painting absolutely had to be the Magma Beast that appears during the course of the adventure, as the hero's exploring the heart of an active volcano. The composition, the way the Magma Beast was looming from the lava river, the inclusion of the templar character... It was too much of a coincidence.

So I searched for more Magma Beasts... and came up with loads!

Some of them again looked like they could have been based on Stormslayer. If this was the case, why the sudden glut of images, I wondered.

Well I did a little digging and it turns out that it wasn't a coincidence and many of these images were based on my gamebook, because Stephen Player (who originally illustrated Stormslayer) teaches a sci-fi/fantasy illustration class somewhere in the US of A. He had used that particular encounter from the book as inspiration for his students.

It's a funny old world, isn't it.

By the way, if any of you stumble across/know of/have illustrated scenes, characters or monsters from any of my books/short stories I'd love to see them. Maybe I could display them in a gallery a la Tony Hart.

Stormslayer - Beauty and the Beast

Came across this online today...


It's a painting of the Manticore that appears at the start of Stormslayer (my most recently published Fighting Fantasy adventure gamebook). It's by a very talented artist called Angeline and I for one am very impressed.

And here's the original illo by artist Stephen Player.


You can see more of Angeline's work at her blog Follow the Muse and at her gallery at DeviantART. I checked it out myself and came across this...


... which I can't help thinking is Larni the Huntress and her Sabretooth taking on the Yeti, who also appear in Stormslayer. So colour me pleased! And here's the original illo by artist Stephen Player...


If anyone else comes across any other Stormslayer-inspired illos, do let me know, and I'll post them here.

STORMSLAYER and the Fighting Fantasy re-launch

I am very excited to be able to reveal to you today that on 3 September 2009, my twenty-third book Stormslayer will be published - and it's another Fighting Fantasy gamebook!

That's right, Fighting Fantasy is back with a vengeance. The premier adventure gamebook series is being re-packaged and re-launched, with the first four titles being The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (of course), The Citadel of Chaos, Deathtrap Dungeon and Stormslayer, the first new title in two years.

Stormslayer - cover mock-up

Stormslayer is a classic FF adventure, featuring everything from dragons to giants, via wizards and a certain magical sword. I will be revealing more about it in the weeks to come, but one of the things I am most excited about is that it is being illustrated by the fantastically talented Stephen Player.

Stephen will be known to fans of Terry Pratchett's Discworld and, having contributed paintings to various Discworld calendars and illustrated The Illustrated Wee Free Men.

One of the things I enjoy most about writing a Fighting Fantasy gamebook is, once I've finished the text, waiting to see what the artist makes of my illustration briefs, bringing the world I have created to life. So far I've only had a taste of what Stephen's doing for Stormslayer, but that taste has made me hungry for more.

And in case this post has whet your appetite, to keep you going 'til the next one, here's the blurb from the back of the book.

After years of peace, the kingdom of Femphrey is at war again – and this time it’s with the elements! Devastating storms sweep across the country, destroying all in their path. Blizzards and floods threaten some areas while others suffer the worst droughts seen in centuries. But is this climate chaos all it appears to be? Or is there some dark design to this meteorological meltdown?

YOU are a seasoned adventurer, known throughout the land. You have battled giants and slain dragons, but how can even a veteran warrior like yourself fight the weather? Are YOU ready to take up the challenge and face the perils that await you within the eye of the storm?