NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters!

J. M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan and Wendy, was born 161 years ago yesterday. And it was that particular book that I decided to give an ACE Gamebooks' makeover for the third title in the ever-growing series*. 

I find it hard to believe that NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters! was published two years ago (on 1st June) but it remains one of the ACE Gamebooks of which I am most proud.

If you've never sampled its delights before, don't be put off my the fact that it's inspired by Peter Pan. It's also inspired by Sir Conan Doyle's The Lost World and movies like King Kong and Jurassic Park. Let's put it this way - it certainly isn't twee in any way.

On the 15th April, 1912, during her maiden voyage, the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg. 1,503 people died, including passengers and crew. But 706 people survived, among them Wendy Darling and her dog Nana...

Separated from the rest of her family, Wendy's lifeboat is washed up on the shore of a mysterious island – a place lost in time – home to creatures long thought extinct, a forgotten tribe, and a boy who can never grow up. But the notorious pirate Captain James Hook and his crew have also found their way to Neverland, and the island is angry...

*     *     *     *     *

In NEVERLAND – Here Be Monsters!, YOU decide which route to take, which perils to risk, and which of the island’s strange, prehistoric denizens to fight. Play as shipwreck survivor Wendy Darling, automaton avenger Peter Pan, heroic hunter Tiger Lily, or plundering pirate Captain James Hook. But be warned – whether you succeed in your quest or meet a dire end will be down to the choices YOU make.

Will you manage to escape from Neverland?

You can watch Dennis Chang's in-depth critique of the adventure below, and you can even pick up the PDF version from DriveThruRPG.

* ACE Gamebooks #7 is coming to Kickstarter soon, so watch this space!

Happy Birthday, J. M. Barrie!

J. M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan and Wendy, was born 159 years ago today. More recently, of course, I was inspired to re-imagine his characters and their story as an adventure gamebook, in which the island of Neverland is populated by more monstrous reptiles other than just one giant crocodile.

NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters! goes on general release on Saturday 1st June and you can pre-order your copy here.

Lost

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the legendary literary phenomenon Sherlock Holmes, died 88 years ago today. The reason I mention this is because he also wrote The Lost World, in which Professor George Challenger and his companions discover dinosaurs (and other supposedly extinct creatures) alive and well on top of a mesa in the Amazon basin of South America.

I have spent the last few weeks editing NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters! And while it is clearing inspired by J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, the gamebook is as much influenced by Conan Doyle's The Lost World. During the course of the adventure, you can explore much of the Skull Island-esque Neverland, which has called for me producing a map of the place.

Just like the adventure itself, there's still a fair bit to do before it's finished, but I've really enjoyed indulging my inner cartographer again after so many years.

To get an idea of what it is like on an island lost in time, inhabited by all manner of prehistoric beasts that want to kill you (or kill you and eat you), you can now play through Tiger Lily's introduction to the adventure, which also contains another Conan Doyle reference, by downloading the extract here.