Legend of Zagor, YOU ARE THE HERO artwork commissions and Derek the Troll

It may surprise you to hear that until this week, I had never owned or even played the Parker board game version of Legend of Zagor, written by Mr Ian Livingstone himself. But now, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, eBay and YOU ARE THE HERO, I have acquired a copy and even tried it out with my own little minions this weekend.

 The game in progress.

Salazar the Wizard prepares to enter the Halls of Fear.

Legend of Zagor came out in 1993, the same year that my first ever book (and Fighting Fantasy gamebook) Spellbreaker was published. I remember seeing it for sale at the time - just the once - but being a student, I wasn't in a position to splash out and celebrate my publishing success with a copy of the game. Now, of course - twenty years and forty-five books later - it's another matter entirely. This time I can justify the expense as I've had to buy the game 'for research purposes'. (At least that's what I've told my wife. ;-)

 The story intro to the game.

Anwar the Barbarian's Character Sheet, with artwork by Martin McKenna.

You can expect to find a chapter dedicated to the various non-gamebook versions of Fighting Fantasy adventures in YOU ARE THE HERO.

In other news, this week I also commissioned three artists to produce brand new artwork for the book. They include Martin McKenna, who's producing the cover, Russ Nicholson, who's producing some new internal art, and legendary UK comics artist and writer Lew Stringer, who will be writing a brand new Derek the Troll strip for YOU ARE THE HERO.