Re-release of Legends novels?

[burns flipper]

I was a fan of the 'Legends of Lone Wolf' novels - they really fleshed out the universe and gave a real insight into the characters and places. Paul Barnett (aka John Grant) always said he wasn't able to write the versions he wanted to due to the publishers not being interested in fantasy, and the ending to the last book was a very poor "here's how it was done!" epilogue, revealing in a few short paragraphs who was behind it all and where the series would have gone if the last few books had been published.

What a great time to have that re-write he was planning.

 

[MongooseMatt]

No plans at this time, but you never know. . .

 

[Balgin Stondraeg]

No plans at this time, but you never know. . .

Thankyou so much for such great news. As far as I'm aware Mr Grant has always said that he wrote the stories the way he wanted because he thought fantasy was silyl and babyish and so he (babyishly) imported his sci fi characters to prove how his own science fiction was so much better than anything fantasy could be (and then had his favourite godly characters trample all over Joe's good work).

There's even a conversation in the second Legends book between one of Mr Grant's characters and the goddess Ishir that reads suspiciously like a telephone conversationbetween Joe Dever and John Grant (in which Mr Grant even puts the phone down then later rings back to fling a little abuse before going quiet again).

 

[Winter Wolf]

I'm not a great fan either I would rather see new fiction set in Maganmund covering legends other than Lone Wolf. After all there are lots of other cool orders and even common folk that could be covered. Are some of the new novels historical I wouldn't mind seeing the fall of the Elder Magi or even the war off the dragons.

 

[khelbiros]

I'd love to see the Legends series reprinted as well. These books rocked. They had brilliant characterisations. What made them work was the way that John Grant's stuff bounced off Joe Dever's characters and storylines, running between them, adding and making them unique and interesting and yet enhancing the gamebook adventures. It wasn't a bog-standard re-telling of the gamebooks - it was an additional layer of literary magic, beyond that. It was about the characters, the dynamics and their relationships. Grant's stuff wouldn't have worked without Dever's setup, and it made the gamebook characters more developed, more interesting.

I loved them to bits. And they ended on a bloody cliffhanger!

Here's hoping you reprint, 'em, Matt! Or that they get republished (with a decent conclusion) one way or another.

(And look, I'm even taking out a preorder on the megadeal today to support your Lone Wolf efforts...

 

[OldMongooseFordy]

Here's hoping you reprint, 'em, Matt! Or that they get republished (with a decent conclusion) one way or another

Are you John Grant by any chance?

 

[khelbiros]

Nope. *stands up* Hi, I'm Belinda Kelly, gamebook enthusiast/collector and I enjoyed the Legends series.

Do you find it hard to believe that people really enjoyed the Legends series? I loved this series thoughout my childhood, I had to really save to get each new book from my scabby allowance and was really ticked off by the non-ending of the series. It's exciting to see the gamebooks coming back as a collector edition; I simply throwing in my support to see the Legends series back in print should the winds of chance blow in that direction!

While the gamebooks were great from an action/adventure mould, the series didn't dig into the characterisation of LW's supporting cast/allies. Dever wrote everyone with the same heroic, epic vibe that made LW's allies seem a bit bland and dry as toast. The Legends series really fleshed this out by delving into what Viveka was like, LW's fears and reactions to being the last of the Kai, etc, the Alyss/Banedon romance - all of this stuff enhanced the story in the gamebooks, rather than detracting from it.

IMHO, of course!

 

[beowuuf]

Lol, while you might feel you are in the minority, there are people who also love the legends too.

I must admit I liked them with some reservations and low points when I first read them waaaaay back. I'm starting to re-read them now, although always seem to get distracted by something!

GRant did indeed flesh out the characters and add thigns in between the cracks, hence I suppose the strong reaction for or against. An author who had simply retold the gamebooks from other points of view may well have simply got an 'oh, yeah, they're ok' and not be remembered now.

Of course, they would also not have gained such strong reactions too!

 

[Eternalknight]

I, too, was a fan of the novels. I would like to see them re-written, rather than re-published, to more closely fit in with the re-writes of the gamebooks.

 

[Balgin Stondraeg]

I found the "Legends" books to be well written, it's just that the author completely hated Magnamund and imported his own god characters to stomp all over it in a very derivative and insulting way. So I didn't like them. If he had simply written stuff without importing a load of his personal prejudices then it would have been very good, he's a good writer. It's just that he chose to write a load of rubbish because he "didn't like fantasy literature and thought it was purile and childish when compared to his beloved sci-fi".

I like the fact that he fleshed out the existing characters and setting. I did not like the way he then decided to insult it by basicaly sitting on a little hill and singing "anything you can do I can do better".

 

[Hellebore]

Does anyone know the legalities behind the legends series?

Does Joe control any of it at all?

I would like to see novelisations of Magnamund printed, but I was never a huge fan of Grant's work.

They seemed to diverge too much from the game books, and concentrated on characters that weren't even in them, leaving LW and co very little air time.

I also dislike the idea of the original creator not having control over his own work, so would really like to see Joe take back the Legends series and either do them himself, or if he doesn't have time/ability ask Mongoose to get someone to do it, with his approval of course.

I just felt like the Legends series had little imput from Joe himself (I could be wrong) and was simply a cashing in on someone else's concepts.

Hellebore

 

[beowuuf]

I believe JD outlined each plot with central points, and then came back to it afterwards.

Funnily enough abotu the god character thing - if you think about it, having all knowing central characters is boring. To sustaina series that the legends had to be the length of (at LEAST 12 to 20 books, and we know that some stories could be complex enough to require two) then you cannot have any of your main characters starting off as anything but with potential, yet needing to learn and make many mistakes. It's othereise then not interestign to keep writing them.

Lone Wolf is shown as capable and resourceful, just emotionally immature (as any young man would be) and needing to become wise. Which, of cours,e is the whole core and satisfying nature of the series - he gaisn in abilities and wisdom so we would actually see the originas of this powerful wise GRand Master.

And such major characters that we personally identify with because of the gamebook structure, then really any supporting characters did need to be pretty powerful, knowing, etc just to register and have a reasonto be included at all. And were needed, since someone had to steer a central young character really and help them.

 

[BlackCat]

I would like to see novelisations of Magnamund printed, but I was never a huge fan of Grant's work.

They seemed to diverge too much from the game books, and concentrated on characters that weren't even in them, leaving LW and co very little air time.

I also dislike the idea of the original creator not having control over his own work, so would really like to see Joe take back the Legends series and either do them himself, or if he doesn't have time/ability ask Mongoose to get someone to do it, with his approval of course.

Did you know about this and this?

 

[Balgin Stondraeg]

Fortunately neither of those is written by John Grant. That means that we'll get to see a new author's take on the setting.

 

[Tabris]

Well, there were some aspects of the Legends of Lone Wolf novels that felt as if Grant was not being respectful with the subject matter. Most licensed fiction in a game world adheres to a fairly strict ruleset on their authors, since they are playing in a shared world. Grant did not seem to follow some of that, especially in the Rotting Land.

I'm sure the new authors will be following very closely Dever's vision for the Lone Wolf brand.

 

[Hellebore]

I would like to see novelisations of Magnamund printed, but I was never a huge fan of Grant's work.

They seemed to diverge too much from the game books, and concentrated on characters that weren't even in them, leaving LW and co very little air time.

I also dislike the idea of the original creator not having control over his own work, so would really like to see Joe take back the Legends series and either do them himself, or if he doesn't have time/ability ask Mongoose to get someone to do it, with his approval of course.

Did you know about this and this?

Indeen. :wink:

Those of us who have purchased the Mega Deal will be getting them for free according to the blurb 8)

Hellebore

 

[OldMongooseFordy]

I'm sure the new authors will be following very closely Dever's vision for the Lone Wolf brand.

Oh yes! In fact I've just submitted the final text for book 1 to Mongoose after receiving and applying the relevant editorial changes from Joe. August Hahn and I have been working very closely with Joe since January to ensure that these novels do not break with canon and anything new they present canon-wise has Joe's approval.

Fordy

 

[Winter Wolf]

More cannon material is good news. I can't wait for next month it's going to be a good one if you signed up to the maga deal.

 

[BlackCat]

I do hope that the Mega-Deal will still be available as I'm waiting for my brand new credit card to arrive.

 

[Hellebore]

I used my incredible persuasive powers to convince my boss at work to allow me to use her credit card - I just transferred most of the money into her account first, and she used paypal. 8)

I'd pretty much do anything to get the mega deal. :twisted:


Hellebore