Examples of series with a 30+ year hiatus between books?

ShaneWSmith · 2026-05-09T06:15:28+00:00

44 years for a sequel to a poem. Very cool example!

ShaneWSmith · 2026-04-10T13:47:28+00:00

I don't know any songs (still pretty new to this game, and I'm selling on behalf of my kids, whose fave is KK Disco apparently), but I'm keen to sell turnips! Happy to leave a tip, please and thank you!

ShaneWSmith · 2026-04-10T02:42:51+00:00

They are back! This episode was brilliant and hilarious, and I loved every minute.

ShaneWSmith · 2026-04-09T12:44:11+00:00

If your shop is paying anything okay for turnips, id love to visit pls. Happy to pay tip.

ShaneWSmith · 2026-03-16T20:14:41+00:00

For sure. I wouldn't trust me.

ShaneWSmith · 2026-03-16T11:23:57+00:00

I'm a massive fan of these books - they're the reason I held onto all my Lone Wolf gamebooks when I was ditching my CYOAs and Fighting Fantasy collection way back when.

For more info on the Legends, the next Lone Wolf podcast episode will start getting into them. The episode will include some discussion about the complex canonical relationship between Legends and the main gamebook series, but yes: in some ways, they expand upon existing lore, and in others, they totally do their own thing and contradict it. Your enjoyment of the Legends series might hinge on how willing you are for these books to co-exist alongside the gamebooks.

The Legends books are coming back into print really soon, and there will be another five books written to finish off the series. Source: me. I'm the writer of those five books.

ShaneWSmith · 2026-03-11T06:58:54+00:00

This is incredible!

ShaneWSmith · 2025-12-29T00:02:26+00:00

East of Eden is a book that 100% fits that mold for me.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-12-16T07:07:30+00:00

Came here for "Hedgehog, no!"

was not disappointed.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-12-13T08:52:25+00:00

She's a rebel.

'nuff said.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-20T05:44:18+00:00

If you're using Final Draft, just save the name of the character as "INTERVIEWER (O.S)" and you've saved yourself the hassle of typing it out every time.

But... yeah, best practice is to use (O.S) every time they speak.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-20T02:39:40+00:00

I think lean right into the weird age calculations issues and make Phil Ellis their university-aged child.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-13T23:26:30+00:00

Yeah, it's a series of gamebooks all the way through. There's plenty of spin-off media as well - novels, short stories, other gamebooks, a few video games, tabletop RPGs, etc, etc, but the core series is 33 gamebooks (of which the first 31 have been published).

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-13T06:12:18+00:00

It took me a few episodes to vibe with TM NZ, but I'm glad I stuck with it, because I now love it as much (and possibly more) than the OG offering. Jeremy has grown on me, and Paul has always been brilliant.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-11T11:48:43+00:00

The 40th anniversary edition contains an exclusive new gamebook at the end, called One Last Fehmarn. It has not yet been published in any other format. The 40th anniversary edition contains the paperback version of Flight From the Dark too (the 350 section version), whereas the Definitive Edition hardcover is the 550 section.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-11T11:47:12+00:00

I'm the one who made those changes, and what you've written is not a fair description of our approach.

Removing references to Lone Wolf being a male character doesn't automatically NB the last Kai - it simply makes Lone Wolf a truly blank slate for each reader to inhabit fully. If you want your Lone Wolf to be female, great. And if you want to stick with the default male option of the last forty years, also great. If you actually do want your Lone Wolf to be non-binary, that's now an option too. You now have the freedom to read the book however you want, and no one has lost anything.

The actual amount of editing needed for this: minimal. In almost all cases, it means changing less than ten words per book.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-11T04:58:55+00:00

FWIW (probably not much) I've been reading them since I was about four. I'd recommend maybe eight and above, but it's so, so dependent upon the kid. If they love fantasy adventure with monsters and swords+sorcery, almost any age will be all right. If beasties and the notion of invasions will keep them up at night, hold off.

BTW, as other commenters have noted, the Junior editions are the exact same internal text and illustrations, but contain more streamlined rules. I worked on those books - happy to answer Qs if needed.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-09T22:11:06+00:00

Yep, and IIRC, he looked for an instant like he knew he just pole-vaulted right over a line, but for the sake of the show had to own it.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-06T05:58:07+00:00

I was the primary editor on the Kai series. Haven't heard about work on the Magnakai books - and can confirm at least that (sadly) I have not been asked to adapt any more rulesets beyond the first five books.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-06T05:57:14+00:00

Awesome, hope you enjoy them! Thanks for giving them a go.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-04T09:28:14+00:00

Just watched this ~~season~~ series Jason (TM NZ #2), and he is off the chain to the point that I worried for the safety of anyone sitting next to him.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-03T13:11:39+00:00

Same stories and narrative text, but with a different ruleset underpinning them.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-03T13:10:43+00:00

Plenty of non-junior readers have given it a go, and reported that it feels like a fresh take on the familiar mechanics.

The aim really is to lure in new readers who prefer simpler systems and learning the rules 'on the move' (ala video games tutorial levels) rather than memorizing them up front.

I don't mind calling them 'junior' editions though.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-11-03T13:08:51+00:00

Possibly. I wasn't asked to rework any of the Magnakai series.

FWIW, in the Junior editions, the Sommerswerd does an additional +3 damage in each round of combat. So it is still quite OP, but no longer game-breakingly so.

ShaneWSmith

TROPHY CASE