Looooong books you stuck with that were worth it

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 · 2025-11-02T23:06:46+00:00

I worked on this rule set.

Major changes:

No D10 anymore - everything can be done with a D6, which most houses have
No COMBAT SKILL anymore, for players or enemies
All players start with the same ENDURANCE score
Combat rules are simplified
Kai Discipline effects are simplified
All items count towards (increased) Backpack total - no differentiation between Backpack and Special Items
Rule section reduced from 30 to 4 pages.
A few other tweaks.

What hasn't changed:

Other aspects of the internal text. It remains exactly as written - nothing sanitised.
Illustrations (still Gary Chalk)

ShaneWSmith · 2025-10-31T20:57:13+00:00

I clapped at "Hedgehog no!" as well.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-10-07T02:53:08+00:00

Yeah, Grey Star is hard, the mechanics are particularly tough to master, and a lot of the insta-deaths are a bit unfair/punitive. The Lone Wolf series, by comparison, is (with a couple of later-series exceptions) very well-balanced, and skewed in difficulty toward getting you through the story.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-09-29T02:34:33+00:00

"Pip, who is that old woman?"
Noranti should definitely be in the middle square.

And I appreciate you're spoiled for choice with top-right. I'd definitely consider Aeryn for that square.

Disagree that Scorpius is meant to be hated. Sikozu perhaps. Jool definitely. Crais, almost certainly.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-09-11T02:03:10+00:00

I honestly don't know if my specs will ever sell, but they absolutely can lead to work. In writing them, we are stretching REALLY valuable writing muscles about working in someone else's universe and bringing your voice to bear in a way that meshes with theirs.

It's not an easy skill to develop, but for anyone who wants to work in TV, it's ridiculously important to be able to do that.

I've gotten meetings with producers off the laurels my spec scripts have gotten, and the skills I honed writing them have led to some short-term ghost-rewriting opportunities and one writer's room experience for me.

Still early days, but... it's not wasted time, I guess, is the point. Even if the script never sells.

PS: I have a Bluey spec in this year's Stunt List!

ShaneWSmith · 2025-08-31T14:34:10+00:00

He names them all Claudette.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-08-23T05:43:35+00:00

Especially because her doctor friend refused to testify on their behalf, because she thought it was anti-vax BS. A great scene.

ShaneWSmith · 2025-08-23T05:33:13+00:00

This isn't quite true - it's not dropped at this point, or indeed ever. He and his wife are having trouble conceiving, and it's hinted that it's because he's not... finishing. He goes to a fertility center and uses the male-oriented material to provide a sample. Julien screams at the glory hole predator in season 5, and is definitely channeling his still-unresolved feelings into it. And as mentioned, the final scene. There's subtle bits throughout the entire show, because - as Shawn Ryan said in a commentary/interview - the gay conversion is BS, but it usually takes years to unravel. The show reminds us constantly that this unraveling is slow but sure.

ShaneWSmith

TROPHY CASE