Tales of Peril - the Final Preview: the book has arrived!

Tales of Peril: The Complete Boinger and Zereth Stories of John Eric Holmes, premiered last week at the North Texas RPG Convention, in Dallas, Texas!

Tales of Peril at the Black Blade Publishing Booth
at the North Texas RPG Convention!

The book was well-received by +Chris Holmes and the rest of the Holmes family (via text message ;) ), and was one of our best-selling titles at the convention.  I'll post a full convention report later in the week, as well.

+Jon Hershberger and I will be posting ordering details as soon as we determine the best packaging options for shipping the books safely, and their corresponding postage costs!

Allan.

Previous Previews

• Tales of Peril - the Fifth Preview: Front Cover Art!
• Tales of Peril - the Fourth Preview: Back Cover Art!
  Tales of Peril - the Third Preview: Illustrations and Artwork
• Tales of Peril - the Second Preview:  Table of Contents
• Tales of Peril - the First Preview: Signature Page  

Tales of Peril - the Third Preview: Illustrations and Artwork

With this preview, I begin to unveil some of the artwork that will grace the pages of Tales of Peril: The Complete Boinger & Zereth Stories of John Eric Holmes.

Jon and I at Black Blade Publishing are particularly pleased that Chris Holmes drew new pieces of artwork for each of JEH's stories, and provided us with scans of his original art from the 1970s Alarums & Excursions stories.  Zach Howard has also shared some of Chris' original pieces of art from A&E, at Zenopus Archives.

Here's a sample of Chris Holmes new artwork, from The Maze of Peril novella; this depicts the wereshark attack on Bardan the Dwarf:

In addition, we secured permission from Laura Roslof (through the kind assistance of Paul Stormberg from The Collector's Trove and Legends of Wargaming), and from Wizards of the Coast, to reproduce Jim's five illustrations for "The Sorcerer's Jewel" short story from Dragon Magazine #46 (February 1981). 

Here is the list of illustrations and artwork that will be included in Tales of Peril:

FICTION
 
The Maze of Peril

• Wereshark Attacks Bardan! – Chris Holmes 2012
• Murray the Mage Examines the Slain Dagonite – Chris Holmes 2012
• Boinger and Zereth and the Stone Golem – Chris Holmes 2012
• Characters Engage the Dagonites and their Evil High Priest – Ian Baggley, back cover art, 2017
• Amazons Attack the Temple of Dagon – Ian Baggley, front cover art, 2017

Alarums & Excursions

• Warrior for Hire – Chris Holmes 1976
• Wereshark Attacking Bardan – Chris Holmes 1976
• Giant Chameleon Page Borders – Chris Holmes 1976
• Giant Chameleon Battle on the Log – Chris Holmes 1976
• Witch Doctor in Action! – Chris Holmes 1977
• Player Characters and the Rescued Damsels – Chris Holmes 1977
• Spawn of Cthulhu – Chris Holmes 1977
• The Sorcerer's Tower – Chris Holmes 1977
• Great Cthulhu – Chris Holmes 1977

Dragon Magazine

“Trollshead”

• The Troll Attacks Boinger – Chris Holmes 1979
• Zereth Interrogates a Severed Head – Chris Holmes 2012

“The Sorcerer's Jewel”

• Boinger and Lady Verbeena – Jim Roslof 1980
• Boinger Descending the Stairs – Jim Roslof 1980
• Zereth Casts a Spell from a Scroll – Jim Roslof 1980
• Grey Ooze Attack – Chris Holmes 2012
• Battle with the Lich! – Jim Roslof 1980
• Boinger Defends the Loot! – Jim Roslof 1980

“In the Bag”

• Zereth Levitates Boinger Above the Gorgon – Chris Holmes 2012

“Witch Doctor” - Unpublished

• Ambush on the Hillside  – Chris Holmes 1981
•  Discussion with Digby on Giant Lizard – Chris Holmes 1981
• Boinger Entwined by Snake – Chris Holmes 1981
• Sexy Vampire  – Chris Holmes 1981
• Battle at the Cart – Chris Holmes 1981

NON-FICTION 

"Boinger and Zereth Player Character Summaries and Character Card Scans" – Chris Holmes

• Boinger and Zereth Player Character Cards – Chris Holmes 2015

“My Time with Murray”

• Murray Player Character Sheet – Eric Frazier 2015
• D&D in 1976-1977 – Eric Frazier 2015

Next week I'll talk to the cover artwork from Ian Baggley!

Allan.

Previous Previews

• Tales of Peril - the second preview:  Table of Contents
• Tales of Peril - the first preview: Signature Page 

Tales of Peril - the Second Preview: Table of Contents

In the first preview for Black Blade Publishing's new fiction title, Tales of Peril: The Complete Boinger & Zereth Stories of John Eric Holmes, I promised more details soon. 

So, here is the Table of Contents for Tales of Peril.  The exact lineup may move around a little, since we're still wrapping up layout, but the actual content is finalized now:
  

Table of Contents

Introduction by Allan T. Grohe Jr.
List of Illustrations and Artwork

FICTION

Preface to The Maze of Peril by Chris Holmes
The Maze of Peril 
    Entrances
    Dark Water
    Green Cloak
    Centaurs and Clerics
    Theft and Pursuit
    An Unusual Ride
    The Second Descent
    Battles in the Dark
    Visible and Invisible
    Breakout
    Resolutions
   
Alarums & Excursions Campaign Materials
“Warrior for Hire”
“Were-Shark”
“The Adventure of the Giant Chameleon” by John Eric Holmes and Chris Holmes
“Adventure of the Lost City, Part One”  
“Adventure of the Lost City, Part Two”

Dragon Magazine Stories
Preface to “Trollshead”
“Trollshead”

Preface to “The Sorcerer's Jewel”
“The Sorcerer's Jewel”
Preface to “In the Bag”
“In the Bag”

Unpublished Short Story
Preface to “Witch Doctor”
“Witch Doctor”

NON-FICTION

“Confessions of a Dungeon Master”
“Boinger & Zereth PC Summary and Scans”
“My Time as Murray” by Eric M. Frasier
“The Writings of Dr. J. Eric Holmes” by Zach Howard
“Afterword” by Chris Holmes
Contributor Biographies

The fiction works include all of JEH's Boinger and Zereth stories and related campaign materials, based on his home game run during the 1970s. 

The non-fiction pieces include my introduction, prefaces to each JEH piece of fiction from Chris Holmes, as well as his concluding Afterword, JEH's 1980 "Confessions of a Dungeon Master" (originally published in Psychology Today), Zach Howard's extensive annotated bibliography of JEH's writings, and Eric M. Frasier's essay about gaming with the Holmes family. 

The next previews will include the List of Illustrations from Jim Roslof and Chris Holmes, as well as the front and back cover artwork by Ian Baggley.

Previous Previews

• Tales of Peril - the First Preview: Signature Page 

Allan.

Tales of Peril - the First Preview: Signature Page

A picture of the signatures sheet for the first edition printing of Tales of Peril: The Complete Boinger and Zereth Stories of John Eric Holmes, before we mailed the sheets off to the printer last month (which is why they're in plastic). 

Chris Holmes, Zach Howard, and I signed the sheets at the 2016 North Texas RPG Con.  The book is in layout now, and is Black Blade Publishing's first foray into fiction.  It will premiere at the North Texas RPG Con in June 2017.

More details soon!

Allan.