When the first books proved to be popular, Dever was allowed an extension of contract and went on to write 20 books with Lone Wolf as the main hero, and 8 more featuring a new Kai Lord. He also developed the character Grey Star during this period, and four books were written using this character by Ian Page. Dever also wrote The Magnamund Companion, in which all countries of the Lone Wolf world are described in some detail; readers are also given details on the Darklords and a trainer course in the Giak language. There are two games included, a Ragadorn Tavern Board game, and a short solo adventure that takes place immediately prior to book one, putting the player in the role of Banedon, a young magician who goes on to become a recurring character in the Lone Wolf books. Novelizations and canon problem With the help of Joe Dever, Paul Barnett, whose pen name is John Grant, wrote twelve novelizations of the Lone Wolf books known as the Legends of Lone Wolf, several of which were heavily edited before publication. They have received mixed reviews from fans. Barnett was the creator of the characters Alyss, Qinefer, and Thog. Random House stopped publishing the novelizations after the twelfth book because "the books weren't selling," though the truth of this statement is contested. Barnett entered discussions with an Italian publisher about reprinting the books unedited in Italian, this finally occurring with some editing of the original text. In July 2009, he announced on his blog that Dark Quest Books would republish an upgraded version of the series in English beginning in 2010. Only three omnibuses, containing the first eight novels, were released before the publisher ceased operation in the second half of 2016. There has long been uncertainty amongst fans as to which version of the series is canon. Joe Dever has stated that as the game books precede the novelization, they are the "authoritative" versions. There is still some cross over between the novelizations and the gamebooks, however; most notably in the form of Alyss, an original character of John Grant's who plays a significant role in the final books of the Grand Master series. Only the first four volumes of the Legends of Lone Wolf were made available in the United States (though Sword of the Sun was divided into two separate volumes, The Tides of Treachery and