Trolls are found throughout the universe. They have been described as a type of cosmic weed; they’re found practically everywhere and wherever they are, nobody wants them. They’re usually solitary creatures, prone to random acts of aggression and usually about as smart as a pile of bricks.

Trolls are usually very large too. Some are well over four metres tall and immensely strong. They can carve rock with their bare hands and push down a tree with ease

There are many species of trolls, from the relatively harmless forest troll to the tiny pygmy troll, the lumbering billabong troll to the powerful mountain troll. There are two species of troll that are especially dangerous, the powerfully aggressive blood trolls and the cunning ice trolls.

The Blood trolls live a savage, harsh life and have warred with the goblins for countless centuries. They spill out of their homeland in sporadic bursts of brutality, pillaging the lands and carting off slaves.

The Ice trolls however are a relatively new threat. Only in the last five thousand years have they made their presence known. The Ice trolls are an unusual race. They are surprisingly intelligent and have a strangely sophisticated culture. They are great artisans and can carve stone into intense lifelike forms. They are still trolls however and aggression is their way so they have spilled out of their lands but this time to carve an empire. It is only their inability to use magic that slows their total domination of Grrym.

Keep an eye out for THE SECRET BOOK OF TROLLS in 2008. Release date is October 2008 for Australia and New Zealand. Other parts of the world - I’ll let you know when I know

Some facts about TROLLS

(1) Trolls are HUGE. It is not unknown for a some species of troll, especially Mountain and Billabong trolls to reach 5 metres in height, although 4 metres is the norm. Pygmy trolls however are rarely more than a metre tall.

((2) Trolls are generally not too bright. They think mainly of filling their stomachs. It is not too difficult to outwit most trolls. Be careful though, there are exceptions, most notably the ice trolls. They are generally a bit smarter and more cunning. Exercise extreme caution when dealing with an ice troll.

(3) Make no mistake . . . a troll will eat you if it can catch you. DO NOT GET WITHIN ARM’S LENGTH OF A TROLL.

(4) Trolls are tough. Their skin is very thick and extremely resistant to pain or injury. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO INFLICT INJURY on a troll. You can’t really hurt it and you might anger it. WARNING: An angry troll is a very dangerous troll.

(5) Trolls are unaffected by magic but, fortunately they also cannot use magic. They can however use magic items and even wear magic armour.

(6) Not all trolls are bad however. Forest trolls are generally quite amiable and goblins freely trade with billabong and spider trolls.

Artist’s Note: I’ve got lots of goodies on trolls but until the TROLLS book is released in 2008, I can’t really give away too much at the moment. Suffice to say that as we get closer to the release date I’ll be adding more details and maybe a few extra secrets that aren’t in the book