[BigBadMick]

Has anybody noticed that the first couple of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have been reprinted recently? I was in Waterstones in Belfast, Northern Ireland last week and saw a brand spanking new copy of "The Warlock of Firetop Mountain" (Fighting Fantasy #1) for the princely sum of £4! (reduced from £5.99 in the sale.)

I used to love playing those gamebooks as a kid. I remember pestering my mom when I was about eight years old for a copy of "Trial of Champions", attracted by the colourful picture of a masked man standing over his vanquished opponent in a sandy arena with a bright day background. I must have played that one until the cover fell off and still have fond memories of it. That book, along with the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander which I found in the local mobile library, were my introduction to fantasy and it'll always have a special place in my heart.

On the down side, the reissue of the Fighting Fantasy books makes me feel really sorry for anyone who may have built up a collection of Fighting Fantasy books by collecting them second-hand from second-hand bookshops and www.ebay.co.uk - after all the effort they've gone to to get a complete collection, now it looks like the entire series might get reprinted! They could have saved their money and just waited for the books to get reissued!

Doh!

Then again, they might not republish the ENTIRE series. I guess it just depends on how well sales go with the first few.

Now, where did I put that £4? :)

BigBadMick
(bigbadmick2000@hotmail.com)

P.S. Any other Fighting Fantasy fans out there?

[Nimea]

Yeah, here!

I loved them. And they initiated the first contact with my fiancé ten years ago. :D

I knew about the reissues because I saw a copy on the desk of a colleague. I am still trying to find out if they want to publish it here in Germany again, too. Would be very cool for I think the generations after me know about those books but sadly never were able to be enthralled.

There are some very good sites on the net. One even let's you play the books online. Unfortunately I don't have a link at the moment. Maybe I will find it again . . .

[James Barclay]

NOM stares wistfully into the past and wipes away a small tear while remembering enjoyably mis-spent youth...

[Eventine]

I can't see them reproducing the whole series.

I remember there was one that I just couldn't figure out, no matter what. I think I even tried cheating and still couldn't get it.

All I can remember about it was that the end boss was one of the powerful wizards and he had an airship at the very end. That's it.
And for some reason the number 34 comes into my head. so if anyone posts a link to the list of books I feel it could be 34.

I wouldn't mind having another stab at the sucker...


I really go into these books though - I even had the associated gaming boks, like Titan and Blacksand.

[Eventine]

Well, I just sussed it out and it was book 24, Creature of Havoc. Close.

http://www.fightingfantasy.com/index2.htm

[Cannon Fodder]

Ah, Fighting Fantasy. That brings back the memories. I used to love those things, I must have had nearly the whole lot when I was a young 'un. All generic and derivative, they shoved every possible fantasy creation into the books but that kind of what made them fun. Off course, some of them did have the irritating tendency to be impossible if you didn't make the exactly the right choices at every point in the damn book. I'd also get miffed by bad choices that lead to instant death but being a naive youngster I'd always go back to the start. I'd only ever cheat as a last resort.

I too had the Titan world guide and the Creatures From the Pit Bestiary type thingy. I had the FF RGP rules also, not to mention the Warlock of Firetop Mountain boardgame, which if I remmber rightly was actually kind of cool- a cross between Hero Quest and Cluedo, with a dash of Amazing Mazes. I even remember writing my own Fighting Fantasy adventures.

As wierd a sit sounds I do remember that Creature of Havoc problem. I seem to recall there was a misprint or something. They told you to go to page (34? Could have been.), or told you to add 30 or 40 to page number you were on, if you get to some point but they got the number wrong and if you went to where they were said to it was some other point in the book where you die instantly.

Ah, the memories...

[LeMort]

I used to wish that I lived in Yaztromo's tower, on the edge of the Forest of Doom.

Some of my most enjoyable early reading experiences were spent questing for the Crown of Kings...

I'll never forget exploring the villages nestled within the Shamutanti Hills, or slaying the dreaded manticore.

I got lost and confused in Khare, the cityport of traps.

The seven serpents were a push over, except for the Serpent of Time which killed me more times than I care to remember.

All that time and effort was worth it though, because, finally, I breached the defences of the infamous Mampang Fortress, faced down the evil archmage, and retrieved the Crown of Kings!

What great memories - Long live Fighting Fantasy! :)

[Elan Morin Tedronai]

I have played "Sorcery" of Steve Jackson and I like it. I also played "Zagor Chronicles" by Yan Livingston and Karl Sargeant.

But most I like "Blood Sword" by Dave Moris and Oliver Johnson, also "Way of the Tiger" although in my country first two wasn't published and last part of "Inferno" which wasn't published even in GB...

[LeMort]

I love Way of the Tiger!

It's a shame that the last part wasn't published though, because Inferno ended on a real cliffhanger.

I've still got those books, and I still browse through them occasionally.

[milamber_reborn]

I just figured out what Fighting Fantasy is. I loved those books when I was younger. Deathtrap Dungeon was the first one I read. Crown Of Swords was good.