Issue #10 - Published!

Issue #10 is now available for download from the site: www.fightingfantazine.co.uk
104 pages of Fighting Fantasy goodness. Feedback appreciated. (Printing password: fanta).

You are the Hero

If you are as yet unaware of it, Jonathan Green (author of 7 Fighting Fantasy adventures) is currently running a Kickstarter campaign. This campaign aims to see the release of a book (You are the Hero) covering the history of Fighting Fantasy over the last 30 years. Currently the campaign is at a little under £9000 (over the half way mark) with 16 days to go. What needs to happen is YOU need to contribute to help the book reach its mark on time! What do you need? Well, you don't even need a pencil, two dice, and an eraser. All you need to do is select one of the pledge levels on the right-hand side of the Kickstarter page. The smallest amount you can pledge is £1, but to start getting the goodies (beginning with a pdf version of the book) you need to pledge £10 or more. Each level of support comes with better and better rewards, right up to a lunch with Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone themselves. So, roll up your sleeves, dust off your card used for internet purchases, and make a pledge NOW!

I've done it, so why don't you? (Oh, and take some time to spread the words about the campaign...)

Coming Soon - Issue 10

We're into the home stretch now and I'll still hopeful the issue will surface before Christmas! In the meantime, here is the contents:

*The mini adventure Hand of Fate by Kieran Coghlan and illustrated by Robertson Sondoh Jr.

*The first part of an interview with Paul Mason, author of five Fighting Fantasy books

*"Ian Livingstone presents Thirty Years of Fighting Fantasy" - David Walters recounts a talk given by Ian Livingstone in August 2012 

*"30 Reasons Why We (Heart) Fighting Fantasy" - a selection of fans outline 30 reasons why we still like Fighting Fantasy 

*"The History and Development of Gamebooks" by Demian Katz is a potted history of the gamebook genre 

*"Sometimes, Two Dice, a Pencil and an Eraser are NOT All You Need" has Stuart Lloyd looking at the various ways gamebooks have tried to be interactive with the reader

*"Orb is Coming Full Circle" - David Walters looks at the world of Orb from beginnings to resurgence 

*Chapter 5 of "Aelous Raven and the Wrath of the Sea-Witch" by Ian Brocklehurst 

*Part 6 of "Everything I Need to Know I Learnt from Reading Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks" by Ed Jolley 

*More gamebooks news in "Omens & Auguries" by Guillermo Paredes 

*"The Arcane Archive" reviews Blood of the Zombies, Crown of Kings - The Sorcery! Campaign for AFF and TrollsZine! issue #5. 

*Dan Satherley's column looks at Temple of Terror.

*Jamie Fry ("The Warlock" of the official site) rounds up events in the Fighting Fantasy world from his perspective.

Hand of Fate - Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek from the art and text of the mini adventure for issue #9.

Upon the stage sits a man in black robes on a wicker chair, a tarnished sceptre clutched on his left hand. Head resting on a wrinkled hand he listens to the pleas of his subjects gathered before him and occasionally turns to ask for advice from the creature resting upon the wooden table next to him; a spirit trapped within a bottle...

This is Hand of Fate by Kieran Coghlan (who wrote Prey of the Hunter in issue #3) and illustrated by Robertson Sondoh Jr., a newcomer to our stable of artists. We look forward to more of his efforts in the future!

Things are not going well for the slayer of Balthus Dire. Not only have you lost your left hand, but the widow of your former enemy has joined forces with the High Priestess of Vatos to unleash the power of the Juggernaut, an unstoppable automaton that will bring chaos and destruction to all of Allansia. Luckily, you are not alone on your mission to stop them. Not so luckily, your companion is a being every bit as evil as those you seek to stop: a Ganjee!

Everything I Need to Know I Learnt from Reading Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks: Part 6 - Sneak Peek

Time for another peek. This time it comes from Ed Jolley's "Everything I Need to Know I Learnt from Reading Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks" series of articles which covers Puffin gamebooks #51~59 and one other adventure...

Knights of Doom

What’s in a name? A good deal, at least in Ruddlestone. Consider the two brothers who opposed one another a century before, one with a name that sounded like ‘chivalrous’, the other with a last syllable pronounced ‘wrath’, and it was the first who fought on the side of good, while the second was the angry one. And would the dread Necromancer of Myrton have chosen that dark career path if his parents hadn’t saddled him with such a corpsey name? 

Moral: No matter how cool you think the name sounds, take time to check on its meaning and potential negative associations before inflicting it on your child.

30 Reasons Why We (Heart) Fighting Fantasy! - Sneak Peek

A long time without posting, but at last I can now start putting out teasers for the next issue...

Genre Jumping

While Fighting Fantasy (as the name suggests) is mainly concerned with epic adventures in a fantasy land, not every title has deemed it necessary to cling to that cloak of sword and sorcery. Co-creator Steve Jackson pushed out the boat with book four, Starship Traveller, and since then the odd non-fantasy title has slipped into the series. These often make a welcome change from the fantasy adventures and offer a explore ideas, concepts and worlds beyond fantasy, while still playing by the familiar Fighting Fantasy rules. While they are sometimes regarded by some as the ugly step-children of the series, I can’t help but consider them a unique and essential part of the overall Fighting Fantasy experience. An experience that would be so much smaller and less fun it we couldn’t become the Silver Crusader or escape from the House of Drumer.

ALEXANDER BALLINGALL