Fighting Fantasy and the City of Romans

Last weekend, Fighting Fantasy co-creator Ian Livingstone and The Gates of Death author Charlie Higson appeared together at the Bath Children's Literature Festival to talk about all things FF gamebook-related. The audience was made up of some enthusiastic 10 year-olds and some enthusiastic 40-somethings who had also once been enthusiastic 10 year-olds.

Ian Livingstone and Charlie Higson at the Bath Children's Literature Festival.

Ian and Charlie's talk went down very well - covering everything from the foundation of Games Workshop, through to Charlie's inspiration for a certain contentious character from The Gates of Death - and provoked a number of probing questions from the audience.

Charlie Higson examines the origins of a certain monster in Medieval art.

At the end of the event, having signed books for numerous fans - old and new alike - Ian was the grateful recipient of a model of the Black Lobster tavern, that infamous Port Blacksand drinking den, created by master model-maker Steve Britton.

The Black Lobster Tavern, by Steve Britton.

During the talk, Ian also made an exclusive announcement, slipped in as one of the slides in his PowerPoint presentation...