Fighting Fantasy Fest 6

One week ago, Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 took over the University of West London in Ealing.

A host of guests, exhibitors, traders, and adventurers spent the day celebrating all things Fighting Fantasy and gamebook-related.

Our Guests of Honour were FF co-creator and author Sir Ian Livingstone and artist Karl Kopinski, who were joined on the day by special guest editors Gerladine Cooke and Philippa Dickinson.

Sir Ian Livingstone and Karl Kopinski signing for fans.

Philippa Dickinson, Sir Ian Livingstone, and Geraldine Cooke.

Fans were delighted to get their hands on the new collector's hardback editions of City of Thieves and Tomb of the Golden Skull.

The queue to buy Sir Ian's new hardbacks.

The day was chock full of talks and panels, and we were delighted that so many creators - artists Malcolm Barter, Alan Langford, Tony Hough, and Rob Ball, as well as authors Marc Gascoigne, Peter Darvill-Evans, and Jonathan Green - overseas publishers and FF licensees were able to join us too.

The World of Fighting Fantasy panel with
Marc Gascoigne, Alex Ballingall, Florent Haro, and Morten Gottschalck.

Artists, from foreground to background:
Malcolm Barter, Tony Hough, and Alan Langford.

A huge thank you must go to Lord Azzur's City Guard - James, Stuart, Pete, Sally, Simon, Lyndsey, Julian, Scott, Jake, Mattie, and Ariana - who made sure everything ran smoothly, but the biggest thank you is reserved for all the adventuerers - both young and old - who attended. But a special mention should go to Hamad and Layla who were attending FFF6 on the second day of their honeymoon!

Newlyweds Hamad and Layla.

You can watch FF author and historian Jonathan Green's review of the day here...

The night before FFF6, the now traditional charity You Are The Beer-o Pub Puiz took place at The Forester in West Ealing, which raised an astonishing £1,200 for Guide Dogs UK in memory of FF artists Pete Knifton, who passed away last year.

The winning team!

Attendees received a collectible programme and autograph book, lanyard, and golden dice. There are a few of these items left over so, if you would like one of them, follow this link.

Tomb of the Golden Skull - out now!

Tomb of the Golden Skull, Sir Ian Livingstone's latest Fighting Fantasy gamebook, is out today in paperback from Scholastic Books.

Allansia is under threat from Valmorka the Spider Demon and her army of Plague Spiders.

In a race against time, YOU must journey across Arantis and face grave danger to find the legendary Dragonblade and a lost artefact to defeat her.

Are you brave enough to face the terrifying Spider Demon?

The adventure has been illustrated by Karl Kopinski, who will be Guest of Honour at Fighting Fantasy Fest 6, along with Sir Ian. Have you got your ticket yet?

Karl Kopinski to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 6!

The Warlock is delighted to announce that ace artist Karl Kopinski will attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 6, alongside Sir Ian Livingstone, as one of our Guests of Honour.

Karl is known for his incredible work for Magic: The Gathering, as well as working for Games Workshop, illustrating the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.

In recent years, he has joined the ranks of the Fighting Fantasy artists, contributing cover art to the collector's hardbacks of Assassins of Allansia and The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

And now he has illustrated Sir Ian's brand new Fighting Fantasy gamebook Tomb of the Golden Skull.

This is a rare appearance by Karl, so make sure you don't miss your chance to meet him and book your ticket for Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 today!

City of Thieves collector's hardback

Sir Ian Livingstone's seminal Fighting Fantasy gamebook City of Thieves is returning this summer in an exclusive collector's edition.

Limited to only 2,000 copies, the City of Thieves limited edition hardback will feature the original cover art and internal illustrations by Iain McCaig, ‘The History of Port Blacksand’ by Marc Gascoigne, Leo Hartas's 2017 update of his map of Allansia, and László Kupe's map of Port Blacksand.

Attendees of Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 will be among the first people who will be able to buy a copy and get it signed at the same time.

Are you ready to return to the City of Thieves?

John Blanche (1948-2026)

We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of fantasy art legend John Blanche a few days ago, and our thoughts are with his family, friends, colleagues and fans at this time.

It was John's artistic vision that determined the direction of the many worlds of Warhammer for decades. His work was 'grimdark' given form and the incredible iconography of those settings stemmed from his incredible art.

But, of course, to Fighting Fantasy fans, it was John who gave Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series its distinctive look, setting it apart from the rest of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, with his otherworldly illustration style.

That said, John also illustrated the two-player FF adventure, Clash of the Princes, and provided artwork for Warlock Magazine too, including two stunning covers, while his painting of Kharé - the eponymous Cityport of Traps - appeared on the inside cover of Titan: The Fighting Fantasy World.

When Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy was published, he quite rightly had a whole chapter dedicated to his work.

John was a true visionary and the diverse creations of his febrile imagination not only helped define the look of fantasy art and gaming for an entire generation, it set the standard that so many others still aspire to.

He will be deeply missed, but his unique vision will live on.

John Blanche
(1948-2026)

Return to Firetop Mountain... again!

Arriving in just a few weeks' time on Steam, courtesy of Tin Man Games, is Ian Livingstone's Return to Firetop Mountain.

Years have passed since Zagor the Warlock fell, but the shadows never truly left Firetop Mountain. Evil stirs once more within its depths, and the labyrinth you thought you knew has changed. New dangers, twisted passages, and deadly secrets await those brave (or foolish) enough to enter again.

Tin Man Games' digital edition will feature the original striking cover art by Les Edwards, alongside atmospheric interior illustrations by the late, great Martin McKenna, bringing every dark corridor and monstrous encounter vividly to life.

So sharpen your sword, steady your nerves, and get ready to take that first step into the darkness once more.

The mountain is waiting...

40 years of Sword of the Samurai

40 years ago today, Sword of the Samurai was published for the first time.

Written by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson*, the twentieth book in the series presented readers with the Fighting Fantasy version of Japan, in the form of the mystical land of Hachiman**.

The hero of the adventure is a young Samurai, Kensei, who is tasked with recovering the Dai-Katana - the Shogun’s great sword - which has been stolen by Ikiru, the Master of Shadows, who dwells deep in the Pit of Demons.

“At the time, the whole Samurai/Ninja thing was big and breaking out of the niche world it was in, into the bigger niche of gamebooks and RPGs, which had become substantially more popular than they had been for a long time,” says Thomson. “Still a niche, compared to cinema and even games like Monopoly and stuff, but a big niche.”

Sword of the Samurai was only the second time that Alan Langford had appeared on internal art duties at the time, while Peter Andrew Jones contributed his first cover since Talisman of Death***.

“I’ve been fascinated with the East ever since I read a book called The Earth is the Lord's by Taylor Caldwell,” says Langford. “It’s about the early life of Genghis Khan – Temujin – and that fired up my interest. The other source is Kubla Khan, and that was illustrated by Frank Frazetta. So Sword of the Samurai was quite an interesting job for me to do.”

Sword of the Samurai was translated into numerous languages, including Bulgarian, Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese****, and, appropriately enough, Japanese.

We already know that Fighting Fantasy is big in Japan, but it is even bigger now that YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks has been published in Japanese.

* Who had previously worked together on Talisman of Death.

** Which Marc Gascogine would later make part of Khul.

*** The Wizard Books' edition featured cover art by Mel Grant.

**** Sword of the Samurai - or A Espada do Samurai - is still in print in Brazil.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 - Tickets on sale now!

Tickets for Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 are now on sale.

Sir Ian Livingstone will be our Guest of Honour this year, and other confirmed guests include FF artists Malcolm Barter, Alan Langford and Tony Hough, and authors Marc Gascoigne, Jamie Thomson, and Jonathan Green, with more still to be confirmed.

Tickets are also on sale for the charity pub quiz which takes place the evening before Fighting Fantasy Fest. This year, it has the title City Pub of Thieves, since it is the fifth such quiz to be held.

Numbers for both events are limited so, don't delay and buy your tickets today!

Sir Ian Livingstone at Budapest Comic Con

At the weekend, Sir Ian Livingstone was in Hungary, appearing at Budapest Comic Con 2026.

While he was there, as well as hanging out with the team from Chameleon Comix, who publish Fighting Fantasy in Hungarian...

...Sir Ian also met Krisztián Balla, who illustrated The Dungeon on Blood Island...

...and László Arpad, the talented illustrator behind the Qatlas Fighting Fantasy solution maps.

Sir Ian's Saturday signing session was a record in that it took over 8 hours, virtually non-stop, for him to sign everyone's books!