However, Arkhane Asylum, the publishers of the French language edition of Dice Men, the history of the early days of Games Workshop, will be in attendance.
Sir Ian Livingstone will be attending the UK Games Expo on Saturday 31st May and Sunday 1st June (but not Friday 30th May).
He will be signing copies of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks (including The Dungeon on Blood Island), Dice Men: The Origin Story of Games Workshop, and Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy (with co-author Jonathan Green), at Stand 2-359 in Hall 2.
Sir Ian Livingstone will be attending the Belgian games convention Trolls & Légendes as a Guest of Honour on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th April 2025. He will be signing copies of Dice Men, as well as Fighting Fantasy gamebbooks.
YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, written by Jonathan Green and covering 40 years of FF, will be on sale for the first time outside of the original Kickstarter at the UK Games Expo this weekend.
Jonathan will be joining Sir Ian Livingstone at Stand 2-T21 to sign copies of his magnum opus from Friday 31 May - Sunday 2 June 2024 in Hall 2 at the NEC, just outside Birmingham.
Of course, Sir Ian will also be signing copies of his books too, including Dice Men. He is also taking part in a number of events. You will find Sir Ian's schedule for the weekend here.
Sir Ian Livingstone will be attending the Belgian games convention Trolls & Légendes as a Guest of Honour on 30th and 31st March 2024. He will be signing copies of Dice Men, as well as Fighting Fantasy gamebbooks.
It is not an exaggeration to say that without Dungeons & Dragons there would be no Fighting Fantasy gamebooks either.
Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone were sharing a flat in Shepherd’s Bush with another friend, John Peake, when the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons was published in 1974, and their lives changed for ever.
They had heard about D&D through fanzines, although they did not actually get hold of a copy of their own until 1975. Jackson once described the arrival of D&D as “manna from heaven”. It was the game they had been waiting for.
Overwhelmed by the possibilities such role-playing games offered imaginative individuals, Jackson, Livingstone and Peake decided to start their own business. In February 1975 Games Workshop was established. Later that year they secured the exclusive European distribution rights for Dungeons & Dragons. Games Workshop started slowly but became a huge success over time, expanding from a bedroom mail order company to become a major retailer and publisher of wargames and RPGs.
You can read about those early years of the company in Dice Men: The Origin Story of Games Workshop, by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson.
Meanwhile, Geraldine Cooke has taken over Penguin Books' ailing science fiction, fantasy and horror list. Cooke’s best friend Geoff John, an avid Dungeons & Dragons player of several years' standing, told her all about Games Workshop. He told her to ring Jackson and Livingstone and see if they could turn the game, or something like it, into a book.
Fired by a combination of entrepreneurial bravado and youthful enthusiasm, Jackson and Livingstone agreed to work up a proposal and outline for a book about the growing fantasy role-playing hobby. The book was intended to be a 'How to' manual of role-playing, but the synopsis they submitted was for a simple solo RPG, presented within the pages of a book. A gamebook. The rest, as they say, is history...
At 9:30am he will be presenting the inaugural Ian Livingstone Prize for Innovations in Games, so that the shortlisted entries and the winner can then demonstrate their awards on their stands. The winner has been chosen from a long list of entries by Sir Ian and represents the Innovation that he feels most benefits games and gaming that year.
You will then find Sir Ian at Stand 6 in the Lower Trade Hall, which opens at 10:00am, where he will have some copies of the hardback editions of Shadow of the Giants and Dice Men on sale.
At 12:00pm Sir Ian will be on the panel for What Board Games Mean to Me.
Why are board games so important to so many of us, and why have they become so popular? Inspired by the new book of the same name from Aconyte, games expert James Wallis is joined by a panel of games industry experts and enthusiasts, including Sir Ian Livingstone and Matt Forbeck, to explore the many ways in which games have shaped all our lives
Sir Ian will be attending until 2:00pm, at which point he has to leave. However, before then he will be happy to chat with fans and sign their books.
Co-creator of the Fighting Fantasy series Sir Ian Livingstone will be attending Dragonmeet on Saturday 2nd December 2023. The event is taking place at the Novotel Hammersmith in West London.
You will find Sir Ian at Stand C11 in the Lower Trade Hall, which will be open from 10:00am-6:00pm.
Sir Ian will be there from 10:00am-2:00pm signing books, and will have some copies of the hardback editions of Shadow of the Giants and Dice Men on sale as well.
Sir Ian Livingstone had a busy week last week.
First of all he jetted off to Italy to attend Lucca Comics & Games 2023. The Italian edition of Dice Men was launched in Lucca, by Raven Distribution, alongside a new Italian edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.
Sir Ian Livingstone is attending two European events this week.
On Friday, Sir Ian will be travelling to Denmark for the second event, the Bogforum book fair in Copenhagen. The new Danish editions of the Fighting Fantasy series are being launched at the event and Sir Ian will be undertaking a signing on Friday 3 November, from 5:00-6:00pm.
He will be signing again on Saturday 4 November, from 11:00am-12:00pm. and from 1:30-2:30pm. Then on Sunday 5 November, from 12:00-12:45pm, Sir Ian will take part in panel entitled Sword & Sorcery and Nostalgia, before finishing with one more signing session from 1:00-2:00pm.
So if you happen to be at either the Lucca Comics and Games fair, or Bogforum, now you know what to look out for.
Sir Ian Livingstone is going to be one of the guests attending Lucca23, the Italian comics and games festival that is running from 1st - 5th November 2023 in the medieval city of Lucca.
This is because Raven Distribution are going to be relaunching the Fighting Fantasy series in Italy. The first book to be released will of course be The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, featuring brand new cover art by Andrea Guardino.
The classic gamebook, called Lo Stregone della Montagna Infuocata in Italian, will also feature brand new internal illustrations by Andrea Alemanno.
Not only that, but the Italian edition of Dice Men, Uomini & Dadi, will also be on sale during the fair.
International Gamebook Day 2023 is taking place tomorrow, on Saturday 14 October, and Fighting Fantasy co-creator Sir Ian Livingstone will be the Guest of Honour!
Sir Ian's interview will go live at 7:00pm BST and the whole schedule for the day can be viewed here.
In other news, Sir Ian is in Paris today, Friday 13 October, signing copies of the French language edition of Dice Men at the French Wargame Café from 6:00-8:30pm, and at the Folies d'Encre bookstore in Montreuil from 11:00am-1:00pm on Saturday 14 October.
40 years ago today, BBC South East at Six explored the magical world of Dungeons & Dragons, with the help of Games Workshop founders Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The clip also features Fighting Fantasy author Peter Darvill-Evans!
#OnThisDay 1983: BBC South East at Six explored the magical world of Dungeons & Dragons, with the help of Games Workshop founders Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. pic.twitter.com/dxuhI5k2pe
— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) October 6, 2023
To read more about the early days of Games Workshop, check out Dice Men, by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson.
27 July is Gary Gygax Day. Observed on Gygax's birthday, it is an opportunity for fans pay tribute to the father of the modern RPG.
Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone first met Gary Gygax when Games Workshop and TSR were just starting out. Gary Gygax happened to see one of the free copies of Owl & Weasel, Games Workshop's first magazine. Seeking outlets for his new game, he wrote to the budding entrepreneurs, and told them about his product. Intrigued, Livingstone and Jackson gave him a call and ordered six copies of Dungeons & Dragons. (They would have ordered more, but Gygax only had six copies to sell.)
Jackson and Livingstone thought they were negotiating with a new, successful and innovative games company, selling products all over the States. Gygax thought he was dealing with a top UK games distribution company. The truth was, it was one guy in his flat selling some stuff to a couple of other guys in their flat. As Livingstone put it to Gygax some years later, it was basically two role-players role-playing at being businessmen.
The three remained good friends until Gygax passed away in 2008. When Wizard Books republished Temple of Terror in 2004, Ian Livingstone wrote a new dedication for the book:
You can read more about Jackson and Livingstone's interactions with Gary Gygax in Dice Men: The Origin Story of Games Workshop.
Today, also marks six years since Nomad Games released Fighting Fantasy Legends on Steam. Right now you can buy the Fighting Fantasy - Collection Bundle (which includes Fighting Fantasy Legends and the Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy) at a saving of 15%. To purchase this bundle, either click this link or the image below.
