2025 marks 40 years since the publication of Freeway Fighter - the only Fighting Fantasy gamebook, to date, to be set in a dystopian world.
For his sixth solo contribution to the FF range, Ian
Livingstone ventured into the realm of near-future (for 1985) post-apocalyptic science fiction. Clearly inspired by the Mad Max movies - and set in 2022 - Freeway Fighter (FF13) had the hero
crossing the American wilderness in their heavily armoured Dodge Interceptor, to
reach the distant oil-refinery of San Anglo so that they might return with vital
supplies for the inhabitants of the peaceful town of New Hope. But success is far from certain since the wilds that lie between the scattered, fortified
towns are the territory of lawless bandits and brigands.
Vehicular combat was a feature of this adventure with the
Dodge Interceptor having both a FIREPOWER and an ARMOUR score to represent its
offensive and defensive capabilities.
Like Starship Traveller (Steve Jackson’s one and only foray into hard sci-fi Fighting Fantasy), Freeway Fighter has fewer than the standard 400 references, coming in at only 380 paragraphs. How come? “Because 400 references was a guide,” explains Livingstone, “not an absolute requirement.”
The cover was by the renowned SF artist Jim Burns. When the book was republished by Wizard Books, the cover was reworked by Burns. However, this was not an original piece of artwork for the range - the illustration had already been used back in 1984 on the cover Games Workshop's Battlecars.
The interior art was by Kevin Bulmer. It was completed in only nine days, as a favour for Ian Livingstone after the original illustrations that had been commissioned were rejected at the last moment.
Kevin Bulmer’s illustrations for Freeway Fighter.
One of the early contenders for internal artist on Freeway Fighter was actually FF legend Iain McCaig, but other commitments meant that it simply wasn’t to be. However, we have an idea of how the book might have looked since McCaig did start work on an image for the book.
In 2017 Titan Comics published Ian Livingstone’s Freeway Fighter, a limited four-part comicbook series that was then collected as a trade paperback. It was written by Andi Ewington, with art by Simon Coleby, colours by Len O’Grady, and lettering by Jim Campbell.
While Freeway Fighter is not currently in print as a physical gamebook, it is available as part of Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classics app.
Will Sir Ian ever return to the lawless hinterlands of America to write a pedal-to-the-metal heart-stopping sequel? We'll just have to wait and see...
