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)

Scott Mackay's Sorcery! Maps

Scott Mackay has added more maps to his Fighting Fantasy collection - solutions the first two adventures from Steve Jackson's seminal Sorcery! quartet.

Each one is available as an A3 print, as are his other Fighting Fantasy maps. To purchase one, simply click on the relevant image above.

The Steve Jackson Fighting Fantasy Collection 40th Anniversary boxset

The Steve Jackson Fighting Fantasy Collection 40th Anniversary boxset is released today in Japan, having been delayed from the end of last year.

The boxset includes the Japanese editions of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! quartet as well as his newest book, Secrets of Salamonis, and is available now.

The Fighting Fantasy 40th Anniversary celebration in Japan

The Steve Jackson Fighting Fantasy Collection 40th Anniversary boxset will now be released in Japan on 16th February 2024.

The boxset includes the Sorcery! quartet and Steve's newset book Secrets of Salamonis, and it is available for pre-order now.

Complete the Quest

And the Crown of Kings shall be yours!

This April, Scholastic Books will release the final two parts of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! epic. And each one features brand new cover art by Rob Ball.

Which is next on your reading list?

The Cartography of Kakhabad

Last week, we introduced you to the marvellous maps of FF fan Alnaro.

Well, it is not only the standard Fighting Fantasy series that he has mapped - he has also used his artistic talents to create a quartet of cartographic wonders for Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series. And here they are...

The Shamutanti Hills

Kharé - Cityport of Traps

The Seven Serpents

The Crown of Kings

The Crown of Kings - 35 years of magic

2020 marks the 35th anniversary of the publication of The Crown of Kings, the fourth and concluding adventure of Steve Jackson's seminal Sorcery! series.

Jackson conceived the epic gamebook experiment after holidaying in Nepal, and several of the settlements that appear in The Shamutanti Hills, the first book in the quartet, are named after actual villages he came across on a five day trek he undertook from the city of Pokhara.

The Shamutanti Hills concludes with the hero - the Analander - battling the Manticore that has appeared on the cover of every edition of the book ever published. The second book in the series, Kharé – Cityport of Traps, charts the hero’s challenging journey through the titular city to the spell-locked Northern Gate, through which he has to pass to continue the quest for the Crown of Kings.

The Seven Serpents, the third book in the series, takes the hero across the inhospitable Baklands – a treacherous wilderness of deserts, forests, and swamps – and a vast lake, as the Analander attempts to hunt down and do away with the Archmage’s assassin-agents of the title, seven deadly and magical serpents. And in The Crown of Kings, the hero has to climb through the Xamen Peaks to the Mampang Fortress, and then battle his way through the Archmage’s lair.

The Crown of Kings was a whopping 800 references in length - a record yet to be broken by any other Fighting Fantasy gamebook) – was a suitably epic finale to Sorcery! series, and featured one of the most memorable (and clever) denouements of any adventure ever published, not to mention encounters with a god-headed Hydra and entire societies of birdmen and she-satyrs.

When Jackson talks about the Sorcery! series, he does so, understandably, with great fondness. When pressed on the subject of which of the gamebooks he has written are his favourites, he cites two: “Warlock because it was the first. And Sorcery! because it was the most complex. Creating a four-part adventure in which your actions in Book 2 might affect your choices in Book 4 was a real challenge. Also making sure they were all good adventures in their own right; you didn’t need to have completed Sorcery 1 to play Sorcery 2. I was very proud of Sorcery!”

Of course, in more recent years, the Sorcery! series has been turned into a series of apps by inkle studios, as well as a multi-player role-playing campaign published by Arion Games, while the first two parts of the Analander's momentous quest are now in print again, courtesy of Scholastic Books.

     

Fighting Fantasy Signing at Forbidden Planet

Four weeks from today, on Saturday 2nd November 2019, from 2:00-3:00pm, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson with be at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London, signing the latest Fighting Fantasy releases from Scholastic Books.

Assassins of Allansia, by Ian Livingstone

Are you tough enough to survive attacks by Allansia's most dangerous and deadly assassins? After accepting a challenge to survive on Snake Island, a nightmare unfolds when a bounty is placed on your head. From being the hunter, you become the hunted. Now you must find the Assassins before they find you. But who are they? Where are they? Everybody you meet could be an assassin. Trust no-one…

Sorcery! 2: Kharé - Cityport of Traps, by Steve Jackson

Far away in the land of Kakhabad, chaos is brewing... The evil Archimage has stolen the precious Crown of Kings, intending to use its power to further his tyrannous ends. In this second book of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series, YOU must brave the city of Kharé, where every doorway or alley conceals sudden danger. You will need all your wits about you to avoid the traps and survive the unimaginable horrors ahead... Be careful, for nothing in Kahkabad is quite as it seems...

Caverns of the Snow Witch, by Ian Livingstone

Deep within the Crystal Caves of the Icefinger Mountains, the dreaded Snow Witch is plotting to bring on a new ice age and take over the world. Will YOU be able to stop her?


So put the date in your diary, and maybe we'll see you there...

Artists attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 3

As well as guests of honour Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, the co-creators of Fighting Fantasy, attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, there will also be a host of your favourite artists, including...

Russ Nicholson - illustrator of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and many other FF books.

Chris Achilleos - cover artist for Out of the Pit, Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World, Temple of Terror, Armies of Death, and The Trolltooth Wars.

Duncan Smith - illustrator of Scorpion Swamp and Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game.

Malcolm Barter - illustrator of The Forest of Doom and the French language edition of Advanced Fighting Fantasy.

Alan Langford - illustrator of Island of the Lizard King and Creature of Havoc, to name but two.

Tony Hough - illustrator of Spectral Stalkers, Night Dragon, Knights of Doom, and Bloodbones.

Pete Knifton - illustrator of Tower of Destruction and Siege of Sardath.

Robert Ball - cover artist for the Scholastic series, and illustrator of the new editions of Caverns of the Snow Witch and Kharé - Cityport of Traps, as well as Ian Livingstone's brand new book, Assassins of Allansia.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 is happening just three weeks tomorrow, on Saturday 31st August. If you haven't got your ticket yet, what are you waiting for?

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, Les Edwards is no longer able to attend.

Game of Books - Robert Ball, Illustrator

The new tranche of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks from Scholastic Books have a new interior artist. As well as producing the covers, Robert Ball is now the series illustrator.

And to give you a taste of what you have to look forward here are two of Rob's illustrations.

No prizes for guessing which classic title this picture comes from...

The Yeti from Ian Livingstone's Caverns of the Snow Witch.

And here is one of his illustrations from the new edition of Steve Jackson's Kharé - Cityport of Traps...

The Sulphur Ghost guardian of Kharé's Northern Gate.

Robert Ball will one of the guests attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, on Saturday 31st August at the University of West London in Ealing, and signing copies of the new books, alongside Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.

Assassins of Allansia

Struggling to survive on an uninhabited island which is home to Decayers, Flesh-Heads and Worm Dogs, things go from bad to worse when YOU are attacked in the middle of the night. But who attacked you? And why? The mystery deepens when you discover a small boat on the beach with an old friend shackled to the mast. There is a bounty is on your head and you must find your hunters before they find you. Can YOU defeat the assassins on their deadly mission?

Two years since The Port of Peril was published, Ian Livingstone is back, with another brand new Fighting Fantasy adventure.

Having read the blurb for Assassins of Allansia, you probably have all sorts of questions that can only be answered by undertaking the quest contained within the pages of this thrilling new gamebook - the 72nd in fact, if you include Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series. But first and foremost has to be, who is that blue-swathed figure wielding a sword on the cover?

Have no fear, all will be revealed in a week's time...

Assassins of Allansia will be available to buy at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, along with the new editions of  Caverns of the Snow Witch and Kharé - Cityport of Traps.

     

Caverns and Kharé cover reveal!

This summer sees the release of the next tranche of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks from Scholastic Books - two classic titles and one brand new adventure by Ian Livingstone. All three feature new cover art by Game of Thrones illustrator Robert Ball, and will be on sale at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3.

Those classic titles are Ian Livingstone's frozen fantasy adventure Caverns of the Snow Witch...

Deep within the Crystal Caves of the Icefinger Mountains, the dreaded Snow Witch is plotting to bring on a new ice age and take over the world. Will YOU be able to stop her?

... and the second part of Steve Jackson's four-part Sorcery! epic, Kharé - Cityport of Traps.

YOU, the hero, must brave the city of Kharé, where every doorway or alley conceals sudden danger. You will need all your wits about you to avoid the traps and survive the unimaginable horrors ahead...

"But what of the third title, the new book by gaming legend Ian Livingstone?" the Warlock hears you cry.

Come back again tomorrow, and all will be revealed...

Happy Birthday, John Blanche!

Visionary fantasy artist John Blanche, is 70 years young today!

Anyone who grew up loving Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series in the 1980s with be immediately familiar with illustrations of Jann the Minimite, the Mantis Man of Kharé, the Snattacats of the Forest of Snatta, and the Archmage of Mampang himself, not to mention the effects of sorcerous spells brought to life.

Jann the Minimite

The Mantis Man of Kharé

A Snattacat

The Archmage of Mampang

The YOB Spell in action!

Of course, Blanche also provided the almost hallucinogenic cover paintings for the original Sorcery! releases and painted an image of Kharé - Cityport of Traps for the original large formal release of Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World.

Blanche even produced a full-colour map of the land of Kakhabad to help advertise the series.

Blanche is the art director for Games Workshop and it is his fertile imagination and stunning visuals that have given form to the grim, gothic worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. But for some, his name will always be synonymous with the land of Kakhabad and Steve Jackson's Sorcery! Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.

So raise a tankard of your favourite foaming pick-me-up and join us in wishing John Blanche a very happy birthday!