Iain McCaig 'appearing' at Fighting Fantasy Fest 4

Have you booked your ticket for Fighting Fantasy Fest 4 yet? If so, you're in for a treat. If not, you might want to hurry up and purchase yours today, as the latest guest to be confirmed for the event is none other than Iain McCaig.

Iain McCaig is a legend among Fighting Fantasy artists, having painted the original covers of such seminal gamebooks as Ian Livingstone's The Forest of Doom, City of Thieves, Deathtrap Dungeon, and Island of the Lizard King.

Iain will be 'appearing' via the magic of Zoom, broadcasting live from his home in Canada on Saturday 3 September 2022. As anyone who attended Fighting Fantasy Fest 2 back in 2017 will know, his masterclass was one of the standout sessions of the day.

Iain is a world-renowned and award-winning character designer and visual storyteller, who has worked on such blockbuster films as Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Endgame, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Jungle Book, and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, as well as the recent TV series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

For this very reason, due to the potential for copyright infringement, Iain's talk will not be livestreamed or recorded to be posted online later. The only way to experience it is in person at Fighting Fantasy Fest 4. So don't delay, get your ticket today.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 4 Tickets

Tickets are on sale now for Fighting Fantasy Fest 4, and are strictly limited to 400* in total.

The Convention of Firetop Mountain is returning to the University of West London, three years since FFF3, on Saturday 3rd September 2022, to celebrate 40 years of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks series co-created by Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone.

Everyone who purchases an adult ticket will receive:

• A uniquely numbered 40th anniversary ticket (strictly limited to 400 in total)
• A souvenier programme and autograph book
• A pair of Fighting Fantasy dice
• Access to the event, including the Traders' Hall and Artists' Alley, and all signing opportunities
• Access to all talks and panels
• Access to a special screening of Martin Gooch's new film Argh and the Quest for the Golden Dragon Skull, featuring Sir Ian Livingstone!

Attendees may also pre-order an exclusive Fighting Fantasy 40th anniversary T-shirt and enamel pin badge, ready for collection at the event.

There are also a limited number of Young Adult and Children tickets. (Please note that anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult ticket holder.)

Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone will be attending as Guests of Honour, and other guests include authors Rhianna Pratchett, Jamie Thomson, Peter Darvill-Evans, and Jonathan Green, artists John Sibbick, Malcolm Barter, Tony Hough, Mel Grant, and Rob Ball, and original commissioning editor Geraldine Cooke.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 4 is likely to be a very popular event and entry is by pre-paid ticket only*.

If you've been before, you will know what to expect and will doubtless be keen to attend again. If you've not been before, then this is the year to attend your first Fighting Fantasy convention!

So, don't delay and make sure you secure your place at Fighting Fantasy Fest 4 now!

* Tickets are limited to 400 adult tickets, plus 50 Young Adult tickets, and 50 Children tickets.

Iain McCaig to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 2!

Breaking news! Ace Fighting Fantasy artist Iain McCaig will be attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 2 on Saturday 2 September!

Iain first made a name for himself working on the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series, illustrating two classic Livingstone titles - City of Thieves and Deathtrap Dungeon - and providing the cover art for The Forest of Doom and Island of the Lizard King as well.

In 1987 he collaborated with Ian Livingstone again on the puzzle quest book Casket of Souls, and some of his paintings for the book were later re-purposed as covers for The Zagor Chronicles novel quartet.

Iain also worked with Steve Jackson, providing art for Steve Jackson's Battle Cards.

But 2017 has seen McCaig and Livingstone reunited for The Port of Peril hardback collector's edition.

Today, Iain is an internationally recognised and award-winning artist and one of the motion picture industry’s leading conceptual designers. His exceptional command of human anatomy, character, emotional expression and visual narrative make him on of the most sought after artists working in the entertainment industry today.

He has worked for Lucasfilm as one of the principal designers on Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode Two: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode Seven: The Force Awakens. His work includes the landmark designs for Queen Amidala and Darth Maul.

His other film credits include: James Cameron's Terminator II, Steven Spielberg's Hook, Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, Neil Jordan’s Interview With the Vampire, Sony/Revolution/Universal’s Peter Pan, and Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He is also Co-Producer and Concept Design Director on Ascendant Pictures’ science-fiction epic Outlander.

Iain is rarely in the UK so if you are a fan of his work you will not want to miss Fighting Fantasy Fest 2! (Tickets are still available.) He will be giving a talk and taking part in a Q and A, and will also be signing copies of The Port of Peril with Ian Livingstone.

Other confirmed guests* are Steve Jackson, Ian Livingstone, Marc Gascoigne, Peter Darvill-Evans, Jamie Thomson, Malcolm Barter, Alan Langford, Tony Hough, Leo Hartas, Jim Burns, Pete Knifton, Andi Ewington, Simon Coleby, Robert M Ball, Keith Phillips and Jonathan Green.

The cast and crew of the new Fighting Fantasy audio drama The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: The Hero's Quest will also be there, as will the designers and developers of the FF video games Fighting Fantasy Legends and Steve Jackson's Sorcery!

* Health and work commitments permitting.

The Warlock of Tabletop Mountain

While Steve Jackson was signing Fighting Fantasy gamebooks at Dragonmeet last weekend, Ian Livingstone was Guest of Honour at São Paulo Comic Con in Brazil.

180,000 genre fans attended the four-day event and a significant percentage of them were Fighting Fantasy fans! Jambo Editora, the Brazilian publishers of Fighting Fantasy, certainly made sure that there was plenty of stock to sign!

And it was a good thing too! There were over 100 people in line at the start of Ian's signing sessions for all four days, and they all lasted over two hours before the queue began to die down!

What was particularly pleasing was how many children were there with their parents, who loved the books back in the '80s and '90s.

And here's the view from the main hall stage, with 800 fans crammed in to hear Ian's talk about FF and RPGs - for which he received a standing ovation!

Among the many fans Ian met over the four days was Daielyn Cris, who gave him her beautifully illustrated, hand-made edition of City of Thieves!

FF fan Daniel Werneck gave Ian The Warlock of Tabletop Mountain, an FF book in which you are Ian Livingstone!

Here's Ian with a fan of The Forest of Doom, who just happens to be TV chat show host Danilo Gentili, who just happens to have 14 million Twitter followers.

And here's Ian with a Freeway Fighter fan!

Ian also met Ed H Muller, who produced the cover illustration for the new Brazilian edition of Temple of Terror, which he then generously gifted to book's author!

The whole São Paulo Comic Con experience was very much like being on the set of Fighting Fantasy: The Movie!

In fact, Ian was so inspired by the event that he posted this tweet on Sunday!

So if you want a new FF gamebook for the 35th anniversary, you know what you have to do...