40 years of Ian Livingstone's Temple of Terror

Sir Ian Livingstone's 8th Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Temple of Terror, was published 40 years ago this year.

The majority of the adventure takes place in the waterless wastes of the ominously-named Desert of Skulls. The book begins with the wizard Yaztromo (who first appeared in The Forest of Doom) hiring the hero to thwart the plans of the sorcerer Malbordus, the so-called ‘Storm Child’. The evil sorcerer’s power is reaching its zenith, and all he needs to lead his army of conquest across Allansia are five Dragon artefacts which lie hidden within the lost city of Vatos.

Vatos was named after a small beach resort in Corfu where Livingstone had holidayed more than once, hence it being used as the name of a lost city swallowed by sand. As well as its desert setting, the book is particularly memorable for its introduction of the lethal Messenger of Death.

Temple of Terror was the only FF gamebook to be illustrated by Bill Houston. The cover was painted by ’80s fantasy art legend Chris Achilleos, the second time he contributed a cover to the main series (after Space Assassin).

“I was dealing with Ian,” Achilleos recalled in 2014, “and he called me and said, ‘I’m going to leave it to you to design me the creature for this new book I’m writing. I’m going to tell you the scene and you come up with the creature, because you probably don’t need guidance on this from someone like me.’ And I said, ‘That sounds great, yeah. Then you can describe it from my painting.’

“It was a guardian of this gate, and it was a desert scene – a city half buried under sand – so I designed this creature that lies in wait, buried under the sand... It was something I’d seen in a wildlife programme, these desert snakes that hide in the sand and just have their eyes out and then they pounce on you. So I imagined the same creature sort of lying in wait for someone to try and pass the gate. I drew that and he was delighted with it. In fact, he bought the original from me.”

You can find out more about Chris Achilleos' contributions to the Fighting Fantasy series in Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy, by Sir Ian Livingstone and FF author and historian Jonathan Green.

Temple of Terror has yet to be republished by Scholastic Books, but who knows what the future might bring? And what of Steve Jackson Games' plans for the series in the US? Could Temple of Terror be among those adventures slated for a release Stateside?

You'll just have to wait and see...

Temple of Terror is on Fighting Fantasy Classics on Steam

YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks

Available now from Snowbooks is the 40th anniversary interactive edition of YOU ARE THE HERO by Jonathan Green, featuring brand new cover art by none other than FF legend Iain McCaig.

Fighting Fantasy gamebooks – the publishing phenomenon of the 1980s – has sold over 20 million books worldwide, in over 30 languages. But when Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone sat down to write the original Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, they could not have predicted that this one, simple adventure would go on to spawn over 100 titles, let alone begin to guess at the impact it would have on a generation of children growing up in the 80s.

Part history, part celebration, YOU ARE THE HERO chronicles four decades of the Fighting Fantasy phenomenon. Written by Jonathan Green (author of eight Fighting Fantasy gamebooks), this mighty tome will appeal to anyone who ever whiled away a washed-out summer holiday with only two dice, a pencil, and an eraser for company.

As well as updating and revising the text from the original two volumes of YOU ARE THE HERO, there is a significant amount of new content, particularly concerning the 40th anniversary of Fighting Fantasy in 2022.

Not only that, but you can either read YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks from cover to cover, or you can read it as a gamebook. The blue boxes you can see in the sample spread above give you the option of turning to different sections (there are 400 in total, of course) that are in some way related to the paragraphs you have just read.

As well as being available from Amazon, YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks will be on sale at Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 as well.

Steve Jackson's Sorcery! now available on all major consoles

Steve Jackson's Sorcery! The Complete Collection is now available for Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, and is already taking the gaming community by storm.

Indeed, Finger Guns recently called it, "a real page turner," while The Xbox Hub has rated it 4.5/5.

Sorcery! was a Game of the Year finalist for TouchArcade and Mashable, while Rock Paper Shotgun called it, "one of the finest RPGs ever made."

The Sixth Axis has rated the game 9/10, as has the Use A Potion video game review site.

If you've not played inkle studios' adaptation of Steve Jackson's seminal gamebook quartet, the release of the quadrilogy on Switch will provide you with the perfect opportunity.

Journey through hills, forests, cities, dungeons, and even time in the magical world of Sorcery! where every choice matters. Fight, explore, solve puzzles, and most importantly, survive and craft your own unique story! Each part can be played on its own, or you can load your character from one part to the next, carrying over equipment, stats, and narrative choices.

Features: 

 - Freedom to explore

 - pick your own path and make your own choices, thousands of them

 - Progression that counts - load your progress from the previous part and continue your journey

 - Spellbook full of wonders - a plethora of weird and wonderful spells that can affect the narrative in wild and unpredictable ways

 - Swindle with the best of them

 - Play Swindlestones, a game of cunning and deceit, for profit or for information

 - God(s) be with you - multiple deities, each with their own quirks and powers

 - Life of the city - hundreds of characters to interact with

 - Slay the night - fight hundreds of unique monsters

 - Storytime - adapted from the best-selling gamebook series by legendary game designer Steve Jackson

 - Music to my ears - listen to a beautiful soundtrack by the "80 Days" composer, Laurence Chapman

Jon Ingold, inkle's Narrative Director, will be attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 4 two months today, on Saturday 3 September at the University of West London in Ealing.

Steve Jackson's Sorcery! is coming to Nintendo Switch!

Inkle, the developer behind the superb digital adaptation of the Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series, will be bringing the game(s) to Nintendo Switch later this year.

Here's what Eurogamer.net had to say about the Sorcery! games:

"Jackson's source material - a four-part spin-off of the Fighting Fantasy series - is still a delight, and Inkle gives the adaptation's predominantly text-based choose-your-own-adventure proceedings a real sense of presence, through some satisfyingly chunky map exploration, enhanced combat, and other nifty tricks."

And here's what PocketGamer.com thought:

"Beautifully realised and with a compelling if familiar narrative... this gripping tale has us well and truly hooked."

While Inkle originally released the four-part epic in installments, the Switch version, which is being handled by Polish publisher No Gravity Games, will include all four chapters in a single package. 

Sorcery! Parts 1-4, as the game will be known on Switch, is due to arrive in the third quarter this year.

An epic adventure through an open world of monsters, traps and magic. Infiltrate the Fortress of Sorcerers, and create your own unique story where every decision you make is remembered, no matter how small. Cheat death, uncover ancient mysteries, and recover the Crown of Kings – if you can. Spanning four interconnected games, players weave their own unique tale of adventure, daring, luck and cunning from a million words of dynamic content and tens of thousands of decisions. Each part can be played separately, or strung together, with consequences of decisions that span the whole series.

Arion Games' interview with Rhianna Pratchett

Crystal of Storms, the new Fighting Fantasy gamebook by Rhianna Pratchett, has been out now for a couple of weeks and the reviews are in!

"It's wonderful to read a book by Rhianna after following her work from journalism through to games, comics and screenwriting, and a Fighting Fantasy novel seems a perfect choice for her." ~ Gabrielle, Amazon.co.uk

"It’s a great idea and I really love Rhi’s writing, comparable to Jonathan Green’s and Ian Livingstone’s. This girl is on fire." ~ JamsPlace.co

"If you enjoy FF books, give this a few hours of your time and it will give you hours of enjoyment." ~ Amazon.co.uk

“Her charming writing style and clever, imaginative world-building in Crystal of Storms is a new take on the genre and a joy to read.” ~ Ian Livingstone

"I really enjoyed this and, as it has an open ending, I hope we will see more FFs from Rhianna Pratchett if this is any indication of what fresh new material she can bring to the table." ~ Malthus Dire's Fighting Fantasy Page

Graham Bottley of Arion Games also recently interviewed Rhianna about her book, which is available now via his YouTube channel, and here...

The Gates of Death open today!

It's the day Fighting Fantasy fans have been waiting for, for today is the day that Charlie Higson's much-anticipated brand-new Fighting Fantasy gamebook The Gates of Death is released!

But not only that, three classic Jackson titles and two classic Livingstone titles are also re-released today.

  

  

Remember to let us know what you think of the new releases by posting a comment on this blog post, and perhaps leave a review online.

Fighting Fantasy in the press again

Two recent publications both feature Fighting Fantasy within their pages. First there's the new issue of SFX Magazine, which has not only an article about the history of Fighting Fantasy but also a glowing 4 out of 5 star review of the Freeway Fighter comic.

And then there's Tabletop Gaming, which includes a plug for the forthcoming Fighting Fantasy Fest 2!

FREEWAY FIGHTER #2

Issue #2 of Ian Livingstone's FREEWAY FIGHTER is now available for pre-order, from Forbidden Planet or your local comic store. But no matter how you order it, you're going to need these pre-order codes:

Click to enlarge.

In other news, Issue #1 has been garnering a lot of interest, and praise, from the comics community. Here's what just a few reviewers have had to say about it:

"Ewington and Livingstone together have put together a first issue that feels familiar, but still very entertaining. Normally this world setting is fuelled by macho male leads with women acting in a subservient role. Their choice of Bella De La Rosa as the hero around which this series rotates is brilliant..." ~ Graphic Policy

"Driving fast, and doing it well, are the keys to survival and when crashes happen, they are spectacular. The combination of Coleby’s art and O’Grady’s colours bring that kind of world to life... In Freeway Fighter, Campbell’s job as letterer is pushed out into the forefront to give the high speed chases and resultant crashes a little extra impact." ~ Pullbox Reviews

"This fast paced comic deserves your attention, as the story immediately grips the reader and the art brings it all to life... If you’re looking for something away from the mainstream, pick up Freeway Fighter #1." ~ Heroes Direct

"If you’re a fan of the original “Fighting Fantasy” adventure books, this is a must read." ~ Ain't It Cool News