Fighting Fantasy returns to Spain

Celaeno Books are preparing to launch a crowdfunding campaign to bring Fighting Fantasy gamebooks back for Spanish readers.

The first four titles they have in their sights are the classic The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Return to Firetop Mountain, and the 40th anniversary titles Secrets of Solomonis and Shadow of the Giants.

The books will feature classic cover art, where possible, and the original illustrations. There are also plans for a special limited and numbered edition of only 1,000 copies of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain exclusive to Spain with the original cover painting by Peter Andrew Jones.

You can find out more information and sign up to be notified when the crowdfunding campaign goes live here.

Secrets of Salamonis and Shadow of the Giants hit Brazil today

The 40th anniversary Fighting Fantasy gamebooks Secrets of Salamonis, by Steve Jackson, and Shadow of the Giants, by Sir Ian Livingstone, are published in Brazil today, courtesy of Jambô Editora.

If you are a Portuguese language speaker, or just an avid collector, you can buy your copies of the new editions direct from the publisher here.

Qatlas Fighting Fantasy Maps

As well as being known for its marauding monsters and epic adventures, fans of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have long held a great love for the maps that featured in some of the books from time to time.

But now Qatlas has starting producing a range of licensed maps based on the individual adventures which at the same time work as a walkthrough of your favourite FF titles.

Bearing this in mind, you should be aware that there will be spoilers ahead!

So far, there are 15 maps in the series that includes some classic titles - such as Caverns of the Snow Witch and Seas of Blood - as well as some of the newer adventures, such as Shadow of the Giants and Secrets of Salamonis.

Caverns of the Snow Witch

Seas of Blood

Shadow of the Giants

Secrets of Salamonis

Some of the maps are even available as a bundle of five, in the Fighting Fantasy Map Collection #1.

The Fighting Fantasy Map Collection #1

2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Deathtrap Dungeon and the Qatlas collection contains the three linked adventures in the Deathtrap Dungeon 'trilogy'.

Deathtrap Dungeon

Trial of Champions

Armies of Death

There are many more maps to see on Qatlas's store, which you can access here. And rest assured, more maps are on their way.

The Cannes Festival International des Jeux 2024

Two Fighting Fantasy authors will be attending the Cannes Festival Internatioal des Jeux* in France this weekend. 

Dave Morris, co-author of The Keep of the Lich-Lord, and FF historian Jonathan Green, co-author of Secrets of Salamonis, will be the guests of Scriptarium, the company that publishes the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG in France, and who will also be publishing the French language edition of YOU ARE THE HERO - An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

The event is being held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès of Cannes from Friday 23 - Sunday 25 February 2-24.

* The Cannes International Games Festival

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.

YOU DECIDE! Shadow of the Giants

Those of you who have been following Ken Boyter's live readthrough of Secrets of Salamonis will know that last week he succumbed to one of the many fiendish traps Steve Jackson had built into the book, which means that this week he is embarking on Sir Ian Livingstone's 40th anniversary adventure, Shadow of the Giants!

When an ancient artefact is discovered inside Firetop Mountain, its evil magic unleashes terrifying Iron Giants upon the world. In a race against time, YOU must find the only person who knows how to defeat them. Where does he live? Will he help? Will YOU survive?

Proceedings kick-off today at 6:00pm GMT on Twitch, and you can have your say in chat as to how the adventure progresses. Click this link to find out more.

God Save the King!

It probably hasn't escaped your notice that tomorrow is the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

Royalty has long been a staple of fantasy stories, and that includes adventure gamebooks. So, today we thought we would count down some of Fighting Fantasy's baddest and best monarchs. But be warned, spoilers abound!

#5 - King Salamon LVII - The Gates of Death

The highly respected current ruler of Salamonis first appeared in Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy novel, The Trolltooth Wars, and then in Dungeoner, the first book in the Advanced Fighting Fantasy series.

However, when he was next encountered in Charlie Higson's The Gates of Death, he had become infected by a terrible demon plague and... wasn't quite himself.

#4 - King Gillibran - The Forest of Doom

King Gillibran Ironhelm III is the ruler of the Dwarves of Stonebridge. It is he who you are trying to aid by recovering his fabled warhammer in Sir Ian Livingstone's The Forest of Doom, so that he can continue to defend the town against the predations of the Hill Trolls that live to the east in the Moonstone Hills.

#3 - The Serpent Queen - City of Thieves

The Serpent Queen is under the protection of Lord Azzur and can be encountered in Sir Ian Livingstone's City of Thieves.

She is a woman with the head of a giant serpent, the result of terrible experiments performed by Caarth sorcerer-priests in the Desert of Skulls, and her bite is most definitely worse than her bark!

#2 - King Salamon LVII - Secrets of Salamonis

Having not appeared in a Fighting Fantasy gamebook until 2018, only four years later King Salamon returned in 2022, in Steve Jackson's Secrets of Salamonis. The reason for his second appearance on the list is because the previous listing was for his evil demonic self, while in Secrets of Salamonis he is as noble, wise and generous as you might have previously been led to believe.

#1 - The Lizard King - Island of the Lizard King

There is only one monarch whose name appears in the title of a Fighting Fantasy gamebook and that is the Lizard King of Fire Island. Armed with a lethal sword and protected by his pet Black Lion, he is a truly formidable foe. And you have to battle your way past his entire army before you can even face him in single combat!

Bubbling under: the Liche Queens of Trial of Champions and Night of the Necromancer, the Pharaoh Akharis the Accursed from Curse of the Mummy, and Queen Zyteea of the Usai tribe who appears in Bloodbones.

So, who is your favourite Fighting Fantasy monarch? Let us know in the comments below?

Secrets of Salamonis Live Readthrough!

Join K. R. Boyter at 7:00pm UK time tonight (Tuesday 21st March 2023) on the Mythical Tales from Edra Twitch channel for a live readthrough of Steve Jackson's Secrets of Salamonis!

 

Billick O'Doone

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Steve Jackson's
Secrets of Salamonis

If you have read  Steve Jackson's Secrets of Salamonis you will have encountered a certain child-like character who goes by the name of Billick O'Doone and who is, in fact, a Leprechaun. He even appears in one of Tazio Bettin's filler illustrations that appear throughout the book.

Billick O'Doone, by Tazio Bettin.

The inclusion of the character was not just some random idea. Billick O'Doone first appeared in another Steve Jackson project many years ago - the telephone RPG F.I.S.T. Adventures.

If you have yet to play Steve Jackson's latest adventure, you can buy it here. To find out more titbits of curious information about the world's premier gamebook series, it's not too late to place a Late Pledge to Jonathan Green's ultimate 40th anniversary edition of this FF gamebooks history YOU ARE THE HERO .

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

World Book Day 2023

World Book Day is all about encouraging young readers. But what if you are trying to encourage reluctant readers? Have no fear, for Fighting Fantasy gamebooks are here.

Proven to improve literacy levels, their exciting storylines, gruesome monsters, and short sections help those who are starting out on their reading journey engage with the text. The books also aid with the development of other vital life skills, such as decision-making, problem-solving, and numeracy.

So why not check out the Fighting Fantasy series today?

Tazio Bettin's Art of Darkness

Tazio Bettin is the Italian artist who had the honour of illustrating Steve Jackson's 40th anniversary Fighting Fantasy adventure Secrets of Salamonis. His star is certainly in the ascendant, as he has also produced Warhammer 40,000 book covers for Games Workshop and is a regular contributor to British anthology comic 2000AD.

Tazio was recently interviewed about his work, including Secrets of Salamonis, by Wyrd Science Magazine, and you can read the interview here.

*What decade even is this? The 2020s or the 1980s?

Return to Allansia this Half Term

As no doubt any parent will be able to tell you, in the UK schools are about to close for a week for Half Term. If you're wondering what to do to help keep your children occupied, while limiting their screen time and not letting them completely forget the discipline of school, why not take a trip with them to Allansia?

Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have been proven to help improve literacy levels in children, but they also help with simple maths, including calculating probabilities, problem solving, and decision making.

Below is a selection of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks that you might want to share with an apprentice adventurer this Half Term holiday.

Of course, when there is some permitted screen time, you could do a lot worse than check out inkle studios adaptation of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! epic, or Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classics* library.

* Tin Man Games have been producing Fighting Fantasy apps for ten years.