The Winners of Firetop Mountain

It's the day budding Fighting Fantasy artists have been waiting for, the day we announce the winners of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain art competition.

Almost two months ago, FF fans were invited to submit their illustrations of the denizens of the Warlock's dungeons, deep within Firetop Mountain. And many did just that. The entries were collated and were scrutinised by the co-creators of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.

As a result, we don't have one winner - we actually have two. And who are they?

Drum-roll please...

The Minotaur, as drawn by Adrien-Angelo Bastien

(chosen by Ian Livingstone) 

The Wererat, as drawn by Michael Sheppard

(chosen by Steve Jackson)

So, congratulations to Michael and Adrien-Angelo - Steam keys for Tin Man Games' adaptation of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain will be winging their way to you soon - commiserations to those entrants who were unlucky this time, and remember to keep checking www.fightingfantasy.com for news of another competition soon...

YOU ARE THE HERO at Dragondaze!

In case you live in South Wales, near Newport, and you weren't able to make it to Fighting Fantasy Fest 2, it may interest you to hear that Fighting Fantasy historian Jonathan Green will be attending Dragondaze on Saturday 30th September, and will have copies of YOU ARE THE HERO Parts 1 & 2 on sale.

If you're going along, why not say hello and pick up a signed copy?

The Singalong of Chaos

Today, upon the Earthly Plane, in the realm know as the United Kingdom, it is National Poetry Day.

From time to time poems - usually in the form of rhyming couplets - have appeared in Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, but there has been very little in the way of sonnets, or elegaic epics that have been inspired by the series. However, a number of musicians have been inspired to write FF-themed songs, the lyrics of which are their own form of poetry.

Backers of the Kickstarter to fund production of YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2, the second part of Jonathan Green's history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, will no doubt have already sampled the delights of Groan's Citadel of Chaos - a track inspired by Steve Jackson's first solo gamebook - as well as Jaldaboath's Balthus Dire.



But if you prefer your music a little more Gilbert and Sullivan, then you may be interested to hear what composer, orchestrator and baritone Craig M Wood has produced, after being inspired by the self-same adventure gamebook.



What is it about The Citadel of Chaos that makes it so prone to musical reinterpretation? Who knows, but if you've been inspired to write a song based on a Fighting Fantasy gamebook, drop us a line at mail@fightingfantasy.com and maybe we'll feature it on the Fighting Fantasy news page.

Remember, you heard it here first!

The news that Charlie Higson will be writing a brand new Fighting Fantasy gamebook hit The Bookseller today:

Charlie Higson is writing a new book in the bestselling Fighting Fantasy gamebook series for Scholastic UK, set for an April 2018 release.

Higson’s adventure will be set in the iconic Fighting Fantasy world “while bringing his own brand of fiendish, pacy plotting and spine-chilling monsters into play”, the publisher said.

It follows the 35th anniversary last August of the first publication of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s classic adventure series.

The deal for world rights was struck between Lauren Fortune, editorial director at Scholastic UK and Alexandra Cann Representation on behalf of Higson and Philippa Milnes-Smith at Lucas Alexander Whitley on behalf of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.

Higson’s book will be published alongside five more classic backlist titles from Jackson and Livingstone: Creature of Havoc, Deathtrap Dungeon, Appointment with F.E.A.R, The Island of the Lizard King and Sorcery! Fighting Fantasy is a trademark owned by Jackson and Livingstone and used with permission.

Higson wrote the Young Bond series which has now sold over a million copies in the UK and has been translated into over 24 different languages.

He said: “I’ve always been a huge fan of fantasy and gaming so when I first came across the Fighting Fantasy books back in the day I just had to check them out. Even though I was probably a little older than the average reader I thought they were great fun. In fact I thought they were genius. So it’s a huge honour now to be asked to write an adventure of my own and help introduce these amazing books to a new generation of readers.”

Fighting Fantasy co-creators Jackson and Livingstone said: “We are extremely proud of the world of Fighting Fantasy that we created 35 years ago, and which endures so well today. We’re very excited to see what the amazing imagination of bestselling author Charlie Higson will bring to the world. Charlie is a big fan of the series, and we know he will delight existing fans and his own readers with his first Fighting Fantasy book.”

Over 20 million copies of Fighting Fantasy have sold worldwide in 25 languages and the series has a legion of high-profile fans.

But remember, you heard the news here first!*

* Unless you were at Fighting Fantasy Fest 2, in which case you heard the news first there.