The Dungeon on Blood Island

Sir Ian Livingstone's brand-new gamebook, The Dungeon on Blood Island, written to mark 40 years since the publication of the seminal Deathtrap Dungeon, will launch at Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 on Saturday 7 September 2024.

Jealous of Baron Sukumvit's Deathtrap Dungeon, Lord Carnuss forced six hundred shackled souls to build the ultimate dungeon on Blood Island. ​​ He filled the labyrinth with savage creatures and deadly traps, and offered the fabled prize of the Golden Orb of Fang to any brave Adventurer who could find it and escape from the dungeon alive. ​​​

Are YOU brave enough to enter the Dungeon on Blood Island? 

The adventure has been illustrated by Hungarian artist Krisztián Balla, who impressed Sir Ian with the illustrations he produced for the Hungarian edition of Assassins of Allansia. Krisztián also produced the cover artwork for a number of the translated FF adventures published by Chameleon Comix.

The book also features brand-new cover art by none other than the original Deathtrap Dungeon artist Iain McCaig, who will also be attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 this year as one of our Guests of Honour, alongside Sir Ian Livingstone.

Not only that, but there will be a limited number of signed and numbered hardbacks of Sir Ian's new gamebook on sale on the day. The dustjacket cover art is the same as the paperback but on the back, there is an updated map of Allansia by everyone's favourite FF cartographer Leo Hartas.

So, to be one of the first people to secure a signed copy of The Dungeon on Blood Island, make sure you've got your ticket for Fighting Fantasy Fest 5.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 merchandise on sale now

The official merchandise for Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 is now on sale, via Zazzle. You can pick up T-shirts, in three different designs, hoodies, magnets, headwear, and even a tote bag.

40 Years Trapped inside Deathtrap Dungeon

Deathtrap Dungeon 1984-2024

Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 T-shirt

With the T-shirts and hoodies, as well as choosing the size you can also customise the colour.

If you are planning to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 you are bound to want to pick up a T-shirt to wear on the day and even if you aren't able to attend the event, you're sure to want to add an item to your FF collection to mark 40 years of Deathtrap Dungeon.

The Shape Changer is coming to Fighting Fantasy Fest 5!

Fans who attended Fighting Fantasy Fest 4 will remember the 75mm model of Zagor the Warlock Atlantis Miniatures/Blue Giant Studios produced especially for the event.

Blue Giant Studios will also be attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 5, on Saturday 7 September 2024, and this year they are bringing the Shape Changer with them.

The new model has been sculpted by Dan Jack and is based on Iain McCaig's* classic cover art for Sir Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy gamebook The Forest of Doom.

The 75mm Shape Changer is limited to 400 models and each one comes in a white box with a numbered product sticker (unsigned). You can pre-order yours now to collect at FFF5.

* Iain McCaig is one of our guests of honour at Fighting Fantasy Fest 5.

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.