A Fighting Fantasy Journey
Recommendations: 1147
About the Project
The Fighting fantasy series had to be my first step into gaming as a child. Growing up in a computer free 80s household the books gave me an escape from the norm before little men came along. After years of neglect I went back to my original collection and went on a mission to complete it. In this project I will be looking at each book and seeing if they were as good as I remember. I have also picked up some of the official Fighting Fantasy minis from Atlantis Miniatures and painting them up to go with my book collection.
Related Game: Fighting Fantasy
Related Genre: Fantasy
This Project is Active
Book One: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
The classic that started it all. I have three versions of the first book written by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. We embark on a mission into Firetop Mountain the lair of an evil Warlock and his minions in attempt to steal his treasure. I never felt Zagor the Warlock was a real villain as we are the one breaking into his home to take his treasure. He seems happy living in isolation in his mountain so why are we trying to kill him. In Titan the guide book to the world we discover he stole the treasure from the dwarfs, but who hasnt done that. Zagor popped up in the novel The Trolltooth wars where the hero has to ask for his help proving Zagor could be reasoned with so why are we trying to kill him? Because we want his treasure thats why.
The 25th anniversary edition is a great find if you can get it. It has a complete list of the book series and a history of the collection and map of the mountain.
The route through the mountain will lead us to the Warlock but on the way we need to collect the three keys to unlock his chest. We arent told this, we have to figure this out on the way. It's always a pain to get right to the end of one of these books just to find out you missed oone object that you needed to win. The worse section of the map is when you hit the maze which Steve Jackson put in and I remember tossing the book away in frustration as I came across the same gambling dwarfs about four times.
The warlock illustrated by Russ Nicholson who for me is Mr Fighting Fantasy. I love his line work which is always full of detail. The miniature is based on this picture. It's nice that the Warlock gives you time to look through your backpack to find something to help you in your fight.
For painting my mini I used the art from the board game cover for inspiration. This was the first Games Workshop game I played because as a ten year old I knew the rules from the book. It also followed the layout of the book including the annoying maze.
Book Two: The Citadel of Chaos
My two versions of Steve Jacksons Citadel of Chaos. An interesting second book that expands on the rules by adding spells. Something that Jackson used in his Sorcery series and is a good adition to the rules. I prefer the original cover by Ian Miller that reminds me of his work on old school warhammer and just screams chaos. In this adventure we play an apprentice wizard from the Vale of Yore, one of those nice parts of Allansia we never get to visit. We never go anywhere nice. This time we have to enter the Citadel to assainate Balthus Dire a sorcerer who according to background fluff trained with Zagor the Warlock. He also killed his own father and took the citadel and began raising an army. So at least Dire has bad intentions and needs to be stopped.
Balthus Dire is a bit of a mix of warrior and sorcerer and as we can see he plans his world conquest with model soldiers on a table. So he cant be all bad. He has a bit more of a life than the usual evil sorcerer being a married man who spends most of his time smoking strange weed and communing with odd creatures in the spirit world.
There are some interesting maps of the citadel out there with good rpg level detail. This one is nice and simple. The Citadel is inhabited by all sorts of chaotic creatures and Jackson has a hint of horror with his creatures. Like the Ganjees who are floating heads from the spirit world and the odd wheelies who are discs with faces and hands. A set of minis exist for them but I havent got them yet. One character you meet is a woman doing the laundry as even monsters need their clothes cleaning. Turns out she is a ghost as Balthus Dire killed her for not doing a good job and now cleans forever.
The Atlantis Miniatures version of Dire who is a bit stiff in the shoulders for me.
The older Otherworld Miniature captures Russ Nicholsons art style in my opinion.Book three: The Forest of Doom
I have a couple of copies of the forest of Doom and the mini of the shape shifter from the cover. Written by Ian Livingston this one takes us out in to the woods in search of two halves of a hammer belonging to the dwarves of stone bridge. This opens up the world as we meet the wizard Yaztromo for the first time. One if those wizards who just lives in a tower selling magic items to passers by.
For some reason one of the minis by Atlantis miniatures is of Bigleg the dwarf who you meet in the introduction and dies giving you the quest to find the Warhammer the dwarfs need to fight the hill trolls. An odd choice for a mini as there is no illustration of him. He looks a bit lord of the rings for my liking
We have to search the forest for the two parts of the hammer each taken by a goblin, so find the goblins and we find the hammer. We have to choose items to purchase from Yaztromo to help us in this journey. If you pick the wrong items you wont get past some of the trials the forest has to offer.
The Fighting Fantasy world does make you wonder whats going on with some of the characters you meet. For example in the middle of this Forest filled with nasties we we find a shack with a strongman living in it who just likes arm wrestling people. Maybe he needs to get a job at a circus or something where he might get more work.
The shapeshifter cover is one of the best in the series and this miniature was great fun to paint and captures the art well 
I played through this book the other night and found it easier than I remember. It added new locations to the world and Yaztromo who will pop up again. We meet a crow who gives us information for money. He's saving up to earn enough to pay Yaztromo to turn him back into a human. Even the nice wizards have s cruel streak.In memory of Christos Achillios
I just heard that fantasy artist Christos Achillios died earlier this month. He is famous for numerous pieces of art and for fighting fantasy he did both guidebooks Titan and out if the pit my favourite piece is the orc war banner from armies of death. I had that image as a poster and it's s shame a mini hasn't been made of it. Sad loss but he's left us with some classic work 
Book Four: Starship Traveller
The star map
Some of the art is very hit and miss for me in this one. Sometimes the stark approach fits the setting and on other occasions just seems a bit too void of detail or personality compared to what had come before it but I suppose it suits the hard sci fi universe.
My original version dates from the initial release before the green spines. I spotted it on a charity table in Sainsbury's. The first if the science fiction stories in the collection. Fir some reason they never seem as popular as the fantasy ones. Star Trek was clearly the inspiration for this one as you captain the starship traveller through unknown space trying to find the coordinates to get home. Every planet you visit you get to choose which crew to take with you. There are some interesting planets such as the world where people live for ever so the government kills people at random to keep the population down and funny events such as being beemed down into someone. I never thought much if this book but I gave it another shot and found some parts entertaining even if it wasn't my cup of tea. Another thing to note is that no miniatures have been made based in this books stark art or any other science fiction outing in the series. 
Best line in the book. I'm so imatureBook Five: City of Thieves
One of my favourites in the series introduces us to Port Blacksand which is still my favourite fantasy city. Hired by the people of Silverton to kill the villain zanbar Bone you have to first find the wizard Nicodemus in the city and then the items needed to defeat Mr Bone. The artist Ian McCaig did s fantastic job on bringing the city to life and would later go on to design the look of Darth Maul. Looking at Bone on the original cover, that's no surprise.
Nicodemus has a great personality as a grumpy wizard who lives under a bridge in a city of Thieves to avoid being hassled by adventures for help. They joke in a later book that perhaps if he didn't dress as a wizard he wouldn't attract any attention.
We don't get a map of Blacksand until the Titan guide book and then Midnight rogue but it's fully explored in the advanced fighting fantasy book Blacksand.
In recent years Livingston has written a book called Assassin's of Allansia which is a direct sequel to city if Thieves. After slaying Zanbar Bone Prince Azure if Blacksand sends assassin's to kill you. It ends at death trap dungeon creating a trilogy which was a nice touch linking some if the best in the seriesBook Six: Deathtrap Dungeon
The map of the dungeon. This time we have no noble cause of master villain to find and slay. Its just a competition to see who can survive the dungeon to win a prize. The simple plot works well as a challenge and i liked finding the other contestants, usually dead and dying as you go round apart from Throm. Like most books in the series you still need to collect certain items to get out at the end. 
Baron Sukumvit in the city of Fang on the river Kok in the province of Chang Mai. Jackson got the names from a trip to thailand. Ive been to Sukumvit street in Bangkok and got engaged in Chang Mai. This history makes sense when you look at the fantastic art in this book. There is a Thai look to Sukumvit and the crowds in Fang.
The real Chang Mai where I can imagine the real Deathtrap Dungeon can be found.
In the 90s Kelly Brook did a promo for the Playstation version of Deathtrap Dungeon. Funny I didnt imagine the character we play in the book looing like this. 
Probably a lot of people's favourite in the series.
Poor old Throm the barbarian. Another contestant who you buddy up with for a short time and your forced to kill. This is made worse if you play Assassin's of Allansia before hand as he saves your life and you have a longer friendship with him.
Sukhumvit and Throm
Book Seven: Island of the Lizard King
Hacking your way through the jungle to rescue slaves from a mine run by the lizard king and his reptilian nasties. This book is a bit of a hack fest with a lot of combat and always reminded me of Doug McClure films. It was my first contact with lizardmen who have taken on South American cultural traits.
Your good mate mungo who after landing in Fire Island is immediately killed by a giant crab or pirates depending on your choices. Sucks to be mungo
The lizard king is not wearing a crown but a parasite called the Gonchung that controls him. 
The mini loosers some of its bad ass persona when you find out he's scared of monkeys which is a bit of a flaw for someone living on a tropical island
Fire Island inhabited by two characters with big cats as pets and two women in furry bikinis. What are the chances
The internet is great for finding maps of each book for those that want to find the correct route.Book eight: Scorpion Swamp
The first book in the series not written by Livingston and Jackson but the other Steve Jackson. A book I found very confusing as a child. No real villain, no real plot and a confusing map that you can get lost in. 
Reading it again I find this book very interesting. Like all RPG adventures we start in the tavern. We also have to find our quest which can be one of three be it evil good or neutral. It has a lot of RPG feels and we are given a choice of gems that allows you to cast spells. 
Duncan Smith's art reminds me of work done by someone exploring the swamp for real. No mini for this one though. He loves drawing animals.
Because your mission can change on every play through it gives this book plenty of replay potential. You can also go back and forth to locations already visited which is unusual and gives it a board game feel.. Book Nine: Caverns of the Snow Witch
Ian Livingston is back for this outing to the frozen north of Allansia and the ice finger mountains. This adventure feels like one as we go from hunting a yeti as our quest to finding out about the snow witch. The dungeon section of the story has some hard characters to fight but the witch is a bit easy if you have the right items. As a vampire we stake her. But she comes back as a spirit in a crystal Ball and we kill her by playing a version of rocks paper scissors. Then the story becomes s road trip with two companions and as usual they die off. I think it was a bit unfair that the dwarf is called Stubb. We head past deathtrap dungeon and firetop mountain linking the world. We end up at stone bridge making this a prequel to forest of Doom. 
We start our journey with the caravan run by Big Jim. The same name as a character in Chaplin’s Gold Rush set in Alaska. Not sure if that’s a coincidence. The book ends with a trip to find the healer after being cursed. I like the journey this book takes you on and makes you feel a part of a larger world. The snow witch mini is nice but an odd choice as we only see her face in the book. I would like to have a mini if the yeti.
Book Ten: House of Hell
Book Ten takes us on a hammer horror style adventure in a rarety which is a book set in our world. After crashing our carcin a storm we seek a telephone in the the worse house imaginable. One if the most memorable books for me for its horror setting. I remember completing this one first time I played it by pure luck. Jackson again adds a new element to the game with the fear score so you can die if fright. All you have to do is survive the night. The best thing to do was not try and head for the door or out the window as bad things happen.
The earl of Drummond. A bit Christopher Lee. Although like a good murder mystery the butler did it. Don't try and rescue anyone else as they only get you killed. The art is rather horrible for kid's with men hanging from trees but the original cover by Ian miller takes me back to early Warhammer chaos. 
If anyone wants to build their own House here are the plans but I dont tell anyone whats really going in the basement.Book Eleven : Talisman of Death
Great cover art on this one as we head to the world of Orb. Strangely we play someone from Earth who is transported by God's to a fantasy world which isn't Titan but a world from another series of game books called the way of the tiger. Written by Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith the world of Orb was a setting they came up with for games of DandD and it shows. Reading this book feels like a role-playing game more than usual and reminds me of the first Conan film. We have to steal a talisman from a temple and get it through a portal to save the world. 
As soon as we arrive on Orb we bump into what looks like a group of D&D Characters 
We spend a lot of time in the tavern. Bob Harvey alos illustrated the way of the tiger series and does a great job. 
There are a number of characters that appear in the tiger series doing guest spots in this book. Because of the D&D feel you spend some time going back and forwards so maps are difficult to do for this one. It also contains a lot of strong female characters 
And an annoying dragon 
Book twelve: Space Assassin
Written by Andrew Chapman who did a couple of Science fiction titles in the series. This was one of the good sci-fi stories in my opinion. With a great christos Achilleos cover. This book wasn't reprinted for the later editions. 
We board the starship Vanderveckin in search of mad scientist cyrus who is going to unleash his experiments on your planet 
The ship is filled with odd experiments like these killer squirrels and you even get attacked by the cleaners. Anyone who likes escape the dark sector will like the plot if this one 
You get a nice selection of futuristic weapons to help you on the mission but some encounters can be passed by just having a chat. The strangest being the ships pilot who wants a deep conversation about on the idea we might be figments of our imagination which in a weird way they are. 
I like the final encounter with cyrus who tries to weasel his way out of being fought. He threatens you with a bomb detonator that turns out to be nothing. 
One of the biggest draws for me was the art of Geoffrey Senior who I knew from UK marvel titles such as transformers. Book thirteen: Freeway Fighter
One of my favourite books in the series and a change for Livingston to break away from fantasy to a post apocalyptic near future. Well 2022 a plague wipes out most of humanity. Yikes. A few years later the survivors live in small communities for safety. We live in one community and our mission is to get to San Anglo to pick up an oil tanker and drive it home in a madmax 2 Style. Both covers are great the original also appeared on the rulebook cover for Dark future. The reprint art is of a similar vintage t
Our adventure sheet has added vehicle stats although the annoying thing in the book is running out of fuel which just ends the mission 
In 2017 we had the graphic novel version as a prequel to the book. It contains some of the same characters and booby traps from the book 
This book was a great departure from the norm and it's a shame we didnt get another book set in this near future. Book fourteen: Temple of Terror
Ian livingstone is back for this adventure that adds more to the wider world. This book begins at the dwarf Town of stonebridge and acts as the unofficial third instalment after caverns of the snow witch and forest of doom. They work as a trilogy. This time we travel south to the desert of skulls to find the lost city of Vatos. We are in pursuit of the evil Malbordus who is after five lost dragon artifacts that will of course allow him to conquer the world wahahaha 
Yaztromo is still in his tower and this time teachers us some spells to help us. The journey south can go in a couple of directions. We can go by land and get a ride on a giant Eagle that of course doesn't take us all the way. Or we can go to Port blacksand and hop on a ship
These guys have hopped over from another franchise. Also I've noticed how much livingstone likes giant centipedes 
At the end of our journey if we find all five artifacts that need destroying we are given the dwarf hammer from the forest of Doom to complete the task. Unless we run past this dying dwarf and ignore him
Book fifteen: The Rings of Kether
Another science fiction outing by Andrew Chapman who we last saw with space assassin and once again this book never got an updated version. Reading it again I found it is a very dated view of the future and has a retro feel. This time we play a detective trying to uncover a drug smuggling ring. Maybe that idea isn't suitable for modern kids. What I like about this volume is you have no idea who the villain is. You have to find the gang and bring them down. Saying this I have no idea who the guy on the cover is. He doesn't pop up in the book. 
More child friendly action with someone's wife getting blown up in front of you. This book takes you to so many destinations on the planet and asteroid belt that making a map is difficult and a bit pointless. There is also more than one way to win. You can kill the gang leaders or destroy their base. You get a lot of free reign over your destination. The best thing to do is what ever you think a stereotypical detective would do. Lots of sneaking around, gunfight, car chasers, set ups and so on. There is rules for space ship fighting although that never happened in my play through 
While some of the artwork is weird there is also some very dull images of just corridors and walls. I'm left wondering why certain parts of the game were chosen to illustrate. I found the detective idea a nice one and not knowing where to go at all strange until you find a clue and see where it takes you Book sixteen: Seas of Blood
A swashbuckling pirate adventure by Andrew Chapman and like talisman of death illustrated by Bob Harvey. This adventure is set on the continent of Khul on Titan far away from Allansia. This book hasn't had a modern printing and I can guess why. We play a pirate who takes on a wager with rival Abdul the butcher to see who can make the most money raiding in 50 days. In a sinbad inspired adventure we raid and pillage. We also I slave captives and sell them at market. I can't imagine that's wanted in a kids book today. 
We travel south across the map to numerous locations to Rob. 
We have rules for crew and ship to ship combat in this book. My favourite scene is when we attack a shop and a passenger is a wizard who casts spells at you. If you defeat them the other passengers tie up the wizard and throw him overboard in disgust for making me angry. In good faith you only inslave half of them 
Every good sinbad style adventure needs a cyclops
it also need Caroline Munroe as a slave girl but the book is sadly lacking in this department.Book seventeen: Appointment with F. E. A. R
I think the game books in teens in the series have some odd outings with Sci fi instead of the usual fantasy. This time it's a comic book super hero adventure by Steve Jackson with his usual approach of messing with the rules. We play the silver crusader fighting crime in Titan City. A nice nod to the world of Titan. We get to pick our hero powers and this gives us clues to stopping crimes in the city. The main mission is to stop the Titanium cyborg and fear which stands for the federation of Euro-American rebels. While hunting them down we have encounters with other super villains. This book has a lot of replay ability as we take on different crimes with a different choice of powers and see if we earn enough hero points than we did last go. My replay had me being the worse crime fighter in history. I slipped in dog mess and nearly got fired. I like the art style in this book which captures the golden age comic book feel. There are plenty of nods to comic books such as Parker Airport and business man Wayne Bruce. We get calls on our crime watch by gerry the snitch. 
Book Eighteen: Rebel Planet
Written by Robin Waterford who will give us four books in the series ans illustrated by Gary mayes who gives us some more comic caprion style art. In Rebel Planet we aim to take down an evil empire armed with a laser sword. Sounds familiar. The Arcadian Empire is made up of three types of aliens all linked by a duper computer. As an oppressed human we have to bring down the hive mind computer. This book has an unusual background section split into sections with enough info for an RPG. We learn all about the planets we are going to visit and the aliens from the SAROS manual. Search and research of space organisation has us working under cover to find the code to destroy the computer. We embark on an espionage trip finding resistance fighters. 
The weirdest robot that spins at you 
Take this puny human
Definitely not a light sabre
Definitely not C3PO
As a kid I found it hard to get into this book. 8 had no real idea what I was looking for nd has so much fluff to get through. Then we have to do Binary code maths. A bit of a switch off for my child brain. I enjoyed it more during my revisitBook nineteen: Demons of the Deep
Great cover by Les Edwards on a return to the fantasy setting of Titan, or under its ocean. Steve Jackson (the American one) is the author of this aquatic adventure. Captured by pirates we are thrown into the sea and are magically able to breath. We have a few hours to search the underwater kingdom for black pearls which can be used to get revenge on the pirates. That's not the only way to win. I managed it without any pearls. You can get help from a sea dragon. Dolphins and water elementals. 
Captain bloodaxe laughing because pirates seem to be the only people in the whole planet of titan to have access to cannons. 
There are some interesting underwater creatures such as this sword fish and the Deep ones who are uppity looking fishmen. I like that one is called Sharkspear 
Gotta have a kraken 
Never trust a dragon. Even one under the sea. 
