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Fighting Fantasy is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volume in the series was published in paperback by Puffin in 1982.
Sword and sorcery (S&S), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters. The genre originated from the early-1930s works of Robert E. Howard. While there is a chance example from 1953, Fritz Leiber re-coined the term "sword and sorcery" in the 6 April 1961 issue of the fantasy fanzine Ancalagon, to describe Howard and the stories that were influenced by his works. In parallel with "sword and sorcery", the term "heroic fantasy" is used, although it is a more loosely defined genre.
Sir Ian Livingstone is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of the Fighting Fantasy series of role-playing gamebooks, and the author of many books within that series. He co-founded Games Workshop in 1975 and helped create Eidos Interactive as executive chairman of Eidos Plc in 1995.
Joseph Robert Dever, also known as Joe Dever was an English fantasy author and game designer. Originally a musician, Dever became the first British winner of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Championship of America in 1982.
A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not follow paragraphs in a linear or ordered fashion. Gamebooks are sometimes called choose your own adventure books or CYOA after the influential Choose Your Own Adventure series originally published by US company Bantam Books. Gamebooks influenced hypertext fiction.
Lone Wolf is a series currently consisting of 31 gamebooks, created by Joe Dever and initially illustrated by Gary Chalk. Dever wrote the first 29 books of the series before his son Ben, with help from French author Vincent Lazzari, took over writing duty upon his father's death. The first book was published in July 1984 and the series has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.
Steve Jackson is a British game designer, writer, game reviewer and co-founder of UK game publisher Games Workshop.
A fantasy trope is a specific type of literary trope that occurs in fantasy fiction. Worldbuilding, plot, and characterization have many common conventions, many of them having ultimately originated in myth and folklore. J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium for example, was inspired from a variety of different sources including Germanic, Finnish, Greek, Celtic and Slavic myths. Literary fantasy works operate using these tropes, while others use them in a revisionist manner, making the tropes over for various reasons such as for comic effect, and to create something fresh.
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1982, the title is the first gamebook in the Fighting Fantasy series. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002, and Scholastic Books in 2017. As well as launching the Fighting Fantasy series, the gamebook inspired two direct sequels and five novels, and has been adapted into a board game, an audio drama and a video game.
Sorcery!, originally titled Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, is a single-player four-part adventure gamebook series written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by John Blanche. Originally published by Penguin Books between 1983 and 1985, the titles are part of the Fighting Fantasy canon, but were not allocated numbers within the original 59-book series. Sorcery! was re-published by Wizard Books in 2003, and later adapted into a video game series by Inkle from 2013 to 2016.
The Rings of Kether is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Andrew Chapman, illustrated by Nik Spender and originally published in 1985 by Puffin Books. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 15th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031860-7). There are currently no announced plans to republish the book as part of the modern Scholastic Books series.
Caverns of the Snow Witch is a single-player roleplaying gamebook, written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Gary Ward and Edward Crosby and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 9th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031830-5) and 10th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-432-1).
Legend of Zagor is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Carl Sargent, although it is credited to Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Martin McKenna and originally published in 1993 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2004. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 54th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-036566-4) and 20th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-551-4).
Appointment with F.E.A.R. is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Steve Jackson, illustrated by Declan Considine and originally published in 1985 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2004. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 17th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031922-0) and 18th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-527-1). A digital version developed by Tin Man Games is available for Android and iOS.
Talisman of Death is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith, illustrated by Bob Harvey and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2006. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 11th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031859-3) and 24th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-566-2).
Marc Gascoigne is a British author and editor. He is the editor, author or co-author of more than fifty books and gaming related titles, including Fighting Fantasy books, Shadowrun novels and adventures, Earthdawn novels and adventures, the original Games Workshop Judge Dredd roleplaying game, and material for Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu and many others listed below.
Return to Firetop Mountain is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Ian Livingstone and illustrated by Martin McKenna. It was originally published in 1992 by Puffin Books and was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003. The gamebook forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series, where it is the 50th volume in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-036008-5) and the 16th in the later Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-481-X).
Graeme Davis is a game designer, writer, and editor in the tabletop role-playing game industry.
Advanced Fighting Fantasy (AFF) is a British roleplaying game based on the Fighting Fantasy and Sorcery! gamebooks, first published in 1989. Just as the gamebooks, AFF is set in the world of Titan. A second edition of AFF was published in 2011.
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction which involves themes of the supernatural, magic, and imaginary worlds and creatures.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Clute, John; Grant, John (1999). The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (2nd ed.). Macmillan. p. 511. ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- 1 2 3 Tresca, Michael J. (2010). The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games. McFarland. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-7864-5895-0.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Clute, Grant (1999) p. 588.
- ↑ Marshall, Margaret Richardson (1988). An introduction to the world of children's books (2nd ed.). Gower. p. 43. ISBN 0-566-05461-2.
- 1 2 3 New Society. Vol. 76. New Society Ltd. 1986. p. 6.
- 1 2 Green; Jonathan (2014) You Are the Hero: A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. Snowbooks Ltd, p. 164. ISBN 9-781909-679368
- ↑ "Fighting Fantasy co-founders pen two new books for series' 40th anniversary" by Mark Chandler, 13 April 2022, at thebookseller.com
- ↑ "The Dungeon on Blood Island", 9 August 2024