Gamebook Friday: Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland is 10 years old today!

Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, the book that would become the first title in the ACE Gamebooks series, was launched at Dragonmeet on this day in 2015!

As you may have guessed, at the time, I didn't realise it was the start of a new creator-owned series, but just last weekend, the eighth ACE Gamebook was on sale at Dragonmeet 2025.

In the last 10 years, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland has been published in 11 different languages, including Bulgarian and Japanese, and while the covers might change, they have all used Kev Crossley's original internal artwork. Not only that, but when Raven Distribution published the book in Italy, they commissioned Kev to draw a map of Wonderland, that then appeared in the 5th anniversary UK hardback.

Every year, somebody picks up Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland for the first time, which leads them to then check out the other books in the ACE Gamebooks series. And while other titles have also proved popular - The Wicked Wizard of Oz and Dracula: Curse of the Vampire in particular - none have knocked Queen Alice off the top spot. It has garnered 182 reviews on Amazon UK, and even spawned an adult colouring book that has now received over 1,700 reviews!

All being well, there will be a new edition of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland in the next couple of years. But, for the time being, please raise your glasses and toast the most popular adventure in the ACE Gamebooks series - Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland!

Dragonmeet: Call To Adventure

Dragonmeet: Call To Adventure is a new event, arranged by the organisers of Dragonmeet, the City of Westminster, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is taking place on Saturday 26th April 2025, at Kensington Town Hall, and it is completely FREE to attend!

As part of a year-long celebration of 10 years of ACE Gamebooks, I will be there, sharing Sir Ian Livingstone's stand in Solo Roleplaying Games and Interactive Gamebooks section.

Doors open at 10:00am and the event closes at 5:00pm. Maybe I'll see you there.

Gamebook Friday: 10 Years of Night of the Necromancer

It dawned on me the other day that Night of the Necromancer, the last of the seven Fighting Fantasy gamebooks I have written to date, will be ten years old this year!

When I came to propose the idea to Wizard Books back in 2009, I couldn't quite believe that no one had suggested writing an FF adventure that started off with the hero being murdered and then coming back as a ghost before. I had great fun developing that aspect of the game, giving the reader all manner of spectral powers that sometimes worked to their advantage, but sometimes didn't.

One of the things I particularly loved about the process of writing the book was knowing that it was going to be illustrated by Martin McKenna. Martin was a favourite FF artist of mine, ever since I saw his work in Daggers of Darkness*, and I had been fortunate to have him also illustrate both Curse of the Mummy and Howl of the Werewolf.

Martin and I clearly had exposure to similar genre influences growing up and he just seems to get where I'm coming from, which means that when we collaborate, text and art mesh very nicely together. It is for this reason that I am delighted Martin agreed to illustrate the forthcoming Dracula - Curse of the Vampire.

Many of Martin's illustrations for Night of the Necromancer - including such personal favourites as the Sea Demon, the Hellfire Golem, and the Shadow King - are available to buy as prints from ArtPal.

The Sea Demon.

 The Hellfire Golem.

The Shadow King.

* Produced when he was only 17 years old!