40 Years of The Crown of Kings

2025 marks 40 years since the publication of The Crown of Kings, the final volume of Steve Jackson's seminal gamebook miniseries, Sorcery!

The conclusion of the Sorcery! series starts with the Analander climbing through the Xamen Peaks to reach the Mampang Fortress, and then battle their way through the Archmage’s lair. The Crown of Kings came in at a whopping 800 references (a record yet to be broken by any other Fighting Fantasy gamebook) and was as epic an adventure as any Sorcery! fan could have hoped for. It also featured one of the most memorable (and clever) denouements of any adventure ever published, not to mention encounters with a god-headed Hydra and entire societies of birdmen and she-satyrs.

The God-headed Hydra, by John Blanche.

When pressed on the subject of which of the gamebooks he has written are his favourites, Jackson cites two: “Warlock because it was the first. And Sorcery! because it was the most complex. Creating a four-part adventure in which your actions in Book 2 might affect your choices in Book 4 was a real challenge.”

All four volumes are in print again in the UK, courtesy of Scholastic Books. And all four volumes are also now available in Portuguese, from Brazilian publisher Jambô Editora, including The Crown of Kings, which had previously been available in Brazil.

Rather like the recent Danish editions of the Sorcery! series, the Brazilian ones also come with a unique slipcase.

The Brazilian Sorcery! quartet.

The Danish Sorcery! quartet, plus Spell Book.

YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2 has 6 hours to go on Kickstarter!

YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2 has just 6 hours to go on Kickstarter, so if you've been considering upgrading your pledge, now would seem like a good time to do so - just make sure you do so before 1:00pm today!

Pledge at the £20 Gargoyle reward level (or above) and simply add £15 to your pledge to receive a second copy of the book.

Pledge at the £60 Gark reward level (or above) and add £40 to your pledge to receive a second copy of the limited edition hardback.

Add £120 to your pledge to receive the Golden Fleece canvas print of Chris Achilleos's cover art for the book.

Since YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2 reached its fourth stretch goal yesterday, everyone who pledges to receive a physical copy of the book will also receive:

1 x art print of Chris Achilleos's cover art for YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2
1 x art print of John Blanche's painting of Kharé - Cityport of Traps
1 x art print of Leo Hartas's painted map of north-west Allansia
1 x MP3 download of music inspired by Fighting Fantasy gamebooks

On top of that all copies of YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2 will now be hardbacks rather than softbacks.

YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2 is into its final 48 hours on Kickstarter!

The YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2 Kickstarter finishes at 1:00pm BST on Saturday 1st April 2017 - no joke!

If you enjoyed the original YOU ARE THE HERO then you will definitely enjoy this follow-up, which contains all new material - 12 chapters' worth!

As well as the usual signed book rewards and the like, everyone who backs to receive a physical copy of YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2 will also receive a full-colour A4 art print of Chris Achilleos's brand-new cover art for the book and another of John Blanche's classic painting of Kharé - Cityport of Traps from Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series.

And if we hit £22,000 on the Kickstarter, everyone who backs at the £10 Golem reward level or above will also receive an MP3 download of music inspired by Fighting Fantasy, by the likes of Groan, Isle of Avalon, and Jaldaboath!

But the big one is the £25,000 stretch goal. If we achieve that, then all of the softbacks of YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2 that people have pledged to receive will become hardbacks!

So what are you waiting for? If you haven't already, pledge your support today (after all, it's pay day tomorrow), and whether you're a new backer or not, keeping spreading the word.

Thank you for joining me on this journey and may your STAMINA never fail!

Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014 - 3 weeks to go!

There are just 3 weeks to go until  FIGHTING FANTASY FEST 2014 takes place at the DoubleTree Hilton in Ealing, West London, and 2 weeks left to buy your tickets.

For those attending we have all of the following on offer:

6 Fighting Fantasy artists - including Russ Nicholson, John Blanche, Chris Achilleos, Malcolm Barter, Tony Hough and Leo Hartas.

3 Fighting Fantasy authors - Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, co-creators of the Fighting Fantasy series, and Jonathan Green, author of seven FF gamebooks.

An extremely collectible goodie bag, including a Fighting Fantasy gamebook, a poster, a novel, a Tin Man Games download app code, and a ZAGOR THE WARLOCK miniature, only available to those FF fans attending FIGHTING FANTASY FEST and based on this piece of artwork by Russ Nicholson!

A talk on the early days of Fighting Fantasy by Steve and Ian, with special guest Philippa Dickinson, the editor who first worked on The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Arion Games running Advanced Fighting Fantasy sessions throughout the day.

Tin Man Games talking about and demonstrating their latest FF apps.

Inkle Studios talking about their Sorcery! apps.

Various others traders, offering books for sale, wargaming miniatures, dice and gaming equipment, and more!

The official book launch of YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, written by Jonathan Green and supported by hundreds of FF fans through the Kickstarter crowd-funding website.

An exhibition of never-before-seen and highly-collectible items from FF's history.

An auction of rare Fighting Fantasy memorabilia from the vaults of the Warlocks of Firetop Mountain themselves.

And if all that wasn't enough you'll be able to have a drink with the creators of Fighting Fantasy at the Black Lobster Tavern, from Port Blacksand, City of Thieves, themed bar!

If you've not bought your ticket yet you can do so here. Please tell all your friends via social media and any other means at your disposal (such as telephone, email, carrier pigeon, smoke signals, sorcery...) and we'll look forward to seeing you in September!

Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014 - 1 month to go!

There is just 1 month to go until  FIGHTING FANTASY FEST 2014 takes place at the DoubleTree Hilton in Ealing, West London, and 4 days left to buy your tickets.

For those attending we have all of the following on offer:

6 Fighting Fantasy artists - including Russ Nicholson, John Blanche, Chris Achilleos, Malcolm Barter, Tony Hough and Leo Hartas.

3 Fighting Fantasy authors - Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, co-creators of the Fighting Fantasy series, and Jonathan Green, author of seven FF gamebooks.

An extremely collectible goodie bag, including a Fighting Fantasy gamebook, a poster, a novel, a Tin Man Games download app code, and a ZAGOR THE WARLOCK miniature, only available to those FF fans attending FIGHTING FANTASY FEST and based on this piece of artwork by Russ Nicholson!

A talk on the early days of Fighting Fantasy by Steve and Ian, with special guest Philippa Dickinson, the editor who first worked on The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Arion Games running Advanced Fighting Fantasy sessions throughout the day.

Tin Man Games talking about and demonstrating their latest FF apps.

Inkle Studios talking about their Sorcery! apps.

Various others traders, offering books for sale, wargaming miniatures, dice and gaming equipment, and more!

The official book launch of YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, written by Jonathan Green and supported by hundreds of FF fans through the Kickstarter crowd-funding website.

An exhibition of never-before-seen and highly-collectible items from FF's history.

An auction of rare Fighting Fantasy memorabilia from the vaults of the Warlocks of Firetop Mountain themselves.

And if all that wasn't enough you'll be able to have a drink with the creators of Fighting Fantasy at the Black Lobster Tavern, from Port Blacksand, City of Thieves, themed bar!

If you've not bought your ticket yet you can do so here. Please tell all your friends via social media and any other means at your disposal (such as telephone, email, carrier pigeon, smoke signals, sorcery...) and we'll look forward to seeing you in September!

Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014 - Featuring guest artist John Blanche

There are now just 4 days left in which to buy your tickets for Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014...

In what has to be quite some coup for Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014, Sorcery! and Clash of the Princes artist John Blanche is going to be joining us in Ealing on Sunday 7 September.

Yes - the John Blanche, whose mind now works feverishly to create the quasi-Medieval worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.

John's unique artwork appears in YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, which has a whole chapter given over to the Sorcery! series, and which will be launching at the event. So why not come along and get John to sign your copy on the day?

Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014 - Only 2 months to go!

It's hard to believe, I know (and just a little bit scary), but two months today the DoubleTree Hilton in Ealing, West London, will be opening its doors to attendees from across the world visiting FIGHTING FANTASY FEST 2014. And you could be there too.

For those attending we have all of the following on offer:

6 Fighting Fantasy artists - including Russ Nicholson, John Blanche, Chris Achilleos, Malcolm Barter, Tony Hough and Leo Hartas.

3 Fighting Fantasy authors - Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, co-creators of the Fighting Fantasy series, and Jonathan Green, author of seven FF gamebooks.

An extremely collectible goodie bag, including a Fighting Fantasy gamebook, a poster, a novel, a Tin Man Games download app code, and a ZAGOR THE WARLOCK miniature, only available to those FF fans attending FIGHTING FANTASY FEST and based on this piece of artwork by Russ Nicholson!

A talk on the early days of Fighting Fantasy by Steve and Ian, with special guest Philippa Dickinson, the editor who first worked on The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Arion Games running Advanced Fighting Fantasy sessions throughout the day.

Tin Man Games talking about and demonstrating their latest FF apps.

Inkle Studios talking about their Sorcery! apps.

Various others traders, offering books for sale, wargaming miniatures, dice and gaming equipment, and more!

The official book launch of YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, written by Jonathan Green and supported by hundreds of FF fans through the Kickstarter crowd-funding website.

An exhibition of never-before-seen and highly-collectible items from FF's history.

An auction of rare Fighting Fantasy memorabilia from the vaults of the Warlocks of Firetop Mountain themselves.

And if all that wasn't enough you'll be able to have a drink with the creators of Fighting Fantasy at the Black Lobster Tavern, from Port Blacksand, City of Thieves, themed bar!

If you've not bought your ticket yet you can do so here. Please tell all your friends via social media and any other means at your disposal (such as telephone, email, carrier pigeon, smoke signals, sorcery...) and we'll look forward to seeing you in September!

John Blanche and Leo Hartas to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014

Joining the already impressive roster of guests attending Fighting Fantasy Fest on Sunday 7 September 2014 at the DoubleTree Hilton in Ealing, West London, are Leo Hartas, the Fighting Fantasy cartographer, and John Blanche, the man who illustrated Steve Jackson's legendary Sorcery! series.

Both Leo's maps and John's artwork appear in YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, and if you're coming along to Fighting Fantasy Fest, you could ask them to sign the book for you. If you're not already attending Fighting Fantasy Fest, you can buy your ticket by clicking this link.