Gamebook Friday: Fighting Fantazine #11

The eleventh* issue of the Fighting Fantazine is available for download for free now.

Particular features to look out for include the conclusion of an interview with Fighting Fantasy writer Paul Mason, a new adventure Ascent of Darkness by Stuart Lloyd (illustrated by Michael Wolmarans), and a piece on the rollercoaster ride that eventually saw Bloodbones go to print**.

So don't delay, download it today!





* Yes, you read that correctly. (Warlock magazine only ran to 13 issues.)

** I'll be particularly interested in reading that one myself. ;-)

What was the best novel of 2013?

Voting for the SFX Awards 2013 is now open. One of the categories you can vote for is Best Novel.

50 titles are suggested, including a couple of Steampunk novels (Lavie Tidhar's The Great Game and Cherie Priest's Boneshaker), but any title published in 2013 is eligible.

Pax Britannia: Time's Arrow was published in 2013. Just saying.

Gamebook Friday: A Spasso Per Il Sentiero Della Vittoria

That's 'A Walk on the Path of Victory', just in case you don't speak Italian.

Last month, Italian gamebook fan Federico Righi interviewed me about my gamebook work, specifically my contributions to the Black Library's Path to Victory range, Herald of Oblivion and Shadows Over Sylvania.

You can read the interview here (in Italian) and I plan on posting the English version for you here on this blog soon.

Gamebook Friday: Steve Jackson's Sorcery!

Yesterday, Steve Jackson's Sorcery! was released for the iPad by Inkle Studios. As you will soon see if you watch the video below, this is not simply a re-rendering of the original gamebook experience. It is, in fact, something quite different...




An epic adventure through a land of monsters, traps and magic.

* Plot your own journey across a hand-drawn 3D world map
* Fully interactive story, with 1000s of choices
* The story is rewritten on the fly based on how you play
* Unique touch-based sword-duelling, with procedurally-generated descriptions of the action
* Outwit monsters by learning their weaknesses and tells
* 48 magic spells to master, with weird and wonderful effects that change the story

From legendary designer Steve Jackson and inkle, the studio behind the award-winning, App Store featured Frankenstein, Sorcery! is an interactive adventure like never before.

The app uses inklewriter technology to tell your journey in real-time, shaping the story around your choices. The text itself changes based on how you play and what you do, and in combat, the action is description on the fly based on how you play.

Featuring original illustrations by John Blanche, new character art by Eddie Sharam (DC Comics), an interactive map by Mike Schley (Wizards of the Coast) and music by David Wise (Donkey Kong Country).

The Shamutanti Hills is Part 1 of 4. Part 2, Kharé: Cityport of Traps, is coming soon to the App Store!

To find out more, follow this link.

Mission: Games Workshop - Reading

Yesterday, I found myself in Reading so I stopped by the local GW store (as is my wont) and found it full of Path to Victory gamebook fans, which was nice.

There were also some rather wonderful scenery pieces on display. But I forgot to take my camera. Maybe next time...

Steampunk Thursday: Lavie Tidhar's Brief History of the Great Pubs of London

Things are a bit busy right now, in the lives of Family Green, so over the next few days I'll be handing over the blog to wiser minds than mine and sending you to read their blogs instead.

Today it's the turn of World Fantasy Award Winner Lavie Tidhar who's giving away one of his stories to read for free!

Warhammer Wednesday: Broodlord!

This arrived in my email inbox last night, just in time for this week's Warhammer Wednesday. :-)