Gamebook Friday: SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK

Last Saturday, BBC Radio 4 broadcast SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK, a documentary all about the history of interactive fiction. (You can listen to a recording of it here.)

As the title might suggest, Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks were an important part of the piece, and this in turn lead to me visiting the Radio 4 studios to be interviewed by presenter Naomi Alderman about the books, how I came to write for the series, and even what I'm working on now.

However, this being radio, a half-hour long interview with me was edited down to about two minutes of the actual documentary. But this being a documentary about interactive fiction, producer Alex Mansfield has put together an interactive audio documentary adjunct. There are some rather special treats hidden within it, amongst them an extended extract of my interview.

To listen to it, simply follow this link and then click 'red things', click '1', click 'restricting your options', and then click 'Fighting Fantasy gamebooks'.

Enjoy!

Gamebook Friday: SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK

Just a quick reminder, for all you gamebook fans out there, that you should tune in to Radio 4 at 8.00pm on Saturday and listen to the following...

SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK

Archive on 4

In 1982, a publishing phenomenon began with the first appearance of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. It would be the first of a series that would sell some 17 million copies in 30 different languages. Which (JK Rowling notwithstanding) might sound unlikely for a set of children's books involving wizards, goblins and elves.

What was it that set them apart? They were part of a much wider literary innovation known as interactive fiction. You don't merely read them, page by page, cover to cover. You were asked to make decisions all the way along about what would happen next, where you would go, who you would even fight, which page to turn to. And you often had to keep a notebook and pair of dice close to hand while doing so. You might fail along the way and have to start again (or more likely you'd keep your finger in the previous page until you were satisfied you'd made the right choice). Essentially, they were puzzle books.

This sort of text based adventure would make its way very quickly into the digital realm as a very important early genre of computer game.

Naomi Alderman charts the rise and rise of the interactive story, from its beginnings in obscure avant-garde French literary groups through to the virtual worlds of modern video games, and the cult literary form today of Interactive Fiction.

Gamebook Friday: Odds and Sods

A few things to post about today, and all of them somehow gamebook-related.

Last week I went here...

And did this...

For this.

I have also recently joined the International Wizard of Oz Club...

And I also set up this Facebook group to start to spread the word about the forthcoming comic book prequel to Ian Livingstone's 1985 Fighting Fantasy gamebook Freeway Fighter...