Gamebook Friday: Fighting Fantasy in Four

Over on the Unofficial Fighting Fantasy Forum you will find a thread in which fans of the FF phenomenon attempt to sum up various titles from the series in four words. If you know anything about the FF gamebooks, it's a fun read, but the ones I'm posting here are all to do with my books.

Knights of Doom: Jon Green likes Excalibur

Howl of the Werewolf: No more encounter boxes

Howl of the Werewolf: summon demon, become monster

Night Of The Necromancer: you only live thrice

Why not try coming up with your own four word summation of books in the series and then post them here, or on the forum? Perhaps you could be the first to come up with something for Spellbreaker, Curse of the Mummy, Bloodbones or Stormslayer.

Gamebook Friday: Night of the Necromancer - Feelin' the Love

It may have come out in 2010, but some people are still only just discovering Night of the Necromancer for the first time. Last week it was Howl of the Werewolf that was getting the love on The Unofficial Fighting Fantasy Forum, today's it's my most recent Fighting Fantasy gamebook to date:

Last FF book of the current range for Jon Green and hopefully not his last, as I immensely enjoy his stories... 

I was, I must admit, mildly excited about this book when first I heard about it. Well, a new FF is always exciting, so there’s that, and with emphasis on horror yet again I couldn’t complain, but ghost stories have never had that much of an interest for me before (I have a hard time getting scared by ghosts, well, classic ones anyway), so I felt a wait and see approach was probably better for me. Of course as time passed, and after reading the few previous Jon Green entries, I couldn’t wait to grab it...

In any case, this isn’t a scary ghost story, I must say, it’s instead a cool ghost story. As in you, the protagonist, are pretty cool. Would I have preferred a scary one? Perhaps, there are some tense moment here and there after all, but overall, how can you be scare if YOU are the ghost? But I thought it was a pretty cool premise, indeed...

I thought that this story was one of Jon Green’s most gripping, too, though overall I must say Green is pretty good at telling compelling stories, so this doesn’t come as such a surprise. Still, it doesn’t lessen the fact that this one was pulled off pretty well, with an interesting hero, background, and a tight mystery that takes its time to unfold. It’s also just fascinating to wander around as a ghost, to try to think like a ghost (via your interactions with the material world and its inhabitants) to deal with your new found powers and with the fact that death, for you, isn’t quite the same. It’s a totally original setting that’s never been done before in any FF, and it’s not done half-assedly; it works, and I had a blast experiencing it. Also a blast, of a lesser kind but still a blast, was all the nods given through the adventure toward not only Jon Green’s own body of work (quite a few towards Knights of Doom actually, and I just love that pre-generated character who just happens to be KoD’s hero!) but toward more or less obscure creatures mostly found in Livingstone’s early work: I’m thinking about stuff like the Moon Dog, the Coldclaw and the Hellhorn Champion. Seriously when’s the last time you met a Moon Dog? While it’s always fun to meet new creatures, it’s also pretty cool to meet a classic one, every once in a while...

I thought this was a formidable experience to be had, one I greatly enjoy and a more than decent send-off to the series. But of course, now there’s Blood of the Zombies, so… we’ll see.

Gamebook Friday: Howl of the Werewolf - Feelin' the Love!

It may have first come out five years ago* but some people are still only just discovering Howl of the Werewolf for the first time. Here's a lovely review I stumbled across on The Unofficial Fighting Fantasy Forum:

This is one of those books I have been very eager to read for a while now, and now that it is done, I can finally comment on it. Let’s say the hype factor was high, what with reading positive reviews left and right (most of them right here on this forum) and seeing the book win number 1 spot in the best Fighting Fantasy Gamebook of all time poll published in the very good Fighting Fantazine. Could the final product survive this kind of hype though?

I’m a horror fan. Early on in my teens, or perhaps even my tweens, I started finding horror stories good instead of just frightening, and it never did quite let go, even though I daresay my palette has seen significant expansion since then. So the topic of the book was a right winner by me from the get go. A good sign. Then seeing that wonderful cover by Maestro McKenna was another good point in its favour. Inside illos, also by McKenna, kept bringing the goods and I savoured every one of them. Some of the illos are amongst his best work, of which there is plenty, granted.

Storywise brings even more goodness but also some slight flaws, really just about the only flaws in this book, a surprise for sure, but when I said slight I meant it. Nothing that should ruin the experience for anyone, I believe.

First the good. Epic. If there’s one word to describe this story, it would be this. Well, it’s not as epic as, say, the Sorcery! series, but then again, those were four big books continuing one storyline, but when we’re talking solo gamebooks, there’s only a few out there that would qualify as epic. I would say overall Jon Green tends to write epic stories but maybe epic is too easy an epithet? (now that I think about it I find there’s quite a few stories actually that I would consider epic, so maybe I’m easily impressed) I do not wish to diminish the word though, so, perhaps in this case, massive would be a better word - what with over 500 sections! - but I still would say Green writes epics even though the fate of the world isn’t always at stake. After all, a character’s personal journey can also be considered epic, even if it doesn’t involve destroying the one true ring every time. The protagonist in HotW is thrust into an epic story unwillingly, but it remains epic just the same.

But let’s move on now that I’ve managed to write epic 200 times. I find brilliant the way this melting pot of ideas is thrown together without making a mess of the kitchen. The choices offered are multiple, the feeling of freedom as you roam around undeniable, as you never feel railroaded toward a particular point. It all flows fluidly, taken forward by a robust system that offers touches that adds realistic flavours to the overall experience, mainly the change system and the powers or curses it can bestow.

I was just saying how fluid it all is, well… almost. There’s gotta be something to improve, right? Obviously Mr Green is busting at the seams with imagination (he really lets loose here) and had in mind lots of horror set pieces he wanted to throw into the mix and have some fun with. It feels as if he wanted to create the ultimate FF and crammed the book with as much stuff as he could fit in, afraid perhaps (with reason) that it would be his last chance to do so. Most are thematically linked to werebeast in general and are just right for this book and your character’s journey, yet lots of them feels disconnected from the whole all the same, seemingly having been forced into the main storyline instead of flowing naturally from it. These occurrences are little bumps in the road, no more, and are small nuisances at best, but without ruining the overall excellence of the book. You feel them here and there in the writing, the lack of a smooth transition between two sections, most likely, but you soon let go of them as you are conquered by the great descriptions and loads of fun and creepy encounters.

Plus did I mentioned I thought it was epic? The story builds up and up until the last moment, while being satisfying every steps of the way. Hard to ask for more under such circumstances. Plus, you can relive this story with many different adventures, what with such a multitude of paths being available and a certain fairness that allows you to win without having the usual required shopping list. Indeed, while codewords are a-many here again, items are fewer, and usually not required to win.

In fact, when I reach the end and won (cheating with fights, though) I was nearly sad I didn’t get to reach a dead-end due to my having missed a few important items (quite a few actually). I so wanted to wander the left-over paths and see what I had missed. But it will be for another time, and I will have a great time doing it.

* Five years? Has half a decade really already passed since I wrote what (at the time) I feared might be my last FF gamebook ever?

Stormslayer - still raising a storm

Stormslayer (my sixth Fighting Fantasy adventure gamebook) has been out for more than two years now, but it's still receiving new reviews and acquiring new fans.

Here's what craze_b0i had to say about the book over on the Unofficial Fighting Fantasy Forum:

Just finished this one today. Must say I really enjoyed it. I liked the fact your character has some back story and is already a seasoned adventurer (the Hero of Tannatown no less!), coupled with the fact you start with various items acquired on past adventures. The game-structure is really good as well, I was really impressed with the way the various locations were laid out which gave the player so much choice in terms of what order to visit them. One thing that makes this so good is the various possible 'road encounters' in between the 4 main locations, depending upon which order you visit them... on the whole it was an enjoyable book.

And here's what jamus had to say:

The thing that sets this book apart is its deep, non-linear gameplay. There is strategic thought that goes into choosing which order you complete the quests and obtain the elemental powers (and even how you complete the mini-quests themselves). Your best path may differ depending on your initial stats...

One great example of the depth of this book is the Eelsea quest. If you have a high luck score but low stamina and skill, you can use the “spark of life” to get past the abyssal horror. If you have high stamina and skill, you can safely attract an even larger monster to save you. Or if you have low all-round stats, it is probably best to skip the quest altogether (and fight a 9/6 monster later on)...

I also really liked the armour system – it’s simple but well-done. For example the chainmail coat reduces damage by 1 whenever you roll 3-6 after losing an Attack Round. Other forms of armour have different probabilities of reducing damage, and cost different amounts. It makes the often tedious process of battling monsters a little more interesting and fun, particularly if your stats aren't too great.

If you've yet to read Stormslayer yourself, you can pick up a copy here.

The Unofficial Fighting Fantasy Forum

Looking for somewhere to debate all the latest Fighting Fantasy news (or lack of) and discuss the range (in all its incarnations)?

Then you need the Unofficial Fighting Forum. It's been up and running for a year now so go check it out for yourselves!