A Fighting Fantasy Journey
Recommendations: 1171
About the Project
The Fighting fantasy series had to be my first step into gaming as a child. Growing up in a computer free 80s household the books gave me an escape from the norm before little men came along. After years of neglect I went back to my original collection and went on a mission to complete it. In this project I will be looking at each book and seeing if they were as good as I remember. I have also picked up some of the official Fighting Fantasy minis from Atlantis Miniatures and painting them up to go with my book collection.
Related Game: Fighting Fantasy
Related Genre: Fantasy
This Project is Active
Book Nine: Caverns of the Snow Witch
Ian Livingston is back for this outing to the frozen north of Allansia and the ice finger mountains. This adventure feels like one as we go from hunting a yeti as our quest to finding out about the snow witch. The dungeon section of the story has some hard characters to fight but the witch is a bit easy if you have the right items. As a vampire we stake her. But she comes back as a spirit in a crystal Ball and we kill her by playing a version of rocks paper scissors. Then the story becomes s road trip with two companions and as usual they die off. I think it was a bit unfair that the dwarf is called Stubb. We head past deathtrap dungeon and firetop mountain linking the world. We end up at stone bridge making this a prequel to forest of Doom. 
We start our journey with the caravan run by Big Jim. The same name as a character in Chaplin’s Gold Rush set in Alaska. Not sure if that’s a coincidence. The book ends with a trip to find the healer after being cursed. I like the journey this book takes you on and makes you feel a part of a larger world. The snow witch mini is nice but an odd choice as we only see her face in the book. I would like to have a mini if the yeti.
Book eight: Scorpion Swamp
The first book in the series not written by Livingston and Jackson but the other Steve Jackson. A book I found very confusing as a child. No real villain, no real plot and a confusing map that you can get lost in. 
Reading it again I find this book very interesting. Like all RPG adventures we start in the tavern. We also have to find our quest which can be one of three be it evil good or neutral. It has a lot of RPG feels and we are given a choice of gems that allows you to cast spells. 
Duncan Smith's art reminds me of work done by someone exploring the swamp for real. No mini for this one though. He loves drawing animals.
Because your mission can change on every play through it gives this book plenty of replay potential. You can also go back and forth to locations already visited which is unusual and gives it a board game feel.. Book Seven: Island of the Lizard King
Hacking your way through the jungle to rescue slaves from a mine run by the lizard king and his reptilian nasties. This book is a bit of a hack fest with a lot of combat and always reminded me of Doug McClure films. It was my first contact with lizardmen who have taken on South American cultural traits.
Your good mate mungo who after landing in Fire Island is immediately killed by a giant crab or pirates depending on your choices. Sucks to be mungo
The lizard king is not wearing a crown but a parasite called the Gonchung that controls him. 
The mini loosers some of its bad ass persona when you find out he's scared of monkeys which is a bit of a flaw for someone living on a tropical island
Fire Island inhabited by two characters with big cats as pets and two women in furry bikinis. What are the chances
The internet is great for finding maps of each book for those that want to find the correct route.Book Six: Deathtrap Dungeon
The map of the dungeon. This time we have no noble cause of master villain to find and slay. Its just a competition to see who can survive the dungeon to win a prize. The simple plot works well as a challenge and i liked finding the other contestants, usually dead and dying as you go round apart from Throm. Like most books in the series you still need to collect certain items to get out at the end. 
Baron Sukumvit in the city of Fang on the river Kok in the province of Chang Mai. Jackson got the names from a trip to thailand. Ive been to Sukumvit street in Bangkok and got engaged in Chang Mai. This history makes sense when you look at the fantastic art in this book. There is a Thai look to Sukumvit and the crowds in Fang.
The real Chang Mai where I can imagine the real Deathtrap Dungeon can be found.
In the 90s Kelly Brook did a promo for the Playstation version of Deathtrap Dungeon. Funny I didnt imagine the character we play in the book looing like this. 
Probably a lot of people's favourite in the series.
Poor old Throm the barbarian. Another contestant who you buddy up with for a short time and your forced to kill. This is made worse if you play Assassin's of Allansia before hand as he saves your life and you have a longer friendship with him.
Sukhumvit and Throm
Book Five: City of Thieves
One of my favourites in the series introduces us to Port Blacksand which is still my favourite fantasy city. Hired by the people of Silverton to kill the villain zanbar Bone you have to first find the wizard Nicodemus in the city and then the items needed to defeat Mr Bone. The artist Ian McCaig did s fantastic job on bringing the city to life and would later go on to design the look of Darth Maul. Looking at Bone on the original cover, that's no surprise.
Nicodemus has a great personality as a grumpy wizard who lives under a bridge in a city of Thieves to avoid being hassled by adventures for help. They joke in a later book that perhaps if he didn't dress as a wizard he wouldn't attract any attention.
We don't get a map of Blacksand until the Titan guide book and then Midnight rogue but it's fully explored in the advanced fighting fantasy book Blacksand.
In recent years Livingston has written a book called Assassin's of Allansia which is a direct sequel to city if Thieves. After slaying Zanbar Bone Prince Azure if Blacksand sends assassin's to kill you. It ends at death trap dungeon creating a trilogy which was a nice touch linking some if the best in the seriesBook Four: Starship Traveller
The star map
Some of the art is very hit and miss for me in this one. Sometimes the stark approach fits the setting and on other occasions just seems a bit too void of detail or personality compared to what had come before it but I suppose it suits the hard sci fi universe.
My original version dates from the initial release before the green spines. I spotted it on a charity table in Sainsbury's. The first if the science fiction stories in the collection. Fir some reason they never seem as popular as the fantasy ones. Star Trek was clearly the inspiration for this one as you captain the starship traveller through unknown space trying to find the coordinates to get home. Every planet you visit you get to choose which crew to take with you. There are some interesting planets such as the world where people live for ever so the government kills people at random to keep the population down and funny events such as being beemed down into someone. I never thought much if this book but I gave it another shot and found some parts entertaining even if it wasn't my cup of tea. Another thing to note is that no miniatures have been made based in this books stark art or any other science fiction outing in the series. 
Best line in the book. I'm so imatureIn memory of Christos Achillios
I just heard that fantasy artist Christos Achillios died earlier this month. He is famous for numerous pieces of art and for fighting fantasy he did both guidebooks Titan and out if the pit my favourite piece is the orc war banner from armies of death. I had that image as a poster and it's s shame a mini hasn't been made of it. Sad loss but he's left us with some classic work 
Book three: The Forest of Doom
I have a couple of copies of the forest of Doom and the mini of the shape shifter from the cover. Written by Ian Livingston this one takes us out in to the woods in search of two halves of a hammer belonging to the dwarves of stone bridge. This opens up the world as we meet the wizard Yaztromo for the first time. One if those wizards who just lives in a tower selling magic items to passers by.
For some reason one of the minis by Atlantis miniatures is of Bigleg the dwarf who you meet in the introduction and dies giving you the quest to find the Warhammer the dwarfs need to fight the hill trolls. An odd choice for a mini as there is no illustration of him. He looks a bit lord of the rings for my liking
We have to search the forest for the two parts of the hammer each taken by a goblin, so find the goblins and we find the hammer. We have to choose items to purchase from Yaztromo to help us in this journey. If you pick the wrong items you wont get past some of the trials the forest has to offer.
The Fighting Fantasy world does make you wonder whats going on with some of the characters you meet. For example in the middle of this Forest filled with nasties we we find a shack with a strongman living in it who just likes arm wrestling people. Maybe he needs to get a job at a circus or something where he might get more work.
The shapeshifter cover is one of the best in the series and this miniature was great fun to paint and captures the art well 
I played through this book the other night and found it easier than I remember. It added new locations to the world and Yaztromo who will pop up again. We meet a crow who gives us information for money. He's saving up to earn enough to pay Yaztromo to turn him back into a human. Even the nice wizards have s cruel streak.
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