We’ve made it to the end of the original run of Fighting Fantasy books but are we ending on a high note? With Jonathan Green and Martin McKenna involved the talent is certainly there for a classic but you’ll have to listen along to find out whether they manage to land this final outing.
Episode 57 - Magehunter
We’ve reached book 57 and Magehunter by Paul Mason with art by Russ Nicholson and cover art by Ian Miller. This one has a reputation for being quite the Chinese puzzle box of a gamebook but is that reputation justified? Also will we hunt a mage? Yes. Yes we will. Good job Magehunter on a fully accurate title.
Episode 56 - Knights of Doom
Book 56 of the Fighting Fantasy series is the sophomore effort from Jonathan Green, Knights of Doom, with art by Tony Hough. Green’s first book was the very enjoyable Spellbreaker but can he manage to escape the curse of the difficult second album? Listen along to find out.
Episode 53 - Spellbreaker
Book 53 of Fighting Fantasy is here! Spellbreaker is the debut Fighting Fantasy gamebook from Jonathan Green who has gone on to be an important creator in the gamebook sphere. With art, including cover art, by Alan Langford there’s clearly a wealth of talent on display but does that cohere into a good book? Listen along to find out.
If you’d like to support my nonsense and bag yourself a bunch of gaming goodies you can do so over at my patreon at patreon.com/hjoom.
Episode 48 - Moonrunner
It’s the third and final Fighting Fantasy gamebook written by Stephen Hand (with art by Martin McKenna). Will this be an exciting cap to his trilogy of books or did he use up all his good ideas on Dead of Night and Legend of the Shadow Warriors? Listen along to find out.
Don’t forget you can get a parcel of gaming materials and access to the regular reviews of stuff (mostly old stuff) over on www.patreon.com/hjdoom
Episode 47 - The Crimson Tide
The Crimson Tide is this month’s Fighting Fantasy book. This curious and convoluted book is a solo outing from Paul Mason who previously gave us Slaves to the Abyss and Black Vein Prophecy with his writing partner Steve Williams. With Terry Oakes providing art and a chance to show us his own vision for what a Fighting Fantasy book looks like can Paul Mason deliver the goods? Listen along to find out.
Bonus Episode - Heroquest: The Fellowship of Four
It’s a bonus episode that’s near and dear to my heart as we tackle the first Heroquest gamebook by Dave Morris based on the insanely popular boardgame from MB Games and Games Workshop. This one is a little bit different from most gamebooks being both a short novella and a short gamebook in one. Morris did something similar with the Knightmare gamebooks. Does this approach to a gamebook work? Listen along to find out.
Episode 44 - Legend of the Shadow Warriors
Book 44 and Fighting Fantasy is somehow still firing on all cylinders. Stephen Hand had already contributed to the excellent Dead of Night with Jim Bambara but will his sophomore outing be a chance to show what he can do solo? With art by Martin McKenna and cover art by the reliable David Gallagher, Legend of the Shadow Warriors is a curious beast but is it any good? Listen along to find out.
Bonus Episode - The Crystal Maze
This bonus episode sees HJDoom tackle the gamebook adaptation of the enormously popular and enormously difficult 90s TV game show The Crystal Maze in which teams of players do fiendishly difficult tasks at the behest of a bald musical theatre legend and get the slender chance to win a cheese platter in the titular maze. It’s a cult classic but will it transfer to the gamebook format? With Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson at the helm there’s a fair chance it will.
This episode is made possible by the generosity of my patrons at www.patreon.com/hjdoom. As well as supporting bonus content all patrons sent a whole bevvy of gaming materials and access to my patreon blog where I’m currently writing a development diary as I write a new gamebook.