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 28 - Phantoms of Fear
This episode we’re playing Phantoms of Fear by Robin Waterfield with illustrations by the amazing Ian Miller. This is one of the more ambitious Fighting Fantasy books we’ve seen as you play an elf warrior shaman capable of existing in both the physical and dream worlds. An awful menace has arisen, as they do with astonishing frequency in Fighting Fantasy books, and it’s up to you to track through an increasingly surreal forest to enter the even more surreal lair of the demon prince Ishtra. Thrills, spills, and a lot of strange imagery await within the depths of Affen Forest. I had a lot of fun with this one.
If you’re enjoying this podcast why not leave a little review or rating on your podcast provider of choice. That would really help me out.
Bonus Episode - Falcon 1: The Renegade Lord
Note that the playthrough portion of this episode sounds like it was recorded in a tin bath. I’ve no idea what went wrong but if you want to skip it then the review portion of the podcast starts at 56:50.
The past isn’t what it used to be in this episode as we take a trip into the past as seen from the distant future. In 3033 time travel is a recent invention and five self-important LORDS OF TIME hold sway over the technology. The problem is that there appears to be no actual oversight and one of them has gone rogue. The only mechanism for dealing with that is a spot of murder and our valiant hero has been tasked with working out which bigwig has lost it and administering a spot of frontier justice. Falcon 1: The Renegade Lord was released in 1987 and was written by Jamie Thompson and Mark Smith, authors of several Fighting Fantasy books and the Way of the Tiger series.
Support this nonsense and receive various rewards at www.patreon.com/hjdoom
Bonus Episode - Sagas of the Demonspawn Book One: Fire*Wolf
It’s time for another bonus episode brought to you by the generosity of my patrons over at patreon.com/hjdoom. This time we’re playing Sagas of the Demonspawn Book One: Fire*Wolf written by the tireless JH Brennan. We’ve tangled with this creator before, he’s the author of the well regarded Grailquest series and a very, very odd riff on the story of Frankenstein. Where does this land in terms of his incredibly variable quality? Listen along with an increasingly confused HJDoom to find out.
Episode 24 - Creature of Havoc (Part Two)
HJDoom is back with the second part of Creature of Havoc, the seminal Fighting Fantasy book by Steve Jackdon. Our bumbling and monstrous hero has successfully traversed the dungeons of Zharradan Marr and made its way out into the big wide world. What happens next? Listen in to find out. There’s also a mildly exciting announcement of a new patreon reward, and the even more mildly exciting announcement that I have a new EP out. It’s 4 tracks of dungeon synth recorded on a digital version of a cheap 1980s Casio synth. It’s free to download and you can find it at https://malesperi.bandcamp.com/album/where-graves-are-empty
Episode 17 - Appointment with F.E.A.R.
New ground broken yet again in the Fighting Fantasy series as we don our very silliest clothes and commit a variety of crimes against people and property with the enthusiastic support of the local police department. HJDoom plays through this classic Fighting Fantasy book with a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the basic premise. Will he succeed despite his disdain for superheros as a cultural phenomenon? Listen along to find out. There’s also some exciting patron news about a forthcoming project.
Episode 16 - Seas of Blood
Hot on the heels of our last bonus episode comes this playthrough of the pirate themed adventure gamebook Seas of Blood by Andrew Chapman. Join HJDoom for a desperate race against the clock and also another pirate as we rob and pillage our way round the Inland Sea. Ships will fight ships! Ships will fight monsters! Excitement and adventure of all kinds will be had! With plenty of new systems to chew on there’s a lot going on in this adventure gamebook but will our less than intrepid hero by crowned King of the Pirates? Listen along to find out.
Bonus Episode - The Curse of Frankenstein
It’s another bonus episode featuring the work of JH Brennan, author of the Grailquest book we covered in our last bonus episode. This time he’s taking on gothic horror in the form of an ambitious adventure gamebook that you can play either as Baron Frankenstein or his monstrous creation. There’s big ideas everywhere in this one but can he manage to stick the landing and maintain an appropriately gothic tone? Find out by listening! Special thanks to a new patron, Saul Alexander. You can be like him by going to patreon.com/hjdoom and pledging as little as a single english pound.
Episode 14 - Temple of Terror
Join HJDoom for a playthrough of Fighting Fantasy book 14 and take a journey across desert sands to the mysterious abandoned city of Vatos. Sandworms! Nomads! Undead Assassins! Temple of Terror has it all and almost all of them want to kill you. Will our dauntless hero take a brief citybreak in Port Blacksand on the way? Find out by listening.
Episode 13 - Freeway Fighter
Episode 13 sees another attempt to create a science fiction Fighting Fantasy book that isn’t rubbish. This time it’s all gone a bit Mad Max as Ian Livingstone takes us on a gritty journey into a post-apocalyptic landscape where the collapse of civilisation has failed to impact on private car ownership. Gaffa tape some nerf guns to your Lexus because it’s time to take on some weirdly dressed thugs in a Volvo in Freeway Fighter.
Episode 7 - Island of the Lizard King
After our disastrous tour round Deathtrap Dungeon we get a nice change of scenery, several changes of scenery in fact as we take a mini-break to Fire Island home of the insane Lizard King and an awful lot of very big animals. Golden beaches, dense jungle, a pictureque swamp and a deep ravine are just some of the environments the await us on our quest to undo an idiot prince’s bright idea of hiring insane lizardmen to run his version of Guantanamo Bay. This is a real epic and I hope very much you enjoy it.
Island of the Lizard King was written by Ian Livingstone with internal illustrations by Alan Langford and cover art by Ian McCaig.
Episode 6 - Bonus Deathtrap Dungeon Run
It’s bonus episode time as I reveal my first, far less successful playthrough of Deathtrap Dungeon. I feel like there might be other very difficult gamebooks later where I end up doing the same thing. Regardless I hope you enjoy this little look into a world of abject failure.