Bonus episode time again as we continue to throw shuriken, cobra strike, and garotte our way through the Way of the Tiger series by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson. The second book in a series is often a difficult one, how to build on the successes of the first book and still break new ground. Listen along to find out how they manage it.
Episode 46 - Tower of Destruction
Tower of Destruction is another book by Keith Martin who wrote one of my absolute favourite books in the series Vault of the Vampire. It was illustrated by Peter Knifton and the cover was by Terry Oakes.
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Bonus Episode - Way of the Tiger: Ninja!
It’s time for a very exciting bonus episode as we begin looking at the classic Way of the Tiger series of adventure gamebooks, starting with the prequel. Way of the Tiger: Ninja! was released in 2014 by Megara Entertainment. It was written by David Walters with art by Mylene Villeneuve, Eric Chaussin, Aude Pfister, Matthias Sallstrom, Lisa Rafalli, Faiz Nabheebucus, and Antoine Di Lorenzo. The original game system was designed by Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith who also wrote Sword of the Samurai and Talisman of Death for the Fighting Fantasy series. Does this modern addition to the canon 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 Cave of Time
We’re investigating a key piece of gamebook history this episode as we explore The Cave of Time, the first proper Choose Your Own Adventure book by Edward Packard with art by Paul Granger. With 40 different endings this packs a lot of adventure into a small package. It spawned a wildly successful franchise but is this book actually any good? HJDoom plays it to find out and offers a mildly contentious and completely untested theory about the reason gamebooks exploded in the early eighties.
Bonus Episode - Nightshift
Link to the Lindenbaum Prize competition
http://www.lloydofgamebooks.com/2023/11/20232024-lindenbaum-prize-announcement.html
It’s horror time on Fantastic Fights once more as we play and review Nighshift by Victoria Hancox with art by Svenja Wolter and Ventislav Velikov. A deadly race against time in a twisted hospital released in 2019 this is Victoria Hancox’s first published gamebook.
Bonus Episode - Legendary Kingdoms: The Valley of Bones
It’s time for a very recent gamebook, at least by the standards of this podcast. For your delight and edification HJDoom plays through Legendary Kingdoms book one, The Valley of Bones by Oliver Hulme with illustrations by Robin Smith. It was published by Spidermind Games in 2019. This is a vast tome and the playthrough only really scratches the surface but is it a case of more of a good thing or a surfeit of paragraphs. Listen along to find out.
Episode 40 - Dead of Night
We're into the 40s! Will they start with a bang? Listen along to find out as HJDoom plays through Dead of Night by Jim Bambra and Stephen Hand with art by Martin McKenna.
Bonus Episode - Diceman
Prepare yourself for zarjaz episode of Fantastic Fights as your humble host tackles a series of adventure game comics spun off from the pages of the galaxy’s greatest comic 2000AD. Diceman, featuring such characters as Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Slaine, and former Republican president Ronald Reagan is a curious beast, an attempt to meld the popular adventure gamebooks of the 1980s with action oriented comics. Largely written by Pat Mills and featuring some of the UK’s finest comic book artists Diceman was a short lived experiment that’s been given a new lease of life thanks to a handsome hardcover edition collecting the entire run into a single tome. Is it any good? Listen along to find out.
Episode 37 - Portal of Evil
Episode 37 brings us back into the welcoming arms of the Fighting Fantasy series and Portal of Evil by Peter Darvill-Evans with illustrations by Alan “the lizard guy” Langford. Sinister things are afoot in the forest and in the mountains as gold rush fever grips Khul. Can our sensibly named hero defeat the monsters and save the world for what feels like the thousandth time? Tune in to find out that he can’t.
Episode 32 - Slaves of the Abyss
It’s our first proper episode of 2023 and HJDoom is tackling book 32 in the Fighting Fantasy series which is Slaves of the Abyss by Paul Mason and Steve Williams with illustrations by Bob Harvey and cover art by Terry Oakes. Things start off with some fairly hackneyed kingdom in peril stuff but things rapidly get quite a bit stranger as the book progresses. Featuring a time mechanic and an extremely aggravating cameo from the Riddling Reaver that we happily avoid in the playthrough portion this book certainly has an uneven tone but is it any good? Listen along to find out.
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Episode 25 - Beneath Nightmare Castle
Episode 25 of the podcast means two years of regular episodes and what better way to celebrate than with Beneath Nightmare Castle, the 1987 Fighting Fantasy book written by Peter Darvill-Evans with interior art by Dave Carson. This is an interesting book because it feels like a return to classic Fighting Fantasy tropes while still pushing the design in new and interesting directions. Will our hapless hero manage that elusive first time win?
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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.