It’s bonus episode time again and we’re entering the terrifying world of the Cthulhu Mythos with Graham Plowman’s The House on Sentinel Hill. Released in 2022 this hefty 585 section adventure gamebook features all manner of monstrous creatures and sanity draining revelations. Art is by Matthew Dewhurst.
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 - Rulers of the NOW
It’s another bonus episode of Fantastic Fights and I’m delighted to be able to present another gamebook written by a listener, Rulers of the NOW by Stuart Lloyd which is available for purchase here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/383730/Rulers-of-the-NOW
Bonus Episode - Interstellar Terra
It’s a particularly exciting episode as, for the first time, we’re looking at a book written by a listener. Interstellar Terra by John E Kirk is a science fiction book weighing in at a hefty 777 sections. Is it worth your time? Listen along to find out. You can buy the book from amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/interstellar-Terra-John-Kirk/dp/B08VCKGDYD/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RG3XJ2V8TCNQ&keywords=interstellar+terra&qid=1689255221&s=books&sprefix=interstellar+terra%2Cstripbooks%2C72&sr=1-1
Bonus Episode - Planets in Peril
It’s another bonus episode for Fantastic Fights and this time we’re exploring outer space once again as part of my ongoing quest to find a really good spaceships and lasers gamebook. Will we become a brave space ace or suffer the ignominy of death at the hands of a book aimed at the under 12s? Listen along to find out. Star Challenge: Planets in Peril was written by Christopher Black and illustrated by Maelo Cintron. The cover art is by Colin Sullivan. It was published in 1984 by Knight Books.
Episode 27 - Star Strider
Episode 27 of Fantastic Fights finds us back in science fiction territory with Star Strider. As a rogue tracer our hero is tasked with roguishly tracing a kidnapped politician on a future Earth that has become considerably weirder than our present day. Will the rogue tracer be able to dodge deadly androids and some brutally random dice based challenges and escape to save the galaxy from the wily Gromulans? Listen along to find out.
If you like this podcast why not leave a review or a rating on your podcast provider of choice? It really helps other people discover the podcast and that makes me feel less like I’m screaming gibberish in a vast empty room.
Episode 18 - Rebel Planet
Rebel Planet by Robin Waterfield is another attempt to tackle a science fiction setting. That's not been something with a storied history in Fighting Fantasy but perhaps a fresh pen will lead to a better outcome than previous attempts. It's got all the pieces, an evil alien empire, a desperate race against time, spy stuff, laser swords, and more but can the author assemble them into a satisfying jigsaw? Rebel Planet was published by Puffin books in 1985 with illustrations by Gary Mayes and cover art by Alan Craddock. If you're enjoying my nonsense and want an adventure gamebook penned by my own fair hand then you can do so by going to patreon.com/hjdoom and pledging as little as a single English pound.