Fantastic Fights

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.

It’s another bonus episode and another foray into the world of Orb with Way of the Tiger: Avenger by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson. Having survived the trials of Ninja our hero is now sent on a mission to save the world and take revenge on the man who killed their father figure. How will HJDoom do on this quest, badly or very badly? Listen along to find out.

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.If you like what I do consider joining my patreon. Everyone who pledges gets a whole bunch of gaming stuff including my gamebooks and experimental roleplaying games. www.patreon.com/hjdoom.

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 Way 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.

It’s book 45 of the long running Fighting Fantasy series! Spectral Stalkers was written by Peter Darvill-Evans with internal art by Tony Hough and cover art by Tony Hough. It’s the third and final book Darvill-Evans contributed to the series but will he go out with a bang? Listen along to find out as HJDoom plays through the book and offers some thoughts.

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.

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.

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.

We’re waving goodbye to 2023 in style as we take on Keep of the Lich Lord by the legends of adventure gamebook design Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson. We’ve got all the classic Fighting Fantasy tropes on hand as we explore an island being oppressed by an army of the undead.Don’t forget that the Lindebaum Prize is a thing. Write a 100 section gamebook and win fabulous prizes. Find all the details here: http://www.lloydofgamebooks.com/2023/12/entries-are-now-being-accepted-for.html

It’s bonus episode time again as we take a look an Endless Quest book suggested by a listener in the form of Spell of the Winter Wizard by Linda Lowery with cover art by Larry Elmore and internal illustrations by Jeffry R Busch.Don’t forget that entries are now being accepted for the 2023/24 Lindenbaum Prize being run by friend of the podcast Stuart Lloyd. You can find all the details here: http://www.lloydofgamebooks.com/2023/12/entries-are-now-being-accepted-for.html

Fighting Fantasy book 42 presents us with some new approaches and throws us right into the action which is always exciting. But can the book sustain the initial excitement? Listen along to find out.

Link to the Lindenbaum Prize competitionhttp://www.lloydofgamebooks.com/2023/11/20232024-lindenbaum-prize-announcement.htmlIt’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.

We continue exploring the later stages of the Fighting Fantasy series with Master of Chaos by Keith Martin with art by David Gallagher. Sent on a dangerous mission without our usual gear and beloved packed lunches can HJDoom possibly survive? Listen along to find out.

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.

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.

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

We’re saying goodbye to the 30s with Fangs of Fury by Luke Sharp with cover art and internal illustrations by David Gallagher. I’ve had a torrid relationship with Luke Sharp’s work but was cautiously in favour of his previous book Daggers of Darkness. Will his Fighting Fantasy swansong be his crowning glory? Listen along to find out.

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.

Joy unbounded at Doom HQ as we come to book 38 in the Fighting Fantasy series, Vault of the Vampire. I’m a big horror fan in general and a gothic horror fan in particular so the prospect of venturing into a spooky castle in search of a vampire is a real treat to me. It’s got a great hook but can the book, written by returning scribe Keith Martin and illustrated by legendary British illustrator Martin McKenna, live up to the sinister premise? Listen along to find out.