I intend to go back through the Fighting Fantasy series one by one, in order, and document my progress here. I’ll be raiding eBay, charity shops, wherever I can to get the old books. Then I’ll talk through my experience of the book as well as any specific memories the book presents to me from when I first read it in my younger days. I don’t claim to be an expert on the books, I’ll probably learn a few things on the way myself, I’m sure there is a wealth of information out there already if you want to know the nitty gritty. This is just a personal account of a fan who wants to conduct an experiment.
Also, I will only be collecting the original, ‘zig-zag’ or ‘dragon’ cover editions of the 80’s-90’s. The 2000 re-published Wizard or Shield editions are not being considered.
Fighting Fantasy Project 
Welcome to the world of FF blogging!
Thank you, sir! Good to see there’s a healthy community out there with a similar fondness for these books as myself.
Be ready for a frustrating fight through ‘creature of havoc’.
Very interesting read, but a tough one to crack (very dependent on taking certain paths early on). Wont ruin it for you with any details, but i will have to return to this when you start on it.
Yup, Creature of Havoc is one I never actually completed as a kid so I’m looking forward to it. You’re one of many people who have mentioned this to me now.
Hmm…..
Wow, I remember Steve Jackson’s Sorcery as a kid in the 80’s.
Brilliant!
Think I’ll read your Sorcery adventure just for the rose tinted nostalgia.
Hello! Is there anywhere that you could just buy all 59 of the original series? I have just found out about Fighting Fantasy and would love to read them!
Hey there, as far as I’m aware, the only place you’ll get a full run in one go is eBay. Full collections show up now and then, going for £150-£200.
And I assume that you can also buy individual books? Because 300 some USD is quite a hefty price for a one time payment.
Greetings! No this isn’t spam! I thought you’d like to know I’ve nominated you for the Liebster award. Go to http://worldofharley.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/aghast-a-mysterious-nomination/ for details! 🙂
I collected whatever copies of these I could get my hands on. I still have them somewhere. Now I’m not so keen to get rid of them. Now, where did I store them? Here, have a new follower!
Greetings FFP. A very fine quest you’ve undertaken. I can recall Warlock of Firetop Mountain coming out and there being some kind of green screen reconstruction of the opening sequences on ITV – may have been ‘The Book Tower’ with Dr. Who favourite Tom Baker. Sorcery! was an amazing sequence of adventures, definitely one of my favourites. Well done on ‘Creature of Havoc’ – I had to translate the text on a camping holiday with two sides of blank A4 paper and a cheap ballpoint pen running out of ink. Happy times! I’ve enjoyed reading all of your reviews – if you enjoyed ‘City of Thieves’, have a return trip to Port Blacksand with ‘Midnight Rogue’, that’s a hearty recommendation to you. Oh – and you weren’t the only one to grab a copy of ‘Riddling Reaver’ without knowing what it was actually all about!
May YOU find great adventure and riches in all of Allansia, Khul and the Old World..oh and in space too but we don;t really mention those!
Stay safe brave adventurer!
Myst
I have a question: could you use the same character created in Wizard of Firetop Mountain in the other books. I want to start a character and keep him going through the FF books that I have collected.
You could, but there aren’t any official rules that support that way of playing so you’d have to fudge it together yourself. The Sorcery series does exactly what you want though, taking a character across multiple books, so get hold of them if you haven’t already!
OK, just finished playing The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. Easier than I expected except that damn maze! I admit I had to cheat and look for a map out of the maze. I guess the descriptions of the halls are intentionally befuddling. Onto The Citadel of Chaos!
I’ve just discovered your blog, how did I not know about it before?! Fantastic, many hours of pleasant reading ahead, thank you.
You’re very kind! I started doing this for me, that other people seem to enjoy it as well still blows me away 🙂
Your write-ups are some of the most enjoyable play-throughs I’ve read, I hope you keep at them.
This is such a great idea! Love the blog, hope you don’t get through all the books too soon!
Hey, I was wondering where you got your images for the artwork? All my scans a very low res and I was hoping to find some higher quality ones for my FF creative writing. Thanks in advance.
I’ve been glued to your blog from start to finish, I especially enjoyed “Creature of Havoc” as I never completed it.
Please continue your adventures through Titan, I’m really enjoying your tongue in cheek comments!
Great to see there are others out there who decided to tread the nostalgia trail back to Fighting Fantasy. Aged 41 I have just started reading the books again :). So many fond memories of lying in my room and battling through the wonderful adventures.
Hi! Very late to this but really enjoying reading your blog. I am still only at the Ian Livingston Books but do you recalls a series of FF novels that often required you to decipher a code in order to figure out which page to turn to? It was a fantasy based series and had some dark comedy in it as well.
Thanks and keep up the good work!
Do you mean Steve Jackson’s Sorcery? I recall having to spot roman numerals on a scroll held by the marsh goblins, in order to stop the serpent of time.
That might be it! Was their a series of books? The code I vaguely remember is that every other letter corresponded with it’s numerical location in the alphabet. Again, this was a long time ago!
Four books in that series. Ultimately you were after the Crown of Kings :). Now in my early 40s, I started reading the FF books again during lockdown and have really enjoyed the memories.
I just read/played the Forest of Doom (which is what led me to this site). I’m also in my 40’s and have three kids so I’m hoping to introduce them to the genre. It’s fun to revisit the books so I’m looking forward to reading them (either online or via Ebay).
Same, I have two boys and both are now reading the books. Good to get them off the consoles!
That’s some trick if you can get them off the consoles! Sadly it’s one of the few ways they can be social.