Here we go - having decried these lists last time for largely ending up wallowing in safe nostalgia arthur than picking something fresher, today we are going to wallow in safe nostalgia. Look, I think that I’ve established that the only real rule around here is “my blog, my rules” so, in that respect, we’re well within the accepted blog tolerances.
Today’s choice is a book that I’m not sure that I’ve read all the way through (in fact, the format pretty guarantees that you’re unlikely to read the whole thing).
The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain
By Ian Livingstone & Steve Jackson
First published:- 1982
What’s It About?
Is it a book? Is it a game? It’s a little of column A and a little of column B. You are an adventurer attempting to find the treasure of Firetop Mountain with a little bit of help from dice, pencil and paper.
Background
The '70s saw the emergence of a new type of game - the roleplaying game - and thus were the lives of nerdy indoor kids transformed (at least until video games came along to make them even more indoorsy). Alongside that, the '70s also saw the beginnings of the Choose Your Own Adventure book - books that gave you options to follow at the end of each paragraph to unlock the next part of the story. Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson decided to combine the two to create a role-playing experience that could be played in those times when you didn't have a full set of friends around. And thus was the range of Fighting Fantasy books born with this, the first of many… *
What’s It Good?
Because it’s a book you can play. It’s also weirdly a book that you’re pretty expected to never read all of, depending on the path that you chose through (I certainly haven’t read the whole thing; I;m not even sure if I managed to complete this one without cheating and mentally justifying stepping back and ignoring a fight after I’ve been killed). It’s the ideal introduction into a wider world of gaming as the rules are simple and easy to follow but there’s enough there to make it feel more interactive than the more straightforward Choose Your Own Adventure style gamebook. The fact that they are still publishing new adventures some 40 years after the first one came is testament to the sticking power of the format.
(Small Note For Collectors:- If you’re thinking of grabbing a full set of them, be prepared for that to set you back a pretty penny. Some of the rarer books can sell on eBay for £200-£300. If you've got some tucked away in the loft, it might be time to dust them off and check out the prices…)
*Which are still being published today. Charlie Higson has written one in the last few years and there’s a new one due out in October written by Rhianna Pratchett (daughter of Sir Terry).
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