Rumors of a new Archmage rising to power in the Old World continue to circulate across the Western Ocean...

Would you like to see the release of the Fighting Fantasy™ Novels?
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Which is your favourite FF interior illustrator?
Martin McKenna
Russ Nicholson
Iain McCaig
Alan Langford
John Sibbick
Tim Sell
Malcolm Barter
John Blanche
Gary Ward and Edward Crosby
Brian Williams or Nik Willams

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The city of Zengis (also known as the City of Wares) has the largest concentration of temples, priests and priestesses in Allansia. A plethora of religions are worshipped by the inhabitants. Zengis’s largest church is the Celestial Hall, a temple to Asrel under the control of the High Priest Fhan Myorang.

The Flatlands is a wide, open steppe land that extends between Old Allansia and the eastern reaches of the Allansian Continent. It is home to many tribes of nomadic mounted barbarians. The Nomadic barbarians are dangerous enemies and while they continue to fight amongst themselves they will remain a harmless foe. Throughout history they have attempted to launch an assault on the numerous towers of the Trolltooth pass, and each time Salamonis has protected the west.

There are two Orcs sitting in a field. One starts picking his nose. The other one
sees him and says 'Don't do that, it's a bad hobbit!'

NEW AND OLD EDITIONS

All of the new covers feature entirely new artwork commissioned by Wizard and approved by Steve and Ian. In an interview with Simon Flynn (publishing director of Wizard Books) the decision to re-release the books with new covers was to keep the series fresh. Simon explained that the old covers, for all their merits, just weren't acceptable for today's children's market (who wouldn't necessarily know that the books originally came out 20 years ago).

The 'original' covers by Puffin feature the title with the book's number in a large star in either of the bottom corners of the page. All of the original series spine colour often varies depending on the dominant colour of the cover art. This layout was used from book 1 to 7, though have also been published in the subsequent formats as well.

The 'Green Line' or 'Zigzag' covers were introduced by Puffin in 1984 to coincide with the release of book 8, Scorpion Swamp (by the USA Steve Jackson in 1984). They feature a jagged green line across the top of the cover, include the small Puffin logo and 'Adventure Gamebooks' in white with the gamebook's number. These editions all feature the distinctive Fighting Fantasy logo of a sword and shield, and a green spine, The Sorcery! miniseries however, featured a red stripe and orange spine. Many of these books are written by other authors other than Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone and these are quite easy to identify as the cover has a distinctive 'Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone present' title. Demons of the Deep is a good example. All subsequent books (as well as the previous re-issued books) were presented in this design up to book 24, Creature of Havoc by Steve Jackson in 1986.

In 1987 the new 'Gold Dragon' design was introduced with book 25, Beneath Nightmare Castle by Peter Darvill-Evans and was used up until the end of the series with book 59, Curse of the Mummy by Jonathon Green in 1995. Jonathon has just recently finished the long awaited 'Bloodbones' that will see print in September 06. Like before, all subsequent books as well as the previous re-issued books were presented in this new design although the bronze-foil print was discontinued after book 51, Island of the Undead by Keith Martin in 1992.

The new 'Gold Dragon' format is possibly the most easily recognisable and features a gold dragon lay on a large banner displaying the phrase 'Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone present' in bronze-foil print. On most books this appears larger than the title of the book itself. All new 'Gold Dragon' books continued with the green spine from the 'Green Line' editions, though for some annoying reason the 2nd printing did not feature a numbered spine. A 3rd printing corrected this omission. The Sorcery! miniseries however like the series before it, features a purple dragon and orange spine. When Wizard began to publish Fighting Fantasy in 2002, they completely redesigned both the cover art and the logo; Publishing Director Simon Flynn states on the official Wizard website that the covers needed to be kept 'looking fresh' because the old covers 'weren't acceptable for today's kids', and the Unofficial Advanced Fighting Fantasy website features a poll on which 63% of fans described the new covers as an improvement. As only books written by either Jackson or Livingstone have been printed in this format it remains to be seen whether the actual author's name will feature on the cover or not.

FOREIGN EDITIONS

Last but by no means least, a limited number of Fighting Fantasy™ gamebooks were published in the United States by Dell/Laurel Leaf in the 1980s. These editions featured new cover designs featuring paintings by Richard Corben and can be found on later pages.

Editors note: If you own or possess any cover 'original' - 'Green Line' or 'Zigzag' - 'Gold Dragon' - 'Dell/Laurel Leaf' or foreign that is not presented here, please send me an EMAIL.