Unlike the Lone Wolf series, each of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks (other than the Sorcery! epic of course) was a stand-alone adventure. In other words, nothing you did in any adventure affected any other, and you technically played a new character in each book. I suspect this was one of the things that made the series interesting - it allowed greater freedom and variation for the authors and readers. That doesn't mean that some of the gamebooks weren't linked in some way though, and I'm going to explore some of these links in some posts here on The World of Fighting Fantasy.
One of the most obvious links is between three of Ian Livingstone's early gamebooks, Caverns of the Snow Witch, The Forest of Doom and Temple of Terror.
In Caverns of the Snow Witch, you begin your adventure guarding the caravans of the merchant Big Jim Sun in the frozen north of Allansia, with no hint of any connection with any other FF adventure. Assuming you survive as far as Stonebridge with your companions Stubb the Dwarf and Redswift the Elf (and that's a big assumption given how hard the book is!), you learn that the fabled war-hammer of Gillibran, Dwarfen king of Stonebridge, has been stolen by an eagle (which subsequently dropped it whilst flying over Darkwood Forest). Stubb leaves you and Redswift to join his fellow Dwarf, Bigleg, on a quest to find the war-hammer and return it to Stonebridge (see para. 211).
In Forest of Doom, you start your adventure as a sword for hire 'roaming the northern borderlands', where you chance upon the mortally wounded Bigleg, who has failed in his mission to find King Gillibran's war-hammer. You take on his quest, visiting the wizard Yaztromo and braving the perils of Darkwood Forest in an attempt to return the hammer to Stonebridge. There is no mention of any connection with any other FF adventure, not surprisingly as this was only the third one published, but Livingstone's retconning in Caverns of the Snow Witch clearly establishes a relationship between the two books.
Temple of Terror, the fourteenth FF gamebook, begins with you relaxing and recovering in Stonebridge after a recent quest. The wizard Yaztromo brings news of Malbordus and asks for aid to bring an end to the Storm Child's evil plans. When you volunteer to help, Yaztromo asks 'Haven't I seen you somewhere before?', and during the adventure you are given King Gillibran's war-hammer to help you in your quest (para. 171). No other link with other FF gamebooks is mentioned, but the obvious inference is that Temple of Terror starts where The Forest of Doom left off.
So there we have it, an early trilogy within the FF series by Ian Livingstone. Caverns comes first, then Forest, then Temple. The hero of Forest and Temple look like they could be the same individual, although there is no indication that the same goes for Caverns and Forest (though of course they might be). But what should we call this trilogy? I've named it the 'Stonebridge' trilogy in the title to this post, as Stonebridge is the only place that occurs in all of them, but have you got any other suggestions?
Oh, and it's possible that this isn't a trilogy at all, but a quadrilogy! Another of Ian Livingstone's books, Crypt of the Sorcerer, starts with you visiting your 'friend' Yaztromo, who hasn't seen you 'for over a year'. Other than that, though, there's no obvious link with the 'Stonebridge' trilogy, even though your adventure to defeat Razaak does take you to Stonebridge itself (well, if you can survive that far at any rate...). So is this the 'Stonebridge Quadrilogy'? Or am I going too far, and giving in to that temptation we've all had at one point or another to try and link ALL of the FF adventures with one super-human adventurer who stalks the world of Titan banishing evil wherever (s)he can find it?*
And just in case you are wondering, all of these adventures are probably set in 284 or 285 AC (After Chaos) in Titan's timeline. We know this because Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World states several times (e.g. in 'Dwarfs Today' and 'Reckoning the Years') that the current year is 284 AC, and at the time of writing Gillibran's war-hammer hasn't yet been stolen, and the Snow Witch, Malbordus, and Razaak are all incipient threats.
I'll have a look at some other sub-series within Fighting Fantasy in later posts.
*See here for a classic example from the early days of FF online fandom.
One of the most obvious links is between three of Ian Livingstone's early gamebooks, Caverns of the Snow Witch, The Forest of Doom and Temple of Terror.
In Caverns of the Snow Witch, you begin your adventure guarding the caravans of the merchant Big Jim Sun in the frozen north of Allansia, with no hint of any connection with any other FF adventure. Assuming you survive as far as Stonebridge with your companions Stubb the Dwarf and Redswift the Elf (and that's a big assumption given how hard the book is!), you learn that the fabled war-hammer of Gillibran, Dwarfen king of Stonebridge, has been stolen by an eagle (which subsequently dropped it whilst flying over Darkwood Forest). Stubb leaves you and Redswift to join his fellow Dwarf, Bigleg, on a quest to find the war-hammer and return it to Stonebridge (see para. 211).
In Forest of Doom, you start your adventure as a sword for hire 'roaming the northern borderlands', where you chance upon the mortally wounded Bigleg, who has failed in his mission to find King Gillibran's war-hammer. You take on his quest, visiting the wizard Yaztromo and braving the perils of Darkwood Forest in an attempt to return the hammer to Stonebridge. There is no mention of any connection with any other FF adventure, not surprisingly as this was only the third one published, but Livingstone's retconning in Caverns of the Snow Witch clearly establishes a relationship between the two books.
Temple of Terror, the fourteenth FF gamebook, begins with you relaxing and recovering in Stonebridge after a recent quest. The wizard Yaztromo brings news of Malbordus and asks for aid to bring an end to the Storm Child's evil plans. When you volunteer to help, Yaztromo asks 'Haven't I seen you somewhere before?', and during the adventure you are given King Gillibran's war-hammer to help you in your quest (para. 171). No other link with other FF gamebooks is mentioned, but the obvious inference is that Temple of Terror starts where The Forest of Doom left off.
So there we have it, an early trilogy within the FF series by Ian Livingstone. Caverns comes first, then Forest, then Temple. The hero of Forest and Temple look like they could be the same individual, although there is no indication that the same goes for Caverns and Forest (though of course they might be). But what should we call this trilogy? I've named it the 'Stonebridge' trilogy in the title to this post, as Stonebridge is the only place that occurs in all of them, but have you got any other suggestions?
Oh, and it's possible that this isn't a trilogy at all, but a quadrilogy! Another of Ian Livingstone's books, Crypt of the Sorcerer, starts with you visiting your 'friend' Yaztromo, who hasn't seen you 'for over a year'. Other than that, though, there's no obvious link with the 'Stonebridge' trilogy, even though your adventure to defeat Razaak does take you to Stonebridge itself (well, if you can survive that far at any rate...). So is this the 'Stonebridge Quadrilogy'? Or am I going too far, and giving in to that temptation we've all had at one point or another to try and link ALL of the FF adventures with one super-human adventurer who stalks the world of Titan banishing evil wherever (s)he can find it?*
And just in case you are wondering, all of these adventures are probably set in 284 or 285 AC (After Chaos) in Titan's timeline. We know this because Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World states several times (e.g. in 'Dwarfs Today' and 'Reckoning the Years') that the current year is 284 AC, and at the time of writing Gillibran's war-hammer hasn't yet been stolen, and the Snow Witch, Malbordus, and Razaak are all incipient threats.
I'll have a look at some other sub-series within Fighting Fantasy in later posts.
*See here for a classic example from the early days of FF online fandom.
"Or am I going too far, and giving in to that temptation we've all had at one point or another to try and link ALL of the FF adventures..."
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! Though the longest one I can think of now would be the "Dungeoner Pentilogy", with City, Deathtrap, Island (Lizard), Trial and Armies.
By the way, liking the blog so far! Looks like I have another FF blog to keep track of now.;)
Ha ha! Guess what the topic of my next post is going to be. I'm interested to know why you call it the 'Dungeoneer' pentilogy.
DeleteThanks for your kind words, look forward to hearing more from you.
Hmm...not sure why I called it the Dungeoneer Pentilogy either...I guess it was because two of the books were set in the Baron's dungeon.
DeletePerhaps "The Fool with the Unicorn Tattoo on the Head Who Strangely Does Not Ever Get Laughed At Pentilogy" would be more accurate.
There's not much textual support for the idea that the same character is the hero of City, Dungeon, Lizard King and Trial.
DeleteThe Background to DD mentions that 'you enter the cursed Port Blacksand' en route to Fang, but that's obviously not the visit from CoT, as you leave the city in a boat rather than on foot. Plus, the hero of CoT has definitely met (and possibly killed) Sourbelly, but there's no hint of recognition when Ivy mentions being his sister.
Furthermore, Dungeoneer, the first AFF book, makes it clear that Sourbelly's killer is considered a wanted criminal in Blacksand (and easily recognisable thanks to that tattoo). Unless the hero of CoT took one of the paths that avoid that fight, the brief visit alluded to in DD would have been a lot more eventful than it's made out to be.
As for the connection between DD and IotLK, it seems to be based solely on the phrase 'Journeying south from Fang' in the Background. I have a friend who's been to Wimbledon, but that doesn't make her Tim Henman. And wouldn't the hero of DD make some kind of response (even if only inwardly) to Mungo's tale of how his father died in Deathtrap Dungeon?
While there is a certain Die Hard sequence-y appeal to having the hero of DD also be 'you' in ToC, the lack of any 'Oh no, not again!' response to the news that the survivor of Carnuss' trials gets to go through the revamped Dungeon is a strike against the theory. Similarly, Livingstone could have reused the 'Haven't I seen you somewhere before?' gag when 'you' meet Sukumvit after emerging from the Dungeon.
@deadshadowrunner: LOL! Or how about the 'Everywhere I go I pass through Blacksand at some point (apart from the last installment)' trilogy?
Delete@Ed: All good points Ed. Hell, you've written my blog post for me! I'll pick up your various points in the next blog post, but just on the Wimbledon point, if I'd just read a gamebook where I've won Wimbledon (have you blogged about such a book yet?!), and the next book started with me heading north from Wimbledon, I might be inclined to think there was an implied connection between the two stories. So maybe not quite as random as you suggest.
Delete@Ed:Didn't the back cover of ToC state that you were the legendary adventurer who conquered DD but luck has not gone your way since?
DeleteI'm afraid not. It says "At last - a return to Deathtrap Dungeon!", but that is a more general description of the book (or at least it need not mean anything more than that), rather than of your situation.
DeleteEh? Check your Wizard Series 2 copy; it does state that.:/
DeleteGood Lord, so it does! I had never noticed that before and was going on the description on the green-spine version. Thanks for drawing my attention to it - I shall note that in my next post.
DeleteIt's not on the Wizard series 1 version either. What a pointless retcon!
DeleteI agree. These things don't need spelt out like this. Half the fun is deciding for yourself who the adventurer is.
DeleteIt's indeed a pointless retcon for the Wizard 2 series. I think the hero of ToC (and the rest of Fang and Sukumvit, at least) would indeed remember having been through the first DD, being the first to do so... ever. Everybody connected to DD would remember him. I bet even Carnuss would, seeing as he's probably got a shrine dedicated to the guy somewhere in his bedroom or bathroom.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's definitely a substantial problem, but the retcon ignored it.
Delete