The title and cover for the 72nd Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Assassins of Allansia, has been revealed today on the Official Fighting Fantasy website. Written by series co-creator Ian Livingstone and published by Scholastic, this brand-new Allansian adventure features the distinctive cover art of Robert Ball – who has also produced the book’s interior illustrations.
Struggling to survive on an uninhabited island which is home to Decayers, Flesh-Heads and Worm Dogs, things go from bad to worse when YOU are attacked in the middle of the night. But who attacked you? And why? The mystery deepens when you discover a small boat on the beach with an old friend shackled to the mast. There is a bounty on your head and you must find your hunters before they find you. Can YOU defeat the assassins on their deadly mission?
Additionally, the covers for the next two reprint editions, Caverns of the Snow Witch and Sorcery! 2: Kharé – Cityport of Traps, have also been revealed:


Assassins of Allansia will be available to purchase at the Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 Convention to be held on the 31st of August at the University of West London, Ealing. All three books will then be on general sale from September 5th.
UPDATE: A limited edition hardback of Assassins of Allansia has also been announced, featuring specially commissioned cover art by Karl Kopinski (see below). Unfortunately, only 300 copies of this £40 hardback edition will be released, which will be on sale for the first time at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3. Any remaining stock after FFF3 will only be sold at other shows, at a later date, and not be offered for purchase via traditional retail outlets or online.

The Sorcery! cover stinks (pun intended), but I quite like the other two.
I have to agree, Jules – the Kharé cover isn’t particularly attractive. I’m also presuming that Assassins of Allansia will feature a gold ‘foil’ cover, similar to silver on The Gates of Death.
I do agree, but I was never a big fan of the illustrations of the original Khare book… I wonder if they will also re-do the inside? I mean, it was a very good (and tough) book, I still have it somewhere…
I’m expecting new interior art for all Scholastic reprints.
John Blanche’s illustrations for the original Sorcery! books are very distinctive, which at least gave that series a look that was different to the standard FF books. I was much more of a McCaig or Nicholson fan in the 80s, but certainly appreciate Blanche’s style.
Artwork is still pretty poor when compared to the vast majority of the original series but looks to be a vast improvement over the dross that was served up to us in The Gates of Death.
Wonder if Livingstone will just ‘dial in’ another adventure or if this will be any good.
I found The Port of Peril to be quite underwhelming – both the adventure and the artwork. Hopefully Livingstone has had a rethink and adjusted his approach this time.
Agreed and lets hope so!
Robert Ball is now doing the internal artwork as well as the covers. There’s a couple of examples on the official Fighting Fantasy website. I think they look good, although a bit worried about how they’ll look on the low quality paper Scholastic use for the books as they’re more black and white paintings than line drawings.
We’ll feature those two illos in our upcoming June Round-up.
Regarding reproduction: Scholastic simply need to adjust the digital file to match the quality of their stock. If set correctly to minimise print issues, Robert’s images should be fine.
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