At GBN we love reviewing books by veteran authors. In the past few years, we have offered our perspective on works by illustrious names such as Joe Dever, Ian Livingstone and Jonathan Green and have not been disappointed. So when the chance came to review The Houses of the Dead by Jamie Thomson (the first […]
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When news broke that the latest installment in the legendary Fighting Fantasy series was going to be written by Rhianna Pratchett, there was quite a buzz. The prospective author was known to have a slew of writing credits including Tomb Raider, Heavenly Sword, Overlord and Mirror’s Edge, and her name alone carries the air of
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It is not often that a Fighting Fantasy gamebook combines the promise of being both the sequel to a recent addition to the series and the prequel to a classic and much loved adventure, but Assassins of Allansia does exactly that. With its familiarly crisp, clean and evocative style bridging the gap between Port of
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You are James Armistead, a compassionate and daring young man of colour enslaved on a Virginian tobacco plantation when a timely fire provides an opportunity to obtain your freedom; how you achieve this dream is for you to decide. James Armistead Lafayette is one of the two initial releases in Chooseco’s SPIES sub-series of their
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In the land of the Danes, there’s a monster abroad. One too powerful for ordinary warriors to withstand; a fen-beast who can smash oak timbers aside like driftwood, and rend men limb from limb. A devourer of flesh and bones, a drinker of blood and a hater of mirth. He’s a real piece of work,
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In Fire on the Water, the second book of Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf saga, everything that made Flight from the Dark an unforgettable and enthralling adventure is offered again on an even greater scale. Instead of facing a journey of a few days over a hundred miles of war-torn Sommerlund, you embark on a quest
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Unusually for a fantasy gamebook, The Curse of Saltash Mine is a sweet and soothing adventure that sees you – a naive young seaside villager – journeying across the lands of Brighthelm on a mission given to you not by a monarch, wizard or community in need, but by your very own grandfather. Neither is
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From pitched battles and headlong charges against evil servants of the Darklords, to frantic scrambles over hillsides, forests, tunnels and caves in your quest to reach the transient safety of the city of Holmgard, Flight from the Dark is a frantic and atmospheric introduction to Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf gamebook series. The story is driven by a
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Interactive fiction is one of the few forms of entertainment media that provide the opportunity to explore imaginary worlds of original design, where the storyline is directly shaped by individual decisions and personal preferences, resulting from an eagerness to take risks and investigate possible threats. This narrative ‘in the mind’ nature of gamebooks subsequently gives
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The Oregon Trail was the major overland route from the Missouri River to the Pacific coast of the United States (particularly from 1846–69), taking those travelling to Oregon or the California goldfields, or other destinations such as Salt Lake City in Utah, across plains, prairies, rivers, mountains and deserts to reach their desired destination in
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There mere mention of Spellbreaker can bring some Fighting Fantasy adventurers to their knees, so having recently discovered that 2018 marks the 25th anniversary of Jonathan Green’s notoriously difficult gamebook, I decided that now would be the ideal time to undertake a journey within this infamous adventure, experiencing all of the joy and (no doubt)
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Stuart Lloyd’s Asuria Awakens, the 12th and final title in Tin Man Games’ long-running Gamebook Adventures series of apps, is a captivating mystery-adventure full of ever-changing objectives and diverse locations, featuring many exciting moments of suspense, action, surprise and genuinely disturbing horror. Taken to the palace of Grand Duke Fernando Orlande V, and tasked with
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Martin Noutch’s impressive Steam Highwayman series is highly reminiscent of the open-world Fabled Lands gamebooks, incorporating similar player mechanics regarding structure, progress and navigation, and employing the same multi-book interconnection with other forthcoming titles. Similarly, you’ll also find the familiar codewords and tickboxes used to track progress, and it even replicates the two-column text format
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Before Joe Dever’s untimely passing in late 2016 he completed revised editions of his post-apocalyptic series Freeway Warrior for Swedish publisher Åskfågeln, updating the original timeline to the year 2033 (rather than 2020 as in the 1988 edition) and changing some aspects of Cal Phoenix’s story to better match the expectations of a modern audience.
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