Hey all. If these are the type of books I think they are, I have one called 'Demons of the Deep' - grand stuff. On the fantasy side of things - anybody know of R.A.Salvatore, my favourite author? Not many will know the name, I guess.. but he did write the book for the second Star Wars film, 'Attack of the Clones'. I'm appalled that I haven't read that yet, but I'm a pure fantasy type of reader rather than space-incorporated science fiction.

raises hand I'm a D&D geek, so I know who R.A. Salvatore is! Never actually read any of his Forgotten Realms books though, since I can't stand Drizzt "Oh the angst!" Do'Urden. (in fact I always kill him and steal his stuff in Baldur's Gate)

I prefer fantasy to sci-fi as well, my favourite authors being Sara Douglass, Raymond E. Feist and David Eddings.

http://www.rasalvatore.com

is worth checking out if you haven't done so already

As far as the mythology goes as to the name, I should imagine that some names were derived from this kind of myth, and will be widely used in more instances than Knightmare. For instance, doing some reading the other day, I came across the term 'Motley' in a poem by... geez, can't find it - will edit in if I do; and I'm sure everyone knows already - but motley is the term for the multi-coloured patchwork clothing of jesters, and so that's where our resident KM fool got his handle from.

I didn't know that at all; just a thick arts student, trying to take Joint honours. Good point to think of, though.

Agreed with Dave, Morghanna was brilliant; S3, Tm6 - favourite death! Yippee. Yeh, one thing I really loved about characters such as Morghanna was that with an actor or actress playing two such widely differing roles, it really does show the acting ability there, because in many instances you don't immediately associate with one character 'oh, he/she plays ..  as well'; because they're so different and solid in their own right. Loved the way that many actors; offhand John Woodnutt, Natasha Pope, Michael Cule, Sam Perkins, Juliet Henry-Massy, Mark Knight for cert ... a fair few, played one or more characters on opposing sides, really meaning that the portrayal had to be really different. Really clever how that was organised - brilliant. And somebody asked me the other day, 'Why do you like Knightmare so much?' - I couldn't answer - for I knew not where to start; and once started, I'd never know where to end... like this post...    KaM

I don;t know if they've been mentioned yet, but I also loved Steve Jackson's Sorcery! quartet, (The Shamutai Hills, Khare: Cityport of Traps, the Seven Serpents and The Crown of Kings) since they were all really long and you could play as a warrior or a wizard.

Other classic Knightmare books not yet mentioned include: Island of the Lizard King, Robot Commando, Stealer of Souls, Dead of Night, and Spell breaker.

I agree about Crature of Havoc, it's far too difficult for people to get to grips with.

The only FF gamebook I don't have is Curse of the Mummy (very last one) as well as the Sorcery series.

Morghana (however iot is spelt don't care really) was a big favourite of mine as she managed to Kill teams which is mroe than Lord Fear ever did!!!! she was a evil source definately my taste!!!!!! (that is not to soudn dodgy though!

I thought it was a very good book, although I agree that you can get stuck in the dead ends and I have to admit I never really worked out how to finish it before I read the solution..  It all makes sense again when you read the solution through and there are clues on the way but many parts of it are hard.

I think that the only one next to that in diffculty is Crimson Tide which has a clever puzzle on it if you don't miss the words you are given.

Great, another Fighting Fantasy fan - I used to get the books when I was younger too, I still do, originals off ebay A good source if you want to collect certain books

Favourite Books and ones I reccommend:

1. Deathtrap Dungeon (My 1st book and the best)

2. Keep of the Lich Lord (multiple success endings, multiple paths, interesting and involving plot)

3. Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Books that are interesting:

1. The Zagor series books (Mountain,  Return and Legend Zagor)

2. The Vampire series (Vault and Revenge)

3. Appointment with F.E.A.R (superheroes!)

Books that you should steer clear of:

1. Scorpion Swamp (not bad concept but too short)

2. Star strider (not bad but again weak)

3. Space assassin (another space series one)

Maybe we should start our own fan board or all join one in use

The ones you've listed there that I don't have are: Keep of the Lich-Lord, The Legend of Zagor and Scorpion Swamp.  The others you've listed I've got (I agree that Star Strider isn't up to much).

What do you think of House of Hell if you've got it?  It did my head in when I first got it 'cause I couldn't for the life of me figure out what path to take 'cause there were so many dead ends like getting stuck in that dungeon.  I had to cheat and read the solution.

I've got Creature of Havoc too and it also confused me until I read the solution.  The actual plot is good once you read through it though.

I frequently visited the Fighting Fantasy site for a while and still haven't read all of it, but it's a great site and I love the reviews.  I think it needs more though...

Maybe we should start our own fan board or all join one in use

I personally don't see the point of starting another discussion board when there is one available - everybody always with these things seem to use the most major one anyway.

Incidentally, at the time of the last update of www.fightingfatasy.com in July 2000, the Fighting Fantasy books were completely out of print and with no plans of reprinting or anything else happening (you can read a few letters including some to Puffin). However, the've now been republished out of the blue! This seems to parallel what is happening with Knightmare - about a year ago, when I first found this site, nothing was happening. Then, it's all happening out of the blue. There was an wntry in the Guestbook around the time near the end of when series 3 was first shown on Challenge who said that they had missed it because they decided that nothing was happening and didn't look at the site for a while. Also, the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and Knightmare stopped for similar reasons - the intended age turning to computer games.

But I agree with you completely Elita I though that Creature of Havoc was uniquely written but almost impossible to solve  unless you are a brainbox the only way I saw how to do it was to read the solution, and thats complex enough

Books that you should steer clear of:

1. Scorpion Swamp (not bad concept but too short)

2. Star strider (not bad but again weak)

3. Space assassin (another space series one)

And Creature of Havoc! AND CREATURE OF HAVOC!!! I couldnt for the life of me work out how to translate what people were saying in that book, and ended up writing a sarcastic commentary in the margins. (I'm good at that) Grrr. Deathtrap Dungon's certainly my favourite, there was actually a computer game of it released a few years ago.

Most of my books came from charity shops, though I do have the 10th anniversary diary. Titan and Out Of The Pit are certainly worth getting if you can find them, Titan is a guide to the FF world and Out of the Pit is a bestiary.

Favourite Books and ones I reccommend:

1. Deathtrap Dungeon (My 1st book and the best)

2. Keep of the Lich Lord (multiple success endings, multiple paths, interesting and involving plot)

3. Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Books that are interesting:

1. The Zagor series books (Mountain,  Return and Legend Zagor)

2. The Vampire series (Vault and Revenge)

3. Appointment with F.E.A.R (superheroes!)

Books that you should steer clear of:

1. Scorpion Swamp (not bad concept but too short)

2. Star strider (not bad but again weak)

3. Space assassin (another space series one)

Maybe we should start our own fan board or all join one in use

Lol, Deathdrap Dungeon was my first FF book (not to be confused with Final Fantasy) book too!  I bought quite a few brand new from the shops at the time, but most of them came from charity shops.  I'm still trying to get the books I don't have (I have most of them I think, but there's still quite a lot to get).  I keep them in the wardrobe in my bedroom.  Did you know that the books are being republished again?  Just after Christmas I bought two brand spanking "new" FF books in Ottaker's in Glasgow - Crypt of the Sorcerer and The Seven Serpents. They are being republished every few months!  ;D

Fantastic! I'll look out for them!

When the going gets tough, SOMEBODY HOLD MY RODENT! ~ minsc

Magic is impressive. But now Minsc leads! SWORDS FOR EVERYONE!!! ~ Minsc.

Hee, glad to find a fellow Baldur's Gate fan! Minsc would have made a great Knightmare character. Like Gundrada, only... weirder.

My first Fighting Fantasy book was Deathtrap Dungeon. It's still one of my favourites, along with Tower of Death and Trial of Champions.

I'd guess that Steve Jackson/Ian Livingston (and Tim Child for that matter) took the name from Arthurian legend. Morgan Le Fay was King Arthur's half-sister and arch enemy, her name is often written as "Morganna".

I loved the Fighting Fantasy series (except for Creature of Havoc) I think I've still got a box of the books in the loft at my parent's house...

Ahh my apologies for repeating what you already said, it appears we posted at around the same time.  At least I did plug the film Excalibur though .

I forgot to mention that I also was into Fighting fantasy in a big way as a kid.  Ive still got a big pile in the spare cupboard in the back bedroom.  My first book was Citadel of chaos, the Ganjies used to realy scare me .

The gold-faced boy is Mordred, which is also interesting because if you swap the first 'r' for 'g' you get Mogdred. Coincidence? I think not!  

Ok heres where I get it wrong and people correct me .  The most famous Morganna I know is from the legend of king Arthur.  She is the evil daughter of Merlin and the mother of the gold faced boy.  The gold faced boy is the leader of the opposition in the final battle against king Arthur.  Morganna also had an insestuious relationships.

If you havent seen it I recomend watching the film Excalibur (1981) because.... well I loved it.

I loved the Fighting Fantasy series (except for Creature of Havoc) I think I've still got a box of the books in the loft at my parent's house...