# Sleeping Gods, boo to Gary Gygax, and nostlagia for Fighting Fantasy gamebooks **URL:** \ **Category:** Boardgames\ **Created:** [14 May 2021 15:38 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751 "2021-05-14T15:38:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/lordof1/32/5_2.png) [@Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Lordof1)\ **Post date:** [17 May 2021 12:51 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/61 "2021-05-17T12:51:55Z")
Actually I bought book 7 independently (Amazon, I’m sorry to say) after it was quite clear most backers wouldn’t receive their copies; I certainly never have. Not sure if that was a POD demand from the PDF, as it’s not up to the production quality of the originals, but they were exceptionally good. ---
**Author:** ![RossM](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/rossm/32/1021_2.png) [@RossM](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/RossM)\ **Post date:** [17 May 2021 14:36 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/62 "2021-05-17T14:36:57Z")
Wait, what @Lordof1 ? ---
**Author:** ![Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/lordof1/32/5_2.png) [@Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Lordof1)\ **Post date:** [17 May 2021 23:54 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/63 "2021-05-17T23:54:21Z")
Errrr there’s a _Fabled Lands_ book 7… its called _The Serpent King’s Domain_ ---
**Author:** ![malkav11](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/malkav11/32/1322_2.png) [@malkav11](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/malkav11)\ **Post date:** [18 May 2021 00:40 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/64 "2021-05-18T00:40:59Z")
Speaking of Fabled Lands, I was curious if the Java app I played with had been updated to book 7 content (I’m not really super interested in doing it the manual way) and discovered [Fabled Lands on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1299620/Fabled_Lands/) Should be releasing into early access this week. Hell of a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Phil](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/phil/32/1508_2.png) [@Phil](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Phil)\ **Post date:** [4 October 2021 07:05 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/65 "2021-10-04T07:05:21Z")
Look what I turned up : ) ![twistaplot](https://discussion.tekeli.li/uploads/default/original/2X/1/11b9165b098d961a13334acc02a023bc84c186d0.jpeg) ![twistaplot2](https://discussion.tekeli.li/uploads/default/original/2X/1/13634c1becfc7643d09035b5c9b605aca58c0bf4.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![malkav11](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/malkav11/32/1322_2.png) [@malkav11](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/malkav11)\ **Post date:** [4 October 2021 14:34 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/66 "2021-10-04T14:34:26Z")
Huh. I did not know R.L. Stine had done a gamebook. ---
**Author:** ![TomNowell](https://discussion.tekeli.li/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@TomNowell](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/TomNowell)\ **Post date:** [4 October 2021 22:33 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/67 "2021-10-04T22:33:49Z")
_Everybody_ who wanted a paycheque was writing gamebooks back then. I keep discovering new books on ebay or people boasting about their finds on social media. The most annoying one was I went into a bookshop and looked around for history books. Two weeks later, a vague acquaintance went in and found all six car wars gamebooks in mint condition, and the owner gives him 50% off to get rid of them. Gaaah. ---
**Author:** ![Phil](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/phil/32/1508_2.png) [@Phil](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Phil)\ **Post date:** [5 October 2021 08:32 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/68 "2021-10-05T08:32:50Z")
I’d completely forgotten about that “Be An Interplanetary Spy” book. It’s the only one I had, and now I really wish that I’d had more of them (apparently there were twelve in total). For starters I’m pretty sure that “Interplanetary Spy” was about the coolest job description I could imagine at that age; but moreover this was quite different to the other gamebooks I had. Unfortunately I just ditched everything else when I discovered Fighting Fantasy. Wikipedia’s description reads: > [@](#): > > Unlike other series of interactive novels such as _Choose Your Own Adventure_ stories or _Fighting Fantasy_ gamebooks, each Interplanetary Spy book is made up largely of illustrations in a style that mixes comic book-like line drawings with blocky, straight edge illustrations matching the graphical quality of video games from the time of publication. Rather than requiring readers to select from various actions and directions, or succeed in dice driven ‘combat’ to progress through the story, these novels mostly involve puzzle solving. Image-based challenges such as mazes, pattern matching and visualization problems are common throughout the series, with all stories being presented in second-person point of view. By including blank spaces or boxes for writing, puzzles that required pages to be folded over and even a cutout model in one novel ( _The Star Crystal_ ) the reader was actively encouraged to make changes to the books themselves. Because of this, it is almost impossible to find a copy today in mint condition. Adult me thinks that it’s _really_ neat that people were using the game book format to get kids to exercise their brains solving logic puzzles. ![booleans](https://discussion.tekeli.li/uploads/default/original/2X/f/f68853f666b8524b1b71f4cf24e165f6cd92e372.jpeg) Speaking of logic, adult me is also laughing at the name of that planet : ) ---
**Author:** ![Phil](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/phil/32/1508_2.png) [@Phil](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Phil)\ **Post date:** [6 January 2022 06:16 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/69 "2022-01-06T06:16:00Z")
I’ve been meaning to take a new photo of these for a while. Not as impressive as some collections, but it still fills a table : ) ![gamebooks](https://discussion.tekeli.li/uploads/default/original/2X/e/eb18183f1724391c6aa46a898e832f9de88d2baf.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![SteveB\_uk](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/steveb_uk/32/26030_2.png) [@SteveB\_uk](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/SteveB_uk)\ **Post date:** [6 January 2022 08:20 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/70 "2022-01-06T08:20:25Z")
Omg, +100 points for having a) the original 1-7, and b) Way of the Tiger 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/lordof1/32/5_2.png) [@Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Lordof1)\ **Post date:** [6 January 2022 09:31 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/71 "2022-01-06T09:31:43Z")
Oh lovely! You have the combat heroes! I have one of the later ones but missed out on the first two. Also, not so great me only having one of them, although there is a solo mode as I recall. It’s rubs though. ---
**Author:** ![Phil](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/phil/32/1508_2.png) [@Phil](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Phil)\ **Post date:** [6 January 2022 10:44 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/72 "2022-01-06T10:44:37Z")
Those books were a really neat concept. I played them with a school friend; I had one pair, and he had the other. I’d actually forgotten all about the Scarlet Sorcerer and the Emerald Enchanter until I looked at your shelf photo, though! ---
**Author:** ![SteveB\_uk](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/steveb_uk/32/26030_2.png) [@SteveB\_uk](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/SteveB_uk)\ **Post date:** [6 January 2022 15:30 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/73 "2022-01-06T15:30:44Z")
While we’re here, RIP about a month ago Chris Achilleos who did the Temple of Terror cover, and also the Titan cover (which I got signed at a convention in 2019) ![ach](https://discussion.tekeli.li/uploads/default/original/2X/c/c182bf693bf7b29ec45e169b1031acf5c7244829.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Griffster77](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/griffster77/32/1048_2.png) [@Griffster77](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Griffster77)\ **Post date:** [6 January 2022 16:17 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/74 "2022-01-06T16:17:19Z")
Ah man, this brings back fond memories! ---
**Author:** ![bruitist](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/bruitist/32/31788_2.png) [@bruitist](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/bruitist)\ **Post date:** [6 January 2022 16:48 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/75 "2022-01-06T16:48:22Z")
I got a print of this many many years ago, knowing absolutely nothing about it other than I was about 10 and it had a dragon. ![image](https://discussion.tekeli.li/uploads/default/original/2X/f/f41b304732a7fc5c7567bcfe7d458952a4540bd5.jpeg) He also did covers for a _lot_ of the Target Doctor Who books, which I have a fair amount of. Some of which are recent reprints that are signed by Chris (I didn’t get to meet him, just ordered them from Forbidden Planet). ---
**Author:** ![SteveB\_uk](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/steveb_uk/32/26030_2.png) [@SteveB\_uk](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/SteveB_uk)\ **Post date:** [6 January 2022 19:04 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/76 "2022-01-06T19:04:36Z")
Yes, I think he was much better known for his Doctor Who stuff and attended a lot of conventions. I don’t know if this is real, but someone on twitter claimed this was his funeral: ![image](https://discussion.tekeli.li/uploads/default/original/2X/3/359e99ae999035f6b54ff29416f6f08fa5e69407.jpeg) > And they do seem to be the same as these photos: > **[Zum Anzeigen anmelden oder registrieren](https://www.facebook.com/dwasonline/posts/a-couple-of-images-from-the-funeral-earlier-today-of-the-late-great-chris-achill/5457634880916793/)** > > Sieh dir auf Facebook Beiträge, Fotos und vieles mehr an. ---
**Author:** ![TomNowell](https://discussion.tekeli.li/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@TomNowell](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/TomNowell)\ **Post date:** [7 January 2022 20:40 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/77 "2022-01-07T20:40:51Z")
While we’re on FF nostalgia, congratulations to Sir Ian Livingstone for his knighthood. All that work with education and developing training for the game industry paid off. ---
**Author:** ![Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/lordof1/32/5_2.png) [@Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Lordof1)\ **Post date:** [17 January 2022 13:06 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/78 "2022-01-17T13:06:40Z")
Had a little boost to my happy shelf thanks to some very kind donations from @RogerBW, very gratefully recieved. There’s a few that don’t fit on the shelf too… Also out of shot are _Titan, Out of the Pit_ (signed twice, 20 years apart) and _Alone Against the Dark_. ![image](https://discussion.tekeli.li/uploads/default/original/2X/f/f36d29196cdb3961d9ae5048715d69228e718d1f.jpeg) ![image](https://discussion.tekeli.li/uploads/default/original/2X/9/980c09e0406a2f52fbbb749548b8d9f13187de9c.jpeg) There’s a gap on the top shelf because my 7-year old has borrowed one of my _Deathtrap Dungeon_s and has become a little obsessed with it. ---
**Author:** ![SteveB\_uk](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/steveb_uk/32/26030_2.png) [@SteveB\_uk](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/SteveB_uk)\ **Post date:** [17 January 2022 13:16 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/79 "2022-01-17T13:16:28Z")
Daaaaamn that’s an amazing collection. Grailquest! Way of the Tiger! Sorcery! Original FF 1-7! I might need to go on a hunt for the Grailquest 7, which I never read. ---
**Author:** ![Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/user_avatar/discussion.tekeli.li/lordof1/32/5_2.png) [@Lordof1](https://discussion.tekeli.li/u/Lordof1)\ **Post date:** [17 January 2022 15:12 UTC](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751/80 "2022-01-17T15:12:29Z")
I found GrailQuest 8, which I didn’t know existed, in a charity shop on Jersey. That was a good day! [Previous page](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751.md?page=3) [Next page](https://discussion.tekeli.li/t/sleeping-gods-boo-to-gary-gygax-and-nostlagia-for-fighting-fantasy-gamebooks/2751.md?page=5)