Can anybody reccomend any good quality series of books similar to the ‘Fighting Fantasy’ series by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. I’ve played the Lone Wolf ones, and they’ are OK, but I’m wondering if there is any other good series on the same lines.
Have you tried the Sorcery! series by Steve Jackson? Well out of print (like all of those types of gamebooks I can think of) but I thought they were pretty fun.
If you’re an American, then you probably know that the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks stopped at #21, Trial of Champions, in the US. However, the series continued in the UK for dozens of succeeding books. Try getting your hands on those to continue the adventure. There’s a good list at fightingfantasy.com.
There’s the Grey Star series of four books set on a southern continent in the Lone Wolf universe. So-so, but good enough, I suppose.
Freeway Warrior is another series of four in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, much like #13, Freeway Fighter. They’re another Joe Dever production, so the writing is similar to Lone Wolf.
Strictly IMHO…
Grail Quest - Set in an alternate Authourian period. You are Pip the Hero, with a talking Excalibar Junior (EJ for short). This series is funny and unconventional, with lot of bizzare incidents
Saga of the Demonspawn - By the same author of Grail Quest, this series (four books in all) details the adventures of Fire*Wolf, a Barbarian with sorcerous bloodlines. The last two books are extremely well-written, with quality descriptions compared to your average Fighting Fantasy. The books include fienish puzzles such as codes to break and riddles, and combat is tough. The combat system is more complex than most gamebooks.
Includes a blood-sucking sword (which transfer half damage to your health) and a spell-casting system.
Lone Wolf - One of the most famous, most enduring line of gamebooks ever, by the same author of Freeway Warrior. It is recently made public domain by the author, and there’s a site to download it. Google for it - shall be easy to find.
Middle Earth Quests - Published by ICE before they lost their Tolkien license. The system is quite complex and detailed and combat is easily resolved. However, only one book stands out - The Treason of Isengard. The rest of the books features lackluster descriptions, ‘broken links’ and so on.
Some of those gamebooks are avaliable at Home of the Underdogs. There you can even find more obsucre gamebooks.
How could I have forgotten GrailQuest! I was disappointed that there were only six books, though.
Which reminds me of The Way Of The Tiger, in which you play a ninja through six books set in the world of Orb, seen in some fighting fantasy books. Pretend the ending didn’t happen the way it did…
Sagard the Barbarian is a four-book series using a four-sided die (or flipping to random pages in the gamebook) set in a Conan-esque world.