There are things in life that influence you: books you read, movies you watch, and people you become friends with. Some of these are just short impressions, while some of them have a long lasting effect and might even become an important part of your life.
Fighting Fantasy was published in Hungary in 1989, starting with “Deathtrap Dungeon”, “The Warlock of Firetop Mountain” and “Freeway Fighter”.
Little did I know then that these books would inflame a new passion of mine. I was still in primary school and my classmates were talking about these new books that you can play. A book you can play? It just didn’t make any sense, but when I opened one of them, everything was clear. After reading the first few pages, there was no turning back: I became a fan of Fighting Fantasy.
These books inspired me to read fantasy literature and they also lead me to RPGs later. It’s also fair to say that they helped me to survive my teenage years: they provided a place to escape to, when things got difficult.
When I read about Steve Jackson, Ian Livingstone and the Games Workshop on the last page of “Titan” in 1991, I just knew that I had to meet them one day.
Thirty years have passed since I read “Deathtrap Dungeon”. It’s been a long time and a lot have happened: high school, college, work, more work, marriage, moving to London. I started new things and abandoned, or put on hold many old projects, but I have never considered getting rid of these books. I just had too many good memories linked to them.
When I heard about the Fantasy Fight Fest 2, I immediately knew that I had to be there the next time.
Long story short, on the 31st of August 2019, I have finally had the chance to see the people who wrote and designed my childhood’s favourite books and to spend a day with like-minded enthusiasts. I was very excited.
The day was tightly scheduled with presentations, signings, performances and a couple of traders. It was fascinating to learn about how the books made it to publishing, how the adventures were designed and how the public reacted back then. It was also nice to hear about a new book (“Assassins of Allansia”) and its artwork.
I enjoyed the official programme a lot, but the most pleasant encounter was completely unexpected: while I was looking at the stand of Chameleon Comix and their comic book, “City of Thieves”, which is a prequel to Ian Livingstone’s “City of Thieves” Fighting Fantasy book, I spotted something interesting…
These guys had a copy of the Hungarian version of the “Freeway Fighter” graphic novel (!). (I happened to have the Hungarian issue of the FF book from 1989.) After chatting in English for a few minutes, it dawned at us that we’re both Hungarians.
We talked about books, comix and post-apocalyptic adventures, when I mentioned one of my old favourites, “Café Postnuclear” (for those who did not have the privilege to read this graphic novel, just imagine Mad Max, but in the Eastern Block, in the late 80’s or early 90’s), and it turned out that I was talking to the author of the book, Gyula Szűcs! What are the odds? I ran home, got my copy and had it signed:
The traders also had enticing products:
I bought some early release minis from Atlantis Miniatures’ Fighting Fantasy Legends range.
I got hold of the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG rulebook from Arion Games. This one is just the core book, but they have a loads of expansions (even for sci-fi settings!). Once I’m more familiar with the rules and have run a few games, I’ll write a review about it.
What a day it was! I have met the authors and the illustrators of my childhood’s favourite books, I had my copies signed, I learned a lot about how these books were designed, and I also made new friends… It was a dream come true!
By the way, did you know that Ian Livingstone can play the blues harp?