Marston is the blogger down at Fighting For Your Fantasy which chronicles his attempts at various Fighting Fantasy books. Here is a picture of the man behind the blog:
Well, my name's MJ. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and gamebooks made a huge impact on how I'd read during my early years. I'm pretty new to the whole gamebook scene. I've been making posts regularly though, at a rate of about one a weekend, and I've been at this since May last year.
I've basically started it as a means to have a bit of nostalgia and to complete a full collection of Fighting Fantasy books, which I always wanted to have when I was a kid. Over the months, the idea of collecting these books and reporting on my search for them pretty much fell to the wayside, as posts consisting of "I have found two more books today" tends to be a bit boring. So I've gradually focused more and more on playthroughs.
I have a few rules that I've set myself for the playthroughs, namely that I complete each book without reading through them to refresh my memory, which has ensured that the huge majority of these playthroughs have all ended in humiliating and embarassing deaths. The worst of which was my playthrough of 'Khare- Cityport of Traps', in which I was beaten up by every living being inside the city and then drowned in poo. It was quite an adventure.
The Fighting Fantasy series is a big series, but we're gradually getting closer and closer to the end of it, and I have a few ideas as to what I can do following it. I'm considering playthroughs of other gamebooks like Lone Wolf, and I'm also strongly thinking of doing full 'until I win' walkthroughs of the FF books, perhaps with maps and so on, but that's a lot of work.
The real joy with this blog is that it's given me the chance to meet and interact with people who share this interest, some of who are amazingly enthusiastic about this hobby. That in itself has been a real joy, and has reminded me that I'm not the only person who shares this kind of hobby. Being able to read through the comments on my posts, and see how many people are reading and enjoying them, is just a sheer joy.
I'm glad that the gamebook genre is still going strong after all this time, and I'm pleased to see how it is embracing emerging technology, like iphone apps and so on. Just as gamebooks were developed in an enterprising manner, it pleases me to see similar enterprising spirits in embracing new technology, and I genuinely have started to feel that this is one of the strongest way for the gamebook format to continue in the future. It's a unique and involving hobby and I'm glad to see that it has such a vibrant community.
Have a look at Marston's post at Fighting For Your Fantasy.
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This is a cool idea, to chronicle the journey through such books :)
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