And here it is...
Blood of the Zombies
It took Ian more than two years
to write the new book, whereas in the old days it used to take him a little
over two months, and he described writing the new one as ‘challenging’. It was
clearly a labour of love, since he has such a busy life now that the writing
had to be done late at midnight or 6am when he could squeeze in the time.
He chose the theme due to the
consistent popularity of zombies in culture, and that no other Fighting Fantasy
book had covered them in any depth. He chose a medieval castle as the setting
to straddle the fantasy element with real life that would allow a variety of
modern weapons to be used against the zombies. It was Ian’s first book of the
series not set in the fantasy world of Titan, so this represented a level of
risk for him.
Ian insisted that the publisher
have a green spine to the book for nostalgia. He was unsure who he should aim
his writing at: the child of today or the one who had long since grown up but
still loved the books. He found a compromise - he slimmed down the combat rules
(dropping skill and luck) to try to appeal to today’s ten year olds, whilst
maintain the book as ‘stupidly difficult’ to appeal to the forty year old
reader.
Like a computer game, the
gamebook had collectibles and easter eggs. Ian sees the fact that you have to
kill all of the zombies to truly win as being like a computer game where all
collectibles must be found, which may appeal to children who play games in that
way. Easter eggs in the book included references to Zagor’s birthday, a nod to
pencil and dice, and much more.
Ian also was able to use social
media for the first time when creating this book, and this had the advantage
for him of finding out more directly what people wanted. More than a thousand
people voted online to choose the name of the book, and more than half a dozen
people on twitter who won a competition got to have their name appear in the
book. Writer and actor Charlie Hickson also got his name in the book by special
request, as did Member of Parliament Tom Watson – clearly Fighting Fantasy
still matters to those who have grown up with it whatever their vocation. Ian
describes it as ‘amazingly gratifying’ that Fighting Fantasy still resonates
with people.
The audience were shown several
slides of concept art for illustrations in the final book. One of the slides
shown was of the original cover art for Blood of the Zombies, and compared with
the final cover in which the colours had been brightened through Photoshop to
maximise the effect. Such technology use in art was not available before, and
was a way in which Ian could use it to enhance the final effect. In terms of
artwork Ian described himself as a nightmare to work with, very attentive to
detail. Typically an interior illustrator will not get to play through the
gamebook, but instead will get the background introduction of the book, the
paragraph the illustration relates to and in Ian’s case copious notes of how it
is to look.
Tin Man games is producing an
app of the book which is due for release in late September. It will not just be
a straight copy of the book either – and will contain its own unique twists. We
were privileged to see a slide of artwork that appears only in black and white
in the book, but is beautifully rendered in colour for the app (a zombie
holding a grenade). Ian recommended that everyone by the book to place
pristinely on their bookshelf for the collection, and then buy the app to play
the game on the way to work. Who are we to disagree?
At the time of writing, Blood of
the Zombies has sold out of print copies within 3 days and reached as high as
80 in the amazon sales chart – and the digital version is not even out until
the end of September. The notoriously tough Eurogamer reviewed the book and
gave it 9 out of 10. Clearly Steve Jackson’s Sorcery isn’t the only thing that
still contains the old Fighting Fantasy magic.
Ian’s book signings have been
very successful and led to him hearing so many stories as to how the series
inspired others, which Ian describes as ‘humbling’.
Questions
Would Ian write any sequels?
This was a topic touched on
several times by the audience. He would consider a sequel to Blood of the
Zombies if it really took off.
Would there be another sequel
(after Trial of the Champions and Armies of Death) for Deathtrap Dungeon?
‘Possibly’ Ian said.
What about a sequel to City of
Thieves? Ian admitted that it would be something he ‘might consider’.
How about a sequel to The Legend
of Zagor using the same impressive four-player combat system? Ian ruled this
out as complicated, and said the questioner was welcome to write that one
themself!
He did state that he is hoping
to do a 40th Fighting Fantasy anniversary book with Steve Jackson,
and that given it was a joint venture it would likely involve Firetop Mountain.
Did Ian sense that the 40
year olds of today were getting their kids into Fighting Fantasy, thereby
bringing it to a new generation?
This was my question and
something close to my heart given my desire to get my son into reading gamebooks
when he is old enough.
Ian was certain today’s ten year
olds had no free time to learn any complicated rules for a gamebook (although
he did say many of today’s forty year olds did cheat anyway when younger when
it came to the rules). Today’s ten year olds would likely respond better to a
story with a simple branching narrative and no rules, whereas today’s forty year
old Fighting Fantasy fans wanted and enjoyed more complex rules.
Ian commented that he wasn’t
sure the rules so painstakingly created by him and Steve were needed, since
most people seemed to cheat through the books. He also highlighted how
important it was to have items to collect, so that the powerful imagination of
a child felt as if they were the character in the book, and not just reading
about a character in a book.
Was Ian worried about the
content of the books for children?
From his considerable experience,
Ian said he was aware of where to go and where not to go in children’s fiction.
He said children know the difference between fantasy and reality, and as long
as the themes are about fantasy elements and not real world problems they will
get the distinction.
He was asked as a follow up as
to whether his work had ever been ‘watered down’ for foreign markets. The
series is in thirty different languages, so Ian confessed he did not know, but
recalled one example of where a horrible death scene had been heavily sanitised
for a foreign market.
Would Ian consider writing a
digital gamebook without the limitations of a paperback book?
Ian admitted he was set in his
ways, using pen and paper to create a flowchart for all his gamebooks. He does
not foresee this changing.
Which gamebook is Ian most
proud of?
Overall, it was Warlock of
Firetop Mountain as it launched the series. For ones he wrote himself,
Deathtrap Dungeon, City of Thieves and Blood of the Zombies.
What would Ian have done
differently about the books he wrote?
Ian was happy with the books he
had written as they were all the best he could do at the time, although he did
concede some were naturally better than others.
He also mentioned that the world
of Titan was something of an afterthought following the unexpected level of
success of Warlock, but this was resolved in future books to give a coherent
game world.
Did Ian have a sense of
competition with Steve when writing gamebooks individually?
Yes he does, but emphasised it
was a friendly and healthy competition (comparing it to Britain’s Brownlee
brothers who competed in the men’s triathlon at the Olympics). Both he and
Steve did ‘keep an eye on’ their own and each other’s level of sales. Also,
this friendly rivalry was good for the series, as they each spent more time
perfecting books on the series than they otherwise would have.
Steve liked to write more quirky
aspects in his books and have different settings whereas Ian liked to stick to
‘orcs and swords’.
Is it harder to write games
or gamebooks?
Games were the more challenging,
as they involved a team of two hundred people and had to blend ideas with
technology. It was easier to make a difference when you are just a team of one.
Does Ian have a rule of thumb
when designing the difficulty level of a book?
It was hard to find the right
balance of difficulty versus fun. Ian’s advice was to simply write the book
first, then identify the optimum route through it (the true path that even
those with low stats should be able to succeed at), and then make that optimum
route fair.
Is it easier to write a novel
or a gamebook?
Both are difficult, but he finds
a gamebook slightly easier as you can satisfy the reader more easily with rules
and monster encounters.
What other books is Ian
working on now? Does he have any unfinished gamebooks?
Ian has a gamebook written a
while ago that is only ten percent complete, but had no further details on it.
The big news from Ian was that
he had written a fantasy novel, which an editor was impressed with and just
needed a rewrite of the early chapters to set the scene. This was last reviewed
in 2008 and he had to set it aside to start work on Blood of the Zombies.
He had never spoke of the book publicly before now, and
believes it will be published someday.
Ian made it clear that he wrote Blood of the Zombies to
delve into the childhood legacy of the fans, hoping to find something that
resonates with them. From the feedback in the room, he has clearly succeeded.
Ian has co-created a legend with Steve Jackson. He thought
he was creating a zombie book, but he has actually brought the Fighting Fantasy
franchise back to life in zombie form. He admits he really enjoyed writing it
(despite the crashing of his laptop that lost him 20% of the book). ‘If people
still want to buy Fighting Fantasy, even not to the same sales figures as
before, I am happy to write more,’ he says. Before the release of the book, Ian
thought the series ‘had had its day’, but he still wanted to write something
for the fans - the level of sales has been a pleasant surprise to him. Fighting
Fantasy is not as alive as before, but it is moving and very hard to stop.