It's all Charles' fault... or maybe I should be a little more precise and say it's all his fault after Steve Jackson's and Ian Livingstone's.
Well it's all Charles' fault for mentioning to me that the sorcery fighting fantasy books had been published again (at last !). Like my friend Iannick and many others, the fighting fantasy books have been the opening gates to the worlds of fantasy and stories.
Amongst those wonderful books, the sorcery undoubtedly have the stronger appeal. Because they were the first of course, but also because their setting and atmosphere is unrivaled in my view. They are like Jes Goodwin models, a sort of Pavlovian reflex, the bricks of my happy place.
Of course, I could use my old collection of FF books but let's face it, time and use have not been tender with them...
I'm pretty impressed I managed to keep that copy of the 4th tome in such a pristine state when I bought it in 1990... Even the spine is in pretty good shape and only the cover's been bent. Maybe the fact my father was a publisher somehow gave me some form of extreme respect for books. ^^
Anyway, the real business is not outside (especially in the new versions which sadly have new illustration instead of the wonderful coloured Blanche ones). No, the real deal is INSIDE :
Blanche drawings are just sublime, I know some people despise them but they're just the right balance of evocative and precise, of wonderful and intriguing, saying just enough but promising so much more, it's always in those little creatures or the dragon shaped lakes you start asking yourself "what if" or "maybe" and then you mind start surfing worlds of wonders.
Every illustration depicts the evidence and far more, the main info is always in the background.
Just how many details can you spot ?
Riddles are drawn rather than described :
Easter eggs :
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| Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone in portraits above the shelves... |
I'm going to try to finish those as seriously as I can. The only sorcery books I've managed to finish without cheating are the first (pretty easy) and the third (after many attempts and without killing all the snakes). I'll take thorough notes this time, I'll draw maps and all, I'll note passwords and will try to remember to use them (as some are simply the only way to progress) and we'll see.
You guys want blogposts with painted stuff ? Yeah OK... Next one will have some then, I'm starting to be really easy with you. ;)
Haha happy to be guilty, for sure ^^
ReplyDeleteI would love to read more about your FF aventures here in the weeks to come, but that would probably mean some spoilers for newcomers so.. nah
Those big sized books are really a joy to read. Have fun buddy! We'll keep each other informed when a new one get re-published ;)
I'm gonna do this super seriously, NO CHEATING (or very little)...
DeleteAhh yes, Fighting Fantasy. Brings back memories!
ReplyDeleteMassive dose of them !
DeleteThose look like lovely editions, nice bright and crisp. I'm not sure why they 'updated' the John Blanche covers, they are true classics. Did you read the other JBs comment in Jonthan Greens "You are the Hero" about Sorcery being the genesis of the grim-dark? An interesting thought. Good luck on your quest, and don't worry, I don't think anybody ever gets all the serpents!
ReplyDeleteThe edition is very neat indeed and they've kept the marvellous translations (something so rare now, it's been a while since I last bought a translated book actually). I think John Blanche's style is evocative butshows his age (reason why I love it, it's not mainstream soup) so maybe they've decided it was too dated, it's a sad thing really.
DeleteI hadn't read the interview but for me, the elements of teh sorcery books are totally what would define the aesthetic and vibe of the later warhammer world, Kharé looks like the typical old world empire city as you could imagine in WHHFRP.
I think I may have gone up to killig 5 or 6 of the serpents but I was 13 back then. We'll see if time has got me better at this !
Thanks.
God I loved these books. Such fond memories!!
ReplyDeleteyes, and having read the first one a ocuple of years ago, they've proven as fun as back then but only shorter than what I thought (must have finished the first in 2 hours or so).
DeleteMes préférés, même si mon premier fût "La Sorcière des Neiges" (que j'adore). J'ai réussi, une fois, à finir le 4 sans tricher (faut dire que je me le suis tappé genre un été complet). Même chose pour le 1 et le 3. La Cité des Pièges, jamais.
ReplyDeleteJe suis incapable de les lire dans une autre édition que la première! La nostalgie est trop forte!
Je comprends ton sentiment mais les miens sont dans un piteux état à part le dernier ^^ et puis les plus grandes pages permettent de mieux profiter des illustrations !, J'ai adoré les quêtes du graal aussi, de grands moments.
DeleteLe temps de la Malédiction est un de mes classiques. Des recueils d'illustrations, en grand format, pour les grandes séries seraient une excellente idée!
DeleteOui et SURTOUT une gamme de figurine ! Le sorcier de la montagne de feu a déjà eu droit a une poignée donc place aux autres !
DeleteWoooo, that's a guilty pleasure (those are the kind that in fact can be everything but guilty, haha) Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI'm guilty, SUE ME ! ^^
DeleteThey were excellent - when I was small I was very ill for about a year and I played them solidly during that time. It was excellent. I still get chills thinking about the zed spell.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't get my head from them either, I spent a whole week learning all spells by heart as I didn't want to cheat ! Funny tghing is I still remember much of them now about 25 years later ! How I waited to cast the Zed spell... only to find out that...
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