Fighting Fantasy gamebooks relaunched again, along with a Nintendo DS game

[Duque de Bragança]

Gallimard, one of the major publishing houses in France, keeps publishing them in new and improved editions, with the help of smaller RPG/hobby outfits (think of Scholastic the French version i.e Scriptarium), though not always art or cover wise (some are really awful in a generic MMORPG way), in collector editions. As a matter of fact, there is a really new one scheduled for May, first time in 30 years: Mysteries of Salamonis.

I see even speculation now on the web for old editions, most of the time not really rare (printed in tens of thousands back in the day).
Not just Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf (first new collector edition for 100 €?!) too or Sorcery! (5th edition is now sold out and some speculators are trying to scalp buyers).

[Caliga]

Yeah, supposedly the Scholastic ones that are reprints have ditched the original artwork and most people seem to hate the new art.  One of my favorite books, House of Hell, supposedly has horrible art in its latest Scholastic iteration.

[Duque de Bragança]

Don't get me started, or I'll launch a contest or rather a poll about the worst new cover of classic gamebooks. 

[Caliga]

The Cthulhu gamebook is pretty good.  I haven't finished it yet (it's very difficult) but it's both a good gamebook, and a good Cthulhu story especially because it involves my favorite antagonists from HPL's works.

[Duque de Bragança]

Yeah, supposedly the Scholastic ones that are reprints have ditched the original artwork and most people seem to hate the new art.  One of my favorite books, House of Hell, supposedly has horrible art in its latest Scholastic iteration.

That's Le Manoir de l'Enfer in French. Cover is horrible, though art inside was restored as in the early editions, unlike later editions, plus possible translation and text fixes. Five Editions all in all.


I have read good reviews about the Call of Cthulhu gamebooks as well.

Bought an unpublished one in French, Secrets of Salamonis with a Collector's Edition release (bigger format, better paper quality and hardcover).
Gamebooks fans were enthralled by a promo stunt offering a pouch with two dice, with people desperately trying to find a bookshop offering one. 

[celedhring]

Fun fact - my first contact with the Middle Earth universe was through this gamebook: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92035.A_Spy_in_Isengard - it was also my gateway to MERP.

[Caliga]

There was another gamebook series called TolkienQuest in the 80s, and those were among the best gamebooks ever IMO.  They were really neat in that they had a hex map you could freely move around on, so they were sort of 'open world' like modern open world video games.

[celedhring]

There was another gamebook series called TolkienQuest in the 80s, and those were among the best gamebooks ever IMO.  They were really neat in that they had a hex map you could freely move around on, so they were sort of 'open world' like modern open world video games.

Yeah, the Isengard one I linked is one of those. You moved around Orthanc avoiding orc patrols, etc... it was really neat. As said, together with stuff like Hero Quest and Space Hulk it was my gateway to roleplaying.

Pity it's the only one I have from that series.

[Caliga]

Yeah, the Isengard one I linked is one of those. You moved around Orthanc avoiding orc patrols, etc... it was really neat. As said, together with stuff like Hero Quest and Space Hulk it was my gateway to roleplaying.

Pity it's the only one I have from that series.

Oh, I assumed you put a link to one of the MERP gamebooks and didn't bother to look.

I had Night of the Nazgul and another one I forget the title of from TolkienQuest.

[Duque de Bragança]

That Tolkien Quest ran into legal problems so it's hard to get these days. Not translated into French but there are (Brazilian) Portuguese editions, among other translations.

[Caliga]

That Tolkien Quest ran into legal problems so it's hard to get these days. Not translated into French but there are (Brazilian) Portuguese editions, among other translations.

Tolkien's estate sued them, no?  I remember hearing something about that on a gamebook podcast.

[Duque de Bragança]

That Tolkien Quest ran into legal problems so it's hard to get these days. Not translated into French but there are (Brazilian) Portuguese editions, among other translations.

Tolkien's estate sued them, no?  I remember hearing something about that on a gamebook podcast.

Something along those lines, yes.

The publication of the series was plagued by legal problems. Iron Crown Enterprises, the publisher of Middle-earth Role Playing, had a license with Tolkien Enterprises to produce games based on Tolkien's work. They then forged a partnership with Berkley to publish these gamebooks. Two volumes came out in 1985 under the Tolkien Quest label, and an additional two were planned for 1986 under the new series title of Middle-earth Quest. Unfortunately, around the time that the fourth book was to be released, Tolkien Enterprises deemed the books in violation of the game license, which didn't include permission to print books. The first four books were recalled and destroyed, with the fourth book never even making it to market (though it was pictured in an advertisement published in Dragon #103). Some copies of the first three books do still exist, but they are quite rare. Several years after this incident, legal issues were resolved and publication began anew. Books five through eight were actually numbered one through four in denial of the existence of the earlier volumes. The series came to an end, however, before all of the volumes announced in the original 1985 and 1986 releases could see the light of day.

https://gamebooks.org/Series/270/Show

I am not an expert, but that seems like a reasonable explanation.