Life is boring...so here's a picture of moldy banana bread!

Getting back into the groove of writing is pretty tough, I fairly admit. Especially when one's life consists of a set routine that mostly goes like this - sleep, get up, go out to appointment/class/shop around, come home, eat lunch, read, read some more, go on computer, make dinner, watch tv, eat dinner, watch more tv, go to sleep. That's my average day in a nutshell, little to no thought required. So it comes as no surprise when I struggle to think of something to write, anything to get my mind out of pilot mode. Here I am, sitting at my computer, staring at a blank screen, my mind focused on nothing, my eyes roaming to the movie I'm watching on tv. Dammit, what happened to my creative juices? No doubt it needs a little laxative to get going since it's all jammed up like my grandfather's bowels.

In the meantime though, enjoy this picture of my moldy piece of banana bread, as promised.

My project is finished - now what?

Today I had to present my project to the class, which was the main purpose of this blog's existence. Now that it's all over, I'm left wondering - what now? Obviously I should dump the whole thing and get on with the pointless routine that is currently my life. That's the easiest choice. Or I could stick with this whole blogging thing and get back into writing, making an effort as it were to break my mind out of my happy little rut and force it to think, to focus, to get the old gears spinning and whirring. Probably not a good thing since I'm now left wondering what to blog about since my life is about as exciting as watching the green mold grow on the cling wrapped piece of banana bread that's been lying on my desk for the last couple of weeks.

Hey, that's a good idea. Every so often I'll post a pic of my slowly decaying piece of banana bread until one day I'm forced by hygienic standards to get rid of it. Just the type of thing to keep you, the loyal reader engrossed in this blog. Oh yes, this blog suddenly has a new creative lease on life.

Stay tuned.

Assessment Questions

Michael Lyne

Fighting Fantasy in the Media

In 1996, Deathtrap Dungeon was released as a third person action game on the Playstation. Personally I thought it sucked but at the time it seemed pretty exciting.

Deathtrap Dungeon - Intro and Gameplay, Viewed 10th October 2011 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghkNOpbidgQ>

In October 2009, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was adapted into a first person game on the Nintendo DS and was generally met with favorable reviews.

Fighting Fantasy DS - The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Viewed 10th October 2011 < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcoTldZcOdw>

Since then, several applications have been developed for the iphone and a minigame based on the book Talisman of Death was released on the Playstation Network.

Fighting Fantasy - Talisman of Death Official Trailer, viewed 10th October 2011 < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEzqSbbvE9s>

The 2009 Series

The publication of a new Fighting Fantasy novel, Stormslayer in March 2009 was accompanied by a new re-branding of the range with new covers and also included a couple of new titles and several reprints. Currently there are plans for further titles to be published.

TITANNICA (2011) Series History Viewed 4th October 2011 <http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Fighting_Fantasy>

Fighting Fantasy, Viewed 10th October 2011 <http://www.fightingfantasygamebooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=9>

The 2002 Revival

In 2002, Wizard Books bought the rights to the Fighting Fantasy series and has put many of the original titles back into print, making the controversial decision to change the order of the books in order to fit their reduced line-up (initially only the gamebooks by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone were published) and to incorporate the Sorcery! miniseries into the core series. The original cover art has also been replaced. 

In 2005 a new Fighting Fantasy book, the first since 1995's Curse of the Mummy, entitled Eye of the Dragon was released by Wizard Books, written by Ian Livingstone. This was followed up by Bloodbones and later in 2007, Howl of the Werewolf by Jonathan Green. That year also celebrated the twenty fifth anniversary of Fighting Fantasy which was commemorated by a special edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain that included bonus extra material. The range was planned to continue in 2008 with further titles, although nothing was eventually published. 

TITANNICA (2011) Series History, Viewed 10th October 2011 <http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Fighting_Fantasy>

Here are some examples of the  new covers:

Fighting Fantasy, Viewed 10th October 2011, <http://www.fightingfantasygamebooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=9>

Pictures of my collection

Here are some pictures of my collection. I've been pretty much collecting them since I first got into the series way back in 1994. Over the years I've rummaged through many second hand stores and scrawling through ebay to find these books. Alas, a couple of these books have eluded my efforts to add them to my collection, but to this day, I still look for them whenever I get the chance to.