bcyy Sun May 28 18:10:18 2023	Maybe my phone? But don't be too surprised if that is even more inefficient - I'm not much of a phone guy.
	Removed your number now that Gavin appears to have made contact successfully.

bcyy
Mon May 29 14:29:36 2023

Did you send me a text saying hello?

Gavin
Mon May 29 18:50:07 2023

Yes

bcyy
Sun Jun 4 14:51:53 2023

Yes, Gavin made contact successfully.
Thanks for removing my number!

Stuart Lloyd
Tue Jun 13 07:09:17 2023

So when I was running Lindenbaum, someone suggested that there could be an "open" gamebook competition with no limits on sections or word count. I'm not against running one, but only if it's a Nanowrimo type event where people just write something over a month or some other time frame just for the challenge because I don't want to spend any more money on prizes or spend any more time running another competition.

Any interest in a gamebook Nanowrimo?

Ulysses
Mon Jun 19 13:42:09 2023

Personally, I think contraints are what makes writing a gamebook for a competition fun.

@Stuart, the Lindenbaum competition is great and I don't think you need to do anything extra/different.

In my opinion, 'open' gamebooks are better judged through a 'Gamebook of the Year' style award (not a suggestion).

bcyy
Mon Jul 3 17:01:59 2023

@Gavin:

I've just went through Polaris. It was quite a read. To be honest, I was a bit surprised - I was expecting something more to do with Polaris missiles than age-of-sail fiction!

My understanding of it is that you are exalting the value of stoicism and discipline by contrasting it to wealth and power. This seems to be the common denominator between many of the conflicts throughout the story (Reeman vs Kent, Captain vs Warlock, steel family heirloom sword vs gold sword).

Why did you set it in the Napoleonic era, though? Electromagnetism had not been discovered at that point, so the admiralty was unlikely to have approved of an expedition to gather power from the Earth's magnetic fields, and Japan had never been contacted either, eliminating the possibility of a sea captain's knowledge of the character for "restraint" (忍).

All in all, a very solid novel!

Gavin
Mon Jul 3 20:35:07 2023

Japan would have been known up to and including Will Adams (fictionalised as Blackthorne by Clavell) though the Tokugawa shogun are did close the borders after that up until Commodore Perry of the US Naby forced entry in 1865. Otherwise I had no big agenda in writing this book other than homaging Hornblower and Aubrey type stories; Bolitho is obviously the biggest inspiration. It also drew inspiration from a couple of heavy metal songs, both involving supernatural forcessation, one involving a surreal journey where no one ever dies, but most especially one involving a quest for magnetic north. It was my disgust with the author of the latter due to his actions later revealed that inspired the sequel, soon to drop on Amazon. Otherwise thanks for your detailed review :) PS There was another heavy metal song called Polaris, magnetic north would gave given the plot away (and the guy that wrote that turned out to be a real dick)

Gavin
Mon Jul 3 20:40:37 2023

Also military intelligence did allegedly make use of Crowley during WWII, as mentioned during the epilogue.

bcyy
Mon Jul 3 21:21:16 2023

Ah, yes, the Portuguese EIC and other trading activities during the Sengoku Jidai. I had forgotten about that.

bcyy
Mon Jul 3 21:23:40 2023

Well, a detailed review is the least I could do after receiving your books!

Gavin
Tue Jul 4 05:37:10 2023

Thank you

Offm
Thu Jul 20 13:04:15 2023

Sorry for disturbing all , with this kind of nonsense , is fighting fantasy dying?
Honest answers only if you please.

Tammy
Fri Jul 21 03:48:31 2023

No! It will never die to diehard fans who keep visiting FF sites and buying the books. There is always room for open discussions that aren't gamebook related, but as you can see, members are still interacting regardless. There's only the nonsense of nonsense present whenever it's a must.

bcyy
Thu Jul 27 12:24:30 2023

@Offm

Doesn't seem like it.
Secrets of Salamonis and Shadow of the Giants are two recent entries, both of which I own, with another one coming out next year. None of this feels like a franchise that is dying.
It might be less profitable than its heyday when it was the best-selling gamebook series in the world, since it now faces fair competition from D&D. That competition, however, is peripheral, since D&D games typically take too much planning, too many close friends, and too much time to play.

If you have insider information which indicates that the franchise is somehow operating at a loss and is about to go bust, share it here if you can, and we could put together a vulture fund.

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