--- In molochsgamebookgarden@yahoogroups.com, Demian Katz
<katz@n...> wrote:

> I've seen the Fighting Fantasy reissues in a few stores, which is
a nice
> sign... but it's certainly not what it used to be!
>

I've heard about the reprint, but I haven't seen them here in
Australia. Fighting Fantasy did usher in the era of gamebooks as I
consider them (although technically, I think Tunnels & Trolls and
the choose your own adventure type books came first). And I believe
they were the most successful of all the gamebooks in a commercial
sense, so it's not really surprising they decided to reprint them.
But I don't consider FF to be the *best* example of the genre. That
would be Way of the Tiger or the early Lone Wolf books, IMO.

The reason why I think WotT and LW are the best examples is because
they focus on just one character, and while each book is largely
self contained, you could also develop the character over time. WotT
was short (just 6 books), but it ended on a cliffhanger. LW was
great, but the series went on far too long, IMO. As with so many
long running stories where the main character(s) keep on improving
in skill, the power levels just became a joke, IMO. Far better if
they'd switched to other characters in the LW universe and allowed
them a bit of time in the sun. I guess Greystar could have done
that, but personally I didn't like the way that series was
developed.