Return to Firetop Mountain (Fighting Fantasy: Reissues 1, #16) by Ian Livingstone

Return to Firetop Mountain (Fighting Fantasy: Reissues 1, #16) Reviews

• 
  David Sarkies

  Back to the Beginning for the anniversary
  6 January 2014
  
  Well, it looks like Ian Livingstone has returned for the 50th book in the Fighting Fantasy series and not surprisingly we are taken back to Firetop Mountain where the series began. It turned out that this particular warlock, whom we learn is named Zagor, is actually evil because after his death a spell was cast to bring him back to life, though for some reason it took him ten years to get around to doing it (you would think that if Zagor had such magical defences prepared he would have come back much sooner). However, it seems that despite his ability to bring himself back from the dead, because he waited ten years to do so all he is now is a bunch of bones, so he has decided that he will harvest proper limbs from the local villages.
  This is where you come in. Basically you are an adventurer who wanders into the town of Anvil looking for some adventure (and basically make that statement in the local pub) and it becomes clear quite quickly that the villagers want you to go and deal with this supposedly dead warlock. So, with pretty much the same amount of equipment that the previous adventurer took with him (or her) to deal with Zagor initially, you set off to once again deal with this troublesome Warlock.
  Much of this book seems to be a trip down memory lane, though as it turns out it is only the first part of the dungeon that we visit some familiar places and that the layout is pretty much the same. However, most of the rooms we visited in the first book have all be closed off, and it isn't long before you discover a path that takes you to a completely different part of the dungeon. Also, the book has a bit more of the story to it as the first section has you travelling to find the wizard Yaztromo before even stepping foot into the mountain. However, once you do enter the mountain the adventure sort of grounds to a halt.
  The reason I say that is because there isn't really any labyrinth. The book is basically walk down a passage and come to a door, and occasionally you come to a junction but one of the junctions is always a dead end so basically the entire book is pretty linear. In fact if you search all the rooms you will end up finding everything that you need (though I did miss the iron key because I kept walking through the night, which meant that I also missed the wooden brick – both of which you need to complete the game). The other thing is that there are a huge number of items and many of them are pretty much red herrings, so I found that I was picking up all of this stuff that I never ended up needing, and that which I did need I did not use until right at the end where you seem to use them all at once.
  So, all I can say is that while the original was a classic simply because it spawned a new era of gamebooks, comparing it with a lot of the later ones it is pretty bland. However,
  Warlock of Firetop Mountain was the first so in many cases the illogical aspects and the apparent non-existent theme (namely break into somebody's house, steal all of his treasure, and kill him and all of his pets) was forgivable on those grounds. However it seems with this book that Livingstone simply wanted to revisit Firetop Mountain for the fiftieth novel yet there simply does not seem that a huge amount of thought actually went into the book. Basically it felt rushed and simply exists to mark a milestone.
• 
  James Tivendale

  Read when I was a kid and completely loved. Will look to pick up and re-read again. Review to follow shortly x
• 
  Eyebrow Him

  It had been a while since I last played this. This time I read it with the e book versión (But the original 1990s print).
  
  I agree it was quite hard, having to collect a lot of items, meeting certain people, collecting certain facts. I admit, when I first lost it was because a tooth I had didn't have a number (which was fixed in the reprint).
  
  Anyway, it was written quite well, and as opposed to others, I liked this one more than The Warlock, which I found a bit too easy apart from the labyrinth. It had characters that I rooted for, and felt angry for (such as Zoot Zimmer who was robbed of his sight and met an imminent death after re-meeting him). I liked the puzzles as well for the reader such as from the inquisitor and the mindbender, it's great when they add these into FF.
  
  The only thing I disliked was having to collect so many items, it made the adventure sheet too bulky and having to make the right choices in what to get (I didn't realise the magnifying glass would be so important), also having to explore a lot of rooms to get certain things.
• 
  Jazza1971

  A nostalgic trip that was somewhat ruined by some of the traps of the past.
  
  I read/played these books back in the 80s and so was excited to see a sequel to "Firetop Mountain" being released and it seemed to be the perfect post Christmas activity.
  
  The writing and gameplay was familiar but I became frustrated by the mechanics. Sometimes curiosity would gain you an item that would prove vital to the quest later on, sometimes it will cause you lasting damage and on occasions be fatal, meaning you are meant to start the book again. There is never any clue as to which way it will go, so winning or losing is entirely arbitrary.
  
  Later on there is a scene where whether you live or die is entirely decided by a roll of the dice. This is far on into the book and is a scene you have to play, so how annoying is that?
  
  After this there is a corridor with a left or right choice. If you choose the wrong one you eventually find yourself in a location where the floor gives way and you die. No warning, no reason, no logic, you just die. It's the worst kind of pitfalls computer magazines used to complain about in the 80s and 90s, and there's simply no need for it. You could have reached a dead end and been told to go back to the junction, but no, Ian decides you die. It's unfair, unnecessary, lazy and not fun.
  
  Is it any surprise people end up cheating at these games?
• 
  Chris Dw i

  Return to Firetop Mountain is fantastic.
  
  You find yourselves exploring the decrepit greenskin barracks from The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. In fact, you find the skeletal remains of the sleeping greenskin that you encounter in the very first book. It's a fantastic throwback and it sets the tone for the rest of the book.
  
  If you've read The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, you're in for a treat. Retracing the steps of the hero from the very first book, you find yourself hunting down Zagor. Again. It's such a fantastic read and it the final encounter is superb.
  
  5/5, would recommend.
  
  
• 
  Allan Claydon

  I died four times, BS
• 
  John Somers

  7/20.