YOU ARE THE HERO and the BFS Awards 2015

You may remember that earlier this year YOU ARE THE HERO made the shortlist for the British Fantasy Awards in the Best Non-Fiction category.

So, dutifully, yesterday I strapped on my sword belt, filled my backpack with rations, and set off for Firetop Mountain... I mean the East Midlands Conference Centre, and the British Fantasy Society Awards.

To cut a long story short, YOU ARE THE HERO didn't win. Letters to Arkham: The Letters of Ramsey Campbell and August Derleth, 1961–1971, ed. S.T. Joshi (PS Publishing) did. But at least we were nominated* and even got a cheer when we were read out on the shortlist. And no one can take the UK Games Expo Award from us ;-)

I prepared a speech, just in case the book did win**, and even though it didn't, it still seems appropriate to post it here, now.


Fighting Fantasy is why I'm here, and I don't just mean today. I expect some of you are also here, in part, because of Fighting Fantasy.

Fighting Fantasy was what set me on the path to becoming an author, which has ultimately brought me here today.

There are lots of people I have to thank... Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone for creating Fighting Fantasy in the first place, Marc Gascoigne for giving me my big break, Snowbooks for publishing YOU ARE THE HERO, everyone who agreed to be interviewed for the book (some of whom are here today), but most of all, everyone who backed the original Kickstarter. I couldn't have done it without you!


* And I don't think a Fighting Fantasy-related book had been nominated for a BFS Award before.

** Because if you fail to plan you plan to fail.

YOU ARE THE HERO reviewed

It's been a couple of weeks since YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, was released on an unsuspecting public, and with all the Kickstarter backer copies having been sent out into the wild now, the book has begun to receive some reviews, and very favourable they are too.

Geek Syndicate has this to say about the book: "You Are The Hero is a magnificent work that manages to be objective and passionate about the series it discusses. A more fitting tribute to the series that saw me through my youth I can’t really imagine." 4.5/5

Lew Stringer, the comic artist who provided a brand new Derek the Troll strip for the book, reviewed it both here and here. Lew said that the book, "looks very interesting because it seems to be written for both Joe Public and the hard core gamer, which can't be a bad thing... The book is well illustrated throughout with numerous images, including many full page book covers without the cover copy so that you can fully appreciate the art."

Games designer Jake Thornton even gave YOU ARE THE HERO a mention over at Quirkworthy.com.

Realm of Chaos 80s loved the book! "The book is a joy! An absolute joy! Even if you have a slimmest interest in FF this book is worth buying. Every page brings a new memory, a new fact and a bigger, broader smile!"

Starburst Magazine had this to say: "Green has produced a beautifully edited and firmly present account of a phenomenon that for some is as important as Transformers or Star Wars and yet has been pretty much overlooked by the mainstream. If you’ve recently become reacquainted with the idea of turning to page 400 and want to know more about this strangely British fandom, then this is the best place to start." 8/10

Corehammer.com also liked it: "You Are The Hero is an absolute triumph. It is a love letter to a cherished memory, written with a scholars knowledge and a fanboys heart."

And then there are the 22 5-star reviews on Amazon.co.uk*,  the 5-star review on Amazon.fr, and the 5-star review on Waterstones.com**.

If you would like to pick up a physical copy of the book, you can do so here. However, if ebooks are more your thing these days, you can download a digital copy of YOU ARE THE HERO here. And if you enjoy it, feel free to add your own review online.


* As of writing. ;-)

** That has mysteriously vanished!

YOU ARE THE HERO - An Announcement

I have some good news for you today and some probably-not-totally-unexpected bad news.

First the good news… The manuscript of YOU ARE THE HERO is finally nearing completion.

Now for the bad news… As you will have already worked out for yourself by now, YOU ARE THE HERO still isn’t finished, which means that it’s not going to be with you in time for Christmas. I’m truly sorry about this but there are various reasons for this that I’m going to bore you with here*. 

One major reason for the delay, however, is that the story of the history of Fighting Fantasy has grown in the telling. What started out as a 30,000 word book has mutated to become a beast three times that size**. The more people I’ve spoken to about the Fighting Fantasy phenomenon, the more wonderful untold stories I’ve uncovered, and yet more contacts have been made as a result, which have led to more fascinating anecdotes. 

YOU ARE THE HERO is a one-off opportunity to tell the whole story of Fighting Fantasy and its development, along with the stories of all those people involved in its success. Although I have been fortunate enough to write seven FF gamebooks myself, I am first and foremost a fan, and as such I want this book to be the very best it can be. And although I realise I’m being extremely biased when I say this, I think it’s going to be rather good. 

So what can you look forward to when YOU ARE THE HERO is finally released next year? Well, as well as Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, there are interviews with the likes of original commissioning editor Geraldine Cooke, the editor of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain Philippa Dickinson, artists like John Blanche, Iain McCaig, Russ Nicholson, Chris Achellios and Rodney Matthews, writers such as Graham McNeill, Charlie Higson and Gavin G Smith, and gamebook authors such as Dave Morris, Jamie Thomson, Luke Sharp and Graeme Davis. There are never before published publicity photos, a brand new Derek the Troll cartoon by Lew Stringer and lawman of the future Judge Dredd even makes an appearance. And that’s just for starters. 

So have no fear, YOU ARE THE HERO is coming, but in the mean time I’d just like to say thank you to you all for your support, your patience, and your boundless enthusiasm for this book. It’ll be worth the wait, I promise you. 

May your Stamina never fail!

* Although as one backer once pointed out, it’s a Kickstarter, so what do you expect? ;-) 

** About twice as long as your average FF gamebook.