The Gates of Death

Fighting Fantasy (Scholastic) #12

by Charlie Higson

PART STORY, PART GAME - PURE ADVENTURE!

Bestselling author, and long-time fan of Fighting Fantasy, Charlie Higson brings his own brand of heart-stopping action, terrifying monsters and page-turning plotting to Allansia... expect the unexpected! In this brand new addition to the multi-million-copy-selling Fighting Fantasy series, you - the hero - must respond to a call for help from the people of Allansia. Your quest to the Temple of Miracles in the Invisible City will be challenging and dangerous, and your simple mission will soon take a darker turn as you face the legendary Gates Of Death. On the other side waits the Queen Of Darkness, Ulrakhaar. To stop her, and save Titan from destruction, you will have to venture further than ever before... to the Kingdom Of The Dead.

Genres: Fantasy, Gamebooks

345 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Higson was educated at Sevenoaks School and at the University of East Anglia (where his brother has taught since 1986 and is now a professor of film studies) where he met Paul Whitehouse, David Cummings and Terry Edwards. Higson, Cummings and Edwards formed the band The Higsons of which Higson was the lead singer from 1980 to 1986. They released two singles on the Specials' 2-Tone label. Higson then became a plasterer before he turned to writing for Harry Enfield with Paul Whitehouse and performing comedy. He came to public attention as one of the main writers and performers of the BBC Two sketch show The Fast Show (1994-2000). He worked with Whitehouse on the radio comedy Down the Line and is to work with him again on a television project, designed to be a spoof of celebrity travel programmes.[1:]

He worked as producer, writer, director and occasional guest star on Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) from 2000 to 2001. Subsequent television work has included writing and starring in BBC Three's Fast Show spin-off sitcom Swiss Toni. He is currently starring in Tittybangbang series 3 on BBC Three and has appeared as a panellist on QI.

He published four novels through the early to mid 1990s which take a slightly dystopian look at everyday life and have a considerably more adult tone than his other work, with characters on the margins of society finding themselves spiraling out of control, leading him to be described by Time Out as 'The missing link between Dick Emery and Brett Easton Ellis' [2:]

In 2004, it was announced that Higson would pen a series of James Bond novels, aimed at younger readers and concentrating on the character's school-days at Eton. Higson was himself educated at Sevenoaks School where he was a contemporary of Jonathan Evans, current Director General of MI5. The first novel, SilverFin, was released on 3 March 2005 in the UK and on 27 April 2005 in the U.S. A second novel, Blood Fever, was released on 5 January 2006 in the UK and 1 June in the U.S. The third novel, Double or Die, was published on 4 January 2007 having had its title announced the day before. The next, Hurricane Gold, came out in hardcover in the UK in September 2007.[3:]In this year he also made a debut performance on the panel show QI. His final Young Bond novel, By Royal Command, was released in hardcover in the UK on the 3 September 2008.[4:]

Charlie has signed a deal to pen a new series of children's books for Puffin. According to the author, "They are going to be action adventures, but with a horror angle

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

You are a couple of old school game designers known for all things fantasy like creating Games Workshop. You want to revive your once popular role-playing game/book series, Fighting Fantasy. If you decide to hire the guy who played Swiss Toni on The Fast Show, turn to 143. If you…

Alright, you know what? Reviewing Charlie Higson’s The Gates of Death in the format it was written is not gonna work!

I was a huge fantasy nerd when I was a kid (hard to believe, I know), spending all my pocket money at Games Workshop on figurines, paints, etc. and reading Tolkien, Pratchett, Martin, and also Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s Fighting Fantasy books (though I was more into Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf knockoff series). So I knew I had to pick up The Gates of Death when I heard about it a couple weeks ago – nostalgia, here I come! And was it good? Was it f… (Fast Show reference – two kinds of ‘90s nostalgia for the price of one)!

The fantasy is generic and fairly uninteresting – you have to stop a mysterious plague by bringing a vial to a wizard or something. But then I never read these books for the story, I read them for the gaming aspect. And the novelty of choosing your own adventure is actually still fun, flicking the pages back and forth, rolling dice to work out who wins the fights – until it wasn’t. That’s when I remembered how onerous it gets, reading a book with a pencil, paper and dice on perennial standby, especially when it comes to the fights where you’ve got to work out hit points and all sorts of malarkey, over and over and over and… !

The repetitive nature of it becomes tiresome quite quickly. You will die A LOT so you’ll have to backtrack and restart – if you’re a sucker! I also remembered how I used to play these books, keeping my finger on the previous page to jump back to if the option I chose led to instant death, etc.! And then I cheated so much I lost interest and gave up rather than complete the quest, which is what happened here…

The Gates of Death is a fine choose your own adventure book. If I was still a fantasy fan with oodles of patience and enthusiasm – basically if I was still 12! – I’d love it, and kids were always the main audience for this series anyway. As it is, it made for an entertaining couple hours’ amble down memory lane swiftly followed by a firm resolve to never bother with these kinds of books again (until nostalgia drags me back in another 20 years or so)!

[Lee Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fighting Fantasy game books were a big part of the cultural landscape when I was a kid. I wasn't an obsessive fan, but I played and enjoyed a number in the series, and they were a lot of fun. When I read that the series was getting relaunched, with a new title by Charlie Higson, I had to have a go. His Enemy series was great, and he seemed an ideal choice for this book.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, Fighting Fantasy books are essentially solo role playing games, where you choose from a number of options in pursuit of a quest. There's a dice based combat system, and the game can get very absorbing. This one is no exception - it took me no less than six attempts to solve, and it really did get me completely engrossed.

There's clearly several different ways to get through different parts of the game, some more challenging than others, and if you make the wrong decisions at the beginning, you can make life very tricky for yourself later on! Each time you play, though, you'll get closer and work out how to get to your goal.

As stated in the first review, there's some wicked puns in here, along with a few pop culture references - fans of Prince, Hot Fuzz and Shooting stars will raise a smile! Gameplay is pretty smooth, although there's a couple of very minor bugs in places - nothing that detracts from it working, though.

For those who remember them the first time around, this is a great nostalgia binge, but if you haven't had the joy before, sharpen your pencils and get stuck in - you're in for a treat.

[Jemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Fighting Fantasy' books were popular in the 80s and early 90s. They are a solo-roleplaying story, similar to "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. You can collect items along the way, fight some enemies and hope to survive, decide who to trust, and ultimately complete your quest!

As my first 'Fighting Fantasy' adventure I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed it very much. The first time I failed/died, I went straight back in to try again with a different approach. This easily kept me entertained for an evening until I finally reached the end of the quest.

It was good fun and I definitely want to try other titles in the series. I think some of the popular titles from the original print have been reprinted for the next generation to try.

[Adam Rodgers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gates of Death at first seems to be taking a fresh take on the gaming Fighting Fantasy quest - this time all of Allansia is at stake when a plague (contemporary at the moment!) that transforms all victims of it into demons hits, and only you are in a position to stop it. As a junior acolyte only you and your mentor survive the voyage to Port Blacksand where your journey begins.

Typically item collection and management is crucial in the quest, where you are able to deal with many fights with potions and magic rather than weapons, which is different. As the story progresses your quest changes to defeating the typical evil sorcerer figure who is apparently responsible for the plague.

The quest is relatively easy to progress with, but either Higson or the publishers do lazily leave the reader stuck in several game 'loops' at several points. As you traverse a city if your choices are dead ends you effectively get put back to the starting point to start over, recycling the exact same texts sections, which are both frustrating and pull you out of the story or feel that your decisions dont really matter. Similarly with the 'demon portals' that you fall into, that are a device to do the same thing. The tone of the story also drifts from mature fantasy, to frankly, very immature - wait until you have to fight the 'bum-faced warrior'!

While a decent addition to the ff canon (with some nods to classic locations and characters from previous game books) correcting the major logic flaw in the final battle, and constructing sections so they read including your decisions, rather than just recycle the same texts, would have made for a more coherent and immersive storyline.

[Andy Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reading challenge (April's book: "ergodic") was an ideal excuse to order this, the latest in the revival of the 80s cult gamebooks, here authored by performer and writer Charlie Higson.
Entertaining, with some good/bad puns ("Hay thiever", "bier goggles"), and a good range of scenes, settings, and interactions.
A few hints:
It's generally worth exploring.
There are quite a few allies - not all of them obvious. Being trusting isn't the worst aapproach.
Higson plays pretty fair with you, and there are multiple ways to get needed items. Just don't push your luck too far when you're on a roll.

[Brian Stabler · Rating 3 out of 5]

My inner child, were you to ask him, would probably say 'Wow, what a read. Action, adventure, demons. Everything you could want in a FF book.' and would probably rate it a 4.

Whereas my adult self is like 'WTF? Did I actually enjoy these back in the day? Wandering around repetitively, looking for characters/items you have to interact with/possess to complete the book, getting into the occasional fight and dying... a lot!' and would probably rate it a 2.

An average of the two scores is a 3. So that's how many stars it's getting.

[Niels Hjorth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over constructed with to many repetition. Well put together but no excitement.

[Panda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a long-time FF fan, and recently purchased The Gates of Death (along with Ian Livingstone's The Port of Peril; review here) after a long hiatus from the franchise.

Higson's style is a refreshing departure from the standard FF formula. TGOD plays a lot more like a video game: it features "checkpoints" of sorts that you can return to if you encounter difficulties down the line, and lets you explore and backtrack through certain areas even if you've been there already -- sort of like retracing your steps through a physical area/level in a video game to gather all the necessary items before moving on.

These mechanics made the book feel a lot more interactive and sandbox-y (and hence enjoyable!) compared to more traditionally linear FF books, where once you leave a room/area, you won’t be able to come back to it and can only go forward through new areas until you finally arrive at the final boss.

(As a side note: it always bugged me that fantasy dungeons/castles were designed in such a linear fashion. What if I wanted to go from my throne room to the armoury without passing through the kitchens, the dungeon, two guardrooms, the billiard room and the conservatory? Surely if I were a powerful sorcerer with designs on all of Allansia, I would be intelligent enough to design a lair that did not involve walking through every room of it to get from one end to the other? But I digress).

Higson also ignores the traditional FF concept of a "one true way," which requires players to play through the book in a certain specific order to obtain all the items/information/stat-points needed for final victory. In TGOD, you can come by important information and items in multiple ways, so a “wrong” turn or three won’t put you out of the running to win in the end.

I appreciated this, as it meant players could choose from multiple alternative routes to reach their goal. That said, I felt that it made the book a little too easy at certain points. For instance, dipping your blade in a certain potion makes killing the final boss much easier. Higson scatters something like four or five bottles of this potion throughout the book, making me wonder if a travelling salesman was always one step ahead of me handing out free samples to people or something…

Overall, though, I enjoyed the length of the adventure (it is 470 paragraphs instead of the usual 400) and the non-linear, video-gamey exploration feel of it. For the first time in a long while, I felt that I was in not just a linear narrative with a predetermined set of branching choices, but an adventure in which I truly was the hero.

[Wreade1872 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorely tempted to give this 1 star. But the good things first. The writing storywise isn't bad and the art is pretty cool. That being said there are so many errors, so many illogical loops in the gameflow combined with a terribly high difficulty level to start with but becomes incredibly easy if you survive long enough to find the main path. There were also many, many items i never found a use for.

But the worst part is that as far as i (and the internet) can tell the final battle is broken. It asks for a certain item which you can't possibly have because your not using your own body for the finale and have left all your items behind.

Anyway the author isn't a bad writer, but is a terrible game designer.

[Willen P · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the weirdest games I've played. I got this for myself for my 26th birthday, a used copy (though advertised as very good condition which was hardly the case).

Anyway the first time I played it, I found the rules regarding weapons a bit strange (actually it makes a lot more sense to be honest, about different weapons inflicting different damage, but I guess all other FF books had to be consistent with battle rules). It had an interesting storyline, but I didn't like how you lost 5 Stamina on the first reference; seemed a bit pointless to add. I died quite early on after trying to use a key for a box and ended up being lit ablaze by magic fire.

About the storyline, you're an acolyte who has the power to stop the population from turning into demons - you have a few vials to reverse the curse but only one is needed to give to the High Priestess to help the rest. Interesting enough, right?

Last weekend, I tried again and it seemed innocent enough during the first part. However, once you get to the nitty gritty section, it starts losing sense. Ok, so there's some loops in this book which means you can go through the same parts more than once... Even more than 10 times. Not just through demon portals but with something called a Nostalgia perfume too. Luckily enough, the loop didn't really affect my adventure, and I avoided enough portals. However it did cause a lot of inconsistencies with the story overall. That was the weirdest part of this adventure.

Also, why is it that you find so many 'Pretty as a Picture' potions? That was so superfluous, couldn't it just have appeared at least once or twice? Come to think of it, you don't even get a chance to use most of the potions you find. Nor most of the items you collect anyway.

The annoying part was in the temple. Yes, there are sections you can go through a million times before finding the actual way out of there into the Gates of Death. But speaking of which, this made the game more predictable and winnable. Although this was just my second attempt in playing, you go through so many clues (that you can reread) that it's so obvious what you need to do to win. It's as if all the characters are there to help you. This diminished the gameplay factor for me, it seemed more like a walkthrough as you're playing. You gather so much information that it's impossible to lose (Ok nearly impossible).

I did like how there is a chance of you losing and being stuck in the realm if you choose the wrong decision.

But overall, I didn't like the game that much. I would have rather read this as a novel than a game book.

[Derrick Peng · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must’ve liked this book, because I finished it in a matter of 3 days. It’s a pretty fun adventure without the most complicated plot, but enough to sustain a fantasy romp through a demon horde. The final act has some element of epicness the way everything came together, with the hero overcoming almost impossible. On the other hand, I completed the game in the very first try, and from a gaming and consistency standpoint, there certainly are flaws.

For one, there is the occasional typo or grammar error which slipped through the cracks. There are some plot inconsistencies, where branching paths converge in a way that creates plot holes. There isn’t enough information given to seamlessly navigate through repeated sections and rewinds (or the same encounter in different sections), and the reader kind of has to adjudicate for himself what is valid or invalid. Usually you can sort of piece it together, though.
The book is also significantly easier than the early titles like Warlock or Rebel Planet. The aforementioned repeat encounters become more apparent because the game is quite forgiving with second chances, and instant deaths are usually reserved for cases of extreme stupidity. This is probably somewhat of an improvement over early titles, which were designed “Nintendo Hard” in order to increase replayability (I’m guessing). If you follow basic common sense and morality—be thorough and generous, not greedy or impatient—you can get through the game without all too much extra bloodshed.
On the other hand, the number of enemies, as limited as it is, and most being demons which can be bypassed, leaves a bit to be desired. I really could’ve used some more unique enemies, puzzles, or other challenges. I do like the “bad ending” bit, though (after beating the final boss)… in fact, I like it better than the true good ending.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gates of Death is a fantastic addition to any Fighting Fantasy collection.

This one's good. It's a bit like a zombie apocalypse, but instead of the hapless citizens turning into zombies, they turn into demons. They similar, but not quite the same.

I've been reading through all the modern Fighting Fantasy books from the Wizard reprints, through to the Scholastic entries for my YouTube channel, and this Goodreads review is going up a week later than the video. Unfortunately, I can't actually remember your objective or the ending, but I remember the book being really good.

You have the occasional reference to prior books, but this one exists on its own two legs. It doesn't rely on throwbacks. You have to survive a demonic apocalypse scenario but you can cure a finite number of demons. This provides you with interesting encounters with fun characters.

The setting is great, and it felt darker compared to the rest. I enjoyed it.

4/5.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fun stuff. Higson brought something fresh to the table here, I enjoyed the dark premise and it all boils with tension towards an excellent climax that made me so hilariously powerful it almost felt like a battle in some shonen anime. It was noticeably clunky to play at times, but I suppose this was Higson’s first Fighting Fantasy, and hopefully not his last because there was some cool stuff here. Unfortunately…Krizan’s illustrations are as boring as ever. One can only hope that this book gets reprinted with the new illustrator who did the 40th anniversary books and is much more suited to doing Fighting Fantasies. This is an aggressively niche series though so I doubt it.

[Pippin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What fun!

[Emily Roper · Rating 4 out of 5]

it took me a few reads of this book to complete it without dying but its a very fun book concidering the reader gets to choose what happens. it was a lot of fun.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
We simplified the dice aspect a little, to compensate for age. He really enjoyed it 😌

[Ángel Javier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una triste adición a la nutrida pléyade de librojuegos de la archiconocida serie «Fighting Fantasy», este libro parece escrito por alguien que no solo no tiene ni repajolera idea del mundo de Titán, el marco habitual en el que tienen lugar las aventuras que componen la serie, sino que ni siquiera pretende hacer el más mínimo esfuerzo por interesarse en resultar al menos coherente con el «lore» establecido por sus creadores, Steve Jackson y Ian Livingstone, y generalmente respetado por sus continuadores. Así, Higson bautiza a las clásicas pociones con nombres estrambóticos y pretendidamente graciosos, o se saca de la manga monstruos absurdos y hasta vergonzantes (el demonio con un rostro en cada nalga es sencillamente patético), jamás antes vistos en parte alguna de Titán, inventando ya de paso un inframundo absurdo que no coincide con el presentado por otros autores de la casa, como Jonathan Green. Aparte de lo antedicho, la aventura está llena de fallos de continuidad (te puedes encontrar con personajes que nunca antes habías visto y reconocerlos porque sí), de jugabilidad (en ciertos momentos, puedes perderte en bucles infinitos que recuerdan al frustrante laberinto del seminal «El hechicero de la montaña de fuego») y, lo que es peor, es ridículamente fácil de superar si tienes dos dedos de frente y has jugado algún que otro librojuego. En fin, un grave resbalón que pone en entredicho el compromiso de Scholastic con la colección decana de los otrora populares gamebooks. Que reediten clásicos como «Howl of the werewolf» o «Blood of the zombie» y se dejen de experimentos, que, aunque las ediciones de esta editorial dejen bastante que desear, los viejos aficionados a estos libros interactivos que nos alegraron la infancia y avivaron nuestra fantasía no queremos que vuelvan a sumirse en el olvido.