THE MOST DREADED REFERENCE OF ALL

So what is the most dreaded reference of them all   ?


Is it the one where you round a corner only to be confronted by a giant spider  ?




Or the one where you are told that you have caught some terrible disease  ?


No my friends,  its none of the above.


Its the reference that ends in a full stop   (   except for  number 400 of course    )


That's  when you know that your adventure is over.


That you have hit the brick wall.


That you have gone over the cliff and are falling forever into  the abyss of despair.....


And there is something even worse than the full stop.


Its the reference that ends with    "  ...........  "


Infinity without end.




Think of all those gruesome deaths in the FF series.  The mirror demon in  Deathtrap  Dungeon.  The fatal bite from the  Serpent  of  Time.   All of those moments when you realise with horror that you made the wrong move or took the wrong path.


No wonder the five finger bookmark was invented.


Now imagine if you really  WERE  in those scenarios.   Think of how you would feel at the thought of your impending doom.


That's why no monster or creature could ever equal the sheer terror  of the reference that  simply ENDS.

FOR A MAGE, HE ' S VERY ARCH

By any standard,   the  SORCERY epic  is an extraordinary achievement.


The mind boggles at how  Steve  Jackson  tied it all together.


There is no waste  here,  nothing is superfluous.    Every place and every character has a purpose , all part of a larger world which exists beyond the actual pages of this 4 book series.


For example,  a seemingly  trivial  locket you find in book 1 becomes very useful indeed in book 4.


I could devote an entire blog just  to  SORCERY  alone and maybe one day I will.


But for this post,  I want to focus on a mystery which has vexed me for so long.


Who or what is the Archmage  ?


First of all, what exactly is an Archmage  ?    It seems to be a very grand and lofty title to bestow upon oneself.


Is he above all the other common  garden variety  mages   ?


At one point in the Seven Serpents,  he is mistakenly referred to as the Archduke.


Here's the thing I don't get  -   the Archmage has been built up as this ultimate villain who lives in a fortress filled with hideous death traps,  creatures plus a army of guards.   And I assume he must be a powerful mage or wizard.


And what does he do  ?    He disguises himself as old man in long johns and waits to bash you over the head with a chamber pot and then tricks you into entering his own prison.


His modus operandi is bizarre to say the least  ! 


And what is his  true appearance   ?


Clearly,  Steve Jackson didn't want to go the obvious route and spell it all out for the reader but by god,  its bloody confusing  !


I had always assumed  that the wizard on the cover of   Crown  Of  Kings  was the  Archmage  but the  Crown  Of  Kings  Companion identifies him  instead as one of the Archmage's lackeys.   And yet the  TITAN  guide  had clearly shown the same person duelling the  Hydra   (   from which he creates  the 7 serpents   )


There is also a theory that the Archmage  is the wizard who originally first cast the ZED spell and was never seen again.


Does he actually have his own body or he is just a spirit inhabiting the body of  Farren Whyde   ?


There is an option at the end of  Crown  Of  Kings   to revive  Farren  Whyde  from the dead  which suggests he is a separate person.


And what's going on with that hell demon at the end of   Crown Of  Kings  ?


As I said before , all very confusing and  I'm still no wiser as to the true form and identity of the Archmage.


Answers on a  postcard  please.

PERILOUS PORTS OF CALL

Now that I've written the intro,  here is my first proper post.


And its a bit of a downer to be honest.


When  The  Port  Of  Peril  was  published last summer,   I   took note of all the hulaballu  but I didn't exactly rush to the shops to buy it.


I didn't feel any urge to nor did I feel any excitement at the prospect of a new FF book.


Not like in the days of yore when I would instantly devour the latest FF release.


Why is  that  ?


Partly  because I'm not in love with FF anymore or rather  not with its present form.


Its the FF of the past that I love.


The bad reviews for POP didn't help either.


I only found it in one bookstore here in Ireland    I sat down,  browsed through it and put it back on the shelf.   And I made a mental note to buy it eventually.


Guess what  happened  ?


Just the other day, I went back to said bookstore only to find every copy had sold out including  the re-prints of the older books.


Must have been a pre-xmas buying surge.


Maybe it was a sign that I wasn't meant to read it.


I just have to accept that I will never feel that old excitement again that I used to get from playing the latest FF book.


I may still get around to playing POP someday and if so,  I'll post my review here.

WELCOME FELLOW ADVENTURERS !

Greetings  and  welcome to my new  blog.


My  name  is  Ed  and  I've  been  reading  and  commenting on other  Fighting  Fantasy  blogs for some years  and now I feel compelled to start my own.


Maybe I'm not getting what I want from those other blogs and through my own,   I hope to  shed some light on hitherto unexplored  aspects of  FF.


A confession upfront -  I've never been into the mechanics of gameplay so you wont find any in depth posts here on stats and dice rolling.


Don't get me wrong,  I've nothing against that area,  its just not my personal preference.


What I've always loved about  FF are the  memorable  characters / creatures you encounter and the  outlandish scenarios you find yourself in.


Plus the mysteries and questions that arise from those adventures.


Feel free to leave comments, all  feedback  will be most welcome and appreciated.


May your Stamina prevail   !