The best of each author: the final vote-off

[petch]

Here we go with the final then. Each of the books voted as the forum's favourite from each author is presented here, with the exception of Stephen Hand who has two of his books offered up as voting options due to his poll uniquely among the individual author polls ending as a draw. 

The individual polls didn't really throw up any shock results. Despite a number of very close calls, nearly all of them were ultimately won by the books that placed the highest amongst them in the rankings thread. So what have we learned from this whole exercise then? In all honesty, not a lot, other than that the forum's favourite books remain its favourite books regardless of the voting mechanism used, and that the slight change in active members we have now compared to when Wilf ran the scoring for the rankings thread hasn't made too much difference to our overall consensus on what the best books are.

Still, I hope it's been a bit of fun. And there were a couple of exceptions: Steve Jackson (UK)'s highest placed book in the rankings, House of Hell, performed surprisingly poorly in his poll with an unimpressive two votes, and so he is represented here by Creature of Havoc instead, and Sky Lord, which won its poll, was actually Martin Allen's lowest placing book in the rankings, several places below both Clash of the Princes books.

There is, of course, one important matter still to settle - that of the forum's favourite FF overall from the winners of each of the individual polls. Can Slaves of the Abyss do the double and win this contest after already finishing at the pinnacle of the rankings thread? Or will another book take the crown?

I've chosen to hide the results of this poll, for, like, drama and shit. I've also noted a couple of recent comments from posters who missed the cutoff in some of the other polls, so a slightly longer voting window for this one to give everyone the chance to have their say - poll closes at 10pm Sunday 13th.

[terrysalt]

I'm splitting the Stephen Hand vote and ensuring another author wins. But Moonrunner was always going to be my vote.

[CharlesX]

Feb 9, 2022 5:44:02 GMT terrysalt said:

I'm splitting the Stephen Hand vote and ensuring another author wins. But Moonrunner was always going to be my vote.

Voted for the other Hand. Even more of a wasted vote, but I don't do tactical voting.
   I'll be amazed if Sky Lord gets even 1 vote, sympathy or not. I know we often complain about SF FF, but aside from Sky Lord and Starship Traveller they're interesting and fitting.

[The Count]

I have not voted for Sky Lord

[kieran]

I'll leave revealing what I voted for until the results are out and instead engage in some idle speculation as to which book might win:

- Deathtrap Dungeon is probably the most iconic book in the series but Ian's books aren't quite as popular here as they are in say the FF Facebook groups where it would probably win by a country mile. It's a contender but probably not a favourite.

- Creature of Havoc: one of the most ambitious books in the series which is generally well liked bar the odd detractor. Could see it winning.

-Demons of the Deep: well liked in general but I highly doubt it's anyone's favourite book

- Talisman of Death: another contender especially given the popularity of Orb

- Seas of Blood: no chance

- Phantoms of Fear: could be a bit of a dark horse - it seems that as the years have gone on, this book has become more and more appreciated within the fandom. Still, can't quite see it winning but it may do ok

- Portal of Evil: Seems to have a small but solid fan base but the question is would it be many people's favourite out of all these books? I doubt it

- Daggers of Darkness: quite a marmite book and even its fans probably have one or two books listed here that they prefer

- Slaves of the Abyss: the lesson from all these recent competitions is never bet against Slaves of the Abyss

- Sky Lord: lol

- Vault of the Vampire: I feel this book is in an odd position because although it's the most popular Keith Martin book, it seems those who really like Martin probably prefer Night Dragon. I wouldn't be surprised if it picks up 1 or 2 votes but I can't see it winning

- Legend of the Shadow Warriors/Moonrunner: if either of these books was here on its own they would be a firm favourite. Together they may split the vote though that assumes those who would vote for one would also vote for the other. Even with a split vote, I wouldn't count either out

- Howl of the Werewolf: the book that topped the Fighting Fantazine poll however many years ago though it seems the sheen has come off it a bit recently. A contender but not a favourite I think.

- Siege of Sardath: could be a contender though it is up against Creature of Havoc which it owes a lot to. Do Sardath fans tend to prefer Creature? Or did Phillips refine Jackson's style to produce a more beloved book?

TLDR:

Favourites
Creature of Havoc
Slaves of the Abyss
Legend of the Shadow Warriors
Moonrunner

Contenders
Deathtrap Dungeon
Talisman of Death
Howl of the Werewolf
Siege of Sardath

Unlikely
Phantoms of Fear
Portal of Evil
Vault of the Vampire

If Hell freezes over
Demons of the Deep
Seas of Blood
Daggers of Darkness
Sky Lord

[sleepyscholar]

Feb 9, 2022 5:44:02 GMT terrysalt said:

I'm splitting the Stephen Hand vote and ensuring another author wins. But Moonrunner was always going to be my vote.

I wasn't going to vote, for reasons which I laughably associate with ethics, but it does seem a bit hard on Stephen having two books in there, so I'll vote for what I would have voted for anyway: Moonrunner. Those worried about the ethics of allowing a participant to vote are welcome to discount one of the book's votes once results are revealed. Oh, and sorry to Charles X!

[sleepyscholar]

By the way, petch, I think making the results secret until the poll ends is absolutely the right move: stymies those tactical voters! And as you say, makes it more dramatic. Sky Lord for the win!

[CharlesX]

So, what happens in the event of a (shock) draw, like with S. Hand?

If you declare the two or more the joint winners, turn to 399.

If you hold a final poll between them, turn to 199.

[natwa]

I agree with most of your assesment, Kieran. However, if I remember correctly, there was another poll before the one won by Slaves of the Abyss and that this poll had Talisman of Death and Siege of Sardath in first and second place, though I don't remember which was in second and which was in first. Although that one used a very different methodology, so to speak, that would suggest to me that those two books should be among the top 4-5 favourites.

For Hand's books, the fact that both Legend of the Shadow Warriors and Moonrunner are here in the final, may very well mean that the vote of the Hands fans may be split between them, which I suspect may give both Slaves of the Abyss, Talisman of Death and Siege of Sardath a leg up  compared to those two.

As for Creature of Havoc,like the tight race in the poll for best Steve Jackson(UK) FF gamebook seemed to indicate, there doesn't really seem to be a clear consensus  as to what's the best FF gamebook from Steve Jackson(UK). Since his most acclaimed FF gamebooks are so different from one another, I do suspect that the people who didn't vote for Creature of Havoc earlier on, won't vote for it now. Either because they don't think it's amazing enough or because they think it's not that good(like me, although this is partly for personal reasons and I certainly don't think it's a bad book.

Apart from that, I think your prediction and assesment is good. Although I would have liked Portal of Evil to place high here, I don't think it will be in the top 5 and since a FF gamebook that is even more of a favourite made it to this final, I'll be voting for that instead, but I hope that there are other people in the group who love it even more than me who will give it the votes it fully deserve.

[kieran]

Feb 10, 2022 15:44:33 GMT natwa said:

Although I would have liked Portal of Evil to place high here, I don't think it will be in the top 5 and since a FF gamebook that is even more of a favourite made it to this final, I'll be voting for that instead, but I hope that there are other people in the group who love it even more than me who will give it the votes it fully deserve.

It's in my top 5 FF books but it's not the only finalist that's true of.

[petch]

Feb 10, 2022 12:23:12 GMT CharlesX said:

So, what happens in the event of a (shock) draw, like with S. Hand?

If you declare the two or more the joint winners, turn to 399.

If you hold a final poll between them, turn to 199.

Then I shall arbitrarily declare Blood of the Zombies as the winner.




...oh okay then, I'd probably have to go for the final poll option. Hope that doesn't happen though - would be nice to have a clear cut winner!

[petch]

Feb 10, 2022 8:37:46 GMT sleepyscholar said:

Feb 9, 2022 5:44:02 GMT terrysalt said:

I'm splitting the Stephen Hand vote and ensuring another author wins. But Moonrunner was always going to be my vote.

I wasn't going to vote, for reasons which I laughably associate with ethics, but it does seem a bit hard on Stephen having two books in there, so I'll vote for what I would have voted for anyway: Moonrunner. Those worried about the ethics of allowing a participant to vote are welcome to discount one of the book's votes once results are revealed. Oh, and sorry to Charles X!

I don't think anyone would begrudge you your chance to have your vote!

Agree with you on Hand though, it does seem to have unfairly disadvantaged him being the only author to have had his poll end in a draw. When the results are revealed I guess we'll see just by how much it did.

[bloodbeasthandler]

You could put half these titles in a hat and draw out one at random and I'd be happy enough with the winner.

Are people voting for their favourite book from this list? Or favourite author?

If it's the latter, then Stephen Hand's chances of winning overall are increased by his having two books in there, not decreased.

[kieran]

I assumed it was a vote for best book?

[bloodbeasthandler]

Feb 12, 2022 10:04:33 GMT kieran said:

I assumed it was a vote for best book?

Yeah I did too, but this talk of splitting the Stephen Hand vote has got me wondering.

Are people considering the books to be 'proxies' or 'champions' for individual authors? 

I don't mind and am interested in the results and comments here either way, but I'm going voting for book and I'll give my reasons when voting is over. 

If it's author we're on about then I would be taking into account 'extra-curricular' activities and not only the books. I mean things like Jon Green's contribution towards the history of FF with 'YOU Are the Hero' and his organising of The Fighting Fantasy Fests. And Steve and Ian's being the ones who came up with FF in the first place and set standards for artwork etc. 

[Wilf]

I have voted for my favourite book. Doesn't seem right to do it any other way, and it makes the previous rounds pointless if we're just voting for a favourite author.

[petch]

Can't speak for anyone else, but I was making a very broad assumption that if only one of Hand's books was presented as an option, some (but by no means all) of the votes that would have gone towards the other book would have been cast for the one book represented instead, due to certain similarities between the two, or because someone was a fan of Hand's writing style above any of the other options, or what have you.

[terrysalt]

I voted for my favourite book. My reference to splitting the vote was meant to be somewhat facetious. If Moonrunner wasn't on the list, I'd have voted for Slaves of the Abyss instead.

[misomiso]

I voted for Deathtrap.

There are other books that in some ways are more of my 'favourite' - for example I love the Stephen hand books Moonrunner and Legend, and in general I prefer Steve Jackson books to Ian Livingstone ones, but I really think Deathtrap is a deserving winner.

It has incredibly creative encounters, is a great puzzle in itself, and is wonderfully written - I often think Ian get's underrated as a writer as Steve Jackson's books are far more experimental, but the whole tone of the book just works so well, combining horrific enemies (the Mirror demon!) with the adventurer's almost simple desire to just make some money!

And of course the big plus to the book is the 'meta' of a dungeon designed to kill you, just like DnD's Tomb of Horror's before it.

Marvelous.

[CharlesX]

Feb 13, 2022 10:24:17 GMT misomiso said:

I voted for Deathtrap.

There are other books that in some ways are more of my 'favourite' - for example I love the Stephen hand books Moonrunner and Legend, and in general I prefer Steve Jackson books to Ian Livingstone ones, but I really think Deathtrap is a deserving winner.

It has incredibly creative encounters, is a great puzzle in itself, and is wonderfully written - I often think Ian get's underrated as a writer as Steve Jackson's books are far more experimental, but the whole tone of the book just works so well, combining horrific enemies (the Mirror demon!) with the adventurer's almost simple desire to just make some money!

And of course the big plus to the book is the 'meta' of a dungeon designed to kill you, just like DnD's Tomb of Horror's before it.

Marvelous.

As I pointed out in vote your favourite Livingstone, IOTLK was a really good Livingstone book which sadly got no votes in these polls (my own liking for Trial is not shared by other FF fans, even among Deathtrap fans). So, I suspect several very worthy books will get few, even no votes here.
   Not Sky Lord though, that one should go straight to Room 101.

[petch]

Congratulations to Legend of the Shadow Warriors! Interesting that each of the voting variations that are held from time to time always seem to throw up a different winner, so it's good to see different titles get some appreciation, and Legend is certainly worthy of it.

All of the earlier talk (a lot of it from myself) around the Hand vote being split didn't matter in the end - indeed, taking the four votes for Moonrunner into account too, over a third of the total votes cast here were for a Hand title.

Good, too, to see a number of different titles picking up some votes here; with so many quality books on offer, it's nice to see some love being spread around. If we were envisioning a victory podium though, second and third positions would both be joint, with Moonrunner and Howl of the Werewolf picking up silver medals and the bronzes going to the books voted the finest of the series' co-creators, Deathtrap Dungeon and Creature of Havoc.

At least one of the predictions that had been made in the posts above proved accurate too: Sky Lord didn't get any votes.

[petch]

Feb 12, 2022 8:26:02 GMT bloodbeasthandler said:

You could put half these titles in a hat and draw out one at random and I'd be happy enough with the winner.

Yes, me too, there were a whole clutch of books I would have been happy to see win, and Legend was one of them. Moonrunner is probably my favourite book to play and replay. Deathtrap Dungeon manages to distill everything I find fun about playing gamebooks into an almost archetypal dungeon crawl. Phantoms of Fear, Portal of Evil, Slaves of the Abyss and Howl of the Werewolf all showcase some of the finest writers to pen an FF at the tops of their games.

My own vote though went to Creature of Havoc, for its scope, ambition, brilliance of design and for pushing the boundaries of what can be done with the medium.

[kieran]

Well there you go, my predictions weren't too bad: Howl did a bit better than I expected, Slaves a bit worse.

Although Shadow Warriors is a great book, there would be quite a few here I would prefer. I voted for Deathtrap Dungeon and pleased that I wasn't the only one.

Thanks for doing this Petch.

[misomiso]

Legends is a worthy winner. Really great story with lots of colour and a great finale.

[terrysalt]

I see the Shadow Warriors won Handily (thank you, I'll be here all week ).

[sylas]

Best result! Though sometimes I wish there were a few more voters.

[The Count]

Most of my top 10 ended up in this poll, and I'm glad one of my favourites won

[natwa]

A bit late to the replies but , as someone who voted for Legend of a Shadow Warriors, I'm really happy that it won. It's in my top 5 of favourite FF books if you include the Sorcery series and in my top 3, maybe even number 1, if you don't. I have to admit though that there's only a few of the books in the final that I really like that much. I don't think I really actively dislike any of the books, apart from Sky Lord. But most of the other FF gamebooks in the final still have enough things about them that I dislike and/or plain bad memories in connection with playing them(like Creature of Havoc), that they cancel out or almost cancel out the things I like about them, and I won't deny that each of them also have something to like about them.

Out of the other ones in the final Portal of Evil and, if you don't count the Sorcery series, Howl of the Werewolf, are both in my top 10. Phantoms of Fear are in my top 20 and Siege of Sardath and Talisman of Death are somewhere around the intersection between top 20 and top 30. But apart from Demons of the Deep and maybe Deathdtrap Dungeon, I'm not sure if any of the other ones would be in my top 30.

It's interesting that the final was, as I interpret it, about voting on the most loved Fighting Fantasy Gamebook, in contrast to the poll that I think either Talisman of Death or Siege of Sardath won, which was, in essensce about voted for the least disliked FF. So since the most loved FF gamebooks are not the least disliked in vice versa and the focus of the voting was also different from the second poll, perhaps none of us should be that surprised that the result in this poll was different from the result in both those polls. Anyway, thanks for the initiative, Petch.