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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 14:50:46 GMT
From TUFFF (slightly different title)... A very few exceptions for what i said:
1 - HOUSE OF HELL
2 - TRIAL OF CHAMPIONS
3 - APPOINTMENT WITH FEAR. Razaak's apprentice |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 14:51:30 GMT
From TUFFF... What do you think is wrong with the other titles? What would you have called some of the other books if the decision had been yours? |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 14:52:50 GMT
From TUFFF... It is not easy to answer that. I just think that most of the FF books could have better titles. Instead of saying one in the place of the one chosen, I will say a couple of names that would excite my imagination:
1 - The Supreme Demon.
2 - The Lair of All Evil. Razaak's apprentice |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 14:54:28 GMT
From TUFFF... it is not easy to answer that. i just think the most part of ff book could have a better title. instead of saying one in the place of the one chosen, i will say a couple of names that woud excite my imagination:1 - The Supreme Demon.2 - The Lair of All Evil. Both those suggested titles above lean towards hyperbole. At least the FF titles have a sort of lurid cheap horror paperback feel to many of them. While I don't hate any of the titles used by FF, I must admit I'm not so keen on the alliterative titles like "The Citadel of Chaos" and "Fangs of Fury" or ones that simply tell you the basics like "Space Assassin" and "Rebel Planet". (328) Despite your best efforts, you find yourself decaying in front of a computer screen. Your adventure ends here. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 14:56:24 GMT
From TUFFF... The majority of the titles with 'OF' or 'OF THE' in them don't set fire to my imagination but most of these turn out to be great reads. Knights of Doom is one of my faves but it never used to catch my attention when I was younger. IMO the best title hands down remains The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. Two Words |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 14:56:58 GMT
From TUFFF... Well. I admit maybe I was a little too hard in this topic. I guess a lot of fighting fantasy titles are not really so bad. Razaak's apprentice |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 14:57:22 GMT
From TUFFF... I like most of them. I wouldn't go as far as call them genius, but most of them fit the bill, feel's right, if you will, in their respective context, which is to be a Fighting Fantasy title. Just like a James Bond movie feels like a James Bond movie because of it's particular brand of title. In any other context, something like The Man with the Golden Gun or Octopussy would feel overly long, weird or laughable, but as a James Bond title it feels right. Speak in extremes, it will save you time. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 14:59:06 GMT
From TUFFF... I think I mentioned in one of my blog posts recently, (my playthrough of Temple of Terror if I remember right), that sometimes titles could get a little samey at times. Curiously while playing through the book I did find that I enjoyed it a lot, so it's a case of judging the book by the title. I'd definitely have tried to spice it up if I were the editor though, seeing as there's very little of the titular 'temple' seen in the book. "Desert of Desolation" would have been better, it keeps the alliteration theme going. Or "Desert of massive killer sandworms".... Fighting for your Fantasy - Remember the gamebooks of your past, one adventure at a time - fightyourfantasy.blogspot.co.uk |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:00:01 GMT
From TUFFF... I respect your opinion, but I disagree... the 3 best titles are definitely:
1 - house of hell
2 - trial of champions
3 - appointment with fear Razaak's apprentice |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:00:41 GMT
From TUFFF... No, I disagree. The best titles are:
1. Skylord
2. Starship Traveller
3. Eye of the Dragon The more beautiful and pure FF is – the more satisfying it is to corrupt it. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:01:17 GMT
From TUFFF... 1. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
2. Deathtrap Dungeon
3. Black Vein Prophecy - this one is actually better once you've completed the book and understood its meaning. Two Words |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:02:17 GMT
From TUFFF... I'd definitely have tried to spice it up if I were the editor though, seeing as there's very little of the titular 'temple' seen in the book. "Desert of Desolation" would have been better, it keeps the alliteration theme going. Or "Desert of massive killer sandworms".... Actually there's more of it in the Temple than out of it - you just died far too early  I think Trial of Champions is a pretty good title. It could be taken as referring to the contest in Deathtrap Dungeon itself and also the trial of surviving as a slave in order to get your revenge and thus be a champion to all those who died in the arena. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:03:24 GMT
From TUFFF... I agree with vagsancho: I think most of the titles are rubbish. And I don't exclude my own from that criticism (though like sylas I have a soft spot for Black Vein Prophecy, mainly because it was a deliberate attempt to break the FF title 'pattern'). Actually I include vagsancho's examples of good titles in my criticism. House of Hell works only because it conjures up memories of Hammer Horror. Trial of Champions sounds like a variant on breakfast, and Appointment With FEAR is clever (because of the acronym), but sounds to me like one of those 'kids in their school holidays foil a plot by an international spy ring' type stories you read when you were still learning to read. Trouble is, as you realise when you actually start trying to come up with better titles yourself, it's bloody difficult! The disagreement here on what constitutes a good title makes this clearer. I'm obviously with sylas on disliking 'Um of the Arg' type titles (hence the titles post-Slaves of the Abyss), but you do get pulled back to that sort of comforting pattern; you see the same thing with Doctor Who story titles (now why didn't I call The Crimson Tide, The Ambassadors of Death?). For what it's worth, I don't much care for The Supreme Demon. I like The Lair of All Evil much better. But both suffer in my mind from the hyperbole gallicus mentioned. It is an interesting exercise, though: how would you rename your favourite FF books? |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:04:52 GMT
From TUFFF... Many of the titles sound better as they originally were to begin with. Alas for one reason or another, they were changed to something considered perhaps more appropriate. I may be wrong with some of these but I think the following sound better than the published titles: Pirates of the Black Skull
Eye of the Storm
Plague of the Undead
Dragon Master
Escape from Zombie Castle  I am aware this kinda contradicts my dislike of the 'of the' titles. Two Words |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:05:39 GMT
From TUFFF... According to Warlock magazine, Crypt was originally going to be either The Howling Tunnels or Crypt of the Necromancer. I think The Howling Tunnels is my favourite of the three. Though Die, Reader, Die! would have been a more accurate title. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:06:26 GMT
From TUFFF... Was Keep of the Lich-Lord supposed to be Lord of Shadow Keep? I think I have that actual book somewhere in my collection. Two Words |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:06:57 GMT
From TUFFF... I also know for a fact that the alternate title of You Can't Win This was also considered for Die, Reader, Die! Speak in extremes, it will save you time. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:09:37 GMT
From TUFFF... Was Keep of the Lich-Lord supposed to be Lord of Shadow Keep? I doubt it. The mention of TLoSK in a FF context was in The Seven Serpents, which was published in 1984. The Golden Dragon book The Lord of Shadow Keep came out in 1985, and was authored by a friend and co-author of Dave Morris. The Keep of the Lich-Lord didn't hit the shelves until the 1990s. So either: a) Dave and Jamie somehow wound up taking 6-odd years to write their FF book, during which time Jamie also co-wrote two FF books and the whole of The Way of the Tiger and Falcon, and Dave wrote/co-wrote a couple of GD books, not to mention Dragon Warriors, Knightmare and Blood Sword. Meanwhile, Oliver Johnson stole Jamie and Dave's title, forcing them to go for something different when their book was finally done (since there's no way FF would ever use the same title as a GD book), but Dave chose to overlook this and continue working with Oliver for the next several years. or b) FF was going to publish The Lord of Shadow Keep, but for some reason it wound up coming out as a GD. The second option strikes me as being more likely. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:11:09 GMT
From TUFFF... I think The Howling Tunnels is my favourite of the three. Yeah, it's not bad, but only a small percentage of the book is actually spent in those tunnels. Although I suppose a similar length of time is spent in the Crypt, but at least the Crypt is the ultimate destination rather than a place you just stop off at. There was an interview with a woman in Puffin books (I'm sorry but can't remember where it was) where she mentions Oliver was going to write it for FF then published it as a GD without telling anyone in Puffin he was going to do so. Oops. It's not really that similar to Keep of the Lich Lord to be honest. It's very quirky for a start, if not quite on a level with Sky Lord. It's also hard as nails. It's likeable enough but I wouldn't say it was any great loss to FF. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:12:18 GMT
From TUFFF... It's not really that similar to Keep of the Lich Lord to be honest. It's very quirky for a start, if not quite on a level with Sky Lord. It's also hard as nails. It's likeable enough but I wouldn't say it was any great loss to FF. If it were at Sky Lord levels of quirkiness, offering the Troll's bowling ball to the Weretiger would be the correct decision. Yes, I own a copy. Have the whole set, in fact. I'd say that at least three of the other GD books are more difficult than TLoSK. Which is not to say that it's not hard, just that a lot of the series comes somewhere between '1984-5 Livingstone' and CotS on the difficulty scale. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 17, 2013 15:12:49 GMT
From TUFFF... Yeah, the Golden Dragon books are pretty tough as a whole (apart from the first and last). I think I've pretty much despaired of ever beating The Temple of Flame. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Nov 18, 2013 21:05:05 GMT
'Battleblade Warrior' is pretty feeble. It couldn't be more generic if it tried.
('Wow, a warrior who battles! And he uses a blade! How do they come up with this stuff?')
It might have been better to bite the bullet and put a name in the title - something the FF books tended to shy away from.
Champion of Telak or
Triumph of Telak or
Spirit of Telak or
Assorted Bodyparts of Telak or
THE CAARTH!
...might have been more effective.
Saviour of... or
Hero of...
might have worked if the name of the place you're trying to save wasn't 'Vymorna' which, like 'Scunthorpe', makes it sound like somewhere that's better off being left to the lizard men.
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