Zoom into South Ayrshire

Collated by Elaine Brown South Ayrshire came into existence as a unitary authority in 1996 and comprises the south western corner of the historical county of Ayrshire.  It ranges from built-up in the north, where it is home to Glasgow International Airport at Prestwick, to rich agricultural land in the south.  Where to find local collections:   Scottish […]

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Dungeons and Dice-Rolls 4

Part 4: The end and the new beginning The original series continued with a rapid turnover, including a number of new ideas and scenarios. 1985’s releases included Ian Livingstone’s ‘Freeway Fighter’, a ‘Mad Max’ inspired adventure involving vehicular combat, Andrew Chapman’s pirate story ‘Seas of Blood’ which contained sea-based combat and Jackson’s ‘Appointment with F.E.A.R.’, […]

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Dungeons and Dice-Rolls 3

Part 3: A series Following the success of ‘The Warlock of Firetop Mountain’ Jackson and Livingstone were asked to turn their idea into a series, and Livingstone pitched ‘Fighting Fantasy’ as a title. Having learned the pitfalls of co-authoring, the pair started work on separate books. Livingstone admits that the writing process was complicated, and […]

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Dungeons and Dice-Rolls 2

Part 2: The mechanics of Fighting Fantasy Players begin ‘The Warlock of Firetop Mountain’ by rolling dice to determine their skill, stamina and luck levels. Skill represents a player’s fighting ability and stamina is their endurance level – essentially their lifeline – with luck coming into play in the ‘test your luck’ game mechanics. These […]

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Dungeons and Dice-Rolls

During the month of February the mezzanine display in our General Reading Room celebrates the ‘Fighting Fantasy’ series. To mark this we are publishing a blog on the history of these books throughout the month. Part 1: The adventure begins On 27 August 1982 Puffin books released ‘The Warlock of Firetop Mountain’. Essentially a choice-based […]

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