Morghanna - does it mean anything?

[JoeGrocottJames]

I was reading a review of the Fighting FAntasy book "Masks of Mayhem" at www.advancedfightingfantasy.com, and the reviewer mentions that the main enemy is Morgana (not a very original name). Does it mean anything? Does anybody know of any other references to Morgana? (I don't think that he would be talking about the Morghanna in Knightmare).

[Elita]

I'd guess that Steve Jackson/Ian Livingston (and Tim Child for that matter) took the name from Arthurian legend. Morgan Le Fay was King Arthur's half-sister and arch enemy, her name is often written as "Morganna".

I loved the Fighting Fantasy series (except for Creature of Havoc) I think I've still got a box of the books in the loft at my parent's house...

[Moocowthingy]

Well could both versions be one and the same thing seeing as this is an ancient name?  A bit like Bodica and Bodicia I suppose.

Ok heres where I get it wrong and people correct me .  The most famous Morganna I know is from the legend of king Arthur.  She is the evil daughter of Merlin and the mother of the gold faced boy.  The gold faced boy is the leader of the opposition in the final battle against king Arthur.  Morganna also had an insestuious relationships.

If you havent seen it I recomend watching the film Excalibur (1981) because.... well I loved it.

[Elita]

Yeah, a lot of names get changed/Anglicised in translation. (like Odysseus/Ulysses and Heracles/Hercules)

The gold-faced boy is Mordred, which is also interesting because if you swap the first 'r' for 'g' you get Mogdred. Coincidence? I think not!  ;)

[Galgarach]

When the going gets tough, SOMEBODY HOLD MY RODENT! ~ minsc

[Moocowthingy]

I'd guess that Steve Jackson/Ian Livingston (and Tim Child for that matter) took the name from Arthurian legend. Morgan Le Fay was King Arthur's half-sister and arch enemy, her name is often written as "Morganna".

I loved the Fighting Fantasy series (except for Creature of Havoc) I think I've still got a box of the books in the loft at my parent's house...

Ahh my apologies for repeating what you already said, it appears we posted at around the same time.  At least I did plug the film Excalibur though .

I forgot to mention that I also was into Fighting fantasy in a big way as a kid.  Ive still got a big pile in the spare cupboard in the back bedroom.  My first book was Citadel of chaos, the Ganjies used to realy scare me .

[Elita]

When the going gets tough, SOMEBODY HOLD MY RODENT! ~ minsc

Magic is impressive. But now Minsc leads! SWORDS FOR EVERYONE!!! ~ Minsc.

Hee, glad to find a fellow Baldur's Gate fan! Minsc would have made a great Knightmare character. Like Gundrada, only... weirder.

My first Fighting Fantasy book was Deathtrap Dungeon. It's still one of my favourites, along with Tower of Death and Trial of Champions.

[Velda]

Lol, Deathdrap Dungeon was my first FF book (not to be confused with Final Fantasy) book too!  I bought quite a few brand new from the shops at the time, but most of them came from charity shops.  I'm still trying to get the books I don't have (I have most of them I think, but there's still quite a lot to get).  I keep them in the wardrobe in my bedroom.  Did you know that the books are being republished again?  Just after Christmas I bought two brand spanking "new" FF books in Ottaker's in Glasgow - Crypt of the Sorcerer and The Seven Serpents. They are being republished every few months!  ;D

[Fidjit]

Hmm. very perplexing! It must mean something!

[Mogdred]

Lol, Deathdrap Dungeon was my first FF book (not to be confused with Final Fantasy) book too!  I bought quite a few brand new from the shops at the time, but most of them came from charity shops.  I'm still trying to get the books I don't have (I have most of them I think, but there's still quite a lot to get).  I keep them in the wardrobe in my bedroom.  Did you know that the books are being republished again?  Just after Christmas I bought two brand spanking "new" FF books in Ottaker's in Glasgow - Crypt of the Sorcerer and The Seven Serpents. They are being republished every few months!  ;D

Fantastic! I'll look out for them!

[Dublex]

Great, another Fighting Fantasy fan - I used to get the books when I was younger too, I still do, originals off ebay A good source if you want to collect certain books

Favourite Books and ones I reccommend:

1. Deathtrap Dungeon (My 1st book and the best)
2. Keep of the Lich Lord (multiple success endings, multiple paths, interesting and involving plot)
3. Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Books that are interesting:

1. The Zagor series books (Mountain,  Return and Legend Zagor)
2. The Vampire series (Vault and Revenge)
3. Appointment with F.E.A.R (superheroes!)

Books that you should steer clear of:

1. Scorpion Swamp (not bad concept but too short)
2. Star strider (not bad but again weak)
3. Space assassin (another space series one)

Maybe we should start our own fan board or all join one in use

[Elita]

Books that you should steer clear of:

1. Scorpion Swamp (not bad concept but too short)
2. Star strider (not bad but again weak)
3. Space assassin (another space series one)

And Creature of Havoc! AND CREATURE OF HAVOC!!! I couldnt for the life of me work out how to translate what people were saying in that book, and ended up writing a sarcastic commentary in the margins. (I'm good at that) Grrr. Deathtrap Dungon's certainly my favourite, there was actually a computer game of it released a few years ago.

Most of my books came from charity shops, though I do have the 10th anniversary diary. Titan and Out Of The Pit are certainly worth getting if you can find them, Titan is a guide to the FF world and Out of the Pit is a bestiary.

[Dublex]

If anyone is interested in what we are talking about, have a look at http://www.fightingfantasy.com as it is a website that contains information about all the books written and although it is no longer frequently updated it has full and completely information/reviews about the books along with solutions.

But I agree with you completely Elita I though that Creature of Havoc was uniquely written but almost impossible to solve  unless you are a brainbox the only way I saw how to do it was to read the solution, and thats complex enough

[JoeGrocottJames]

There is also www.advancedfightingfantasy.com (sorry, don't know how to get links to work if this doesn't work), which is still being updated (although it has been a while since the last update) and has a discussion board.

Maybe we should start our own fan board or all join one in use

I personally don't see the point of starting another discussion board when there is one available - everybody always with these things seem to use the most major one anyway.

Incidentally, at the time of the last update of www.fightingfatasy.com in July 2000, the Fighting Fantasy books were completely out of print and with no plans of reprinting or anything else happening (you can read a few letters including some to Puffin). However, the've now been republished out of the blue! This seems to parallel what is happening with Knightmare - about a year ago, when I first found this site, nothing was happening. Then, it's all happening out of the blue. There was an wntry in the Guestbook around the time near the end of when series 3 was first shown on Challenge who said that they had missed it because they decided that nothing was happening and didn't look at the site for a while. Also, the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and Knightmare stopped for similar reasons - the intended age turning to computer games.

[Lord_Bob]

Wow, I have a few FF books, notably Deathtrap Dungeon. I also have other RPG books like that. Someone mentioned the Legend Of lagor and I have the boardgame of that.