City of Thieves, the fifth Fighting Fantasy book, continues the series' gradual coverage of stock fantasy settings. Book 1 featured a cave dungeon, book 2 a citadel, and book 3 a forest. Now we've moved to the city, and that setting is what provides much of this book with its verve and sense of fun.
This is Ian Livingstone's third gamebook, and it has by far the most character of any of his efforts thus far. Sure, the plot is recycled from previous books, but it's the setting that makes it great. Port Blacksand feels like a living place, a city where things go on regardless of the presence of the hero. The book is loaded with mysterious happenings and things that don't make sense, but feel like they might if you'd only arrived a few minutes earlier. No matter how many times I read this book, and despite the fact that I've read every single entry, I feel like if I just explore enough I'll find something new. This is where Livingstone hits his peak as a writer and as a designer.
That said, the final act in Zanbar Bone's tower is a little uninspired, and reliant on cliche. But what do you expect from a necromancer's tower? Most later FF gamebooks would have glossed over the Port Blacksand section, and focused on the tower. I feel like Livingstone made the right choice here, by putting the focus on the city. There's far more novelty to be had there.
As good as Livingstone is, though, as much of the credit must go to illustrator Iain McCaig. The illustrations range from humourous to horrific, and are packed with detail. His crowd scenes are particularly great, with all sorts of cool things going on in the background. McCaig only illustrates two Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, but he's so good that his work almost defined the line. (I would only place Russ Nicholson above him, and that is perhaps more because of childhood bias than any other reason.)
As far as gameplay goes, this one is as straightforward as it gets. It's difficult, without being unfair. Yes, there's a patented Livingstone treasure hunt, but the items you need are not all that hard to find. And yes, there is one unavoidable combat that is very difficult, but there are some combat bonuses to be found that can mitigate this. AND YES, the 1-in-3 choice at the very end of the book is really rather awful, and the sort of thing that inspired millions of children to become dirty cheaters. Even with those flaws, I stand by my assessment that this is probably the most well-balanced book that Ian Livingstone ever produced.
So yeah, this is one of the all-time greats. It's in my top five Fighting fantasy books, for certain. (For the record: Warlock of Firetop Mountain, City of Thieves, Deathtrap Dungeon, House of Hell, Creature of Havoc.) It features perhaps the greatest synergy of writer and artist that the series ever had, it hits a good balance between challenge and frustration, and it's just a hell of a lot of fun. One of the best.
Cool Stuff I Missed
I covered most of the book in my three attempts. The main path I missed was right at the beginning, at the initial three-way junction. I never took the western path down Key Street, and there's a reason for that: one the encounters is with a gang of snipers who either force you to leave ten gold pieces, or shoot you full of arrows. Not only that, but this encounter also leads to a healer who will only heal you if you give him your sword, so it's bad all around. There are two other areas of note along that path: a locksmith shop, and a lizardine selling magical scorpion brooches. You can also find a pair of Elven Boots, but they only grant a bonus to Skill. The other two paths feature items that increase your Attack Strength, which is always better. This is obviously the least beneficial of all three paths, and so I never took it.
'Your Adventure Ends Here' Award for Best Death
Not a death as such, but it is pretty horrible. It's the two trolls that take turns beating the shit out of you that tipped this one over the edge.
Addendum - S.T.A.M.I.N.A. Rating
Story & Setting: The story is a basic item hunt combined with an evil wizard that needs killing. It's done well enough, but it's well-trodden territory even at this stage of the series. It's the setting where this book shines; Port Blacksand is chaotic, weird, and intriguing, and I'd love to have more books set there. Rating: 6 out of 7.
Toughness: Finding all of the items can be tough, although most of them are found in logical places, and there are clues to the ones that aren't. Combat would be just about perfectly balanced if it wasn't for that super-hard Moon Dog battle near the end. And then there's that trick the book pulls at the end, where you have to choose the right ingredients to use to kill Zanbar Bone. A two-in-three chance of death, with no hints as to which is correct? Unforgivable. Without this, City of Thieves would score quite high. With it, I think I have to split the middle. Rating: 4 out of 7.
Aesthetics: The writing's atmospheric, the illustrations are top-notch, and the cover is great. Gamebooks don't look much better than this. Rating: 7 out of 7.
Mechanics: It's the standard FF system, with no additions, and I can't think of anything that the book does wrong in this regard. Rating: 4 out of 7.
Innovation & Influence: It's the first city adventure, and Port Blacksand is a large part of the setting going forward. There's very little innovation, but quite a bit of influence. Rating: 4 out of 7.
NPCs & Monsters: The monsters in this book are mostly the standard fantasy humanoids and a bunch of undead, but there are loads of cool characters here. Most of them only show up briefly, but Livingstone defines them sharply, and McCaig's illustrations go a long way in giving them character. Nicodemus, the Serpent Queen, Sourbelly and Fatnose, the many shopkeeps. The fuckin' Night-Prince. It's good stuff. Rating: 5 out of 7.
Amusement: There are always new things to find in Port Blacksand, and the encounters are quirky and intriguing, and often nasty. This one's always fun to return to. Rating: 6 out of 7.
Yes, City of Thieves gets a bonus point, because I said so. The above scores total 37, which doubled gives a S.T.A.M.I.N.A. Rating of 74.
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