Smuggler's Gold is an unpublished (and probably unwritten) Fighting Fantasy gamebook by Stephen Hand. It was in the planning stages when Puffin Books ceased publication of the original series.
Creation[]
“ I had planned to write more FF but my freelance work went on hold when I joined a PC games company called MicroProse. Strangely enough I started work there as a Designer, but ended up working in management as a Producer and then as Director of the UK Development group - which was a full time job and then some. Throughout this period, Marc Gascoigne kindly kept hassling me to write another FF book and used to wind me up by saying that he was grooming another author to copy my style and to replace me. I did actually start work on two books: Blood of the Mandrake and Smuggler's Gold, but my job never gave me the free time to get more than halfway through each.[1] ”
Background[]
Although it was to be set in the Old World, Stephen Hand described Smuggler's Gold as a "time-out" from his usual themes and preoccupations:
“ Smuggler's Gold would have been fun to do - the quest alone would have been unlike anything seen in any other gamebook ever written (please excuse me if I don't expand on this, but the concept is still original and I am saving it for future possibilities). For me Smuggler's Gold would have been a "time-out" from my main line. We would still have had the grim reality of the Old World as I saw it, but the plot would have been lighter and more humorous. Moreover, Smuggler's Gold would not have furthered any of my ongoing themes, but would have taken place somewhere around the edges of those themes. After Smuggler's Gold I planned to get back into the Old World properly again.[2] ”
It is not known where in the Old World Smuggler's Gold was to be set.
Future of the Book[]
There have been no indications that Wizard Books plan to publish this book.
See Also[]
References[]
- ↑ Letter from Stephen Hand at the Internet Archive record of the old Fightingfantasy.com - Retrieved 2013-09-17
- ↑ Interview with Stephen Hand at the Internet Archive record of Advancedfightingfantasy.com - Retrieved 2013-09-17