Gamebooks: you are the protagonist!
Sir Ian Livingstone
Gamebooks have the particularity of making the reader the protagonist of fantastic stories, thanks to the union of narrative and game mechanics, which can range from the classic crossroads story to more complex mechanisms with dice or scoreboards. Also this year Lucca Comics & Games is the theatre for a series of exceptional events on this borderline world between book and game, which for years has been drawing the public in one direction and the other. Moreover, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Lucca Games (57 years of Lucca Comics & Games), international guests, prestigious launches and the Gamebook's Land Awards are not to be missed.
Three are the foreign guests who will represent this world: Sir Ian Livingstone, creator of GamesWorkshop and prolific author of gamebooks such as the Fighting Fantasy series, written with Steve Jackson that has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Sir Livingstone will be present on 1 November with Raven Distribution for the launch of the bookDice Men: The Origin Story of Games Workshop, the never-before-told story of the iconic Warhammer company. Appointment also on 2November with his masterclass Life Is a Game, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, at the Spazio Workshop Carducci (in the Pavilion of the same name). A journey that will touch on the fundamentals of the gaming industry, right up to the technical aspects of how a successful gamebook such as the Fighting Fantasy series is created. The meeting, with strictly limited numbers, will be enriched by a presentation created by the author himself and his willingness to engage with the audience.
Guests of the same publishing house will also be Swen Harder and Edward T. Riker, authors of the gamebooks that will be present at the event with their new releases: Metal Heroes - The Fate of Rock by Harder and Choose Cthulhu II 6 - The Shadow Out of Time edited by Riker. The latter will be the focus of the panel Cthulhu: The Great Ancients in the Gaming World in the Ingellis Room on Friday 3 November at 2.15pm.
Among this year's novelties, there will also be titles by local authors, such as the new volume of the trilogy The Necronomicon Gamebook: Kadath, published by Officina Meningi, written by Valentino Sergi and illustrated by Francesco Biagini and Jacopo Schiavo, with a cover by Alberto Dal Lago.
Testifying to the growth of the gamebook community, Sara Stefanizzi, known to most as Kurolily, will be at Lucca Comics & Games. She will present her first gamebook L'Isola Maledetta (the cursed island) published by Fabbri Editori at 1 p.m. on 1November in the Bishopric Hall. She will duet with author and journalist Lorenzo Fantoni with whom they will discover this new title that combines Stefanizzi's two passions: gamebooks and pop culture.
The programme dedicated to gamebooks will close on 5 November, at the Sala Ingellis at 2.15 pm, where the Gamebook's Land Awards will be held: the editorial staff of Gamebook's Land, in the company of Pierdomenico Baccalario, will present the awards dedicated to the best gamebooks published in the last year.