Season 2 Review

I won't lie guys, I was kind of dreading season 2.  The Fighting Fantasy teens did not strike me as going to be great.  I feel a lot of that was due to the lack of fantasy books.  With only five of them being a fantasy theme and only four in Titan I was very worried.  Especially as two of them came at the very end, I was concerned momentum might be an issue.

However to be fair I was pleasantly surprised.  I mean Space Assassin and Freeway Fighter are not the best and neither was Seas of Blood.  But its a very strong finish with Appointment with F.E.A.R, Demons of the Deep and Sword of the Samurai all being some of my favorites so far.  

I will repeat though that despite all the tongue and cheek in my reviews I think it is worth applauding everyone who was part of the process efforts.  I have enjoyed at least parts of every book and it is a testament to these people that we are still talking about them in 2023.  Thank you all!

Anyway lets get to why you are all here, let do a list!

Top 10 Ranking - 

1.  Appointment with F.E.A.R

2.  Sword of the Samurai 

3.  Demons of the Deep

4.  Talisman of Death

5.  Temple of Terror

6.  Rings of Kether 

7.  Rebel Planet

8.  Seas of Blood

9.  Space Assassin

10.  Freeway Fighter

Yes I have surprised myself there.  Probably one of the ones I was dreading the most ended up being the one I enjoyed the most.  I was expecting the super hero genre to be lame, especially since they could not use any Marvel/DC characters.  But Steve Jackson does a fantastic job of creating his own super hero universe.  Well super villians I should say.  A wonderfully fun book with multiple different ways to play with different endings.

It was a tough choice between two and three though.  I did hum and hah but I will give the nod to Sword of the Samurai thanks to the vastly superior art.  Both were good non linear adventures with a lot replayability.   Steve Jackson (2) crafts a great book with Demons and Mark/Jamie's detailed prose in SOS is a high point.  Both craft new and unique worlds for Titan and make full use of great themes.

Talisman is another good book, just a small margin off the top three but again great fun to play through.  It is very atmospheric and being chased by the messengers of death produces great tension.  Again I feel Mark and Jamie were excellent and they bring a city to life very well.  Just not sure about the hero being from earth.

I've plumped for Temple of Terror next over the others just because of the world building for Titan Ian does in it.  For fans of that kind of stuff (which I am) there are some great call backs.  The adventure is ok as well, its not the best but having to search for dragon idols at least explains why you have to search for everything.  

Rings was my favorite of the sci-fi (at least space) books.  Its less blaster and more investigative.  I like that change of pace but still plenty of combat for people who want to play it that way.  Its very open as well with all the different directions you can go in.  Andrew Chapman has done very well making it feel open world.  

It just edges out Rebel Planet.  Again not a bad book by any means.  Just a few leaps of logic required and a very anti climatic end and poor choices of illustrations really hamper it.  But its very good world building from Robin.  It starts very strong but trails off.

Seas of Blood is disappointing though, but that might be my fault as I was really looking forward to jumping back into Titan Fantasy.  Again though it is fun in places but it does not stack up against the better books.

Space Assassin gets a lot of hate, but I think it is a little better than people think.  Its not amazing but its an ok adventure.  When you think Andrew wrote it after just reading Warlock it makes sense.  It is Warlock in space.  But I really did like the laser combat system.  That ending though, oh my.

Freeway is at the bottom of the list though.  I think it was a brave change of genre and worth the attempt.  It feels rushed for me though and not just the art.  There is only so many car based encounters you can have, and not enough to fill a good gamebook.

Awards Show - 

Cover - 

Best - 

This is probably going to upset some people.  We have been spoilt in this category.  Both Sword of the Samurai covers are wonderful and Demons of the Deep is one of my all time favorites.  But Talisman of Death features the most awesome metal cover ever.  But saying that....

This is just so atmospheric I have gone for this one.

Yep I just picked a wizard cover over some of the best FF covers of all time.

Worst - 

Some security guards watching sport, a strange choice to pick.

Premise - 

Best - 

I am going to give it to Rebel Planet.  It is well detailed with its multiple sections of history, background and also telling you about all the different Arcadian species.  As I said before, great worldbuilding.

Worst - 

Tough this one as not really any bad premises but ill give the nod to Seas of Blood.  Two pirates make a bet to see who can win the most booty.

Artwork - 

Best - 

Got some good ones to pick from here but I have gone for - 

This is so creepy and fits the tone of this encounter so well.

Worst - 

It was tough to just pick one from Freeway Fighter.

The Big Bad - 

Best - 

Now there is nothing quite as epic as Balthus Dire I am afraid but the epic fight against Captain Bloodaxe and his pirates as you summon a horde of skeletons like Jason and the Argonauts almost got it.  Its just a great visual.  But technically that's not all Captain Bloodaxe.  So I am going to give it to Ikiru.  He is an evil demon lord whose presence is felt throughout and a pretty epic final battle that can go a variety of different ways.

Worst - 

The hybrid computer at the end of Rebel Planet, it is pretty much a non event and a very disappointing ending.  We do not even get a picture of it!

Menagerie - 

Best - 

A very tense scene.

Tyutchv and Cassandra are great recurring bad guys, they project a sense of fear and its a relief to get away from them.   If you do end up in a fight later with them they are tough.  They are not above getting some help either.

Worst - 

The Sandworm from Dune.

Why this guy you ask?  I mean a giant sandworm in the desert makes sense.  But a Skill 10, Stamina 20 unavoidable fight so early in the game is a bit of game breaker.  Anyone with Skill 10 or less is going to struggle big time.

Most entertaining death - 

I almost gave it to a eating some soup and turning into a parrot.  But it has to go to having a gangly bureaucrat catching you a glancing blow with his paperweight from Rings of Kether. 

Final Thoughts - 

I might next go back and put the 20 books together and review the scores.  I could only go on what I had read at the time and now 20 books in I will go back and see if the scores still stack up.  I already know I have to fix some as I started out a lot more harsher.

I do think that Season 2 is not as strong as Season 1.  But there is still a lot of quality here.  Especially towards the end.  Mark and Jamie were great additions and good to see Steve 2 return for another good book.  

Again though I have had fun and enjoyed all the books and hope people are having fun reading these blogs.