Announcing my next book!
"Suikoden 1 & 2" coming from Boss Fight Books in 2026
I'm proud to (finally!) announce my next book! It's called Suikoden 1 & 2 and it's coming in 2026 from Boss Fight Books.
After doing a deep dive into the history of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the rise of Japanese RPGs in the west with Fight, Magic, Items, I was left with several stories that felt unfulfilled—games and series that had more to say than I was able to fit into that book. Chief among those was Suikoden, which has seen a recent and surprising revival after the success of its creators's kickstarted spiritual successor Eiyuden Chronicle. Long story short, Boss Fight publisher Gabe Durham offered me the opportunity to dig into Suikoden and (in an unprecedented move for the boutique publisher) its sequel, Suikoden II. I couldn't imagine telling one story without the other, and the end result is a rich, reported and personal look at the first two games, the people who made them, and the impact they've had on their genre and beyond.
From the early days when a green Yoshitaka Murayama accidentally agreed to make an RPG (a genre he didn't play) about The Water Margin, to Miki Higashino's revolutionary soundtrack and Junko Kawano's timeless designs, to a lengthy interview with Suikoden II's localization team, and the road to the 2025 remasters, Suikoden 1 & 2 runs the gamut. I'll have more details on how to preorder and support the book later—it'll be part of Boss Fight Books's big 2026 season kickstarter–but we wanted to piggyback off today's release of Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars with this announcement. In the meantime, you can get lengthier details from this wonderful discussion I had with Chris and Eric on Retrograde Amnesia—just released today.
The best part? The book's basically done—just a few revisions to wrap up over the next couple of weeks—and as y'all are enjoying the revival of one of my all-time favourite series, I'll be moving onto my next book, which is likely my epic fantasy novel heavily inspired by a love of games like Suikoden and other golden age RPGs.
In the meantime, check out some of my recent and past coverage of Suikoden, its HD remaster, and my book:
- Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars review (Astrolabe)
- Retrograde Amnesia E66: War Touches Everyone [The Legacy, the Remaster, and Aidan Moher's New Book]
- Party Chat: A JRPG Podcast: Pokemon Presents and the History of Suikoden with Aidan Moher
- Exploring Suikoden’s heart and the excitement for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (Insert Cartridge)
- Yoshitaka Murayama (1969 - 2024) (Astrolabe)
- Get Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West (Running Press/2022)
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