9. The Cauldron of Fear
Author: Joe Dever
Illustrators: Brian Williams (interior), Fred Gambino (British Beaver cover), Neal McPheeters (American cover), Peter Andrew Jones (credited as Peter Jones) (British Red Fox cover)
First Published: 1987
ISBN: 0-09-951210-6 (British editions), 0-425-10848-1 (American edition)
Length: 350 sections
Number of Endings: 11 (not including failure by loss of points)
Plot Summary: The next Lorestone that you seek can be found in an
ancient city located beneath the town of Tahou; unfortunately, the spreading
Darklord armies threaten to complicate your visit to this region....
Translations: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish
My Thoughts: This book marks a major change in the series: the
replacement of illustrator Gary Chalk with Brian Williams. Williams' work
isn't as distinctive as Chalk's, but it is often a bit more polished-looking.
In all, it's a fair trade, with each artist having different talents. Art
aside, though, this is a good adventure with a fairly decent amount of
variety; there's some dungeon crawling, some epic fighting and even a wee bit
of political intrigue. It's a bit more text-heavy and linear than average,
with a lot of sections ending simply in "turn to x" rather than a
choice; still, I never felt that my options were needlessly limited. My only
major complaint deals with the final confrontation that closes the book. If
you bring the Sommerswerd along, you're actually at a serious disadvantage,
being forced into a fight that is nearly impossible to win. If for some
strange reason you leave your best weapon behind, you have a shot at victory,
but it relies mainly on dumb luck. Due to its unreasonable difficulty and
general senselessness, this is one of the most disappointing major fights in
the series so far, and it detracts somewhat from an otherwise fun book.
The British Red Fox edition of this book is not part of my collection; the
scan is courtesy of Marcus Pearse.
10. The Dungeons of Torgar
Author: Joe Dever
Illustrators: Brian Williams (interior), Brian Salmon (British Beaver cover), Neal McPheeters (American cover), Peter Andrew Jones (credited as Peter Jones) (British Red Fox cover)
First Published: 1987
ISBN: 0-425-10930-5 (American edition)
Length: 350 sections
Number of Endings: 16 (not including failure by loss of points)
Plot Summary: The Darklords have control of the final three
Lorestones, but you have learned that they are currently held in the dungeons
beneath the Drakkar fortress of Torgar.
Translations: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish
My Thoughts: While reading this book, I did realize that I owe a lot
of my appreciation of Lone Wolf to nostalgia. While I still give the
series plenty of credit for its fun system and its story continuity, I think
that I would find its shallow characters and silly location names a lot less
thrilling if not for the fact that I know they were created by Joe Dever. I
guess I still cannot claim to be unbiased. That being said, this was yet
another fun adventure. It's highly replayable since the first choice leads
to two different story branches that allow wildly different events to be
experienced during the first half of the story. After that, it's time for
some reunions and daring deeds leading up to a gigantic cliffhanger. Of
course, it could have benefit from better characterization (I dare you to
tell two Lone Wolf characters apart) and some elaboration (much of
the adventure feels a little bit rushed), but it's Lone Wolf. It's
hard not to enjoy it, flaws and all.
The British Beaver edition of this book is not part of my collection; the
scan is courtesy of Tan Hong Kiat. The British Red Fox edition of this book
is not part of my collection; the scan is courtesy of Marcus Pearse.
11. The Prisoners of Time
Author: Joe Dever
Illustrators: Brian Williams (interior), Brian Salmon (British Beaver cover), Neal McPheeters (American cover), Peter Andrew Jones (credited as Peter Jones) (British Red Fox cover)
First Published: 1987
ISBN: 0-09-951320-X (British editions), 0-425-11568-2 (American edition)
Length: 350 sections
Number of Endings: 12 (not including failure by loss of points)
Plot Summary: Due to a Darklord trap, you (and the remaining
Lorestones) are trapped on the Daziarn Plane.
Translations: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish
My Thoughts: This is an extremely disappointing book. Although it
does have some merit thanks to the strange environment of the Daziarn Plane,
some colorful characters, interesting revelations about Lone Wolf's role in
the universe, and a surprising reunion (that's unfortunately spoiled in
advance if you accidentally see the wrong illustration), its flaws really
outweigh its good points. To an even greater extent than The Cauldron of Fear, it's an extremely linear
adventure, with more page-turning than choice-making. It seems that by this
point, the author was getting tired and just wanted to force things along to
their conclusion. Another flaw shared with The
Cauldron of Fear is the fact that this adventure is effectively unwinnable
if you bring the Sommerswerd along. I can see how it would be fair to make
the book more challenging for Sommerswerd-wielding readers; after all,
wielding such a powerful weapon is generally an unfair advantage. However,
to make victory impossible for players who have faithfully followed the
storyline from the beginning is frustrating and makes no sense plot-wise;
after all, why would Lone Wolf ever choose to leave his best weapon behind?
Of course, regardless of the Sommerswerd issue, the book ends with not one
but two nasty combats in rapid succession. These aren't unwinnable, but to
lose them is endlessly frustrating, since the book is so linear that replay
is tedious rather than exciting. In any case, this all goes to show that,
while I have praised the Lone Wolf game system in the past, it does
have major flaws in the area of combat balance -- by this point in the
series, most fights are either too easy or completely impossible, and it
detracts from the reading experience. I had to cheat to win here, and I
really hate having to do that. If you need to visit the Daziarn, try the
World of Lone Wolf series instead; this book
reminded me of my sadness over the brevity of Grey Star's time in the
spotlight.
The British Red Fox edition of this book is not part of my collection; the
scan is courtesy of Marcus Pearse.
12. The Masters of Darkness
Author: Joe Dever
Illustrators: Brian Williams (interior), Brian Salmon (British Beaver cover), uncredited artist (American cover), Peter Andrew Jones (credited as Peter Jones) (British Red Fox cover)
First Published: 1988
ISBN: 0-09-951400-1 (British editions), 0-425-11718-9 (American edition)
Length: 350 sections
Number of Endings: 21 (not including failure by loss of points)
Plot Summary: When you return from the Daziarn, you discover that
years have passed and the Darklords are on the verge of victory. Now is the
time to take your long-awaited revenge!
Translations: French, German, Italian, Swedish
My Thoughts: For a long time, I thought this was truly the last book
in the series -- I think many people have been under that impression in many
places. In any case, I've waited for years to actually play out the last act
of Lone Wolf's battle with the Darklords, and now that I have, I'm rather
disappointed. Like the previous volume, this book has extremely long linear
sequences without meaningful choices. Fortunately, the game balance is
considerably better, with multiple ways out of some nasty situations, but
this doesn't change the fact that the book really isn't especially exciting.
There are a couple of good action sequences and a variety of monsters to
fight, but there just isn't the sense of fun and potential that was so
palpable in the first few volumes. Perhaps I'm just tired from having
reviewed so many of these books in so short a time, but I think it's more
likely that it was the author who was getting tired -- the increasing
linearity as the series went on suggests a growing desire to just get the
storyline over with. It's all kind of anticlimactic. Still, more than two
thirds of the books so far were well worth the effort, and that's a good bit
above average. I look forward to eventually filling some gaps in my
collection and moving on to the next chapter in Lone Wolf's adventures. I
sense that there are still good things to come.
The British Red Fox edition of this book is not part of my collection; the
scan is courtesy of Marcus Pearse.