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.