Item - The Shamutanti Hills

This is an excellent gamebook. It's a nice level of difficulty; it may take many tries to get through, but there are enough areas to explore that on each try you're likely to discover something new. As a result, the book is very successful in preventing its reader from getting bored. The sections of the book are extremely short, a fact which may be viewed as a flaw. This brevity is what allows the book to have such a diversity of paths, however, so I can't criticize it on those grounds.

More reviews by Demian

The first installment in the Sorcery! series is an excellent fantasy gamebook. It consists of a wilderness journey with many different paths the reader can take (though the book also forces you to visit certain locations). Experimenting with the magic system adds a lot of variety to the book, and the journey never gets boring. It is also possible to find many items and contacts which will prove useful in later books in the series. I do not agree with reviews on this site and elsewhere that claim that the adventure is easy - the final mini-dungeon is especially hard to get through, and completing the adventure as a wizard will require you to become quite proficient at using the magic system. Overall, this is quite a good book with lots of replay value. Definitely recommended.

More reviews by Guillermo

A pleasant introduction to the series, heavy on the Sorcery! atmosphere, if not otherwise notable in its gameplay. Consider it a tutorial, where the new player becomes acquainted with the Sorcery! rules, learns about the importance of provisions and camping the hard way, tries out a few spells, etc. Compared to the later books, this one is quite a pleasant stroll through the country-side, with only a few battles and hardly any of the puzzles and overall goals that the later series is known for. There are a few sticky areas, however - in particular, the Manticore cave at the end can be trying, especially if you're stuck with Jan, an annoying little fairy that makes your spells fizzle.

Oh, and this book has one of the most egregious "instant death" entries of any gamebook I've encountered: you're required to test your luck to avoid a pit trap, but if you're "lucky" and keep from falling in you are immediately killed by a spring-loaded spike, whereas an "unlucky" roll causes you to fall unconscious, but gives you a fighting chance to defeat your captors. Where's the luck in that?

More reviews by Inevitable

This is the first advanced FF book, which gives you the option of choosing to be either a wizard or a warrior. I tried it the first few times as a warrior and died almost instantly, the fastest instant deaths I've ever had in an FF book.

There is no advantage to being a warrior aside from the possiblity of +2 skill points and not having to bother with spells. I seriously doubt you can win as a warrior.

They ask you to memorize 20+ code words for spells, like FOF (field of force) or BAL (ball of fire) and forbid you from referencing the spellbook during the adventure. It also asks that you memorize the spell components for each spell. Sorry, I don't read FF books for useless memory exercises. I cheated, which is probably the only reason I won. I did like that each spell cost you stamina points so you'd not overuse spells.

It's a bit annoying as it keeps asking you if you remembered to eat each day or suffer a stamina penalty. As it takes many days with no clear demarcations of when a day begins or ends it is tedious. While it might be more realistic than the normal FF provisions system, it's a pain.

It is the first of a series, essentially the start of a journey, so there really is no ending per se. You just reach a certain town which leads into the next book, a pretty unsatisfying ending. It does end in a kind of mini quest in a cave where you must use a combination of spells to defeat an extremely powerful manticore.

I did enjoy the spells, which made fights more fun, so I might try the next in the series.

More reviews by Kveto