Item - Indiana Jones and the Lost Treasure of Sheba

(Review based on the Spanish translation.)

Being written by Rose Estes, the text sections are longer than is usual for a Find Your Fate book (though they are not excessively long). The book is also free from the mechanics used in other FYF books to introduce randomness (such as flipping coins, or determining outcomes based on the day of the week it is when you are reading). These unusual features do not make this an especially good book, unfortunately. The writing is quite dull and I had a hard time becoming interested in anything that happened. I wouldn't go out of my way to read this if I were you.

More reviews by Guillermo

This is interesting, if for nothing else than it breaks the mould. I assumed that the formula always had the reader playing Indiana Jones's pre-teen cousin (Ok, I had only read two of these before but if there's one thing about Indian Jones in general, his adventures tend to stick to the formula.) But in this book, the main character is 14-year old George Ballentyne, son of a missing scientist, who hooks up with Indiana in an attempt to save his father.

It is unusual in that it is written in first person and past tense. While there's nothing inherently wrong with this approach, it is just jarring after reading gamebooks in second person, present simple tense. As the narrator describes what had happened to himself, the reader is offered choices on the story to influence it, and I felt more like a non-omnipotent guardian angel dispensing advice to George rather than part of the adventure. I would have assumed the writer did not understand the gamebook concept if it hadn't been written by longtime Endless Quest veteran, Rose Estes. But I guess she was trying something different, and as this is the second book in the series, the formula had yet to be finalised. But it does feel like it is taking away the main uniqueness of second person narration. Gamebooks are the only literary format I've read which uses second person narration effectively.

The passages tend to be long and dialogue driven, focused on storytelling, one of Estes's strengths (although I couldn't find any talking animals). The setting is appropriate, Ethiopia in 1938, which has a long history and was also involved in the Italian/Ethiopian war, so the bad guys this time are Italian fascists (a nice, if undistinguishable change from Nazis). Also, the main character can speak Italian, making him more useful to the plot than the usual teenaged protagonist.

There are two main paths, one to Laibela, to search for treasure and the other to Addis Ababa to save his father. The artwork is top-notch and the adventure reasonably evocative of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

More reviews by Kveto

This title was written by Rose Estes, the author of many of the books in the Endless Quest series. As such, it has a somewhat different feel from the other Find Your Fate Indiana Jones books. Oddly, it reads kind of like an Endless Quest book, in that the choices tend to be presented in narrative form. So, for example, instead of something like

If you go to the temple, turn to XX; if you go to the bazaar, turn to YY

you'll get something like

"I think we should go to the temple", said Hasan. It's abandoned at this hour." Turn to XX.
"I don't think so," replied Indiana Jones. "We're better off buying supplies at the Bazaar." Turn to YY.

Also, this is the only gamebook I've ever read that's presented in first-person, past tense format. So instead of "You and Jones decide to flee from the bandits," you get "Jones and I decided to flee from the bandits."

None of this is inherently bad, though-- just different. The adventure itself is quite enjoyable. There are nicely descriptive period details, and the unusual setting is a plus. The book also has more internal consistency than some of the other titles in the series (although far from perfect). On the (slightly) negative side, this title has fewer paths than others in the series. But this is a minor quibble-- Estes does a good job of capturing the feel of the Indiana Jones character, and what the book lacks in set-pieces it makes up for in storytelling.

All in all, worth acquiring if you're a fan of Indiana Jones. As a matter of fact, I would rate the Find Your Fate Indiana Jones books, as a series, to be above average-- some of the adventures are better than others, but none are disappointing.

More reviews by pericles23