Item - The Crown of Kings

Ambitious, intricate, and very, very successful, are how I would describe this book. Likely the most difficult gamebook I've read, the sheer length and immersiveness of the plot and gameplay make this a must-read -- assuming you have the patience for the number of tries it will take to make it through. It's possible to make it completely through the book, achieve your objective, then lose because you missed one particular item from the first few sections!

The continuity and consistency, both internally and with the previous books in the series, are also excellent. The variety and detail of the characters you interact with are also high points of the book; a minor detail from the first(!) book in the series can provide a major benefit here, if you remember it -- and to catch it, you have to remember a face in a picture in one of the illustrations (and no, that is not redundant or a typo).

This is really one of the crown jewels of gamebooks; I can't recommend it (and the other books in the series) highly enough. The most important hint I can give is to take the most detailed notes you possibly can, taking extra care to record names, places, events, everything. I don't think you can win without doing so.

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