Item - War of the Wizards

Although this book lacks the humor that livened up the previous two volumes, it's a good read. Gameplay is emphasized over story, and it takes a bit of strategy to make it to the fairly satisfyingly drawn-out final battle with the Wytch-king. Really, I don't have any major complaints about this book; it's a good conclusion to the series, and I was unable to find any nitpicky flaws to point out (apart from the errata below). It even returns to the old-style "Story So Far" seen in the first two books, making book three's abbreviated section a total mystery to me. Despite being hard to complain about, though, it's not my favorite of the series -- that would go to either book two or book three, both of which have a bit more character than this one. Still, it was a fun adventure, and it certainly makes me wish Grey Star had been given more adventures; I actually find him to be a more appealing character than Lone Wolf, and I think he deserved a longer series.

More reviews by Demian

I've finally completed the last book in what is probably my favourite gamebook series overall. It was a suitably epic end to the tale, although not quite up to the level of the previous three books. This is probably because this one is much more combat-oriented, lacking the puzzles of previous books. But as it is the final confrontation with the Witch-king, it does have a suitable Return of the King vibe.

It took me 4 or 5 tries to get through, which is my usual rate for these books, and all of my deaths were intsa-kills, which still feels more common than loss by endurance points. But to be fair, in my final confrontation, I was down to the wire, pulling off a lucky hit with my willpower into single digits.

I was excited to gain new magical abilities, but the new spells are are all just more powerful version of the old magics. And they have less-appealing names in general, such as Thiurgy and Telurgy and Thamaturgy, which are difficult to keep straight. (With the exceptions being Necromancy which stands in for Evocation and Visionary which replaces Prophecy). Personally, I'd have just given Grey Star all 7 of the disciplines and said the moonstone just increased the power options to avoid this excess of spells.

Anyway, I'm of two minds about the series ending. As Demian says, Grey Star is more fun than Lone Wolf and part of me would have liked more adventures. But I'm also a fan of not dragging stories out beyond their limits, and Grey Star has a clear story arc which gets completed (unlike Lone Wolf which doesn't seem to have an overall arc or end in sight.) I'd rather the series end on a fun note than trail off beyond its welcome.

Overall, a great series (which took me over 30 years to complete).

More reviews by Kveto