Item - The Race Forever

This is one of R. A. Montgomery's better books. Two different style races to do, and a unique way to format an adventure book. It is easy to see early in the series how the authors were being creative with the choices you can make (Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?, Hyperspace, Inside UFO 54-40 and The Mystery of Chimney Rock are also good examples of this). I wish they had taken more risks with the styles of books they did as the series progressed (there are many good books later in the series as well, but not as unique as this). I enjoyed being able to possibly win two races before the book ended.

More reviews by Countersound

This is a fun gamebook to play... It has two goals for the reader to aim for, and it allows both of them to be reached in one reading. Definitely a well-designed book.

More reviews by Demian

(Review based on the 2005 version)

One significant problem that I have with this book is that it seems to reward what I would call foolish or incautious actions. Literally, hostile armed insurgents are reported in the sector you are about to drive into. If you charge on through you finish the race or win or whatever. If you follow the advice of the race organizers and turn back you get captured by the insurgents. WHAT?! There is a certain amount of chance in life: the organizers' info might be inaccurate or just too late and the insurgents could already be behind you, but I think it's best to err on the side of caution and to help kids learn that. I couldn't recommend that a kid read this without having an adult to help put the decisions and potential consequences into better perspective.

More reviews by Dtar

Without a doubt one of the highlights of the series, and so early in. Although each session tends to be rather short with two different races to incorporate, the wealth of possible adventures more than makes up for it. The title's a little odd -- I was half expecting to race through time or some such -- but the book is definitely a winner. Highly recommended to dedicated and casual gamebook readers alike.

More reviews by Fireguard

Rating: 10/10. I have the old version.

With two races to choose from, this book still manages to intrigue me. There are four characters, cars, and ways to win. Montgomery teaches about how wrong taking a bribe is -- though you wouldn't die if you accept it.

The characters you can meet in the speed race are: Zokil in the Saab 900, and Jane in the Lancia. In the rough road race: Eduardo in the Land Rover, and Amos in the Toyota.

I just can't say enough great things about this book. Highly recommended.

More reviews by Good

(Review based on the Spanish (Timun Mas) translation.)

In this book's dedication, R. A. Montgomery credits Julius Goodman with 'assistance in the book's creation.' Though much less prolific than good old R. A., Goodman was a much better gamebook writer. Indeed, the quality of this book's design leads me to believe that at least significant parts of it must have been written by Goodman rather than by Montgomery (though R. A.'s preoccupations also show up throughout the text). The book is indeed a pleasure to play, with the consequences of choices making logical sense without being overly predictable. Overall, this is probably the best gamebook ever authored by Montgomery (or pretty close). Do yourself a favour and read it.

More reviews by Guillermo

The Race Forever has been called an early defining moment for Choose Your Own Adventure, so I was curious if it lived up to that billing. Born into a family of decorated race car drivers, you are excited to receive invitation to the First African Dual Road Race Rally in Nairobi, Kenya, a competition unlike any other. It is divided into two separate races through areas where wild animals graze and political revolutionaries carry out their business. The racers are measured by timer, not directly competing against each other on the roads, and you will have to use strategy and boldness if you want to see your name top the leaderboard. You have a big decision before you meet your navigator/co-driver: will you do the speed race first, across smooth roads, or the rough race, designed to challenge your car over bruising terrain?

Maybe you'll run the rough race first, figuring the smooth will feel easy afterward. You have the choice of a Land Rover or Toyota as your ride. Opt for the Land Rover and your navigator turns out to be your old friend Eduardo. The two of you carefully plot a route to the finish line, but military personnel standing watch at a barricade on the road warn you the area ahead is thick with thousands of refugees. A colonel suggests an alternative way to go, but when you reach a river further on, the ferryman is already taking another racer across. Are you willing to wait, or should you find a different access point? If you do find one, a rhino attack may end your life. Ignoring the colonel and sticking to your planned route means driving slowly through refugees on the road, and you can't know how they'll react. If you took the Toyota instead of the Land Rover, your navigator is an African named Amos, and you'll choose between driving rough hill country or the smooth but longer valley. Hill country brings you in contact with a gambler named Ian who offers you big money to lose on purpose. Should you accept his offer, report him to race officials, or ignore him? On the valley path, you may come across a human skull that could be an archaeological find, or a riverbed loaded with raw gold. Are these temptations enough to quit the competition for a future unrelated to racing?

Whether you run the speed race next or started with it, your vehicle choice is between a Saab 900 Turbo and a Lancia Stratos. Pick the Saab and your navigator is Zokil, a Russian woman with detailed car knowledge. Will the two of you approach this race with caution, or push the Saab hard to make up for its lack of pure speed? Caution leads you to a dry river bed, but coming rain introduces the risk of flash flood. If you surmount that, a radio warning suggests all racers should take a non-penalizing twelve-hour delay due to a guerrilla militia nearby, but if you agree to the pause, eventually the race may be canceled. Are you prepared to drive through a combat zone? Ignore the recommendation to pause and you could join up with a German team to maximize your chances against rogue militants. Take the Lancia instead of the Saab, and sabotage causes your headlights to conk out. You and your navigator Jan can still drive in the dark night, but you might have a serious accident. Waiting for moonrise costs precious time, and later you are stopped by bandits perfectly willing to kill you. In the intense environment of long-distance racing, things can go horribly wrong in an instant.

I give The Race Forever credit for injecting fresh energy into Choose Your Own Adventure. I like the structure, which technically allows you to "race" forever: you can switch back and forth from the rough race to the smooth in perpetuity, provided you don't reach a calamitous ending. Not everything about the book works, however. Internal continuity goes on vacation at times, so you never know if information you gleaned from other endings will help or prove useless. Some of the narrative clues falsely point to one choice above the other, so success is guided by luck instead of savvy. The Race Forever isn't the classic it could have been; the book marches to the beat of its own drum, but at best is an average Choose Your Own Adventure.

More reviews by KenJenningsJeopardy74

This was one of my favorite CYOA books as a kid. Having just re-read it, it is still up there. The biggest problem with it is a direct result of its greatest asset. The fact that there are SO many different plots here (based on the different choices made with regards to which race and which vehicle) also severely limits the amount of actual gameplay per plot. This book could have been about 4 times as long as it is. That said, the idea of being a contestant in an African Rally style race and the vivid imagery make this one of my favorite R. A. Montgomery books. The art by Ralph Reese is very good as well.

More reviews by SeventhSon

The only thing wrong with this book is that most of the endings say "THE END" but actually instruct the reader to continue by going to the other race. This is a good idea, as you get to race twice in a row, but there's also a minor error in that, once you've finished both races, you are instructed to go back to the first one. If you follow the instructions literally, you'll end up reading this book FOREVER! (wonder if this has anything to do with the title). Most people would probably stop after they've had enough racing, so it's not too bad of an error.

Other than that, it's pretty good. It's a lot better than R. A. Montgomery's early books in the series (like #4, #10, and #11.)

More reviews by stonemason

Despite having 30+ endings, R. A. Montgomery manages to make it seem as if none of the branching narratives were rushed or concluded too abruptly. There is quite a bit of variety to the branching stories but they are within the overall theme of the book. The book delves into exploring some mature themes as well. For example, you come across a refugee that tries committing vehicular suicide at your hands so you may pay his famished family monetary restitution and you are given the opportunity to get in league with criminal gamblers to subvert the race. I feel I have a much more panoramic appreciation of gamebooks as I am rereading these as an adult. They seem to be a good introduction to how the world actually is instead of how children are led to believe the world is by protective parents.

The Race Forever also significantly raises the ante with some gruesome endings. You’re captured by bandits who tie you to a tree and execute a boy before your eyes. They then shoot your feet so you’re unable to escape. You fall unconscious in agony. In another ending you’re “safely stashed underwater by the crocodiles for a few weeks [after which] they’ll devour you slowly, piece by piece.” The prospect of facing these types of endings better engages kids because it necessarily impels kids, or any reader for that matter, to seriously consider the choices they encounter.

Ralph Reese’s illustrations are a wonderful accompaniment to Montgomery’s writing. Illustrations to the good endings have a real sense of exhilaration to them whereas the illustrations to the unfortunate endings punctuate the horror. This is particularly evident in the ending wherein you die in a car explosion after running into an elephant. Notice how the car’s steering wheel, speedometer, odometer, all taken together resemble a face in severe distress when confronting its impending doom. This is perfect execution of embedding subliminal dread in the visual esthetic. This amplifies the text by engaging the reader’s unconscious fear and anxiety.

I tend not to like Montgomery’s books because for whatever reason I don’t feel that he is as intentionally imaginative in weaving riveting fiction as, let’s say, Edward Packard but I didn’t feel that way having a go at this entry. Ralph Reese and Montgomery have teamed up to successfully deliver an above-average entry in the series.

Rating: 7.0/10.0

More reviews by tonylachief

The ability to race two races in one storyline was a unique, and the choices and plots and distractions from the race all made sense and were interesting. One of R. A. Montgommery's better early works, The Race Forever is probably brought down by only one flaw. Each race has about three or four choices, and then you reach an ending. I would've liked to see longer races and more complexity, however, as it is, this style does provide for some good replay value, and I suppose that it doesn't detract from the book too much. Give it a read and see how you like it.

More reviews by Waluigi Freak 99

Sorry, I just did the race for 30 minutes, not forever, but I like how the book technically plays over and over again in a loop; it’s possible, in fact, to race forever. One of the better R. A. Montgomery books, but it gets a little repetitive after a while. For once, R. A. rewards you for making good choices, and it’s thrilling to win for the first time. But then you realize how easy it is. I won three out of six times I played, but I would have played a few more times if winning required a more challenging series of circumstances. But then again, I am in my 30s, and the target audience is 13-year-old boys without smartphones living in Reagan’s America, so … you know. It was caveman times back then. Now we live inside the internet, where it’s safer.

More reviews by williamtuttlewho