Item - Mystery of the Maya

A strange mix of realistic historical exploration, time-travel, UFO's, and even some acid-trip endings. This book has an interesting set up, placing you as a journalist trying to discover the reasons for the collapse of Mayan civilization. One path has you exploring the present day which has a subplot about a revolution. The other path involves time-travel, and involves frightening encounters with slave-raids and human sacrifice. Illustrator Richard Anderson brings a unique perspective to the story with spaghetti-limbed characters and hulking, menacing villains. A scattered and mismatched effort. 2 out 5 stars

More reviews by auximenes

I went on holiday to exactly this part of Mexico. Stayed in Merida and nearby villages. Went to see Chichen Itza, Uxmal, etc. So it's great to be able to read about this adventure happening there. Especially the nunnery which is a beautiful and truly mysterious building.

But there are far too many endings.

The reader is at one point mildly tutted at for making a decision which seems sane and sensible. The book is all over the place. It lapses into totally jarring baffling nonsense at many points, and this leaves many of the endings feeling extremely unsatisfying.

However, if you stick with the book and explore all the paths, some of the lesser travelled passages are very fun.

More reviews by charlesdaniels

This book is slightly below average in quality. For the most part it's not too bad, but it occasionally becomes a bit incoherent.

More reviews by Demian

Version 1: YOU must figure out what happened to the Mayas. 6.5/10 44 ends

Version 2: The search for Tom! Rating: 9/10
Awesome! Randomness is what Choose Your Own Adventure® is about baby! You can learn A LOT from just this book about the Mayas, except—I think the Mayas were giants. Time travel sure adds a great touch to this. Without it, the book would grow dull. You travel back to the Mayas, and get many choices. (It starts with drinking the potion.) Manuel is mostly a helper here. Great book on the Mayas.
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More reviews by Good

One of the longest original Choose Your Own Adventure books at one hundred thirty-four pages, Mystery of the Maya boasts forty-four endings, tied for most in the series. You are researching the Mayas of old Mexico, a cultural superpower that died out long ago. The reason for their demise is unknown, but you hope to write a book on the subject. Your plane lands in Merida, capital city of the Yucatan, where you are met by a guide, Manuel. He recommends you consult Dr. Lopez, an expert on the Mayas, but if you're eager to be on your way you can head straight to the architectural sites. Which will it be?

Bypassing Dr. Lopez, you and Manuel might go to the Temple of the Magicians at Uxmal. Steer clear of scammers and you'll receive a note demanding you go to the Nunnery across the way. Notifying the police is an iffy prospect; you might be jailed yourself, or roped into acting as a government plant to inform on the Red Hand gang. If you went to the Nunnery before getting the note, a message requests you come to the Hotel Maya. It's a sting operation, and bad news for you. Maybe you went to Chichen Itza instead of Uxmal; there you encounter a spacecraft. Manuel encourages you to join the aliens voyaging to a distant planet, but you may never return. Hop aboard the ship and you'll hurtle to sectors of the universe beyond human conception, but is it worth the life you're giving up?

Meeting with Dr. Lopez leads a much different way. His time travel potion sends you back 1,500 years to meet the Mayas at the Temple of the Magicians. Should you try to blend in as a priest, or warrior? The priests demand you join in their human sacrifices, but you can run away to the town of Kabah and set sail on the sea. At an island you land on, a devastating plague is spreading. Will you risk your life and stand up to the priests, who scoff at modern ideas about disease control? You might instead travel to Cuba; spending the rest of your life here is appealing, but what if Dr. Lopez's potion wears off? If you never ran from the priests, you’ll be required to sacrifice a human, but maybe Manuel will yank you back to the present day. You could also rally the people to overthrow the barbaric priests. Perhaps you're better off among the warriors; they let you stay in Chichen Itza, but they play a sport that has death as consequence for losing. If that's not a risk you're prepared for, you can hunt jaguar. You might stumble onto a priceless artifact called the Plumed Serpent, or meet an alien named Cruzora. If you're captured by Toltecs, they obsess over killing the Mayas, but there are ways to turn the situation in your favor. Whatever path you choose, take time to observe the culture you're in. That's why you’re here in the first place.

Mystery of the Maya is a subpar book. Certain pivots of the narrative are bizarre and uncalled for, the decisions you make are often ignored by the text, and occasionally R. A. Montgomery doesn't bother to write an ending at all, instead just explaining what would happen in it if he had. These are problems similar to Space and Beyond but without any of the intriguing concepts. The people in Richard Anderson's illustrations look strange, distorted, but he's good at rendering scenes. One or two endings show impressive internal continuity, but that's not enough to spare Mystery of the Maya from being worst of the first eleven Choose Your Own Adventures.

More reviews by KenJenningsJeopardy74

I read the reissue of this book last night. I haven't read the original in about 15 years, so I can't tell you what's different (other than the line "In this age of computer animation" - I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the first issue!) This book is just another shining example of R. A. Montgomery's poor writing style. If I get one more sudden ending "Don't want to do that? All right, fine. Just give up. THE END" I am going to scream! (Alright, I made up that ending. But it's very similar to what he does.)

Often, whole story arcs (going to Uxmal, for example) all lead to bad endings. And that's just the problem - almost all of the endings are bad. You rarely ever reach your goal in this book. Even when you get something good or find your friend, it's so abrupt that you're left wondering if it was really a good ending or not. "Your friend Tom is walking towards you. THE END" I know we're looking for him, but, um... is he walking towards me to stab me? Has he lost his memory? I don't know. I think that "good" endings should have summaries of what happens from there, like "You have found your friend safe and sound. You return home together, and you always look back on your time with the Maya with fondness. THE END" OK, I'm sure he doesn't want a writing lesson from me.

Anyway, I agree with the assertion that this is a below average book. I just didn't find the characters engaging. this is one of the perils of cramming 39 endings in a 130 page book - over a quarter of your pages are endings, so that leaves you with a ratio of 3:1 for story to endings. Doesn't leave much room for character exposition!

More reviews by yunakitty