Item - Capitán de nave estelar

While the previous book in this series by Carlos Saiz Cidoncha (Los caballeros de la galaxia) was a standard Choose Your Own Adventure-type book, Capitán de nave estelar does include a few simple game elements: the reader must keep track of previous decisions he or she has made, as well as of certain events that take place. These decisions and events determine certain outcomes later in the adventure. There are also several numeric codes to be found in the story, which denote the page numbers the player must turn to when a specific event takes place.

The book tells a very formulaic space opera tale, with the entertaining and fast-paced style which is typical of Saiz Cidoncha's other works. This time the reader must explore a variety of alien worlds for clues and other resources which might prove useful for successful completion of the mission. Barring failure endings, all paths through the adventure ultimately converge in the same final section, where success or failure is determined by the reader's previous actions. While this means that all paths through the book are fairly short, there are many different ways to complete the mission, and the book's replay value is fairly high. The illustrations by Alfonso Azpiri are among the best you will find in any gamebook, making this book worth adding to your collection even if you do not care about the story that much.

Ultimately, while the book is not terribly challenging, it is fun to read and does a pretty good job at putting the reader in the shoes of sci-fi starship captain. It is also much more interesting and coherent than a lot of the stuff written by people such as R. A. Montgomery or Richard Brightfield, and that alone makes it worth reading.

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