1. El bosque en llamas
Literal Translation of Spanish Title: Forest in Flames
Author: José Luis López Morales
First Published: 2004
Length: 88 pages (169 sections)
Number of Endings: 20 (19 instant deaths and one victory)
Plot Summary: An Elf scouting mission turns into a race for the
survival of the whole Realm!
My Thoughts: I don't normally include reviews of amateur gamebooks on
this site since they are so hard to keep track of and of such wildly
divergent quality. However, when Nicolau Rodrigues offered to review this
Spanish-language series, I decided to take him up on the offer since I can't
read the books myself due to my lack of foreign language skills....
Nicolau Rodrigues' Thoughts:
In this story, you are the youngest son of an Elf King whose realm is based
in a forest. The "story so far" tells about brighter and older
times for elfs before the advance of Human civilization and growth of dark
forces (orks and dragons, mainly). You are asked to go on a scouting mission
in the forest, where, of course, you'll find some surprises. It wasn't too
original, but I got involved in the adventure and liked it.
The game system is not original either, featuring Strength, Constitution and
Agility characteristics, Attack and Defense stats, and seven skill to pick
from. Beware when choosing skills, because some of them are only used once.
"Fauna and flora" changes its name throughout the gamebook, and I
was asked for a skill (Languages) that doesn't appear in the Skills List. One
detail I liked (and it fits the Elf theme) is the double weaponry skill,
"Sword mastery" and "Archery." The second time I played
this adventure, I picked up "Archery," and it was useful! Cool!
Apart from some annoying ortography mistakes and a few numbered sections
without text, this gamebook is easy to read, and with his use of
pleasant adjectives, José Luis gives the story a perfect Elfish
flavour. Maybe in the last sections (where a big battle occurs), the writing
should be faster and more havoc-filled, but I enjoyed it anyway.
2. El emisario
Literal Translation of Spanish Title: The Emissary
Author: José Luis López Morales
First Published: 2004
Length: 145 pages (307 sections)
Number of Endings: 18 (17 instant deaths and one victory)
Plot Summary: You have been sent to a Human Kingdom in order to ask
them for help in your fight against growing Dark Forces.
My Thoughts: Once again, I'll give the floor to Nicolau since I can't
read this book myself....
Nicolau Rodrigues' Thoughts:
In this book you are the youngest prince of an Elfish Kingdom which has been
attacked by Orks and Drakes (as described in the previous adventure). Your
father, the King, despite your people's pride and a history of disagreements,
decides to ask the Humans for help. So you are sent as an emissary to bring
them your father's message...
This adventure compares favorably to the first book, with signs of
improvement and greater effort. The number of entries has almost doubled, the
number of "direct death" entries has been drastically
diminished, the writing is much better and the story offers adventure,
history lessons, a few surprises, anguish, puzzles, and many, many subplots.
It must be said too that the difficulty of this book is higher. Thumbs
up!
Of course, there are still a few mistakes which could be easily erased just
by proofreading the text. Not just in ortography, but also in the game
system (the "Fauna/Flora" skill is called "Reino animal y
vegetal" and "Botánica/Fauna" in different entries).
3. La abadía de la traición