1. Dungeon of Dread
Author: Rose Estes
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Jim Holloway (interior)
First Published: June, 1982
ISBN: 0-935696-86-5
Length: 128 pages (illustrations not numbered)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 10
Plot Summary: You are Caric, a fighter. An annoying halfling thief leads
you to a dungeon containing "all the treasure in the world." In
this dungeon, you battle various nasties in an attempt to get rich quick.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #1
Translations: French, German, Italian, Spanish
My Thoughts: Not a bad start for the series, though the "size doesn't
matter" messages get annoying fast.
2. Mountain of Mirrors
Author: Rose Estes
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Jim Holloway (interior)
First Published: June, 1982
ISBN: 0-935696-87-3
Length: 153 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 14
Plot Summary: You are Landon, an elf sent to discover why vital supply
caravans have been disappearing before reaching your isolated village. You
end up exploring Shanafria, a frozen mountain with some decidedly unfriendly
inhabitants.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #1
Translations: French, German, Italian, Spanish
My Thoughts: This is one of the worst entries in the Endless Quest
series due to truly awful pacing. In addition to containing long stretches
where the reader doesn't have the option to make a choice, the book has a
lot of pointless choices which give you the option to simply give up. If
you're so bored that you wish to stop reading the book, you can close it
without being given the choice to abandon the quest; the abandon hope option
just wastes pages that could have been used to improve the story.
3. Pillars of Pentegarn
Author: Rose Estes
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Harry J. Quinn (interior)
First Published: June, 1982
ISBN: 0-935696-92-X
Length: 153 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 10
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #1
Translations: Arabic, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Plot Summary: You are Jaimie, a villager with the ability to speak
with animals. You and your animal friends Fox and Owl assist a party of
adventurers in exploring the ruins of Castle Pentegarn.
My Thoughts: While the story doesn't really feel right as a D&D
adventure, this is a well-structured gamebook. Most of the choices
dramatically affect the course of the adventure, making this book worth
reading more than once, even if you get a good ending the first time.
4. Return to Brookmere
Author: Rose Estes
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Timothy Truman (interior)
First Published: June, 1982
ISBN: 0-935696-93-8
Length: 153 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 12
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #1
Plot Summary: You are Brion, an elven fighter. You return to your
childhood home, a castle now infested with monsters, in order to reclaim it
for your family.
Translations: French, German, Italian, Spanish
My Thoughts: This is a very entertaining Endless Quest book,
with some interesting creatures and a variety of strange areas to explore.
5. Revolt of the Dwarves
Author: Rose Estes
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Jim Holloway (interior)
First Published: January, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-020-9
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 23
Plot Summary: Rebellious dwarves separate you from your parents, forcing
you to attempt to survive on your own and perhaps dabble in politics.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #2
Translations: French, German, Italian, Spanish
My Thoughts: While there are a lot of different paths in this book, I
just found it to be rather boring. The political intrigue isn't very
intriguing, the dwarves aren't portrayed very well (especially in the
illustrations), and the adventure is mostly uneventful.
6. Revenge of the Rainbow Dragons
Author: Rose Estes
Illustrators: Jeff Easley (cover), Harry J. Quinn (interior)
First Published: January, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-021-7
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 21
Plot Summary: In this sequel to Pillars of Pentegarn, you and
Pentegarn are charged with practicing magic without a license. As a
result, you must travel to Rainbow Castle and face three evil wizards.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #2
Translations: French, German, Italian, Spanish
My Thoughts: This is a pretty good entry in the series, with
interesting puzzles, traps, and creatures.
7. Hero of Washington Square
Author: Rose Estes
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Timothy Truman (interior)
First Published: May, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-022-5
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Top Secret
Number of Endings: 38
Plot Summary: The son of a secret agent is given some irradiated diamonds
and gets involved in a conspiracy.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #2
My Thoughts: This book uses first person narration, which seems a bit odd
and causes some problems when the tense shifts from past to present. Other
than that, this is a pretty good gamebook, with many different paths to
take and a rather large number of endings.
8. Villains of Volturnus
Author: Jean Blashfield
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Jim Roslof (interior)
First Published: May, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-023-3
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Star Frontiers
Number of Endings: 23
Plot Summary: You are Kyiki, the son of an important Universal Minerals
executive. An accident leaves you stranded on the surface of Volturnus,
a planet not yet inhabited by humans.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #2
My Thoughts: This entry in the series is lousy science fiction, but it's
not a bad adventure gamebook. If you can stand the cringe-inducing sci-fi
cliches, you'll have some fun.
9. Robbers and Robots
Author: Mike Carr
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Vernon Posey (interior)
First Published: July, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-036-5
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Top Secret
Number of Endings: 19
Plot Summary: You are Terry Morton, a young electronics expert. While on
your way to show your robot to your friend, you spot some suspicious
activity at your father's electronics plant and decide to investigate.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #3
My Thoughts: This book is pretty dreadful; it has a predictable plot,
cliched and unrealistic characters, and rather slow pacing.
10. Circus of Fear
Author: Rose Estes
Illustrators: Keith Parkinson (cover), Kevin Nichols (interior)
First Published: July, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-037-3
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: World of Greyhawk Setting
Number of Endings: 26
Plot Summary: You are Laela, a young orphan girl. One night, you and your
friend Petra free a Pegasus from an evil circus owner and learn of a
conspiracy to rule Greyhawk. Soon you are captured and forced to work in
the circus.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #3
Translations: German, Spanish
My Thoughts: This is a fairly good Endless Quest book, and one
of the few gamebooks in which the reader plays a female role. However, just
because it's fairly fun to play doesn't mean it's flawless. The plot and
characters are about typical for a Rose Estes book, and the phrase
"zippo, chango" is used, so don't expect a completely painless read
here.
11. Spell of the Winter Wizard
Author: Linda Lowery
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Jeffrey R. Busch (interior)
First Published: August, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-054-3
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 14
Plot Summary: You are Omina, the stepchild of the Wizard of Eternal Spring.
When your ailing stepfather is captured by the Winter Wizard, you must find
a cure for his illness and rescue him.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #3
Translation: German
My Thoughts: This is a fairly challenging gamebook, with a less predictable
solution than most of its predecessors. However, apart from taking a few
reads to reach a happy ending, it's not all that engaging a book.
12. Light on Quests Mountain
Authors: Mary L. Kirchoff and James M. Ward
Illustrators: Keith Parkinson (cover), Steve McAfee (interior)
First Published: August, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-055-1
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Gamma World
Number of Endings: 14
Plot Summary: You are Ren. With two of your friends, you set off on a
coming-of-age quest to discover the source of the mysterious lights atop
a mountain near your village.
Collected In: The Endless Quest Collectors Set #3
My Thoughts: This is definitely an above-average Endless Quest
book. The characters are a bit more interesting than usual, and the Gamma
World setting is a pleasant change from the usual D&D stuff.
13. Dragon of Doom
Author: Rose Estes
Illustrators: Clyde Caldwell (cover), Harry J. Quinn (interior)
First Published: November, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-100-0
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 13
Plot Summary: You are Morgan, a young magic user. When you and your
pseudo-dragon companion are sent to release your uncle from a 900-year
exile, you discover that he plots to destroy the world with the help
of an ancient dragon.
Translations: German, Spanish
My Thoughts: This is a satisfying read; it manages to give at least a
little bit of the feel of an epic fantasy in its relatively few pages.
14. Raid on Nightmare Castle
Author: Catherine McGuire
Illustrators: Jeff Easley (cover), Jim Holloway (interior)
First Published: November, 1983
ISBN: 0-88038-101-9
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 20
Plot Summary: You are Kyol, a human orphan raised by Elves. When
a great Elven leader is captured, you have an opportunity to prove your
worth.
Translations: German, Spanish
My Thoughts: Like some of the previous books, this includes whiny
talking animals... Apart from that annoying detail, it's not a bad read.
15. Under Dragon's Wing
Author: John Kendall
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Sam Grainger (interior)
First Published: February, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-076-4
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 17
Plot Summary: You are Treon, a young prince sent far away from your
besieged kingdom for your own protection. You believe strongly, however,
that the best way to save your home would be to summon a dragon...
Translations: French, Spanish
My Thoughts: This is a pretty good book, though it's hard to figure
out exactly where its story fits into the Dungeons and Dragons
multiverse (in it, dragons have been gone for several centuries, but this
is definitely not set in the world of Krynn). Probably the most notable
thing about the book is that it's the first book with the appearance that
would last for the rest of this series; while the cover material and layout
changed frequently during the first fourteen books, it was consistent from
here on (until, of course, the second Endless Quest
series was released).
16. The Dragon's Ransom
Author: Laura French
Illustrators: Clyde Caldwell (cover), Doug Chaffee (interior)
First Published: February, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-077-2
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 19
Plot Summary: The land of Oon is guarded by a gold dragon. The
dragon, reasonably enough, expects payment for his service. You, a cleric
named Loendal, are the latest adventurer chosen to find treasure for the
dragon.
Translations: French, Spanish, Swedish
My Thoughts: This is an excellent entry in the series... It captures
the feel of a Dungeons and Dragons game about as well as any book of
its type possibly could, featuring a party of adventurers with diverse skills
encountering a series of varied challenges. The book's worst flaw is weak
characterization, but that's a common problem in gamebooks.
17. Captive Planet
Author: Morris Simon
Illustrators: Clyde Caldwell (cover), Sam Grainger (interior)
First Published: July, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-078-0
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Star Frontiers
Number of Endings: 16
Plot Summary: While away at school you have difficulty communicating
with your parents at home; something terrible is going on and you must
investigate.
Translation: French
My Thoughts: This is a very frustrating book. Not only is it quite
difficult to get through, it has no particularly satisfactory ending; even
the "best" endings are ambiguous. Perhaps a sequel was planned to
resolve the loose ends, but if so it was never written.
18. King's Quest
Author: Tom McGowen
Illustrators: Ben Otero (cover), Kevin Nichols (interior)
First Published: July, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-079-9
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 28
Plot Summary: A dying man gives you and your brother a mission - the
two of you must find a cave containing the bones of a king and put them to
rest. If you can accomplish this, you'll receive a considerable amount of
treasure!
Translations: French, Spanish, Swedish
My Thoughts: This is a pretty good book. There are a lot of paths
through it, the writing is fairly good and many of the encounters are
interesting. The biggest flaw is that some of the battles in the book are
won a bit too easily (at least when you take into consideration how hard
they'd be in an actual roleplaying session), but this problem shows up in
many of the books in this series and is almost unavoidable without a combat
system.
19. Conan the Undaunted
Author: James M. Ward
Illustrators: Clyde Caldwell (cover), Doug Chaffee (interior)
First Published: June, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-120-5
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Hyboria
Number of Endings: 16
Plot Summary: A mortally wounded knight charges you and your friend
to a death quest, forcing you to carry a warning to the city of Galparan
before it is attacked by rebel Bossonian March Riders.
Translation: French
My Thoughts: This is a fairly good gamebook, though I don't know how
successful it is at portraying Conan and his world since I'm mostly unfamiliar
with Robert E. Howard's work. The strange thing about this book and the
following book, number twenty, is that their publication date is June, 1984
while the previous two books (seventeen and eighteen) were apparently released
in July of that year. It's not unheard of for series books to be published
out of order, but I have no idea why it happened in this particular case. I
suppose it might have something to do with the remarkable similarity between
the plots of this book and King's Quest, the book which precedes it
numerically, but I'm not sure how releasing the books out of order would
really correct that problem.
20. Conan and the Prophecy
Author: Roger E. Moore
Illustrators: Keith Parkinson (cover), Sam Grainger (interior)
First Published: June, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-121-3
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Hyboria
Number of Endings: 16
Plot Summary: You protect an old beggar from attack and he tells
your future in return -- you are destined to have a night of adventure.
Translation: French
My Thoughts: This book takes place about three years after the
preceding one, though there's no real connection between the two books (which
isn't surprising since they were most likely written simultaneously). This
book is mainly just a collection of random encounters; it doesn't have much
in the way of a plot. Still, it manages to be fun and offers a variety of
different adventures. It also has a rather Lovecraftian creature on the
cover for those who like such things...
21. Duel of the Masters
Author: Chris Martindale
Illustrators: Clyde Caldwell (cover), Keith Parkinson (interior)
First Published: September, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-154-X
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 18
Plot Summary: You are Rand, a young fighting monk. You are asked to
help prevent a war between two kingdoms in order to put your abilities to use
outside the temple and gain the experience you need to act as a master.
Translation: Spanish
My Thoughts: This book could have been a lot better, but due to
rather poor writing and some disjointed connections between sections, it's
fairly weak and uninvolving.
22. The Endless Catacombs
Author: Margaret Weis (credited as Margaret Baldwin Weis)
Illustrator: Jeff Easley
First Published: September, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-162-0
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 19
Plot Summary: You are an orphan visiting a town with the gypsies who
have raised you. During your visit, you learn about your past and get
involved in an important mission.
Translation: Spanish
My Thoughts: This is a truly awful book, which disappoints me greatly;
Margaret Weis is certainly capable of doing better than this. The story
aspect of the game is cliched but not too bad and certainly more developed
than is usual for a gamebook. It's the game aspect that's terrible. There
are really no choices anywhere in the book that have any purpose. Either a
choice has an obvious correct answer (things like "Do you help your
friends or do you run away and give up?") or you end up winding in
circles until you eventually reach the correct answer anyway. This would
have worked better as an ordinary novel, except that it wouldn't have been a
very good one.
23. Blade of the Young Samurai
Author: Morris Simon
Illustrator: Clyde Caldwell (cover), Gary Williams (interior)
First Published: November, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-155-8
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 17
Plot Summary: You are a young samurai sent by your emperor of Nippon
to retrieve the three magical items that your now missing father searched
for years ago.
Translation: French
My Thoughts: After a weak start, this book turns out to be a fairly
satisfying fantasy quest containing some interesting locations and characters.
The book's setting is a bit mysterious, though; it has little to do with the
traditional Dungeons & Dragons game and was written before the
Oriental Adventures expansion came out for AD&D. Also
mysterious is how page 133 was accidentally left blank after the eleventh
line of text. This problem was corrected in many copies of the book by the
inclusion of a glossy sticker containing the missing text, though the error
can't have been caught before the book was released, since I've managed to
find an uncorrected copy showing no signs of a sticker.
24. Trouble on Artule
Author: Catherine McGuire
Illustrator: Jeff Easley (cover), Mitchell O'Connell (interior)
First Published: November, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-169-8
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Star Frontiers
Number of Endings: 19
Plot Summary: You are Merrill, a human exchange student living on the
distant world of Artule while your father works on establishing a trade
agreement. During your time on Artule you must deal with prejudice and
investigate a conspiracy.
My Thoughts: This book means well but isn't particularly good. It
shares some of the themes of alienation used in Raid on Nightmare
Castle, Catherine McGuire's earlier entry in the series, but nothing
terribly inspired occurs. For the most part this is a typically ridiculous
science fiction gamebook.
25. Conan the Outlaw
Author: Roger E. Moore
Illustrators: Keith Parkinson (cover), Ron Randall (interior)
First Published: December, 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-222-8
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Hyboria
Number of Endings: 14
Plot Summary: Having escaped from slavery you must flee from the
minions of the evil witch responsible for your former fate.
My Thoughts: This book is quite fun to read; like the other Conan
books in this series it's somewhat different from the more standard D&D
stuff in the way the story unfolds, especially in the introductory section,
and this difference makes it fairly interesting. This book also has both a
clear objective to aim for and a variety of paths to follow, making for
entertaining gameplay.
26. Tarzan and the Well of Slaves
Author: Douglas Niles
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Ben Otero (interior)
First Published: January, 1985
ISBN: 0-88038-206-6
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Earth
Number of Endings: 14
Plot Summary: You wander the jungle in search of the people
responsible for the abduction of some of your followers.
Translation: French
My Thoughts: I really don't understand why this series includes Tarzan
books. It just doesn't make sense to me. In any case, this book definitely
feels a bit out of place, though it isn't too bad if you can tolerate the
many irritating cliches of the "mighty jungle man" genre.
27. Lair of the Lich
Author: Bruce Algozin
Illustrators: Jeff Easley (cover), Jim Roslof (interior)
First Published: March, 1985
ISBN: 0-88038-212-0
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 16
Plot Summary: You must recover your father's stolen spell book from
a lich which has taken up residence in Castle Necropolis, an evil place near
your home.
Translations: French, Spanish
My Thoughts: This book meets two of the conditions which generally
please me: it has a fair amount of internal consistency and an obvious
mission to complete. Unfortunately it doesn't work out too well... First of
all, it has an irritating companion character. I really don't understand
why so many gamebooks include irritating companion characters, but they do,
and this is one of them. Also an annoyance is its unfaithfulness to
D&D, especially in terms of spell casting... Of course, in an actual
role-playing session nothing like this book would ever come about anyway.
Overall, the book isn't a total failure, but I didn't find it particularly
satisfying.
28. Mystery of the Ancients
Author: Morris Simon
Illustrators: Keith Parkinson (cover), Doug Chaffee (interior)
First Published: May, 1985
ISBN: 0-88038-217-1
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Gamma World
Number of Endings: 12
Plot Summary: Your sister is badly injured in an explosion and you
must find a way to heal her... Unfortunately, good healing is hard to find
in your post-apocalyptic world.
Translation: Spanish
My Thoughts: This, the second Gamma World adventure in the
series, is a fairly good book; it does a nice job of portraying various
details of its interesting setting. It's not as good as Light on Quests
Mountain and it took me a while to get into, but ultimately it's a pretty
good adventure.
29. Tower of Darkness
Author: Regina Oehler Fultz
Illustrators: Jeff Easley (cover), Mark Nelson (interior)
First Published: July, 1985
ISBN: 0-88038-204-X
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 15
Plot Summary: While attempting to impress a new friend, you find
yourself entering the ruined tower that your mother disappeared in two years
ago.
Translations: French, Spanish
My Thoughts: This book wasn't nearly as good as it could have been.
It has a clear mission and some puzzles to solve, but the reader is more or
less led by the hand through the story. There are a few choices that require
a bit of thought and there are some places where the story isn't completely
linear, but for the most part, it's quite obvious which the "right"
choice is.
30. The Fireseed
Author: Morris Simon
Illustrators: Larry Elmore (cover), Jeffrey Butler (interior)
First Published: October, 1985
ISBN: 0-88038-171-X
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 15
Plot Summary: You are Davin Farold, a mercenary travelling home to
prove your worth to a father who disapproves of your profession.
Unfortunately, a decidedly purposeful storm gets in the way of all this,
leaving you to a dangerous mission.
Translation: Spanish
My Thoughts: This is a bit of an unusual story for the series; rather
than having a more or less ineffectual child as the protagonist, the reader
here gets to control a relatively competent teenaged warrior. The content of
the story is similarly mature, being decidedly gruesome at quite a few
points and avoiding the heavy-handed moralizing found in some of the early
books in the series. As a result, this definitely feels a lot more like a
"real" D&D adventure than most Endless Quest
books do, and this makes it a fairly satisfying read. What prevents it from
being a wonderful gamebook, however, is its very linear design. Most of the
choices are of the "if you're right, you go on, if you're wrong, you
die" variety, and those that aren't ultimately lead to the same places
anyway... This linearity works fine for telling the story, but there's only
really one story getting told here, so it's not exactly a stand-out piece of
interactive fiction. Also, while I'm complaining, I should point out that
the main character has a beard in the text, but not in the illustrations. Oh
well...
31. Tarzan and the Tower of Diamonds
Author: Richard Reinsmith
Illustrators: Jeff Easley (cover), Jeffrey Butler (interior)
First Published: December, 1985
ISBN: 0-88038-205-8
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Earth
Number of Endings: 13
Plot Summary: As Tarzan, you come across a plane wreck while trying
to rescue a lioness from poachers. Eventually, your explorations lead you
to something bigger and more exciting...
My Thoughts: Well, it's another Tarzan book, and I still don't
understand what they have to do with the rest of this series. I also don't
understand why this seems to be set in the present day; I'm no Tarzan expert,
but I'm pretty sure the stories are supposed to take place in the early part
of the twentieth century. Still, while I'm not a Tarzan fan, I did enjoy the
story at least a little -- it eventually turns into an archaelogical
adventure of the Indiana Jones variety, and it's fun if a bit silly. My
biggest complaint is with the flow of the story. A lot of sections are
re-used, so it's often possible to pick a choice that you rejected earlier.
Normally I like this sort of thing, but here it leads to a lot of redundancy;
I found myself learning certain facts about the story two or three times
during the same reading! It's not really a big deal, but it's a sign of poor
editing, and it detracts from the sense of immersion in the story.
32. Prisoner of Elderwood
Author: Bruce Algozin
Illustrators: Jeff Easley (cover), Gary Williams (interior)
First Published: February, 1986
ISBN: 0-88038-283-X
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 14
Plot Summary: You are Redmond Longbow, and you have taken up a career
of thievery in order to free your people from an invading king's army. Just
recently, however, you and your friends have been captured...
Translation: Spanish
My Thoughts: Like Bruce Algozin's earlier entry in the series,
Lair of the Lich, this book has flaws -- not only does it fail to capture
the feel of D&D very effectively, but it also is weighed down by
some rather uninteresting companion characters and a downright unpleasant
and irritating hero. There's also at least one major error that the copy
editor should have noticed -- on page 33, Tindle the magician is named
instead of Thorn the bird! The book does have a few redeeming features,
however, most notably its extensive use of descriptions of smells to build
atmosphere; writing about senses other than sight and sound definitely does
have the potential to increase the immersiveness of gamebooks. Also
interesting is the portrayal of conquering King Cradack; unlike every other
character in the book, he's not a boring stereotype, and his ambiguous
alignment makes the book's scenario a bit more interesting than it would
otherwise have been. These touches help the book, but they don't save it
from being a fairly uninteresting read. It is, at best, average.
33. Knight of Illusion
Author: Mary L. Kirchoff
Illustrators: Clyde Caldwell (cover), Sam Grainger and Jim Holloway (interior)
First Published: June, 1986
ISBN: 0-88038-284-8
Length: 159 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 10
Plot Summary: As a young cavalier, you must face the conspiracy
behind a series of orc raids in your kingdom.
Translation: Spanish
My Thoughts: This book is interesting in that it somehow manages to
combine this series' use of young and inexperienced characters with a fairly
accurate portrayal of the Dungeons & Dragons world. For the most
part, the story's events fit in with the D&D rules, and this makes
it a more-satisfying-than-usual read for fans of the game. The book has a
number of flaws, however. First of all, quite a few fans of the Pool of
Radiance computer game and novel were probably confused by the fact that
this book bears the exact same cover art as those better-known products
despite being completely unrelated to them -- I've always been a bit annoyed
by TSR's recycling of artwork, and this is one of the most blatant examples.
At least the book includes a scene which matches the artwork -- one wonders
if the story was actually written around the painting or if the reuse of
artwork simply proved convenient because of plot elements that were already
there. Another flaw is the writing, which is a little sloppy in several ways.
It's irritatingly preachy at times, and a few plot points are repeated
unnecessarily (and at least one minor one is missed) when the reader follows
certain paths. The book also frequently breaks the reader's immersion in the
story by referring to the player character's father by his first name. In a
third-person book, this wouldn't be a problem, but in a second-person one,
it's confusing; most people don't think of their parents by name. It also
bothered me that on page 112, the reader is told to turn back to a previous
page and make another choice; there's room to reprint the choices right there
on 112, so why waste the reader's time with extra page-flipping? Oh, and
while I'm complaining, I should point out that the title seems more than a
little bit forced... and the orcs speak pig latin! PIG LATIN! Aaah! In
any case, though, despite my complaints, I found this to be a fairly
worthwhile read. It may be annoying at times, but at least it's not as
boring or tedious as some earlier entries. If you ever need something to do,
you can even use it to play a game of "spot the gratuitous Alice in
Wonderland references."
Errata: The page numbers in the choice on page 96 are reversed; the
first option should lead to page 158, and the second option should lead to
page 150.
34. Claw of the Dragon
Author: Bruce Algozin
Illustrators: Clyde Caldwell (cover), Stephen Fabian (interior)
First Published: September, 1986
ISBN: 0-88038-306-2
Length: 159 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 12
Plot Summary: You are Toby, the son of a settler. Your frontier
village has lately been under frequent attack by dragons, and while out
collecting scales, you begin to learn why...
Translation: Spanish
My Thoughts: I really didn't expect to like this book, since Bruce
Algozin's earlier works almost completely failed to impress me. To my
pleasant surprise, though, I found it thoroughly enjoyable -- the story is
engaging and its characters are believably motivated; I found myself
genuinely interested in reaching a favorable outcome. I have only three
relatively minor complaints: the game doesn't accurately represent the
D&D world (black dragons, for example, should not breathe fire),
the plot relies a bit too heavily on coincidences, and the challenge level is
rather low (most choices are pretty obvious). On an unrelated note, I wonder
if presence of a dwarf named Elric is a coincidence, a joke, or something
else entirely... Hmm. Anyway, if none of these factors put you off, it's
definitely worth reading this book -- it's well above average.
35. Vision of Doom
Author: Mary L. Kirchoff
Illustrators: Ben Otero (cover), George Barr (interior)
First Published: December, 1986
ISBN: 0-88038-307-0
Length: 160 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 18
Plot Summary: You're a half-elf cleric who often has visions. Your
latest one alerts you to a threat to your home and forces you to go on a
dangerous quest to prove your manhood.
Translation: Spanish
My Thoughts: I was looking forward to re-reading this book, as I
remember enjoying it when I last played through it. Alas, I was rather
disappointed -- the book's story doesn't stray far from the "young,
inexperienced hero on a dangerous mission" formula that defines most
of the books in this series, and the writing is fairly weak, with unengaging
characters and quite a few amateurishly overblown attempts at artistic
descriptions. The gameplay does deserve a bit of credit, as it is quite
challenging to reach the optimal ending, and many of the decisions are both
interesting and tough. Unfortunately, it is not without flaws, and for every
challenging decision, there is an obvious or unsatisfying one. There's also
a lot of text between choices, so unless you're very patient, the adventure
seems to lag a lot of the time. This book isn't a complete waste of time,
but it's definitely not a classic.
36. Song of the Dark Druid
Author: Josepha Sherman
Illustrators: Jeff Easley (cover), Jim Holloway (interior)
First Published: March, 1987
ISBN: 0-88038-442-5
Length: 157 pages (including illustrations)
Game World: Dungeons and Dragons
Number of Endings: 20
Plot Summary: As a young bard-wannabe, you must help release Liliel,
queen of the faerie folk, from a trap set by a corrupt and powerful druid.
Translation: Spanish
My Thoughts: I wasn't too impressed by this book. It doesn't feel
like the D&D game at all, being solidly based on British folklore
and lacking the familiar spells, monsters or items that flavor most of the
other D&D-based entries in the series. While the writing is
adequate, the game design is a bit on the dull side. There are lots of
choices, and not too much wait between them, but when they arrive, the
decisions are, for the most part, rather obvious. There's never much sense
of challenge or danger, so the story never becomes terribly engaging. All in
all, this wasn't the best note to end a series on, though this wasn't the
true end to the Endless Quest line. The format of the series was used
for a few more months in the Lazer Tag Adventures
line, and a second series bearing the Endless Quest
name appeared a few years later...
