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Item - Clash of the Sorcerers

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Series: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebooks — no. 11
Translated Into: La batalla de los magos (Spanish)
Duelo de feiticeiros (Portuguese)
Mago contro mago (Italian)
Majou no taiketsu [魔域の対決] (Japanese)
Author: Simon, Morris
Illustrators: Parkinson, Keith (cover)
Barr, George (interior)
Date: November, 1986
ISBN: 0880383100 / 9780880383103
Length: 189 pages (212 sections)
Number of Endings: 26
User Summary: You must prevent your rival Arno from releasing a terrible monster and acquiring a magical item of great power.
Demian's Thoughts:

This book concludes the Kingdom of Sorcery Trilogy. Overall the trilogy has its ups and downs; it doesn't fit together too well due to the long periods of time elapsed between books and since actions in the early books have no real effect on the later ones. On the other hand, by the time you reach this book you have a good feel for the characters, something unusual for a gamebook. The conclusion offered here is, unfortunately, rather disappointing. There are a lot of different paths to victory here, leading to a rather anticlimactic adventure. Things move along too quickly and many of the milestones towards success feel a bit too easy to win. It's a shame the trilogy wasn't a little better thought out; despite many flaws I enjoyed the books and will miss the characters.

More reviews by Demian

Guillermo's Thoughts:

This is the last installment in the Kingdom of Sorcery Trilogy, with the player character now being a wizard of great power in a showdown against the evil forces of the goddess Lolth. Despite the interesting premise, and the fact that the first two volumes in the sub-series serve to build up expectations for this finale, the book is very disappointing. There is a vast repertory of spells at the player's disposal, but the magic system is poorly integrated into the adventure, and most spells feel unnecessary. The design as a whole feels way more linear and contrived than in the previous two books. Writing and characterization are good, but not enough to lift the book above mediocrity. A real shame.

More reviews by Guillermo

Errata:
  • Continuity: Sections 102 and 119, independently, describe your revelation that Arno is part Drow. Each section then leads into section 172, where you have the exact same discovery again as if you never had the first one.
  • In section 23, the path to section 111 should lead to 17.
  • In section 183, the path to section 169 should lead...well, I can't quite figure out where actually.
  • In section 192, the path to section 212 should lead...well, I can't quite figure out where either.
  • Sections 91 and 180 do not fit into the rest of the book. This is a problem since section 180 is a victorious ending. They could be the destinations of the aforementioned 183 and/or 192 if it were not for the continuity error it would create (namely that Arno should be dead, yet you encounter him again).
  • Finally, although it is not technically an error, I notice that your hint is to get Rufyl searching for spell components as early as possible. The Dismissal spell that uses the planetar feathers Rufyl collects is never actually used in the book.
  • Special Thanks:Thanks to Jerry Wang for the errata.
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