Item - Die Insel der 1000 Gefahren

I've recently been hunting for Edward Packard's gamebooks. While English editions are largely unavailable and command high prices on the secondary market, I was glad to find that in Germany, a few of his CYOA books are still in print, including Die Insel der 1000 Gefahren, first published in 1979.

The translation is based on the 1975 edition of Sugarcane Island. Given its age, I didn't expect much, and was right not to. The gamebook structure is right there, on par with what followed, and Demian's diagram hosted here on gamebooks.org proves it, but what I found lacking was the writing, especially the descriptions. I could picture neither characters not locations in my mind. Also, many decisions follow a pattern: You may do something or refrain from doing it. I would certainly have preferred two (or more) active choices.

While I'm pleased to finally have read this seminal work, I wouldn't gift it to a kid as his or her first gamebook. I suspect that most books in the "1000 Gefahren" series (which includes CYOA books, CYOA for Younger Readers and also original works by German authors) are superior.

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