Item - Indian Trail

This book is fairly interesting since it casts the reader in a more unusual role (and an earlier time period) than most of the other books in the series. However, I can't heap huge amounts of praise on it -- the portrayal of Native American life is (perhaps intentionally) rather vague, and many of the endings lack satisfying finality. This could have been much worse, but it also could have been considerably better.

More reviews by Demian

(Review based on the Bantam edition).

This book is more wordy than is usual for Skylark CYOA books, and it casts you as a young American Indian, which is unusual for any gamebook series. The Native American mythology is adequately (if a bit superficially) portrayed. Unfortunately, all the paths through the book are extremely short, and there is only one failure ending, which makes the book less exciting than it should be. Not a terrible read, but not outstanding either. At least it has several pretty good illustrations by Leslie Morrill, who is one of my favourite CYOA artists.

More reviews by Guillermo

R. A. Montgomery's cultural storytelling acumen varied widely from book to book, but Indian Trail isn't one of his better efforts. Severe drought has hit your Indian village. In the past when faced with this crisis, your people beseeched spirits known as kachinas to send rain and preserve their lives. You have decided to take it on yourself to seek the kachinas in the mountains and convince them to end the drought. On the morning you and your friend Running Foot prepare to leave, you are visited by your grandfather, Wise One. Will you take him along on the hazardous journey, or is it a job for the young?

Letting Wise One accompany you results in a single decision, with a quick ending either way you go. The majority of this book happens if you head out alone with Running Foot. You meet a wolf jealously guarding a fallen deer, but should you leave the carnivore to its kill or drive it away? If you injure the wolf with your spear you will need to decide whether to pursue it in hopes of rectifying the harm you caused. When you come to a narrow ridge with rocks that seem likely to slide out from under your feet, you may decide it isn't worth the risk. Turning back, you spot a trio of Apaches planning a strike on your village. Should you sneak home and alert everyone, or follow the Apaches to discover the details? Either choice puts you in position to save your tribe and perhaps earn the kachinas' blessing.

Instead of turning back from the narrow ridge, maybe you decide to cross it. The maneuver has harrowing moments, but you reach the other side and Running Foot zooms onward. You just wish you weren't suddenly feeling so ill. Taking a breather might be a smart move, especially when a kachina appears with a wish to heal both your infirmity and the parched land. If you shake off the ill feeling and force yourself after Running Foot, you'll come upon a bear with an arrow jutting from its side. Will you risk your life to extract the arrow, or stay focused on the kachinas? The two priorities are linked more closely than you realize.

Indian Trail feels sparser than most Bantam Skylark Choose Your Own Adventures, and isn't all that interesting or cohesive. The supposed rareness of kachinas is undermined by the fact that you run into them at almost every turn; the story would be better served by the approach Edward Packard's Jungle Safari took with the Kawamba ape, where only a single ending allows fleeting interaction with the animal you were questing after. In some endings the kachinas are petty and arbitrary; who could blame a kid for not pulling an arrow out of a wounded bear? Surely that choice doesn't render you unworthy of help to end the life-threatening drought. Leslie Morrill's illustrations are nice and the Apache storyline isn't bad, but Indian Trail is among the less impressive titles in the series.

More reviews by KenJenningsJeopardy74