Item - Secret of the Sphinx

Most time-travel tales are variations on two themes. Someone traveling from the present to the past or vice versa, or someone traveling from the present to the future or vice versa. The common theme usually involves the present in some sense. This book takes a more interesting track, by having a boy in the time of the crusades (the past) travel further back in time to ancient Egypt. So it allows the author to have the protagonist play fish out of water without any modern contrivances.

That said, she doesn't entirely make the most of that aspect but that was probably due to space limitations.

Overall, it's a fairly fun romp through ancient Egypt (I have always enjoyed stories set in the "real world," even if that world involves magic and gods). It focuses on a war between Egyptian deities, who act as fickle as Greek gods, with fun challenges. Interestingly, it contains the (controversial?) claim that the pyramids of Egypt were not built by slaves but by free labour.

Overall, another fun entry in this series with a different flavour.

More reviews by Kveto

This is a great book that stands out in a series I've grown to love. Secret of the Sphinx in my opinion is one of the standout titles in the Dragontales series for a variety of reasons. For starters, this book took a unique twist from the usual settings of this series in that it took place in real world settings rather than those of a fantasy world. With a book of this nature, that can be a hit or miss target to aim for, but luckily, this book pulls it off nicely. Secret of the Sphinx does a nice job of introducing two very different cultures to each other, and while I'd hoped to see a little more confusion on the part of Matthew, the aforementioned young page in question, when dealing with a culture so vastly different than his own, I suppose we'll have to take the rushed atmosphere as part of the ever present limited spacing available in a book of this nature.

Interestingly enough, this book lacked the usually heavy-handed hinting of romantic interests that seemed to dominate this series. There's no real interaction of romantic notions with any members of the fairer sex aside from the antagonist's brief notion of attraction to the Egyptian Goddess Isis, hardly a feasible romantic interest. Though some passages carry on a bit while others come to a far too abrupt and unsatisfying finish, Secret of the Sphinx still manages to stand out as a strong entry and a great book to end the Dragontales series on, though I'd have loved if they managed to produce a few more of these books.

An exciting story, decent gameplay and choices, fairly decent pacing make for a solid read and addition to your collection.

More reviews by Nomad

[Rating: 3/10]
[Recommended? NO]

Rhondi Vilott's "Dragontales" gamebooks are a pleasantly refreshing exploration of the limitless potential of the epic fantasy genre, providing within each title an adventurous sort of excursion into danger with a bit of romance on the side. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the same approach returns in "Secret of the Sphinx", what with its fairly lengthy quest of a familiar nature and the way readers are intended to play through it. Distinctively different enough in tone yet reminiscent of both the "HeartQuest" and "Endless Quest" series in more ways than I predicted, this is a moderately paced story with a commendably well-conceived setting and cast of characters (for the most part), and while the narrative and set-up are admittedly on the predictable side of things, the eloquently fashioned tone is quite readable. It's a seamless experience overall, but I couldn't help finding myself strangely dissatisfied by the end of it; perhaps I was hoping for something a little more ambitious or innovative, since I thoroughly enjoyed reading good portions of the book and found it ended before it made much use of what the experience had going for it. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily - but it made me more analytical upon my next few re-reading exercises, to which I came to the conclusion that, alas, some paths are more satisfying than others, and that the intuitive incompleteness was owing to the fact that not every path was... well, completely written.

This title is recommended to a precisely particular extent: a majority of fantasy readers and gamebook lovers alike will relish in the refreshing feel and thoughtfully designed adventure offered here. But a few warnings are to be had (which keep me from recommending this title wholly) - not all copies are created equal! Original printing editions feature proper passage pointing, well-formatted pages and some absolutely stunning cover artwork by the brilliant Tom Hallman... while reprintings and reissues are cheap, shallow, incorrectly embedded and outright ugly to look at, if not unreadable and inaccessible (numerous errors, omissions and problems with the writing itself). Furthermore, don't be surprised if the entirety of the book is not as good as the best parts (ex. alternative routes)... but don't be afraid to give this one a shot if this sounds up your alley! ^^

(Mysteriously disappears into the shadows.)

More reviews by Shadeheart