Item - Sword Daughter's Quest

This book definitely gets the series off to a strong start. It drops the reader quickly into a comfortably familiar fantasy world that seems to be influenced about equally by Tolkien's Middle-earth (there's no doubt that The Hobbit was a major inspiration) and the basic Dungeons & Dragons world (familiar character classes are present). Talk of orcs and elves might confuse a reader completely unfamiliar with the staples of high fantasy, but the lack of excessive explanation of such things is a great relief to veteran fantasy readers. This intentional vagueness also makes it possible for the reader to mentally mould the adventure to fit into the fantasy world of his or her choice. Really, just about everything in the adventure seems fairly generic, from the setting and monsters to the heroes and villains. This didn't bother me, though, since all these generic elements are handled with a certain degree of skill. -- some of the creature encounters were inspired even if the actual creatures were familar (there's a bit with a giant water spider that I particularly enjoyed, for example), and the characters are fairly well-defined, even though the length of the book doesn't really allow them to be developed into anything particularly memorable. My only real complaint about the book involves its romantic elements -- although the story's romance is not entirely unreasonable in concept, the writing style periodically lapses into gaudy prose that undermines the message somewhat and dispels any hope of subtlety. I might have found the romance more believable and moving if there had been less discussion of trembling hands and deep violet eyes. Still, this problem only gets really annoying on certain paths through an otherwise enjoyable book. Since this is a pretty quick read despite the length of its sections, it's not too hard to overlook its flaws.

More reviews by Demian

[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 "Sword Daughter's Quest", 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

I read this book when I was fourteen, and at the time I thought it was amazing. It isn't bad now, but I was very emo as a teen, so I loved it. I have seriously considered writing Tyrna/Gavin fanfiction (and I'm a guy)! In 3.0 or 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons, however, it would be hard to duplicate their characters. Maybe someone can work it fourth ed., who knows.

More reviews by SinisterMarmalade