1. Quest for the Unicorn's Horn
Author: Bill Fawcett
Illustrators: Neal McPheeters (cover), Teanna Byert (interior), Jerry O'Malley (maps)
First Published: July, 1985
ISBN: 0-441-69715-1
Length: 114 sections
Number of Endings: 2 (one bad ending led to from 15 places and one victory)
Plot Summary: The reader controls the actions of Talien, a young
Kuven, a leader of one hundred men. He gained his position after the
premature death of his father at the hands of ogres, and he soon finds that
a position of power doesn't make his life any easier....
My Thoughts: This book starts on bad footing with an awkward and
embarrassed-sounding introduction, and further hurts itself with fairly
dreary rules -- the character creation is particularly stupid, as it says
nothing about how to equip a newly-created character (in the example, some
magic items are just made up seemingly at random). You're best off using
the pre-created adventurer. Things pick up a bit once the actual story
starts, but the book is still a mixed bag. It's ultra-linear, in the
fashion of many American gamebooks of this complexity level, with the story
following almost exactly the same path barring death by a stupid choice or
poor dice roll. It doesn't help that the dice-rolling aspect of the game is
rather pointless; most rolls require the use of three six-sided dice, and
due to the probability curve for this particular dice combination, things
tend to be a little too predictable, with combats dragging on endlessly.
Pacing in general, not just in combat, is a problem as well; some sections go
on far too long, and it's easy for the reader's mind to wander while waiting
for the next choice to arrive. Still, it's actually worth paying attention.
Despite its many problems, which include stylistically unimpressive writing,
the book's main saving grace is its plot -- most of the book is standard
fantasy fare, but it does feature a couple of twists which save it from utter
pointlessness. Ultimately, if you're looking for lots of interactivity, you
should avoid this; if you're looking for a mildly intriguing fantasy quest
with a bit of dice rolling, though, this certainly isn't the worst way you
could pass your time....
Errata: Although it's not an error as such, be warned that section
78 features a third choice which wraps around to the next page and is easily
missed.
2. Quest for the Dragon's Eye
Author: Bill Fawcett
Illustrators: Neal McPheeters (cover), Teanna Byert (interior), Jerry O'Malley (maps)
First Published: July, 1985
ISBN: 0-441-69709-7
Length: 98 sections (plus prologue)
Number of Endings: 2 (one bad ending led to from 25 places and one victory)
Plot Summary: Ceddwein, a thief turned guardsman, must travel with
his military unit to recover a magical gem in order to defeat a demon.
My Thoughts: This book is much like the last one; it's a highly
linear adventure featuring a mediocre design but a better-than-average story.
Bill Fawcett is a rather uneven writer -- sometimes his text is downright
boring and confusing, but other times it's inspired and evocative.
Fortunately, his strengths more than make up for his weaknesses. This is
unashamedly cliche-filled high fantasy, but it still manages to have a flavor
of its own and to introduce some interesting ideas here and there. Too bad
the writing is let down so much by the pointless, tedious game design. There
are very few choices in the book of any consequence; most branch points
involve winning or losing combat or succeeding or failing in skill rolls.
Most non-fatal failures simply deal some damage and then reconverge with the
successful path, and several perfectly good opportunities for decision-making
are completely ignored. This means that replaying after failure is dull and
frustrating, a situation made worse by the same plodding combat system seen
in the previous book; the odds of anyone hitting anything are so low that I
can't help but suspect the book was originally designed with a twenty-sided
die in mind but that this was replaced by three six-sided ones at the request
of the publisher. One nice touch which can potentially reduce the tedium of
replaying the book over and over is the fact that the failure paragraph
suggests increasing Ceddwein's skill level to make the book easier -- this is
reminiscent of a similarly-motivated mechanic used in the second Knuckleduster interactive Western years later.
Errata: In a rather dramatic oversight, somebody appears to have
accidentally put the back-of-book text from the previous volume on this one
as well! In a less dramatic but more annoying oversight, Ceddwein's
character sheet neglects to mention what kind of sword he is armed with.
Finally, though probably correct, the transition from section 70 to section
65 is awfully abrupt.
3. Quest for the Demon Gate
Author: Bill Fawcett
Illustrators: Neal McPheeters (cover), Todd Cameron Hamilton (credited as Todd Hamilton) (interior), Jerry O'Malley (maps)
First Published: September, 1986
ISBN: 0-441-13807-1
Length: 138 sections (plus prologue)
Number of Endings: 2 (one bad ending led to from 28 places and one victory)
Plot Summary: When a dangerous magical artifact is left at his abbey,
Alynn, a cleric of Cearn the protector, is drawn into a dangerous mission.
My Thoughts: This book follows the same basic format as the previous
two; it's a mostly well-written but highly linear adventure that's blatantly
inspired by Advanced Dungeons & Dragons but which
still manages to include some fairly fresh twists on very familiar ideas.
From a gameplay perspective, this is marginally better than its predecessors
thanks to the fact that the reader controls the actions of a cleric. This
means that at several points during the adventure, spells have to be chosen,
so even though the storyline itself doesn't give the reader much choice in
what happens, the spell selection adds some strategy to the proceedings and
reduces the number and length of tedious combats. As in the previous book,
when the reader fails, the book suggests making the next attempt a little
easier. Rather than increasing a skill level, though, this book proposes
adding an extra healing spell to Alynn's repertoire. In terms of storyline,
the book is fairly short on plot, consisting mainly of one battle after
another, but it is made interesting by an effectively creepy portrayal of the
undead and a conflict based on the reader's eventual indecision over which of
Alynn's companions can be trusted. Of course, this conflict would be more
interesting if more actual decisions were based on it, but at least it keeps
the pages turning. There is some continuity with the previous volumes; the
Mistwall and the Darklord are prominently featured, and there's even a cameo
by Talien, hero of the first adventure. Ultimately, in spite of its good
points, the adventure is pretty forgettable; still, it's above average for
its type, and if the linearity isn't a major deterrent, it makes for an
enjoyable evening or two of reading.
Errata: The spell selection rules neglect to mention early in the
book how many spells Alynn may memorize at a time. The number is eventually
revealed (in section 16) to be three. The book also fails to mention until
near the end (section 136) that healing spells may be cast any time, even
during combat. In sections 22 and 23, be sure to turn the page for
additional options to choose from. Section 63 should lead to section 75, not
section 66.
4. Quest for the Elf King
Author: Bill Fawcett
Illustrators: Neal McPheeters (cover), Todd Cameron Hamilton (credited as Todd Hamilton) (interior), Jerry O'Malley (maps)
First Published: January, 1987
ISBN: 0-441-20326-4
Length: 93 sections
Number of Endings: 2 (one bad ending led to from 27 places and one victory)
Plot Summary: Lor the elf isn't having a very good day; after a
near-death encounter with a weretiger, he finds that all is not well with the
local royalty....
My Thoughts: This is a thoroughly disappointing conclusion to a
series that, while not brilliant, showed some promise. Despite a few nice
touches (like the book's handling of small details of elf and lycanthrope
culture), there are far more flaws than merits. As before, the game system
is pointless and the plot is linear. Losing the flexibility added by
clerical spells in the previous volume is unfortunate, and things are
rendered all the more boring by the near-total lack of items to collect
during the adventure. Apart from a clever trap or two, there are almost no
meaningful choices, and far too much time is spent rolling dice over and over
in tedious combats. The difficulty is rather too high as well; I eventually
found the optimal path through the book, but I only had one remaining hit
point at the end even after taking the optional healing potion recommended
for lowering the challenge level of the book. Despite the low section count
and barely-branching storyline, there are even some continuity problems and
loose ends. It really feels as if the author was tired and wanted to get it
all over with, and the fact that he designed rules for some later gamebook
series without writing many more actual adventures seems to support this
theory. When I put this one down, I didn't really feel any sense of
accomplishment or satisfaction; perhaps the series should have quit while it
was ahead.