Jay Leibold

The Choose Your Own Adventure series offered an option every few pages to choose how the story would continue. According to your preference, you would follow its instructions by turning to the appropriate page of the book as indicated by your choice. This was a popular and revolutionary idea when the series was first launched in the early 1980s, driving it to incredible sales levels for many years until it was overshadowed by variants on the idea that took the concept to more elaborate show more lengths (e.g. Fighting Fantasy) and especially by other interactive media.

The plot: Opening line, "You wake up one morning and sense that something is wrong." An antimatter device is disrupting reality, opening passages between parallel worlds, and you need to help get things back in order.

Observations: This entry is reminiscent of the madness of Hyperspace #21, but with a stronger plot and clearer stakes which makes it more engaging.

Personal memories: I liked the zaniness, and there are a truly amazing number of ways it can all go wrong. show less

The Choose Your Own Adventure series offered an option every few pages to choose how the story would continue. According to your preference, you would follow its instructions by turning to the appropriate page of the book as indicated by your choice. This was a popular and revolutionary idea when the series was first launched in the early 1980s, driving it to incredible sales levels for many years until it was overshadowed by variants on the idea that took the concept to more elaborate show more lengths (e.g. Fighting Fantasy) and especially by other interactive media.

The plot: You're a member of the French resistance, on a mission to rescue two people from a Nazi castle. And you might even get to blow up the castle while you're at it.

Observations: things get sanitized a bit for the kids. Nobody says the H word, although there's one cartoonish portrait of him in the background of an image. When the artist thoughtlessly included a swastika in a picture, the image got reversed so that at least the Buddhist version appears instead - except that they missed one. De Grelle sounds a little bit like De Gaulle, donnit?

Personal memories: one of my top three favourites in the series, thanks to its war theme and derring-do. show less

The Choose Your Own Adventure series offered an option every few pages to choose how the story would continue. According to your preference, you would follow its instructions by turning to the appropriate page of the book as indicated by your choice. This was a popular and revolutionary idea when the series was first launched in the early 1980s, driving it to incredible sales levels for many years until it was overshadowed by variants on the idea that took the concept to more elaborate show more lengths (e.g. Fighting Fantasy) and especially by other interactive media.

The plot: Your dojo in Kyoto is being threatened by supernatural powers, and a mysterious sword delivery. Track down the sender of the sword, or go back in time to find the threat's origin?

Observations: It begins with some handy background notes stating that "most of the adventures in this book are drawn from Japanese folk legends", and a glossary. Judging from the many subsequent titles in the series that featured some variant of martials arts, I suspect this entry found some much-needed popularity. show less

The Choose Your Own Adventure series offered an option every few pages to choose how the story would continue. According to your preference, you would follow its instructions by turning to the appropriate page of the book as indicated by your choice. This was a popular and revolutionary idea when the series was first launched in the early 1980s, driving it to incredible sales levels for many years until it was overshadowed by variants on the idea that took the concept to more elaborate show more lengths (e.g. Fighting Fantasy) and especially by other interactive media.

The plot: You're trying to solve a friend's problem with some missing horses in the Grand Canyon. While you're at it, you'll also investigate whether it can be a portal through time (of course it can).

Observations: Along the way you can pick up random fun bits of history, like the Spanish quest for the Seven Cities of Cibola, and Major Powell's expedition in 1869. But if you thought it's about seeing whether you can successfully navigate the entire river through the canyon, well, you're out of luck, as I discovered.

Personal memories: I had some interest in the Grand Canyon as a kid, stemming from some old National Geographics that featured several amazing pictures. It helped a lot with picturing the action. show less