Steve Jackson (1) (1951–)

I know there is a lot wrong with this book (sausage fest / the whole balthus dire being trapped forever thing happening completely offscreen in a total deus ex machina / and the actual real deus ex machina that at least might be a bit of a joke) but I love it.

This is a real stinker but I enjoyed it. I think I got about half of them, more by luck than judgement. Even with the answers there are a few that I still didn't see! It's not enough to just get the answers, there are also puzzles that need a really powerful magnifying glass and some really abstract thought. Fantastic stuff! Was also pleasantly surprised to find that my copy had been signed by Steve Jacksn and Ian Livingstone, which is nice!

Had a go at this one the last couple of nights, and both times I ended up captured pretty quickly. This is a fun book, Jackson knows his way around classic horror tropes and his books are always very well written. This one will need to be mapped if you want to complete it.

First time playing this book, and I reckon it is going to be one of the best. This book fits squarely into the Jackson-verse elements of Fighting Fantasy, with the action occupying the same time and location as Citadel of Chaos, Creature of Havoc, and his FF novel The Trolltooth Wars. You play a backwater schmuck, a wet-behind-the-ears nebbish off to make a name as an adventurer in the big city. You need to get some training, do some adventuring, and then I was dead so I never worked out if show more there was a bigger quest to come. There are some excellent bits here, not least the Warlock-of-Firetop-Mountain dream sequence, which was a real joy. If the 75% of the book that I haven't experienced is as good as the 25% I have, then this is going to be one of the classics of the series. Fantastic stuff.
e2a Fantastic artwork too. show less