Jim Wallace (1)

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 wildlife photographer searching for mountain gorillas in Uganda. Along the way you'll learn about the dangers of the jungle, but also a lot about what endangers the gorillas.

Observations: By coincidence, this book was published in February of the same year that Dian Fossey was murdered in December (1985).

Personal memories: I read this one several times, finding the subject matter interesting. Not sure every kid would have, it is whimsy-free. show less

This book barely made any sense. The endings were all let downs that undermined the value of our choices throughout. So far, one of the worst CYOAs I've read.

The branch that I followed didn't have much action, but there was an adequate amount of choices at even intervals that kept it interesting.

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: Someone's out to destroy your rock and roll band! The back cover couldn't make it sound any more exciting than that, and I can't either.

Observations: More than most entries in the series, this one really feels like a product of its time (1987/1988). show less