This is an imaginative gamebook with lots of depth. It feels like a massively edited version of a bigger story, and I would love to play the full version. Unfortunately the shorter version has too many flaws to be a great gamebook. Despite a world that has breadth and character, it doesn't feel like what you do in it will affect the story. I completed it first time, which didn't feel like a fluke. Despite not getting any of the mcguffins, I felt railroaded through to story's completion and then allowed to win. There were lots of times when it seemed like some character showed up to take you to the next stage, to resolve a problem for you, or to magically move you on. There are some great mechanisms in this gamebook - the poison mechanism, or the mazes for example, so there's a lot of potential here. I feel that editing this into a small book was probably the problem. ( )