The Cave of Time (Choose Your Own Adventure #1) [Paperback]

Edward Packard (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 1, 1982

You're The Star! 40 Thrilling  Endings!

Will You Become Trapped  In Time ?

You  are hiking in Snake Canyon when you find yourself  lost in the strange, dimly lit Cave of Time.  Gradually you can make out two passageways. One curves  downward to the right; the other leads upward to  the left. It occurs to you that the one leading  down may go to the past and the one leading up may  go to the future. Which way will you  choose?

If you take the left branch, turn to page 20.  If you take the right branch, turn to page 61. If  you walk outside the cave, turn to page 21. Be  careful! In the Cave of Time you might meet up with  a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex, or be lured aboard an  alien spaceship!

What happens  next in the story? It all depends on the choices you  make. How does the story end? Only you can find  out! And the best part is that you can keep  reading and rereading until you've had not one but many  incredibly daring experiences!

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

You're The Star! 40 Thrilling Endings!

Will You Become Trapped In Time ?

You are hiking in Snake Canyon when you find yourself lost in the strange, dimly lit Cave of Time. Gradually you can make out two passageways. One curves downward to the right; the other leads upward to the left. It occurs to you that the one leading down may go to the past and the one leading up may go to the future. Which way will you choose?

If you take the left branch, turn to page 20. If you take the right branch, turn to page 61. If you walk outside the cave, turn to page 21. Be careful! In the Cave of Time you might meet up with a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex, or be lured aboard an alien spaceship!

What happens next in the story? It all depends on the choices you make. How does the story end? Only you can find out! And the best part is that you can keep reading and rereading until you've had not one but many incredibly daring experiences!

From the Inside Flap

You're The Star! 40 Thrilling  Endings!

Will You Become Trapped  In Time ?

You  are hiking in Snake Canyon when you find yourself  lost in the strange, dimly lit Cave of Time.  Gradually you can make out two passageways. One curves  downward to the right; the other leads upward to  the left. It occurs to you that the one leading  down may go to the past and the one leading up may  go to the future. Which way will you  choose?

If you take the left branch, turn to page 20.  If you take the right branch, turn to page 61. If  you walk outside the cave, turn to page 21. Be  careful! In the Cave of Time you might meet up with  a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex, or be lured aboard an  alien spaceship!

What happens  next in the story? It all depends on the choices you  make. How does the story end? Only you can find  out! And the best part is that you can keep  reading and rereading until you've had not one but many  incredibly daring experiences!

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (August 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553269658
• ISBN-13: 978-0553269659
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Take Me Back in Time--The One that Started it All... June 1, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

In 1979, Edward Packard, who is easily the best author of the entire gargantuan Choose-Your-Own-Adventure series, wrote and published this book, and with that one stroke he not only gave us all a classic adventure story but founded an entire new genre of fiction as well! The whole idea of the "interactive novel" did not even exist before the first Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, as far as I know. The instant the series became popular, almost thousands of imitators started up, most of which died while the series that was started by "The Cave of Time" just kept going and going, like the Energizer Bunny. Today, it is considered just part of a whole category of books. "The Cave of Time" itself is an imaginative story that takes its reader all through time, from the end of the entire universe to the days of Camelot and everything in between. The mechanism for the time travel is NOT the typical machine, but rather a system of tunnels that can transport you in different directions through time depending on which way the tunnel is heading. An original and intriguing idea. Since the early '90s, the CYOA series has sadly gone downhill, with practically all the books being about martial arts and sports--as if they suddenly think that little GIRLS never read their books! and the number of endings has shrunk and shrunk, until now it is often less than TEN per book! As a female who has been reading, collecting, and loving this series since she was 8, this is a major disappointment for me, and I'm sure it would be to anyone else out there who may remember the "good old days" of this series. But THIS book, with its subject matter that would appeal to ANYONE, both boys AND girls, and its whopping 40 endings, is the classic that started it all.... This is the standard that interactive fiction for kids has been trying--and failing--to reach ever since. ...Notorious Read more ›

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Book 1 in Choose Your Own Adventure Series April 30, 2003

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I remember this gamebook series from childhood, though I was never particularly good at them. "The Cave of Time" starts out with the reader finding a cave and deciding whether or not to enter it. From there, the reader travels back in time to the Ice Age, colonial America, the Dark Ages--even traveling ahead in time. There is no one ending or quest to this book, so you're not in a mad dash to win. In fact, there is no "winning" in here, just 40 possible endings to certain situations--some good, some fatal. Younger readers who like gamebooks will probably like this book/series, though there's not a lot of action.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Time is a important thing By James Bonura December 11, 2006

A Kid's Review

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This book was extremely good. I don't know how I got hooked on to choose your own adventure books, but I'm glad I did. I think it was my teacher who got me hooked on them. The author gives you a wide selection of choices, some deadly and some not. Each ending suprised me because they all had there own little way to finish the story!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book takes some time to read-good time! August 25, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I've read this book many times and think it's one of the best Choose Your Own Adventure Books ever written.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great beginning to a good series February 10, 2013

By Richard L. Orloski

Format:Paperback

It is possible, though unlikely, that a reader of this review will not be familiar with the genre.

This was the book that first got me interested in the series, and it is a good beginning. The backdrop -- a cave that transport you through time (and space, actually) -- allows for a lot of different variation that can't be credibly derived in a book with a tighter theme.

One of the things I remember about this book, discovering it 30 years ago, were the pseudo-adult choices that I could make, like deciding not to come home for the evening, and just camping for the night outside without notifying the uncle I was staying with. (I think it was an uncle.) Even back then, I knew that kind of choice wouldn't fly in real life, so it was interesting to play along. I am still inclined against risk-taking when I play these books. The illustrations are great, too -- the cover is like a table of contents on all of the things I have to find. I am glad to see in some other reviews that this kind of thing still holds up for kids today. Thanks, Edward Packard!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Blast from the Past November 30, 2012

By Curtis M. Sawyer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I LOVED these books as a kid, but donated my entire collection when I was in college to a relative. Now that my oldest daughter is reading, she found the 1 book I still had had also fell in love with them. I bought this, the first and best book, for her to enjoy. I highly, highly recommend these original books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Memories... January 15, 2012

By Michael Valdivielso

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I remember reading these books as a kid. I could spend hours rereading the same book over and over. And this is the first of the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Beware - there are other types out here, from the very good Time Machine books to the copy-cat if sometimes very weird Which Way Books. Not that those are bad it is just THESE are the books, in my mind that started it all.
And this is the first of them! You find yourself in a cave but not just any cave - it is the CAVE OF TIME! You may end up int he time of knights, or the Ice age, or you may end up in the future! The end depends on YOU! And unless the Time Machine Books, you CAN die in these - so be careful and pick wisely!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding January 7, 2005

By David Whitman

Format:Paperback

The first and one of the best in the series. The Cave of Time provides a keen sense of being in different worlds. The different passages from which to choose from succeed in keeping the reader in suspense. It's a shame that books like this that strike the imagination in young and old readers alike hardly get written anymore.