Customer Reviews

The Crown of Kings (Sorcery)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The fourth and final volume of Steve Jackson's "Sorcery" adventures is by far the best, save for one minor gripe I have.

I love the way this book is written in simple language with minor puzzles to solve and highly entertaining adventures. This is, possibly, the most advanced of the "Choose Your Way" type books I've seen. The plot is very interesting and the rules easy to follow. One VERY nice touch is the little dice markers they include on the bottom of every page, so if you ever find yourself without dice (as if any gamer would find themselves in such a position, ha!), you can still play by doing a random "flip-through" to get a result.

Now for my one gripe about this book. It CANNOT stand on its own...you need to do the others first. While the start of the adventure still makes a certain amount of sense if you haven't read the first three, there are at least 40 entries out of 800 that reference the adventures from one of the first three books. And if you haven't read the first three, you won't be able to make the proper choices...and if you cheat and do, they won't make sense anyway. Some of these entries will even direct you to go back and start over from somewhere back in one of the previous three books!

So...as good a read and play as this is, don't START with this one. Make sure you manage to find the other three before reading this volume.

Quite simply, Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series is the finest the gamebook genre ever produced. With 800 entries, stylized artwork and exquisite writing, it put the entire Choose Your Own Adventure series to shame with its elequence and quality.

I feel fortunate to have collected the set, and if you have interest in fantasy gaming, I encourage you to find these books also.

The last of a quintet of books under the series title "Sorcery", "The Crown of Kings" is well-crafted finale to a highly entertaining fantasy role-playing series."Sorcery" takes the fun of D&D type role-playing and combines it with a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style game, allowing the player to select from a multitude of possible scenarios, twists, and endings. Unlike the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, highly simplistic and meant for young children, "Sorcery" is very complex and thoroughly entertaining for children AND adults. This series is also especially convenient to play; it does not require other people, and needs only a pair of six-sided dice, a pen, and a sheet of paper. Additionally, though this book is the last of five, a player can start from any book in the series.Written in the second person, you travel through the land of Kakhabad, fighting monsters and ruffians, encountering curious folk, sometimes helpful, sometimes lethal. As your inventory of magical items and special weapons grows, your challenges increase. Building your skill and strength is imperative should you live to face the evil Archmage of Mampang.The realm in which the RPing takes place an enthralling one, and with the illustrations of John Blanche, you are eased into an enchantment not easily broken.

I loved these series as a kid. My parents were so scared of the covers, that they threw some of my fighting fantasy gamebooks away. I found them intriguing and spent many hours on them. It was fun to go back. Now they are a lot easier to understand and I can get through them fairly quickly. Overall, it was very nostalgic.

I warn you now i'm pretty biased: I virtually leant to read with the fighting fantasy books! The books in the Sorcery series have proved to be infuriatingly rare, I got the second and third books first, then a year later I managed to find and buy the one and only copy I have ever seen of the first and eventually found the last on at my local library. Then someone stole it! I haven't seen a copy of it since but have managed to order one now and will soon have the whole lot, yay!
It's not great literature in the normal sense, but it really captures your attention and draws you in; especially if you can start from the start and go right the way through! It's good enough for me and a lot better than some supposedly 'great' dross i've come across!

Years ago when I was still in high school, I bought the entire four book set, including the magic spells book. . . It was the best game book, I have ever enjoyed.

Yet, at one point I lent the first book to a friend and I never saw it again. BUT I HAVE THE OTHER BOOKS STILL . . . I only need the first. I have been on a dire search ever since!! If anyone reads this, and can help in any way . . . please tell me!!

I bought this book and read the series when I was 10. I didn't read for "fun" or for "enjoyment" before then. Reading at that point in life was either homework or report cards. This is a great book as it has what all ten year olds want...heroes, monsters, magic, swords. It's not tolkien but it's a start. A great way for kids to get clued in on reading.