Heart of Ice (Critical IF gamebooks) 2nd Edition

by Dave Morris (Author), Jon Hodgson (Illustrator), Russ Nicholson (Illustrator)

20 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-1909905009

ISBN-10: 1909905003

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The end of the 23rd century. Earth lies in the grip of a new Ice Age. Famine, cold and fanatic cults threaten what is left of civilization. Humanity is on the brink of extinction.

Nine of the strongest heroes of the age come seeking the ultimate prize: the Heart of Volent, an object with the power to reshape reality. All are ruthless, powerful, determined. To succeed they must work together. But only one can have the Heart.

Choose your alliances with care. Weigh up who to trust. Be ready for betrayal. When the moment comes, the future of mankind will rest on your judgement.

* * *

Critical IF books are interactive adventures with a difference. You can be a mutant with the power to warp reality. A soldier whose combat skills are a match for any foe. A stealthy assassin leaping between rooftops. An explorer who can survive in the harshest conditions. Be anyone you can imagine. Choose from almost five hundred different character types, each with their own unique skills.

Strong stories, vivid settings and compelling characters make Critical IF the game-changers of the interactive fiction genre. Put yourself in the heart of the story.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dave Morris is a writer and games developer whose works have been published in more than a dozen languages. He is a physicist who has also spent a year as the UK’s bestselling fiction writer, and a videogame designer whose literary work has been awarded a Kirkus star. He was a mentor in the American Film Institute’s Digital Content Lab, reflecting his interest in the boundary between storytelling and games, an interest that led him to the “EQ interactivity” of his reworking of Frankenstein and that now has him working on a follow-up that will peel a raw patch off readers’ perceptions of their own moral code. His other interactive works include the Critical IF adventure gamebooks, and he is the co-creator and author of the graphic novel epic Mirabilis: Year of Wonders.

Series: Critical IF gamebooks
Paperback: 252 pages
Publisher: Fabled Lands Publishing; 2 edition (September 2, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1909905003
ISBN-13: 978-1909905009
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.6 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 20 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #608,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1583 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming
- #5894 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Post-Apocalyptic
- #108517 in Books > Textbooks

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Danny Mcaleese

Dungeons & Dragons meets Choose Your Own Adventure!

February 12, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

As a fan of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books, I picked this up because it sounded intriguing. 200 years in the future, the Earth is experiencing a second ice age due to a Terminator-esque computer takeover of some weather satellites by an A.I. known as Gaia.

I have to say, it was pretty solid. The recording of inventory, weapons, and even hit points on a character sheet brought me straight back to my Dungeons & Dragons days, but the story still kept to the simplicity of what it actually is: a CYOA book. Having written a series of CYOA books myself, called Ultimate Ending, I was glad to see other authors working just as hard to keep this genre alive!

I liked the setting, the story, and the gameplay. The book flowed well, and the characters were interesting. I even feel like there was an "ultimate" winning ending mixed in there somewhere, although I think I just missed it. I went back quite a few times to try and find out what I was missing, but the best ending I could come up with was bittersweet at best. And that's totally okay. The story is set in a pretty grim and gristly world to begin with.

Anyway, this was a lot of fun and it took me back to some really great nostalgia. The artwork was very detailed and reminded me of the stuff you'd see Omni magazine. Overall fantastic job. Are there any more of these? 5-stars!

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Challenging but rewarding

June 30, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I bought this well over a year ago and would pick it up every month or two to try a read through until I finally managed to get to one of the ends. I suppose if you're viewing this product, you understand what a game book is. But, just in case, allow me to summarize: Much like the Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) books of your childhood, this book is told in the second person and allows you to make choices along the way as to how your character will act. Unlike the CYOA books of your childhood, Heart of Ice requires you to maintain a character sheet, where you record items you have collected and the health and status of your character, as well as the occasional code word, which allows more interesting plot variations.

Heart of Ice is regarded by many as the pinnacle of the genre. The plot, setting, characters, and the prose itself are all a cut above the usual fare, and it is both quick and engaging to read. What makes it really special, though, is that it stands on its own as good science fiction. Rather than simply being a series of puzzles, it presents philosophically and morally challenging decisions to make.

Since, unlike most other game books, dice are not required, it is good for reading/playing on the go, not requiring a surface to roll on. I do not consider it to be an overly challenging game book. Simply choosing a character and playing to the character's strengths should get you somewhere interesting, if not always to the end of the plot.

If you enjoy HoI, or want to try your hand at a different game book, Morris co-wrote a series called "Fabled Lands" that is like an open world, sandbox video game in book form (See Fabled Lands 1: The War-Torn Kingdom). Also, for a well written, enjoyable, and more recent take on the genre, you can try The Legion of Shadow (DestinyQuest).

Happy reading/playing.

12 people found this helpful

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February 7, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I highly recommend this to any fan of the genre. One of my new favorite games.

2 people found this helpful

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Kristopher M. Schnee

Entertaining Interactive Fiction

April 25, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I'm surprised and pleased to see that choose-your-own-adventure books have survived to the present day. This one's got interesting simple rules that avoid dice by having you just pick skills and applying "do you have X skill" at various points to let you do things. The story is a race for a dangerous treasure, with the path branching at several points and leading toward a final showdown. It's worth playing through more than once; I've done it twice and think I've missed a substantial story branch.

Particularly for the 99-cent current price, it's well worth trying if you have any interest in this sort of game-book. The e-book is thoughtfully designed so that the links can be clicked on, and you don't have to manually "go to page 524".

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gabot

Cool story. I've read a few of his older ...

May 26, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Cool story. I've read a few of his older books, and this one is definitely more in depth than what I am used to. Haven't completed it yet, as I can't figure out how to get past a few parts.

4 people found this helpful

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Ben L.

Astoundingly great game book

September 7, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Heart of Ice is an astoundingly great game book. It is a secret treasure. I had never heard of it until I saw it recently mentioned in a blog, and ordered it when this reprinted edition became available. Over the past 48 hours I have played through it several times, and have been amazed. I have high standards. I've read a lot of game books but have only liked a few, e.g. Dever's Lone Wolf 1-3 & 5, Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, etc. But this is seriously the best game book of the lot.

It's set in a bleak future, where environmental control of the earth has been lost to a malfunctioning and inscrutable computer program named Gaia. Most of the earth is encased in ice, and science and technology have been all but forgotten. The dwindling population has settled in to wait for the end of humanity. Owing to a rogue transmission from Gaia, the location of the Heart of Volent, an ancient artifact with immense power, has been revealed to a few. You must make your way across the frozen and ruined earth to the lost city where the artifact lies. Once there, you must compete for its retrieval against a group of miscreants and adventurers who also seek the artifact.

The tone of the whole thing is perfect. It is a grim and original apocalyptic future, lovingly and skillfully described. Russ Nicholson's illustrations, while not plentiful, are amazing and absolutely right for tone. The system is also quite well done, and uses a unique system of codewords. So far, I have not won, but the book has tremendous replay value, and I am looking forward to my next attempt. Even if your standards are ridiculously high, you won't be disappointed. It's fantastic.

9 people found this helpful

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March 2, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Fun adventure with interesting decisions to be made.

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joseph youren

Loved it. Well written

April 24, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Loved it. Well written. Tense. Exciting.

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Most recent customer reviews

i32rockman

Good CYOA Book

For a choose your own adventure book the writing is good and I enjoyed the book overall. It is challenging, I died on my first playthrough.Read more

Published 1 year ago

Our Number 1 Reviewer

In one word, "bland"

Its entertaining, but lacks a creative grasping story line. Its pretty bland.

Published on February 21, 2016

Mediocre Gatsby

This was actually pretty fun. I ran through it a few times

This was actually pretty fun. I ran through it a few times. I guess the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is it seems weird to me that there isn't any system to it, it's like...Read more

Published on October 30, 2014

J. Dean

Gamebook sci-fi done right. Artificial Intelligence, ray guns, and psionics! Oh My!

Gamebooks don't do sci-fi nearly as often as they should. Heart of Ice is a refreshing take on a genre overwhelmingly full of elves, wizards, and barbarians.Read more

Published on September 6, 2014

Tau Ceti

The best book of this type

I've heard people say this is a Choose Your Own Adventure book for adults (and boy I wish they meant that this was an "Adult Book") but that doesn't really say anything...Read more

Published on July 6, 2014

Aprilblessing

*Chosen To Review*

I really enjoyed this book. I have played the "game" several times and I still die, but it is possible to win. My little brother figured out how to win and it made me mad.Read more

Published on February 6, 2014

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