icemann on 13/12/2006 at 14:54

---

Loved the Fighting Fantasy books. Though the Lone Wolf gamebook series beats all others of that kind by a LONG SHOT.

TheGreatGodPan on 13/12/2006 at 19:19

---

I cheated my ass off with Joe Dever's "(http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Home) Lone Wolf" books (as I had done with regular CYOAs) but it was still my first exposure to RPGs. It struck me that it would be fun to actually follow the rules, but I never actually did that until I played Discworld MUD.

Senath on 13/12/2006 at 23:51

---

For what it's worth, I actually collect these kind of books, though I haven't played any in a while. I've got half of the World of Lone Wolf series (or something like that; it was a 4 book spin-off involving Grey Star the wizard), and the first two books of Sorcery!; I also have a few of the vanilla Lone Wolf books, which I have played, and a few of the Fighting Fantasy books, which I haven't actually played (including, incidentally, the RPG). In addition, I've also got one book from a series called Grailquest, but I don't actually go after that one. Whenever I go to a used bookstore, Joe Devers, Ian Livingstone, and Steve Jackson are among the first names I look for in the fantasy secion.

As far as the book you're describing, Bionicman, it sounds a lot like Sorcery, except for the tiny issue of plot, which in no way resembled what you described (the warrior/wizard choice definitely did, though). My only other guess would be Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the first of the Fighting Fantasy series. I've never played or even seen it, though, so I could be completely wrong.

Sgt_BFG on 14/12/2006 at 14:07

---

I've got all of them, but could never complete 'em, they got real damn hard towards the end.

<Username> on 10/12/2023 at 11:39

---

Fully agree with this comment. The series has its flaws, but the constant feeling of being one bad decision away from a violent ending to your story is excellent.

Today I completed The Masters of Darkness, which is the 12th and last book in the Magnakai campaign of the Lone Wolf series. Growing up, my brother had 10 books from the Magnakai series. I later bought the two missing one for him: Shadow on the Sand and The Cauldron of Fear. I made a by-the-rules attempt at completing all 12 books when I was at university, but abandoned that playthrough after the fourth book. In 2022, I started anew with the 1st book and this time, I finally persevered.

The books are nearly 40 years old but his point. It is hard for me to pick favorites from the Magnakai series because they are almost all very imaginative and exciting. Even the two flawed ones below are mostly enjoyable.

Fire on the Water (book 2) has an issue where you die if you missed a quest item earlier or don't have the ability of Animal Control. I highly recommend picking that ability for this book. Without it, I died 16 times. Moreover, this book introduces the Sommerswerd, a magical weapon so overpowered it breaks the combat balancing for the rest of the series. If you have it in the following books, combat becomes trivial. But in the last two books of the Magnakai series, new rules are introduced where having the Sommerswerd is to your detriment, so I recommend dropping it after The Dungeons of Torgar.

The Prisoners of Time (book 11) has a gauntlet of unavoidable enemies near the end that is nearly impossible. When playing the previous books, after each death, I had restarted from the beginning of the book. In Prisoners of Time, I eventually gave up and just restarted the current combat. But even then, I was not able to survive the gauntlet of Chaos-master, Shadow Reavers, and Villains of Sommerlund. After more than 50 restarts somewhere in this gauntlet, I gave up and just acted as if I had defeated them in combat.

Masters of Darkness (book 12), despite being even more combat-heavy, felt fair in comparison. I even managed to beat it during my first attempt. It was a satisfying conclusion to a series that has been with me since my childhood.