39) Fangs of Fury

[hynreck]

This review was salvaged from our friendly Mudworm, as usual the many thanks deserved. Going quickly through it, it seems to be missing bits and pieces, but perhaps it is just my memory who's missing chunks. Let's see.

Well, I finished this new book a few days ago, quicker than I expected and nearly disappointed by the experience. Why? Because I missed everything in that book! And even though I did win (sort of) it's a bummer reaching the ending with only a 30-40% completion rate.

Off the top of my head: I never learned anything about the alphabet, never knew about the white cubes, didn't get any of the special items… In a normal playthrough, no doubt the fact that I missed loads of stuff would have doomed me, as it just gets incredibly harder if you don't have naught to show for, but since I cheat at battles, and Luke Sharp loves to give the player options, I ended up finishing the book in one sitting anyway, just like his last two books, only this time it felt even more severe, as if I sleepwalked my way through.
I kept expecting Mr. Sharp to put a final stop to my adventuring due to my severe lack of knowledge/appropriate items, but he never did. He basically let my cheating ass win. Of course, it's my own damn fault and I don't blame him for wanting to give us a fair game. But it led to a somewhat unsatisfying adventure, surprisingly enough... but let's take it from the top (this is nearly the end of this review, how can I dare say that?).

David Gallagher is the illustrator for both the cover and inside illos here, and while that cover is great, showing real talent, inside illos are a mixed bag. I've got to admit that the idea of hiding the cubes inside the illos is well done and interesting, though (not that I ever was aware of their significance before being done with the book... sigh).

It will be fun to go back to this one whenever I decide to play fair, next century (should have played fair from the start. Now that I'm considering playing Lone Wolf, Way of the Tiger, Golden Dragon and what else fair... maybe not Demonspawn, though, I'll see, I feel a bit guilty towards FF). Same thing for Daggers. Storywise, I'd still give Daggers the edge (daggers, edge, can't go wrong with this one, it's even pitted against Fangs you know, why's a clever brain like mine going to waste in a drone job I'll never know, perhaps that's the problem, but I digress), so far, for a pleasant ride. I thought FoF had too many Jack-in-the-box moments that feeled absurd and too many hidden riddles for the right balance. But I might change my mind on this in the future.

Some last nitpicking: It's a beautiful map on the inside cover (mine's in colour and the book, a used one, is in pretty good shape which is nice), but it's also quite a useless map. There might be occasions where it's needed, but I haven't met one. Last thing: I thought it weird how some character (it might be Astragal, my memory is hazy), says that Zamarra is a small city of sort. For crying out loud, it's got 14 massive walls the enemy army needs to go through!! If that's the case, what's a big city like??? (lol didn't remember that one, that is weird, anybody knows more about this?)

Well, I think that's it. Like I said it feels light, probably missing a bit to it but not sure. In any case, I've added enough insane ramblings to bring it to an apparently respectable size. Please, do not point to me my failings, as I'm already painfully aware of them. Thank you!

[a moderator]

Salvaged playthrough:

I remember nothing about buying this book, but my first attempt at it was memorable. My school had arranged a mountaineering holiday in Wales for a group of pupils in the early teens, and a few of the older pupils were also allowed along in the (largely mistaken) belief that they would be mature enough to help maintain discipline. I was one of those older pupils, and I saved Fangs for the trip. It seems unlikely that I would have used dice on a coach journey, but I don't remember not *playing* the gamebook. Regardless, I remember using my cryptographical skills to figure out the meaning of an inscription in the stick-figure alphabet, and noting down the meanings of all the symbols in it. Grabbing the flaming parchment shortly before the climax, I was able to work out what it said, and thus learn the correct number for the dénouement, thereby achieving victory on my first attempt. So I had to find something else to occupy my attention in reading-conducive moments during the rest of the holiday. Of which there weren't that many, what with the climbing and camping and falling from a cliff into the sea and what have you. I don't remember attempting the book again until I got to it in the other forum's 'books in order challenge', on which occasion Mr Sharp's love of making rolling doubles deadly resulted in my being fireballed into atoms by an insane Genie.

Wandering through tunnels until I reach a dead end, I dig upwards and reach the seaside. Mistaken for one of the bad guys, I am ordered to help free a siege engine that's got stuck in the sand. Not liking my chances of sabotaging it, I choose to impersonate a deserter. As I flee, I stumble upon a Great Orc who is burying something and thinks I've been spent to spy on him. Before I can explain that I'm just a member of the army his side is attacking, he attacks. Forced to kill him, I decide to find out what he was burying. Bad idea - it's worthless, and a couple of his friends drop by to try and avenge him. They don't do very well, though.

Hurrying on my way, I make it across a booby-trapped stretch of beach unscathed. Then an enterprising young capitalist offers not to betray me to the enemy troops if I pay him, and hints at showing me a safe escape route in return for a more substantial bribe. I risk coughing up, and get away from the area in a small boat. Something tentacled takes an interest in me, but I opt not to reciprocate, and it gets bored and leaves me alone. The waves take me to Karakum Island, which isn't where I need to be.

Close by I find a couple of freshly-stripped skeletons, and a chest containing gems. Hmm, that's not at all suspicious, is it? Avoiding the chest, I find myself stopping for a nice sit down, which restores as much Stamina as a meal, but delays me until a Fortress Wall is breached. This enforced rest is clearly either a good thing (if my Stamina should ever drop below 4 without hitting zero) or a bad thing (if I die on account of all 14 Walls falling to the enemy). Or maybe neither, but time will tell.

Moving on to the harbour, I can sneak onto one of two ships. One I know to be not really heading my way, but bound for the mainland none the less. The other could be anything - even a trip straight back whence I came. I decide not to risk the unknown. Only a short time into the journey, the ship is rammed and starts to sink. For once, throwing a double is what I need, and a handy pair of fours gets me drifting towards whatever comes next rather than choking on seawater in the hold. Another survivor joins me on the flotsam, but is homicidally unwilling to share it, and we do not part on amicable terms.

Washed ashore again (but where?), I head for a nearby settlement and am forced into another invigorating rest. Witnessing a damsel in minor distress, I risk getting involved, and thereby get to see the whole stick-figure alphabet. Then a trumpet summons the locals, and I go along with the crowd. Two Orcs are being objectionable, and I take a chance (and an offer of payment) and try to teach them to mend their ways. Regrettably, their being regular rather than Great Orcs, and drunken to boot, makes them no easier to fight than the earlier lot, but I do prevail.

Heading north, I blunder into a situation not unlike the cliffhanger to part two of The Deadly Assassin, only the trap that grips my ankle as the war-chariot races towards me is so flimsy that I can step out of it with ease. Overhearing mention of an approaching battalion containing Sniffer Orcs, I decide against continuing to use the road, and try using running water to hide my scent. It seems to work, but then a descending cliff face presents a new obstacle. Unfavourable dice make the climb down cost me 6 Stamina, but compared to earlier Sharp books, that's gentle.

Translating an inscription on a tree, I do what it says, and find my way to a situation sufficiently like the cover illustration that I must conclude that either there's an Orc close by or I am one ugly so-and-so. Oh, it's not an Orc, it's almost a figment of Arnold Rimmer's imagination, and an unfriendly one at that. I don't loiter after convincing him that he doesn't exist, and a little later, some lush, aggressive vegetation persuades me not to take the route I had in mind. Coming to a river, I remember the Master of Wolves' advice (so what if he wasn't in this book?) and cross the bridge. It's a trap, and only an attack by one of those fire-breathing two-headed Serpents, rendered harmless by a Black Cube, saves me.

Reaching a road, I decide that now I know I am being sought by bad guys, I should steer clear of the obvious route. I still get ambushed, though. Then I try to help someone else in distress, and it's another trap. The dice turn nasty, and a foe with Skill no better than my own prevails with lamentable ease.

[stevendoig]

Perhaps I should post something here, seeing as there is nothing really!

Is Fangs Of Fury the most ignored book in the series? Its neither hated like Sky Lord, a 'could have been great' like Crypt or Masks of Mayhem, or an outright classic.

Its just a whole load of nothing!

From the cover which is ok, but dull, The map which has hills made from blankets (go and see!), the inside illustrations which are oddly childish in places, the forgettable story, the vast number of enemies with a seven or eight skill, the crappy dialogue, the larger than normal background which hardly enthuse the reader - it is definitely a book with very little going for it. Is it bad? I still cant work it out!!!

[kieran]

There's a lot of variety in it, but some of the ideas aren't all that well thought out - it's pretty tricky to find the explanation of the white cubes for instance which means missing out on one of the more distinctive elements of the book. There are quite a few fun encounters but also a lot of dull ones and Luke Sharp's breakneck speed and lack of descriptions of unfamiliar creatures make the atmosphere pretty lacking. The race against time concept is done pretty well. A few authors used this concept, but Luke Sharp was probably the only one who pulled it off - here and in Daggers of Darkness and Star Strider it's not too restrictive like in Seas of Blood or Knights of Doom, nor pointless like in Slaves of the Abyss, Tower of Destruction, Siege of Sardath or Night Dragon. For some reason I always liked the dragonmen too.

I had started planning out a sorta sequel to Fangs of Fury recently, featuring the wizard who makes you wear the exploding bracelet. Must get back to it.

[vastariner]

I can't help but think that this is a bit like the white cube strings. Some great ideas that are stochastically joined together. I do like the white cube thing; not many books require observation in the pictures. You are a bit "things are happening for no reason" in it though.

I think he got the escape from the city better than Gascoigne in Battleblade Warrior, it felt a genuine achievement to get away from the besieging army. There were fewer maddening "roll two dice six times and if any of them are doubles you dieeeeeee" scenarios; the one with the genie throwing things does sort of make sense. Unlike how you get away from him. Also the logic of the book is lacking, wouldn't the city be able to give you the combination for the other end? And how do you map a maze without any directions? Again it was "look at the reference numbers".

I generally don't like the "left or right?" options with no clues, but I think when you're on a dash it makes sense. But there's no flavour of the land of Zamorra at all. It's all a bit surface. There was a LOT more that could have been done with the XEN thing.

ETA: and I notice greenspine won the book the same way I did - basic cryptography!

[petch]

Mostly agree, but I think I preferred the city escape in Battleblade Warrior, it was by far my favourite bit of that book. The escape in Fangs should have been better - it was longer, more epic-feeling, had more permutations of your decisions - but because of Sharp's lack of descriptive prowess, it just felt a bit underwhelming.

With you on the white cubes though, I always liked it when FF tied its excellent illustrations to puzzles in the text, and I think Fangs did it better than any other book. There were still a few issues with it - again, largely because of Sharp's minimal descriptions, it wasn't always clear which references linked with which illustrations; and at the end when you eventually use the cubes I'm not convinced it's even possible to have enough to reach Level 6 or 7 - but overall I thought it was a fun idea well executed.

[aeris2001x2]

Pretty poor book, its a much more boring version of Daggers of Darkness.

[a moderator]

It has less (though, alas, not none) of the arbitrary lethality that mars the author's earlier books.

[paperexplorer]

After recently reading the review I wrote of this book some 20+ years ago, I played this again on the weekend to test the theories I spouted in the review.

According to me back then, the book is too easy and should have half the citadel walls and half the black cubes. In my defence, I was a bit of a dirty cheat back then, so I was interested in how I'd fare going in blind after many years playing by the rules.

After clearly taking many wrong turns, I died in combat at the hands of a Flame Warrior in the Fangs of Fury itself. 11 of the 14 walls had fallen (ouch, one theory trounced) and i had 3 black cubes left. Had the dice gone slightly differently (old mate Flame Warrior was on 2 stamina himself), it wouldn't have mattered as I would likely have died on the very next reference anyway, needing to roll 3 dice with the result needing to be lower than my stamina, which at best would have been 6.

I guess it shows I didn't 'play' so much as 'read' back then, and as the OP in this thread points out, Fangs is one that is easy to read/cheat through to the ending when you don't use dice.

I guess a good flipside to that is that there does feel like there is genuinely a lot of different areas to explore and ways to make it to the finale. It's a shame, then, that more detail wasn't put into the writing and some of the encounters (I thought that sub-quest to find gems equating to 500gp was poorly thought out). Even so, the book is decent but clearly not a stand out in the series.

Plus they should have gone with a dragonman on the cover over the Kragaar.

[kieran]

Jun 19, 2023 6:45:12 GMT paperexplorer said:

According to me back then, the book is too easy and should have half the citadel walls and half the black cubes. In my defence, I was a bit of a dirty cheat back then, so I was interested in how I'd fare going in blind after many years playing by the rules.

After clearly taking many wrong turns, I died in combat at the hands of a Flame Warrior in the Fangs of Fury itself. 11 of the 14 walls had fallen (ouch, one theory trounced) 

Getting lost in the maze will burn through a lot of Citadel Walls.

[thealmightymudworm]

Jun 19, 2023 8:26:25 GMT kieran said:

Jun 19, 2023 6:45:12 GMT paperexplorer said:

According to me back then, the book is too easy and should have half the citadel walls and half the black cubes. In my defence, I was a bit of a dirty cheat back then, so I was interested in how I'd fare going in blind after many years playing by the rules.

After clearly taking many wrong turns, I died in combat at the hands of a Flame Warrior in the Fangs of Fury itself. 11 of the 14 walls had fallen (ouch, one theory trounced) 

Getting lost in the maze will burn through a lot of Citadel Walls.

That's right. It's not true to say, as has sometimes been said, that it's impossible to lose by getting 'blackflagged' because you can easily perish by forlorning revisiting one of a couple of rooms over and over. There's no Scorpion Swamp style 'if you've been here before...' to save you and it makes sense that there isn't as nothing significant changes in the rooms, only the passage of time.

That may be the only way it can happen though...? I'm not sure if there are as many as 14 refs which mark off a flag, at least all on a possible route.