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Post by marman on Apr 28, 2017 4:19:01 GMT
Hi Everyone I have recently got back into my FF that i used to read as a kid and realised how awesome they are I have recently read some different books, the latest couple being Deathtrap Dungeon and Trial Of Champions. Before that was City of Thieves and Night Dragon. I'd like to hear what people's top 5 FF books are and the reason. I've read top 10 books by other people however I realised that there's were always a fair bit different from mine. Here are mine 1. Forrest of Doom - Love the feel of the outdoors in this book. Good mix of monsters and great story. 2. Trial of Champions - I loved this book. The story is amazing and think it's great how it follows on from Deathtrap dungeon. I like the two parts arena vs dungeon too. 3. Howl of Werewolf - Great story and some very memorable and imaginative scenes in this one. I thought it was a bit easy to get through though the path just seemed to complete itself. 4. Night dragon - This is a dark book in my opinion. There are some bits here where I read and thought "this so isn't a kid's book". Things like the mirror asking you for blood and draining your life. Other things like taking some psychedelic potion and basically going on a massive trip. This book got weird but i thought it was cool. 5. City of thieves - I dunno why but I just love some of the choices Ian gives you in this book and how they are shady but cool... It's strange there are some books that other rate that I don't particularly like for example Appointment with FEAR. I hate the feel of this book and how you're such a 'goodie two shoes' it doesn't have the lonesome, adventurer/ survivor feel about it. The character is too straight up the middle for me. Anyway just my thoughts would love to hear from others
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Post by philsadler on Apr 28, 2017 5:17:37 GMT
1.) House of Hell (only FF to scare me when I was young but I still loved it so much that I wrote my own sequel).
2.) Deathtrap Dungeon (very unfair but not because of stupid dice rolls but rather stupidly tough monsters such as two skill 11 opponents - really?! - but still such a great book. So just 'roll' a very tough character and enjoy. I also wrote my own prequel to this).
3.) Dead of Night
4.) Night Dragon
5.) Midnight Rogue (so different from the 'normal' FF books. I would consider a sequel to this)
Honourable mentions:
Caverns of the Snow Witch (ludicrously tough and unfair towards the end but still nice and devious and not too much in the way of 'roll a certain number or die, nor test your luck or die. I would also consider a sequel to this).
Revenge of the Vampire (bugged I know, but so lovely and tough and great illustrations and memorable monsters)
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Post by marman on Apr 28, 2017 7:33:21 GMT
Awesome! Thanks traveller I just check the link I had no idea that there were so many of these kind of books written amazing!!! I will be checking out your books Cheers
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Apr 28, 2017 8:59:57 GMT
Hi marman, welcome to the forum I'm always changing my mind as to what my favourites are, often it depends on my mood! I think all the books have at least some appeal to them but I'll put forward this tentative top 5: 1. Crown of Kings - Such a strong atmosphere to this book. Everything feels slightly off and you can't help but feel one false move amongst the dangerous oddities of Mampang will be your last. 2. Deathtrap Dungeon - Pretty much nailed the dungeon adventure. Sure the enemies are overpowered and it could have been a bit less linear but it's hard to think of a book that sums up the series more, flaws and all. 3. House of Hell - This book is genuinely creepy and very cleverly designed too. Not sure the FEAR score really works but apart from that it's near perfect. 4. Appointment with FEAR - So much variety in this book and the silver age cheesiness and bad puns make me laugh. 5. Talisman of Death - Memorable characters and setting and an epic plot. Allows for a fair bit of variety too. Honourable mentions: Citadel of Chaos City of Thieves Trial of Champions Creature of Havoc Beneath Nightmare Castle Stealer of Souls Daggers of Darkness Portal of Evil Vault of the Vampire Black Vein Prophecy Spectral Stalkers Moonrunner Siege of Sardath Bloodbones
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Post by lordomnibok on Apr 28, 2017 10:59:08 GMT
I don't think I could choose my top five ff books. I'd find it borderline impossible, as each book has its own unique high points, plus its subjective. But if you want: - dark moody books with great atmosphere: Dead of Night/Vault of the Vampire - Something unique and totally crazy: Spectral Stalkers A book to play by the rules, with excellent game design above all else - Citadel of Chaos But there are so many good ones that I'd say just dive in and read them all
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Apr 28, 2017 14:06:10 GMT
My choices are somewhat limited by the fact I only own about 25% of the books.
1 Night Of The Necromancer. One truly strong factor is if you roll fairly every time for initial stats no two games are ever the same. For instance it is ideal to 'generate' 2 deaths before entering the Feast Hall but how you generate those deaths depends on initial rolls and the outcome of certain encounters. I might as well blow my own trumpet and mention my solutions for minimum and maximum stats which have quite significantly different paths to victory. The max stats solution is more 'subjective' because of the many opportunities you could take. I tried to limit to about 15 fights on both so it is not too tedious. The return on the investment has been so rewarding as it has taken a long time to fine tune the minimum stats solution ie I now believe Cador and Korzen are red herrings because the idea is to acquire Shade, hopefully, and then go as directly as possible to gatehouse to acquire Spook. Marrok is powerhouse enough for the middle phase.
2 City Of Thieves. The atmosphere and writing evoke a wonderfully involving set of encounters. The city feels so right.
3 Deathtrap Dungeon. Again the atmosphere and writing draws you in. The frankly ludicrous premise works so well because every encounter is there to test you rather than just wandering about like some overgrown bully looking for booty.
4 Vault Of The Vampire. The classic Hammer staple is so well realised.
5 Can I exaggerate and count Sorcery as one long saga? Whereas the early books, in particular, were aimed at 8-12 year olds it is clear the writing and difficulty of some of the puzzles in Sorcery render it a product for teenagers. This is more satisfying for adult eyes.
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Post by Wilf on Apr 28, 2017 20:29:42 GMT
Siege Of Sardath - hugely difficult to find the True Path, but winnable on low stats. Fabulous writing and world building, and a great climactic pokerfaced confrontation.
The Crimson Tide - a very cleverly hidden twist, and a perfect paragraph 400. Again, superb world building (this might be a theme).
Creature Of Havoc - a fiendishly difficult dungeon crawl with a genius mechanism for hiding secret references. Second half is easier (but not actually easy) and is so well written that exploring the numerous and lengthy dead ends is as much fun as completing the book.
Citadel Of Chaos - Simple, but perfectly constructed and easily winnable on minimum stats. Huge nostalgia for this one - first FF I ever read. Especially love Russ Nicholson's artwork.
I struggle to pick a fifth - but it would probably be written by Steve Jackson (UK) and require at least one dice roll.
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Post by marman on Apr 29, 2017 3:17:21 GMT
Great thanks for the replies guys, this is exactly the type of responses i wanted. It seems lots of different things appeal to different people and I love hearing them as i find it interesting.
I may be frowned upon for saying this however I don't really properly play the game books with dice and all, if i encounter an opponent I always win. Although I will also randomly pick lucky and unlucky paths and I find the deaths scenes in some just as enjoyable as winning. That's why when I read critiques on books like 'Deathtrap Dungeon' and people always say the monsters are too hard or in other books where people say it's unplayable because of opponents skill level. It doesn't phase me that much because I read the books more for the choices, story and atmosphere. However I totally get that people want to play these books properly too and that some books may be too hard.
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Post by Wilf on Apr 29, 2017 8:32:18 GMT
I really don't think you're alone.
Or even unusual!
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Post by offm on Apr 29, 2017 15:59:00 GMT
Warlock - what a gamebook to start a series even the labyrinth adds in to the momentum " i am lost but i will find a way" . Forest - the hero is a super hero forest or swap don't scare him and the i didn't make it let's start all over again . Trial - the feeling of fighting in an arena is unique , and the book describes it well. House of hell - the did i run into a person or was it just a shadow at the beginning and all the descriptions inside the house , sure is an inspiration to many horror movies . For the new generation books i pick stormslayer for his quest on the water and being able to breathe underwater like a fish ( liked the author imagination)
Sent from my SUNSET2 using proboards
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Post by offm on Apr 29, 2017 22:01:10 GMT
Honourable mentions: - the dragon inside the cave on the warlock ( superb drawing ) - the fight with wolves in Howl of werewolf you can feel the tension rising and it's frenetic. The cover in space assassin , ( specially liked the suits)
Sent from my SUNSET2 using proboards
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Post by marman on Apr 30, 2017 4:22:42 GMT
offm thanks for that. Yeah I was considering including Warlock. It was one of the first FF books I read in a library once. There is definitely something special about that book. For me the standout thing was it being interior. By that I mean the levels of inside embeddedness if you get me. For example a locked room that's hidden with some man that's been in there trapped for ages. Whilst this is the case with many FF books based in dungeons this one was different for me. It's like this hidden feel about it.
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Post by philsadler on Apr 30, 2017 5:55:19 GMT
I wouldn't if I were you. It's a terrible newbie book that n00bs only include because they've been told they should. It's a very bad book and the only reason it's famous is because it's the first one. I personally would avoid it like all of the bad books: Forest of Doom, Mage Hunter and so on. I'm sorry but newbies very rarely think about recommendations, all they do is repeat what they've heard.
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Post by Wilf on Apr 30, 2017 8:48:05 GMT
Forest Of Doom is great. It's not especially challenging, but there's so much to explore, and Malcolm Barter's illustrations are so atmospheric. My favourite books are often the least linear ones (Slaves Of The Abyss is pretty much the only exception), and there are a lot of 'wrong' paths you can take in Forest that are at least as interesting as the 'right' one.
Magehunter is a classic - highly original and has its final confrontation where you'd least expect it.
And Warlock? I think the word for that one is iconic. It's certainly not a bad book, but neither is it Top 5 material. It's been bettered since, but there's also a lot worse out there. And nobody's yet done a more frustrating maze! Not even close!
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Post by offm on Apr 30, 2017 11:06:53 GMT
There is always the feeling of nostalgia for the warlock so i stick to my list , just a note to say from what i read so far( 20 books) I only buy books that i find appealing don't own all the collection. Sent from my SUNSET2 using proboards
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on May 1, 2017 7:52:41 GMT
I wouldn't if I were you. It's a terrible newbie book that n00bs only include because they've been told they should. It's a very bad book and the only reason it's famous is because it's the first one. I personally would avoid it like all of the bad books: Forest of Doom, Mage Hunter and so on. I'm sorry but newbies very rarely think about recommendations, all they do is repeat what they've heard. Ah I wouldn't say any of those are objectively bad. Depending on your point of view, Warlock might be dismissed as generic or lauded as iconic. I appreciate its simplicity. With Forest, I have a lot of nostalgia for it as it was my first FF. There's quite a lot packed in there and it probably does more than most books to really encourage exploration. Magehunter was a very ambitious experiment. It probably needed a bit more tweaking but there's some elements that are absolutely brilliant.
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Post by a moderator on May 1, 2017 12:55:13 GMT
And Warlock? I think the word for that one is iconic. It's certainly not a bad book, but neither is it Top 5 material. It's been bettered since, but there's also a lot worse out there. And nobody's yet done a more frustrating maze! Not even close! I'd add the qualifier 'proper' or 'fair' to the word 'maze' there. The Shadow Zone maze in The Genesis Quest, Sutherland and Gross' appalling first LEMMINGS Adventure Gamebook, is far more frustrating, but that's because there's no structure to it - the sections are just linked to each other in a completely arbitrary and geographically nonsensical manner. I attempted to create a diagram of how the section numbers joined up, ignoring the given directions because they had no bearing on the layout of the maze (if it could even be said to have a layout), and got as far as the mess below before giving up while I still had some sanity. On topic, narrowing my favourite FF books down to a top 5 is difficult. In chronological order... Deathtrap Dungeon - There's a legitimate reason for the difficulty, and this is where the worldbuilding in FF really begins, with links to characters and locations from a previous book. Steve Jackson's Sorcery! - I know I'm cheating by counting 4 books as a single entry, but it's the first gamebook epic, paving the way for the likes of Lone Wolf and Blood Sword.Slaves of the Abyss - Another epic adventure, and I personally love that there's so much which isn't spelled out for the reader, but makes sense of seemingly random incidents when you put the hints together. Spectral Stalkers - So much variety, and one of the rare FF books that does give even low-statted characters a shot at victory. Howl of the Werewolf - The most fun of the more horror-themed FF books. Depending on how the mood takes me, on another day, one or more of the above might be replaced by any of House of Hell, Robot Commando, Creature of Havoc, Beneath Nightmare Castle, Vault of the Vampire and Dead of Night.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on May 1, 2017 21:48:35 GMT
And Warlock? I think the word for that one is iconic. It's certainly not a bad book, but neither is it Top 5 material. It's been bettered since, but there's also a lot worse out there. And nobody's yet done a more frustrating maze! Not even close! I'd add the qualifier 'proper' or 'fair' to the word 'maze' there. The Shadow Zone maze in The Genesis Quest, Sutherland and Gross' appalling first LEMMINGS Adventure Gamebook, is far more frustrating, but that's because there's no structure to it - the sections are just linked to each other in a completely arbitrary and geographically nonsensical manner. I seem to remember Sutherland and Gross doing a very similar maze in one of their Sonic the Hedgehog books. And the rest of the book wasn't much better. As far as FF mazes go, I really dislike the one in Spectral Stalkers. I feel it lets down an otherwise excellent book. Maybe if I could make head or tail of the map it wouldn't be so bad though!
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Post by a moderator on May 1, 2017 22:40:45 GMT
As far as FF mazes go, I really dislike the one in Spectral Stalkers. I feel it lets down an otherwise excellent book. Maybe if I could make head or tail of the map it wouldn't be so bad though! That one is quite straightforward once you've got the hang of the map, yes.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on May 12, 2017 1:07:28 GMT
Like John, I only know a limited number of the books well so my list will mean little. But here it is just the same (in no particular order):
City of Thieves I first encountered FF in the form of three borrowed books: Starship Traveller, Battleblade Warrior and City of Thieves. The latter was easily the most impressive with Blacksand having its own character and atmosphere.
Demons of the Deep Demons is probably a bit of a comfort-read for me. The adventure doesn't really generate fear or a sense of urgency/drive, but the underwater world is very engaging and a pleasure to become immersed in. I like the variety of non-failure endings and the book being packed with ideas (albeit many of them borrowed).
Portal of Evil PoE is a unique quest with some memorable characters such as Gloten and Azudraz, some nice twists such as the sympathetic dinosaurs, sinister wood elves and the chance to intervene on behalf of goblins – and of course a unique opponent in the portal.
Vault of the Vampire The classic gothic horror – you know that you're going to get stakes and crosses, bats and wolves, coffins and blood in the wrong places, so it's just a matter of whether they come to life (or undeath). This manages it in style with the nastiest jaffa cakes (and worse jelly) ever known.
Moonrunner An entirely different sort of horror with well-deployed special skills, and some memorable quirks and characters such as Hogg and Kilmarney, the Corpse Master, Argolis and the Skull of Mora Tao.
Generally the above have good to excellent cover illustrations setting the scene and, crucially, are winnable by the rules (albeit decent stats are rather important to a couple of them).
This list isn't definitive by any means. Another day I might have pressed Spectral Stalkers, Master of Chaos, Sword of the Samurai or even Keep of the Lich Lord in.
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Post by lordomnibok on May 12, 2017 8:48:05 GMT
1.) House of Hell (only FF to scare me when I was young but I still loved it so much that I wrote my own sequel). 2.) Deathtrap Dungeon (very unfair but not because of stupid dice rolls but rather stupidly tough monsters such as two skill 11 opponents - really?! - but still such a great book. So just 'roll' a very tough character and enjoy. I also wrote my own prequel to this). 3.) Dead of Night 4.) Night Dragon 5.) Midnight Rogue (so different from the 'normal' FF books. I would consider a sequel to this) Honourable mentions: Caverns of the Snow Witch (ludicrously tough and unfair towards the end but still nice and devious and not too much in the way of 'roll a certain number or die, nor test your luck or die. I would also consider a sequel to this). Revenge of the Vampire (bugged I know, but so lovely and tough and great illustrations and memorable monsters) Phil, you forgot Crypt of the Sorcerer ;D
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Post by philsadler on May 12, 2017 19:45:03 GMT
1.) House of Hell (only FF to scare me when I was young but I still loved it so much that I wrote my own sequel). 2.) Deathtrap Dungeon (very unfair but not because of stupid dice rolls but rather stupidly tough monsters such as two skill 11 opponents - really?! - but still such a great book. So just 'roll' a very tough character and enjoy. I also wrote my own prequel to this). 3.) Dead of Night 4.) Night Dragon 5.) Midnight Rogue (so different from the 'normal' FF books. I would consider a sequel to this) Honourable mentions: Caverns of the Snow Witch (ludicrously tough and unfair towards the end but still nice and devious and not too much in the way of 'roll a certain number or die, nor test your luck or die. I would also consider a sequel to this). Revenge of the Vampire (bugged I know, but so lovely and tough and great illustrations and memorable monsters) Phil, you forgot Crypt of the Sorcerer ;D Damn! Consider that my number 9999999999.
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Post by JMISBEST on Jun 23, 2017 23:58:50 GMT
My revised compared with 1 I posted elsewhere on this site is as follows, is in the following order and why. Please give your opinions
Appointment With FEAR. The chance to play A Superhero, but beating the other 4 to 1st place mainly due to the 2nd edition copy being the last Christmas my 1st Girlfriend got me before she moved away
Forest of Doom. Cos its both the only FF Book I ever beat on the 1st playthrough(but it took 11.3 hours over 4 days and 5 consecutive Treks through the forest) without ceating and Nostalgia due to it being both the 1st 1 I read and the 1st 1 I owned
Rings of Kether. The chance to play A Narcotics Cop, which is what I wanted to be at the time and beating Armies of Death to 4th place due to the fact that I found it easier
Armies of Death. The chance to command a army, with it beating Robot Commando to 4th place due to me being more into Games Workshop then Scifii at the time
Robot Commando. Being the only Sci-fii FF Book I ever beat without either using a guide or cheating
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Post by JMISBEST on Jun 24, 2017 0:01:03 GMT
My revised compared with 1 I posted elsewhere on this site is as follows, is in the following order and why. Please give your opinions Appointment With FEAR. The chance to play A Superhero, but beating the other 4 to 1st place mainly due to the 2nd edition copy being the last Christmas my 1st Girlfriend got me before she moved away Forest of Doom. Cos its both the only FF Book I ever beat on the 1st playthrough(but it took 11.3 hours over 4 days and 5 consecutive Treks through the forest) without cheating and Nostalgia due to it being both the 1st 1 I read and the 1st 1 I owned Rings of Kether. The chance to play A Narcotics Cop, which is what I wanted to be at the time and beating Armies of Death to 4th place due to the fact that I found it easier Armies of Death. The chance to command a army, with it beating Robot Commando to 5th place due to me being more into Games Workshop then Scifii at the time Robot Commando. Being the only Sci-fii FF Book I ever beat without either using a guide or cheating Spelling mistakes corrected. Sorry
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Post by Darkkat on Aug 26, 2017 10:58:55 GMT
5. Starship Traveller - let's face it, it was Star Trek 4. Demons of the Deep - relatively easy to win, leaving space to enjoy the story 3. Sword of the Samurai - a nice "two routes" dynamic with interesting skills and a dramatic "match your allies to your opponents" finale 2. Citadel of Chaos - loved the magic system 1. Appointment with F.E.A.R. - because we all wanted to be superheroes at that age.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Jul 12, 2019 9:47:48 GMT
1 and 1... House of Hell and Crypt of the Sorcerer 3... Howl of the Werewolf 4...talisman of death 5...not sure...
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Sept 24, 2019 21:11:21 GMT
1 and 1... House of Hell and Crypt of the Sorcerer 3... Howl of the Werewolf 4...talisman of death 5...not sure... Something changed in me about this top 4.
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Post by schlendrian on Sept 25, 2019 17:54:45 GMT
Naturally changing quite often: Citadel of Chaos - for me with its weirdness the quintessential ff. Also magic! Sword of the Samurai - my first ff and it uses its theme very well. Many interesting encounters. Deathtrap Dungeon - there's really nothing I could add that hasn't been said. Starship Traveller - objectively it might be bad, but I have many fond recollections of playing it with friends, taking turns as captain and officers City of Thieves - probably much higher if you go simply by athmosphere. Port Blacksand seems very alive and the possibility to waltz into every house, attack its unsuspecting denizens and take their stuff is also one of the trademarks of ff
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Sept 25, 2019 20:26:48 GMT
Naturally changing quite often: Citadel of Chaos - for me with its weirdness the quintessential ff. Also magic! Sword of the Samurai - my first ff and it uses its theme very well. Many interesting encounters. Deathtrap Dungeon - there's really nothing I could add that hasn't been said. Starship Traveller - objectively it might be bad, but I have many fond recollections of playing it with friends, taking turns as captain and officers City of Thieves - probably much higher if you go simply by athmosphere. Port Blacksand seems very alive and the possibility to waltz into every house, attack its unsuspecting denizens and take their stuff is also one of the trademarks of ff Starship Traveller was something of a missed opportunity.
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Post by schlendrian on Sept 26, 2019 14:52:04 GMT
Which is a pity, as there are so few good sf gamebooks
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