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Post by jmisbest on Sept 3, 2020 20:50:30 GMT
How about we each list our favorite thing about Eye of The Dragon?. Here's mine
Its The only Fighting Fantasy Book by Ian Livingstone that I beat on my 1st attempt without cheating, using a guide or asking a friend for help and even though I also beat Forest of Doom with my 1st character I don't count it due to the fact that I missed the handle twice and had to go through the book 3 times |
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Post by daredevil123 on Sept 3, 2020 21:40:19 GMT
I like that the villain is just a crook out to make some cash for himself rather than a demon lord trying to take over the world or the like.
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Post by Wilf on Sept 4, 2020 0:06:54 GMT
Martin McKenna's illustrations.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Sept 4, 2020 7:11:43 GMT
I like that you don't need to find all five keys. Four is just as good and three gives you a decent chance.
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Post by tyrion on Sept 4, 2020 7:40:32 GMT
It's easy to map.
My children like it.
EVIL WIZARD!
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Post by vastariner on Sept 4, 2020 8:31:01 GMT
It's easy to map. My children like it. EVIL WIZARD! #haikufail |
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809 
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Sept 4, 2020 9:46:25 GMT
The Dragon speaks.
(He speaks? How do i hell know? Never read that book. But i guess that after Night Dragon, an author would not make again the same stupid mistake.)
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Sept 4, 2020 10:47:44 GMT
The Dragon speaks. (He speaks? How do i hell know? Never read that book. But i guess that after Night Dragon, an author would not make again the same stupid mistake.) Got bad news for you - not only does it not speak, it's a very brief encounter. The titular Eye of the Dragon is actually an emerald anyway that fits into a gold dragon statuette. Although there is a black dragon in the book, it's just one of many monsters in the labyrinth and probably only in there so they could stick a dragon on the cover without being accused of false advertising; Ian's original version had no actual dragon in it at all. |
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Post by dragonwarrior8 on Sept 4, 2020 16:12:45 GMT
Did he really need to rip off the name of a Dave Morris gamebook though. Oh, I guess Ian's book doesnt have 'The' in the title so there is that. He also probably doesnt even know Morris' book exists though to be fair I guess if past discussions are accurate. Funnily enough (unless I missed an encounter), Dave's book has no actual dragon either.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Sept 4, 2020 16:42:43 GMT
Did he really need to rip off the name of a Dave Morris gamebook though. He didn't. The original version came out in 1982, three years before Dave Morris' book. I don't think there was any copying titles though, it's fairly generic for a fantasy title. |
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Post by dragonwarrior8 on Sept 4, 2020 17:56:19 GMT
Did he really need to rip off the name of a Dave Morris gamebook though. He didn't. The original version came out in 1982, three years before Dave Morris' book. I don't think there was any copying titles though, it's fairly generic for a fantasy title. Thanks for the info Kieran! I was not aware of that. And yes it is pretty high on the generic meter now that you mention it. |
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,678
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Sept 4, 2020 19:33:26 GMT
The interior art is good.
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Post by linflas on Sept 5, 2020 11:10:50 GMT
HoH's demon Ian stole to Steve.
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Post by a moderator on Sept 5, 2020 12:16:44 GMT
It wasn't a reissue, and thus opened up the way for the publication of some new FF books that were actually good.
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Post by peasantscribbler on Sept 5, 2020 15:40:27 GMT
The backstory. Other books have started you as a down-on-your-luck adventurer, but your desperation comes across really effectively in this one.
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Post by The Count on Sept 8, 2020 0:48:42 GMT
The cover art which works in full and in the silly wizard series 2 shields.
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Post by nathanh on Sept 8, 2020 21:46:00 GMT
I love the background section. I laughed several times. "Hi, I'm a clearly untrustworthy guy, how about you drink some poison and wander over to a huge dungeon that is somehow hidden under a random cottage and fetch me a gold dragon that I weirdly can assess a really precise value for". The stupidity extends merrily throughout the entire book right to the end where the baddie clearly thinks "well, looks like this guy managed to overcome a dungeon that was clearly way beyond me... how about I murder his friend in front of him?"
And all the encounters are just thrown-together nonsense that is completely incoherent and all the better for it.
To round it off, if you interpret some of the skill boosting items as attack strength boosts, it's not absurdly hard.
I know it's objectively kinda rubbish, but I have a really positive impression of this book.
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Post by vastariner on Sept 9, 2020 10:23:41 GMT
It shows just how much the genre had evolved. The first version was close to being the first gamebook adventure (it may have been THE first - there were some Tunnels & Trolls solos and the Tracker books, in part it depends on definitions). The revamped version was basically the original with knobs on. Had it come out as FF1, it would have been considered a terrific achievement. By the time it did come out, FF had moved from basic dungeon crawls to an entire world, even universe, pushing gamebooks into new areas, new ideas, new writing.
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Post by philsadler on Sept 14, 2020 16:15:03 GMT
The introduction must rate as one of the most unintentionally funniest things I have ever read. It's so very, very bad that it's actually quite good. Someone needs to riff it.
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