kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 12, 2021 11:56:50 GMT
I take it 'Manvers' is a spoiler-friendly code name for you-know-who?
Assuming that is the case, I'm going to vote for Karam Gruul - he just has a lot more personality.
The Bandit Leader looked cool but he's more an image for your character to fixate on than a full character in his own right. Yaztromo definitely wins this one.
I always find Xakhaz gets a bit overshadowed by Senyakhaz. The Lizard King wins this because he has the courage to walk around naked.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 12, 2021 10:07:09 GMT
Yes, I'm a big fan of Endless Quest though I've pretty much given up on completing my collection: I'm missing 5 of the original series (including the ultra-rare Tarzan and the Tower of Diamonds), all of which are pretty expensive on eBay. Of the 90s revamp, I'm also missing 5 (perhaps 6 but I don't think The Test was ever actually published), and again they're all fairly pricey, plus I'm less a fan of the batch as they were overly-wordy. I only have 1 of the recent Matt Forbeck books - I should really get the rest before prices shoot up!
I feel the books on average are pretty well written - a lot of the authors were novelists for TSR so they can certainly write (there is though something of a connection to FF - Anne Brown who wrote Bigby's Curse is none other than Keith Martin/ Carl Sargent using yet another pseudonym - there are certain similarities to Vault of the Vampire and Legend of Zagor in the book). The series also has a more "pick up and play" vibe than FF as it doesn't require dice or note taking. Of course, the inability to resolve combat was often overcome by casting you as a child who had to avoid combat as much as possible which in turn could sometimes lead the books to being somewhat schmaltzy, but I think this criticism is somewhat exaggerated amongst gamebook fans. Sometimes the books could be a bit linear too or suffer from "Do you really want to keep going or give up?" choices (as mentioned in another topic recently, The Endless Catacombs is particularly bad for this).
I agree with you about Spell of the Winter Wizard being one of the best - there's so much variety and quirkiness in that one. Other favourites of mine would be Tarzan and the Well of Slaves which is really well written and has lots of different branches and Conan and the Prophecy which is basically a collection of fun mini gamebooks. Castle of the Undead is very creepy. Most of Rose Estes' books are solid (one exception - I can't get into Hero of Washington Square at all but that's mostly due to it being written in first person than it being bad per se though not a huge fan of the whole "kids foiling spies" genre anyway).
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 11, 2021 9:24:59 GMT
I like Keith Martin's gamebook structures a lot in general, I think since they allow a lot of exploration every attempt as long as your combat powers are reasonable. Any instant-failure paragraphs are fairly deep in the quest and usually aren't arbitrary. Apart from in Revenge of the Vampire which has quite a few "oh, come on!" moments.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 11, 2021 8:30:36 GMT
I think I will try my next Wizard attempt in Legend of Zagor with a rule that you decide to use your spells after winning the round, to see if that makes it more impactful. That would flip the bias in the magic-user from making him an unfairly weak Avatar to an unfairly strong one (unless, that is, you roll below-average stats). I think Sallazar's low Magic score would prevent the change being too much of an advantage. Plus he still needs to win an attack round which is hard going against the more powerful enemies. Maybe another workaround could be to increase Sallazar's magic score significantly (say starts at 20 points) and give him a separate Skill score for when he's casting spells which is the standard D6+6 - much like how his Spot Skill is treated as differently from his regular Skill.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 10, 2021 14:32:00 GMT
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 9, 2021 20:21:28 GMT
Malbordus has zero personality. Lord Carnuss is an absolute bastard and his "So be it!" is very bad-ass so he wins this one for me.
Chingiz goes to great lengths to make himself king - has Segrek murdered, hushes up his death, tries to steal all the medallions and sends assassins far and wide to kill the Select. And then the betrayer ends up betrayed and is reduced to a pitiful, almost sympathetic figure. Much more interesting than Akharis.
Lord Azzur sure gets a lot of build up, being mentioned in several books before he finally gets to be the big bad. But evil twin Feior is just much more intriguing so he wins this one for me.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 9, 2021 20:11:49 GMT
Chingiz attracts minions that surf on tigers I don't think Beshbalik can really be described as a minion, I think he's very much his own boss.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 9, 2021 14:00:12 GMT
Now that I've seen the rules of the new(ish) editions, I think I know what this means. In the original rules of TWOFTT, you are instructed to double the score you roll when determining damage if you are using Inner Force. So, if you have used Inner Force for a successful kick and roll a 3 for damage, you would double that to 6 and add 2 for using a kick for a total of 8 points of damage. In the new rules, you just double the damage. So, in my example, you would roll 3, add 2, and double for a total of 10 points of damage. I've made it through the original series with the original rules, so I'm not sure that the change is completely necessary. However, it would make tough combats significantly easier. TBH I've always interpreted the rules to be what they are now. Doubling the rolled number then adding 2 for kicks makes less sense since the +2 is still part of the damage the kick does. I've always interpreted this rule the same way that Peasantscribbler did. The new/confirmed way of doing things makes kicks a lot more powerful.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 7, 2021 21:59:40 GMT
Warlock of Firetop Mountain is a cropped version of Josh Kirby's cover for Terry Pratchett's Equal Rites - you can even see Granny Weatherwax's hand on the left.
Island of the Lizard King borrows from the cover of Grail Quest 5.
Some of the others look familiar but I can't place them.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 7, 2021 20:02:28 GMT
Horfak - because there's something quite tragicomic about him: a normal man made the plaything of forces beyond him.
Poor old Count Varcolac is quite a cool villain but he just can't compete with Zharradan Marr.
Minos is pretty forgettable so Myurr wins that match pretty handily.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 5, 2021 21:42:25 GMT
Relem - of all the Demon Princes to make an appearance on Titan, he's the most awesome. Is he a Demon Prince? I thought he was more a henchdemon.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 5, 2021 18:03:51 GMT
L'Bastin grafted a pineapple on someone's head so he definitely beats a villain whose only interesting aspect is an extra head.
Ikiru and Bythos are both mysterious figures but the latter is much more intriguing.
Cyrus travels through space experimenting on whole planets in a ship driven by a philosophical robot. Rannik runs a thieves guild where the entrance exam would doubtless cost a year's takings and almost certainly kill off any promising candidates. I think Cyrus wins this one.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 4, 2021 15:29:54 GMT
For obvious reasons it is set in the diner from "Spatz". Damn, I used to love Spatz. I'm sure it absolutely would not hold up to my childhood memories though.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 3, 2021 22:19:24 GMT
In Deathtrap Dungeon, the ninja picture doesn't have a background. I always thought the circle was meant to evoke the Japanese flag.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 3, 2021 18:43:13 GMT
I like Captain Bloodaxe's macabre joke (even if by an astonishing coincidence, it ends up being pretty helpful) but Unthank has much more substance to him.
Zanbar Bone is cool but compared to Balthus Dire, he is nothing but an impudent peasant.
The problem with Reiner Heydrich is he feels more like a henchman for his big sister in Vault and it just makes him unconvincing as some ultimate evil in Revenge. Globus on the other hand is pretty cool, you get the impression he has accumulated more knowledge and power than perhaps any other FF villain.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 1, 2021 17:13:00 GMT
Aw I love Jann the Minimite. He definitely gets my vote.
Mordraneth because I love the bit where he tricks you into drinking vinegar. He could have given you poison but he'd rather just mess with you. Plus he lives in a world of his own illusions which is pretty cool.
Mencius is just such a smug git. He's a great villain.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 30, 2021 21:48:46 GMT
Nazek because I like the way he tricks your character into helping him. Gives you a personal stake in defeating him.
Orghuz. Not that I've ever got far in Chasms, but Sharcle is rubbish.
Ulrakaah is the best thing about a bad book but Shareela's revenge beyond the (second) grave makes her stand out so I vote for her.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 30, 2021 21:42:55 GMT
Is Trial of Champions that well-liked? I thought it was generally regarded as sadistically difficult and clearly inferior to Deathtrap Dungeon. It finished a very underwhelming 39th in Wilf's poll so I think you're right there.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 30, 2021 21:31:01 GMT
Green Blood is linear in that you have to do perform certain tasks given to you and if you haven't, the book will keep beating you over the head with it until you do or die trying. There's no alternate events or different side quests (unless you count accidentally arriving at the Tower). You will do these set tasks if you want to succeed. Yeah there's no side quests, but I seem to recall there is a bit of variety - how you get to Eleanor's Bower, how you deal with the elves, how much you interact with Valerian etc. Admittedly it's been quite a while since I last attempted it.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 30, 2021 9:26:31 GMT
Coils of Hate is a good concept - a thinly-disguised allegory about Jewish persecution mixed with an idea from a Fritz Leiber short story about hate manifesting into a physical form. Gameplay-wise it's problematic though - so many times I've played it and had to quit due to some game-breaking bug. Really need to get round to checking out Stuart's fixed version.
Apart from a few continuity errors (day suddenly turning into night, the background not fitting with the pre-generated characters), Green Blood is much more playable and I love the melancholy atmosphere to it. I also disagree that it's linear, there's plenty of alternative ways through it. Never really understood the hatred it receives. It's not up there with Necklace of Skulls or Heart of Ice, but it's still very good IMO.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 29, 2021 14:58:00 GMT
Finally caught up with this blog, these reviews are great. Keep em coming.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 28, 2021 21:50:30 GMT
Lord Mortis (which I initially mistyped as Lord Morris!) has a cool back story and I like that there are a variety of ways to beat him. The sheer amount of illustrations of him makes him a pervading presence throughout the book. Agglax is pretty disposable by comparison.
I've never really got far enough in Knights of Doom to get much of a sense of Belgaroth so I'll abstain there.
The Archmage beats Razaak due to being much more of a sneaky bugger.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 28, 2021 21:38:37 GMT
It's very hard to get going. Don't get too attached to any of your characters early on because chances are they will die. After a while, you'll get to know which missions are lower risk for each profession and, with a bit of luck, begin to build some cash and get some good gear. Invest in a resurrection deal at the earliest opportunity and try to have the full compliment of blessings at all times.
Put a bit of money in the bank and you can access it in any book. Try to resist selling items with bonuses even if you don't need them unless you really need the cash. Instead, try to store them in safe houses and then if you lose your current items you have backups.
As regards stats, Combat is the most important but the easiest to improve so bear this in mind when you have an opportunity to increase one of your stats. Sanctity tends to be a bit less important - in fact there are a handful of situations where a low Sanctity is beneficial. However, Sanctity is still important and shouldn't be neglected.
Getting a God can also be beneficial. Recommended are: Tyrnai or Nagil - give cheap resurrection deals and Tyrnai gives cheap Combat blessings as a bonus Sig - gives +1 to Thievery Three Fortunes - cheap Luck blessings
Even with all that though, you can still die with no resurrection deal after hours of gameplay which can be very frustrating!
If you're really struggling, a somewhat cheesy tactic is to start with one of the later books then immediately sail to Book 1 and you will be a lot tougher. Don't like doing that personally but it is completely within the rules.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 28, 2021 14:33:53 GMT
Some of the stories in season 8 didn't originally have the Master in, but they had villains generic enough that it took very little effort to replace them with him. The production team did subsequently conclude that they'd gone overboard with the character, and cut down on his appearances in later seasons. Yeah, probably for the best! The only story where I found his inclusion very odd was The Daemons, but it was a very odd story all round. I saw that it has a poor reputation amongst fans - I guess like with The Macra Terror this is one where I completely go against the consensus. But yes, I did enjoy that it was back to basics after hanging round England with UNIT for so long. It's certainly memorable, but not necessarily for all the right reasons.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 28, 2021 10:47:36 GMT
Series 8 was pretty solid, an improvement on 7. The Master was a good addition to the series, though I don't think he really needed to appear in every story. My biggest gripe is I don't really like Pertwee's Doctor who completely lacks the warmth of Hartnell or Troughton's.
Terror of the Autons This improves in many ways on the Autons' first appearance in Spearhead From Space. The Doctor has to use far more ingenuity to beat them here and much more is made of the dangerous implications of a foe that can manipulate plastics however they wish - even plastic flowers, a chair and telephone lines are a danger. That little plastic troll man is very creepy and it's a pity he's killed relatively quickly. We also see the Master introduced. It was a bit of an understated introduction given my understanding that he is the Doctor's arch-nemesis, but an entertaining one. I like that he and the Doctor are both very good at recognising each other's weaknesses but less so at recognising their own. The only real disappointment with the character is how quickly he goes from helping the Nestenes to siding with the Doctor against them. Another disappointment is Liz is gone. The character never quite came into her own but I felt she had potential. Her replacement Jo seems less the cerebral assistant and more the plucky but incompetent type that reminds me of Jamie. She's not quite as annoying as I feared she would be - for now at least.
The Mind of Evil Like Inferno from the previous series, this ties together a few different plots - a peace summit being sabotaged, an alien/machine that feels on evil impulses and the Master trying to steal a rocket. While the latter two kinda work together, the first is pretty much abandoned after the first two episodes, feeling utterly pointless. A creature feeding on evil impulses being used to correct criminals is an interesting concept but doesn't really get developed enough - it would have been more interesting if the concept was used to reflect on issues like justice, retribution, prisoners' rights and free will, but instead the Keller Machine is basically just another foe to be overcome. I know Doctor Who is a family adventure show, but I wish it would have the courage to explore more of the thoughtful part of sci-fi rather than falling back on action and cliffhangers. The action is fine so far as it goes and there's a couple of likeable scenes: the Master's worst fear being the Doctor mocking him is quite amusing, revealing a bit of insecurity behind the character's arrogance; and it turns out the Doctor is good pals with Chairman Mao - who'd a thunk?. Jo was much more likeable here and I really enjoyed her relationship with Barnham. Using Barnham as the means of turning the Keller Machine against the Master was a nice idea, but the execution was sloppy - it would have been just as easy for Jo to just sneak out of the van and shoot the Master.
The Claws of Axos A lot of good concepts in this one. I really like the idea of Axos being a single organism that can take the shape of humanoids, monster or organic spaceships. I also like that they supposedly rely on greed to take over planets though it is somewhat at odds with their request that the Axonite be shared amongst the planet - Chinn's greed to keep it for Britain actually makes their plan less effective so they seem to rely on greed only up to a point. Either way, I thought the reactions of the characters to Axonite was very believable. Even the Doctor sees in it a potential way of getting off-planet and is temporarily blinded to the Axons having any ulterior motive. This is also my favourite use of the Master thus far, a sort of third party rather than the main villain, who can help or hinder as his purposes change. While the ending doesn't quite convince that the Doctor is really going to abandon Earth, it certainly comes pretty close, building on the growing dislike between the Doctor and the Brigadier. I didn't feel the Doctor was lying when he said Jo was the only one he would miss and while it turns out he was not going to abandon Earth to Axos, he was certainly going to try to escape once it was dealt with. Aside from some dull and underdeveloped supporting characters and a bit too much hand-waving about temporal mechanics at the end, I thought this was a very effective story.
Colony in Space Well, this definitely wins the prize for most boring story title. Thankfully the story itself is very, very good. Like some of the previous stories, this has a few different storylines going on, but here they interweave perfectly. The conflict between the colonists and the miners comes across as very realistic and, unusually for Dr Who, it's pretty multilayered. The miners are ruthless capitalists who will terrorise and even kill for profit, but they are also the only means of getting a much needed mineral to Earth which the colonists are preventing. It's also questionable whether the colonists really have a right to the planet considering they are trying to take it from the "primitives". The relationships between the colonists themselves are also good: Ashe and Winton could have been textbook coolhead and hothead characters but instead they are shown to respect one another while disagreeing and Winton seems genuinely moved by Ashe's self-sacrifice. Caldwell is also an excellent character, his conflict coming across as very believable without being overwrought. When he tells the colonists the rocket is safe, you can tell he's lying to himself more than them - he wants to believe it's safe so he doesn't have to commit to one side or another. Meanwhile we have the Doctor and Jo exploring the intriguing "primitive" culture and the Master up to his usual hijinks - he really seems to relish the Arbiter role. A subplot about one colonist being an agent for the miners doesn't really work for me, but otherwise I can't fault this story at all. Also - Gail Platt!
The Daemons Back in the mid 90s, the Paul McGann TV special sparked a bit of a Doctor Who fad in me. Of course, the videos of the show were way too expensive so this fad largely consisted of taping one of the Peter Cushing movies from the TV, borrowing a few of the books from the library (only one of which I actually finished - I'll bring it up when i get to the story in question) and buying the script of a Doctor Who story at a school book fair. That script was for the Daemons. After about 5 pages, I realised I didn't like reading scripts and stuck it in a bookshelf in my parents' house (where I think it remains to this day). Shortly after, the Paul McGann series never materialised, and I moved on to other things. Anyway, the tone of this one is very odd, both compared to other stories and even in itself with scenes of Satanist rites are interspersed with comedy Morris dancers and the Doctor posing as the Great White Wizard Qui Quae Quod. I feel the Master was misused here - it might have been better to have the villain be a conventional Satanist, he just seems a bit out of character here, performing all those rituals while dressed in robes. I also didn't really buy that the villagers would so readily throw themselves into the occult, even allowing for the Master hypnotising and blackmailing them. Quibbles aside, this is a fun enough horror story with some good and genuinely creepy imagery - I imagine this sparked a few complaints back in the day which I suppose the writers were trying to forestall (as well as to retain the show's sci-fi credentials) by saying the enemies aren't really demons. Although I'm kinda inclined to agree with Miss Hawthorne that psionic power which is controlled and strengthened by arcane rituals is pretty much magic disguised by some pseudo-scientific language. As for the daemons themselves, I liked Bok, whose capering gave him an odd mix of malevolence and innocence and the firefight with the UNIT soldiers at the end was good. Azal was very intimidating and the idea that he's a sort of logical scientist whose experiments have been the root of evil in the world had some potential, but why-oh-why did he have to be destroyed by the horrible "illogic causing self destruction" cliche? You would think someone who's been manipulating humans for countless millennia would have witnessed self-sacrifice before and surely a supremely intelligent being would be able to appreciate different stances to egoism without imploding? A horrible end to the story and a waste of a good villain. Some more minor observations: this story is the first to really make use of Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton, but they're fairly dull characters in my opinion. Also what was with the Doctor biting Jo's head off for criticising her superior officer?
Series 8 ranking:
1. Colony in Space 2. The Claws of Axos 3. Terror of the Autons 4. The Daemons 5. The Mind of Evil
And since it looks like she's gone for good, I'll add Liz to the companion ranking - between Ben and Vikki seems fair for a good but underutilised character: 1. Ian 2. Barbara 3. Ben 4. Liz 5. Vikki 6. Steven 7. Victoria 8. Zoe 9. Jamie 10. Polly 11. Susan 12. Dodo
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 27, 2021 12:56:07 GMT
Most of the world's Deathtrap Dungeons seem to be finding their way into this man's collection... [from Twitter] He also has two Endless Quest books I'm missing from my collection. Wonder if he'd trade for a few more copies of Deathtrap Dungeon?
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 27, 2021 10:58:49 GMT
Cool concept.
We were travelling east so I agree that we should keep heading that way.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 27, 2021 10:56:58 GMT
Well done Peter, once again I think time got away from the rest of us!
You can set the next challenge
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 27, 2021 10:41:13 GMT
Laskar - because it was a bit unconventional for the wise mentor figure to be working with the bad guys. I'm actually pretty intrigued by his back story. Someone (sorry, can't remember who!) speculated that Laskar had decided that the Vymornans were actually the more evil side in the conflict which is much more interesting than him just being bought off. Jaxartes by comparison is just a typical cackling evil wizard.
Voivod and Blaster Babbet are an interesting comparison - they're both big bads overshadowed by their more interesting underlings. I feel Voivod has more of an epic backstory so I should really vote for him, but there's something more appealing about gradually infiltrating Blaster's organisation to the point of confronting the man himself so I'm going to vote for BB.
Shanzikuul has an interesting back story - we never quite learn the relationship between him and the Dark Elves or whether he is the original Shanzikuul or not and I like the way he essentially tries to seduce you into joining him. The Titanium Cyborg is pretty entertaining, messing with an electronics fair just for a laugh, but I'll go with Shanzikuul.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 26, 2021 8:39:45 GMT
Aw. Let's offer it some food.
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