Luke Sharp (1)

I was surprised to find that I didn't recognise this one! How lovely to have a new gamebook experience. This one was pretty good, but didn't take too much work. I insta-died a few times along the way but managed to collect what I needed without any trouble. There are a few tough fights that will kill a weaker player, but no impossible ones that I noted. Some great scenes, I liked the siege best of all. Some of the later bits didn;t feel recognisably Titan, if that makes sense, but Alkiviades' ideas are good and his puzzles are fun. Worth a look.… (mere)

This is an imaginative gamebook with lots of depth. It feels like a massively edited version of a bigger story, and I would love to play the full version. Unfortunately the shorter version has too many flaws to be a great gamebook. Despite a world that has breadth and character, it doesn't feel like what you do in it will affect the story. I completed it first time, which didn't feel like a fluke. Despite not getting any of the mcguffins, I felt railroaded through to story's completion and then allowed to win. There were lots of times when it seemed like some character showed up to take you to the next stage, to resolve a problem for you, or to magically move you on. There are some great mechanisms in this gamebook - the poison mechanism, or the mazes for example, so there's a lot of potential here. I feel that editing this into a small book was probably the problem.… (mere)

A bit of a mess, this one. I can't say I ever really understood what was going on or why. Got dragged out the kitchen, sent on a quest which just kept on going without relenting or becoming any clearer until I finally found that I had won. There was too much here, it was like being hosed with fighting fantasy, and there were lots of times where you roll a dice and then die. Its pretty hard not to die. In fact, at the end there's a bit where you stand an 80% chance of dying. This book feels like it was edited hard, there seems to be a lot missing and lots of places where there should be exposition but there isn't. Confusing and tricky.… (mere)