The War-Torn Kingdom

‘Fabled Lands’ is an interesting and original concept amongst adventure gamebooks, very different to the norm in that there is not a set quest or mission. Instead the adventurer/reader finds themselves dropped into a fully developed and detailed fantasy world with no prescribed objectives. A vast land is available to explore, full of side quest style missions, characters to interact with and wealth and assets to acquire. What quests you choose to take on is down to the discretion of the reader. ‘The War-Torn Kingdom’ places the reader in a land recently ravaged by civil war where the military have deposed the king. Political tensions are high as the military to continue to exert control and those to loyal to the crown try to re-instate the monarchy. It is easy enough for the adventurer to get caught up in all this. The reader can be employed for missions by either side. This also serves as the storyline for this book. Either way, it is a volatile state in flux that gives the gamebook a strong atmosphere. There is a palatable tension among the people. The book progresses, as indeed does the series, through the personal passage of time of the adventurer. The overall mission element of adventure gamebooks is thus replaced with developing your character, much in the way you might do so in a multiplayer role playing game. You begin with more attributes than most gamebooks and these vary according to the type of character you chose to be. As play progresses and you explore more, these will generally slowly improve; although it is entirely possible to make them worse. In certain cases a higher attribute can unlock a previously inaccessible part of the book. As your character’s personal development continues so will the amount of equipment, items and wealth you possess. This process begins quite slowly to start with and can be a little frustrating. Once you start making progress, however, it suddenly snowballs and it requires some effort and note making to keep up with it all. Eventually your character can own houses, ships and a bank account. The ship side of things is a little disappointing in ‘The War-Torn kingdom’. There isn’t really that much to trade and what there is fairly uninspiring. Effectively you are confined to a small area of coastal waters with not much to explore. This is part of the book that really needs to be read in conjunction with one or more of the other books in the series. With far more passages/references than most adventure gamebooks, there is a lot to be explored in ‘The War-Torn Kingdom’. It has an enticing atmosphere that encourages the reader to explore as much as possible. The more you do in the book the more enjoyable it becomes. Even though it is meant to interact with the rest of the ‘Fabled Lands’ series (and, indeed, some bits you are unable to access without reading more of the series), it stands up well enough on its own. With hours of adventuring it’s a worthwhile purchase.

The Fabled Lands gamebooks are organized as a open world to explore (there is not a railroaded story to follow). This first gamebook of the series revolves around a typical Middle-Ages kingdom, divided by civil war. This books is excellent and sets the bar for the rest of the series.

Una serie de librojuegos ya mítica. Absolutamemnte fascinantes pese a los años que ya tienen. Especialmente la capacidad de "vagar" con absoluta libertad de un libro a otro mientras te mueves por ese mundo. Encima, está muy bien escrito. La edición es un poco pasable en cuanto a la calidad de materiales, pero de calidad suficiente para el precio que tiene, que es realmente bueno. ¿Totalmente recomendado, tanto este volumen como el resto de la saga! (PD: recuerden que está en inglés)

Comecei o jogo, guardas me levaram todo meu dinheiro e me deixaram quase morrendo. 10/10 já se pagou

This book is more of an introduction to the series than anything. There aren't may choices that will insta-kill your character. But it feels like more books in the series are needed to fully enjoy this experience. Would highly recommend.