Forest of Doom (Fighting Fantasy Gamebook 8) [Paperback]

The Forest of Doom is the third book in the Fighting Fantasy series; written entirely by Ian Livingstone. You play the part of a 'Sword-for-Hire' adventurer, wandering around Allansia. One night, while you're settling down by your camp fire, you stumble across a dying Dwarf. With his last, dying words, the Dwarf tells you about the theft of the Dwarf King's great Warhammer and his quest to retrieve it. While being flown south from Stonebridge, the Hammer was accidently dropped into the sinister Darkwood Forest.

The stage is set for you to enter Darkwood Forest, attempt to rescue the Warhammer; saving the Dwarven town of Stonebridge from disaster and raking in a huge 'collect fee' for your trouble. The only clue you have to it's whereabouts, is that the Hammer was divided in two by two Goblins, who then went their separate ways. This only adds to your difficulties!

This book is quite well written. Being Ian's first solo attempt at a FF book, it is original, exciting and interesting. Also, it's the first FF book to feature that old softy we've all come to love/hate: Yaztromo the Wizard. The only criticism I have is with the general ease of the book. The Monsters that (frequently) try to maim you could of been slightly stronger. The object of your quest could also of been made harder to find.

Saying this, the book is good. The puzzles, traps and creatures you encounter are engaging and varied. You get to explore lots of different places above as well as below ground. You uniquely get the option of entering the forest again if you fail your quest first time around (but look out for Hill Trolls), making the book a satisfying read.

When I was a child this book was most renowned for having the best cover illustration of all the Fighting Fantasy books. (Unfortunately the modern Wizard additions have ruined this, being one of the occasions where the modern artwork definitely lacks the impression made by the original). In fact, the artwork throughout 'Forest if Doom' was a high standard. The book also lives up to its artwork.

It was inevitable that a full on forest adventure would occur fairly early in the series and 'Forest of Doom' set the standard for forest/wood scenarios. Admittedly some later adventures handled these environments with wonderful, detailed atmosphere, but they all owed a little to this adventure. 'Forest of Doom' creates a very believable and engrossing environment filled with a mass of strange and deadly forest denizens, some you might expect and some you'd never guess at.

Ironically though the highlight of the adventure is probably not in the forest environment but in the exploration of the crypt. This is a truly eerie piece of writing.

The weakness with the forest is its linear nature. If you choose to map whilst you read you would still find a traditional style grid system hidden under everything. This is not an environment you can freely explore and you are always being forced to slowly move northwards rather than wandering how you want around the forest. Despite initial appearances the exploration of Darkwood Forest is relatively easy. No regular gamebook adventurer will have a problem. The only challenge really is picking the right direction to find what you need to complete the adventure ( Quinn probably being the hardest to find).

The fact that if you make it through Darkwood without the two parts of the war hammer you can go back to the start of the forest and explore again without restarting and rolling new statistics makes this possibly the easiest FF adventure ever. This element should probably have been left out to make the adventure more challenging. It also means the reader can visit the same scenarios again and gather the same equipment, which makes little sense.

The game aspect of finding the war hammer parts is quite original. Although it is quite enjoyable and does leave the adventure feeling like it is kissing a main villain or in fact, any challenging opponent. There are no encounters with any foe with particularly good statistics. Despite the lack of a main villain the final paragraph is still one of the most satisfying in the FF series.

'Forest of Doom' is not the best written or constructed gamebook but it has an undeniable charm that will encourage readers to revisit it and ensure it remains one of the most acknowledged of the series.

This is another of those game books where you jump from numbered text passage to passage to complete a mission like a novel version of a Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game.

Being easy to pick up, you start at the beginning at reference number one and then you're directed to different parts of the book, depending on which paths or decisions you take in your adventure. The goal is to win and get to reference 400, which is the end. It's quite clever really.

The 'Forest of Doom' is a good book but is just too easy. As the other reviewers have pointed out, this one is set in an open forest, rather than the usual underground maze explorer adventure that many other books follow.

You're given the mission of having to find an important object that's disappeared into a dangerous forest called Darkwood. This means that you have to enter the forest and explore around, moving from reference to reference within the 400 passages in total.

I think that this book is good, but it isn't the best in the whole series of books overall. It's interesting, but when compared to other books like Deathtrap Dungeon, Island of the Lizard King or Return to Firetop Mountain, it's just average.

The main reason for this is that it's far too easy. Some other books are hard and I think this could've been better if the writer had made it tougher and more unforgiving than it is. I think the easiness of this book is the only real weakness; the rest is a good idea.

If it were harder and more of a challenge that could keep your attention longer, I'd give it four stars. But I'll give it 3 instead.

My favourite bit is the crypt, it's quite spooky!