One of the "Lone Wolf" series of fantasy game books in which the reader is Lone Wolf, the last Kai Master of Sommerlund. Each episode can be played separately or combined with the rest to create a role-playing epic.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By ldxar1
Format:Paperback
In this gamebook, Lone Wolf sets off into warring kingdoms reminiscent of the Balkans or medieval Italy. Travelling maybe on a barge headed to a city under siege and trying to sneak into the city is among the possible paths the reader can take. The non-player characters are interesting for this kind of story - a cruel lordling who debuts here will become a recurring character.
The first of the Magnakai gamebooks, this book introduces a new set of higher-level Kai disciplines most of which expand the earlier Kai skills to new levels. One major addition is ranged combat (with bows). A couple of annoyances about the Magnakai system are that firstly, a lot of the books require a Magnakai discipline (animal control say) when a Kai one would suffice, so a player is effectively set back to stage one in skills; secondly, the cumulative skill/endurance bonuses exacerbate the existing problem that the books are loaded against players who just play one book out of context. This said, the transition is fairly smooth and the higher disciplines follow logically from the lower ones.
The kingdoms themselves are an intriguing setting drawing on one of the best aspect of Dever's scenario creation - the character interactions in roadway and urban settings. The gamebook is somewhat multilinear, with several paths through a number of areas, though culminating in certain "bottleneck" incidents which are unavoidable. The difficulty is about right for someone following the series, though some battles will be hard for someone who doesn't have the Sommerswerd bonuses. There's also a useful new special item on offer in this book.
The main weakness I felt was the overall plot. I have to say I found the Magnakai gems theme rather McGuffin-ish - it's a random kind of reason for choosing this setting rather than any other, and I think better reasons for gamebooks 6-11 could have been constructed given the strengths of 1-5. The final "boss" monster was also rather randomly added, with no inherent link to the rest of the story - the gem just happened to have some kind of unspecified guardian. I'd also have liked to have seen more of the unusual monsters which usually populate Dever's books; the bestiary for this book was rather limited.
The first of the Magnakai gamebooks, this book introduces a new set of higher-level Kai disciplines most of which expand the earlier Kai skills to new levels. One major addition is ranged combat (with bows). A couple of annoyances about the Magnakai system are that firstly, a lot of the books require a Magnakai discipline (animal control say) when a Kai one would suffice, so a player is effectively set back to stage one in skills; secondly, the cumulative skill/endurance bonuses exacerbate the existing problem that the books are loaded against players who just play one book out of context. This said, the transition is fairly smooth and the higher disciplines follow logically from the lower ones.
The kingdoms themselves are an intriguing setting drawing on one of the best aspect of Dever's scenario creation - the character interactions in roadway and urban settings. The gamebook is somewhat multilinear, with several paths through a number of areas, though culminating in certain "bottleneck" incidents which are unavoidable. The difficulty is about right for someone following the series, though some battles will be hard for someone who doesn't have the Sommerswerd bonuses. There's also a useful new special item on offer in this book.
The main weakness I felt was the overall plot. I have to say I found the Magnakai gems theme rather McGuffin-ish - it's a random kind of reason for choosing this setting rather than any other, and I think better reasons for gamebooks 6-11 could have been constructed given the strengths of 1-5. The final "boss" monster was also rather randomly added, with no inherent link to the rest of the story - the gem just happened to have some kind of unspecified guardian. I'd also have liked to have seen more of the unusual monsters which usually populate Dever's books; the bestiary for this book was rather limited.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars
4 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Lone Wolf adventure yet!
13 Jun 2006
By J. Stoner
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
"Kingdoms of Terror" is the best Lone Wolf book up to this point. It is the first adventure where you get to start learning Magnakai abilities. Most of these are just like previous skills you learned in the first five books, but with more abilities and different names. You can still use the original abilities and I once fought a monster in this book that said it was immune to "psi-surge" but not to "mind blast." This is the first book where you are able to use a bow.
This book really kicks the rest of the adventures off because you start to look for the lorestones that will help you unlock the power of the Grand Master kai warrior. As you progress through the magnakai books the abilities you have become stronger for each book, so choose wisely which skills you start with. Some of the neat aspects of the first book are expanded upon in the next few books. Truly a classic!
Adventurers must be careful, as I stumbled into a fair number of instant deaths! Good luck!
This book really kicks the rest of the adventures off because you start to look for the lorestones that will help you unlock the power of the Grand Master kai warrior. As you progress through the magnakai books the abilities you have become stronger for each book, so choose wisely which skills you start with. Some of the neat aspects of the first book are expanded upon in the next few books. Truly a classic!
Adventurers must be careful, as I stumbled into a fair number of instant deaths! Good luck!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Probably the best of the series
28 July 2011
By Tiggum
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
As a series, the Lone Wolf books tend to have the flaw of carrying too much baggage. The powerful items you pick up in one book carry on to the next, but at the same time each book is supposed to serve as a standalone, leading to a bizarre mix of over- and under-powered items and encounters, making some things absurdly easy and others ridiculously difficult. This book, being the first of the Magnakai adventures, doesn't really suffer from that too much.
It has its faults, and if you play the books through in order then the possession of the Sommerswerd will, as always, vastly skew the difficulty level, but taken on its own, this adventure is pretty well balanced and provides the right level of challenge.
In addition to that, the story is more interesting, involving as it does more relatable elements, such as the warring nations, none of which is all good or all evil, and the quest for a mysterious, magical object hidden away for centuries, which is a story we've all read, seen and played dozens of times.
I'm not sure whether I'd recommend a new reader start out with this book or the first one. I think this is, in every way, a better book, but on the other hand, if you like it and want to read more, you're probably going to want to play through them in order.
It has its faults, and if you play the books through in order then the possession of the Sommerswerd will, as always, vastly skew the difficulty level, but taken on its own, this adventure is pretty well balanced and provides the right level of challenge.
In addition to that, the story is more interesting, involving as it does more relatable elements, such as the warring nations, none of which is all good or all evil, and the quest for a mysterious, magical object hidden away for centuries, which is a story we've all read, seen and played dozens of times.
I'm not sure whether I'd recommend a new reader start out with this book or the first one. I think this is, in every way, a better book, but on the other hand, if you like it and want to read more, you're probably going to want to play through them in order.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
UN GRAN OLVIDADO
8 Mar 2000
By Juan Gutierrez
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Me sorprende que otros lectores no encuentren a este libro al mismo nivel que el numero 2 o al 4. En mi opinion el mayor exito de Dever es la densidad del entorno y como te envuelve en el. Cosa que para mi consigue en este y en los otros dos mencionados.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
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