DestinyQuest: The Legion of Shadow takes its influence from two genres, the 'choose your own adventure' book and the computer role-playing game. It uses an innovative map system to allow readers to experience exciting quests, battle fearsome monsters and discover valuable rewards. Through their adventures, the reader can customise their hero from a selection of 400 items and 80 special abilities, allowing them to take on ever-greater challenges as they seek to save the kingdom from the sinister Legion of Shadow. Author Michael J. Ward draws on 10 years publishing experience and over 30 years of gaming to create a unique product; a book that draws on the latest innovations in computer-game design and fuses them with the old-style game books that initially attracted him to fantasy when he was younger. Aimed at readers of 12 and above, DestinyQuest will appeal to gamers and fantasy-enthusiasts as well as fans of online games such as World of Warcraft.

Print length

534 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Matador
Publication date

1 Feb. 2011
Dimensions

21.34 x 13.72 x 4.06 cm
ISBN-10

1848765428
ISBN-13

978-1848765429
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Product description

Review

"Innovative and courageous. DQ immerses you in a fast-paced adventure, fuelled by addictive gameplay. Prepare to burn the midnight oil..." --GoreZone Magazine

About the Author

Sheffield-born writer, Michael J. Ward, was introduced to the fantasy genre through the Fighting Fantasy game books in the eighties. Now living in the Midlands, Michael divides his time between writing DestinyQuest, working freelance and playing, by his own admission, far too many video games. This is his first fantasy novel to be published.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Matador (1 Feb. 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 534 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1848765428
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1848765429
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 21.34 x 13.72 x 4.06 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 1,623,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 954 in Role-Playing & War Games
- 7,275 in TV, Movie, Game Adaptations

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Paul Dolan

First game book in 30 years

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 January 2021

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Bought this for my 6 year old son (maybe for me too). The last time I read /played a game book was the early nineties. Fast forward 30 years and my interest in game books was peaked again. Mainly due to my sons passion for table top games and tcg games.
The book is a mammoth, 650 odd pages, several quests, from easy up to hardest. The writing is engaging, well thought out, more like a good to high standard fantasy novel. Not like the microwave dinner writing of those early 90s books.
I'm reading the book, my son is choosing the options, he is so engaged and was so excited to defeat a goblin and rescue a girl. Basically he's deciding the arc of the story.
It'll keep us both engaged for months.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Modernisation of the adventure gamebook?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2015

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After a hugely successful run during the eighties adventure gamebooks fizzled away by the mid-nineties. The main reason for their demise was probably due to the advent of more advanced game consoles and improved graphics which made role playing videogames far more popular. A lot of the old series’ of adventure gamebooks have experienced something of a revival in recent years and been given reprints. It is, therefore, somewhat understandable and expected that there would now be attempts at new gamebooks.

The above goes some way to explain why ‘Legion of the Shadow’ feels closer to a computer/video game than it does to the old adventure gamebooks it is attempting to emulate. For those that loathed reaching the end of a gamebook only to be thwarted and have to start all over again, you will be pleased to know that death is not the end in Destiny Quest. If you die (and this will only be in combat as there are no ‘you have died/lost’ passages) you generally just restore your attributes and re-start the fight you died on or try something else and come back later; much like you would in a videogame. This does make things easier than most gamebooks but it is probably a good thing because the vast majority of combats are quite lengthy and difficult.

The gameplay style is far more orientated towards combat. There is a lot less that involves finding your way around, searching places, solving puzzles, learning codes and finding items. The vast bulk of stuff to be found is equipment that is geared towards combat. In a lot of ways the adventure moves from one combat to the next, sometimes relentlessly. In can get a little tedious and time consuming (especially repetitively fighting the same opponent). At times you can expect to spend half an hour or more just rolling dice.

However, the combat system is well thought out and designed and quite entertaining, especially when first starting out. With all the modifiers involved though it is easy enough to get something wrong and inadvertently cheat, usually to your own detriment.

The blurb makes a lot of the fact that you can personalise your character to be different every time allowing for multiple replays. This is a bit of an exaggeration. Your character may always be different but really only in so much that you have a slight variation in your abilities. There is obviously no image of your character so having a polished helmet and fancy sword may actually be no different in real terms to the gameplay than having a battered hat and rusty battle axe. The three classes from which you can chose are fairly typical and rarely make any substantial difference.

In fact this gamebook has a lot less re-playability than most. Completely the book probably means you have virtually done everything there is to do. The book counters this though by having an incredible length (at over nine hundred references even longer than the epic ‘Crown of Kings’) and a huge amount to do. This just about compensates for the hefty price tag for a gamebook.

The main innovation is probably the use of a map which you use to select quests, missions, hunts or shopping trips. It takes you directly to a starting paragraph for that section. It’s quite novel but it does mean that some of the exploration typical of adventure gamebooks is actually lost.

The main plot of undead, demonic forces invading through a dimensional portal is hardly very original but it is one that almost always works. However, the adventure actually has a stronger storyline than it initially suggests. This is because the adventurer begins as they return to consciousness knowing very little about themselves. The adventure is a slow discovery of who and what you are. A similar idea has been done in gamebooks before (most famously ‘Creature of Havoc’) but it seems to always make for an intriguing read.

The adventure is a bit too combat orientated and I’d prefer some more extensive subquest sequences. But overall it is a well written and engrossing adventure with plenty to enjoy.

5 people found this helpful

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rasarah

Out of a 1 to 10 rating I would 100% say 11!!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 October 2016

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I bought this for my eight-year-old thinking (due to it’s size) it would be something we would read together. But no, a few pages after the prologue it became clear there was no need for me, as he devoured the book, adventure after adventure. He was properly hooked. So much so, as soon as he’d finished it, he restarted it again, choosing another path. We bought the next book, which he packed in his case of ‘essential items’ when we went on holiday. He was rarely without it. A strong recommendation from both of us!
He has put some advice/commentary together for would-be first-time adventurers:
Monsters: I found the legendary Hydra all but impossible to defeat, thanks to its ability Shed Skin.
I think that Spindle the spider was a really good opponent and had some great treasure if you defeated him.
Battle: Powerful and strong, I slayed the mighty King of Warriors using the unforgiving ruins.
In my third combat round I vanquished the Water Spirit as it was being pulled into the rainmaker staff.
Decisions: My advice would be to explore all possible decisions before moving on.
One thing I definitely got wrong was when I chose to decline the tour and missed getting some very important things.
Abilities: One of the most important abilities is Charm, which lets you reroll as many dice as you have items with this ability.
Venom is very useful as well, because if you have damaged your opponent it deals two damage to them at the end of each of their turns.
Summary: I have really really enjoyed this book and in my opinion the best thing to be is a Rogue!
Out of a 1 to 10 rating I would 100% say 11!!!

8 people found this helpful

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CDC

Fantastic Story & Great Gameplay

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 September 2020

Verified Purchase

This is an amazing gamebook. The story is great and the quests are very exciting, especially starting from Act 2. The world is described in a way that really helped me imagine everything. Combat takes some time but thanks to the many different items and special abilities found througout the book, the fights become more epic and it gets easier to defeat even the most powerful enemy. I'm going to continue straight away with the next book in the series!

One person found this helpful

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C. N. Braid

A stroll down memory lane

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2015

Verified Purchase

Bought this book because way back in the mists of time I tried more than a few of Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy books. The Legion of Shadow was a little bit more 'grown up' than I remember the FF books were, and were all the more enjoyable for all that. Obviously no substitute for an evenings RPG with friends but great fun for someone stuck with no one to game with. Will be looking out for others in the series as the format translates well to e-book!

2 people found this helpful

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Dan

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 July 2017

Verified Purchase

Great story, fills an RPG gap when there's no one around. Simple mechanics and expansions.
Definitely recommended.

One person found this helpful

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HybridMemorieZ

The Legion of Shadow: DestinyQuest Book 1

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 June 2019

Verified Purchase

love the destiny quest books if you love fighting fantasy then you will love this

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Morgan L (UK)

Keeping the genre alive

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 July 2014

Verified Purchase

A welcome book that shows the the Gamebook Genre still has legs. Closest thing to playing a video RPG in book format. Well done to the author

One person found this helpful

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