This is Isle of Illusion (1983), the fourth book in the HeartQuest series and the final one I own, because the final two had much smaller print runs and are very hard to come by at a not-obscene price.

This one is my least favorite of the four, which is saying something. K-Mart Laurana, a warrior woman. There are two possible love interests again, but only one is the correct one. There are also lots of illusions, which means lots of the choices in the book involved deciding who or what to believe, which is an interesting concept that the author does absolutely nothing with.

The thing that bums me out about these books is that they display a conviction that women and girls, the market for these books, couldn’t possibly want the same thing out of a fantasy story or RPG that men and boys do: namely, adventure, power, glory, whatever. Whatever McGuffin the plot is ostensibly about – saving Dad, defeating a wizard – is ultimately secondary to finding a swell fellow to go steady with.  It is never clearer than the first decision in this book, which is try to find your father or stay home like Dad said. Sorry, but that is bullshit. Never once in all the “guy-centric” games and stories I’ve played and read over the last thirty years have I been presented with the option to stay home instead. Patronizing nonsense.