OK, so, Endless Quest, Super Endless Quest, HeartQuest, Fantasy Forest, Crimson Crystal Adventures, 1 on 1 Adventure Gamebooks. That’s all the TSR interactive fiction series I can think of off the top of my head. Add to that the Catacombs, a four-book series that began with this book, Faerie Mound of Dragonkind (1987). TSR never stopped trying!
The books are RPG-sized, square-bound 160-page beasts, by far the biggest of TSR’s gamebooks. Pretty high production value, too. Caldwell cover, which actually depicts something in the book itself, plus a ton of Valerie Valusek interiors in soft, welcoming graphite. Sweet logo, too.
The story has you pick either a fighter or a bard (and then checks constantly about which you picked). Then you climb into the faerie mound, which is much larger and stranger on the inside then you might expect. You meet the faerie king, who is at odds with his wife and asks you to find his favorite lamp, which she took. When you find her, you need to gift her a gem and key or she teleports you away. So, lots of items to find for people. Which is why there is so much art — Valusek delivers full-page images full of odd items for you to investigate and, generally, add to your inventory. The strange mix of objects makes things feel rather surreal, like a tarot card or the illustrations in the book Maze. I find this pleasing, but I bet most folks find it tedious. Then wandering around giving objects to the right people becomes a sort of King’s Quest-esque puzzle. There are lots of monsters to fight as well, and a weird random elf encounter mechanic involving a bookmark that seems annoyingly tertiary to the real action of the book (but has potential, if implemented better — basically you find him and have to deal with him when the main story gets you to wherever you stuck the bookmark, which is entirely arbitrary). I like the monsters, but can do without the elf. Which is easy enough, actually.
I think I really like this one! The navigation is aggravating, and I think there is too much jumping around and too many pointless entries, but overall, I had a pleasant time with the book. Maybe it is just the appeal of Valusek’s art, which is quite good throughout.
