Hey all, Dani here.
I’m kicking Middle Grade March off with a big set of reviews. All four books featured today are just a little over 100 pages in length, and they are choose your own adventure stories, so the more I thought about it, the more I doubted my ability to write good and decently sized posts about each of them…so you get one big review featuring them all.
Oh, and apparently this series has done well enough that the author has mentioned that he is working on two more…which have been revealed, and I’ll talk about those adventures later in the review.
So obviously I am a huge nerd, and a big part of my fiance and I’s life together is our shared love of Dungeons & Dragons. Learning that they were bringing back the Endless Quest series for the modern era–I never read the originals–I knew I had to pick them up.
Summaries
Welcome to the Forgotten Realms Endless Quest books, where you don’t just read a fantastic tale. You become the hero — and choose your own fate.
When evil giants attack your home in Ardeep Forest, your parents think you’re dead and they go hunting for your missing little brother. You wake up and set out after them, helped by a giant wizard who lives in a flying tower. You don’t know where they’ve gone, but you know that if you don’t find them, you’re all in big trouble. Wield your magic wisely against the giants, wizard.
Welcome to the Forgotten Realms Endless Quest books, where you don’t just read a fantastic tale. You become the hero — and choose your own fate.
When you tried to pick the pocket of a civilar in the night-shrouded streets of Waterdeep, you never thought she’d catch you — and you never dreamed she’d force you into her service. Now you must find the baby griffon stolen by the beholder Xanathar, leader of the city’s powerful Thieves’ Guild. And if you should fail . . . you can count on spending the rest of your life behind bars, rogue.
Welcome to the Forgotten Realms Endless Quest books, where you don’t just read a fantastic tale. You become the hero — and choose your own fate.
The Harpers have lost one of their own, a legendary adventurer named Artus Cimber, keeper of the artifact known as the Ring of Winter. They’ve hired you to travel to the jungle-clad land of Chult to find him. If only you can manage to find Cimber before the frost giants do — or the zombies that infest the land get you first. You’re in the jungle now, cleric.
Welcome to the Forgotten Realms Endless Quest books, where you don’t just read a fantastic tale. You become the hero — and choose your own fate.
You awaken in an underground cell, stripped of your armor and your sword. Your fellow prisoners inform you that you’re trapped in the Underdark, soon to be taken to the great drow city of Menzoberranzan and sold off as a slave. But word is that demons are stirring in the underworld’s depth. Perhaps you can use that to break free, fighter.
My Thoughts
Ratings: 5 stars for all
I will be the first to admit that I am not particularly good at choose your own adventure stories. Inevitably I choose a path that kills me, and I do this over and over and over again. But I still enjoy the experience. Well not so much with the horror choose your own adventures of my youth–I was never big into Goosebumps or anything like that, so trying to make my way through one of those choose your own adventures was almost a nightmare.
But these were fun, a little one person D&D adventure. And okay yes, they are definitely written with an intended audience of like 8-11(ish), but I am a 30 year old woman and I still had a fun time with them.
I chose wrong about 5 or 6 times with the Cleric and Fighter adventures, 3 times with the Wizard adventure, and shockingly enough, I made it through the Rogue adventure on the first try. Do you know why this is so upsetting to me? Because I play clerics about 85% of the time, so I know how they work pretty well. The fact that I did the worst with Cleric, in a region where I had actually just finished an actual campaign (Tomb of Annihilation) was just so frustrating.
Oh, and the Fighter adventure…happens to be parts of a campaign that I ran as the Dungeon Master. It did not give me any sort of advantage in decision making.
But what mattered was the fun. There were some wonderful settings in some of D&D’s popular settings, and they included some intriguing characters of various races and creed. The stories were easy to read and they built in a decent amount of action as well as intrigue and even some interesting relationships.
I can see myself picking these up randomly in the future and trying to get through the adventures again, just to see what happens. And I will definitely allow my nonexistent (so far) future children read these when they’re ready. I think they could be a pretty decent introduction for kids to fantasy and/or Dungeons & Dragons.
Upcoming Releases
Both of these adventures will be out on September 3, 2019. I can admit to being a little sad that they are more cleric and rogue adventures. I was hoping for other classes. I want barbarian, bard, druid, monk, paladin, ranger, sorcerer, and warlock. Based on the cover images I would say that the cleric is a human and the rogue is an elf, so again, races that were already featured.
Welcome to the Forgotten Realms Endless Quest books, where you don’t just read a fantastic tale. You become the hero — and choose your own fate.
You have entered the mist-shrouded realm of Ravenloft, where you attract the attention of Count Strahd, who decides to make you one of his vampire spawn. After awakening to find yourself alone within the walls of Castle Ravenloft, you must figure out how to escape the vampire lord’s Gothic lair before you are doomed to become his slave for all time. Keep your wits about you, cleric.
Welcome to the Forgotten Realms Endless Quest books, where you don’t just read a fantastic tale. You become the hero — and choose your own fate.
You have been tasked with stealing the spell book of Halaster Blackcloak, the mad mage who controls the halls of Undermountain. The book is secreted away inside the halls of a magic academy, so you must navigate your way in by posing as a new student. But you need to move quickly in order to locate the spell book, steal it, and get away without being caught by the mad mage himself. Be on your guard, rogue.
Where to Buy
Rogue: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository
Cleric: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository
Fighter: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository
Wizard: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository
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