This takes me back -- I loved the concept of Warlock but it got so frustrating with its complicated map, and then the climax, which, like so many of the books, depended on both having found the right items and done the right amount of math.
The Sorcery! spin-off, that did have magic, was so much more fun, though the second one did have the same math/found objects issue. Never could figure out how to kiss that damn statue properly.
Sorcery! series was amazing. One cool feature of the series is that you could find secrets in an earlier book that would allow you to go to an "unlinked" page in a future book. I spared a ninja in Shamutanti, then in Khare I was able to turn to a page where the ninja appeared and helped me out.
Also loved the spell memorization aspect and trying to cast non-existent spells often had hilarious results. Never got to finish the giant 800 section fourth book, Crown of Kings.
Warlock is the toughest Fighting Fantasy book to resolve. It has only one solution and even then is very difficult to complete, pretty much needing an 11 Skill to finish.
I loved Citadel of Chaos, which added magic and had many solutions. Steve Jackson (UK version) wrote that one and it had multiple endings. Steve also wrote the Sorcery! books and I agree that they were a continued improvement.
There is currently a vibrant Gamebook market out there and there are some great alternatives. An interesting bit of trivia Steve Jackson, of Steve Jackson Games, also wrote some of the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.
This takes me back -- I loved the concept of Warlock but it got so frustrating with its complicated map, and then the climax, which, like so many of the books, depended on both having found the right items and done the right amount of math.
The Sorcery! spin-off, that did have magic, was so much more fun, though the second one did have the same math/found objects issue. Never could figure out how to kiss that damn statue properly.
Sorcery! series was amazing. One cool feature of the series is that you could find secrets in an earlier book that would allow you to go to an "unlinked" page in a future book. I spared a ninja in Shamutanti, then in Khare I was able to turn to a page where the ninja appeared and helped me out.
Also loved the spell memorization aspect and trying to cast non-existent spells often had hilarious results. Never got to finish the giant 800 section fourth book, Crown of Kings.
Shame you never finished the last -- it was a great payoff. As you might expect, you get to use the mysterious ZED spell at the end.
Warlock is the toughest Fighting Fantasy book to resolve. It has only one solution and even then is very difficult to complete, pretty much needing an 11 Skill to finish.
I loved Citadel of Chaos, which added magic and had many solutions. Steve Jackson (UK version) wrote that one and it had multiple endings. Steve also wrote the Sorcery! books and I agree that they were a continued improvement.
There is currently a vibrant Gamebook market out there and there are some great alternatives. An interesting bit of trivia Steve Jackson, of Steve Jackson Games, also wrote some of the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.
I loved these as a kid in the 90’s. They were my escape from the bullying.
I’m thinking of re-buying the Lone Wolf series.