City of Thieves

Fighting Fantasy #5

by Ian Livingstone

Terror stalks the night as Zanbar Bone and his bloodthirsty Moon Dogs hold the prosperous town of Silverton to ransom. YOU are an adventurer and the merchants of Silverton turn to you in their hour of need.

Your mission takes you along dark, twisting streets where thieves, vagabonds and creatures of the night lie in wait to trap the unwary traveller. Beyond lies the most fearsome adventure of them all – the tower stronghold of the infamous Zanbar Bone!

Part-story, part-game, this is a book with a difference – one in which YOU become the hero! A pencil and an eraser are all you need to make your journey. YOU decide which route to take, which creatures to fight and which dangers to risk.

Genres: Fantasy, Gamebooks, Fiction, Choose Your Own Adventure, Role Playing Games, Games, Adventure

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 1983

About the author

Sir Ian Livingstone is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of the Fighting Fantasy series of role-playing gamebooks, and the author of many books within that series. He co-founded Games Workshop in 1975 and helped create Eidos Interactive as executive chairman of Eidos Plc in 1995.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just one of best Fighting Fantasy gamebook from author Ian Livingstone for me.



Totally loved the atmosphere and setting of Port Blacksand, twists and storyline were really good ones too, and this thrilling rogue-style adventure gave me hours and hours of fun, with a massive deaths count of 10-15 because I tried to finish it without cheating or using easy to find internet solutions and walkthroughs .



Aaahhhrrrr!!!

[Leo . · Rating 5 out of 5]

I played these game books as a kid. Brilliant! These books helped my imagination grow.

Three wizards. A dark one. A good one. A neutral one. Which will you pick to aid you on your quest?

The City Of Thieves is one of my favourites. Deathtrap Dungeon too. What great films these books would make. Come on Peter Jackson these books were made for you. And while your at it let's make my book into a film too...

I already know some of the actors who will star in my film adaption of my book.
Ha! Ha! He! He!


Tom hardy what a great actor he is

In this world of films and showbiz

An author too, no end to his talents, it would seem

Will Tom, play the Character Rockwood? From my book...one can only dream

Maybe one day it could be a film, a box office hit

If Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Benedict Cumberbach was in it

And Peter Jackson added it to his fantasy CV.

Oh! Man that would make Leo very happy

🐯👍


How much fun, Fighting Fantasy, the books that play

A quest, you are the character, you choose which way

The door to the left? The door to the right? You choose

Or the one in the middle, holding the clues

Raise one's skill level, defeat a foe

But diminish one's stamina, scoring gets low

A healing potion, a magic spell, now one is restored

Ready for the Orc, the Troll, the Barbarian's Sword

A labyrinth, a dungeon, a forest of Elves

A Wizard, a treehouse, a parchment, and stacked high shelves

A ship in a harbour, a City of Thieves, a Warlock and a mountain

A Citedel of Chaos, a Forest of Doom, a portal, a fountain

A mutant in a cave, a half man and half bull

A suit of magical chainmail, and a scary horned skull

A Snow Witch, a Yeti, another quest, another mission

An Orc frozen in ice, peril and attrition

A House of Hell, spooky, which door to choose

The cellar, the side door, is it all a ruse?

These books, these RPG's, took up most of my youth

And I still love them now, decades later, now I am long in the tooth.👍🐯

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This simply represents the pinnacle of the choose-your-own-adventure genre. It doesn’t get any better. The structure, creativity, humor, and dramatic tension are perfect. Moreover, this is one of the few that really succeeds as a puzzle to be solved. The puzzle aspect is interesting enough to hold the interest of adults (my mother borrowed it for about a week in the 80s, until she had solved it) as well as the younger target audience.

The “Fighting Fantasy Gamebook” series were all very good, but this was the best of them. In them, you roleplay an experienced warrior who has to solve a quest of some kind. This distinguished the series from the “Endless Quest” series of TSR, because (except for the first one) in that series you always had to roleplay a kid on their first serious outing, which, for me, defeats the purpose of roleplay, because you presumably were a kid reading the book alreadu, so you weren’t imagining yourself as someone else. In “City of Thieves,” your mission is to find the necessary materials to defeat an evil sorcerer who is terrorizing a town. In order to do this, however, you must navigate the dreaded Port Blacksand, a place in which humans and demi-humans thrive on crime, piracy and exploitation. There are several paths through Port Blacksand, and as you play and re-play the book, you will meet many charming and bizarre creatures, some of which will help you, others annoy, and many attack you either frontally or with stealth.

One of the things I want to mention is the artwork of Iain McCraig, which to me is perfect for this story; it is fantastical, whimsical, and just a bit dark, with many delightful details for the attentive viewer to pick up. I especially like the illustration of the gate of Port Blacksand near the beginning, and the wonderful image of the Goblin-like Bays playing Bays’ Ball at entry 40. The entire book is delightful in the same sense as that image, and it’s a great find for anyone who enjoys fantasy, roleplaying, or solving puzzles.

[Veljko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is really driving me nuts. I have played it on the Kindle - and, after easily getting through most of the story, I am getting stomped by some fights at the end of the book that just seem to require a lot of luck to get through.

I have a suspicion that skill scores are off in the kindle version. I know in the paperbook version 'skill' was capped at 12. It is capped at 11 on the kindle. Even if you get items to help, towards the end of the book you have to engage in some fights were, even under the best scenario, odds are stacked against you.

It's frustrating, having to rely on sheer luck.


Said so, the gamebook is pretty interesting. A different setting - this volume takes place in a town, which is a welcome change from the dungeon-crawling of the early FF books. And some surprising turns and twists. For the most part, it's fun searching for the items you need. For the most part... But the ending sections of the book are just an exercise in frustration, relying on sheer luck.

[Paul Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘City of tea leaves’ is quite the cesspit.
Twisted little streets called ‘Clock’ and ‘Key’,
Lead one eventually to the garden of Leaf Beasts,
Whose honesty box is somewhat out-of-key

With the penny-pinching denizens of its surroundings,
Like Fatnose and Sourbelly (two sallow trolls),
Or the various vagabonds who give you a pounding,
Or two eerie crones still playing at dolls.

[Michael Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb gamebook. Port Blacksand, the titular city of thieves, is a fascinating place for exploration and skullduggery. It comes across as a well-developed, coherent environment, quite amazing for such an early entrant into the series. It is so well developed and ceaselessly entertaining that it shames those that came before and most of those that came after.

This is one of the few Fighting Fantasy books where it's quite easy to find everything you need for a successful completion as long as you explore thoroughly. Though having said that, there's one unwelcome instance where if you stop to do one thing, the book doesn't then allow you the chance to duck down a side alley you had noticed a moment before. This isn't an issue with most other encounters, and since this alley leads to one of the needed items, it's an unfair ploy.

The exploration of the city is also pretty balanced. Even someone with mediocre scores would find the encounters fair, and there's plenty of healing to be found and opportunities to restore Luck.

When you leave the city and travel toward the tower of Zanbar Bone for the climax, the difficulty suddenly and drastically spikes and anyone with a Skill score less than 11 need not bother as you'll never get through. This doesn't wash. The worst idea in the book - and possibly in any FF book ever - comes right at the very end, where you have to make a choice out of three. You're given no clues, it's simply a case of eeny meeny miney mo, and if you choose wrong, you're dead. So you've trawled all the way through the book to find you have a totally random 2 in 3 chance of failing for no fault of your own. Bollocks to that!

I've still awarded 5 stars, because Port Blacksand itself is so intriguing and evocative and the bulk of the book is magnificent, the very best a gamebook can be. But the ending sucks gorilla balls.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action-packed, twisty-turny Fighting Fantasy novel set in one of that world's most notorious cities - Port Blacksand, a place that makes inner city London look like the Bahamas. This is a solo outing from Ian Livingstone, who devised some of the series' best adventures, and it's another winner.

The real strength of CITY OF THIEVES is the sense of place and the atmosphere that fills the city. There's a real homogeneity to the various locations in the story, and it's a place that cries out to be mapped so that further adventures build and expand on what's come before. There are also lots and lots of situations that need to be handled carefully, with one wrong move leading to possible death or the failure of the mission. It also feels a bit different to the others, being set in a place filled with shops and market stalls - the shoppers amongst you will have a ball!

There's plenty of action to behold here, and the fights are pretty easy - at least at the outset. By all accounts things get pretty difficult in the second half, but unfortunately we never made it that far, failing to acquire all the needed items before we left the city. The story is a little frustrating in places, and I noticed a few minor issues such as running out of money, but being forced to spend it in latter sections (e.g. 'you throw 10 gold to the ground') even when you don't have it. But overall this is a strong addition to the series and one of those rare ones that cries out for repeat play throughs.

NB. A recent re-play of this gamebook reminded me of just how much fun it is. The warren of streets and dilapidated buildings has more character than Firetop Mountain, for example, and you can sense the smells, tastes and hustle and bustle of the place. The locations also seem better worked out with adjoining streets and circular routes. Clever stuff, and a highlight of the early series.

[Arial Burnz · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG I LOVED THESE BOOKS!! Jeez! I devoured these when I was in high school. I loved D&D, but didn't have a group to play with, so these were the next best thing. LOVE choose your own adventure. I think I'll need to write some of these one day.

[Paul Gibbons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. You've not lived till you've had a walk round port Blacksand and had a fisty cuffs with Zanbar Bone. Some really memorable parts in this book.

[สฤณี อาชวานันทกุล · Rating 4 out of 5]

(อ่าน/เล่นใน Fighting Fantasy Classics บน PC)

หนังสือเกมที่สนุกที่สุดเล่มหนึ่งในประวัติศาสตร์ และติดท็อปเทนของซีรีส์ Fighting Fantasy อย่างไม่ต้องสงสัย เล่มนี้แตกต่างจากเล่มอื่นตรงที่คู่ปรับไม่ใช่สัตว์ประหลาดหรืออสุรกายตามขนบ RPG เหมือนเล่มอื่นๆ แต่เป็นมนุษย์ด้วยกัน เพราะโยนเราเข้าไปในเมืองอลวน Port Blacksand เมืองแห่งหัวขโมย โจรสลัด มาเฟีย มือสังหาร และคนอื่นๆ ท���่อยากจะเอาเปรียบ ขโมยเงิน หรือฉวยโอกาสตีหัวเราทุกย่างก้าว หน้าที่เราในเล่มนี้คือหาวิธีช่วยชาวบ้านจากการไล่ฆ่ากลางดึกของ "เจ้าชายแห่งความมืด" Zanzibar Bone แต่จะทำอย่างนั้นได้ก็ต้องเข้าเมือง Port Blacksand ไปหาบ้านของ Nicodemus พ่อมดผู้ลึกลับ ผู้กุมความลับเกี่ยวกับ "จุดอ่อน" ของ Bone

สนุกเร้าใจจนถึงฉากสุดท้าย รอบนี้อ่านเป็นครั้งที่ห้าหรือหกแล้วแต่ก็ยังเจอฉากใหม่ๆ สร้างเหตุการณ์น่าประทับมากมายที่ทำให้ Port Blacksand ดูเป็นเมืองที่มีชีวิตชีวาและคาดเดาไม่ถูก (ภาพวาดสวยๆ ในเล่มก็ช่วยสร้างบรรยากาศได้ดีเช่นกัน) แถมต่อให้เจอพ่อมดแล้วก็ยังต้องลุ้นต่อไปอีกเพราะพ่อมดดันจำจุดอ่อนของวายร้ายไม่ได้เป๊ะๆ แต่ต้องเสี่ยงดวงเอาระหว่างสามตัวเลือก

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time to teach a big bully a lesson
19 July 2012

The fifth book in the series and from what I remember, one of the better ones. To me it seems that the books Forest of Doom, City of Thieves, Deathtrap Dungeon, and Island of the Lizard King were, to me, the more memorable books in the series. The first one was obviously experimental, as was Starship Traveller and Citadel of Chaos, but it feels that with the books that I have got to now, the writers had settled down on a style that seemed to work. However the ones that came after I have little memory (with the exception of Scorpion Swamp).
In this book you are a seasoned adventurer who has arrived in a small town that is being bullied by an evil undead warlock named Zanzar Bone. You are approached by the mayor and asked to go and find a friend of his who lives in the city of Port Blacksand, the city of thieves that the title of the book derives its name. However, there is a little twist because when you do find Nicodemus, he simply tells you that he is too old to go off adventuring so he tells you how to kill Zanzar Bone and sends you on your way.
While the majority of the book is set in Port Blacksand, it moves away from the other books slightly in that the end game begins once you have left Port Blacksand. Zanzar Bone does not live in the city, nor is he the ruler of the city, rather your adventure in the city is simply one of locating somebody, who then tells you what you need to search for to be able to defeat your enemy. It is actually a reasonably easy book, and while they talk about a one true path, it is quite easy to find it. However, there are a number of other objects that you need to collect (such as the Skeleton Key) which will make your quest significantly easier. The one item I could not find (though I suspect that it is located somewhere near the start) is the merchant's pass.
One could suggest that this is another assassination job, though it is clear that Bone is a bully and needs to be taught a lesson, and of course you are the one who has to teach him a lesson. One of the interesting things is that these books tend to be very black and white, particularly with the fantasy ones. In a lot of fantasy novels I note that the settings are generally black and whiteL the good hero goes out to fight and kill the evil villain. I guess it is reflective of our desire to see and compartmentalise the world into black and white as opposed to the shade of grey that exists in. I guess it is also something pushed down upon us from above, so that we will always see our country as being the white, and anything opposed to our country as black. Unfortunately it is not necessarily the case because there are instances where an immoral government uses this concept to bring the population on side.
I want to finish off with something about undead. In many novels the undead are always protrayed as evil. I suspect that this may have something to do with our Christian heritage, as the Bible clearly puts necromancy into the realm of evil. That may be the case, but what about the idea of animating corpses? Is that necessarily evil, and is animating a corpse generally evil? Personally I think it comes down to our attitudes towards the dead. To a culture that sees a corpse as nothing more than a diseased shell to be destroyed, with the spirit being disconnected from it, then maybe it is not. However to a culture like ours that, while believing that the soul breaks away from the corpse, our treatment of the corpse reflects our attitudes towards that person in life. The Greeks would defile or respect corpses depending on where they wanted the dead to land up. A defiled corpse (for an example see Antigone) would wonder around the Earth as a half-man for eternity, while a properly disposed of corpse would return either to Hades, or any other realm that the deceased achieved in life. Personally, it really comes down to culture, and what the culture does with the corpse really is what that culture believes. I question the right that we have to insist that an alien culture treat a corpse as we expect it to be treated.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

City of Thieves has some bad stuff and some good stuff, and the latter wins out.

Our evil sorcerer #3, Zambar Bone, extorts the mayor of Silverton for the hand of his daughter, and the mayor decides to hire you to instead dispose of the guy. This quest leads you to the titular City of Thieves, Port Blacksand, where you must - this is the bad stuff - go around pretty much the exact precise path to collect plot coupons in order to be able to do battle with the sorcerer. Like is the case with The Warlock, there's really only about one path for you to take, which is one of those things I never much liked: it means that there's little reason for all the other colorful and interesting encounters and challenges, once you've gone through them once and realized that this was the wrong way around. There's not a great deal of replay value there either.

But it does what it does extremely well. It's well-written, atmospheric, tense, and sufficiently difficult without falling into frustrating or cheating. It introduces us to one of my favourite Wretched Hives in all fiction, and greatly expands the scope and the size of the entire setting for that matter. And the artwork of Iain McCaig is some of the best in the entire series (I do wish he'd have drawn stuff for more books). All these factors help bump it into something I like and something I'd recommend, and that I still rather like to play through sometimes, even if it's largely by autopilot nowadays.

Not everyone minds about the linearity, though: it's kind of a staple of the series, and many of us enjoy the numerous blunders and failures before you find the one true path. If you are one of those people, feel free to bump this review (as well as any other reviews I make of similarly linear books in the series) up by a full star or so.

[Helen Pugsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to give myself psychic powers, carte blanche, and way too much coffee (in other words I cheated like a fiend), BUT I WON. I got way too invested in this for several days and second only to almost getting hit by a car on my bike in the dark... This is the most thrilling thing I've done all week. (Don't tell my mom I almost got hit. Again... She worries.)

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

May your STAMINA never fail!

City of Thieves is the second gamebook in the acclaimed Fighting Fantasy series that I decided to tackle. The first question many people might have is: "What is a gamebook?" given that they are not that common these days. In essence, it is a choose your own adventure book where you get to decide how you should proceed.

This time along we are whisked into a shady town of Port Blacksand with the mission of defeating the evil sorcerer Zanbar Bone! My journey looked a little bit like this:

Try #1: Killed by a Giant Centipede
Try #2: Killed by a Giant Centipede - Yes this happened twice..
Try #3: VICTORY

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed playing through this gamebook. It is a definite step up from the previous entry from pretty much all fronts. I liked the design of the book better - discovering the city, in general, was a lot more interesting than what the previous entry offered. The monster variety was more consistent with what I would see in a seedy city and the activities were engaging. There were no changes to the actual systems in use and everything remained quite simplistic although still highly enjoyable. I took just the correct amount of time on it so the book did not overstay it's welcome and putting everything you learned together to complete a final run is always awesome. Definitely one of the strongest gamebooks I remember and quite a fun experience.

[Huhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Der schreckliche Zanbar Bone bedroht die Einwohner des heimeligen Örtchens, in dem du auf deiner Reise Rast eingelegt hast. Aus der Güte deines Herzens heraus (und gegen entsprechende Belohnung) ziehst du aus, um im verruchten Port Blacksand Hilfe zu holen. Die Quest entwickelt sich jedoch nicht wie gedacht und so bist du es schließlich selbst, der durch die verwinkelten Gassen der zwielichtigen Hafenstadt stromert, auf der Suche nach den Mitteln, Zanbar Bone den Garaus machen zu können.

Ein überaus vergnügliches Buch, das mir von den wenigen der Reihe, die ich bislang spielen durfte, am besten gefallen hat. Port Blacksand ist ein tolles Setting mit einer ganzen Reihe an mehr oder weniger verqueren Begegnungen. Lediglich das Ende fand ich eher mau: Die Gegner sind plötzlich knüppelhart und ich bin nicht hardcore genug, um wegen ein bisschen Würfelpech am Schluss das ganze Ding nochmal von vorne durchzurauschen. Ergo habe ich ab dem Punkt, an dem ich gen Turm lief, gehörig gemogelt und am Schluss dann alternative Wege, die ich zuvor noch nicht gegangen war, auch noch klammheimlich durchgeblättert. Aber was soll ich sagen – im gesetzlosen Port Blacksand ist eben alles möglich! :D

[Atanas Petkov · Rating 4 out of 5]

I played this book a lot when I was a kid and I remember really enjoying it. Now, 27 years later, having read the sequel, Port of Peril, I decided to try it out again. I used to cheat a lot when I used to read it in the past, so this time, I decided not to and see how it goes. It was surprisingly tough, if I may say.

The book is full of traps and often times there is no way to know which outcome is favorable and which - not. You really need to play it several times, to explore all the options. I don't think there is one right way to go through, but some choices are definitely important in all possible routes. After playing and failing a few times, I decided that I was ready to beat it and on the next play-through, I set my three stats to the lowest possible outcomes (imagine if I was completely screwed by the RNG) in order to find out if the game was beatable this way. It still took me a couple of times.

There is this one really nasty fight towards the end with two moon dogs, which is unavoidable and there is no cheap trick to win it by having a certain item. Even with all stat-boosting items, it was still mostly reliant on luck. There's also the one little detail of the recipe kill the final boss being wrong - you have to select two out of three items and there is no way of knowing which two. Unless I have missed something, I found no hints of it. If you pick the wrong two items, you die.

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed this book and recommend it to every fan of he genre, even to beginners. It's a pretty straightforward adventure with a dungeon-crawler feel.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic 1983 Fighting Fantasy gamebook (#5 in the original series) by Ian Livingstone. This is one of the ones I did, and remember fondly, as a child. Seems I didn’t remember how to complete it, though. If only we’d found the black pearl and gotten the tattoo of a white unicorn in a yellow sun before climbing over the city walls!

We did this book in a 2017 edition that’s part of new series of a selection of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks by Scholastic. They’re in a new, bigger format, and look smart. The modern artwork is nice but I wish we had the old version with the original artwork by Ian McCaig, who also designed the characters of Darth Maul and Padme for Starwars (the character on the original cover illustration of City of Thieves is a skeletal twin of Darth Maul, with a scythe instead of a lightsaber!).

…..

In honour of Ian Livingstone’s knighthood I thought I’d go on another adventure (2022) through Port Blacksand in Sir Ian’s 1983 literary masterpiece, City of Thieves (which is also a masterpiece of art, thanks to Ian McCaig’s contribution). My son’s sterling memory helped, as he seemed to recall in perfect clarity all the details of our last adventure, one and a half years ago! I found a new pub, the Spotted Dog, but to my surprise there seemed to be no way to have a drink at the famous Black Lobster, which I could only look at wistfully as I walked by along the quayside 😔

[Cupof Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

We played through this story for the first time yesterday. With a starting skill of 9, stamina of 20, and luck 10 we managed to collect some of the needed items for our quest to kill some bad dude who needed killing. Unfortunately, when we got to the tattooist we were ONE GOLD SHORT of affording the white unicorn in a yellow sun forehead tattoo we needed to carry forward.

At least we didn't die. Unfortunately Cian decided to walk past some dangerous city guards and when we couldn't bribe them we had to kill them, leading to an escape from the city which we could not enter again.

Oh well, there will be a next time :)

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without a shadow of doubt this was the best in the series do far. City of Thieves was an absorbing romp through Port Blacksand which is split into two parts. Firstly you must find the wizard who will tell you to find some items, then you must take those items to kill the Big Bad.

The story flows in a nice manner and I didn't find myself going round in circles. There are more instant deaths in this one than previous books, but I was able to make it through relatively easily first time.

Stats-wise, this book keeps it simple with the core stats and a bit of magic. I feel future entries in the series will struggle to match City of Thieves for atmosphere, playability and excitement.

[Hellread · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more coherent story than you'd expect from most CYOA books. The plot is a bit contrived and the quest is way too arbitrary. But it has its moments.

The ending is way too random and has very little to do with earlier decisions. You literally roll a die to see if you win.

[Miss Jools · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eventful first attempt - won lots of fights and managed to gather a few of the required items to beat the baddie, but accidentally left the city while fleeing trolls and guards - meaning failure....oops!
Good story and location with lots of interesting options, liked this one a lot.

[D.]

City of Thieves (Fighting Fantasy) by Ian Livingstone (2002)

[Jeremy Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely the first book that got me to love the idea of fantasy thieves and a was an inspiration for my current novel many many many years later.

[Evey Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro para pasártelo en grande jugando una partida de rol en solitario o en grupo.

[Jainang Patwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good

[Pam Templeton · Rating 4 out of 5]

addictive. spent many a tweenage afternoon trying to master this ultimate twistaplot.

[Lee Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, read in the currently available Scholastic edition, with artwork vastly inferior to the originals.

So...another day, another Fighting Fantasy book. This one started off very well - there's a lot of locations to explore within the city as you try to find the wizard Nicodemus, who will tell you what you need to do and find to kill Zanbar Bone. A lot of the characters aren't trustworthy, and a lot of encounters can cost you dear. On my first attempt, I found most of the items I needed, but lacked one item, so I couldn't go on to the endgame. Thankfully I'd drawn a map, so was able to go back and visit different locations, so on my second attempt, I found all the items I needed. This first part of the game was enjoyable and moderately challenging in places - there were a few locations where things could go badly wrong for you, and I benefitted in one place by making what doesn't immediately look like a wise move. There's quite a few places where you need a fair amount of luck, and a good assortment of characters to interact with.

The endgame - when you leave the city and travel to Zanbar Bone's tower - is less good, unfortunately. This part shows up a lot of the weaknesses of the Fighting Fantasy format - you're often left with a list of options, and nothing to go on in choosing which one to take other than guesswork, and if you choose the wrong one...that's it. Right at the very end, you have to choose to make a potion out of three combinations of ingredients, and you have nothing to go on other than just attempting to pick the right one. The correct one brings you victory, the other two bring you death. Right at the end of the book, that's a really nasty situation to be in, and doesn't feel very fair - I cheated here and looked up all three options before going ahead to win. After getting that far, I really didn't fancy playing the whole thing again - potentially twice! - because I'd made a wrong choice with nothing to really go on. So yeah - if the endgame had been a bit fairer and had required a bit more skill/luck/battling/dicerolls over just pure guesswork, I'd have been happier, and awarded an extra star. It certainly wasn't quite as good as Citadel of Chaos in that regard.

It was certainly fun, though, and once again achieved the goal of keeping me busy on a dull day in lockdown. So...done on the second attempt, mostly honestly, but with a bit of cheating at the end. Nowhere near as much cheating as when I was a kid, though! There's not much point in playing these unless you're going to be *mostly* honest, and if you are, they're pretty good fun.

[Ariya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had such high expectations since this book's rated on the top list of the best fighting fantasy series. Neither that it's not great nor challenging enough, but I'm not just in the mood for fighting among thieves and get duped by con men and orgs soldiers in the conspicuously crime-infested city in Titania. Having witnessed crimes and murders committed by the outlaws and the authority is no joke. It radiates the vibe that gets too close to home. Too metaphorical. Too real. All I want from is pure escapism: an adventure in faraway land on the pirate ship sailing through the wind in the Seven Seas, encountering sea monsters and lost treasures and vengeful ghosts or something that let my coping mechanism have at least more fun time.

[Will Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I'm about 40 years too late on these,

But this was brilliant, never read anything like it.

Very fun would recommend.

Had to cheat a little bit at the end, with the wrong compound for killing Zanbar Bone but who cares its my book I can do what I want, and I'd already died on five other attempts