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Fighting Fantasy #18
Rebel Planet
Rebel Planet is a science fiction adventure set in the year 2453. In this fictional representation of the future, human colonisation of the galaxy began in 2070 with the settlement of Tropos a few light-years from Earth. Earth and her colonies were conquered by an alien race known as the Arcadians in a twelve-year war around 2300. Humans have become slaves, and are kept alive only to serve their alien masters.However, a human organization known as SAROS ("Search And Research Of Space") has discovered that the Arcadians rely on a powerful super-computer to keep themselves networked together. Without this computer, they are merely zombies, incapable of acting on their own. SAROS has limited resources, but a secret plot is hatched to infiltrate Arcadion and destroy the queen computer. The reader plays the role of the last hope of humanity, an undercover agent posing as a space merchant.
240 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1986
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About the author
Robin Waterfield
110 books697 followersRobin Anthony Herschel Waterfield is a British classical scholar, translator, editor, and writer of children's fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 28, 2015
Another quest to free the human race
12 July 2012
When I went to locate this book on Goodreads I noticed that this was not the only book that Waterfield wrote. In fact, ignoring some of the other gamebooks, most of his writing involved examining classical philosophy and history. He edited a book on pre-Socratic philosophers (published by Oxford) and also wrote a book entitled Why Did Socrates Die?. Now, since I have not read any of his books beyond his Fighting Fantasy books I really do not know much about his thoughts on Greek Philosophy, however it is quite heartening that just because you write material for roleplaying games does not exclude you from writing proper philosophical treatises.
This is a very hard gamebook, and I must admit that I ended up completing it by cheating. The reason I say that is because the clues are actually very hard to find. You travel to three planets and in each of these planets you must locate the rebel leader and obtain a clue to the pass code, which is in binary. The first clue is a poem, the second clue is a picture of a desk (and maybe some numbers that you are given because all of the numbers that he gives you are either 1s or 0s) and the third clue is that the number is a palindrome. Once you get to Arcadia you then have to enter the binary code into some boxes, add the numbers above the ones, and turn to the reference. That is as far as I will say so as not to spoil the adventure, however it is a very difficult adventure to complete.
The story is interesting though. Humanity has gone to the stars and in their travels have colonised three planets. However when they came to the fourth planet they encountered the Arcadians, who ended up stealing their technology, building their own space fleet, and going out to conquer the planets that had been colonised by Earth. Humanity is then enslaved and their movements severely restricted. You are a rebel who is sent on a mission to locate the rebel leaders and learn the code.
The background is interesting, and most of the rules section outlines the background of the adventure rather than telling you how to play. After 18 books though I suspect that we all know the basic rules of a Fighting Fantasy gamebook so we really do not need to read then again. However there are a couple of changes, one being a auto-kill which you can only do in combat, and another is that your backpack can only carry six items, and one of the items you need to complete the adventure.
A couple of interesting things. The first is that the Arcadians are controlled by a central computer through an implant, so obviously by destroying the computer you are able to pacify the Arcadians. There are also some hints as to other alien civilisations, however they were destroyed by the humans in their colonial outreach. Obviously word of humanity's warlike tendancies reached Arcadia before the humans meaning that the Arcadians were prepared for them.
The background and setting of this book is quite good, and you are actually not an idiot. However it is very easy to die, so be prepared to go back to the previous paragraph and chose again (I know, you are supposed to go back to the start but honestly, who does?). This is not too much of a concern if you are smart about your choices, however the biggest problem is actually trying to work out the clues. Personally, I didn't manage to do that, and even when I did manage to guess the sequence, I could not see how one was supposed to discover it. Maybe Waterfield should have used a simpler method to determine the binary code.
12 July 2012
When I went to locate this book on Goodreads I noticed that this was not the only book that Waterfield wrote. In fact, ignoring some of the other gamebooks, most of his writing involved examining classical philosophy and history. He edited a book on pre-Socratic philosophers (published by Oxford) and also wrote a book entitled Why Did Socrates Die?. Now, since I have not read any of his books beyond his Fighting Fantasy books I really do not know much about his thoughts on Greek Philosophy, however it is quite heartening that just because you write material for roleplaying games does not exclude you from writing proper philosophical treatises.
This is a very hard gamebook, and I must admit that I ended up completing it by cheating. The reason I say that is because the clues are actually very hard to find. You travel to three planets and in each of these planets you must locate the rebel leader and obtain a clue to the pass code, which is in binary. The first clue is a poem, the second clue is a picture of a desk (and maybe some numbers that you are given because all of the numbers that he gives you are either 1s or 0s) and the third clue is that the number is a palindrome. Once you get to Arcadia you then have to enter the binary code into some boxes, add the numbers above the ones, and turn to the reference. That is as far as I will say so as not to spoil the adventure, however it is a very difficult adventure to complete.
The story is interesting though. Humanity has gone to the stars and in their travels have colonised three planets. However when they came to the fourth planet they encountered the Arcadians, who ended up stealing their technology, building their own space fleet, and going out to conquer the planets that had been colonised by Earth. Humanity is then enslaved and their movements severely restricted. You are a rebel who is sent on a mission to locate the rebel leaders and learn the code.
The background is interesting, and most of the rules section outlines the background of the adventure rather than telling you how to play. After 18 books though I suspect that we all know the basic rules of a Fighting Fantasy gamebook so we really do not need to read then again. However there are a couple of changes, one being a auto-kill which you can only do in combat, and another is that your backpack can only carry six items, and one of the items you need to complete the adventure.
A couple of interesting things. The first is that the Arcadians are controlled by a central computer through an implant, so obviously by destroying the computer you are able to pacify the Arcadians. There are also some hints as to other alien civilisations, however they were destroyed by the humans in their colonial outreach. Obviously word of humanity's warlike tendancies reached Arcadia before the humans meaning that the Arcadians were prepared for them.
The background and setting of this book is quite good, and you are actually not an idiot. However it is very easy to die, so be prepared to go back to the previous paragraph and chose again (I know, you are supposed to go back to the start but honestly, who does?). This is not too much of a concern if you are smart about your choices, however the biggest problem is actually trying to work out the clues. Personally, I didn't manage to do that, and even when I did manage to guess the sequence, I could not see how one was supposed to discover it. Maybe Waterfield should have used a simpler method to determine the binary code.
March 9, 2016
This is the very definition of a mixed bag.
It has a lot going for it. The plot is good - this is a Fighting Fantasy with a decent story - and what's more, a storyline that develops. It's not just a bunch of random encounters. Not only is there a logical outline to the story as a whole, it has narrative drive. There are also logical outcomes - most of the time, you can think about which choice to make and you're rewarded appropriately depending on whether, for example, you were greedy or not.
On the negative side, all of this goodness starts to crumble the further in to the book you get. The choices become a bit more random - I've never seen so many insta-deaths! And the storyline suffers as well - after so much build up, the last planet you visit really only has one location, it's all over very quickly and ends quite abruptly without much sense of achievement. It's also quite difficult - I had to look up the answer to the final puzzle. And with all the insta-deaths, if I was playing it properly, I hate to think how many lives I would have lost.
Space based Fighting Fantasy books are among the worst but in a poll in Fighting Fantazine this one scores the best out of the sorry bunch. The least worst. I definitely concur and as I started reading I thought this was going to be a 4 star book. Alas, I can only give it 3. But it's a decent 3 and better than many other FF and game books. Worth a read.
It has a lot going for it. The plot is good - this is a Fighting Fantasy with a decent story - and what's more, a storyline that develops. It's not just a bunch of random encounters. Not only is there a logical outline to the story as a whole, it has narrative drive. There are also logical outcomes - most of the time, you can think about which choice to make and you're rewarded appropriately depending on whether, for example, you were greedy or not.
On the negative side, all of this goodness starts to crumble the further in to the book you get. The choices become a bit more random - I've never seen so many insta-deaths! And the storyline suffers as well - after so much build up, the last planet you visit really only has one location, it's all over very quickly and ends quite abruptly without much sense of achievement. It's also quite difficult - I had to look up the answer to the final puzzle. And with all the insta-deaths, if I was playing it properly, I hate to think how many lives I would have lost.
Space based Fighting Fantasy books are among the worst but in a poll in Fighting Fantazine this one scores the best out of the sorry bunch. The least worst. I definitely concur and as I started reading I thought this was going to be a 4 star book. Alas, I can only give it 3. But it's a decent 3 and better than many other FF and game books. Worth a read.
May 27, 2019
Robin Waterfield mainly writes about Plato and Guenon,
But once he wrote about an empire called Arcadion.
On grimy Tropos lies a clue, another on decadent Radix;
A third on freezing Halmuris, to close the computer mind of the baddies.
This is probably the best of the futuristic FF books
(Though 'Rings of Kether' and 'Star Strider' are also worth a look).
But once he wrote about an empire called Arcadion.
On grimy Tropos lies a clue, another on decadent Radix;
A third on freezing Halmuris, to close the computer mind of the baddies.
This is probably the best of the futuristic FF books
(Though 'Rings of Kether' and 'Star Strider' are also worth a look).
August 22, 2015
This is far and away the best of the sci-fi Fighting Fantasy books so far, but that isn't saying much.
It involves travelling between three planets to get three parts of a key code to open a computer complex, which are conveniently known by three sets of human resistance leaders fighting against the Arcadian aliens. Maybe it's just me, but the set-up seemed very contrived. That's always inevitable with gamebooks of this kind, something you have to allow for and suspend disbelief. But it just seemed that much more obvious this time.
On the plus side, the Arcadians, with their computer reliance and three variants were an interesting and well thought out alien foe, and the planets were all well described and interesting. As I said, the best by far of the sci-fi FF books so far. Nevertheless, it's saying something when I paused half way through and instead of picking the book up again the following evening I let it lie for several weeks before picking it up again to finish it.
It involves travelling between three planets to get three parts of a key code to open a computer complex, which are conveniently known by three sets of human resistance leaders fighting against the Arcadian aliens. Maybe it's just me, but the set-up seemed very contrived. That's always inevitable with gamebooks of this kind, something you have to allow for and suspend disbelief. But it just seemed that much more obvious this time.
On the plus side, the Arcadians, with their computer reliance and three variants were an interesting and well thought out alien foe, and the planets were all well described and interesting. As I said, the best by far of the sci-fi FF books so far. Nevertheless, it's saying something when I paused half way through and instead of picking the book up again the following evening I let it lie for several weeks before picking it up again to finish it.
April 14, 2020
Best in my opinion of the Science Fictiin books, fast paced, interestinf, i loved the sudden death scenario and sone puzzles to solve as well!! my rating Very good!
February 10, 2024
Generally considered the best science fiction Fighting Fantasy... but I don't think I quite agree. It falls rather heavily into the same camp as Creature of Havoc: great plot, at the expense of gameplay. Too much -book, not enough game-.
It's a compelling tale about mankind breaking free of alien tyranny, and frames it well with the main character hopping from a planet to another under the guise of a merchant, covertly helping out resistance cells while gathering intel and code-pieces on the final assault. But cramming all of that into a single standard 400-paragraph book simply stretches it all too thin: each planet is just a quick stop, a short and unsatisfying mini-adventure of its own, very narrow paths with a ton of unsatisfying instant deaths always leading to the same conclusion. You could have gotten a whole four-book saga out of this, the scifi answer to Sorcery. Alas.
Also, there are neither spacefights nor laser gun duels. These are important staples of scifi that Starship Traveller and Rings of Kether both covered, and Space Assassin and Robot Commando each had at least one of the two (with giant robots replacing spacefights in the latter, but close enough). Sure, there's a pretty good story excuse for why they're missing here, and you couldn't have fit them in such a short book with so much to do anyway - but come on. They're important. Another reason this needed more books than one.
So I believe I still prefer Robot Commando.
It's a compelling tale about mankind breaking free of alien tyranny, and frames it well with the main character hopping from a planet to another under the guise of a merchant, covertly helping out resistance cells while gathering intel and code-pieces on the final assault. But cramming all of that into a single standard 400-paragraph book simply stretches it all too thin: each planet is just a quick stop, a short and unsatisfying mini-adventure of its own, very narrow paths with a ton of unsatisfying instant deaths always leading to the same conclusion. You could have gotten a whole four-book saga out of this, the scifi answer to Sorcery. Alas.
Also, there are neither spacefights nor laser gun duels. These are important staples of scifi that Starship Traveller and Rings of Kether both covered, and Space Assassin and Robot Commando each had at least one of the two (with giant robots replacing spacefights in the latter, but close enough). Sure, there's a pretty good story excuse for why they're missing here, and you couldn't have fit them in such a short book with so much to do anyway - but come on. They're important. Another reason this needed more books than one.
So I believe I still prefer Robot Commando.
February 24, 2025
Ugh. Yet another science fiction Fighting Fantasy. These are pretty much always lame except for the goofiness of them.
At least it’s not by Andrew Chapman. Which could mean it’s worse.
It does have a cool cover however. You know he’s a badass because he eats rabbits!
Human colonization of far-flung planets of the galaxy began in 2070 with the first expedition to Tropos, only 6.8 light-years away from Earth.
It’s been a while since I’ve used the Fighting Fantasy program “GBC” so I’ll have to figure it out again!
SKILL 8, STAMINA 21, LUCK 8.
Will you ever see Earth again? Your mission is so vital … and so dangerous.
What the hell is a “truckle-bed”?
Well, that was short. Guards beat me to a pulp. Someone I tried to help, Grus betrayed me.
No good deed goes unpunished!
At least it’s not by Andrew Chapman. Which could mean it’s worse.
It does have a cool cover however. You know he’s a badass because he eats rabbits!
Human colonization of far-flung planets of the galaxy began in 2070 with the first expedition to Tropos, only 6.8 light-years away from Earth.
It’s been a while since I’ve used the Fighting Fantasy program “GBC” so I’ll have to figure it out again!
SKILL 8, STAMINA 21, LUCK 8.
Will you ever see Earth again? Your mission is so vital … and so dangerous.
What the hell is a “truckle-bed”?
Well, that was short. Guards beat me to a pulp. Someone I tried to help, Grus betrayed me.
No good deed goes unpunished!
February 5, 2023
To be honest, I barely remember playing this but I'm trying to log some of the Fighting Fantasy books my sister and I played growing up, and I'm fairly sure we played this one as the cover and plot outline feels very familiar. I don't think it was one of my favourites and since I had more of an interest in sci-fi than fantasy, I know I would've wanted to like it going in, so 2-stars seems about right.
July 7, 2023
Great illustrations and an interesting setup are let down by poor plotting and pacing. The set pieces are great but everything in between falls short. There are far too many convenient occurrences, forced options, and blind choices leading to sudden death. I don't mind a left or right decision, but give me a little info with which to make a decision. It made the quest a chore rather than a challenge. The optimal path requires high stats, which is never good. By the end it feels like a slog; I was happier to be done than to have won. There's your one sentence review.
January 3, 2023
Uninspiring SF gamebook, a bit too arbitrary in points. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
June 8, 2018
I loved these books as a kid. Must go back and re-read them to make a proper review. But just look at that art work too... amazing!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews