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Fighting Fantasy #34
Stealer of Souls
Sheer terror awaits you on the Isle of Despair!
The name Mordraneth strikes fear into the hearts of all who dwell in Titan.
Now he has found a way to unleash a magical army of fear upon the land. The wizard Alsander has been kidnapped and you must rescue him from the Isle of Despair. But will you also enter the Empire of Illusion, confront Mordraneth and save Titan?
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need. YOU decide which paths to take, which dangers to risk and which foes to fight!
The name Mordraneth strikes fear into the hearts of all who dwell in Titan.
Now he has found a way to unleash a magical army of fear upon the land. The wizard Alsander has been kidnapped and you must rescue him from the Isle of Despair. But will you also enter the Empire of Illusion, confront Mordraneth and save Titan?
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need. YOU decide which paths to take, which dangers to risk and which foes to fight!
224 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 1988
116 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 10, 2024
A good sense of progression, interesting illustrations and lots of ways to win make this a nice entry in the series. The late-stage magic is unnecessary and the illusory world a bit lacklustre, but this is otherwise a classic.
January 9, 2016
Rescue the Good Guy, and Kill the Bad Guy
3 February 2013
Finally a good old mappable dungeon crawl, though I must say that it does not come anywhere near the original Fighting Fantasy books. This was because I had pretty much collected everything that I needed before actually entering the dungeon, and when I was in the dungeon I simply made a number of random choices as to which way to go, and was able to finish the book without having to pretend that I had something that I didn't. I do like the older ones where the choices as to which passage you go along were a lot fewer, and when you end up going along one path you may, or most likely won't, find one of the key items that enable you to complete the adventure.
I suspect that by these books people weren't spending all that much time with them and in a way wanted to be able to complete it in one sitting (this took me probably about three hours) but at least it was a little more possible to map this one, and more easy to orientate my way around it than some of the other ones (such as The Chasms of Malice). However, it is a little bit of a shame that all of the items that you need (and you do not necessarily need a specific item to complete the book) can be purchased in one location.
The story is that a good wizard has been kidnapped by an evil wizard who wants to take over the world (don't all evil wizards want to do that?) and while most of them involve you going after the evil wizard to kill him, you are told that the prisoner and the evil wizard are in two different locations. However you, being the hard core adventurer, want to take out the evil wizard because you will receive heaps of glory and honour in doing so. However your mission is to actually locate and free the good wizard.
As I mentioned before, at this stage pretty much all the Fighting Fantasy books have become very similar and do not have the originality, and difficulty, of the earlier books. They also feel a little rushed (though little is probably being too nice a word). However this adventure does have everything, from an over ground romp, to an dungeon crawl, to an outerworld domain in which you must locate and kill the bad guy (which means you do land up getting your kudos).
3 February 2013
Finally a good old mappable dungeon crawl, though I must say that it does not come anywhere near the original Fighting Fantasy books. This was because I had pretty much collected everything that I needed before actually entering the dungeon, and when I was in the dungeon I simply made a number of random choices as to which way to go, and was able to finish the book without having to pretend that I had something that I didn't. I do like the older ones where the choices as to which passage you go along were a lot fewer, and when you end up going along one path you may, or most likely won't, find one of the key items that enable you to complete the adventure.
I suspect that by these books people weren't spending all that much time with them and in a way wanted to be able to complete it in one sitting (this took me probably about three hours) but at least it was a little more possible to map this one, and more easy to orientate my way around it than some of the other ones (such as The Chasms of Malice). However, it is a little bit of a shame that all of the items that you need (and you do not necessarily need a specific item to complete the book) can be purchased in one location.
The story is that a good wizard has been kidnapped by an evil wizard who wants to take over the world (don't all evil wizards want to do that?) and while most of them involve you going after the evil wizard to kill him, you are told that the prisoner and the evil wizard are in two different locations. However you, being the hard core adventurer, want to take out the evil wizard because you will receive heaps of glory and honour in doing so. However your mission is to actually locate and free the good wizard.
As I mentioned before, at this stage pretty much all the Fighting Fantasy books have become very similar and do not have the originality, and difficulty, of the earlier books. They also feel a little rushed (though little is probably being too nice a word). However this adventure does have everything, from an over ground romp, to an dungeon crawl, to an outerworld domain in which you must locate and kill the bad guy (which means you do land up getting your kudos).
January 30, 2016
Stealer of Souls is not bad. Unfortunately, it's not exactly memorable either. Unfortunately the Fighting Fantasy series abunds with dungeon crawling experiences and so this one, although it does its honest job by presenting a fair challenge and being well written with some occasional nice flourishes, it's not very unique in its plot. It doesn't have silly or awkward moments, and it's by no means a bad title but there are several titles I'd recommend reading before giving this one a go.
July 2, 2024
Evil sorcerer Mordraneth is planning something big, and kidnapped the wizard Alsander who was investigating him, and imprisoned him within the Iron Crypts on the Isle of Despair, just by the Island of Scars. (With that many Proper Nouns, you know things are serious.) Since no magic but Mordraneth's can work in the crypts, your task as an adventurer is to rescue Alsander, and find out what Mordraneth is planning.
This is an average gamebook, with an easiness that's above average. And that's both damning it with faint praise, and ... celebrating it with faint scorn? Or something like that. With its island setting and its focus on dungeon crawling, it has some clear comparisons with Island of the Lizard King, and The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. And in terms of atmosphere and complexity, it doesn't quite reach either. It doesn't have the unified nature of the Lizard King that leads to a sense of oppression and a more triumphant slave uprising, or the bizarre extremities of Firetop Mountain. Consequently, it feels a bit disjointed until its end, but not gleefully so. On the other hand, it is significantly easier than both of those books, and I'll honestly give it some credit for that. It's nice to have a book that's a bit on the easier side every now and then. There are items to collect, but they're more geared towards simplifying encounters or conserving other resources--I don't think there's a single one that's absolutely essential to the end. The worst I can say about it design-wise is that there's a ridiculously long sub-branch that's very easily missable, but there's nothing essential behind it so it's more about missing content than anything else. There's no dead man walking scenarios, and no laborious item checks. It's a fine, straightforward dungeon crawl.
There are some intriguing non-combat encounters--and in fact, the number of fights in the book are a little below average. The number of instadeaths are WAY below average, which again speaks to its ease, though is arguably a little disappointing too. The last dungeon has a clear theming of illusion-based encounters, though there's not really a particular rhyme or reason to them; it's a series of encounters designed to trick you into using your magic so it's not available at the final encounter, or to use the items you've collected to spring traps. There's also some wonderful pettiness from Mordraneth, and if this was developed out a little more, I'd be happier. The art is excellent; I'm not sure what it is, but this is officially the book where I realize that Russ Nicholson is pretty great, actually. I think I've long had a history of dismissing his work as a bit too... ugly, compared to some later artists, but this time around, I'm finding it utterly charming. Not every illustration is a winner, but there are many that are, from the orcs surprised that you've interrupted their game, to the rogue with an extemely punchable face. He's great at people, and great at monsters too.
And not for nothing, I tend to grade the first half of the 30s in the FF series on a curve, because Chasms of Malice and Sky Lord are so bad they lower the expectations of everything around them. It's better than them, but worse than Slaves of the Abyss, which is extremely hard but thematically fascinating, and a little worse than Battleblade Warrior, which is generally more interesting and thematically cohesive, though I'll give Stealer of Souls credit for having a better final boss. So to sum up: average, but sometimes average is ok.
This is an average gamebook, with an easiness that's above average. And that's both damning it with faint praise, and ... celebrating it with faint scorn? Or something like that. With its island setting and its focus on dungeon crawling, it has some clear comparisons with Island of the Lizard King, and The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. And in terms of atmosphere and complexity, it doesn't quite reach either. It doesn't have the unified nature of the Lizard King that leads to a sense of oppression and a more triumphant slave uprising, or the bizarre extremities of Firetop Mountain. Consequently, it feels a bit disjointed until its end, but not gleefully so. On the other hand, it is significantly easier than both of those books, and I'll honestly give it some credit for that. It's nice to have a book that's a bit on the easier side every now and then. There are items to collect, but they're more geared towards simplifying encounters or conserving other resources--I don't think there's a single one that's absolutely essential to the end. The worst I can say about it design-wise is that there's a ridiculously long sub-branch that's very easily missable, but there's nothing essential behind it so it's more about missing content than anything else. There's no dead man walking scenarios, and no laborious item checks. It's a fine, straightforward dungeon crawl.
There are some intriguing non-combat encounters--and in fact, the number of fights in the book are a little below average. The number of instadeaths are WAY below average, which again speaks to its ease, though is arguably a little disappointing too. The last dungeon has a clear theming of illusion-based encounters, though there's not really a particular rhyme or reason to them; it's a series of encounters designed to trick you into using your magic so it's not available at the final encounter, or to use the items you've collected to spring traps. There's also some wonderful pettiness from Mordraneth, and if this was developed out a little more, I'd be happier. The art is excellent; I'm not sure what it is, but this is officially the book where I realize that Russ Nicholson is pretty great, actually. I think I've long had a history of dismissing his work as a bit too... ugly, compared to some later artists, but this time around, I'm finding it utterly charming. Not every illustration is a winner, but there are many that are, from the orcs surprised that you've interrupted their game, to the rogue with an extemely punchable face. He's great at people, and great at monsters too.
And not for nothing, I tend to grade the first half of the 30s in the FF series on a curve, because Chasms of Malice and Sky Lord are so bad they lower the expectations of everything around them. It's better than them, but worse than Slaves of the Abyss, which is extremely hard but thematically fascinating, and a little worse than Battleblade Warrior, which is generally more interesting and thematically cohesive, though I'll give Stealer of Souls credit for having a better final boss. So to sum up: average, but sometimes average is ok.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2021
Coming fresh from a later Keith Martin-Russ Nicholson effort, #51 Island of the Undead, I again found myself on a boat to an island, again wandering around that island, and again negotiating a dungeon crawl.
This was Keith Martin’s first FF (1988) and, though there’s nothing really wrong with it, it falls short in terms of story, atmosphere and interest.
This is one of the ones I had first time around but I found I remembered nothing whatsoever from it - except that cool, evocative cover by David Gallagher. I’m beginning to think that, rather than a result of growing up, it was the FF 30s that led me to become bored with the series and abandon it (and, stupidly, to get rid of all my books).
Stealer of Souls is back-to-basics FF, and very easy as well (I got through it on my first attempt). At a push it might just about qualify as a well-spent morning.
This was Keith Martin’s first FF (1988) and, though there’s nothing really wrong with it, it falls short in terms of story, atmosphere and interest.
This is one of the ones I had first time around but I found I remembered nothing whatsoever from it - except that cool, evocative cover by David Gallagher. I’m beginning to think that, rather than a result of growing up, it was the FF 30s that led me to become bored with the series and abandon it (and, stupidly, to get rid of all my books).
Stealer of Souls is back-to-basics FF, and very easy as well (I got through it on my first attempt). At a push it might just about qualify as a well-spent morning.
May 27, 2020
Without doubt, the best of the 30 something series, as this book is like an old school type Fighting Fantasy like Citadel of Chaos and Temple of Terror, you fight a good load of encounters, no instant deaths and towards the end you get to use magic, before facing the evil Mordranath for a jolly good fight to the Death, really enjoyed this one.
March 5, 2025
Fairly easy, back to basics adventure, with less of the gimmicks found in the later books. The excellent illustrations from Russ Nicholson, who illustrated the first couple of books add to the old school feel.
March 14, 2025
This has plenty of action, which my son enjoyed, and was fairly accessible (minimal insta-deaths, not too much onus finding items to win) but I found the writing clunky and repetitive and the magic system poorly conceived.
January 15, 2023
Excellent first contribution to the series by Carl Sargent (under a pseudonym). Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews