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Fighting Fantasy #53
Spellbreaker
The Beast is loose!
Rassin Abbey has guarded its arcane treasures for centuries. But when their Black Grimoire is stolen, the land of Ruddlestone is plunged into a crisis of epic proportions. For the ancient book holds the key to the legendary Casket of Shadows - and the Evil imprisoned within it. Should it be opened, the Infernal Beast will be unleashed to wreak its terrible carnage across the Old World.
On the night of Shekka’s Moon, scant days away, this will surely come to pass. Unless, that is, one brave hero can retrieve the Black Grimoire in the nick of time – a hero like YOU!
Rassin Abbey has guarded its arcane treasures for centuries. But when their Black Grimoire is stolen, the land of Ruddlestone is plunged into a crisis of epic proportions. For the ancient book holds the key to the legendary Casket of Shadows - and the Evil imprisoned within it. Should it be opened, the Infernal Beast will be unleashed to wreak its terrible carnage across the Old World.
On the night of Shekka’s Moon, scant days away, this will surely come to pass. Unless, that is, one brave hero can retrieve the Black Grimoire in the nick of time – a hero like YOU!
256 pages, Paperback
First published June 24, 1993
1 person is currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Green
267 books159 followersJonathan Green is a writer of speculative fiction, with more than seventy books to his name. Well known for his contributions to the Fighting Fantasy range of adventure gamebooks, he has also written fiction for such diverse properties as Doctor Who, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Moshi Monsters, LEGO, Judge Dredd and Robin of Sherwood.
He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series for Abaddon Books and has written eight novels, and numerous short stories, set within this steampunk universe, featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver. He is also the author of an increasing number of non-fiction titles, including the award-winning YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.
He has recently taken to editing and compiling short story anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed GAME OVER and SHARKPUNK, published by Snowbooks, and the forthcoming Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu.
To find out more about his current projects visit www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com and follow him on Twitter @jonathangreen.
He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series for Abaddon Books and has written eight novels, and numerous short stories, set within this steampunk universe, featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver. He is also the author of an increasing number of non-fiction titles, including the award-winning YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.
He has recently taken to editing and compiling short story anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed GAME OVER and SHARKPUNK, published by Snowbooks, and the forthcoming Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu.
To find out more about his current projects visit www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com and follow him on Twitter @jonathangreen.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 1, 2015
This time you're on a pilgrimage
1 May 2015
Before I start writing about this particular Fighting Fantasy book I have to mention that I found this really cool blog (called Fight Your Fantasy) where the author plays through each of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks blind (meaning that he has not yet read the book) and plays through the book until he either completes it, or dies, and then posts his adventure as a story on the blog. From the few that I have read (including Spellbreaker) he ends up dying. In fact, from what I can tell, he has yet to successfully complete one adventure, though I guess half the fun of this blog is to follow his escapades which will always end up being fatal.
Anyway, I should probably say a few things about this book. Well, I must say that it was entertaining, though the name of the kingdom (Rumblestone) sounded like it belonged in Disneyworld. However, unlike a Disneyworld adventure, this one is quite brutal. In fact, in the first paragraph you encounter this really, really, powerful demon, and because it is a really, really, powerful demon you have to fight it with a disability, which makes this one of these very few Fighting Fantasy gamebooks where you can die before actually beginning the adventure. However, once you get past that little hurdle (unless of course you cheat, then that demon is going to be no problem whatsoever) you then come across the other really difficult part of the game (and I am not talking about the bad grammar either).
To complete this adventure you need lots and lots of items, and the items that you need are not always that clear. I guess that simply adds to the replayability of it because once you get to a certain point and discover that you needed to collect all of that stuff that you ignored in the market (that is if you even had the gold to buy it) then it means that you can go back to paragraph one and start all over again (and hopefully not get killed by that really, really, powerful demon).
As for the adventure, well, you are on a pilgrimage, because, well, you are that sort of hero, and you meet this really nice guy out on the moors in the middle of a rainstorm. So, deciding that camping in the rainstorm is not good for your health (because you could end up catching a cold – just like I did this week), you make your way to the monastery, and then invite him in with you. However, this really nice guy turns out to be completely the opposite, namely because he kills a monk and then steals this book on demonology to, well, raise a demon from the dead. Of course, since you were the guy that invited him into the monastery the monks expect you to track him down and get the book back.
So, in the end, I must say that despite the bad grammar, and the name that sounded like it came from Walt Disney (and the overweight princess that was travelling to the healing well to see if the well would also cure obesity – I've never actually considered whether that is actually a possibility), I still enjoyed this little adventure, and felt that it, once again, breathed some life into this latter end of the series.
1 May 2015
Before I start writing about this particular Fighting Fantasy book I have to mention that I found this really cool blog (called Fight Your Fantasy) where the author plays through each of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks blind (meaning that he has not yet read the book) and plays through the book until he either completes it, or dies, and then posts his adventure as a story on the blog. From the few that I have read (including Spellbreaker) he ends up dying. In fact, from what I can tell, he has yet to successfully complete one adventure, though I guess half the fun of this blog is to follow his escapades which will always end up being fatal.
Anyway, I should probably say a few things about this book. Well, I must say that it was entertaining, though the name of the kingdom (Rumblestone) sounded like it belonged in Disneyworld. However, unlike a Disneyworld adventure, this one is quite brutal. In fact, in the first paragraph you encounter this really, really, powerful demon, and because it is a really, really, powerful demon you have to fight it with a disability, which makes this one of these very few Fighting Fantasy gamebooks where you can die before actually beginning the adventure. However, once you get past that little hurdle (unless of course you cheat, then that demon is going to be no problem whatsoever) you then come across the other really difficult part of the game (and I am not talking about the bad grammar either).
To complete this adventure you need lots and lots of items, and the items that you need are not always that clear. I guess that simply adds to the replayability of it because once you get to a certain point and discover that you needed to collect all of that stuff that you ignored in the market (that is if you even had the gold to buy it) then it means that you can go back to paragraph one and start all over again (and hopefully not get killed by that really, really, powerful demon).
As for the adventure, well, you are on a pilgrimage, because, well, you are that sort of hero, and you meet this really nice guy out on the moors in the middle of a rainstorm. So, deciding that camping in the rainstorm is not good for your health (because you could end up catching a cold – just like I did this week), you make your way to the monastery, and then invite him in with you. However, this really nice guy turns out to be completely the opposite, namely because he kills a monk and then steals this book on demonology to, well, raise a demon from the dead. Of course, since you were the guy that invited him into the monastery the monks expect you to track him down and get the book back.
So, in the end, I must say that despite the bad grammar, and the name that sounded like it came from Walt Disney (and the overweight princess that was travelling to the healing well to see if the well would also cure obesity – I've never actually considered whether that is actually a possibility), I still enjoyed this little adventure, and felt that it, once again, breathed some life into this latter end of the series.
December 14, 2021
Spellbreaker is honestly a pretty great adventure.
The story has you unknowingly inviting a warlock into an abbey who goes on to steal the Black Grimoire. The warlock can't be allowed to use it to open the Casket of Shadows and, because you're to blame for the theft, you get to experience the joys of getting it back.
With the story involving abbeys, priests, and demons, there's a heavy emphasis on a faith score. Your faith will decide on whether you win or lose this adventure at various times throughout the book as you face off against various demons. There's also an infection score but that's pretty much forgotten about not long after it's introduced.
This one feels like a romp through the British countryside, where you visit small towns and taverns on the way whilst on your quest to get the Black Grimoire. It's nice, at times difficult, and it feels like a breath of fresh air. That said, going from town to town and completing their individual quests started to drag and it felt predictable.
All in all, this one's fun. It's something different.
4/5
The story has you unknowingly inviting a warlock into an abbey who goes on to steal the Black Grimoire. The warlock can't be allowed to use it to open the Casket of Shadows and, because you're to blame for the theft, you get to experience the joys of getting it back.
With the story involving abbeys, priests, and demons, there's a heavy emphasis on a faith score. Your faith will decide on whether you win or lose this adventure at various times throughout the book as you face off against various demons. There's also an infection score but that's pretty much forgotten about not long after it's introduced.
This one feels like a romp through the British countryside, where you visit small towns and taverns on the way whilst on your quest to get the Black Grimoire. It's nice, at times difficult, and it feels like a breath of fresh air. That said, going from town to town and completing their individual quests started to drag and it felt predictable.
All in all, this one's fun. It's something different.
4/5
November 18, 2022
One of the most literary of the Fighting Fantasy books. Jonathan Green has some of the lengthiest passages in the series and this one is packed full of descriptions of the setting and characterisation, he has done some research into witchcraft and the witch hunting that has went on throughout the centuries. This time you are up against an evil monk that has stole the Black Grimoire and is looking to awaken the infernal powers on an evil night of the year. So far, so good. But what puts it over is the book positively dripping in witches and demons, not so much in bandits and gold this is all about covens, sabbats, cults and ritual and it is absolutely my jam. What lets it down is the obtuseness of some puzzles and the difficulty spike, a kid playing fairly is going to struggle here and the adventure is a bit one note, the villain has not got much too him compared to some of the minor witches and demons you encounter but it's not a let down just a factor of the book. If you're looking for somethign a bit more demiurgical, Spellbreaker is for you.
August 21, 2023
Jonathan Green is an excellent writer. As a story, this would easily be at least four stars, with engaging characters and a well-developed setting. However, there are two problems.
First, the events of the adventurer's arrival in Tallow lack all psychological plausibility. No doubt in 1993 a typical person would be easily enough persuaded that a person being burnt at the stake for witchcraft was probably innocent. Your character, though, doesn't live in the modern world. He/she lives in a world in which literal witches with actual magic powers are out to get him or her. This person has absolutely no reason to assume the girl is innocent, and certainly has no reason to risk his/her life to assert that innocence.
Second, as a gamebook this is broken beyond repair. Even if you know the correct path, the difficulty of the dice rolls is such that success is effectively impossible. This is particularly the case because you need to lose a combat at one point in order not to miss a necessary item.
First, the events of the adventurer's arrival in Tallow lack all psychological plausibility. No doubt in 1993 a typical person would be easily enough persuaded that a person being burnt at the stake for witchcraft was probably innocent. Your character, though, doesn't live in the modern world. He/she lives in a world in which literal witches with actual magic powers are out to get him or her. This person has absolutely no reason to assume the girl is innocent, and certainly has no reason to risk his/her life to assert that innocence.
Second, as a gamebook this is broken beyond repair. Even if you know the correct path, the difficulty of the dice rolls is such that success is effectively impossible. This is particularly the case because you need to lose a combat at one point in order not to miss a necessary item.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2025
A very tough (the fight on paragraph 1 alone is enough to potentially end your adventure) entry.
It's wordier than most, and while set on Titian, has a feel of Medieval folklore and fairy tales about it. Not a surprise in a Fantasy setting, you may say; but modern fantasy is a fusion of many influences, while this, with it's abbey's, pilgrimages (there's a lengthy section based on the Wife Of Bath and the Canterbury Tales, including a wink to the Miller's filthy story, I think, that would have gone over my head if I'd read it as a child) barrows, druids and witches feels older and earthier than fantasy with influences from Tolkien, classical Myth, D and D and world folklore - though spoiling my thesis there's Baba Yaga's hut, out of Slavic folklore.
This all feels like a choice, and gives it a different flavour to most of the series.
My copy is one of the Wizard reprints, with the inferior copies of the very decent Alan Langford art.
It's wordier than most, and while set on Titian, has a feel of Medieval folklore and fairy tales about it. Not a surprise in a Fantasy setting, you may say; but modern fantasy is a fusion of many influences, while this, with it's abbey's, pilgrimages (there's a lengthy section based on the Wife Of Bath and the Canterbury Tales, including a wink to the Miller's filthy story, I think, that would have gone over my head if I'd read it as a child) barrows, druids and witches feels older and earthier than fantasy with influences from Tolkien, classical Myth, D and D and world folklore - though spoiling my thesis there's Baba Yaga's hut, out of Slavic folklore.
This all feels like a choice, and gives it a different flavour to most of the series.
My copy is one of the Wizard reprints, with the inferior copies of the very decent Alan Langford art.
April 19, 2024
A tough book with a ton of mandatory of items, many easy to miss, and plenty of very difficult combats. The story is decent, map and sense of progression are good, and the faith rules work well. It's not Jonathan Green's best writing, being his first gamebook, but he's still better than most of the prior FF authors. The illustrations are technically proficient but not my favourite style--a bit too clean. An okay entry in the series but not one I'd revisit.
January 28, 2024
I used to like Jonathan Green's contributions to the series much more in the past than I do now. They really are very well written, and plotted, but they tend towards excessive linearity and far too tough encounters. Not much replay value on that account. Too much -book, not enough game-.
He got a bit better as he went, but Spellbreaker was pretty rough.
He got a bit better as he went, but Spellbreaker was pretty rough.
September 6, 2018
Read this along with knights of doom, crypt of the sorcerer, and night dragon in now distant 90s. They were some of the blackest, most demonic of the FF books, hard and full of horror and superb art!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews