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Choose Your Own Adventure #35
Journey to Stonehenge (Choose Your Own Adventure) by Fred Graver
Your're a reporter who's been invited to Stonehenge to do a story on some startling new discoveries. On your first night there, a teenage archaeologist named P.J. takes you into the inner ring of the ancient monument. Suddenly you hear the roar of chanting voices. Three glowing stones rise slowly into the air. You've never been so scared. What should you do?
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First published August 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 19, 2024
Predating the release of R.A. Montgomery's Forecast from Stonehenge by more than twenty years, Fred Graver's Journey to Stonehenge is a more adept and interesting story about one of archaeology's great mysteries. As a juvenile reporter for Tightwire, a newspaper created by and for kids, you are intrigued to receive a cablegram from P.J. Engleton, a fifteen-year-old archaeologist working on a project at the Stonehenge monument. P.J. convinced the government to allow his team access to the ancient site, where massive stones are piled in seemingly impossible ways. Mankind has long been puzzled by Stonehenge, but P.J. claims he's on the cusp of learning secrets about the place that will transform the modern world. After jetting off to England and meeting the plump young archaeologist, you're eager to get started on your story. What do the next several days hold in store?
P.J. invites you to stay in his tent, but whether or not you accept his offer, strange things occur the first night. In a trance, P.J. leaves his sleeping bag and wanders toward Stonehenge. Disembodied chanting rises from three small stones at its center, awash in rainbow color. Depending on if you follow P.J.'s lead or hang back, you are transported through time to one of two eras. You may find yourself among the Moon Tribe, which is led by a beautiful, intelligent Priestess. You and P.J. seem to have assumed the identities of two boys who already lived among the tribe. The Priestess's people are concerned by the recent military encroachment of the Huntsmen. The Moon Tribe has been hard at work building the Ring of the Moon—which you recognize as an early version of Stonehenge—but the Huntsmen want to steal the site and exterminate the Moon Tribe. You must help defend the Ring of the Moon and guard the Priestess, for only she realizes you are from the future and can tell you how to return. The best chance you and P.J. have of regaining your former lives is if the Moon Tribe defeats their enemy.
Just as easily you might land in another era of Stonehenge's construction, centuries after conflict between the Moon Tribe and Huntsmen. In this time, there's an impasse between the Beakers and the Huntsmen, who long ago slew the Moon Tribe and seized control of Stonehenge. These marauders demand that every tribe acknowledge their sovereignty with food offerings, but the Beakers desire to live and worship as they please, and are gearing up for combat with the Huntsmen. It's painfully obvious to you that the Beakers are no match for their warlike foes, but should you suggest a few modern military techniques, or distance yourself from the coming battle and search for P.J.? You don't want to die in an ancient tribal conflict, but helping the Beakers may be your best hope for making it back to your own time. Besides the Moon Tribe and Beaker eras, you may find yourself in an entirely separate era if you declined P.J.'s invitation to stay in his tent. You are visited in your dreams by a young man who urgently summons you to Stonehenge. After awakening and going there as requested, you learn the young man is Merlin, not yet in full command of his wizardly powers. He informs you that he, as a member of the court of Aurelius, Lord of Northern Britain, is the master planner behind Stonehenge. His concept for the monument was to channel the universe's powers to a single point on Earth for mankind's benefit, but now Aurelius wants to abuse that power. Merlin has brought you to the distant past to help him survive Aurelius's attempts on his life, and to show you the secrets of Stonehenge as encouragement to the future world. An extended voyage through time with Merlin before you go home is your reward if you aren't killed by Aurelius's men. People of your time won't believe everything Merlin revealed to you about Stonehenge, but you can use the knowledge to help shape civilization going forward.
Journey to Stonehenge has a few weaknesses of continuity, but it's a pretty good book. Once you realize there's a chronological progression to the eras you visit back in time, you'll better appreciate the importance of your intervention. You can help prevent the Huntsmen from conquering the Moon Tribe, preventing future war between the Huntsmen and Beakers. You are in constant danger among these various groups that want control of Stonehenge for reasons good and bad, but braving the perils to change history for the better can yield rich rewards. The story is by no means perfect, but I might rate Journey to Stonehenge the full two stars. If you're looking for a gamebook about ancient mysteries and magic, this one isn't a bad option.
P.J. invites you to stay in his tent, but whether or not you accept his offer, strange things occur the first night. In a trance, P.J. leaves his sleeping bag and wanders toward Stonehenge. Disembodied chanting rises from three small stones at its center, awash in rainbow color. Depending on if you follow P.J.'s lead or hang back, you are transported through time to one of two eras. You may find yourself among the Moon Tribe, which is led by a beautiful, intelligent Priestess. You and P.J. seem to have assumed the identities of two boys who already lived among the tribe. The Priestess's people are concerned by the recent military encroachment of the Huntsmen. The Moon Tribe has been hard at work building the Ring of the Moon—which you recognize as an early version of Stonehenge—but the Huntsmen want to steal the site and exterminate the Moon Tribe. You must help defend the Ring of the Moon and guard the Priestess, for only she realizes you are from the future and can tell you how to return. The best chance you and P.J. have of regaining your former lives is if the Moon Tribe defeats their enemy.
Just as easily you might land in another era of Stonehenge's construction, centuries after conflict between the Moon Tribe and Huntsmen. In this time, there's an impasse between the Beakers and the Huntsmen, who long ago slew the Moon Tribe and seized control of Stonehenge. These marauders demand that every tribe acknowledge their sovereignty with food offerings, but the Beakers desire to live and worship as they please, and are gearing up for combat with the Huntsmen. It's painfully obvious to you that the Beakers are no match for their warlike foes, but should you suggest a few modern military techniques, or distance yourself from the coming battle and search for P.J.? You don't want to die in an ancient tribal conflict, but helping the Beakers may be your best hope for making it back to your own time. Besides the Moon Tribe and Beaker eras, you may find yourself in an entirely separate era if you declined P.J.'s invitation to stay in his tent. You are visited in your dreams by a young man who urgently summons you to Stonehenge. After awakening and going there as requested, you learn the young man is Merlin, not yet in full command of his wizardly powers. He informs you that he, as a member of the court of Aurelius, Lord of Northern Britain, is the master planner behind Stonehenge. His concept for the monument was to channel the universe's powers to a single point on Earth for mankind's benefit, but now Aurelius wants to abuse that power. Merlin has brought you to the distant past to help him survive Aurelius's attempts on his life, and to show you the secrets of Stonehenge as encouragement to the future world. An extended voyage through time with Merlin before you go home is your reward if you aren't killed by Aurelius's men. People of your time won't believe everything Merlin revealed to you about Stonehenge, but you can use the knowledge to help shape civilization going forward.
Journey to Stonehenge has a few weaknesses of continuity, but it's a pretty good book. Once you realize there's a chronological progression to the eras you visit back in time, you'll better appreciate the importance of your intervention. You can help prevent the Huntsmen from conquering the Moon Tribe, preventing future war between the Huntsmen and Beakers. You are in constant danger among these various groups that want control of Stonehenge for reasons good and bad, but braving the perils to change history for the better can yield rich rewards. The story is by no means perfect, but I might rate Journey to Stonehenge the full two stars. If you're looking for a gamebook about ancient mysteries and magic, this one isn't a bad option.
July 5, 2020
La serie de Elige tu propia aventura es, literalmente, un clásico de nuestra infancia. He releído algunos, años después, y me parecen un poco cortos de miras, limitados en las posibilidades, pero cuando tenía 10 años cada uno de ellos era una maravilla lista para ser explorada hasta que hubiera dado todo lo que tenía dentro.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
January 14, 2016
Thanks, Fred Graver, for hours upon hours of childhood fun. Sorry I cheated so much. 5/5 because nostalgia.
July 29, 2016
I read these books as a kid and found some at half price books. I'm thinking about using it as an project for my Creative Writing class.
May 20, 2024
A fun romp into 80s nostalgia… I used to hoard these books and read them voraciously. I scored a few at a goodwill for a quarter, and thought they would help me bridge the gap for my daughters. In a way, this book has its own time travel magic.
July 1, 2022
Malcolm got me! :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2025
Never ever try to help the princess, it never ends well.
March 25, 2013
I must have been <10 years old when I first got this book, and unless it's packed away in the attic somewhere I'm not sure if I still have it. I got it at a book swap in a local library.
This book was great, I love having some control over where a story takes you and this book also had a few nice black and white illustrations sprinkled throughout.
I think my only irritations as far as I recall were that one of the characters is called Pb or Pj or something, and that I always seemed to die in a multitude of different ways (poison, stabbed, drowned, sacrificed etc), which was fine, except that it happened so often I had to wonder if there were any story arcs where you DID survive? I suppose you'll have to find out for yourself.
This book was great, I love having some control over where a story takes you and this book also had a few nice black and white illustrations sprinkled throughout.
I think my only irritations as far as I recall were that one of the characters is called Pb or Pj or something, and that I always seemed to die in a multitude of different ways (poison, stabbed, drowned, sacrificed etc), which was fine, except that it happened so often I had to wonder if there were any story arcs where you DID survive? I suppose you'll have to find out for yourself.
January 13, 2014
This is from a different genre of Choose Your Own Adventure to the Fighting Fantasy type books. It's not a game, where you have to kill monsters or solve puzzles to get to the end without dying. Instead, you get to choose the story, and it goes in completely different directions depending on your choices. You could end up on either side in a war, for example, or even go to a totally different time period.
I enjoyed this as a bit of light-hearted fun to read in the bath - I wish that this style of CYA non-linear interactive storytelling had become more popular instead of the dice-rolling solo RPGs that dominated the field.
I enjoyed this as a bit of light-hearted fun to read in the bath - I wish that this style of CYA non-linear interactive storytelling had become more popular instead of the dice-rolling solo RPGs that dominated the field.
August 28, 2012
Not much to say about this one. I remember a scene that took place in a stone circle, and I was hoping it might have been in this book. No such luck. Decent "Choose Your Own Adventure" story. Obviously, at 41, it's not exactly my normal reading level.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews