Return to the Cave of Time

Choose Your Own Adventure #50

by Edward Packard, Don Hedin (Illustrator)

The reader journeys into the depths of the Cave of Time and discovers the mysterious oracle, who offers an extraordinary choice--to witness either the beginning or end of time

Genres: Choose Your Own Adventure, Fiction, Time Travel, Gamebooks, Science Fiction, Childrens, Fantasy

115 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Edward Packard attended and graduated from both Princeton University and Columbia Law School. He was one of the first authors to explore the idea of gamebooks, in which the reader is inserted as the main character and makes choices about the direction the story will go at designated places in the text.

The first such book that Edward Packard wrote in the Choose Your Own Adventure series was titled "Sugarcane Island", but it was not actually published as the first entry in the Choose Your Own Adventure Series. In 1979, the first book to be released in the series was "The Cave of Time", a fantasy time-travel story that remained in print for many years. Eventually, one hundred eighty-four Choose Your Own Adventure books would be published before production on new entries to the series ceased in 1998. Edward Packard was the author of many of these books, though a substantial number of other authors were included as well.

In 2005, Choose Your Own Adventure books once again began to be published, but none of Edward Packard's titles have yet been included among the newly-released books.

Reviews

[Jesus Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Releido para el reto popsugar
Estos libros solia leerlos cuando estaba en primaria o secundaria, me gustaba por que tenias muchos finales, y trataba de sacarlos todos.
Bonito recuerdo de mis primeras lecturas

[Nick Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having almost died in previous Cave of Time escapades, this book has you decide at random to head back and attempt to die again. In contrast to most books in the Choose Your Own Adventure series, this entry contains no endings with a positive outcome; in the end, you're either dead, stranded in time, stranded out of time, or you accidentally temporally kidnap a neanderthal. That last option is seemingly the best of the worst, but getting to it involves only two consequential choices and just nine pages of text (though the alternative starting path eventually has an option to loop back to that spot, if you want to take the long way around). Much as frequent CYOA writer R.A. Montgomery was prone to treating all non-white people as magical creatures, his equally prolific compatriot Edward Packard was prone to obnoxiously heavy-handed moral posturing about social issues, which is fully on display in this book.

[Saad Chaaban · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب خفيف لطيف يقدم تجربة مختلفة عن غيره ويضع القارئ أما نفسه بشفافية تبين ما تكنه نفسه. يعيب الكتاب قصره إذا اتبع القارئ مسارا واحدا، وكذلك هناك مآخذ على ترجمته إذ من الواضح طغيان التركيب الأجنبي عليه وعدم توليفه للعربية كما ينبغي من حيث التراكيب وعلامات الترقيم.

[Remo · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Jennifer Juniper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved CYOA books as a kid and as an adult I still pull them out for a quick, fun read sometimes. Unfortunately, Return To The Cave of Time is not one of my favorites. The idea and story is good and I like the illustrations and so on. The problem with this particular book is that it is mostly “Turn to page X” rather than actually making any choices of your own. And making choices is the entire point of the series. The fact that there are only 16 possible endings is a sign that this is a weaker CYOA book. Not the worst way to spend reading time but there are so many superior CYOA entries that it would be best to start elsewhere.

[Speck Rejk · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has the weight , spirituality, mystery, and unwavering loyalty to the possible terrors that may occur, which are hallmarks of this truly magical series and what a reader who has read the series for 40 years like me would want as far as that " weight " and spiritual longing , regret, and hope for answers But it has a dearth of hope , and very importantly - Fun (maybe kind of like life) and has an overhanging dourness and tinge of sadness throughout (kind of like life , especially when older).

[Rachel Adiyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was a kid The Cave of Time was my favorite Choose Your Own Adventure book. So due to nostalgia I took this sequel out. Definitely not as good as the first book.

[Paramagedon · Rating 4 out of 5]

no se que podria decir de cosas malas del libro porque en todos los libros de este autor hay un monton de finales alternativos,solo digo que los recomiendo a todos los libros porque pueden leerlo como 20 vezes y tener un final muy distinto al anterior.

[Mary Mittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the firat book I read that was a choose your own adventure book. And I have to say I enjoyed it.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is probably my favorite Choose Your Own Adventure book.

[Miroh Shriver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love a good choose your own adventure book

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ah, the second direct sequel to the original Choose Your Own Adventure book, The Cave of Time!

Return to the Cave of Time isn't as good as The Cave of Time or The Forbidden Castle (the first sequel to The Cave of Time), but I've always liked it. The story has a different feel than the first two, delving into philosophy and the meaning of the universe. The adventure aspect of the narrative, though, will take you just about anywhere you can imagine. The Choose Your Own Adventure series celebrated its fiftieth entry in this book, and it seems fitting that Edward Packard marked it with a return to the roots of the series, roots that will always be firmly planted in that cave in Snake Canyon.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little different than the original in that one of the story paths leads you to a time where you are "out of phase" with the timeline you observe. I remember that blew my mind when I first read it - it wasn't until I was in college, reading about phase shifts, that this concept came back to me.
Overall, a decent book, but I was already older than I was when I read the first Cave of Time, and I was already on to Stephen King novels by the time CYOA #50 came out. Still, a good entry in the series - likely one I will read with my kids.

[Ena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book and the rest of the series when I was at elementary school. The illusion the books create like you are the main hero of the story and giving you a kind of control over story by making you choose from possibilities makes it a fabulous read.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 50 of the 'Choose your own adventure' series, Return to the Cave of Time... in these books the reader gets to be the central character by choosing what path the tale follows through a variety of endings...

[Sheila Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

the adventures that I went through when I was bored I just read these books over and over again you would never get to the end of the story.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Choose your own adventure" books are still fun, even reading them as an adult.