The Dragons' Den

Избери своето приключение! #6

by Richard Brightfield, Paul Abrams (Illustrator)

Young readers join forces with Zarkon, the wizard, on a dangerous search for the fabulous treasure of the dragons lair.

Genres: Choose Your Own Adventure, Gamebooks, Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Juvenile

116 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1984

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Dragons' Den is one standard deviation removed from the typical Choose Your Own Adventure. It isn't a survival test, mystery, work of science fiction, or "What if?" scenario; it's a high fantasy set in the age of dragons and castles, an invitation to revel in a world of pure imagination. You have no home, always wandering from one minor kingdom to another, but are driven by the goal of discovering treasure, particularly the hoards kept by fire-breathing dragons. One day you visit a land deeply charred by dragon attacks, and decide to locate the dragon and steal his gold. A man named Reynald and his young friend Boke had the same thought, so you join forces. Can you trust these two, or should you be wary of throwing your lot in with them? Secrecy is key, for the king treats harshly those who hunt treasure in his domain.

Lack of trust in your new friends turns out to be a mistake. The king's guard catches wind of your plot and orders you arrested. You must choose lifelong banishment from the kingdom or a brief sentence laboring in the salt mines, but at least the latter will place you inside the mountain where the dragon is said to live. After patiently working most of the sentence, your big break comes: a "dragon run" tunnel was accidentally cut into in the mines, and the men are required to seal it for safety. If you head right for the breach, you may find your dragon. The tunnels are cramped, a scaly monster stalks you, and taking any wrong path could lead to horrific death, but dragon's treasure could be just around the corner. Beware disgruntled dwarfs in the low-ceilinged tunnels, but if you meet the king's wizard, Zarkon, and a dwarf named Gnali he is escorting home, you could earn your treasure without ever facing a dragon. Are extravagant riches enough without the peril?

If you show some faith in Reynald and Boke from the start, you can trek up Dragon Mountain without the king ever finding out. On the way you encounter Zarkon, guiding Gnali back to his home among the dwarfs. You could take the winding route up the mountain for easier access to the caves, but dragons are legion here; you're better off walking up the mountain's face. Inside, there are many directions to explore; you could end up in the lair of Tarlane the human "dragon master" and the sorceress Mordana. Tarlane is from centuries in the future, armed with technological weapons. Maybe you avoid an extended run-in with Tarlane, and make your way deep into the mountain. You might get trapped at the end of a ventilator shaft overlooking a chamber where a pair of titanic dragons guard unimaginable hoards of treasure, but the smallest slip-up here and you'll be burned to cinders. Zarkon may be able to trick the dragons into briefly leaving the chamber, but can you make it out with the treasure you've sought all your life?

A lot of this book is surprisingly devoid of action. You spend too little time matching wits with dragons and too much of it wandering lost inside Dragon Mountain engaging in storylines that aren't interesting enough to merit the author's departure from the point of the story. I found myself wondering when a real dragon showdown would occur, and by the time I reached every ending it hadn't happened. That's too bad, because this may be the best I've seen Richard Brightfield write; the atmosphere in some scenes captured my mind and had me fully buying into the narrative. Had there been more interaction with dragons and treasure, this could have been an excellent Choose Your Own Adventure. I rate the book one and a half stars for what it did right, but The Dragons' Den is a disappointment, and it shouldn't have been.

[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.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Choose Your Own Adventure books are always fun, although really the best part of this book was the illustrations (the inexplicable time-traveler that shows up looks like a Bond villain). I picked this one up while sorting through a friend's books for donations, and we started off reading it as a group (one friend remarks that it reads like a D&D campaign) and then I finished the rest of the storyline choices on my own several days later.

Expect to be killed slightly more than 50% of the time (either explicitly or in the "lost forever in a cave" varietal). The rest of the outcomes are either positive (you outright get the treasure) or neutral (you don't necessarily get dragon treasure, but you live and spend the rest of your life contemplating dragon treasure).

[Nick Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shockingly dull for a book about a wizard and pair of medieval kids fighting against a time-traveling Nazi trying to breed dragons to use against the Allies.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eres una trotamundos y buscavidas que viaja por diversos reinos en búsqueda de bienes. Un día en una cantina, dos personas te proponen un trato: que los acompañes (por tu experiencia) a buscar un tesoros en la cima de una montaña, que es la guarida de unos furiosos y avaros Dragones, los cuales tienen un buen botín pues ya han robado en varias cortes.
En éste tomo el autor que tanto gusta de los místico y paranormal, se decanta por la fantasía (que algo tiene que ver, sí) y nos sirve un relato al más puro estilo Packard de base (el medievo recurrente) y desarrollo descriptivo centralizado en el arriesgado viaje que emprendes a la búsqueda de tan valioso y codiciado tesoro.
De éstas palabras se deja entrever que es un tomo que posee bastante acción y ágil de leer, entretenido, gratificante con la aparición de los temibles dragones, enanos, magos poderosos, personajes malvados en confabulación con los dragones.
¿Y porqué le he dado dos estrellas? Pues por que explica poco la base de los robos de los Dragones y otros motivos colaterales de la acción (su custodia y los hombres entrometidos en ella), ya veis que es un problema de ‘soporte de trama’ no de desarrollo; de ahí que me queje más de los debido. Para colmo, resultar un tomo que, literalmente, juega con el lector me explico: cuando hago una relectura de la serie, hago cómo mínimo la mitad de aventuras que nos dan como solución ( son 22 soluciones, pues hago unas trece aventuras o así), y a lo largo de todas éstas, me he sentido tan frustrada al no encontrar el tesoro de los Dragones, que he leído el resto de finales directamente para verlo ...y NO HAY UN FINAL EN EL QUE ADQUIERAS EL TESORO DE LOS DRAGONES!!!..es la primera vez que le toman al lector el pelo de ésa manera, xd!
Una entrega divertida y entretenida, pero que precisaría de una revisión de contenido!...estáis avisados.

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Son libros estupendos para los niños por la emoción que provoca tomar tus propias decisiones. Sin embargo, a mi hijo le ha dado un poco de miedo. Probaremos con otro más adelante.

[Russ · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I loved: Menacing dragons that actually live in a cave, horde treasure, and breath fire! No postmodern good/wise/talking/gentle dragons. Also, the illustrations were good and unlike some other Choose Your Own Adventures, the interior illustrations (by Paul Abrams) were consistent with the cover art (by Paul Granger).

What I disliked: Of 22 endings, 15 were “bad,” ie, doom or destruction for the young hero. Five were “good” and the balance were neutral. So, too many unhappy endings. But maybe CYOA limited the number of happy endings on purpose, because it does make the good ones more special when you make the “right” choices.

But I would make a similar complaint here that I did with Planet of the Dragons. Too many of the storylines never take you to the dragons’ lair. Is it too much to ask a book with dragons in the title and on the cover to focus on the dragons? But in this book’s defense, the dragons here are more central to the story than in Planet of the Dragons where they random pests.

And there’s an odd element here of a villain that travels through time that didn’t quite fit with the otherwise medieval sword & sorcery setting.

[Rocio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una experiencia bastante guay. La verdad, he leído algún que otro libro tipo escape room, pero éste es el mejor. Tiene un trabajo increíble para conectar todo como si fuera un juego de mesa a lo Dragones y Mazmorras.
No añado todas las relecturas, pero llevo ya unas cuantas versiones y lo disfruto bastante.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Material is very dated but the concept still works. Digging through my collection and read this with my 8 yr old. I will compare with other prominent books of the genre soon (like the competing series "Which Way").

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is exactly what I want in a CYOA book. Weird, nonsensical, and with fun illustrations.

Silly wizard. Nazi time traveler. Dragons. What more could one want?

[Rick Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of cool events, but many disappointing endings.

[Allison S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Points for nostalgia, taking away points, because my man surprised the whole ending

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books such as this one are so adorable. I wish I'd read this when I was much younger. I'd probably be a bookworm much earlier if I had.

Too bad I didn't get the treasure in the dragons' den on first try though. At least the dwarves gave me sacks of gems...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Choose your own adventures are really fun!

[James Swenson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got shot by dwarfs.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with a tutoring kid.