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Lone Wolf #3

The Caverns of Kalte

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You are Lone Wolf - last of the Kai Lords.

Shocking news has just reached your homeland that Vonotar the Traitor still lives and now rules over the Ice Barbarians of Kalte. The King has vowed to your people that Vonotar will be brought to justice for his crimes.

But it is a promise that only you can fulfil. In THE CAVERNS OF KALTE, you must brave the terrible dangers of the ice kingdom in your quest to capture your most hated foe. But be warned! It is a challenge that will test your skill and endurance to the very limit.

The LONE WOLF adventures are a unique interactive fantasy series - each episode can be played separately or you can combine them all to create a fantastic role-playing epic.

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 1984

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About the author

Joe Dever

215 books168 followers
Joe Dever was an award-winning British fantasist and game designer. Originally a musician, Dever became the first British winner of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Championship of America in 1982.

He created the fictional world of Magnamund as a setting for his Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. In 1984 he released the first book of the Lone Wolf series of young-adult gamebooks, and the series has since sold over 10.2 million copies worldwide. He experienced difficulty with his publishers as the game books market began to contract in 1995, until publication ceased in 1998 before the final four books (numbers 29-32) were released. Since 2003, however, the series has enjoyed a strong revival of interest in France, Italy, and Spain following the re-release of the gamebook series in these countries.

From 1996 onwards, Dever was involved in the production of several successful computer and console games. He also contributed to a Dungeons & Dragons-style role playing game for Lone Wolf published by Mongoose Publishing (UK) in 2004. Currently he is Lead Designer of a Lone Wolf computer game, and he is writing the final books in the Lone Wolf series. No official publication schedule exists for these works.

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298 (29%)
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390 (38%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
Profile Image for Gianfranco Mancini.
2,339 reviews1,074 followers
November 17, 2025


Una passeggiata in confronto al secondo libro, anche se pure in questo si muore male spesso e volentieri...
Se lo completate senza trovare l'Elmo D'Argento rigiocatelo finché non lo agguantate: è semplicemente uno dei migliori Oggetti Speciali di tutta la saga.
Consiglio amichevole: mai liberare stranieri incappucciati prigionieri dentro una stella magica a cinque punte....
Profile Image for Nixi92.
315 reviews79 followers
January 16, 2024
Se avete giocato ai precedenti recuperando la Spada del Sole, non avrete nessun problema!
Profile Image for Krell75.
434 reviews86 followers
August 22, 2024
Vonatar il mago traditore è fuggito a Kalt le terre oltre il mare a nord di Sommerlund. Sei pronto per la traversata delle lande dei barbari dei ghiacci dove il freddo e i pericoli metteranno alla prova la tua resistenza? Ikaia la fortezza di ghiaccio ti attende e con lei il gobbo traditore.
Profile Image for Lilirose.
584 reviews76 followers
May 5, 2023
Bellissime le atmosfere di questo volume, dalle spietate distese di ghiaccio ai labirinti del più classico dei dungeon, dove dietro ogni svolta può esserci un tesoro o una minaccia, un nemico o un alleato.
In questo libro comincio ad avere la sensazione che l'unico modo per procedere senza dover ricominciare un'infinità di volte (o senza barare) sia aver giocato ai precedenti: visto come proseguimento di una saga funziona perfettamente, come stand alone non molto, ma forse è giusto così.
Profile Image for Saturn.
632 reviews80 followers
March 6, 2024
Gli abissi di Kalte si è rivelata l'avventura più semplice da concludere finora. Mi hanno colpito maggiormente le atmosfere glaciali e i sotterranei da incubo, soprattutto nei loro aspetti più misteriosi. Proprio per questo avrei voluto che l'avventura durasse un po' di più! ^^
Profile Image for Eric.
311 reviews3 followers
September 4, 2017
After the defeat of the Darklords, Vonotar escaped to the frozen wastes of Kalte. He made his way to the ice fortress of Ikaya where, through deception, he tricked the cruel Brumalmarc into adopting him as his magician.

In The Caverns of Kalte, you must brave the terrible dangers of the ice kingdom in your quest to capture your most hated foe!


Rule #1 of Lone Wolf: If you ever begin your mission with a team of people, or aid of any kind, don't get attached.

I learned this lesson years ago after making my way through the first five or six books of the series, having watched dogs, pack animals, guides, and supporting characters die in all manners of dark, twisted, and horrific ways. It still makes me chuckle when I read how the King goes out of his way to outfit me for the hardships ahead, as if any of will make it past the first ten sections of the story.

Taking place one year after the event of the previous book, this entry sees the reader attempting to locate and arrest Vonotar the traitor in the vast frozen wastes of the north.

description

This is where Dever sheds his Tolkien influence and begins to adopt a more Lovecraftian one, most obviously The Mountains of Madness. There is great deal of combat in this book, particularly against poisonous creatures that kill you instantly if they deal any damage (this led to all three of my deaths, which all occurred in the same battle), making avoidance of combat often a necessity. With the Sommerswerd in hand from the previous book the battles were often decided before they begin, especially against undead foes. The exploration of the caverns was very enjoyable and I appreciated the attention to detail regarding finding and using items throughout. Better than the previous book as it felt tighter and more complete; a good addition to the series.

The new that Vonotar still lives spreads like wildfire through Sommerland. Thousands of Sommlending surround the capital and demand that Vonotar be made to pay for his treachery.

Statistics: 3 Deaths (all in same battle, all to poison)
Profile Image for David.
881 reviews52 followers
October 8, 2009
This is kind of like a sidequest or intermission in the Lone Wolf series. The writing and story is good and there are surprising plot twists. There are several different paths that lead to the end. Overall, the pace of this one feels less urgent than the earlier two.
Profile Image for David Sarkies.
1,933 reviews385 followers
March 14, 2022
Among the Ice Barbarians
23 February 2022 - Adelaide

I’m sort of wondering how the books from this one on tie in, namely because it seems that at the end of this one you have pretty much tied up the loose ends from the previous book, though you could say that there is still one particularly big loose end left to deal with, and that is that the Darklords are still active. Sure, at the end of the previous book, you broke the siege of Holmgard, but that is the thing, you have basically just broken the siege – your enemies are still out there, and no doubt they are regrouping for another battle, as well as planning on dealing with a lone Kai warrior that happens to have a pretty powerful sword.

However, this book does tie up a loose end, and that is the traitorous wizard that was leading the expedition against you in the previous book. If you have read it and completed it, then you will know that this guy had escaped, however, you learn that he is hiding in the frozen north, and this quest involves you crossing a frosty sea, and then a frozen landscape, before descending into the ice caverns in an attempt to capture him and bring him back for trial (which I have to admit I find much more fulfilling than simply killing him).

This book is a little trickier mind you since, unlike the previous books where you can pretty much complete the story despite making certain decisions, this one has a much tighter path. In fact, the first time through this book I went the wrong way initially and discovered that I had missed some important items. Okay, I might have skipped some sections, but it turns out that you can get to the end and fail completely.

I did notice a couple of things though, one of them being that the correct path generally involves you visiting the paragraphs that have the pictures, so if you find yourself not seeing many pictures then that is a pretty good idea that you are taking the incorrect route. Another thing I discovered is that honour is not necessarily one of the traits of the Kai Warriors (which sort of got me into trouble in that once again I missed some important items). The reality seems to suggest that being a little more brutal than one would expect will get you through the book. Oh, and in a number of cases, based on the skills you have picked, and the items you have collected, then getting through doesn’t involve as much guesswork as otherwise.

Yeah, I sort of liked it, and I can’t really complain all that much about it. It does seem that the books are taking you on a tour of Joe Denver’s world, which I have to admit is another one of those things that one should expect from these books. Yeah, it was fun, especially going through them again.
Profile Image for Ал Торо.
Author 21 books39 followers
March 17, 2019
В третата книга за "Самотния вълк" героят е изпратен да лови зъл магьоник в крепост, намираща се далеч на север, след мразовито море и снежни пустощ, населявана от кръвожадни варвари.

Като атмосфера, за мен тази надминава предните две книги от поредицата - в моето сърце има запазено място за произведения, които се развиват в забравени от бога ледени пустини. Има интересни същества и герои, които срещаш, също важи и за предметите.

Голямата слабост в тази книга, която се притеснявам, че ще продължи и в следващите (поне до пета), е че книгата е балансирана за играчи, които не са намерили Сомерсворд, Меча на слънцето. Разликата между имането и нямането на този меч е от небето до земята и всички битки, които притежателят му води, са тотално лишени от интрига - приключват за 1-2 хода с пълна доминация, особено предвид че старите играчи сигурно имат и някой друг предмет за Бойно умение от предните книги, както и 70% от уменията. Мечът, освен това, пази и от магии... Та така, нарушено е много грубо правилото "не наказвай добрия играч с пряк път" и прогресията в книгите е реализирана така, че да е в техен ущърб, а не тяхна сила, тъй като води до неприятен дизбаланс. Поне до третата.
Profile Image for Silvia Vicentini .
302 reviews12 followers
January 24, 2024
É stato troppo facile, ormai stiamo diventando sgravissimi e sbudelliamo ogni cosa che troviamo. Non vedo l'ora di continuare le avventure
Profile Image for Mathew Walls.
398 reviews16 followers
November 20, 2020
This is the book sort of sets a trend for the later ones that I'm not a huge fan of, which is breaking the story up into two distinct sections - in this case the journey to Ikaya and then Ikaya itself. The first part feels a bit too much like an extended prologue, and it leaves too little time for what I would call the main attraction. It is better than book two though, because there're plenty of branching paths and very little unavoidable bullshit. Still a couple of dead man walking scenarios though, which is not great. But it's a solid entry in the series. You really see how ludicrously overpowered the Sommerswerd is though. The only fights that are at all challenging are the venomous creatures that can kill you in one hit, and that's kind of cheating in my view.

---

The collector's edition bonus adventure, Vonotar's Web (by Laszlo Cook, Joe Dever & Nathan Furman), is a bit of a disappointment. You play as Loi-Kymar and the adventure details how he came to be Vonotar's prisoner. And it's that choice, to tie it so directly into the main adventure's plot, that holds it back. Because it needs to get you to that canonical ending, there's not a lot of opportunity for the player to actually influence the, well, anything.

And obviously every one of these books has a canonical ending that you have to get to, but usually you don't know (the first time you read it) what that ending is. And there are potentially different ways to get there. But not in this case. Vonotar steals the Guildstaff and you know he's going to capture you and make you use it to take you to Ikaya. Anything that happens in between sort of feels like a waste of time.
Profile Image for Nikolis Asimakis.
Author 1 book7 followers
May 9, 2013
Just finished the third part. Generic fantasy of the '80s, sure, but at least well written and presented. The second book, though it had it's moments seemed weaker to me than the first, so I had my doubts about the quality of the third. Even though I gave both the second and this one four-stars, it should be more like 3-and-a-half for the second and 4-and-a-half for this one. A frozen landscape full of mysteries and a ruined castle with ancient secrets waiting for you to explore. I couldn't ask for more.

About the deaths, I don't like to start again, even from the same book (not to talk about the whole series), because I would like to experience the epic as a whole, but to keep fair, I keep statistics of how many time I should be dead in each book. Up until now, I died once in each book, mainly from wrong choices than from battle. At least I keep the death rating as low as possible.
Profile Image for Taddow.
670 reviews7 followers
February 5, 2017
This was a better adventure than the previous one. The northern wastes, the ice barbarians and the ancient Caverns of Kalte were a great and unique backdrop and the author did a great job of describing the harsh and deadly atmosphere of not just the natives, but of the elements as well.

While I enjoyed the adventure, I found it a little too easy (though having the Sommerswerd provided a significant benefit and I'm interested in seeing how the rest of the adventures in the series goes with the magical sword because in my first attempts at them decades ago I did not have the sword and thought they were a challenge indeed). The tromp through the ice fortress itself didn't seem too demanding and I was hoping for a little more for the final battle.
Profile Image for Tonari.
152 reviews4 followers
June 11, 2014
I had some difficulties with the Kalkoths (died a couple of times), the polar setting did not appeal me very much, but it was quite funny. Anyway why on earth does Lone Wold need to go to the north pole just before winter? Can't he wait till spring at least?
Profile Image for Oliver.
242 reviews46 followers
May 28, 2022
The Caverns of Kalte is where the series definitely started to falter a bit for me. The setting was brilliant with the snowy landscape but certain gameplay decisions started to drag. Some of the carry-over items became way too powerful and there were a bit too many dice roll insta-deaths for my liking.
Profile Image for Stepan.
84 reviews
September 24, 2020
This was good, I enjoyed the story. It felt slightly better then previous two books.
Profile Image for Hayden.
Author 1 book8 followers
May 13, 2018
This one was (and upon reread still is) my least favorite of the original Kai series. I still liked it, especially the departure from the Tolkien-style idyllic-always-nice Summerlund setting to the frozen Arctic wasteland of Kalte, bringing with it environmental hazards like blizzards and snow blindness and avalanches and freezing to death. It really felt like the surface was a dangerous wilderness out to kill you at every turn (as it should feel). And the caverns felt like a labyrinthine ice castle where a lot of cool treasures (that I probably missed most of) were hidden. However, it felt like the underground lead up to the caverns themselves was too dependent on randomness (or happening to find the right item in the right order) rather than skill and smarter playing. So it's my fault I didn't fall into the crevasse early enough to find the Blue Stone Triangle so I could open the door before the monster that kills you automatically if you take any damage at all in the fight gets to you? Got it. Die. Then make less smart survival choices on the surface on the next playthrough (though I actually did survive that encounter damageless one time.)
Profile Image for Michael Kelly.
Author 16 books27 followers
June 28, 2015
The Lone Wolf series is growing on me as it progresses. Book 2 was MUCH better than book 1, but still had a couple of really annoying features. This third book is a little better again. I did discover one maddening circumstance, but I'll let it go.

There was a much better sense of the passage of time in this book, as the expedition proceeds across the icy wastes towards the fortress where the traitor wizard Vonotar is holed up. There's a great sense of place too, really conveying the sense of arctic conditions.

The caverns themselves contain glimpses of the past of this fantasy world, starting to fill in the wider details. I guess this is one benefit of a continuing story like this series: each book expands and deepens the lore. Maybe that explains why I'm finding them less lightweight as they go on.

There was surprisingly little combat in this volume. The encounters themselves were interesting, espcially the climactic one. But I only had five actual fights, and thanks to the overpowered Sommerswerd all but the very last one resulted in instant kills, wiping out my enemies in a single combat round (the last creature took two rounds, but I still didn't receive a single scratch in combat throughout this book).

I did enjoy this one, though, and now have optimism for book four.
Profile Image for Thomas.
8 reviews
November 6, 2014
Beautiful landscapes, mysteries of ancients species of great powers, and labyrinthic castles. This is what seem to remain the most after the end. This is a good thing. Whereas in the first two books there were enough quirks that gave a bitter-sweet aftertaste, this one feels good from start to finish.

Overall, the book series depict a pretty standard heroic fantasy universe, but the frozen land-of-the-north twist in this one brings a certain enthusiasm to the reading.

From a gaming standpoint, the number of choices seem larger, with more consequences and diverging paths. With the weapon Sommerswerd at your side, though, the combats are way too easy, and if you add the Healing ability on top of that the book is a piece of cake but for the few choices that lead to instant death.

However, once more, the writing feel week on the time ellipsis. Even if Lone Wolf's hike is supposed to take around 20 to 30 days, it feels like only 3 to 5 days pass during the full length of the story.

Good reading, but probably not something someone would keep memories for decades, but still enjoyable enough for the time (if you are following the full series).
40 reviews3 followers
May 3, 2017
This book is linked to the first two in the series by its villain, but it feels very much like a stand alone adventure. So much so in fact that it feels somewhat like a Fighting Fantasy book. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as the they are a solid series of books too, however the style seems a little out of place.

Part of the problem for me is the location. There are no towns, or villages, which is part of what I always like as I find the changing scenery gives a sense of progression.

Despite what I've said about it, it's not a bad book, just a solid one.

One plus point however, is that you find one of the more useful items of the series, the Kalte Firesphere, a lantern substitute that's with you all the way through the series, Grand Master series included and that can't be a bad thing.
Profile Image for Mountainroot.
198 reviews24 followers
May 19, 2016
Ωραία ιστορία δεν μπορώ να πω. Αν και η αποφάσεις που έπρεπες να πάρεις νομίζω οτι ήταν προφανείς. Δεν έγινε κάτι το δύσκολο και μέχρι στιγμής ήταν το πιο εύκολο απο τα 3 τις σειράς. Σε αυτό παίζει ρόλο οτι εχω ήδη πολλές ικανότητες οπότε συνήθως την βγάζω καθαρή.


Το ξεκίνησα για πλάκα και τελικά το έβγαλα με την πρώτη φορά. Απο ότι πήγα μετά και είδα όμως έχασα αρκετά απο τα αντικείμενα που είχε το βιβλίο αυτό...δεν πειράζει όμως.
Να πω την αλήθεια όμως σε μία μάχη μου έκατσε πάρα πολύ καλή ριξιά και κατάφερα να σκοτώσω ένα πλάσμα που υπο άλλες συνθήκες θα με σκότωσε με ένα χτύπημα να το σκοτώσω πρώτος εγώ με την μία και μοναδική μου ευκαιρία. Τύχη καθαρή εντελώς

0 θάνατοι. Βγήκε με την πρώτη.
Profile Image for Amber.
251 reviews16 followers
November 9, 2010
Finished! and moving on. I love how our character is being to be epic. (lucky rolls)
7,030 reviews83 followers
December 20, 2014
Plus facile, à part au début, et histoire moin sépique, fin très banale. Moins bon que les deux premiers.
Profile Image for Lucie Lacoste.
338 reviews7 followers
October 2, 2016
Hey troisième tome de la série en accumulant les objets et les capacités, j'ai l'impression de devenir invincible. Je ne suis morte que deux fois avant de gagner :)
Profile Image for Dave.
Author 27 books81 followers
December 1, 2016
Where you nab the dirty traitor who betrayed the Kai...
Profile Image for Ginés Guevara.
Author 4 books1 follower
April 28, 2017
Probablemente el mejor de la serie, en directa competición con el nº 5 El Desierto de las Sombras.
98 reviews13 followers
December 12, 2017
awesomeness!!
project aon free thank me later
golden temple
sorcery! jackson
other good series
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