Secret of the Pyramids

Избери своето приключение! #4

by Richard Brightfield, Anthony Kramer (Illustrator)

WILL YOU DISCOVER THE SECRET OF THE PYRAMIDS?

You are in Egypt to help your uncle Bruce with his scientific experiments. You are investigating a theory that the ancient pyramids possess strong mystical powers. You have just entered the Great Pyramid. An underground tunnel leads you to a dark and mysterious chamber. You are the first person to discover it. Is this a clue to the secret of the Pyramids -- or a room of danger?

If you decide to explore the chamber, turn to page 24. If you decide to get help from the men outside the pyramid, turn to page 90. What happens next in the story? It all depends on the choices you make. You might fall into the Well of the Ancients, or be trapped inside a cursed tomb. Or you might run into assassins who are out to get you!

How does the story end? Only you can find out! And the best part is that you can keep reading and rereading until you've had not one, but many incredibly daring experiences!

Genres: Choose Your Own Adventure, Gamebooks, Fiction, Childrens, Thriller, Egypt, Science Fiction

116 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1983

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Richard Brightfield went on to write many Choose Your Own Adventure books, but Secret of the Pyramids was his first contribution to the series, and his lack of experience at that point is somewhat evident. You are at home after school one afternoon when your Uncle Bruce, a scientist, telephones. He's headed to Egypt to investigate an energy phenomenon reportedly centered around the Pyramids. Preliminary research suggests the Pyramids may actually be an ancient conduit to harness cosmic rays for use, a revelation that would forever alter energy consumption on earth. Uncle Bruce doesn't have to ask twice for you to join him on his adventure. Within days the two of you are off to the Middle East, but you grow uneasy even before your plane lands in Cairo. Are you paranoid, or are other passengers eavesdropping on Uncle Bruce's conversations with you? Your fears seem to be validated when a man approaches you at the airport after you go on ahead of Uncle Bruce. The stranger hands you a note with "Beware the Sphinx" scribbled on it, then hurries away. Should you tail the guy, or meet up with Uncle Bruce at your hotel and show him the ominous message?

Unlike many Choose Your Own Adventure books, there isn't really one central decision that branches into two distinct narratives. You can get caught up in Cairo's nightlife, playing an espionage game with criminals who have far more expertise than you. They have no reason to harm you yet, but will that change? The city is dangerous if you run afoul of terrorists, who will stop at nothing to sabotage Uncle Bruce's scientific mission and try to corral the limitless power of the Pyramids for their own dubious purposes. If you take the "safe" route and wait for your uncle at the hotel, danger still stalks you. Anyone associated with Uncle Bruce has a target on their back, and you could be killed if things get contentious enough.

Most story paths have little or nothing to do with the Pyramids, but a few see you treading the darkened corridors of these ancient tombs that hold secrets more exotic than anything you can imagine. Extraterrestrials may have had a hand in building the Pyramids, and even now be at work maintaining balance in the cosmos in areas beyond human comprehension. More than one secret awaits you in the desert, but the exciting ones hint at the real purpose behind these ancient buildings. You may even come face to face with the being who created the Pyramids all those years ago.

The Curse of Batterslea Hall and The Deadly Shadow are better Choose Your Own Adventure books by Richard Brightfield, but Secret of the Pyramids has intriguing moments. My favorite is a weird aside in which you find sanctuary with a magician named Al-Din while on the run from your enemies. "All is illusion," he assures you, and proceeds to demonstrate what he means. Al-Din sends you back to the beginning of this book in a loop you can ride as many times as you desire. It's strange, but it's the most memorable part of Secret of the Pyramids. Compared to other Choose Your Own Adventure titles, this one rates low for its lack of a compelling central story, but it's fine for a quick diversion, possibly worth one and a half stars. It's not Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?, but it can be fun.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eres una joven que tiene un tío científico y viajero. Un día recibes una llamada en la cual te propone que lo acompañes a Egipto, ya que allí él vuelve para continuar su investigación acerca del poder energético de las pirámides ( en concreto al situar bajo sus cámaras centrales rayos cósmicos) y sus misterios. Cómo no, accedes encantada por el viaje exótico que a tus inexpertos ojos se aventura...pero no prevés los peligros y sucesos de misteriosa índole que posiblemente te encontrarás...
Richard Brightfield es un autor que se integró, una vez abierta la veda por los ideólogos Packard y Montgomerry, dentro del grupo de escritores de la serie de elección de aventuras. Su pluma no es mala y especialmente lo mejor es la trama de partida de sus narraciones; cómo en el presente caso.
¿Y cómo no nos va a maravillar vivir aventuras en las misteriosas pirámides y el entorno tan atractivo y atrayente de Egipto?. Dentro de sus veintidós soluciones, pasaremos por guerrillas asesinas, misterios UFO, mensajes del futuro, contactos con Faraones históricos, secuestros y sectas místicas, entre otros.
El problema viene, y partiendo de unas historias tan sugerentes, que la narración adolece de falta de desarrollo; en parte es una percepción mía al volver a leerlo ya cómo adulta. Sin embargo, os puedo asegurar que hay libros dentro de la serie mucho mejor desarrollados, que no resultan ‘cortantes’ al llegar al punto culminante de su aventura (cuando descubres la fuerza mística de la pirámide o contactas con el faraón, por ejemplo).
Cómo comentario importante que quisiera mencionar es que las aventuras de Brightfield están protagonizadas por personajes femeninos (una excepción en ‘Elige tu propia aventura’) y que se decantan por la vertiente paranormal cómo en el presente caso, y que bien pudiese haberlo hecho por la rama histórica o puramente aventurera.
En conclusión, Una buena idea que incluso hubiera resultado válida para una narración clásica al uso, que contiene buenas propuestas de trama pero poco desarrolladas y aventuras excesivamente cortas.
Recomendada para lectores jóvenes que busquen diversión y una lectura ágil, ya que los adultos se frustrarán al entender el trasfondo de las aventuras pero les faltará evolución en éstas.

[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.

[Aegelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indiana Jones, James Bond, Fifth Element, Aladdin, just some of the great action films that come to mind as I'm following the journey through the otherwise realistic scenery of Egypt. Choices aren't altogether clear in this one, with some surprising ending results. I enjoy reading all the splits because we always wonder "what if" with important decisions. Past, present, and future tumble around like socks in a dryer...and I'm not even sorry I made that simile.

[Gonregon · Rating 2 out of 5]

es un rpg de estos con 80 finales distintos que dependen de si has hablado con el vendedor de pociones con una ballesta encantada en la mano izquierda o en la izquierda.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bueno, ya. No he estado mucho tiempo en Egipto, pero al menos no he muerto.

[Nizar Hukic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!
Literally amazed with the story and chance to choose story end.
Recommend to everyone :D

[Dane Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a straightforward CYOA book from Richard Brightfield. As his first he'd gone a fairly safe route with a bit of mystery and espionage set in Egypt. Funnily enough not much of the story is spent in or near the pyramids but what is there keeps you guessing.

The main issue with the mystery aspect of the book is that other than "My Uncle might be about to discover a new unlimited energy source" there's not much in the way of explanation as to why absolutely everyone is trying to kill or kidnap you and your Uncle.

I also noticed that Brightfield, not wanting to be left out of the status quo of CYOA books, has shoe-horned extra-terrestrials into the story, even if it based on an actual historical figure and an attempt to explain how the Egyptians built the pyramids.

Its a decent first outing and was nice to see the beginning of an era of new authors making CYOA books, especially as Brightfield made some quite good ones after his first.

[cäty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me encanta estos libros de Elige Tu Propia Aventura. Hace mucho quería leer que no haya leído y una amiga tenía este en su casa y me lo prestó.

Me gustó mucho, es muy atrapante. Pero no es ni de cerca de los mejores. Me dieron ganas de hacer una relectura de los que ya leí porque siento que la historia tiene más "sentido" con respecto a las decisiones.

Digamos que si elegías cualquier decisión la historia perdía un poco el hilo conductor, y cuando elegías entre dos opciones importantes se perdía todo lo que conectaba a lo otro. Sin embargo es bueno y entretenido, pero hay otros mejores.

Aborda desde aliens, viajes espacio-temporales, magia, organizaciones terroristas y mitología egipcia, cómo no va a ser interesante?

⭐⭐⭐ 3/5

[Veselin Nikolov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ще посетим Египет със самолет. Основните проблеми са как да стигнем до хотела и в коя стая да се настаним. След което откриваме невероятно съкровище в рамките на 1 епизод.

Книжката е с дълбочината на история за Барбароните и смятам да пробвам да я прочета на 6-годишния ми син, да видим ще пожъне ли успех.

[Nell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 19 from the old school Choose Your Own Adventure series. I think my first run through I took the longest possible route to not succeeding in the adventure, but got it right the next time. The setting was fun, and it was a good adventure.

[Andre Hermanto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good:
* Diverse story.

Bad:
* Unlimited energy and many other silliness.

[Nate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible art. Terrible stories. Just terrible. And pretty dang racist.

[Ema💗💗 · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you follow that one part it will be so short and i read it for like 5 min. The book is boring🫤

[Caroline Pino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun car activity:)

[Finestrelle2020 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storia ricca di fantasia, ma anche con molti finali che lasciano questioni in sospesa e alcune incoerenze ed elementi poco credibili per i lettori appena più grandi della preadolescenza

[Matías Bertucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amaba el concepto de "crear mi propio desenlace". Lecturas entretenidas de mi niñez.

[Rick Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ton of words, but many good twists and turns, not the development I was ready for.

[Samantha Glasser · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a kid, I devoured anything and everything having to do with ancient Egypt.

[David Sarkies · Rating 2 out of 5]

An Adventure in Giza
16 September 2012

The pyramids of Giza have always held humanity in awe. In fact they are the only remaining one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It seems that Cheops succeed in building a monument to him that would last through the ages, but then again many kings in dictatorial realms, especially those who are drunk with power, always want to be remembered. Hey, I guess many of us want to be remembered after we are gone as well. In a way it is a form of immortality, but it is a form of immortality that is only granted to a few.

There have been many theories behind these magnificent structures that to write a game book trying to encompass all of them would be a challenge, and from what I noted in the other review was that Brightfield pretty much failed in that. Then again I guess there is only so much you can do in a choose your own adventure before space restrictions set in and bring the story to an end. It has been a very long time since I have read this one though, but I suspect that I did read it because as a child I also had a fascination with the pyramids.

As mentioned there are a lot of strange ideas, such as being built by aliens because humanity at that time would have been incapable of building such monumental structures, however I would say that it completely underrates the ability of humanity to achieve such things. If we travel around the Ancient World, and even read of the Ancient World, we discover that they did build some magnificent structures, and just because they are ancients and didn't have engines or computers does not necessarily mean that they couldn't achieve such things.

While I could go into details on all of the amazing aspects of the pyramids (such as the mathematical accuracy) I won't because I am sure many people are already aware of these marvels. However, one theory is that the pyramids were not necessarily tombs but rather a temple complex that was attempting to mimic the Orion constellation. Another theory was that it was a complex where a new Pharaoh would enter and perform a ritual so that he might receive the soul of Horus, the first Pharaoh. However, it is unlikely they we will ever truly know, and the best explanation is probably the simplest: it was the tomb of a power crazed and eccentric king.

[Petercsm730 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first thing I noticed about Secret of the Pyramids (Choose Your Own Adventure #19) was the art by Anthony Kramer. It's unintentionally creepy as everybody looks like what best can be described as deranged toddlers. Sometimes with facial hair. As if acknowledging this the artist spares the reader some anguish by having almost half of his drawings highlight the back of someone's head. There are also two drawings of a sandstorm that look like toys beneath a rippling surface of water. That's the most upbeat description I can give of them.

Anyway, the story by Richard Brightfield isn't much better. Your uncle is a scientist and takes you along with him to Egypt in order to try and use the pyramids to focus cosmic rays into an unlimited source of energy. Now THAT'S a scientist. Depending on the path(s) you choose you may encounter UFOs, belly dancers, a random time traveling magician, sandstorms, mind control, a very short world conquerer living in a modern pyramid, submachine gun toting desert warriors, a submersible car, a group of assassins, a group of terrorists, and a group of evil foreign agents. You can also become all-powerful in one path but it ends as soon as you do so no wish fulfillment for you, my friend.

As you might gleam from the previous paragraph this book is all over the place. But none of it is very satisfying. The ideas are thrown in barely developed and then given abrupt ends. A few times it felt like the author wrote himself into a corner and so he quickly ended the path. Like the entire belly dancer storyline where you either hang out in her village and then go home, just go home, time travel back to page two, or go back home. There's also absolutely no continuity in this book either. Guards may come rushing in in one scene if you sneak out a window but if you go out the door the hall is completely empty. Or one group of villains is behind everything if you choose one path but it's aliens if you choose another. Also a lot of the choices are either 'go on adventure' or 'go back to hotel/go home'.

The "secret of the pyramids" is found on only one path. But since it makes no sense and you get nothing out of it I wouldn't exert a lot of effort trying to find it. Two words: data module.

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Choose Your Own Adventure were my favourite books when I was nine and ten years old. I loved being "the hero" of the story, and I loved reading and re-reading the book, trying to find my way to every page. The copies I actually owned I would put little pencil marks on the pages I'd made it to, and little checks on the choices so I could go a different way next time through. I adored them, and checked out the ones I didn't have from the library over and over again (and kept track of which pages I'd found on a piece of paper).

[Colton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, this one kind of sucked. While I love the off-the-wall randomness of these books, the author has to at least make some attempt to cohere the separate storylines into something resembling consistency. Here, it seems Brightfield is doing his best imitation of R.A. Montgomery's worse books, with frustrating non-endings and vague New Age jargon that never really convinces. With so many finer titles in this series (and by this author), it's probably best to just give this one a miss.

[Hector · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tuve un buen final a la primera, aunque no pareciera que mis decisiones tuvieran mucho que ver con el resultado. El arte que acompaña a la historia es malísimo. Decepcionante, quizás los otros libros sean mejores.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Mikana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the choose your-own-adventure books during my early years, and believe these are a great set of books for those who are new to reading their own books.