FF13: Sorcery! 3: The Seven Serpents

Here we enter classic Fighting Fantasy; The Seven Serpents. This is the thirteenth book in the successful Fighting Fantasy gamebook series, this time written entirely by Steve Jackson. It is set in the most popular medieval-style gamebook setting of the Old World, originally created to be used by Steve and Allansia for Ian.

Book Description: Based on the best-selling Fighting Fantasy gamebook system, The Seven Serpents is Book Three in Steve Jackson's Sorcery! epic, followed by the The Crown of Kings. Each book in the Sorcery! series is a complete adventure – you don’t need to have read a previous book to move on to the next.

Your quest to recover The Crown of Kings has led you to the brutal wilderness of the Baklands, on the far side of which lies the dark Mampang Fortress. Seven serpents with elemental powers speed ahead of you, intent on warning the evil Archmage of Mampang of your coming. Can you slay all seven before they reach him?

Each Sorcery! book is a complete adventure – you don’t need to have read a previous book to move on to the next.

Play as either a warrior or a wizard. If you choose wizardry, your survival will depend on your knowledge of the Sorcery! Spell Book's darkest secrets. With many other unique features to discover, Sorcery! is a true challenge for the novice and veteran adventurers alike.

Part-story part-game, this is a book with a difference - one in which you become the hero! A pencil and an eraser are all you need to make your journey. YOU decide which route to take, which creatures to fight and which dangers to risk.

The Sorcery Epic is actually a four book adventure that originally was a completely individual series when first published by Penguin in the 1980s. Combined into the current Wizard at the request of Steve Jackson, the series has several differences with two main exceptions.

The first is in the fact that it uses a special event scenario during the course of the book. You can call upon Libra (goddess of Justice) once during all four books to save you during the quest and second you are allowed to play as either a warrior or as a wizard/Sorceror. A popular Gamebook rule that was introduced in the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks later in the series.

For players choosing the option of a wizard there is a spell book that contains 48 spells that you need to learn in order to use them in the book. What's clever about this is that you have to study the spellbook and the chosen spells that are represented by a 3-letter code, like HOT or RAZ, for example. These you have to memorize before you begin play.

Throughout the book, in certain encounters, you are given a chance to cast a spell. You are then given five of these three-letter codes to choose from. It is up to you to remember which code represents which spell. To make things more tricky, some of the codes you are offered don't relate to any spells at all ("duds"), and over half of all spells require specific items to work. If you don't have the item, you take damage. Each costs points to be cast also, so you always need to limit the use as well.

The magic system is an excellent edition to the Fighting Fantasy genre and may be expanded upon in future...Sorcery! 2 perhaps?

About the Author: Steve Jackson

Cover:
Mel Grant

Illustrations:
John Blanche