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Sagas of the Demonspawn #1
Fire*Wolf
250pages. poche. Poche. Livre dont vous êtes le héros en français
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
J.H. Brennan
99 books47 followersJames Herbert "Herbie" Brennan is a lecturer and the author of over one hundred fiction and non-fiction books for adults, teens, and children.
His works have been translated into approximately fifty languages, he has also written books on the Occult and New Age. He initially trained in esoteric teachings and Qabalah with the Fraternity of the Inner Light, and later became associated with Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and the Servants of the Light.
In 1995 he contributed two novels to the Horrorscopes series under the house pen name Maria Palmer.
In 2003, Brennan published the children's book The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild under the pseudonym Cornelius Rumstuckle.
His works have been translated into approximately fifty languages, he has also written books on the Occult and New Age. He initially trained in esoteric teachings and Qabalah with the Fraternity of the Inner Light, and later became associated with Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and the Servants of the Light.
In 1995 he contributed two novels to the Horrorscopes series under the house pen name Maria Palmer.
In 2003, Brennan published the children's book The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild under the pseudonym Cornelius Rumstuckle.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 17, 2015
I've been up in my mother's attic recently, fetching down all my old fantasy gamebooks from back in the 1980s and 1990s, on a bit of a nostalgia trip. I plan to plough through them all in a wave of obsessive dice-rolling over the course of the next few months.
Most of the titles belong to the classic Fighting Fantasy series, of course. But before starting on those, I wanted to turn to the author whose books had been my favourite: Herbie Brennan. He was simply a hugely entertaining writer.
Fire*Wolf is the first volume of the four part Saga of the Demonspawn. It features a barbarian warrior who trains to be a sorcerer and wields a soul-sucking demonic sword as its main character, a sort of cross between Conan and Elric. It's a very adult book, with plenty of sex and violence.
The story - and the reader's route through it - is FAR more linear than most gamebooks. There are very few deviations at all until the player reaches the castle in the swamps at the midway point of the book. There are a load of different routes through this crumbling edifice, some of them completely randomly determined. I saw loads of rooms on loads of read-throughs, but you only ever get to see a few on any particular read. Did I just mention loads of read-throughs? I died in this part of the story a LOT. The castle is merciless and contains a large number of frustrating instant death choices. Not all of them are unfair, though: one, which had a big build-up and several skill checks to reach its conclusion, leading me to believe there'd be a big pay-off, had me laughing out loud. In retrospect, it was so bloody obvious, I was kicking myself! This plethora of lethal traps makes the reader very cautious to explore the castle, but there are also some seriously wonderful rewards to be had.
After the castle and crypts, the book becomes very linear once again. The city at the end can be explored in any order, though it's mostly empty. It's worth exploring thoroughly before the book's final encounter, however, where Fire*Wolf meets and fights a Demonspawn for the first time.
The combat is quite tough but fair, especially if the player uses spells and found items wisely to swing the odds. The final fight is a toughie, but can still be easily won if you've searched in the right places.
A good start to the Saga.
Most of the titles belong to the classic Fighting Fantasy series, of course. But before starting on those, I wanted to turn to the author whose books had been my favourite: Herbie Brennan. He was simply a hugely entertaining writer.
Fire*Wolf is the first volume of the four part Saga of the Demonspawn. It features a barbarian warrior who trains to be a sorcerer and wields a soul-sucking demonic sword as its main character, a sort of cross between Conan and Elric. It's a very adult book, with plenty of sex and violence.
The story - and the reader's route through it - is FAR more linear than most gamebooks. There are very few deviations at all until the player reaches the castle in the swamps at the midway point of the book. There are a load of different routes through this crumbling edifice, some of them completely randomly determined. I saw loads of rooms on loads of read-throughs, but you only ever get to see a few on any particular read. Did I just mention loads of read-throughs? I died in this part of the story a LOT. The castle is merciless and contains a large number of frustrating instant death choices. Not all of them are unfair, though: one, which had a big build-up and several skill checks to reach its conclusion, leading me to believe there'd be a big pay-off, had me laughing out loud. In retrospect, it was so bloody obvious, I was kicking myself! This plethora of lethal traps makes the reader very cautious to explore the castle, but there are also some seriously wonderful rewards to be had.
After the castle and crypts, the book becomes very linear once again. The city at the end can be explored in any order, though it's mostly empty. It's worth exploring thoroughly before the book's final encounter, however, where Fire*Wolf meets and fights a Demonspawn for the first time.
The combat is quite tough but fair, especially if the player uses spells and found items wisely to swing the odds. The final fight is a toughie, but can still be easily won if you've searched in the right places.
A good start to the Saga.
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August 24, 2019Ce livre est trop difficile.
Le premier combat est contre un adversaire qui nous fait du dommage à chaque fois qu’il lance 3 et +. Même si j’avais un grand nombre de points de vie, le combat se termine lorsque l’un des deux (le héros ou l’adversaire) se retrouve en bas de 50 points. Ça fait en sorte que pour le prochain combat (que tu aies gagné ou non), on a aucune chance d’aller plus loin.
Le pire c’est que j’avais des très bonnes statistiques la première fois, donc lorsque j’ai réessayé du départ la 2e fois, avec des moins bonnes statistiques, c’était juste impossible.
A moins que j’ai manqué quelque chose qui aurait dû me redonner mes points de vue, c’est juste trop dur. Le premier combat est long, mais je n’ai même pas eu l’occasion de rentrer vraiment dans l’histoire.
Par contre, du faible échantillon que j’ai pu expérimenter, nous sommes rapidement dans l’action et il y a plusieurs façons de nous faire avancer dans l’histoire: choix, faux choix, lancement de dés, combat, comparaison de statistiques, ect
Le premier combat est contre un adversaire qui nous fait du dommage à chaque fois qu’il lance 3 et +. Même si j’avais un grand nombre de points de vie, le combat se termine lorsque l’un des deux (le héros ou l’adversaire) se retrouve en bas de 50 points. Ça fait en sorte que pour le prochain combat (que tu aies gagné ou non), on a aucune chance d’aller plus loin.
Le pire c’est que j’avais des très bonnes statistiques la première fois, donc lorsque j’ai réessayé du départ la 2e fois, avec des moins bonnes statistiques, c’était juste impossible.
A moins que j’ai manqué quelque chose qui aurait dû me redonner mes points de vue, c’est juste trop dur. Le premier combat est long, mais je n’ai même pas eu l’occasion de rentrer vraiment dans l’histoire.
Par contre, du faible échantillon que j’ai pu expérimenter, nous sommes rapidement dans l’action et il y a plusieurs façons de nous faire avancer dans l’histoire: choix, faux choix, lancement de dés, combat, comparaison de statistiques, ect
November 23, 2024
Three stars for the decent story, but the gameplay is absolutely horrendous.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews