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Choose Your Own Adventure: Young Readers #22
The Evil Wizard
An evil wizard has cast a spell on your town. He can make it snow in the summer and he can turn people into ice.
64 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 12, 2019
Edward Packard is arguably the most important figure in Choose Your Own Adventure history, and his daughter Andrea also contributed to the franchise. Her first gamebook was The Evil Wizard in 1984, which Andrea wrote as a junior at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. In the story, you live in a time long ago of superstition and real magic. While visiting your friend Jason in a town near Wizard's Wood—a forest named for a sorcerer who terrorized the people years ago—you attend a public fair featuring all sorts of Renaissance entertainment. But a dark cloud sweeps over the merry gathering, and snow begins falling from the suddenly frigid skies. Jason tells you the wizard must be back, and the town will remain in the icy grip of his sorcery for as long as it amuses him to toy with it. Can anyone restore summer?
Young as you are, you and Jason aim to end the wizard's power over the town once and for all. You might meet an elderly woman named Ama, who is familiar with the wizard's black magic. She knows the enchanted words that will defeat him if someone sneaks into his home and speaks them over him as he sleeps. The mission is fraught with danger: an oversized black cat with fangs and hypnotic yellow eyes protects the wizard's door, and the wizard forces children to be his slaves if he catches them on his property. Nina, one of those slaves, will help you sneak into the house and hide, but you only get one shot at reciting Ama's spell and disabling the wizard's magic. Capitalize on that opportunity and you'll be a hero.
If you never cross paths with Ama, then you and Jason regroup at his house for a strategy session regarding how to combat the wizard's wintry assault. Jason's sister Kate suggests you approach the wizard as potential apprentices, then betray him after you know enough magic to counteract his snow spell. The wizard is a haggard brute with burning red eyes. Only the mean-spirited are capable of sorcery, he growls at you and Kate; are you up to it? You may opt to keep the pretense going, but be cautious of indulging your nastier whims to impress the wizard. Even feigned cruelty has its pitfalls. Once you have access inside the wizard's home, there will be chances to reverse the snow spell, but your limited knowledge of magic could exacerbate the problem if you're not careful. Legend has it that the wizard's power emanates from his crystal ball; destroy it and his hold on the town will be broken. Accompanied by Jason or on your own, you can go after this talisman, but the wizard guards it jealously. He may turn Jason into a frozen statue and refuse to thaw him unless you complete an impossible task, but a small act of kindness you did earlier could circle back to save you both, and the town. When battling sorcery, a warm heart often triumphs over a cold, mean one.
High fantasy is outside the typical range of the Bantam Skylark Choose Your Own Adventures. Andrea Packard fills The Evil Wizard with just enough energy and unpredictability to interest older kids while keeping the story paths short for the sake of younger ones. The choices are legitimately challenging, and determine the difference between triumph and doom as you attempt to loosen the wizard's iron grip on Jason's town. Whether you end up as the wizard's slave or revoke his tyranny and become a celebrity is entirely in your hands. The Evil Wizard is a fun book, a good option for repeated rereads.
Young as you are, you and Jason aim to end the wizard's power over the town once and for all. You might meet an elderly woman named Ama, who is familiar with the wizard's black magic. She knows the enchanted words that will defeat him if someone sneaks into his home and speaks them over him as he sleeps. The mission is fraught with danger: an oversized black cat with fangs and hypnotic yellow eyes protects the wizard's door, and the wizard forces children to be his slaves if he catches them on his property. Nina, one of those slaves, will help you sneak into the house and hide, but you only get one shot at reciting Ama's spell and disabling the wizard's magic. Capitalize on that opportunity and you'll be a hero.
If you never cross paths with Ama, then you and Jason regroup at his house for a strategy session regarding how to combat the wizard's wintry assault. Jason's sister Kate suggests you approach the wizard as potential apprentices, then betray him after you know enough magic to counteract his snow spell. The wizard is a haggard brute with burning red eyes. Only the mean-spirited are capable of sorcery, he growls at you and Kate; are you up to it? You may opt to keep the pretense going, but be cautious of indulging your nastier whims to impress the wizard. Even feigned cruelty has its pitfalls. Once you have access inside the wizard's home, there will be chances to reverse the snow spell, but your limited knowledge of magic could exacerbate the problem if you're not careful. Legend has it that the wizard's power emanates from his crystal ball; destroy it and his hold on the town will be broken. Accompanied by Jason or on your own, you can go after this talisman, but the wizard guards it jealously. He may turn Jason into a frozen statue and refuse to thaw him unless you complete an impossible task, but a small act of kindness you did earlier could circle back to save you both, and the town. When battling sorcery, a warm heart often triumphs over a cold, mean one.
High fantasy is outside the typical range of the Bantam Skylark Choose Your Own Adventures. Andrea Packard fills The Evil Wizard with just enough energy and unpredictability to interest older kids while keeping the story paths short for the sake of younger ones. The choices are legitimately challenging, and determine the difference between triumph and doom as you attempt to loosen the wizard's iron grip on Jason's town. Whether you end up as the wizard's slave or revoke his tyranny and become a celebrity is entirely in your hands. The Evil Wizard is a fun book, a good option for repeated rereads.
September 7, 2026
Interactive Fiction | Fantasy | Adventure
You are the main character and make choices that determine which path and ending you experience. The story encourages you to go back and try different decisions to discover new adventures.
• Plot:
You travel to a town where an evil wizard has supposedly returned and is threatening the townspeople. Along with your friend Jason and his sister Kate, you try to figure out how to stop him. You can choose to look for the wizard's crystal ball, learn wizardry, or make other decisions that lead to completely different outcomes. Some choices result in bad endings, while others allow you to break the wizard's spell and save the town.
• What I Liked:
I enjoyed this one more than the previous Choose Your Own Adventure book I read. It was more entertaining and interesting, and I really liked the artwork. The illustrations have a cool style that fits the fantasy setting. I also felt more encouraged to experiment with different routes. Instead of simply accepting one ending, I wanted to go back to the decisions I had been debating and see what would happen if I chose differently. Some of the outcomes were surprisingly funny and unexpected.
• What Didn’t Work for Me:
Some of the choices felt a little unrealistic or simplistic, and occasionally the story seemed to force you to choose between options when logically you might want to try both . Some endings also felt abrupt, especially when a decision suddenly resulted in a very plain or unfortunate ending.
Being reasonable or sensible isn't really rewarded in these types of stories; the more absurd your choice is, the longer the story goes, and it creates a good ending rather than a failed or bad one. So, I'm not sure, as long as kids and adults read this as entertainment. Hopefully, it doesn't steer kids, when thinking critically, toward being too absurd or unreasonable with their choices.
• Themes / Ideas:
The book explores decision-making, consequences, courage, trust, and thinking for yourself. It also shows that the most obvious or “reasonable” choice isn't necessarily the one that leads to the best outcome. Trying different choices and learning from the consequences is a major part of the experience.
• Who I’d Recommend It To:
I'd recommend it to children and anyone who enjoys interactive stories, fantasy adventures, and books where their choices affect the outcome. It's especially good for readers who like replaying stories and discovering different endings.
• Overall Thoughts:
I had fun with this book. Compared with the previous Choose Your Own Adventure from Miller's Pond story I read, this one made me much more curious about the other possible routes. I especially enjoyed going back to the choices we were unsure about and testing the alternatives instead of simply starting over from the beginning. Some of our decisions led to terrible endings, while eventually the more absurd choices led to the best ending, smashing the wizard's crystal ball, which is repeatedly mentioned, and saving the town. The artwork was another highlight for me. This was a fun, entertaining adventure that made me want to keep exploring what other endings the book had to offer. I found this in my little library near me. :)
You are the main character and make choices that determine which path and ending you experience. The story encourages you to go back and try different decisions to discover new adventures.
• Plot:
You travel to a town where an evil wizard has supposedly returned and is threatening the townspeople. Along with your friend Jason and his sister Kate, you try to figure out how to stop him. You can choose to look for the wizard's crystal ball, learn wizardry, or make other decisions that lead to completely different outcomes. Some choices result in bad endings, while others allow you to break the wizard's spell and save the town.
• What I Liked:
I enjoyed this one more than the previous Choose Your Own Adventure book I read. It was more entertaining and interesting, and I really liked the artwork. The illustrations have a cool style that fits the fantasy setting. I also felt more encouraged to experiment with different routes. Instead of simply accepting one ending, I wanted to go back to the decisions I had been debating and see what would happen if I chose differently. Some of the outcomes were surprisingly funny and unexpected.
• What Didn’t Work for Me:
Some of the choices felt a little unrealistic or simplistic, and occasionally the story seemed to force you to choose between options when logically you might want to try both . Some endings also felt abrupt, especially when a decision suddenly resulted in a very plain or unfortunate ending.
Being reasonable or sensible isn't really rewarded in these types of stories; the more absurd your choice is, the longer the story goes, and it creates a good ending rather than a failed or bad one. So, I'm not sure, as long as kids and adults read this as entertainment. Hopefully, it doesn't steer kids, when thinking critically, toward being too absurd or unreasonable with their choices.
• Themes / Ideas:
The book explores decision-making, consequences, courage, trust, and thinking for yourself. It also shows that the most obvious or “reasonable” choice isn't necessarily the one that leads to the best outcome. Trying different choices and learning from the consequences is a major part of the experience.
• Who I’d Recommend It To:
I'd recommend it to children and anyone who enjoys interactive stories, fantasy adventures, and books where their choices affect the outcome. It's especially good for readers who like replaying stories and discovering different endings.
• Overall Thoughts:
I had fun with this book. Compared with the previous Choose Your Own Adventure from Miller's Pond story I read, this one made me much more curious about the other possible routes. I especially enjoyed going back to the choices we were unsure about and testing the alternatives instead of simply starting over from the beginning. Some of our decisions led to terrible endings, while eventually the more absurd choices led to the best ending, smashing the wizard's crystal ball, which is repeatedly mentioned, and saving the town. The artwork was another highlight for me. This was a fun, entertaining adventure that made me want to keep exploring what other endings the book had to offer. I found this in my little library near me. :)
March 16, 2022
This is one of the rarer books in this series, but it’s worth reading if you get the chance - particularly for enjoying some of the fantastic things that happen to the evil wizard when you defeat him.
May 5, 2021
It was a fun one c:
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews