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Choose Your Own Adventure #25
Prisoner of the Ant People
WHERE HAVE ALL YOUR ZONDO QUEST GROUP MEMBERS GONE? AND WHAT DO THE ANT PEOPLE HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
You have been a research member of the Zondo Quest Group II for three years. Your mission: combat the Evil Power Master, a little-known entity who is attempting to destroy individual planets one by one in his quest to control the universe. New rumors swirl that the Evil Power Master has formed an alliance with the fearsome Ant People. And today, most members of your team are missing. Are they playing a prank? Or have they become prisoners of the Ant People? Rendoxoll swivels toward you and speaks. All members of the Rimpoche Team are missing. The Rimpoche Team members entered the research lab at the 000170 appointed phase but have not come out. They are gone. The Baba Ram Team is also missing. Same conditions. I need volunteers to search for them. I myself will lead. If you agree to go with Rendoxoll, turn to page 4. YOU choose what happens next!
You have been a research member of the Zondo Quest Group II for three years. Your mission: combat the Evil Power Master, a little-known entity who is attempting to destroy individual planets one by one in his quest to control the universe. New rumors swirl that the Evil Power Master has formed an alliance with the fearsome Ant People. And today, most members of your team are missing. Are they playing a prank? Or have they become prisoners of the Ant People? Rendoxoll swivels toward you and speaks. All members of the Rimpoche Team are missing. The Rimpoche Team members entered the research lab at the 000170 appointed phase but have not come out. They are gone. The Baba Ram Team is also missing. Same conditions. I need volunteers to search for them. I myself will lead. If you agree to go with Rendoxoll, turn to page 4. YOU choose what happens next!
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
9 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
About the author
R.A. Montgomery
156 books122 followersRaymond A. Montgomery (born 1936 in Connecticut) was an author and progenitor of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure interactive children's book series, which ran from 1979 to 2003. Montgomery graduated from Williams College and went to graduate school at Yale University and New York University (NYU). He devoted his life to teaching and education.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
March 23, 2013
Another failure. Damnation.
This one was actually quite the spectacular failure, and the way you know that you've failed at a Choose Your Own Adventure book is that the number of pages you read is far greater than the number of decisions you made.
Things started out in the future, where things seemed pretty good. I lived in a dome, the classic sure sign of living in the future. For some reason, we will decide that dome life is...actually, fuck whatever I was just going to say because now all I can think of is a half-circle welcome mat that says Dome Sweet Dome. Pete, you are hitting this one our of the park.
Anyway, it was time to leave my dome because none of these books can be something like Pleasure Dome or Leisure Dome where you choose between different refreshing beverages, and the worst outcome is regret. No, this is the world of Choose Your Own Adventure, where all you're really choosing is how you will die. Sort of.
When it was time to leave the dome, we got Future Hint #2 which is that I traveled by tube. Again, the future is really into tubes. I guess somewhere around 2050 everyone will say, What if we did your idea, but as a tube? Sort of how everyone does with apps right now.
Future Hint #3 was a Martian friend whose name was consonant heavy. Aliens hate vowels, perhaps because they have misinterpreted Wheel of Fortune and believe that one must actually purchase a vowel in all contexts.
Here is where things go off the rails.
There is this dude called the Power Master. By perusing title lists, I've come to understand that the Power Master is the evil villain of the CYOA universe. It seems he keeps popping up. In this context, he has figured out something about molecules that has given him the power to disintegrate planets. So you, as a smart dude, are trying to figure out whatever it is he figured out in order to stop him.
I love that stuff. Where we figure the best way to beat a bad guy is by doing exactly what he perfected 20 years ago, and then do it better. For example, when Superman fought Doomsday, he didn't just wing him into outer space towards the sun. No, better to punch each other in the face for 3 or 4 days.
Anyway, for some reason my plan in the book involved working with miniaturization, and when other portions of the research team disappeared we decided to miniaturize ourselves and go looking for them.
I'd like to point out that making myself tiny was not my choice. This has to be the most idiotic plan when it comes to searching. When someone is lost in the woods, I bet there are very few rescuers who think, "If only we could miniaturize ourselves and effectively search an area the size of an entire PLANET."
After we got smalled, it took me exactly two decisions to piss of my martian friend and discover that I had misplaces the de-miniaturizer. After a brief argument along the lines of, "Smooth move, Ex-Lax" followed by a resounding, "Hey, don't call me Ex-Lax, Dum-Dum" my martian friend decided to meditate, and I was all by myself, tiny and screwed.
Now, this was the end of the book. So again, I didn't die. Not exactly. But I was the size of a grain of rice. It's a little unfair as I do feel that I could somehow alert other scientists to my presence. Hell, those kids crossed an entire backyard with the help of one ant and a piece of cookie attached to a stick. All I'd have to do is bite the foot of that one jerk in the office who insists on wearing flip-flops even though this is a place of science.
Speaking of ants, I only met one ant who died almost immediately. So as far as being Prisoner of the Ant People, my role was pretty limited. This makes me suspect that I made it a very short distance into the potential story. I guess the dying ant made me a sort of conversational prisoner. He was pretty boring. Maybe a more appropriate title for my adventure would have been Social Prisoner of the Ant Person.
This one was actually quite the spectacular failure, and the way you know that you've failed at a Choose Your Own Adventure book is that the number of pages you read is far greater than the number of decisions you made.
Things started out in the future, where things seemed pretty good. I lived in a dome, the classic sure sign of living in the future. For some reason, we will decide that dome life is...actually, fuck whatever I was just going to say because now all I can think of is a half-circle welcome mat that says Dome Sweet Dome. Pete, you are hitting this one our of the park.
Anyway, it was time to leave my dome because none of these books can be something like Pleasure Dome or Leisure Dome where you choose between different refreshing beverages, and the worst outcome is regret. No, this is the world of Choose Your Own Adventure, where all you're really choosing is how you will die. Sort of.
When it was time to leave the dome, we got Future Hint #2 which is that I traveled by tube. Again, the future is really into tubes. I guess somewhere around 2050 everyone will say, What if we did your idea, but as a tube? Sort of how everyone does with apps right now.
Future Hint #3 was a Martian friend whose name was consonant heavy. Aliens hate vowels, perhaps because they have misinterpreted Wheel of Fortune and believe that one must actually purchase a vowel in all contexts.
Here is where things go off the rails.
There is this dude called the Power Master. By perusing title lists, I've come to understand that the Power Master is the evil villain of the CYOA universe. It seems he keeps popping up. In this context, he has figured out something about molecules that has given him the power to disintegrate planets. So you, as a smart dude, are trying to figure out whatever it is he figured out in order to stop him.
I love that stuff. Where we figure the best way to beat a bad guy is by doing exactly what he perfected 20 years ago, and then do it better. For example, when Superman fought Doomsday, he didn't just wing him into outer space towards the sun. No, better to punch each other in the face for 3 or 4 days.
Anyway, for some reason my plan in the book involved working with miniaturization, and when other portions of the research team disappeared we decided to miniaturize ourselves and go looking for them.
I'd like to point out that making myself tiny was not my choice. This has to be the most idiotic plan when it comes to searching. When someone is lost in the woods, I bet there are very few rescuers who think, "If only we could miniaturize ourselves and effectively search an area the size of an entire PLANET."
After we got smalled, it took me exactly two decisions to piss of my martian friend and discover that I had misplaces the de-miniaturizer. After a brief argument along the lines of, "Smooth move, Ex-Lax" followed by a resounding, "Hey, don't call me Ex-Lax, Dum-Dum" my martian friend decided to meditate, and I was all by myself, tiny and screwed.
Now, this was the end of the book. So again, I didn't die. Not exactly. But I was the size of a grain of rice. It's a little unfair as I do feel that I could somehow alert other scientists to my presence. Hell, those kids crossed an entire backyard with the help of one ant and a piece of cookie attached to a stick. All I'd have to do is bite the foot of that one jerk in the office who insists on wearing flip-flops even though this is a place of science.
Speaking of ants, I only met one ant who died almost immediately. So as far as being Prisoner of the Ant People, my role was pretty limited. This makes me suspect that I made it a very short distance into the potential story. I guess the dying ant made me a sort of conversational prisoner. He was pretty boring. Maybe a more appropriate title for my adventure would have been Social Prisoner of the Ant Person.
October 9, 2016
Eres miembro del equipo de investigación Zondo ( por tu asombrosa habilidad para la tecnología). Dicho equipo está formado por los más privilegiados científicos de los planetas Tierra, Marte y F32. La misión principal es combatir a una entidad maligna de origen desconocido, que está destruyendo la materia del universo, desintegrando todos los planetas y seres de la galaxia. Uno de los procedimientos que empleáis para el espionaje la miniaturización láser ...pero han desaparecido miembros colaboradores mediante ésta, en extrañas circunstancias, y debéis encontrarlos..¿ os dará su paradero con el ente maligno, quizá?...
HE QUERIDO COMENZAR ÉSTA RESEÑA EXPLICANDO EL ARGUMENTO, YA QUE COMO SE PUEDE REFLEJAT EN MI RESUMEN, ES UNA HISTORIA MUY MONTGOMERY; LA MAR DE INTERESANTE EN SU BASE ARGUMENTAL Y ENCIMA, ES UNA MEZCLA BIZARRA DE SCI FI DE CALADO INCLUSO ADULTO A PRIORI (CON EL RELATO DE UNA AMENAZA AVANZADA E IMPLACABLE PARA Y CONTRA EL UNIVERSO), CON LA MAS PURA FANTASÍA, INCLUYENDO A UN REINO DE HORMIGAS, QUE EN ALGUNOS CASOS SERÁN ALIADOS O NO....UNAS VECES DESTRUCTORAS Y DE LAS QUE SERÁS CAUTIVO, Y OTRAS VECES, INCLUSO ERUDITAS AVENTAJADAS, POSEEDORAS DE SISTEMA PARA CAPTAR LA ENERGÍA DE LOS PLANETAS DEL UNIVERSO Y EQUILIBRÁNDOLA (para evitar su destrucción. Ésa ha sido, sin duda, la mejor historia a la que he hecho frente).
CON TODOS ÉSTOS INGREDIENTES PROMETÍA MUCHO, PERO, POR DESGRACIA Y RARO EN EL GENIAL AUTOR, RESULTA UNA LECTURA MUY IRREGULAR, CON AVENTURAS EXTREMADAMENTE INSULSAS EN SU DESARROLLO, MUY ABRUPTAS E INCONCLUSAS Y CON DERROTEROS LA MAR DE SURREALISTAS, DEPENDIENDO DE TU ELECCIÓN; COSA MUY FRUSTRANTE POR QUE QUIERES ENCONTRAR, COMO LECTOR, A LA ENTIDAD Y DESTRUIRLA. ENTRE TODAS ELLAS, HAY MUY BUENAS EN TRAMADO DE FONDO..PERO DEBEN ENCONTRARSE Y AÚN ASÍ, LES FALTA DESARROLLO.
CREO QUE ES UN LIBRO QUE HUBIESE SIDO MUY INTERESANTE SI SE HUBIESE DESARROLLADO COMO NOVELA CLÁSICA DE LECTURA, POR SU ORIGINALIDAD Y LAS BUENAS IDEAS DEL AUTOR..
RECOMENDADA, Y CON TODO LO DICHO, PARA LOS LECTORES ÁVIDOS DE ORIGINALIDAD DE MEZCLA DE CONCEPTOS EN ‘ELIGE TU PROPIA AVENTURA’.
HASTA EN LO IRREGULAR, SACAS COSAS BUENAS DE MONTGOMERY
HE QUERIDO COMENZAR ÉSTA RESEÑA EXPLICANDO EL ARGUMENTO, YA QUE COMO SE PUEDE REFLEJAT EN MI RESUMEN, ES UNA HISTORIA MUY MONTGOMERY; LA MAR DE INTERESANTE EN SU BASE ARGUMENTAL Y ENCIMA, ES UNA MEZCLA BIZARRA DE SCI FI DE CALADO INCLUSO ADULTO A PRIORI (CON EL RELATO DE UNA AMENAZA AVANZADA E IMPLACABLE PARA Y CONTRA EL UNIVERSO), CON LA MAS PURA FANTASÍA, INCLUYENDO A UN REINO DE HORMIGAS, QUE EN ALGUNOS CASOS SERÁN ALIADOS O NO....UNAS VECES DESTRUCTORAS Y DE LAS QUE SERÁS CAUTIVO, Y OTRAS VECES, INCLUSO ERUDITAS AVENTAJADAS, POSEEDORAS DE SISTEMA PARA CAPTAR LA ENERGÍA DE LOS PLANETAS DEL UNIVERSO Y EQUILIBRÁNDOLA (para evitar su destrucción. Ésa ha sido, sin duda, la mejor historia a la que he hecho frente).
CON TODOS ÉSTOS INGREDIENTES PROMETÍA MUCHO, PERO, POR DESGRACIA Y RARO EN EL GENIAL AUTOR, RESULTA UNA LECTURA MUY IRREGULAR, CON AVENTURAS EXTREMADAMENTE INSULSAS EN SU DESARROLLO, MUY ABRUPTAS E INCONCLUSAS Y CON DERROTEROS LA MAR DE SURREALISTAS, DEPENDIENDO DE TU ELECCIÓN; COSA MUY FRUSTRANTE POR QUE QUIERES ENCONTRAR, COMO LECTOR, A LA ENTIDAD Y DESTRUIRLA. ENTRE TODAS ELLAS, HAY MUY BUENAS EN TRAMADO DE FONDO..PERO DEBEN ENCONTRARSE Y AÚN ASÍ, LES FALTA DESARROLLO.
CREO QUE ES UN LIBRO QUE HUBIESE SIDO MUY INTERESANTE SI SE HUBIESE DESARROLLADO COMO NOVELA CLÁSICA DE LECTURA, POR SU ORIGINALIDAD Y LAS BUENAS IDEAS DEL AUTOR..
RECOMENDADA, Y CON TODO LO DICHO, PARA LOS LECTORES ÁVIDOS DE ORIGINALIDAD DE MEZCLA DE CONCEPTOS EN ‘ELIGE TU PROPIA AVENTURA’.
HASTA EN LO IRREGULAR, SACAS COSAS BUENAS DE MONTGOMERY
July 5, 2020
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.
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.
January 15, 2025
Science fiction and R.A. Montgomery have an...interesting history. From Journey Under the Sea to Escape! and many others, the author has written science fiction as both a main story concept and as strands woven within other genres. Prisoner of the Ant People embraces every odd possibility in the Montgomery mental bank as we visit a future where a powerful being threatens to rend the fabric of our universe. Your genius at computer technology has landed you a job in an organization known as Zondo Quest Group II. Alongside aliens from our solar system and beyond, you are locked in a struggle to stop the Evil Power Master from disintegrating whole planets at an increasing pace. Today, however, you are called to an emergency meeting by Rendoxoll, the robot leader of your group. The Rimpoche Team of operatives has gone missing, and so has the Baba Ram Team. How should you conduct your investigation?
Maybe you sense something suspicious, and refuse to leave the research chamber. You and your loyal Martian teammate Flppto then find yourselves in the crosshairs of an operative hidden within Zondo Quest Group II, an emissary of the Ant People plotting your destruction. You can fight the operative or give in and hope for leniency, but the Ant People aren't known for kindness. You might be better off agreeing from the first to leave the research chamber on the condition that you be Flppto's search partner. After using a machine to miniaturize yourself, you could find yourself in a war between the ants and aphids, a revolution a long time coming. You're tempted to help the aphids fight for freedom, but press your luck too long and you'll be taken prisoner for life. Instead, perhaps you recognized at the very beginning a scrawled clue on the sandwich wrappers left by the missing Baba Ram Team. They have been abducted by the Evil Power Master, and a dying ant says the team is doing battle in the Kingdom of Zom deep inside an anthill. Explore here, and three tunnels branch off to very different fates. If you take the tunnel glowing red, will you choose correctly among four artifacts to win your freedom? Following the tunnels glowing white or yellow may have more unpleasant consequences, but you must find the missing teams.
Another alternative exists at the original three-pronged decision juncture of this book. If you bow to Rendoxoll's leadership in commanding the investigation, the robot suggests you inspect the research chamber carefully before miniaturizing to enter the ant stronghold. Make a wrong turn, and you could find that Rendoxoll and Flppto have vanished. Did the Evil Power Master nab them? If you brave this uncertainty and confront the ants, you can easily end up incarcerated by them. Yielding to captivity may be less dangerous, but if you can find Flppto and Rendoxoll there's hope of freedom. If you never became separated from Flppto and Rendoxoll you may wish you had; the Martian and robot don't get along well, and both strain your nerves. Flppto's instincts are usually better than Rendoxoll's, and the two of you have what it takes to repel the Ant People. Will you survive and learn the whereabouts of the missing Zondo Quest Group II teams? Even for a computer mastermind, it's a tall order.
To be frank, this book is a mess. Internal consistency rarely factors at all. You and your teammates act nothing like trained, highly gifted members of a resistance squad; you behave like preschoolers, the way you quarrel and take petty offense. You frequently seem to forget the main mission and get drawn into side quests, and many story paths are too similar to justify the existence of them all. When I finished the book I felt somewhat relieved, and though I'm interested in trying the sequel, War with the Evil Power Master, I would never put Prisoner of the Ant People among the memorable Choose Your Own Adventures. I'll give it one and a half stars, but that's the best I can do.
Maybe you sense something suspicious, and refuse to leave the research chamber. You and your loyal Martian teammate Flppto then find yourselves in the crosshairs of an operative hidden within Zondo Quest Group II, an emissary of the Ant People plotting your destruction. You can fight the operative or give in and hope for leniency, but the Ant People aren't known for kindness. You might be better off agreeing from the first to leave the research chamber on the condition that you be Flppto's search partner. After using a machine to miniaturize yourself, you could find yourself in a war between the ants and aphids, a revolution a long time coming. You're tempted to help the aphids fight for freedom, but press your luck too long and you'll be taken prisoner for life. Instead, perhaps you recognized at the very beginning a scrawled clue on the sandwich wrappers left by the missing Baba Ram Team. They have been abducted by the Evil Power Master, and a dying ant says the team is doing battle in the Kingdom of Zom deep inside an anthill. Explore here, and three tunnels branch off to very different fates. If you take the tunnel glowing red, will you choose correctly among four artifacts to win your freedom? Following the tunnels glowing white or yellow may have more unpleasant consequences, but you must find the missing teams.
Another alternative exists at the original three-pronged decision juncture of this book. If you bow to Rendoxoll's leadership in commanding the investigation, the robot suggests you inspect the research chamber carefully before miniaturizing to enter the ant stronghold. Make a wrong turn, and you could find that Rendoxoll and Flppto have vanished. Did the Evil Power Master nab them? If you brave this uncertainty and confront the ants, you can easily end up incarcerated by them. Yielding to captivity may be less dangerous, but if you can find Flppto and Rendoxoll there's hope of freedom. If you never became separated from Flppto and Rendoxoll you may wish you had; the Martian and robot don't get along well, and both strain your nerves. Flppto's instincts are usually better than Rendoxoll's, and the two of you have what it takes to repel the Ant People. Will you survive and learn the whereabouts of the missing Zondo Quest Group II teams? Even for a computer mastermind, it's a tall order.
To be frank, this book is a mess. Internal consistency rarely factors at all. You and your teammates act nothing like trained, highly gifted members of a resistance squad; you behave like preschoolers, the way you quarrel and take petty offense. You frequently seem to forget the main mission and get drawn into side quests, and many story paths are too similar to justify the existence of them all. When I finished the book I felt somewhat relieved, and though I'm interested in trying the sequel, War with the Evil Power Master, I would never put Prisoner of the Ant People among the memorable Choose Your Own Adventures. I'll give it one and a half stars, but that's the best I can do.
February 10, 2017
I recently decided to go back and read one of the Choose Your Own Adventure books that I had collected, but never got around to. Prisoner of the Ant People (#25) by R. A. Montgomery ventures into the science fiction genre. You, the protagonist, are described as a genius who has been brought into the Zondo Quest Group II. The Zondo group are working on a way to defeat the Evil Power Master who is destroying planets one by one. Your computer skills are vital to the group's research. When members of the research team begin disappearing, you and two other members (a robot and a Martian) set out to discover what has happened to them and rescue them if you can. It involves the use of a miniaturization ray and encounters with Ant People.
Okay...so this isn't one of Montgomery's all-time best story lines. After emphasizing what a genius the reader is with computers...computer skills have pretty much zero to do with any of the possible story lines. And the tie-in between the Evil Power Master, the disappearing team members, and the Ant People is flimsy at best when the connection is made at all. Some of the story lines seem to forget that the main point was the Evil Power Master at all. The stories I remember reading, while perhaps not having indepth plots did at least have consistent ones and all of the story lines were tied to the central story. ★★ for a fair outing. The choices are interesting and there are a good number of possible endings even if they don't all tie directly to the Evil Power Master theme.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
Okay...so this isn't one of Montgomery's all-time best story lines. After emphasizing what a genius the reader is with computers...computer skills have pretty much zero to do with any of the possible story lines. And the tie-in between the Evil Power Master, the disappearing team members, and the Ant People is flimsy at best when the connection is made at all. Some of the story lines seem to forget that the main point was the Evil Power Master at all. The stories I remember reading, while perhaps not having indepth plots did at least have consistent ones and all of the story lines were tied to the central story. ★★ for a fair outing. The choices are interesting and there are a good number of possible endings even if they don't all tie directly to the Evil Power Master theme.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
June 8, 2018
This one isn't that great. The premise isn't bad but the names of the characters (Evil Power Master? Really?) and factions are too corny even for a teenager. Most of the endings were interesting, but too many relied on writing: you got out of the situation, there's much more interesting stuff to come that wasn't written, good luck. It was frustrating.
The artwork was nice. I'm not sure if this was original artwork I was viewing since I never read this book when I was younger. It was detailed and didn't look 'low-rent' or rushed. In fact, it was the best part about the experience. Unfortunately, although well drawn, it wasn't very memorable. It's probably due to the entire book being that way. This was not R.A. Montgomery's best work- to say the least.
Overall, I wasn't very pleased with this one, but if you're a completionist, you'll want to soldier through it, of course. Try not to roll your eyes too hard. Hey, maybe I'm not looking at this as the author intended- maybe it's meant to be written like a B-movie script for a 50s-era big critter flick. That would explain so much. There's so much more to write about this theory.. which I won't do.. good luck!
The artwork was nice. I'm not sure if this was original artwork I was viewing since I never read this book when I was younger. It was detailed and didn't look 'low-rent' or rushed. In fact, it was the best part about the experience. Unfortunately, although well drawn, it wasn't very memorable. It's probably due to the entire book being that way. This was not R.A. Montgomery's best work- to say the least.
Overall, I wasn't very pleased with this one, but if you're a completionist, you'll want to soldier through it, of course. Try not to roll your eyes too hard. Hey, maybe I'm not looking at this as the author intended- maybe it's meant to be written like a B-movie script for a 50s-era big critter flick. That would explain so much. There's so much more to write about this theory.. which I won't do.. good luck!
January 9, 2026
I've recently been diving into some old CYOA gamebooks. Some of them are fun. This one is a perfect example of how not to do it. The story is, for want of a better word, stupid. I mean, the villain is called The Evil Power Master, and his top henchman is The Mid-Evil Power Master. Even when I was ten years old, I'd have found that lame. Most of the 28 endings are terrible: they're not endings, they just stop. Your mission is to find some missing people, and about half the endings just say something like "You continue in your quest. The End."
It's been an interesting exercise in anti-nostalgia. I guess back then, they could just publish any old crap and they'd make sales. Even if they were terrible books, the audience would just shrug and move onto the next one.
It's been an interesting exercise in anti-nostalgia. I guess back then, they could just publish any old crap and they'd make sales. Even if they were terrible books, the audience would just shrug and move onto the next one.
February 15, 2019
I had a ton of fun reading this one tonight. The book got a lot of hype from an article on SyFyWire (https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/choose-...) and it didn't really live up to it. Still, despite not having nearly as much horrible death as suggested, it was well written with interesting and varied storylines. Everything wasn't railroaded and the book didn't waste time with fake choices like, "will you go on an adventure or will you go to sleep?".
December 31, 2019
It is very cool they have re-printed the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. I found this one at a toy store and was pleasantly surprised. I totally forgot that when you "choose" an option in these stories it takes you to an alternative timeline within the story.
March 17, 2022
The artwork on this one is fantastic! The storyline is ridiculously bad. It reads like a very low budget cheesy horror flick. Neither my seven year old son nor I enjoyed being a Prisoner of the Ant People. Each ending felt very flat.
November 5, 2017
Went off to save some lives, be a hero and all that. Got eaten by ants instead. Well shit.
August 14, 2018
Not the best CYA book, even though it *does* feature the Evil Power Master.
November 15, 2018
3.5 stars.
We really enjoyed the different stories in this one. Some great adventures were had.
We really enjoyed the different stories in this one. Some great adventures were had.
August 12, 2019
Not so complex and not very appealing, this was a good one but not a fantastic one.
Read
February 10, 2020i hated
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2020
I suppose not ALL ideas need to be written.
April 4, 2020
Completely absurd.
May 10, 2021
Kinda boring endings
Read
January 24, 2022There were alot of endings.
July 2, 2022
I wasn’t all that into this one.
January 20, 2024
We kept dying on this one LOL.
May 15, 2023
I personally didn't really enjoy this story. Most of the story didn't really grab my interest until later, when more interesting things happened. I died or got bad endings A LOT, but I was able to finish with the good ending of grabbing the sword without a hilt from the table, and fighting and winning against the Evil Power Master. But the ending was very short and rushed, and was pretty disappointing in my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2021
Quite a good book, as I like being able to choose what path to take. I actually put book marks at each of the figurative 'intersections'. This way I could go back every time I died and try again.
May 30, 2015
I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books, and constantly borrowed them from the library. I owned a few, too, and would mark little pencilled notations on all the endings I managed to reach in my own copies (I'd tuck aside a piece of paper for the ones from the library). When I was nine and ten, these books got re-read so many times it was unreal, and they paved the way to me wanting to write, too, as sometimes I got annoyed at an obvious, missing option.
July 16, 2016
3.5 stars
I use to LOVE these books when I was younger, I use to have a whole bunch too. I recently checked this out from my library to see what it was like to read one at now an older age. It was still fun, I enjoyed it. But the thing is the endings were ehhh. I kept trying to decide on the right thing to do (who wouldn't) but it seemed no matter what you choose, you'd still end up either dead or alive but under horrible circumstances.
I use to LOVE these books when I was younger, I use to have a whole bunch too. I recently checked this out from my library to see what it was like to read one at now an older age. It was still fun, I enjoyed it. But the thing is the endings were ehhh. I kept trying to decide on the right thing to do (who wouldn't) but it seemed no matter what you choose, you'd still end up either dead or alive but under horrible circumstances.
September 12, 2008
This is one of the books that--as a youngster--really turned me on to what a story can do to your brain. I really remember thinking, 'wow! I wonder if I could ever tell stories that people would want to read?' I'm not sure, but I believe I owe part of that wonder to these sorts of publications...
April 19, 2013
The book first starts out were you are relaxing and then you get an emergy call from one of your members but then evently you relize that he is one of the ant people and he uses a purple ray to freeze you and i broke out and stunned him and kicked him down the thing and have to find the missing squad.
October 6, 2007
I read one of these as a kid, but I can't remember which one. I looked them up at the web site, but still couldn't be sure if this is the correct one or not. http://www.cyoastore.com/category/sho...
July 30, 2008
Adventure #25 of the 'Choose your own adventure' series, Prisoner of the Ant People... in these books the reader gets to be the central character by choosing what path the tale follows through a variety of endings...
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