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Choose Your Own Adventure #105
The Treasure of the Onyx Dragon
You're spending the summer with your Aunt Lydia on Orcas Island, in the Pacific Northwest. You've always been curious about the island's legend of the Onyx Dragon, a treasure ship that mysteriously sank off the coast over one hundred years ago. When you stumble upon an old letter, you decide to search the ship and its precious cargo - the infamous emerald known as the Star of Asia. The letter provides you with three clues. Where should you look first?
116 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1990
About the author
R.A. Montgomery
156 books127 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 23, 2020
Treasure hunts and historical mysteries are where much of the fun is at in the Choose Your Own Adventure series, and The Treasure of the Onyx Dragon dabbles in both. You and your sister Hannah have unusual parents, professional archaeologists who pursue ancient lore by excavating buried artifacts. You live near a dig in Egypt, but after your father passed away a few years back, your aunt Lydia suggested you and Hannah come stay with her on Seattle's Orcas Island every summer, and your mother agreed. You're intrigued by a bit of family history from generations ago, when your great-great-uncle McGuire was killed in a shipwreck on Puget Sound while captaining the Onyx Dragon. The ship was loaded with treasure, and you have evidence that your father had a lead on its whereabouts, but Aunt Lydia always avoids addressing the topic. One day at Lydia's Victorian mansion, you and Hannah stumble onto a hidden passageway leading to a secret study. Here you find record of three major leads your father wanted to follow up on regarding the treasure. Which will you investigate?
Unexplained lights that flash in the sky each year on the anniversary of the Onyx Dragon's demise may seem a good place to begin. If you go that route, you'll find that Aunt Lydia is suspiciously skulking around Orcas Island. Follow her and you'll cross paths with Lee Wa of Chinatown, a man Aunt Lydia is not friendly with. Why is he blackmailing her? You know the Shi-Wa family financed the Onyx Dragon all those years ago. Is Lee Wa an outlier, or are his shady dealings representative of the Shi-Wa family? Be wary whom you trust; a single blunder when dealing with the Chinese underworld could get you packed off on a one-way trip to Shanghai. Instead of following Aunt Lydia to her secret meetings, you could stay on course and pursue the strange lights your father wrote about. Doing so unlocks an assortment of adventures ranging from an encounter with a ghost ship to meeting a local tribe of natives with a special connection to the Onyx Dragon. There are multiple avenues to the treasure if you and Hannah are savvy enough.
Are phantom lights not your cup of tea? You could instead dig for a map supposedly hidden beneath Aunt Lydia's boathouse. Once you possess the map, you have a clear idea where the treasure might be in the angry, swirling waters of Puget Sound, and you suit up with Hannah for a scuba dive, unaware that other treasure seekers are hot on your heels. You might run into the Sanjani, a terrorist organization that won't hesitate to slit your throats if you interfere with their treasure hunt. You could also end up lost in a network of caves chasing a set of disembodied lights. It's easy to become hopelessly lost in the cave's labyrinthine waterways, or to happen upon the lair of the Sanjani, where they're busy stealing American secrets from the Boeing Military Defense Building. Can you scuttle their plot before national security is compromised?
Maybe strange lights and hidden maps don't interest you, but your father's relationship to the local Indians does. His notes in the secret study at Aunt Lydia's mansion indicate that an Indian named Mountain Spirit saw the Onyx Dragon sink; perhaps his descendants among the Coast Salish Indians know where the ship went down. Mountain Spirit's tale of the Onyx Dragon has passed down through the generations, but you'll need to convince Nahpee, the current guardian of the legend, to tell it to you even though you're not an Indian. Unsavory characters are after the treasure, including a pair of British thieves you spot leaving the scene in a Cigarette boat. Should you follow them, even if it delays your discovery of the treasure? You might be better off concentrating on Nahpee's directions that he claims lead to the exact spot the Onyx Dragon sank, but the waters are cold and dark, and the current is aggressive. An error in judgment while diving here will end your life. Stay focused on fulfilling your father's legacy, and you may soon possess riches to equal your wildest fantasies. Sharing the treasure with the Coast Salish Indians is a small price to pay for their help in finding it, and the injection of wealth will transform their quality of life.
When I read The Treasure of the Onyx Dragon as an elementary school student, I wasn't a fan. The story is slower than many books in this series, and most of the decisions are spaced apart by at least several pages. The variety of adventures is good, and a few endings are satisfying on a deeper level than usual for Choose Your Own Adventure. Dying in the cold, black grasp of the Puget Sound's currents is an eerie experience that feels real. I might rate The Treasure of the Onyx Dragon two and a half stars; it's somewhat wordy, but entertaining. This isn't a gamebook classic, but it's above average.
Unexplained lights that flash in the sky each year on the anniversary of the Onyx Dragon's demise may seem a good place to begin. If you go that route, you'll find that Aunt Lydia is suspiciously skulking around Orcas Island. Follow her and you'll cross paths with Lee Wa of Chinatown, a man Aunt Lydia is not friendly with. Why is he blackmailing her? You know the Shi-Wa family financed the Onyx Dragon all those years ago. Is Lee Wa an outlier, or are his shady dealings representative of the Shi-Wa family? Be wary whom you trust; a single blunder when dealing with the Chinese underworld could get you packed off on a one-way trip to Shanghai. Instead of following Aunt Lydia to her secret meetings, you could stay on course and pursue the strange lights your father wrote about. Doing so unlocks an assortment of adventures ranging from an encounter with a ghost ship to meeting a local tribe of natives with a special connection to the Onyx Dragon. There are multiple avenues to the treasure if you and Hannah are savvy enough.
Are phantom lights not your cup of tea? You could instead dig for a map supposedly hidden beneath Aunt Lydia's boathouse. Once you possess the map, you have a clear idea where the treasure might be in the angry, swirling waters of Puget Sound, and you suit up with Hannah for a scuba dive, unaware that other treasure seekers are hot on your heels. You might run into the Sanjani, a terrorist organization that won't hesitate to slit your throats if you interfere with their treasure hunt. You could also end up lost in a network of caves chasing a set of disembodied lights. It's easy to become hopelessly lost in the cave's labyrinthine waterways, or to happen upon the lair of the Sanjani, where they're busy stealing American secrets from the Boeing Military Defense Building. Can you scuttle their plot before national security is compromised?
Maybe strange lights and hidden maps don't interest you, but your father's relationship to the local Indians does. His notes in the secret study at Aunt Lydia's mansion indicate that an Indian named Mountain Spirit saw the Onyx Dragon sink; perhaps his descendants among the Coast Salish Indians know where the ship went down. Mountain Spirit's tale of the Onyx Dragon has passed down through the generations, but you'll need to convince Nahpee, the current guardian of the legend, to tell it to you even though you're not an Indian. Unsavory characters are after the treasure, including a pair of British thieves you spot leaving the scene in a Cigarette boat. Should you follow them, even if it delays your discovery of the treasure? You might be better off concentrating on Nahpee's directions that he claims lead to the exact spot the Onyx Dragon sank, but the waters are cold and dark, and the current is aggressive. An error in judgment while diving here will end your life. Stay focused on fulfilling your father's legacy, and you may soon possess riches to equal your wildest fantasies. Sharing the treasure with the Coast Salish Indians is a small price to pay for their help in finding it, and the injection of wealth will transform their quality of life.
When I read The Treasure of the Onyx Dragon as an elementary school student, I wasn't a fan. The story is slower than many books in this series, and most of the decisions are spaced apart by at least several pages. The variety of adventures is good, and a few endings are satisfying on a deeper level than usual for Choose Your Own Adventure. Dying in the cold, black grasp of the Puget Sound's currents is an eerie experience that feels real. I might rate The Treasure of the Onyx Dragon two and a half stars; it's somewhat wordy, but entertaining. This isn't a gamebook classic, but it's above average.
March 15, 2008
I loved the fact that this one had illustrations of a--ready for it?--female protagonist.
May 21, 2018
This was a great old-school adventure, wrapping in a lot of different elements from Native American folklore and ancient Chinese mysticism to sunken treasure and even a spy plot. The book was split into three plots instead of two, but it felt neither too short or too long. It's been a while since I read a really standout book in this series, but this stands as one of my new favorites.
July 25, 2022
It was ok for our first pick your own adventures. It was fun to see which options Eliana chose.
Eliana’s review: “I liked picking my story. But why is it done so fast?? Let’s go back and pick another option so you can read all the pages.”
Eliana’s review: “I liked picking my story. But why is it done so fast?? Let’s go back and pick another option so you can read all the pages.”
March 26, 2024
An enjoyable Choose Your Own Adventure book where you are searching for sunken treasure in the San Juan Islands. The stakes are not too high, and you can end up doing a number of things instead of searching for said treasure, some of which can be fairly risky.
April 3, 2017
I have gotten it into my head that I want to do interactive book editions of Choose Your Own Adventure. I picked up two to see what I thought of them.
This book did not stand up well compared to the other one I got. While it had lots of endings, it lost the narrative thread. I don't know how old the characters were supposed to be, but I mentally pictured them as an elementary and middle schooler. Somehow, these kids are allowed to be left alone overnight, have "C" class scuba licenses, and can disappear for days on end without anyone showing concern.
The author clearly has limited to no understanding of diving because she has the kids going 150 feet, which I can tell you as an adult who has done cold water diving, is not something the average person does, and would be pretty miserable, so you'd be doing a very short dive.
Beyond that, the main division for choices takes three completely different storylines. One of them completely forgets about the search for the Onyx Dragon, which is the point of the book...
This is the first CYOA that I can recall where I could select a choice and have it go back along another plot choice. I thought it was interesting and a good use of the strongest narrative.
This book did not stand up well compared to the other one I got. While it had lots of endings, it lost the narrative thread. I don't know how old the characters were supposed to be, but I mentally pictured them as an elementary and middle schooler. Somehow, these kids are allowed to be left alone overnight, have "C" class scuba licenses, and can disappear for days on end without anyone showing concern.
The author clearly has limited to no understanding of diving because she has the kids going 150 feet, which I can tell you as an adult who has done cold water diving, is not something the average person does, and would be pretty miserable, so you'd be doing a very short dive.
Beyond that, the main division for choices takes three completely different storylines. One of them completely forgets about the search for the Onyx Dragon, which is the point of the book...
This is the first CYOA that I can recall where I could select a choice and have it go back along another plot choice. I thought it was interesting and a good use of the strongest narrative.
February 27, 2018
I must admit, this is one of the least memorable Choose Your Own Adventure books I have read. Not one I would pick to read again.
Author: Alison Gilligan
Publisher: Chooseco
Publication Date: 2011
Author: Alison Gilligan
Publisher: Chooseco
Publication Date: 2011
March 2, 2020
The title is a little on the nose, but this is one of the good ones.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews