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Choose Your Own Adventure #18
Underground Kingdom
Book by Packard, Edward
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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346 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 21, 2017
Solid addition to one of the better Choose Your Own Adventure series. My two boys and I enjoyed going through the possibilities of this one, surviving and dying through various endings. We've yet to reach the titular unground kingdom and survive, but we have high hopes as we continue to tear down the choices in this story.
October 19, 2019
Fantastic voyage beneath the earth's surface with a blackhole sun (won't you come and wash away the rain) set in a red sky. A little bit of sci-fi and fantasy come together with twists and turns based on your decisions. Vivid descriptions, plenty of routes to take, and some surprise endings to boot. Definitely one to revisit in the future.
April 2, 2020
The art was awful in this book. And way too much telling instead of showing. But here’s the thing: Dr Vivaldi (yes, THAT Dr Vivaldi, the one from “The Third Planet From Altair”) is in this book! This “anthropologist specializing in interspecies communication” completed her mission in space only to come back to earth and fall down a bottomless crevasse? What a wild ride! I guess that’s why she was able to understand the language of the Rakas and the Archpods!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2025
Several early Edward Packard Choose Your Own Adventures are grouped together as especially innovative: The Third Planet from Altair, Inside UFO 54-40, The Forbidden Castle, and Underground Kingdom are often among the included titles. As this book begins, you are at the Toan Glacier in frigid Greenland with scientists from the National Research Institute. Theory has it that planet Earth may be hollow, containing a black hole that entered its interior long ago. If true, the black hole may act as a reverse sun, drawing to itself the unbearable heat of the planet's magma and allowing an Underground Kingdom of sentient beings to thrive. You are preparing to enter via an opening called the Bottomless Crevasse when an unseen force yanks you inside, tumbling headlong. You could aim to land on a ledge, but the impact might be fatal; are you better off avoiding it?
Hit the ledge and you find it's padded with snow. You need to climb out of the Bottomless Crevasse and hike toward rescue. Make it to safety and you'll be glad to put your explorer days behind you...until you hear Professor Bruckner’s theory about the Underground Kingdom. Join him on a return trip and you'll discover the Toan Glacier rapidly closing over the Bottomless Crevasse; you must enter now or dismiss the notion forever. It's a huge risk, but if all goes well, you enter the colorful, exotic Underground Kingdom and learn the Black Sun theory is true. Blue-furred creatures called Raka capture you; resist and you'll end up running for your life, to creatures called the Archpods. Here you may reunite with Dr. Nera Vivaldi and learn she survived her own disappearance into the Bottomless Crevasse. The Archpods’ Grand Akpar demands you assist him in going to war with the Raka; refusal takes courage, but serves up an opportunity to broker peace.
You and Vivaldi have a chance to explore the Underground Kingdom before going home, but the Bottomless Crevasse will close soon; what region should you prioritize? The Weightless Peaks take you uncomfortably close to the Black Sun; can you endure its gravitational suck? At the Hills of Diamonds you traipse through loose diamonds as numerous as grains of sand on a beach, but surviving to take any home is tricky. Go to the Shining Mountains instead and you encounter the Flying Clera, majestic birds more advanced than humans. You’re not ready to learn their secrets, but a brief interaction is inspiration to last a lifetime.
Other story possibilities branch off earlier. Stay with the Raka, and their leader attempts to draw you into war with the Archpods. You could try to escape, but staying alive with no support network is a tenuous proposition. Perhaps you entered the Underground Kingdom a different way from the start, never landing on that snowy ledge in the Bottomless Crevasse. The kingdom is a place of vibrant color and varied terrain, and you come upon a single hatchling of a wondrous species you term the angel bird. One way or another, your goals are to explore the Underground Kingdom and learn if Vivaldi is alive so you can mount a rescue mission. Comport yourself shrewdly and you might succeed in both endeavors.
Underground Kingdom offers some exciting narrative, but lacks the thematic depth for more than two and a half stars. The world-building is good, given the book's length, and I like the central idea that when you venture into unfamiliar realms you must be ready for everything to be upside down from what you're comfortable with. Adapting is the only way you'll survive. If Underground Kingdom had a few more surprises or stronger emotion I'd likely rate it three stars. It isn't equal to Edward Packard's finest work, but the separation is a matter of a few degrees.
Hit the ledge and you find it's padded with snow. You need to climb out of the Bottomless Crevasse and hike toward rescue. Make it to safety and you'll be glad to put your explorer days behind you...until you hear Professor Bruckner’s theory about the Underground Kingdom. Join him on a return trip and you'll discover the Toan Glacier rapidly closing over the Bottomless Crevasse; you must enter now or dismiss the notion forever. It's a huge risk, but if all goes well, you enter the colorful, exotic Underground Kingdom and learn the Black Sun theory is true. Blue-furred creatures called Raka capture you; resist and you'll end up running for your life, to creatures called the Archpods. Here you may reunite with Dr. Nera Vivaldi and learn she survived her own disappearance into the Bottomless Crevasse. The Archpods’ Grand Akpar demands you assist him in going to war with the Raka; refusal takes courage, but serves up an opportunity to broker peace.
You and Vivaldi have a chance to explore the Underground Kingdom before going home, but the Bottomless Crevasse will close soon; what region should you prioritize? The Weightless Peaks take you uncomfortably close to the Black Sun; can you endure its gravitational suck? At the Hills of Diamonds you traipse through loose diamonds as numerous as grains of sand on a beach, but surviving to take any home is tricky. Go to the Shining Mountains instead and you encounter the Flying Clera, majestic birds more advanced than humans. You’re not ready to learn their secrets, but a brief interaction is inspiration to last a lifetime.
Other story possibilities branch off earlier. Stay with the Raka, and their leader attempts to draw you into war with the Archpods. You could try to escape, but staying alive with no support network is a tenuous proposition. Perhaps you entered the Underground Kingdom a different way from the start, never landing on that snowy ledge in the Bottomless Crevasse. The kingdom is a place of vibrant color and varied terrain, and you come upon a single hatchling of a wondrous species you term the angel bird. One way or another, your goals are to explore the Underground Kingdom and learn if Vivaldi is alive so you can mount a rescue mission. Comport yourself shrewdly and you might succeed in both endeavors.
Underground Kingdom offers some exciting narrative, but lacks the thematic depth for more than two and a half stars. The world-building is good, given the book's length, and I like the central idea that when you venture into unfamiliar realms you must be ready for everything to be upside down from what you're comfortable with. Adapting is the only way you'll survive. If Underground Kingdom had a few more surprises or stronger emotion I'd likely rate it three stars. It isn't equal to Edward Packard's finest work, but the separation is a matter of a few degrees.
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 100 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 100 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
July 10, 2015
A journey into the hollow Earth
14 September 2012
The idea of a kingdom under the Earth is not a new one. In fact the idea has been around for about 200 years, and we have seen this exotic idea even appear in roleplaying games, so it is no surprise that Packard would have a Choose Your Own Adventure based on a hidden world beneath our feet. I remember that TSR released a campaign called Hollow World where it turned out that the planet was hollow and you could travel down into this new world for a whole new experience. The funny thing is, and I suspect that they stole the idea of Jules Verne, who had dinosaurs hidden in the caverns under the earth, that the societies in the underground kingdom were much more primitive than the ones on top.
Now, some have suggested that Journey to the Centre of the Earth deals with the idea of a hollow earth, but this is not the case. The idea that Verne explores is that the Earth does not get hotter the closer you get to the core, meaning that the underparts of the Earth are riddled with caverns, and creatures that used to roam the surface disappeared down there. However, anybody who has actually read the Verne novel will notice that the story really only has the heroes descend into the Earth and then come back out again: they really don't spend all that much time exploring the place, but rather trying to find their way out as soon as they find themselves in these labyrinthine caverns.
As with this gamebook, I am not sure of what actually happened. It has been a long time since I have read it and unfortunately I have only found a couple in my parents back shed, none of which are any of the later books. Maybe there are some others in that shed, but some how I doubt it. Anyway, I have noticed that there is the idea that the sun in this underground world is dark, and if my memory serves me correctly, it is a black hole. Now that would simply not work. The reason I say this is because if the world was hollow, and there was a black hole at the centre, then the world would simply collapse in on itself. Secondly, nobody would be able to survive in the underground world because the gravitational pull would not be towards the ground, but away from it, so anybody in the underground kingdom would be sucked towards the black hole (though I suspect that this black hole would be much weaker than we calculate them to be, and would also account for the Earth's gravitational pull).
There is another idea known as the Dyson Sphere. This is where an artificial world is built around the sun and completely encapsulating it. The Doctor Who novels explored this concept in The Also People. My concern with this is that there is no way for the sun's energy to escape, so pretty much everything on the inside of the sphere would be burnt to a crisp. This is not me being a kill-joy, but rather being a bit more of a realist. While I do like my science-fantasy, I also like it to be somewhat believeable simply because while at many times suspension of disbelief is necessary for most, if not all, novels, there are times when even that does not work.
14 September 2012
The idea of a kingdom under the Earth is not a new one. In fact the idea has been around for about 200 years, and we have seen this exotic idea even appear in roleplaying games, so it is no surprise that Packard would have a Choose Your Own Adventure based on a hidden world beneath our feet. I remember that TSR released a campaign called Hollow World where it turned out that the planet was hollow and you could travel down into this new world for a whole new experience. The funny thing is, and I suspect that they stole the idea of Jules Verne, who had dinosaurs hidden in the caverns under the earth, that the societies in the underground kingdom were much more primitive than the ones on top.
Now, some have suggested that Journey to the Centre of the Earth deals with the idea of a hollow earth, but this is not the case. The idea that Verne explores is that the Earth does not get hotter the closer you get to the core, meaning that the underparts of the Earth are riddled with caverns, and creatures that used to roam the surface disappeared down there. However, anybody who has actually read the Verne novel will notice that the story really only has the heroes descend into the Earth and then come back out again: they really don't spend all that much time exploring the place, but rather trying to find their way out as soon as they find themselves in these labyrinthine caverns.
As with this gamebook, I am not sure of what actually happened. It has been a long time since I have read it and unfortunately I have only found a couple in my parents back shed, none of which are any of the later books. Maybe there are some others in that shed, but some how I doubt it. Anyway, I have noticed that there is the idea that the sun in this underground world is dark, and if my memory serves me correctly, it is a black hole. Now that would simply not work. The reason I say this is because if the world was hollow, and there was a black hole at the centre, then the world would simply collapse in on itself. Secondly, nobody would be able to survive in the underground world because the gravitational pull would not be towards the ground, but away from it, so anybody in the underground kingdom would be sucked towards the black hole (though I suspect that this black hole would be much weaker than we calculate them to be, and would also account for the Earth's gravitational pull).
There is another idea known as the Dyson Sphere. This is where an artificial world is built around the sun and completely encapsulating it. The Doctor Who novels explored this concept in The Also People. My concern with this is that there is no way for the sun's energy to escape, so pretty much everything on the inside of the sphere would be burnt to a crisp. This is not me being a kill-joy, but rather being a bit more of a realist. While I do like my science-fantasy, I also like it to be somewhat believeable simply because while at many times suspension of disbelief is necessary for most, if not all, novels, there are times when even that does not work.
December 2, 2017
Loved these books as a kid! This one was recommended for fans of Stranger Things.
First Adventure: Didn't even make it to the Underground Kingdom.
Second Adventure: Explored the Underground Kingdom and died tragically in a raging river.
Third Adventure: Horribly devoured by Underground Kingdom beasts while hiding in a tree!
Guess I'll keep trying!
[Marking as finished, though these books really don't end!]
First Adventure: Didn't even make it to the Underground Kingdom.
Second Adventure: Explored the Underground Kingdom and died tragically in a raging river.
Third Adventure: Horribly devoured by Underground Kingdom beasts while hiding in a tree!
Guess I'll keep trying!
[Marking as finished, though these books really don't end!]
December 10, 2015
El reino subterráneo es uno de los mejores libros de Packard (un autor, a diferencia de Montgomerry, más fantasioso y menos serio, pero siempre divertido..aunque muchas de sus soluciones acaban en muerte, xdd).
La historia es bastante cautivadora y enseguida te metes en el personaje principal, queriendo visitar y descubrir un mundo lleno de criaturas y una cultura diferente. Pura fantasía.
La historia es bastante cautivadora y enseguida te metes en el personaje principal, queriendo visitar y descubrir un mundo lleno de criaturas y una cultura diferente. Pura fantasía.
October 19, 2010
it was a fustrating book
July 9, 2013
the adventures that I went through when I was bored I just read these books over and over again you would never get to the end of the story.
September 16, 2016
Malditas decisiones, he muerto. Pero al menos he llegado.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2019
I found this book to be decent, but nothing special. If anything, this could be just another episode in Edward Packard's series of books based around the Cave of Time, except this time you fall down a crevice instead of entering a cave.
Like Cave of Time and The Forbidden Castle you end up falling into another world (which is actually a cavity within the Earth, but may as well be another world) and then precede to stumble into a conflict between two tribes of human variants.
If you're able to survive that debacle, you have the opportunity to explore a few other areas of the Underground Kingdom before you need to try and escape back through the crevice before it is sealed off by natural events.
While this book is still a good read, it seems like Packard took some of the least interesting aspects of what the center of the Earth could be like and ran with those, neither wanting to commit to either a science-based story or a fantasy-based romp.
Its also funny how Packard continues to use the character of Nera Vivaldi in his books. She has been jettisoned into space, survived deadly seas, failed to find the dinosaur she was looking for and now she's lost within the innermost reaches of the Earth. The poor girl can't land a break!
Like Cave of Time and The Forbidden Castle you end up falling into another world (which is actually a cavity within the Earth, but may as well be another world) and then precede to stumble into a conflict between two tribes of human variants.
If you're able to survive that debacle, you have the opportunity to explore a few other areas of the Underground Kingdom before you need to try and escape back through the crevice before it is sealed off by natural events.
While this book is still a good read, it seems like Packard took some of the least interesting aspects of what the center of the Earth could be like and ran with those, neither wanting to commit to either a science-based story or a fantasy-based romp.
Its also funny how Packard continues to use the character of Nera Vivaldi in his books. She has been jettisoned into space, survived deadly seas, failed to find the dinosaur she was looking for and now she's lost within the innermost reaches of the Earth. The poor girl can't land a break!
December 5, 2021
SCEGLI LA TUA AVVENTURA raccoglie alcune semplici avventure a bivi, giocabili anche da neofiti e senza dadi o schede personaggio
Questa avventura à là Verne ci trascina negli abissi della Terra Cava, teoria che va do moda anche ai giorni nostri...
Ci troveremo costretti a scegliere tra il rischio di esplorare questo nuovo mondo p riportare in Groenlandia la nostra pelle
Questa avventura à là Verne ci trascina negli abissi della Terra Cava, teoria che va do moda anche ai giorni nostri...
Ci troveremo costretti a scegliere tra il rischio di esplorare questo nuovo mondo p riportare in Groenlandia la nostra pelle
June 14, 2023
These are such fun reads and bring back a lot of fun memories.
July 19, 2023
El reino subterraneo es un muy buen libro porque te enseña a hacer desiciones por ti mismo y tambien porque si haces una mala desicion debes sufrir las consecuencias
May 29, 2015
Choose Your Own Adventure were my favourite books when I was nine and ten years old. I loved being "the hero" of the story, and I loved reading and re-reading the book, trying to find my way to every page. The copies I actually owned I would put little pencil marks on the pages I'd made it to, and little checks on the choices so I could go a different way next time through. I adored them, and checked out the ones I didn't have from the library over and over again (and kept track of which pages I'd found on a piece of paper).
November 29, 2007
Edward Packard was my favourite author as a kid (well, him and Tolkien and C.S. Lewis), and my favourite of all his Choose Your Own Adventure stories was Underground Kingdom. The Black Sun is still such a great idea.
December 19, 2008
What is fun about these books is that the reader actually becomes the story's central character so you get to make decisions and create an adventure. You can end up reading one story in many different ways.
July 25, 2023
i love any type of media that goes with the concept of “choose your own path” so i was excited to find books in that format!! It’s a very fun and quick read and i honestly think the world building was pretty clever and convincing:)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2018
Uno de los mejores de la serie Elige tu Propia Aventura.
February 12, 2014
One of my favourite childhood books
April 14, 2015
Read with a tutoring kid.
April 24, 2024
An enjoyable adventure in the interior of a Hollow Earth, wherein Dr. Vivaldi makes another appearance.
April 17, 2017
I haven't read a book like this since Goosebumps, so it's a huge relief to read something like this that isn't in the horror genre. Don't get me wrong, I love Goosebumps, but sometimes you wanna read a book that's formatted like this, without getting scared.
Although it's not really on the horror genre, it still has the thriller effect, mainly because there's a mandatory interaction that the ending and just about the whole story will depend on. every choice is a different path.
Compare it, don't compare it, it's still really good.
For my blogpost I decided to record what happened every time I try.
Although it's not really on the horror genre, it still has the thriller effect, mainly because there's a mandatory interaction that the ending and just about the whole story will depend on. every choice is a different path.
Compare it, don't compare it, it's still really good.
For my blogpost I decided to record what happened every time I try.
September 26, 2017
I love to read every book there is, Especially chapter books, I definitely love to read chapter books, any book you have i will read, as long as it has adventure, and its fun to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews