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Grail Quest #5
Kingdom of Horror
The reader enters the world of King Arthur's time, and begins a quest to recover Excalibur, the king's fabled sword
Paperback
First published September 26, 1985
About the author
J.H. Brennan
99 books48 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 27, 2021
Pip in the Land of the Faeries
25 November 2021
Well, if you read the previous book you will know that somebody had nicked Excalibur, and if you completed the previous book you will know that despite defeating the Saxons, something was left undone – you didn’t return Excalibur. That was because the person who had nicked Excalibur wasn’t hiding out in Ancient Greece. Anyway, the problem with Excalibur not being in possession of King Arthur is that the kingdom is basically going to hell, so despite the fact that he has a whole round table full of knights at his disposal, you basically have to take Pip to go and find it (honestly, what good are the knights of the round table if Pip is the one that ends up saving the kingdom each and every time)?
There are a few interesting things in the books, and not surprisingly Brennan does change a few things around. Actually, one of the things that I have noticed in this book that you certainly don’t get in the Fighting Fantasy books is that it is pretty easy to die from a misplaced dice roll. Actually, there are quite a lot of instances where if you don’t roll correctly you pretty much can’t complete the adventure. This is the case in the last area you are exploring, this rather weird city of dwarves where it is illegal not to have a beard and a moustache (which is why the fake beard and moustache are essential items). Actually, getting some of the needed items is pretty risky as well because a lot of them are in Merlin’s house, and you can only get there by rolling certain numbers and if you roll a 1, well it’s off to 14 you go.
The thing is that the last time I read these books was so long ago I can’t remember if I played through them properly or not, but I believe I did. However, I suspect, like most people, I ended up cheating because reading through it this time (and not actually rolling dice because I am only reading them for the fact that I want to write a proper review of them on Goodreads) I realised that the path to 14 was wide, and pretty easy to find yourself traveling down.
However, the upside is that these books are pretty amusing, especially the arguments that you have with your talking sword. In fact, I get the impression that the only reason you have talking swords, or talking horses, or talking anything that isn’t supposed to talk in real life, is to make the main character look like a complete and utter idiot, which I have to admit is quite amusing. Okay, a talking dog wouldn’t do that because dogs are so fanatically loyal that they will say anything and everything to please their masters, but a talking cat would certainly not hold back. As for a talking horse, well, as far as I’m concerned all they would ever do is complain about the fact that their raison d’etre is basically to carry ungrateful sods on their back for most of their life.
Mind you, Brennan does warn you at the beginning of this book that this one is particularly hard, but then again I do get the impression that the further you go in these books, the harder they become. Like, I don’t think you even land up with your dragonskin armour in this one. Mind you, continuing with the theme, Merlin does have another unusual house (once that pretty much looks like a dice), and you do meet the Poetic Fiend again as well, however King Pellinore seems to have taken a place in obscurity.
25 November 2021
Well, if you read the previous book you will know that somebody had nicked Excalibur, and if you completed the previous book you will know that despite defeating the Saxons, something was left undone – you didn’t return Excalibur. That was because the person who had nicked Excalibur wasn’t hiding out in Ancient Greece. Anyway, the problem with Excalibur not being in possession of King Arthur is that the kingdom is basically going to hell, so despite the fact that he has a whole round table full of knights at his disposal, you basically have to take Pip to go and find it (honestly, what good are the knights of the round table if Pip is the one that ends up saving the kingdom each and every time)?
There are a few interesting things in the books, and not surprisingly Brennan does change a few things around. Actually, one of the things that I have noticed in this book that you certainly don’t get in the Fighting Fantasy books is that it is pretty easy to die from a misplaced dice roll. Actually, there are quite a lot of instances where if you don’t roll correctly you pretty much can’t complete the adventure. This is the case in the last area you are exploring, this rather weird city of dwarves where it is illegal not to have a beard and a moustache (which is why the fake beard and moustache are essential items). Actually, getting some of the needed items is pretty risky as well because a lot of them are in Merlin’s house, and you can only get there by rolling certain numbers and if you roll a 1, well it’s off to 14 you go.
The thing is that the last time I read these books was so long ago I can’t remember if I played through them properly or not, but I believe I did. However, I suspect, like most people, I ended up cheating because reading through it this time (and not actually rolling dice because I am only reading them for the fact that I want to write a proper review of them on Goodreads) I realised that the path to 14 was wide, and pretty easy to find yourself traveling down.
However, the upside is that these books are pretty amusing, especially the arguments that you have with your talking sword. In fact, I get the impression that the only reason you have talking swords, or talking horses, or talking anything that isn’t supposed to talk in real life, is to make the main character look like a complete and utter idiot, which I have to admit is quite amusing. Okay, a talking dog wouldn’t do that because dogs are so fanatically loyal that they will say anything and everything to please their masters, but a talking cat would certainly not hold back. As for a talking horse, well, as far as I’m concerned all they would ever do is complain about the fact that their raison d’etre is basically to carry ungrateful sods on their back for most of their life.
Mind you, Brennan does warn you at the beginning of this book that this one is particularly hard, but then again I do get the impression that the further you go in these books, the harder they become. Like, I don’t think you even land up with your dragonskin armour in this one. Mind you, continuing with the theme, Merlin does have another unusual house (once that pretty much looks like a dice), and you do meet the Poetic Fiend again as well, however King Pellinore seems to have taken a place in obscurity.
May 24, 2024
Otro librojuego del maestro Brennan, que nos ha dejado este año.
Esta vez nos toca recuperar a Excalibur, cuyo robo ha sumido en el caos a Camelot. Arturo y sus caballeros, sin la espada que lo erige como rey, parece que no tienen claro como gobernar. Y es que ya lo decían los Monthy Python: 'no se debería establecer como forma de gobierno el recibir espadas que nos dan mujeres bajo un lago'.
El libro está dividido en varias partes que incluyen un comienzo en Camelot, un viaje por las llanuras del Reino Secreto (ojo con el laberinto, porque aquí Brennan se cebó a gusto) y una parte final en una ciudad construida por enanos, dividida en dos partes cada una gobernada por un rey enano. Esta última me pareció, con diferencia, de lo menos inspirado que le he visto a Brennan hasta el momento. Casi parece que algunas secciones las rellenó porque tenía que meter bulto o que le llegaba el plazo de tiempo de entrega y puso algún contenido que, realmente, no aporta demasiado a la aventura. Incluso el final me pareció bastante deslucido.
Aún así Brennan sigue intentando innovar en cada título. En este caso aparte de un valle mágico donde ir hacia atrás no significa que vuelvas al mismo sitio (tela lo que me costó salir de ahí) hay unas tablas adicionales para la Casa de Merlín (donde consigues los objetos mágicos con riesgos añadidos, algo similar al Mundo de los Sueños) o un apéndice donde figuran las estadísticas de los enemigos. Esto último me pareció, nuevamente, una idea a medio cocer. Entiendo que lo que pretendía Brennan era que no tuvieras claro con qué te enfrentabas en cada caso pero el salto de una sección normal a un apéndice me parece poco natural, enrevesada de más.
El libro, de momento, me parece el más mortal de la saga aunque ya sé que luego vienen títulos mucho más mortales.
Con todo este libro está realmente bien y tiene varias oportunidades de rejugarlo, sobre todo en las dos primeras partes, para exprimir todo su contenido. Sigo pensando que Brennan ha sido de lo mejor que hemos tenido en el mundo de librojuegos, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que fue de los pioneros.
Esta vez nos toca recuperar a Excalibur, cuyo robo ha sumido en el caos a Camelot. Arturo y sus caballeros, sin la espada que lo erige como rey, parece que no tienen claro como gobernar. Y es que ya lo decían los Monthy Python: 'no se debería establecer como forma de gobierno el recibir espadas que nos dan mujeres bajo un lago'.
El libro está dividido en varias partes que incluyen un comienzo en Camelot, un viaje por las llanuras del Reino Secreto (ojo con el laberinto, porque aquí Brennan se cebó a gusto) y una parte final en una ciudad construida por enanos, dividida en dos partes cada una gobernada por un rey enano. Esta última me pareció, con diferencia, de lo menos inspirado que le he visto a Brennan hasta el momento. Casi parece que algunas secciones las rellenó porque tenía que meter bulto o que le llegaba el plazo de tiempo de entrega y puso algún contenido que, realmente, no aporta demasiado a la aventura. Incluso el final me pareció bastante deslucido.
Aún así Brennan sigue intentando innovar en cada título. En este caso aparte de un valle mágico donde ir hacia atrás no significa que vuelvas al mismo sitio (tela lo que me costó salir de ahí) hay unas tablas adicionales para la Casa de Merlín (donde consigues los objetos mágicos con riesgos añadidos, algo similar al Mundo de los Sueños) o un apéndice donde figuran las estadísticas de los enemigos. Esto último me pareció, nuevamente, una idea a medio cocer. Entiendo que lo que pretendía Brennan era que no tuvieras claro con qué te enfrentabas en cada caso pero el salto de una sección normal a un apéndice me parece poco natural, enrevesada de más.
El libro, de momento, me parece el más mortal de la saga aunque ya sé que luego vienen títulos mucho más mortales.
Con todo este libro está realmente bien y tiene varias oportunidades de rejugarlo, sobre todo en las dos primeras partes, para exprimir todo su contenido. Sigo pensando que Brennan ha sido de lo mejor que hemos tenido en el mundo de librojuegos, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que fue de los pioneros.
March 28, 2024
These books kicked ass as a kid.
I would like to track some down and try the game play as an adult.
I have heard they hold up really well as solo games. Though I always just enjoyed them as books. Great imagination, humour and illustrations.
I would like to track some down and try the game play as an adult.
I have heard they hold up really well as solo games. Though I always just enjoyed them as books. Great imagination, humour and illustrations.
December 14, 2010
Not the best of the GrailQuests, but Merlin's store of magical items sure was interesting. There are some parts of this book that could use some editing, as well as playtesting. Most of the "difficulty" in this book lies in the randomness of getting the necessary items from Merlin's house (which is currently in the shape of a six-sided die in this iteration). Tough fights and loads of puzzles make this a solid installment in this awesome gamebook series.
July 8, 2013
Den of Dragons was my first rpg and this was second; the Grail Quest books were very near and dear to me. This one, if I am not mistaken, was the book that introduced me to the famous riddle: "what is the difference between a duck?"
classic
classic
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews