‘Wizards, Warriors and You: The Siege of the Dragonriders’ – Eric Affabee (Carousel/Avon)

A little departure from my normal fare but this is what happens when I have a lot of nostalgia, for the books I read as a much smaller Graeme, and a little disposable income. Sometimes you just have to go with it ;o)

I was massively into the ‘Fighting Fantasy’ books during the eighties (and perhaps a little more of the nineties than I should have been) so it wasn’t too much of a leap to read anything else with a dragon on the front and a promise that I could decide how the story went. I can’t quite remember when I got my copy of ‘The Siege of the Dragonriders’, the smart money is on either a birthday or a Christmas, but it was a lot of fun to read; especially because you weren’t just stuck with one character (you could chose to be either the Wizard or the Warrior) and the gaming system was very simple. Seriously, no dice rolling, just flipping a coin or closing your eyes and seeing which colour you saw first. I could do that :o)

So… I kept my copy for years until it fell victim to a ‘purge’. A few weeks ago, I had it on my mind and grabbed myself a copy from eBay, just to see if it still held up. And… Well, half and half…

Fierce Dragonriders are destroying the kingdom! You must fight these powerful warriors and the fire-breathing dragons they ride – or the kingdom will be lost!

You must choose now – Will you be the Wizard or the Warrior?

As the Wizard, you will take with you the Book of Spells. You will be the master of all its mysterious magic.

As the Warrior, you will take the Book of Weapons. Its complete arsenal is yours to use with your legendary skill.

Magic or the sword? Whichever you choose, play the game wisely and the glorious legend of the Wizard and the Warrior will live on.

‘Siege of the Dragonriders’ did just the job that I wanted it to do; delivering a sweet little hit of nostalgia just when I needed it. Anything more than that though…? Not so much.

It was great to be the Wizard and the Warrior again, fighting monsters and saving the kingdom, especially when you hit a page with one of Earl Norem’s illustrations (his dragons are awesome). What I really came away with though was just how short this book is. A regular Fighting Fantasy book has four hundred sections telling the story; ‘The Siege of the Dragonriders’ has ninety five and these are split between separate tales for the Wizard and the Warrior. On the one hand, fair play for fitting an entire ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ into 47(ish) pages but on the other hand, the end result is very linear. You either make the right choice or you die. Some of those deaths are pretty inventive (something I always look for) but even so… It’s a fun ride but a very short one. The only re-readability you’re going to get is by following the ‘coin toss, think of a number etc’ rules and even that is limited.

‘The Siege of the Dragonriders’ was an ok way to spend half an hour but that was very much it. I’ll still keep my copy though, there’s still a bit of a nostalgia buzz to be had in that cover ;o)