No Spoilers Contained in this review (even Zargon wouldn’t be that cruel)
Contents
Background
Review of the novels
Review of the Rear contents
Background
Unbeknownst to many Heroquest fans, there exist 3 Heroquest
novels. They are written by David Morris. They are titled The Fellowship of
Four, The Screaming Spectre, and The Tyrant’s Tomb. They were written as
companions to the Heroquest board game. Each book contains a short novel set in
the Warhammer/Heroquest world. The Fellowship of Four, the first in the series,
follows the story with a 4-character choose your own adventure. And, the later
two books, The Screaming Spectre and The Tyrant’s Tomb both have a single-character
choose your own adventure as well as a single quest in the back. So there’s a
lot to discuss here, 3 short novels, 3 choose your own adventures and 2 quests.
The Novels
The Fellowship of Four
This novel does a really good job referencing the game
mechanics of Heroquest in a way that doesn’t feel altogether forced. Players of
the game will recognize the spells used by Fortunato in the dungeons, pit traps, stairs, narrative turn taking of the heroes as they fight etc.
The Screaming Spectre
The sequel throws all the cast out the window. None of the
central Heroquest heroes are mentioned in this book. Instead, we are introduced
to a new cast of personages: three apprentices, an archmage and their butler. This
story is a sort of mystery novel that takes place in a single location. There
are no dungeons and few of the board game’s mechanics are incorporated into the
story.
The Tyrant’s Tomb
Asgrim returns as the central protagonist of this final
installment. He is joined by an unsavory miscreant named Flugle that he meets
in Bretonnia. Together they go in search of the Tyrant’s tomb in the dessert.
This story has us back in a dungeon. There are a few references to game mechanics
like traps. In the end, Asgrim must defeat the Tyrant by using his mind points rather
than his attack dice.
Review
I have mixed feelings about the Heroquest novels.
The biggest issue is that it’s not at all clear who the
intended audience is. My girlfriend (with masters degrees in education and
history) and I (JD and masters degree in economics) regularly found
ourselves consulting the dictionary as we read these books. There were all
sorts of obscure words like catafalque, manse, athame, gonfalons etc. On the other hand, the board game is for ages 9+ and
clearly marketed for children. Further, the plots aren’t altogether complex or
compelling; you sorta get what’s on the tin: Heroquest.
Oddly, none of the books seem to tie into the plot of
Heroquest itself. There’s no reference to the Empire, Zargon/Morcar, or any of
the various named monsters/allies in the quest book. So it’s Heroquest in the
loose sense that it nominally takes place in the Warhammer world, and one of
the books has four heroes matching the archetypes dungeoneering together.
The only other complaint about the works is that many of the
mysteries or “ah-ha!” moments are not well telegraphed. There are few Chekov’s
guns or clues so that the reader can put things together ahead of the action/conclusion
and feel smart. Rather, much of the action seems to just happen because it’s
what the story needs to happen.
All that negativity aside, they are fun reads. I have been
reading them to my girlfriend’s children at night. They love heroquest and these
books scratch that itch just a little more. Some of the writing is quite
clever. It’s easy to imagine and follow the stories.
I enjoyed the Fellowship of Four the most. It felt
like the most true novelization of the board game since it had all of the core
heroes, had the most involved dungeoneering sequence. It is a toss up between
the other two. I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the Screaming Spectre. I particularly enjoy mysteries set in a single
setting, like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and the game Clue. Closed
universes provide the best space for the reader to put the clues together. The
depth of the mystery in the Screaming Spectre is about on par with some of the
mysteries contained in the Harry Potter stories but much condensed, so
don’t get your hopes too high. Recently, I’ve been on a bit of a Conan the
Barbarian kick, and the Tyrant’s Tomb scratched that itch a little bit. It also
had the return to a dungeon and minor problem solving.
Review of the Choose-your-own-Adventures
These are top-notch choose-your-own-adventures.
These adventures have a few features that set them apart.
Each of the characters in the adventure have their own character sheet like in
a game of Heroquest. The player (or players) are asked to keep track of their inventory,
gold, and vital stats. During combat sequences players are asked to roll dice
and fight out the combats rather than simply picking and turning to a
predetermined page. Further, players are allowed to “shop” and acquire items
that change the outcome of various plot points. Further, our playing of these adventures
never resulted in a circular loop or story contradiction. Such story loops are infrequent
but jarring in the Endless Quest series by TSR.
Since these quests don’t require much more than photocopies
of the character sheets, pencils, and dice (and the book), they would probably
be a fun alternative to Heroquest when Heroquest would otherwise be impracticable
(such as road trips, camping, a quiet bar with friends, a romantic date with
your significant other at a park, or by yourself during toilet breaks –
clearly, in all other circumstances Heroquest would be practical and therefore the default activity).
Review of the Quests
So far my girlfriend and I have only had a chance to go
through the quest contained in the Tyrant’s Tomb, A Growl of Thunder. This quest is devilishly
impossible. You are a single barbarian set on conquering a dungeon all on your
own. Even playing as Zargon, (that is, being able to see the entire map) it is not entirely clear how the Barbarian is
meant to win – perhaps if they completed the first 13 quests they would have
sufficient gear to take on this quest.
Conclusion
Sooo… the 100-dollar question! Was it worth it to pay nearly
$100 for all three books? (Warranted, from what I can tell, I got a pretty good
deal on the lot, so your utility calculus may vary) Would I rather have 20
pints with friends? 15-30 new miniatures? 5 restaurant meals?
This is what I got out of them:
15 nights of story book reading with my girlfriend's kids
4 nights of her and I going through the choose your own adventures
1 harrowing night attempting a Growl of Thunder
I think that was time well spent - as well as future re-reads and go-throughs of the quests (as her kids get older and make it past quest 13 of Heroquest, these two quests will be waiting) and choose your-own-adventures.
This is my own book review, it does not connote any support, endorsement, or officiality by GamesWorkshop or Hasbro. Used without permission. No challenge to their status or rights intended. All rights reserved to their respective owner.
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