Story Line: 7
Puzzles: 4
Pictures: 7
Endings: 7
Writing Style: 5
Story Line:A very good one. There are lost artifacts of Zork(the Sword and the Palantirs) that need to be found so King Syovar can lead his armies to defeat those of Krill.
Puzzles:The puzzles in the Zork books are almost ridiculously easy and this is no exception. Although they are a bit random here, they are entertaining, and that is the main virtue of the Zork puzzle.
Pictures:Some wickedly spooky ones. Krill looks like an organized Mr. Messy or a creepy version of the Dynne from The Phantom Tollbooth and there's the usual assortment of hermits and so forth. The lizard warriors are tuff. However, most of the pictures with Biv and Juran(the nicknames they call each other by shortly into the book) are bland, though. One picture holds the clue to a puzzle as well which is nice.
Endings:There are some great ones that go back to earlier parts of the book and creep you out. Many are obligatory and not too risky, like when Biv and Juran ignore a magic sword. Although the endings arriving from no-hope puzzles are probably the best of the lot. Don't miss 'em.
Writing Style:There's a lot of blood-and-damnation writing, and a lot of stuff doesn't make sense. There is a continuity problem as well, when Biv and Juran first see Syovar. And the book starts a bit slowly with Biv and Juran desperately bored. One silly mistake is Biv saying "an ancient sword of elvish workmanship." Nobody talks like that, except an InfoCom text adventure.
Links to ZORK: The ancient sword Bill and June see is from Zork 1-3. Ellron's house is another; it is the white house in Zork 1.
Other items in the house include the battery powered lantern, the lunch, the garlic, the trophy case, and the key in the tree(which is an egg in Zork 1.)
Similar puzzles to Zork 1 include rolling the rug and killing the troll. As an interesting aside, if you run from the troll to the left(west), there is a nasty maze in Zork 1, too. There are also three palantirs you must collect in Zork 2(although each has a separate puzzle there!) There are a waterfall and an underground dam in Zork 1 as well.
| Pages | Side choices | Puzzle | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-5-7-8 | 13 | You're bored. Would a magic sword cure that? Hmm. | 1 |
| 9-11 | 17-19-20-21:14/23 | Do you stop in at an old man's hut--and then stay? | 2 |
| 14-16 | 26-27-28:41, 37-39-50:44-46, 47-49:84, 86, 88-89 | Go to the waterfall. Do you leap off it? Do you take a raft on it? Then, does Biv or Juran or a frog know best? | 2 |
| 24 | 29, 35-36:29, 32 | Leafy or dirt paths, or climb a tree? | 2 |
| 32-33-34 | 53-55 | Did you find the key to the trapdoor? | 1 |
| 50-51-52 | 56 | Fight the troll? | 1 |
| 59-60 | 63-64:69-70, 72-74 | Take map from skeleton? If not, swim or walk? | 1 |
| 61-62 | 65 | Jump across a 15-foot gap? | 1 |
| 66-68 | 63 | Trick the gnome that wants the sword or go back 2 steps to lake? | 1 |
| 75-77-78-79-80-81-82-83 | 124 | Do you have magic sneakers? | 2 |
| 88-89 | 94 | Bust controls in dam, or flee? | 1 |
| 90-92-93 | 98-100 | Get the palantirs or leave them? | 1 |
| 95-96-97 | 101-102:107/108 | Take a side trip for treasure or save Zork? | 1 |
| 103-104-106 | 109 | Give Syovar the palantirs? | 1 |
| 111-113 | 123 | Stay and fight, or run to last stand? | 1 |
| 114-116-117-119-120-121-125 | The end! |