Sorcery Game Books: Play as a Wizard!

This is the tale of Sorcery! The first GameBook series to offer a continuous, multi-volume saga... An epic adventure with outstanding rules of play, that left its mark on a whole generation of readers. Created by Steve Jackson in the early 1980s along with the first Fighting Fantasy GameBooks, Sorcery is a four-part solo adventure series that will take you through the dangerous lands of Kakhabad, on a quest for the legendary Crown of Kings. Join me in this journey...
Painting of the "Shamutanti Hills Beggar" by Cédric Moulin.
For more on this, you can also check this quite unique interview of Steve Jackson talking about Fighting Fantasy, Sorcery, and Games Workshop on @TheStoryMastersTales channel... • Steve Jackson Intervie...
Here's the link to my other channel, Retro Dream, dedicated to retro computers and games... / @retrodream

[@spellsing]

This Sorcery epic is the crowning achievement for Jackson. Read as an arc, you receive such a sense of achievement when reaching the Arch Mage at the end. I rate this series as the bench mark in these chose your own path gamebooks. Forever replayable and instantly enjoyable.

[@mrmaster9801]

One of my favourite game book series. I still remember the time spent on studying the spells, memorizing each and every 3 letters code and discovering their connection to their effects. The 4 adventures are great and, as you say, they should be played together to get the best out of the series. And I also had the chance of using the ZED spell, but I won't say more about it 😉.

[@AgeofInk]

Wow, that's interesting ;) You really won't say about it?

[@mrmaster9801]

@@AgeofInk it would be too big of a spoiler and, as we all know, spoiler is Evil. I'll just say that, after using it, I undertsand why it's considered the most powerful spell.

[@TheSunlight74]

I agree about the art - didn't like it as a kid but now appreciate it

[@AgeofInk]

Glad you agree, and thanks for letting me know!

[@ednguyen3822]

I beat the 4-book epic once. Lost all my notes over the years. Haven’t played in decades but I’ve got all four books still and plan to repeat them again,… as soon as I solve the bloody Seas of Blood Fighting Fantasy and Serpent King’s Domain Fabled Lands.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for sharing

[@zacharywatson5531]

what a flash back these were cool roll the dice on your life

[@AgeofInk]

Oh yea

[@machfront]

An outstanding undertaking! I’m jealous I never had nor heard of this in the States at the time. Now, it’s extremely super expensive to enjoy this amazing series in the U.S. Thankfully, we can enjoy the new iteration of AFF, but I prefer the slightly expanded clone of the original FF rpg: Spellzard! If ya like rules-lite and FF, I can guarantee you’ll find joy in: Spellzard! (Not involved at all…just wanna spread the word/love). Cheers, everyone! 🙂

[@AgeofInk]

It's a shame they weren't as widespread in the US as in some European countries

[@damianjones6666]

I love these books, I have an early edition of the shamutanti hills which has a separate spell book it awesome. if you have not seen it try the Destiny Quest series by Michael J Ward there really good fun, a worthy succesor

[@waitaminute8216]

He (John Blanche (e is not pronounced) got paid £5 per drawing apparently :-/; so the ones I bought at Citadel Miniatures Open Day in 1983 were at cost! The printing obscures just how detailed they really are.

[@AgeofInk]

Interesting! Are you sharing any detail photo somewhere for us to see?

[@waitaminute8216]

@@AgeofInk I don’t have anything public to show them on Im afraid

[@robertboyle2573]

The illustrations by John Blanche give the books a great atmosphere.

[@AgeofInk]

As is usually the case with gamebooks: illustrations are almost as important as text.

[@johnfielder2064]

still got my originals, and still play AF&F, at the mo i'm thinking running as a ShadowDark campaign

[@sebastienraymond3648]

Sorcery! and Grail Quest have always been my favorites serie. However, Sorcery! had a better mission atmosphere that came with all four books. They made video game format on Steam. The maps are really well done. But I haven't played the Steam version, so I can't really rate it. Have a good day and take care.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks a lot. Yes I saw the computer game, but nothing can compare to the original (and the associated nostalgia :) Keep well!

[@IamPussy]

Definitely meant for multiple attempts, it's too stressful otherwise! Everything is out to get you lol

[@AgeofInk]

I agree, except for the first book this was a very difficult series

[@RetroMMA]

Pleased to say I still have all 5 books from my childhood as well as 20+ FF books. :)

[@AgeofInk]

Glad to hear that my friend :)

[@darryljf7215]

I had all these Sorcery books. A quality series.I recall having to order the Crown of Kings from my town centre book store and wait ages. Ah, the days before the internet. What I remenber of playing the books was, it was difficult. I was always getting despatched, my characters' hand sliced off in a trap or whatever. I used to randomly pick a point in the book and try from there. It didn't help. Maybe I didn't know how to play it!

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for your feedback, always interested to learn other people's experiences with gamebooks!

[@JuliaChilled]

Great video! I recently played the PC version of Warlock of Firetop Mountian and I’ve been enjoying it tremendously! I was recommended to look up Sorcery, and here we are. Thank you for the great overview of these books, I’ll definitely be hunting down them down and looking forward to my first venture into Kakhabad :)

[@AgeofInk]

Many thanks for your interest! Appreciate

[@machfront]

Also, allow me to say that this was a seriously solid video of the subject. Congratulations, sir, and thank you so very much for! More, please! Heheh!

[@AgeofInk]

Many thanks, sir, appreciated!

[@warduke8192]

Outstanding narration and discussion of these treasures.

[@AgeofInk]

Many thanks

[@blamp666]

So sad they have so poor pictures now... it was like taking the soul of these books out.

[@synns6898]

Poor pictures? The art in these are classic and have more character than a lot of newer art. Like boardgames such as Talisman 1st and 2nd edition have so much character where as 4th edition looks so generic. Classic art is what makes these retro books and games so great.

[@cedricmoulin]

"Sorcellerie !" Tel était le titre de la série dont je conserve précieusement un exemplaire de chaque livre dans ma bibliothèque. Cette série sortait du lot en donnant l'impression de jouer à un jeu (presque "de rôle") qui transcendait le livre isolé, tout en se limitant à 4 tomes - à la différence de Loup Solitaire. On voyageait, à l'instar de la Compagnie de Tolkien, à travers des terres prometteuses et contrastées, garantie d'aventure et de dépaysement. Contrairement à toi, j'adorais les illustrations de John Blanche, et je m'étais jeté sur "Les Collines maléfiques" dès sa sortie. Merci pour cette présentation érudite de la série. :)

[@AgeofInk]

Merci de ton feedback toujours instructif Cédric

[@TheUKNutter]

I have all 4 of these books. Inspired by these so much, I created my own CYOA. Probably not going to publish or show it though.

[@darrensurff8554]

These books saved my life as a kid 😊😊😊

[@scionkai2524]

I've been a fan of Lone Wolf since childhood, and this video introduced me to this series. I will pick it up soon to add to my library, thank you :)

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for your interest ;) I was at first reluctant to this series because I didn't like the artist's style so much (I was 10 and I didn't grasp his subtleties). That was a mistake because the series is very good.

[@fnord3125]

i’ve never seen the original books, but the digital adaptations from inkle are phenomenal. very, very cool games!

[@messenger3478]

I played the game from steam, but I want the books!

[@Pangur55]

‘’LANDS OF CACA-BAD’’ 😂 sorry, fell like back at kindergarten 🙄

[@AgeofInk]

Haha sure 😆

[@LaBibliotecaEterna]

I have always liked " choose your own adventure" game books but now that I have discover this new type I will give ie a try. Thanks for the vid, it helped me a lot.

[@AgeofInk]

Thanks for your interest and glad it was useful to you.

[@carolinelabbott2451]

Absolutely love this. My Dad had all the orginal penguin books at one point, but during a few house moves they were sadly lost.

[@AgeofInk]

That's a pity, such a great collection... Thanks for sharing your experience, and for your interest!

[@campfirecult4375]

🔥

[@DistantSon1]

Can anyone tell me if the videogame version is a fair substitute? The first book is very expensive where I live!!

[@AgeofInk]

in my opinion it's not a substitute, but it's just my own point of view

[@blacksabbathmatters]

Had these when i was a kid, i still remember the smell of the bookstore from every trip i made after i saved enough money to get the next one. Guy was brilliant to spread the content throughout the four books, i wish i had hung on to those things.

[@AgeofInk]

Same story here ;) We all had similar experience with those. Thanks for sharing yours!

[@Democraps_are_narrow-minded]

Grail Quest is better.

[@AgeofInk]

k

[@BigBrotherIsrael5]

No