I’m very pleased to be introducing Shadows Under Laeveni, as it’s the first opportunity I’ve had to review an indie gamebook on behalf of The Book Dragon. For those who aren’t familiar, gamebooks are closely tied to both roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons and ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ novels. You play (and read) as the main character in the story, who has a particular set of skills that are tested during the course of the narrative using dice and impact the way that the story unfolds. There are many paths through the story, many of which can lead to (sometimes literal) dead ends. The story is an adventure that the reader, playing the character, attempts to succeed at. In many ways gamebooks are a predecessor to single-player video games, and for those who enjoy both reading and games, they combine the best of both worlds.
The first book in the trilogy, Jailbreak, is, in my opinion, a great introduction to the gamebook genre. It has many possible ways to die and is less heavy on dice rolling than the latter two books, Hunted and Heroes. Jailbreak is a great way to get a taste of the genre. To get the full story, though, will require Hunted and Heroes as well, or the full trilogy in Shadows Under Laeveni. Each has a distinct feel as setting and circumstance for Shadow changes from book to book, and the titles are apt for describing the themes. Something that sets the series apart for me from some other gamebooks is the art – a lot of the story is depicted with hand-drawn sketches from the author. As mentioned before, it’s definitely a gamebook for mature audiences, given the violent and sometimes horrific content.
Shadows Under Laeveni is an adventure gamebook trilogy where the main character is a thief called Shadow who uncovers a conspiracy to unleash an ancient evil on the Holy City of Amaldi – assuming they don’t find themselves on the wrong end of a half-orc’s bastard sword first. There are many gruesome ways to die throughout the trilogy. To start off, you choose Shadow’s skills (such as Lock Picking, Charm and Guile, or Sixth Sense) from a list of options and determine his basic abilities (such as Fighting, Intelligence and Agility) through dice rolls. At various points throughout the story, skills may prove useful, or even lifesaving, while abilities are frequently tested to accomplish tasks. As the author notes, it’s possible for those who don’t enjoy rolling dice to ignore the element of dice rolls and play the book as a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ story.
I give the trilogy 4 stars out of 5 and highly recommend that anyone who thinks they might be interested in the genre give Jailbreak a try!
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