I was completely unaware of the Golden Dragon series of game books, I need to check them out. I’m currently re-reading the Blood Sword series of books (co-written by Dave Morris as well) which are very good. I’m also reading the Forbidden Gateway series (which unfortunately only includes two books). Where the Shadows Stalk and Terrors out of Time are both great and are heavily influenced by H. P. Lovecraft and include a mechanic to reflect mental stress. Well worth checking out.
Brother! Your vids are absolute gold! Please keep on! It sucks you’ve not made a vid in five months or more and I’ve just discovered you and your channel! More, dude, more! Super Endless Quest and AD$D iterations of such (both with the cool ‘bookmark character sheets’) To say nothing of Lone Wolf…the Magnamund Companion. Tolkien/Middle-Earth Quest…the short-lived rpg from it/them: Lord of the Rings Adventure Game (ICE, 1991).
Hi. Great series of Game Books indeed. My favorite one in the Golden Dragon series is The Castle Of Lost Souls. I made a short showcase video (6:20 minutes) of my collections. It's the French version of the books but I think you might be interested. If you'd like to have a look, it's on my channel. In the French version, The Castle Of Lost Souls is number five of the series, While The Eye Of The Dragon is the last one. I don't know why they inverted these two. Great video by the way. Very interesting and informative. Thank you.
The "Temple of Flame" pyramid entry with the guards patrolling around the base was very similar to the puzzle in "Raakatu" a text adventure on the TRS-80
Lord of Shadowkeep was my first game book! It took me ages to remember who wrote it, and I’ve just bought the series to play again with my kid. I’ve thought about it so often over the years Edited to add; It being the first one I’d played definitely helped 😂
I have fond memories of the Golden Dragon books and the artwork but I always found the rules a bit too simple. I generally preferred longer books with more complex rulesets so the author’s other more in-depth series, Blood Sword, was a favourite of mine. But back in those days any gamebook was a good gamebook and I still played through the GD books multiple times. Other non-FF/Lone wolf series worth looking at are Tunnels and Trolls, Grailquest, Saga of the Demonspawn, Freeway Warrior and Legend of Skyfall. Also Dragon Warriors is an RPG-lite sold in a paperback format by the same authors as Golden Dragon & Blood Sword (Dave Morris & Oliver Johnson). It has the same unique art and writing style and is worth checking out for anyone who enjoyed the Golden Dragon books.
I think Golden Dragon kind-of flew under the radar -- at least for me, growing up in 1980s upstate New York. I hardly ever saw them, but when I did, I always enjoyed the art (especially the pieces by Russ Nicholson -- one of my favorite artists). In the years since then, I have come to really appreciate the writing in these books (Dave Morris is one on my favorite authors). I guess that you could fault the game mechanics for being a little simplistic, but who cares? Gamebooks aren't really about complex dice and math.
I was completely unaware of the Golden Dragon series of game books, I need to check them out. I’m currently re-reading the Blood Sword series of books (co-written by Dave Morris as well) which are very good. I’m also reading the Forbidden Gateway series (which unfortunately only includes two books). Where the Shadows Stalk and Terrors out of Time are both great and are heavily influenced by H. P. Lovecraft and include a mechanic to reflect mental stress. Well worth checking out.
There were so many series worth checking. We were lucky to have witnessed their advent and golden age.
Brother! Your vids are absolute gold!
Please keep on! It sucks you’ve not made a vid in five months or more and I’ve just discovered you and your channel! More, dude, more!
Super Endless Quest and AD$D iterations of such (both with the cool ‘bookmark character sheets’)
To say nothing of Lone Wolf…the Magnamund Companion.
Tolkien/Middle-Earth Quest…the short-lived rpg from it/them: Lord of the Rings Adventure Game (ICE, 1991).
Many thanks bro, I really appreciate!
If you like Tolkien you'll soon enjoy a brand new vid here: the Song of Earendil
Great video bro. 🎉🎉🎉
Hi. Great series of Game Books indeed. My favorite one in the Golden Dragon series is The Castle Of Lost Souls.
I made a short showcase video (6:20 minutes) of my collections. It's the French version of the books but I think you might be interested. If you'd like to have a look, it's on my channel.
In the French version, The Castle Of Lost Souls is number five of the series, While The Eye Of The Dragon is the last one. I don't know why they inverted these two.
Great video by the way. Very interesting and informative. Thank you.
Thanks for your feedback. Au fait j'ai également commencé par les livres en Français, dans la cour d'école en 85 ;)
Love this video!!!
Thanks!
Merci Anton de faire vivre tous ces (vieux) livres qui ont fait (et font toujours) notre bonheur ! :)
Avec plaisir Cedric :)
The "Temple of Flame" pyramid entry with the guards patrolling around the base was very similar to the puzzle in "Raakatu" a text adventure on the TRS-80
I loved this book series, especially the eye of the dragon
Thanks for sharing
Lord of Shadowkeep was my first game book! It took me ages to remember who wrote it, and I’ve just bought the series to play again with my kid. I’ve thought about it so often over the years
Edited to add; It being the first one I’d played definitely helped 😂
I have fond memories of the Golden Dragon books and the artwork but I always found the rules a bit too simple. I generally preferred longer books with more complex rulesets so the author’s other more in-depth series, Blood Sword, was a favourite of mine. But back in those days any gamebook was a good gamebook and I still played through the GD books multiple times. Other non-FF/Lone wolf series worth looking at are Tunnels and Trolls, Grailquest, Saga of the Demonspawn, Freeway Warrior and Legend of Skyfall. Also Dragon Warriors is an RPG-lite sold in a paperback format by the same authors as Golden Dragon & Blood Sword (Dave Morris & Oliver Johnson). It has the same unique art and writing style and is worth checking out for anyone who enjoyed the Golden Dragon books.
You're right, back then all gamebooks were enjoyable
I was able to pick all these up about 5 years ago. Reprint cover art is no where near as good as the originals like you said. Great video!
Thanks a lot, that's appreciated!
Same here; but the interior art is exactly the same as the originals. From Fabled Lands publishing…
I think Golden Dragon kind-of flew under the radar -- at least for me, growing up in 1980s upstate New York. I hardly ever saw them, but when I did, I always enjoyed the art (especially the pieces by Russ Nicholson -- one of my favorite artists). In the years since then, I have come to really appreciate the writing in these books (Dave Morris is one on my favorite authors). I guess that you could fault the game mechanics for being a little simplistic, but who cares? Gamebooks aren't really about complex dice and math.
Absolutely. Gamebooks are rather about vibes than sophistication.