The Citadel of Chaos (Fighting Fantasy Classics)

Now for another piece of my ancient childhood. The Citadel of Chaos largely improves upon The Warlock of Firetop Mountain in terms of premise and plot. A evil sorcerer plans to destroy the good folk of the nearby town, so it's up to you to stop him. It's not the best premise in the world, but it's definitely a drastic improvement over the first book.

There are plenty of interesting encounters in the citadel, and also visits to various rooms as you snoop around and try to find your way to the evil sorcerer. As with other books in the series, there is only one true path to victory, which you will only find through luck or trial and error. There are two must-have items you will need to reach the sorcerer, but once you encounter him, there are plenty of options to fight, such that a character with poor stats might still prevail. Still, it can be pretty unforgiving, with plenty of bad-ends in the battle if you are not careful.

In addition to the combat system, there is also a magic system which allows you to pre-select some spells to bring with you on the adventure. I strongly prefer the magic system in the Sorcery series, but this one is functional.

It is a solid adventure in the series. Again, it's true value to me lies in the nostalgia, but it was still a pretty good read for another piece of Fighting Fantasy history.