~4 minute readHard Copy
Zork: The Interactive Novels
By S. Eric Meretzky
Tor Books / $1.95 each
For years now, Infocom's Zork games have maintained their status as the most popular computer adventure games of all time. Even novice computer users who know nothing about the world of adventure games have heard of Zork; in fact, many of those novices cite Zork as one of their reasons for buying a home computer in the first place. So it made sense for Infocom to branch out, and convert its famous games into the perfectly suited "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" book format. Now that they have finally done it, only one question comes to mind: Why did they wait so long?
The Zork Interactive Novels are part of Tor Books' "What-Do-I-Do-Now" series of adventure novels for young adults. As it characteristic both of the publisher and of Infocom, they are excellent. One factor that raises them above the level of most interactive fiction is the variety of action which the books allow. Obviously they can't be nearly as intricate as the computer games, but they are complex and non-linear enough to approximate the atmosphere of a computer adventure game very well.
These books are not merely adventures that have nothing to do with Zork except a licensed title; written by Steven Meretzky, award-winning author of Infocom's Planetfall and Sorcerer, they are pure Infocom from start to finish. Not only do they take place in Zork's Great Underground Empire, but they actually lead the reader/player into some of the same locations that are found in the games. Veterans of Zork have an advantage over newcomers to the magical realm, and they will enjoy the many subtle references to other Infocom games.
The four books of the series are titled The Forces of Krill, The Malifesto Quest, The Cavern of Doom, and Conquest at Quendor, and each one follows the adventures of two ordinary kids, Bill and June, as they get transported to the world of Zork. The two are known as Bivotar and Juranda, the brave and courageous adventurers whose quest it is to save their "uncle" Syovar's kingdom from a variety of evil beings (Infocom fans may recognize Krill as the evil warlock from Enchanter and Jeearr, the villain of Conquest at Quendor, from Sorcerer).
As each adventure unfolds, the reader is drawn right into the action by Meretzky's felicitous use of the present tense for narrative. At important plot junctions, decisions are left up to the reader, and the choices that the reader makes influence the outcome of the story. However, unlike most interactive novels, there isn't always one right and one wrong choice, and when there is, the wrong choice doesn't always mean certain death. Many choices are surprisingly broad ("Should we use magic or weaponry in this adventure?" for instance), giving the reader a real feeling of control over his fate. Open-ended prompts encourage imaginative responses rather than passive page turning, and add to the overall enjoyment of the stories.
All of the books are good, and it is hard to single one out as the best. However, my personal favorite was The Malifestro Quest, an excellent example of Meretzky's innovative writing style and unique sense of humor. In The Malifestro Quest, Bivotar and Juranda have to rescue Syovar and the entire land from the clutches of the evil wizard Malifestro. En route to the castle of this nefarious character, you must cross the Great Flathead Mountains, avoid a band of thieves, conjure up a demon, outwit a cyclops, and try to control a bizarre flying carpet, courtesy of the Frobozz Magic Flying Carpet Company.
The Malifestro Quest is logical and enjoyable, much more so than many other interactive novels which have uninteresting choices for the reader to make like "Should we go right or left?". What's more, it has the best climax of the four -- a wild wizard's duel between Syovar and Malifestro.
The illustrations that are sprinkled throughout the stories are very good, and the cover paintings are magnificent. And if you've always wanted to know just what a lurking grue looks like or how Krill looks bedecked in all his finery, you have to look no further.
The only problems with the series are the inconsistencies. There aren't too many, but when they do crop up they detract from the stories. For instance, the cover of The Forces of Krill shows Krill to be human, while interior illustrations depict him as a fiery demon. Krill gets killed at the end of the book despite the fact that he is alive and well in Enchanter. A Frobozz Magic Wizard Escape Potion in The Malifestro Quest invokes the presence of a gnome if Bivotar drinks it but not if the demon does.
More importantly, there are some instructions in the books, most notably in Conquest at Quendor, that are simply incorrect. A prompt may tell the reader to turn to page 114 when in fact page 114 has nothing to do with the situtation in question.
Other than that, the series is excellent, It is certainly far superior to most other books of the same kind. But now there's another question that needs to be answered: How long will fans have to wait for the next installment? And what about Planetfall?
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