Assassin!: Volume 2 (Way of the Tiger)

My absolute fav book in The Way of the Tiger series.

‘Assassin’ sees the reader adopt the persona of a ninja in the quasi-oriental/fantasy world of Orb. The adventure begins from the exact point that the previous book in the series, ‘Avenger’, finished; which was on a bit of a cliff-hanger. This is great if you have read the previous book but not so good if you haven’t as you are thrown straight into the action. Even though the books can be played as standalone adventures it is quite clear that they function much better read together/consecutively. Things would make a lot more sense at the start of this book and reading the previous provides you with considerable advantages.To start the book in such a way is an interesting method as it addresses something not often covered by adventure gamebooks –what happens after you defeat your main enemy/complete your quest? This book details with the consequences of your actions in the first. You have slain your enemies in the heart of their fortress and retrieved the ancient scrolls. Now you must escape and return home. Although this approach is rarely adopted, giving it some originality, it does make the plot feel a bit feeble as it just you returning home. A good portion of the adventure involves travelling back along the route you took in the first book. However, new story elements that hint at a vaster plot begin to seep in during the latter stages, but this seems mainly to be setting up the next book in the series.Unfortunately, just like the first book, there isn’t a great choice of different routes. This makes the adventure pretty easy to navigate and it is only some of the combat or the choice of skills that provide a level of difficulty. However, there is, in comparison to ‘Avenger’, the opportunity to explore a bit more of Orb and soak in some of the atmosphere. Even so the adventure still feels a bit too linear.Once again there are some interesting foes to face. These tend to lean towards being character based rather than generic monsters, although there are a couple of quite inventive monsters. Some are also utilised as re-occurring characters. The most noticeable are Tyutchev, Cassandra and Thaum who appear sporadically throughout ‘The Way of the Tiger’ series and in ‘The Talisman of Death’ by the same authors in the Fighting Fantasy series. Tyutchev also makes an annoying appearance in Mark Smith’s Virtual Reality Adventures gamebook ‘Coils of Hate’.

This is a reprint of a gamebook series originally released in 1985 (original version  here ). The reprint was financed via Kickstarter by Megara Entertainment, and resulted in Megara producing hardback versions (only available from their website for 29 euros at time of posting) and Fabled Lands LLC producing the softcover version listed here.In this second book, your task is to escape from an enemy stronghold following a successful assassination mission, and make your way back to your home island with a valuable religious artifact. The format is the same as the previous book with 420 sections (slightly more than other gamebooks of the time, which had 300-350) though the combat system (where you have a choice of a punch, kick or throw) typically requires 2-3 paragraphs per foe rather than just one.As with the previous book, the writing benefits from an in-depth gameworld with hidden depths, plausible characters and varied environments (every town or city tends to favour one god of a large pantheon, creating an atmosphere rather like the city-states of Greece with frequent religious conflicts). Even till the very end, danger is present with your character becoming the target of bounty hunters and assassins.Unfortunately, just as with the first book  Avenger! , colour artwork is reduced to grayscale and the pages share the same stale, rancid grease odour that makes reading it unpleasant. Hence the 3-star rating.Those interested in this series would be better served with a 1985 original, or the hardback offered on Megara's website.

Read the series as a teenager. Quality! Am now buying the lot for a targeted reading group at the school I currently work. Excellent English and perfect for those (boys) who can't sit still for long.