Comic Info
Book Title: Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 5: Revolt of the Dwarves
Publisher: TSR Hobbies, Inc.
Writer: Rose Estes
Artist: Jim Holloway
Release Date: January 1983
Galen, his father Paul, and his mother Martha find themselves prisoners of the Dwarven Royal Guard who intends to overthrow the new prince. When Galen escapes, he and his dog Wooly must find a way to rescue his parents and stop Sneed from his treachery. Galen’s path is fraught with danger and every choice he makes could be his last…can Sneed be stopped and Galen’s parents rescued?
Written by Rose Estes, Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 5: Revolt of the Dwarves is a choose-your-own-adventure style of book. Following Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 4: Return to Brookmere, the young adult story features interior art by Jim Holloway with Elmore providing the cover art. They can often be found in PDF form on the internet.
I had a collection of the first four books of the Endless Quest series growing up which I read religiously. I can remember wanting more of the books, but being sidelined but other series and novels as I got older. The best part of the internet is access to some of these books you missed, and Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 5 is just one of those “gets” that allows you to revisit childhood.
Like most “choose-your-own adventure” books, the series has obvious cliffhangers and occasionally less obvious. You have Galen and his dog out for adventure which of course has them being potential prisoners on almost every page or just giving up on your family and the prince (which is always my favorite ending). The writing is pretty cliché fantasy, but fortunately, the choose-your-own-adventure aspect of the series does override some of the humdrum of the fantasy.
Some of the other books in the series have more impressive art (which helps “inspire” you to choose different paths to see how the art ties in). Nothing is wrong with the story art in this volume, but I always read choose-your-own-adventure series for the monsters and horror and the elves don’t do as much for me (though some of the creatures Galen runs into are fun).
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books were readable video games for the time they were made. They gave you some choice and some options, and allowed for multiple “play-throughs”. The Dungeons & Dragons series gave the hook that I needed to get into them a bit more. With the internet and multiple “pick-this” or “pick-that” options, it feels like choose-your-own-adventures could come back in a big way if they tap into the right online format, but the thrill of turning to “page 73” and seeing you’ve died isn’t quite the same. Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 5: Revolt of the Dwarves is followed by Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 6: Revenge of the Rainbow Dragons.
Related Links:
Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 1: Dungeon of Dread
Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 2: Mountain of Mirrors
Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 3: Pillars of Pentegarn
Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Book 4: Return to Brookmere