Shadow on the Sand (1985) is the culmination of the first five books of the Lone Wolf saga, the “Kai” portion. It is split into two 200-section parts, though this is strange and I can’t see a mechanical reason for it. Or any reason, honestly. It is the only Lone Wolf book that does this, so apparently Dever wasn’t clear on the whys and wherefores either. My edition bills this as a “Super Edition,” containing two adventures. This is a total lie — its one adventure in two parts.

Anyway, this book is a banger, and more than enough of a reason to stick with the series through the less thrilling installments. The first part is pretty standard Lone Wolf fare — the king sends you on a diplomatic mission, you go on journey — but all of it works extremely well. The second part though is just full on adrenaline — escapes, battles in the sky, reunions, it’s non-stop adventure and it thrills in a way that regular novels can’t. I mean, you could turn this into a regular novel (and I think they did, actually) but the excitement here derives from your steering of the action. This is YOUR adventure and it feels truer here than just about any other gamebook I’ve encountered.

There is a lot more to the world of Lone Wolf, some good, some meh, some amazing (I really like the four Grey Star books) but the first five are the real soul of the experience. Anyone who digs adventure gamebooks should give them a shot.

Chalk’s illustration hit a high point for me here. As much as I love his work generally and as iconic as the pictures for the first book are, I find his line work here particularly bold and striking. And we’ve got another Richard Corben cover — one of my favorites of the entire series.