After the valley that was the last book, The Gateway of Doom (1984 UK, 1987 US) is a nice mountain to climb. Same team—J.H. Brennan writing, John Higgins illustrating, Les Edwards on the cover.

This book is sort of a culmination of an ongoing joke. In the previous books, you encounter the dreaded Black Knight, only to find that it is the doofy King Pellinore in dark colored armor. This time, though, no such luck. The real Black Knight has opened a Gate that is threatening the kingdom and you have to stop him and close it. I love both designs for the villain, honestly. Big Warduke energy.

This one is a bit more challenging, I think. The combat (not the series’ strong suit) is a touch harder, there are a few less healing items around and the puzzles are a stitch more…well, puzzling. I definitely did not get the optimal path on my re-read and there are a lot of items and secrets I missed, which is pretty good considering I am old, aware of how little time I have left and have no qualms about cheating because of it. It’s still a good deal easier than, say, Steve Jackson’s Sorcery, but it is nice to have the series get a little tooth, you know?

Some fun encounters, too. The Black Knight is probably my favorite villain in the whole series. The mirror Pip is super creepy and memorable too.