A Fighting Fantasy Journey
Book twenty four-Creature of Havoc
Steve Jackson is back with another maze filled puzzle ridden head ache. Creature of Havoc had a classic bit of art by Ian Miller whose work reminds me of classic Realm of chaos. I love his illustration of the necromancer Zharradon Marr. The book itself has a very interesting premise. We play a creature of unknown origin who can't speak and has to discover their true identity as the story progresses. So we play a monster who eats his way through hobbits and any other adventurers who try to kill you 
The original book had a map which the second version lacked and I found it useful during my replay. The intro to this book is 20 pages of background rivaling any rpg. Jackson really fleshes out this section of Allansia and was the perfect backdrop for his later novel the Trolltooh wars. This background gives you clues to your true identity which you later discover in this mammoth book which has 460 instead of the usual 400 paragraphs. 
Your first victim. A tasty dwarf. You spend the first half of the book stuck in a dungeon in able to understand a word that's being said and no way to reason with anyone. Guess you'll just have to kill them all. 
There are some very tricky sections to this book and you get hints to add a number when it's needed to turn to the right paragraph but with little prompting so it's easy to get confused. Dome whole sections such as the village of Dree just lead to certain death no matter what you choose. 
In fighting fantasy tradition you can get an ally. The half orc Grog and in good tradition he dies horribly. The book is interesting but frustrating but stands out as very unique and adds a lot to the lore. 
The mini of Zharradon Marr I for some reason had trouble painting. Perhaps I'm used to the character hiding in a mirror rather than being three dimensional. 
I remember the cover of this one, and very little else!
I remember dying umpteen times and ‘cheating’ to avoid death situations was difficult especially when you start with language problems. Still one the more enjoyable adventures, but I agree quite frustrating in finding the right direction to be successful.