Temple of Terror (book)

Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks
Outline
Location:	Allansia, Titan
References:	400
Publication Details
Author(s):	Ian Livingstone

Illustrator(s):	Bill Houston
Puffin

Cover illustrator:	Christos Achilleos
First published:	April 25 1985
Number	14
ISBN:	ISBN 0-14-031832-1
Previous Book:	Freeway Fighter
Next Book:	The Rings of Kether
Wizard (Series 1)

Cover illustrator:	Martin McKenna
First published:	June 3 2004
Number	19
ISBN:	ISBN 1-84046-528-X
Previous Book:	Appointment with F.E.A.R.
Next Book:	Legend of Zagor
Wizard (Series 2)

Scholastic

For other uses of Temple of Terror, see Temple of Terror

Temple of Terror is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Bill Houston and originally published in 1985 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2004. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 14th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031832-1) and 19th in the Wizard "Series 1" (ISBN 1-84046-528-X).

CreationEdit

Dragon Master is believed to be the working title for Temple of Terror, with the working title mentioned in list of current and forthcoming Fighting Fantasy gamebooks at the back of The Seven Serpents.^[1]

BackgroundEdit

“ The dark, twisted power of the young Malbordus is reaching its zenith!

All he needs now is to retrieve the five dragon artefacts which have been hidden for centuries in the lost city of Vatos, somewhere in the Desert of Skulls. Each day that passes brings him closer to them and only YOU can stop him! YOUR mission is to reach the lost city before Malbordus and destroy the treasures he seeks. But beware! Each step you take leads you closer to your doom ...

Two dice, a pencil, and an eraser are all you need for this adventure. YOU decide which route to follow, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight.^[2] ”

In this book the player is hired by the Good wizard Gereth Yaztromo and pitted against the Evil Malbordus, who is poised to gain the power of the Dark Elves and lead an army to conquer Allansia. All that he requires are the five Dragon artifacts, which are hidden in the lost city of Vatos which lies somewhere in the Desert of Skulls, and which the player must locate before the final confrontation with Malbordus.

Temple of Terror's desert setting lends the story a unique Middle Eastern feel, both in terms of the setting and the opponents faced. As with many Livingstone adventures, such as City of Thieves and Crypt of the Sorcerer, the player must collect a series of artefacts in order to be successful in the final confrontation, an element which is given an unusual twist by the presence of a character known as the Messenger of Death, who has placed the letters which make up the word death along the character's route and will claim the character's life if they are all found.

Fighting Monsters/Equipment/Hints on PlayEdit

The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System).

Unique RulesEdit

Temple of Terror also utilises a simple spell-casting system. Ten different spells can be used: Create Water, Creature Sleep, Detect Trap, Fire, Jump, Language, Light, Magic Arrow, Open Door, and Read Symbols; and the player must choose only four.^[3]

Equipment List^[4]Edit

Cover and IllustrationsEdit

Main article: Temple of Terror (illustrations)

Covers

The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Christos Achilleos.

Interestingly, on the spine of the Adventure Gamebooks editions of this book, there was no Puffin Books "Puffin" symbol, although the logo does appear on subsequent editions. This only occurred on one other book, Chasms of Malice, although in that case the logo does not appear on any edition.

When the book was republished by Wizard a new cover was designed and illustrated by Martin McKenna. He states that "Ian [Livingstone] wanted me to depict the Mutant Orc from the adventure. He suggested that we could see the Orc in close-up, an idea inspired by the close-up of Zagor on the Return to Firetop Mountain cover. I [Martin McKenna] did a rough which showed the Mutant Orc in mid-shot, with his long knives as seen in the internal artwork. But Ian wanted to zoom right into the Orc's face in extreme close-up."

**Temple of Terror** through the years
1985	1987	1989	1990

Zig-Zag Banner	Dragon Format	Dragon No No.	No. Spine Only
£1.75¹	£1.95²	£?	£?
1993	2005	2005

No Bronze-Foil	Wizard "Special Limited Edition"	Wizard
£3.99³	£4.99	£4.99

NOTES

Price of 1st Impression; £1.95 for 5th~6th Impressions
Price of 9th Impression
Price of 12th Impression

Illustrations

The interior illustrations were by Bill Houston. There were 33 full page illustrations and 5 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 1, 10, 24, 38, 47, 59, 68, 79, 93, 106, 119, 128, 140, 151, 164, 180, 196, 206, 216, 227, 237, 249, 262, 274, 288, 302, 316, 329, 341, 354, 365, 377 and 389.

Intertextual ReferencesEdit

PrequelsEdit

Depending on interpretation, this adventure can be deemed a sequel to The Forest of Doom,^[5] itself a sequel to Caverns of the Snow Witch.

Other MediaEdit

Main article: Temple of Terror (computer game)

The book was loosely adapted into an AdventureSoft adventure game for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron home computers (published by U.S. Gold).

Main CharactersEdit

YOU: Hero of Temple of Terror

LocationsEdit

EncountersEdit

Cave Troll
Dark Elves
Death Dog
Fiend
Giant Centipede
Giant Eagle
Giant Fireflies
Giant Sandworm
Harpy
Human - Dark Disciples/Pirate/Robbers/Servant/Slave Guard/Torturer
Lizard Man
Malbordus
Mutant Orc
Needle Flies
Night Horror
Pterodactyl
Rat Men
Serpent
Serpent Guard
Skeletons - Men/Warriors
Stone Golem
Swords
Tentacled Thing
Tentacles

Further NotesEdit

The book is the first fantasy based one to not feature the use of the generic Potions and not offer a replacement in the form of something else such a healing spell.

ErrorsEdit

(38) In one room the player will encounter an effigy which is described as being made of bronze. But in (291) when the player has to fight the statue (which turns out to be magically animated), it is labelled a Stone Golem.
(292) An option is given to lift the lid of a black pot (156), when it should be a red pot (183). You have already looked inside the black pot to get to (292).
(313) The player is given the option to use a mirror against a Basilisk. However, no mirror could have been acquired prior to that point of the game.