I'm going to be upfront with you; this is not a regular gamebook series. Rather, it is more like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book, where you get to make decisions from time to time, which take you to different parts of the story. However, there are no character statistics, or rolling dice, or anything else that is familiar to the gamebook genre. Then why am I reviewing the series? Well, to be honest, the author asked me nicely to do so, and provided a copy of the book. Who am I to deny such politeness?
Since there is no actual "game" part of the book, I have no need to discuss the system, how it works, and how it differs from other systems. Instead, let's just dive into a review of the books.
The Legend of Inz 1, 2008, Sahil Asthana
The first book in the Legend of Inz introduces you to the title character, whose fate you control. Inz is a young man, most likely a teenager, who lives in the village of Conitex. Conitex is a village of warriors, so Inz has been trained in the martial arts. He can wield a sword, as well as the X-gun, a magical contraption that fits on his left arm and shoots fire. It comes in handy.
The story starts with Inz being given a quest. His village is being destroyed by a mysterious plague, which is quickly killing all of the villagers. The village wise man has discovered a cure for the plague, but to complete the cure he needs one of the magical blue roses from the inland mountains. Thus, Inz must quest to the mountains to get the rose. Along the way he has to fight off enemies, he meets allies, and let's just say that the book doesn't end in the way I figured it would. The ending is a nice setup for further books in the series, though.
Overall, I thought that this book was OK. It was entertaining enough, and I came to like the main character. The X-gun idea is pretty cool, and Inz's success or failure is heavily dependent on how well you use the X-gun in combat. Also, there are some supporting characters that are pretty interesting. There are some people (perhaps not exactly human) that Inz will encounter on his journey, but the real star of the supporting cast is Inz's mount. It's kind of a llama thing, and it talks. And it can kick you in the face. But most importantly, that guy is funny. He always brought a smile to my face.
That being said, there are a few things that hold the book back somewhat. First, I remember at least one section where you have to make a "right or left" choice, and if you choose wrong you are dead. I have always disliked that kind of thing, especially when you are given no hint about what is to come. A more significant problem, though, comes from the writing itself. It's not amateurish, but the choice of wording can be jarring at times. For example, in one passage it mentions someone's thinking "being plagued by plague thoughts." The person was thinking about the plague in Conitex, I could figure that out just fine, but that is a very awkward sentence. There are a few places like that where the wording choice just jars a bit. It probably won't stop you from enjoying the book, but if you are bothered by that kind of thing you should be aware of it.
In the end, though, the book was an entertaining read, and it isn't like there are a ton of gamebooks or interactive novels being published these days. So, if this sounds interesting to you, I recommend you check it out. The author sells the book from his website.