Island of the Lizard King

Background - 

Its still 1984 and Ian is churning out the books at this stage with his third in a row.  Its rumored that its a trilogy with the same adventurer for each one but I cant see it myself.  The last two books have both been very good so its going to be a tough ask to keep the quality up.  This time we are off to Fire Island.  So far we have had a couple of dungeons, a forest and a citadel and even a city.  All controlled environments so not sure how a whole Island will go.  Its got a better chance of an entire galaxy of multiple planets however.

Covers - 

So the original cover features the titular Lizard King along with his pet Black Lion, a shiny scimitar and of course the Gonchong looking like an evil spider. 

I normally like the original covers the best but this one is not great.  I think it might be the strange background as well.  I guess its trying to show the volcanic nature of fire island but it does not come off well.

This is a rare instance of the Wizard cover being a great improvement.  It takes the source material and makes it better.  The Lizard King really pops, the Gonchong looks great but the difference is the background. 

Using jungle and ruins it really fits the atmosphere of the book.  Martin McKenna has done a great job here.  

Scholastic though went a different way.  And its not great.  The Lizard king looks like he has just been startled by some paparazzi.  He is not happy about it as he has been out late at the Fire Island nightclub.

That and he is wearing a crab on his head. 

The US cover does not let us down.  Although I feel that it depicts the Lizard King as the hero.  Its a very dynamic martial art pose with his flaming sword.  Not sure who the women is restraining the Black Lion or what's wrong with its face!

And who is this guy?

Answers on a Postcard.

I do like the idea of the Lizard King being the hero of the book.  What a great twist it would be for the gamebook.  You have to manage the running of Fire Island and its inhabitants, protecting its denizens from the rampages of evil adventures who run around killing them.  The Triceratops pit needs cleaned out but the pygmies have stolen some of the miners food.  If you want to send the Lizardmen to clean up the dung turn to 246.  If you want to send them after the pygmies turn to 17.

For the record I sent them to clean up the dung.

Premise - 

So we are told Oyster Bay is down the coast from Port Blacksand and I have decided to head there from Fang for some rest and recuperation.  Now its not mentioned that you have taken part in the Trial of Champions but its not a massive leap to imagine its the same character who has just been victorious.  I don't see it though.

Anyway we are told our friend Mungo, who we used to adventure with lives there now.  Its a peaceful fishing village where they are left alone as they have no gold or material wealth.  When we arrive though people are upset and Mungo appears to tell you that when all the men were out fishing (slightly sexist, why cant the ladies also be fishing) that the Lizardmen from Fire Island arrived and round up the young men and took them away to be slaves in their mines.

Even though the next time they left two guards, funnily enough it did not work and the two guys that they left were no match for a marauding band of Lizardmen!  Mungo says he is off by himself to Fire Island to try and rescue them.  He then looks at you expectantly.  I say nah man I came here to holiday.  I have just saved Silverton from Zanbar Bone (by the way do you know how to get a tattoo removed?) and survived the Trial of Champions.  I need a break.  

This is not what happened.  Instead I go sure why not, for old times sake.  At least I get a lobster meal out of it!  As we tuck in Mungo gives me the low down.  Fire Island used to be a penal colony (Think Australia) that Prince Olaf sent the less desirable people of his kingdom and I guess political dissidents.  He employed Lizardmen to act as prison guards and the criminals were forced to work the gold mines.  

Alas for the Prince he had so much baddies in his kingdom he could not afford to keep this up so abandons the plan.  After a while the Lizards realise they are not getting paid anymore and jack it in.  One of the Lizardmen took control and called himself the Lizard King.  He apparently has resorted to black magic and voodoo to help with his reign of terror.  This sounds like poor information and the superstition of backward locals from a fishing village to be honest.  

It then gets wilder and the rumour mill says that he did genetic experiments to try and create super Lizardmen.  Its not gone well though and he has created monsters and even infected the fauna to make it dangerous.  But nobody has been to the Island in years so it could be conjecture.  So myself and Mungo get on a boat and all the village cheers us on as we head off to Fire Island.  So much for the holiday!

Playthrough - 

Well I thought it was going to be business as usual but I do not appear to have a shield in this adventure.  I just start with my trusty backpack and my sword and of course 10 provisions which I assume are all sea food related this time.

Skill - 10

Stamina - 21

Luck - 9

Pretty average stats to be honest this time.  I think I will stick to the trusty potion of strength to try and keep myself alive as long as possible to make the blog worth reading.

So we start and Mungo is now a skilled sailor and we head off to Fire Island with us laughing and joking.  Mungo apparently calls out to the birds which is a bit strange.  I think he has been out in the sun too long.  We do get some more back story as we sail along.  Mungo's father was a circus strongman who entered the Trial of Champions but died.  Well I did not Mungo but I never made it out either.  

When he sees land ahead Mungo shouts land ahoy like he was shouting to an entire galleon.  Yeah Mungo is not ok anymore.

Jesus, Mungo, thanks for yelling and letting all the Lizardmen know we are on our way.  I can see your going to be a liability.

So first choice is another left or right without much to go on.  The only difference is scrambling over some rocks or clambering over some other rocks.  Really disappointed with this after the progress of Deathtrap.  I decide to go left and see a collapsed hut in the distance so head over.  And then this happens.

Already Mungo has got himself caught by a Giant Crab.

I am given the option of running away and as tempting as it is to leave Mungo I decide to try and help.  The Crab drops Mungo and attacks me.  And its a skill 10 monster!  What!?  First combat in the book and its skill 10!  Its going to be tough for me but what are skill 7 characters meant to do.  Should have gone right!  I take a battering, the crab takes me down to stamina 9 before I put it down.

I go over to Mungo and get his dying words.  "well old friend, it's the end of the road for me.  A lot of use I've been.  Make sure you get the Lizard King for me, won't you?"  I then bury Mungo in the sand by the cliff, marking his grave with a sword.  So far Mungo has been killed,  I have been destroyed by the first monster I came across and all before I got past the bloody beach.  I have a couple of meals which I like to think were crab sticks and decide to get back on the boat and sail home.

Except I am not given this option and decide to make it past the beach.  I head over to the hut which is abandoned.  I open a trap door I find a wooden box sealed by candle wax.  Again I get the option to leave but I open it to find a jug with a note.  Apparently the owner had come here for a peaceful life but since the Lizardmen showed up that was no longer possible and he went back to the mainland.  He says drink from the jug to protect against poisonous plants on the island.  Again I am given the option of walking away, that's three times now.  So close after a brutal first fight and I think the story sounds legit so I drink.  I am told nothing happens and leave.

I find a goat path leading up the cliff so head up.  Checking my water I realise that water shortage might be an issue.  What?  I just got here and already short of water!  What kind of planning did myself and Mungo do?  I thought we were experienced adventurers!  Light begins to fade so I make camp for the night.  A terrible first day.  And if the light was going I would have rather stayed in the hut for the night!  

So in the morning I am eager to get going and head west, which seems a tad forced.  I am soon getting bogged down in the undergrowth and get the option to rest or keep hacking away.  I soon bump into headhunters who luckily decide they must fight me one at a time to see who has the right to wear my head!  Turns out Headhunter 2 was by far the toughest and he hit me a few times.  Once they are dispatched I find some bananas and coconuts so decide to save my own provisions and eat that instead.  For 1 stamina point.....1!!!!  So I decide to eat some provisions anyway.

Clambering up a tree I see some smoke so decide to head towards it.  Hoping its not a Lost thing.

Do not head towards this smoke.

As I get closer I hear drums so again get the option to turn away.  But I decide to be curious and investigate.  

Not sure why I would have expected anything different.

So I am told that there are far too many to fight which if they are anything like Head Hunter 2 I have to agree.  I am tempted by the option to slink back into the jungle just so I could use this.

But I decide to be a hero and I have to test my luck to see if I am noticed as I creep to the fire and set the village alight.  I pass and it works and I free the man and a lucky dice roll means the spear thrown my way misses me.  We run for ages and when we eventually stop I find out his name is Sama and he has escaped the gold mines.  He wont join me though, he says he cant face the Lizard King again.  I think he is just being polite as he heard about Mungo.  He does give me a bone amulet though which means my luck can never go below 7!

I start to head west again through the jungle, only slightly worried about the massive environmental damage I may have done from starting that fire. 

This guy was minding his own business so I shouted at him.

So my character knows about Marsh Hoppers.  They will lead me to danger in hopes of my death and getting some scraps of food.  Well no brainer, or so you would think!  I am also told he will know the best way out as well.  I decide not to be stupid and follow something like this.  This was a mistake.

If only Mungo could see me now.

So the Slime Sucker is another skill 10 monster but the added problem is I have to subtract 2 from my attack score as I am tired!  And I don't have a spear, which I assume would have helped.  So I take advantage of my bone charm and use luck a lot!  I only have to hit it three times.  It hits me a lot and I when I take it down I only have 3 stamina.  Still cursing Mungo I drink my potion of strength.  

The swamp ordeal is still not over though and I lose another 3 stamina to Giant Leeches (shock) and 1 of my provisions to use the salt to remove them.  I would have burned them off myself.  But just goes to show my salty provisions give me 4 stamina and bananas and coconuts only the 1.  Not a great message to the youth about healthy eating. 

Finally through the dammed marsh I get the option to go through a gorge or up a hill.  I decide to head up the hill to get a better lay of the land.  Just as well as I see a landslide crash into the gorge.  So do I continue up the hill or now head into the gorge.  Well I feel like the trap has been triggered now so down into the gorge I go.  

There is a rock with some words that you can go up and read so I do.  It has the friendly message of turn back or die.  Slight problem, my character has no idea which way it means as the rock faces both ways.  Things pick up though when I find signs of an attempted escape that looks to have failed.  Following the foot prints I come across a box with a gold nugget in it and note telling me where to find a raft and where to find the mines.  Yeah for a second there I forgot I am here to actually free the prisoners from Oyster Bay.

Its been a few paragraphs since something tried to eat me.

So the Giant Lizard sees me as food so its another combat.  He is only Skill 8 but he takes a small nibble out of me before I put him down.  Queue eating yet another provision.  Ignoring the watering hole which sounds like an obvious trap a wild pig runs past which apparently makes my mouth water at the thought of a roast.  But I have just eaten?  Anyway my lack of spear again costs me as I fail to catch it waiving my sword around like a lunatic.  

Just further on I come to the river and locate the raft I read about.  Merrily bunting my way up river I am rudely interrupted by a crocodile.  I am asked if I have an iron bar which I do not so must fight the crocodile while on a raft.  However the croc is only skill 6 and no punishment for fighting on the raft, seems strange to me based on what has come before.  The dice are not going well though this adventure and he croc also gets a bite out of me before its killed.

I then get told that unless I have a pouch of unlimited contents my spear and axe if I have them roll off the raft into the water and are lost!  What?  I've not got any of those which makes me think I have gone way of in the wrong direction.  A pouch of unlimited contents sounds like something from every RPG I have ever played as you seem to have no problem carrying an arsenal of weapons and various pieces of armor around as you fight baddies with no encumbrance whatsoever.   

Sorry foul beast, please wait until I choose which leggings to put on, I have 6!

As I punt my way merrily up the stream I am flagged down by a ragged man.

He might think I am some sort of riverboat taxi.

So I pull over and let him on board.  But he is delirious with fever and pulls a knife on me.  As I don't have my sword out I get into another combat with a -3 skill penalty.  It does not go well and my stamina is reduced to 10 before I punch him in the face and he is carried away by the river.  Just shows you the perils of being a taxi driver.

 

Some bad ass Lizardmen just strolling through the village.

I park up and head up to the mud huts and almost bump into these guys.  Luckily though I read the note earlier and I can bypass these guys and head straight to the mines.  It does not take me long to find the gold mine and I get a good old fashioned T-junction.  I head left and then down a ladder before bumping into another Lizard Man with a pail.  He is dispatched and I take the pail of water to help some of the captured slaves.

What in the blue hell is going on in here?!?!?

So the Dwarfs are being forced to work the mines and as I fight the Lizard Man they join in to help me and the guy stands no chance.  I give the Dwarfs some of the water and they love me.  We head deeper into the mines to free some more people.  We have the amazing plan of disguising myself as a Lizard man using his cloak and pretending to lead the Dwarfs as a chain gang.  Amazingly it works as we stroll past another Lizardman before coming to some more slaves.  Two Orc guards are killed by the Dwarfs and we free some more people.  I have to question what Orc guards are doing here though?  Did the Lizardmen start subcontracting out?  

One roll of a 6 later and we leave the mines with 63 former slaves made up of Men, Elves and Dwarfs.  Its a right good party as everyone is delighted.  A lot of this happened off screen but I imagine it went like this - 

 

Everyone wants me to lead an attack on the fortress against the Lizard King and his elite guard.  However an Elf takes me to one side to give me an info dump.  Apparently the Lizard King is infected with a parasite known as the Gonchong which makes him immortal.  Only the island shaman knows how to take it down so I have to go and track him down before meeting up with my army.  

So I get back on my trusty raft but I decide that river travel is not for me and quickly head to land.  My character has no idea where the Shaman could be on the island, and neither do I so he decides to head towards the volcano as that seems a logical place for the shaman to hang out.  Not sure what logic was applied here but in the absence of any better ideas I guess ill go for it.

On the way I get invited to try some giant raspberry's that I see.  Nope, I have learnt that fruit at the best gives 1 stamina point back.  The next temptation is a bulging sack hanging from a tree.  Nope, that's clearly a body.  So its time to hunker down for another night and it passes without incident.  Surely a goods night sleep should restore stamina points, No?

So my water bottle is nearly empty but I find a pool of water and fill up.  It is there that I notice some chalk marks so go over to investigate.  Its a message from the shaman saying if I wish peaceful contact to tie a feather into my hair.  My character is wondering how the shaman knows I am looking for him.  I however am wondering how I even know its a message from the shaman, anyone could have written that at anytime.  I have never been here before, that message could be years old!

Getting closer to the Volcano now but my way is barred.

Excuse me, do you know where to find the shaman?

So I lose the first round against the Hill Troll automatically as I do not have Sog's helmet.  Maybe I should have been a bit more adventures in my searching.  Despite being Skill 9 the dice are finally kind and he does not hit me, well apart from the first round where I did not have the helmet.  My reward is a dead seagull so I take his feather and it into my hair.  There is no mention how long the seagull had been dead for mind you but my character at least has the decency to feel a little self conscious.  

Further up I come across a cave with lots of skulls around it.  Clearly the abode of the shaman I think.

Apologies I appear to have wondered into the set of one million years BC.

Preparing to talk her down and make a new friend I instead have to dodge a spear she throws at me and kill her.  I have a look around the cave and find some red dust which I can either apply to my face or eat.  I decide to put on some war paint and I am rewarded with 2 Luck points as it used to belong to a wizard that was captured and forced to work in the mines.  No idea how my character would be able to figure that out.

After all this I finally arrive at the volcano and only now start wondering when it might erupt again.  Amazing forward planning.  I decide rather to climb up to look around the base.  I stumble on a nest of eggs in the sulphur pools and immediately decide this is a terrible idea and backtrack to climb up instead.  Climbing I find an offering circle where I can either leave something or take something.  I know the paragon choice would be to leave something but my equipment list is my bone charm of luck or a gold nugget.  That's it!  Muttering under my breath I leave the gold nugget and the rocks start glowing to show me a path.

I eagerly show him my seagull feather but its nothing to his tropical feather collection.

So the shaman is appalled to find out a Gonchong is on the island but I must still prove myself through a series of tests.   Luck, Fear, Pain, Revulsion, Strength, Dexterity.  Its at this moment I realise I might be on I'm a celb get me out of here.  I have a great luck score so will try that first.  Its one of these three cups and which one has the item trick.  My luck holds and I get it right.  Next up revulsion.  He taps me with his stick and I feel like I am covered in maggots.  The book asks if I have the ring of confusion which I don't so my character screams he cant take it anymore.  The shaman says I have failed and just points in the direction of the prison camp and wont give me any advice.  Or meals for the camp.

I head back to my squad but get stuck at a ravine which only has one crossing.  Its guarded by this dude.

Who can be bribed with a gold nugget, the gold nugget I just left for the Shaman who did not help me!  F*******K!

He asks me for the password and I just say what?  Of course in a hilarious bit of banter that turns out to be the correct password so he lets me across.  Straight into the path of a Skill 11 Styracosaurus!

This does not look good for me.

The dice are once again kind to me and I survive.  However turns out I was only fighting the mount.  The Mutant Lizard man gets off and straight into another fight, this time Skill 9.  By the time all is done I am down to 5 stamina (from max) and I only have 1 provision left which I eat.  Never finished off all my provisions before!  Just a shame the fruit on this island does not help much.

I then brush my leg against a bush but as I drunk the potion way back at the start I do not even notice.  Then I find a dead pirate.

A Monkey!

I release him and he jumps onto my shoulder and I have made a new friend.  No doubt already more useful than Mungo.  The encounters are coming thick and fast now as I spot the prison colony but as I make my way over but am blocked.

I hope you are not related to the other cave women.  

At least this time I can get to try and communicate with her.  It does not work but at least it does not result in a fight and I back away to continue my journey.

Its a proper fight!

I meet up with the escaped prisoners and the Lizard King sends out his forces and its an early James Bond film battle between the goodies and the baddies.  I end up in a fight with a Lizardman but dispatch him without much problem.

Unfortunately the rest of the guys are not doing so well.  I do not have the Horn of Valhalla so I must defeat the commander.  Who happens to be this guy - 

Eye don't think this will be a problem.

Its a straight fight, Skill 10 v Skill 10 and pretty much the same stamina.  I go down to stamina 1 and I twice take a gamble on a luck roll to kill him.  Alas my luck finally deserts me and he kills me.  My adventure comes to a bloody end.  We should have just left the island when I freed the prisoners from the mines.

Notable Moments - 

So I got off to a shocking start when Mungo got killed by that giant crab.  However if you go the other way you run into a bunch of pirates who are burying treasure.  You have to fight a few but as you are the captain offs Mungo and then you have to fight him.  He is also Skill 10 of course which means no matter which direction you go in you have a brutal fight.  To make it even funnier they were burying iron bars as the captain had pulled the old switcheroo.  Handy if you bump into a crocodile mind you.

I missed a meeting with these merry men.

There is a meeting with a bunch of Pygmies as well.  It can go many ways such as fighting your way out or bartering with them.  My favorite though is giving them your food and it gives them stomach cramps and you can just walk on by.

There is also a part when you can stick your hand into a hole, and get bit by a rattlesnake, it can kill you if you have low stamina or even leave you with skill 5 and stamina 4 which may as well kill you.

But the best encounter I missed was in the mines.  You get to a part where you cant go any further.  But if you found a pair of boots you think hmm, I wonder if per chance they are magical boots that I can use to walk down the wall.  And lo and behold they are.  Its just so random, that you have been wearing these boots and then and only then does it dawn on you to see if you can use them to Spiderman up walls.

Artwork - 

This is the first time we see Alan Langford illustrate a Fighting Fantasy.  Its a terrible time for him though as its right after the two best books so far.  As a result even though its good quality it is not as good as the previous two books.  

I pretty much came across a lot of the illustrations in my playthrough and I really like the intro page with Mungo, the crab that kills him, the cyclopes that kills me and the Styracosaurus being my favorites.  However most of the other lizardmen depictions do not do it for me.  They just don't look quite right.

I think part of the problem for me is that the jungle environment should be all tropical and exploding with colour and its really hard for the artist to convey that in black and white.  Its a tough gig.

Some I missed though are - 

Keep following the Mash Hopper and you end up fighting a Hydra, Looks much better than the Citadel of Chaos one.

I don't know why anyone gets goblin guards, they are always asleep.

The two headed Lizardman suffers from the same problem, I think they look more like dragons than Lizardmen.

However the water elemental probably is the worst of the bunch.

The water elemental has a few options but one ends up being very bizarre.  You can trap him in the pouch of unlimited contents and then bury it. 

All in all if this had been earlier in the series I would have said its a step up.  But as I said it suffers for me for being after City of Thieves and Deathtrap Dungeon where we were shown just how good it could be.

The Big Bad - 

So is the big bad the Lizard King or the Gonchong?  Well the Lizard King gets top billing so we will go with him.  The big showdown though is kind of let down by the art though.

He is a big booty baddy.

The actual battle though plays out very differently depending what you have picked up on the way.  If you do not have any of the items to defeat him there is not even a combat, he just destroys you.  Having a monkey and a fire sword can get it down to a skill 6 fight but also having some of the items can vary between skill 10 or 12.  

I like the multiple paths, it not in the league of the Balthus Dire epic but gives you a chance if you get at least one item.  Otherwise he has to be one of the toughest bosses along with Zanbar Bone who can just kill you without a fight.

But lets talk about the Gonchong.  Its a great idea.  The Lizard King would have been enough but the twist of the parasite crab like creature controlling him is wonderful.  And if you are not careful it jumps to you and takes over your body instead.  

Menagerie - 

So as you would expect there is a theme of jungle/lizard creatures in this book.  Again though there is a focus on putting the word Giant in front of everything.  In this book we have -

Giant Crab

Giant Dragonfly

Giant Lizard

Giant Wasp

Giant Water Snake

Its all very mysterious island.  Coupled with the 1 Million years bc references I suspect Ian had stayed up watching an early 60s fantasy films marathon.

We also find our fantasy staples.  Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblin, Cyclopes etc.  But the main focus is the Lizardmen, you keep running into them which makes sense since its their island.  There is a cameo from a Shapeshifter again though.  But there are new things here as well.  Razorjaws, Slime Sucker, Marsh Hoppers and a Spit Toad.  

Overall its a good mix of old and new.  I thought it could have been more dinosaurs though.  But the best have to be these guys - 

Grannits!!!

Entertaining Deaths - 

So if the brutal combat does not kill you, do not worry there are plenty of embarrassing ways to go.  For a while I was going to go with leaving Mungo to be killed by the crab as my favorite.  If you choose the sensible option of leaving him to a grizzly death you run into quicksand.  The last thing you see as you sink away is Mungo being eaten by a crab.

Also falling asleep at a tree, of course it kills you.

But my favorite one in this book has to be hiding in a log.  If you flee the headhunters and they chase you into the jungle and you can choose to hide in a log.  If you are unlucky they find you and kill you.  I can just imagine your brave hero stuck in a log as a bunch of murderous headhunters have a right old laugh at you.  I hope they kick the log over a large hill.

Pete's Corner - 

Tell Mungo to go himself.

I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night...

Final Thoughts - 

Ok ill be honest, I found this a bit of a slog.  It took three sittings with some huge gaps.  Although that can be attributed to Demon Souls, Mass Effect Remaster and Euro 2020.  And no its not a coincidence that I went back to Fire Island after Scotland got knocked out.  This does not mean its a bad book, not by any means.  But its not as engaging or engrossing as the last two that Ian wrote.

It did feel like it went on a bit.  When I mapped it out afterwards I can see that's because its pretty linear.  Ian focuses on story and plot a lot more which means less choices.  I can see what he is doing trying this but its not what I look for in a gamebook.  Fire Island is an island, so we could have had multiple different locations and ways to eventually get to the end.

Lets go back to the start.  If this was a Steve Jackson book he would have put in a mechanic to use Mungo.  However Ian just kills him off as you start.  After all that build up though that is a massive waste.

Another major issue I had was my hero being psychic.  Well I guess the volcano might be where the shaman lives, lets try there.  Oh that must be a message from the shaman.  Oh I guess ill head West.  It just seems forced which I guess is because its so linear.  Other areas of the book have many options and details like with the Pygmies which is great but it feels this came at the cost for other encounters where you just think oh lets try randomly to see if the boots are magical (still cant believe that).

Do not get me started with the Shaman.  All that work to get to him and if you do not pass the tests, which can all be about having the right item, and he tells you nothing.  What's his plan, hope someone else more worthy turns up tomorrow?  Its a bit stupid and in the end you do not need his advice, it helps but once you know about the monkey and fire swords you do not need to bother with him.

But the biggest issue is the combat.  If you roll skill 7 or 8 do not bother and start again.  You must face a Skill 10 opponent as your first or second combat.  There is a mandatory skill 11 fight and the Lizard Kings Black Lion is unavoidable skill 10 as well.  This book is loaded with tough fights but there are ways around most of them but not all.  But starting a book with a Skill 10 fight is unforgivable.

These are all negatives but there are good things in Island of the Lizard King.  I mean I got annoyed at the Marsh Hopper sequence but its really clever.  If you follow him for a bit and then leave you can avoid the two brutal fights in the swamp and the Ian gives you the clue in the text, I just missed it in my playthrough.

Also the epic final battle is great with the mass battle of both your forces clashing, I think its the first time in Fighting Fantasy so far of being involved in a mass battle.  I would have liked more paragraphs here though.

And in a very non Livingstone way the mine allows you to retrace your steps, its very well done and I don't remember Ian doing this before.

The Lizard King is a decent adversary but the idea around the Gonchong is very clever and adds an extra dimension to the story and the big bad.  

All in all though I think its a great premise and fantastic theme for a fighting fantasy book but the execution is a bit missing for me.  To be fair Ian has done an amazing job in the last two books and this his third book in a short space of time.  But you can tell he is getting burnt out.  A missed opportunity for a third great in a row.

Oh and does anyone know where to find the spear?  Even mapping out the book I still have not found it!

Score - 6 out of 10.