Fire on the Water

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**Fire on the Water**

Author	Joe Dever
Cover Artist	Gary Chalk
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Lone Wolf
Genre(s)	Children's literature
Publisher	Berkley / Pacer
Released	1984
Media Type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	350
ISBN	ISBN 0-425-08437-X
Preceded by	Flight from the Dark
Followed by	The Caverns of Kalte

Fire on the Water was the second book of the award-winning Lone Wolf book series created by Joe Dever and illustrated by Gary Chalk.

1 Gameplay
2 Plot
3 Reception
4 Awards
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Gameplay

The second book in the series is actually somewhat linear compared to the first, and features at least one unavoidable encounter resulting in immediate death if one does not possess the appropriate item or discipline upon reaching this point. The item in question can only be obtained by fighting an extremely difficult encounter, which most players can't even get to based on other disciplines barring the path. Some debate that this is in direct conflict with Dever's "Kai Wisdom" in that every book should be solvable regardless of initial character creation.^[1] This can lead to the frustrating experience of having to repeat the book several times in order to discover the needed combination of prior actions. On the other hand, the goal of this book is arguably the single most important item in the whole gamebook series. Completion of this book makes nearly every book up to Book 13 easier in almost every encounter.

[edit] Plot

After King Ulnar is informed of the loss of the Kai and the Darklord threat, Lone Wolf is appointed to retrieve the Sommerswerd, the one power capable of standing up to the might of the Darklords. Following a previous victory over the Darklords some number of years ago, the sword had been entrusted to the care of the allied nation of Durenor. Lone Wolf has but forty days to bring the Seal of Hammerdal to King Alin of Durenor in exchange for the return of the Sommerswerd. It is hoped that with the Sommerswerd in the hands of the last of the Kai, the invasion force of Archlord Zagarna can be stopped.

[edit] Reception

The plot and story of this book was generally greeted favorably by readers, although the aforementioned "Tunnel to Hammerdal Chokepoint" (along with some accompanying errata in some editions) detracted from the enjoyment of some. ^[2]