Endless Quest

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Cover of Dungeon of Dread
Cover of Dungeon of Dread

The Endless Quest books were two series of gamebooks released by TSR. The first series of 36 books was released from 1982 to 1987, the second series of 13 from 1994 to 1996. These were respectively the first and last gamebooks released by TSR.

The mechanics of these books involved simple choices in the style of Choose Your Own Adventure books rather than the game-like randomized elements of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. The majority of the books in the series were based on Dungeons & Dragons, but some were based on other TSR games (e.g. Gamma World, Top Secret) or even licensed properties (e.g. Conan, Tarzan)

The second series differed from the first in several ways: they were printed in smaller type; the section numbers were independent of the page numbers; they were based on different original games; and they were not officially numbered (collectors and gamers use the numbering shown below for convenience).

Contents

[edit] Books in the series

Series One
# Title Setting Author Published Cover by Interior Art by ISBN
1 Dungeon of Dread D&D Rose Estes June, 1982 Larry Elmore Jim Holloway ISBN 0-935696-86-5
2 Mountain of Mirrors D&D Rose Estes June, 1982 Larry Elmore Jim Holloway ISBN 0-935696-87-3
3 Pillars of Pentegarn D&D Rose Estes June, 1982 Larry Elmore Harry J Quinn ISBN 0-935696-92-X
4 Return to Brookmere D&D Rose Estes June, 1982 Larry Elmore Timothy Truman ISBN 0-935696-93-8
5 Revolt of the Dwarves D&D Rose Estes Jan, 1983 Larry Elmore Jim Holloway ISBN 0-88038-020-9
6 Revenge of the Rainbow Dragon D&D Rose Estes Jan, 1983 Larry Elmore Harry J Quinn ISBN 0-88038-021-7
7 Hero of Washington Square Top Secret Rose Estes May, 1983 Jeff Easley Timothy Truman ISBN 0-88038-022-5
8 Villains of Volturnus Star Frontiers Jean Blashfield May, 1983 Larry Elmore Jim Roslof ISBN 0-88038-023-3
9 Robbers and Robots Top Secret Mike Carr July, 1983 Larry Elmore Vernon Posey ISBN 0-88038-036-5
10 Circus of Fear D&D Rose Estes July, 1983 Keith Parkinson Kevin Nichols ISBN 0-88038-037-3
11 Spell of the Winter Wizard D&D Linda Lowery Aug, 1983 Larry Elmore Jeffrey R. Busch ISBN 0-88038-054-3
12 Light on Quests Mountain Gamma World Mary L. Kirchoff
James M. Ward
Aug, 1983 Keith Parkinson Steve McAfee ISBN 0-88038-055-1
13 Dragon of Doom D&D Rose Estes Nov, 1983 Clyde Caldwell Harry J Quinn ISBN 0-88038-100-0
14 Raid on Nightmare Castle D&D Catherine McGuire Nov, 1983 Jeff Easley Jim Holloway ISBN 0-88038-101-9
15 Under Dragon's Wing D&D John Kendall Feb, 1984 Larry Elmore Sam Grainger ISBN 0-88038-076-4
16 The Dragon's Ransom D&D Laura French Feb, 1984 Clyde Caldwell Doug Chaffee ISBN 0-88038-077-2
17 Captive Planet Star Frontiers Morris Simon Jul, 1984 Clyde Caldwell Sam Grainger ISBN 0-88038-078-0
18 King's Quest D&D Tom McGowen Jul, 1984 Ben Otero Kevin Nichols ISBN 0-88038-079-9
19 Conan the Undaunted Hyborian Age James M. Ward Jun, 1984 Clyde Caldwell Doug Chaffee ISBN 0-88038-120-5
20 Conan and the Prophecy Hyborian Age Roger E. Moore Jun, 1984 Keith Parkinson Sam Grainger ISBN 0-88038-121-3
21 Duel of the Masters D&D Chris Martindale Sept, 1984 Clyde Caldwell Keith Parkinson ISBN 0-88038-154-X
22 The Endless Catacombs D&D Margaret Weis Sept, 1984 Jeff Easley Jeff Easley ISBN 0-88038-162-0
23 Blade of the Young Samurai D&D Morris Simon Nov, 1984 Clyde Caldwell Gary Williams ISBN 0-88038-155-8
24 Trouble on Artule Star Frontiers Catherine McGuire Nov, 1984 Jeff Easley Mitchell O'Connell ISBN 0-88038-169-8
25 Conan the Outlaw Hyborian Age Roger E. Moore Dec, 1984 Keith Parkinson Ron Randall ISBN 0-88038-222-8
26 Tarzan and the Well of Slaves Tarzan Douglas Niles Jan, 1985 Larry Elmore Ben Otero ISBN 0-88038-206-6
27 Lair of the Lich D&D Bruce Algozin Mar, 1985 Jeff Easley Jim Roslof ISBN 0-88038-212-0
28 Mystery of the Ancients Gamma World Morris Simon May, 1985 Keith Parkinson Doug Chaffee ISBN 0-88038-217-1
29 Tower of Darkness D&D Regina Oehler Fultz Jul, 1985 Jeff Easley Mark Nelson ISBN 0-88038-204-X
30 The Fireseed D&D Morris Simon Oct, 1985 Larry Elmore Jeffrey Butler ISBN 0-88038-171-X
31 Tarzan and the Tower of Diamonds Tarzan Richard Reinsmith Dec, 1985 Jeff Easley Jeffrey Butler ISBN 0-88038-205-8
32 Prisoner of Elderwood D&D Bruce Algozin Feb, 1986 Jeff Easley Gary Williams ISBN 0-88038-283-X
33 Knight of Illusion D&D Mary L. Kirchoff Jun, 1986 Clyde Caldwell Sam Grainger
Jim Holloway
ISBN 0-88038-284-8
34 Claw of the Dragon D&D Bruce Algozin Sept, 1986 Clyde Caldwell Stephen Fabian ISBN 0-88038-306-2
35 Vision of Doom D&D Mary L. Kirchoff Dec, 1986 Ben Otero George Barr ISBN 0-88038-307-0
36 Song of the Dark Druid D&D Josepha Sherman March, 1987 Jeff Easley Jim Holloway ISBN 0-88038-442-5
Series Two
# Title Setting Author Published Cover by Interior Art by ISBN
37 Dungeon of Fear Dragon Strike Michael Andrews 1994 Jeff Easley Terry Dykstra  
38 Castle of the Undead AD&D Ravenloft George Barr 1994 Clyde Caldwell Terry Dykstra  
39 Secret of the Djinn AD&D Al-Qadim Jean Rabe 1994 Jeff Easley Terry Dykstra  
40 The Siege of the Tower AD&D Greyhawk Kem Antillies 1994 Jeff Easley Terry Dykstra  
41 A Wild Ride Wildspace Louis Anderson 1994 Jeff Easley Terry Dykstra  
42 Forest of Darkness Dragon Strike Michael Andrews   Jeff Easley Terry Dykstra  
43 American Knights Gamma World Nicholas Pollotta 1995 Jeff Easley Terry Dykstra  
44 Night of the Tiger AD&D Ravenloft Jean Rabe 1995 Roger Loveless Terry Dykstra  
45 Galactic Challenge Amazing Engine Allen Varney 1995 Dennis Kauth Terry Dykstra  
46 Bigby's Curse AD&D Greyhawk Anne K. Brown 1995 Jeff Easley Terry Dykstra  
47 The 24-Hour War Gamma World Nicholas Pollotta 1995 Keith Parkinson Terry Dykstra  
48 The Test   Wes Nicholson 1996      
49 Sands of Deception   Jean Rabe 1996      

[edit] Collectors' sets

  1. contains Books 1–4, ISBN 0-88038-056-X
  2. contains Books 5–8, ISBN 0-88038-057-8
  3. contains Books 9–12, ISBN 0-88038-163-9
  4. contains Books 13–16 no ISBN

[edit] Related series

TSR also released a spin-off series of four Endless Quest: Crimson Crystal Adventures books during 1985. These books add a small twist in the form of a clear sheet of red plastic which comes stapled to the inside. This plastic piece is removed and then overlaid on top of certain portions of the book to reveal hidden images (by acting as an optical filter).

The related Super Endless Quest series changed its name to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebooks starting with the fourth book; these books added a more complex game system to stories which otherwise share the same style with the Endless Quest books.

The Fantasy Forest series of gamebooks (1982–1983) is quite similar to the Endless Quest books, but it is aimed at a somewhat younger audience.

Other similar series from TSR included HeartQuest (interactive romances, set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons), Catacombs Solo Quest (more complex again than Super Endless Quest) and 1 on 1 Adventure Gamebooks that were each a pair of books for two players/readers.

[edit] External links