We all know that for anyone who is less enthusiastic about reading, finding the right book or series of books can make all the difference. While I was a voracious reader from an early age, my brother really didn’t take to it at all as a child, quite possibly not helped by undiagnosed dyslexia, but when he discovered the Fighting Fantasy titles that were first published in the 1980s, he suddenly went from not being particularly interested in reading to owning a collection of the series that he spent quite some considerable time playing. With choose your own adventure books having a bit of a revival at the moment, and having never really got into them when I was younger, I was intrigued when I was offered the opportunity to read and review this exciting new title from Usborne, the latest addition to their Adventure Gamebook series of reads that is designed to appeal to those less enthusiastic readers like my brother, as well as fans of gaming and that can even be played and enjoyed as a family or with friends. Having read the introduction that explained all of the rules, and having familiarised myself with the layout of the logbook that followed and instructions on how to fight any opponents I met, I read the opening of the book’s story before making the first choice that would see me start my adventure proper. From that point onwards, I found myself swiftly drawn into the narrative and fully aware of my responsibility as the only one who could save the protagonist’s/my father. As I found myself planning on setting sail and heading to the Great Storm as part of my mission of mercy, I was soon forced to make some difficult choices and encountered a range of other characters – some of whom were friendly and some who most definitely weren’t – before I unfortunately met my fate by dying of hypothermia, a temporary situation that was swiftly resolved by turning back to the beginning to make a different set of choices. That, of course, is the whole joy of these stories: each read brings a different outcome and although there is always the danger of death, there is also always the possibility of success. Very little is needed to supplement the book to play – I would suggest a pencil so that battles/puzzles can be played over and over again (something that might be worth including in the introduction as in my experience, given the choice, children will always decide to use a pen that cannot be erased). For those who want to play several times – and why wouldn’t you – there is a handy QR code to allow you to access further logbooks to download and print out and also a link to the nrich site, with which many school staff will be familiar, to roll a virtual die if you don’t have one to hand. Accompanying the text are a series of picture puzzles, drawn by Tom Knight, that add to the fun when they are met and these together with the narrative being broken down into short paragraphs/sections make the book ideal for playing for just a few minutes at a time or much longer, depending on personal preference. I really enjoyed playing this and can highly recommend it to readers aged 9+. My only criticism – which is not aimed at the author in any way – is that the text is a little small so that some readers may struggle to read it. That aside, it’s great fun and I’m looking forward to seeing the next in the series, Lightning Rider, which publishes in January 2026.