Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Mystery of the Maya Alternate Endings Part 35


R.A. Montgomery got this ending close to right at least:  blue was a color of sacrifice in Maya culture.  Don't know if the Toltecs had the same idea.  No picture.


"Blue is a magic color.  Only one of the straws was colored blue!  You are now chosen to be a messenger to the Toltec god Smoking Mirror.  Dressed in royal robes of blue and red, you are led to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, tied to a small stone table and left to meet Smoking Mirror.  It's the end for you.  You are to be sacrificed.  THE END".


Results So Far


10 Good Endings

4 Deaths

4 Bad Non-Death Endings

9 Neutral Endings

6 Inconclusive Endings

2 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Mystery of the Maya Alternate Endings Part 36


Red straw may be the worst ending of CHOICE #39.  At least sacrifice to Smoking Mirror kills you quickly.


"Red leads to a job with the workers of the Pyramid of the Moon.  You are shown how to chip and carve delicate patterns in stone that decorate the hallways and secret chambers of this magnificent pyramid.  Heads of serpents, fierce faces with bulging eyes, and feathered birds are carved in stone.  All day you hammer and chip, following lines drawn on the stone by the Toltec priest-artists.  Fine stone dust clogs your mouth and nose.  Your eyes water constantly.


Then one day you are amazed to see six people in modern drip dry clothes walking toward you.  One of them waves.  Then they all wave.  You run toward them but are stopped by an invisible wall of time.  You can't get back to the present time.  Forever more, you must chip away at the stone carvings in the great Pyramid of the Moon.  THE END".


I thought I'd only see the "slave building a pyramid" ending in a book about cartoon Egypt.  R.A. Montgomery was enamored with the idea of false hope in this CYOA:  remember the mirage Swedish cruise ship?


Results So Far


10 Good Endings

4 Deaths

5 Bad Non-Death Endings

9 Neutral Endings

6 Inconclusive Endings

2 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Mystery of the Maya Alternate Endings Part 37


After looking for water for a while in CHOICE #36, Xha and I find a cenote.  It's deep enough that it leads to either an artificial tunnel or a cave.  "You come out into a huge underground cavern.  In the corner of the cavern lies a pile of treasure:  glittering gold, jade rings of the deepest green, and plates of silver, gold and jade".  Finally, treasure worthy of a "combat archaeologist"*.  Xha knows this is the "lost treasure of the Plumed Serpent".


CHOICE #40 is to take the treasure in the past on Page 96, or try to find it again in the present on Page 97.  Wouldn't it be a twist if someone else had managed to find it in the last 1100 years or so?  But let's try the past first.  Probably can't take it with us when the time potion expires. . .


"The lure of gold is great.  From the beginning of time people have worshiped the shiny metal.  They have fought wars, plundered cities, and committed murder in its name.  Some say gold has a curse on it.  You lose all track of time and place.  You seat yourself in front of the treasure and feel the smooth metal. 


Time passes quickly, until a rumbling sound wakens you from your dreams of wealth.  Rocks tumble from the roof of the cavern; boulders slide down and seal off the cave.  The air grows hot.  Soon the oxygen will be gone.  You are finished.  You are sealed in the cave by an earthquake.  Is it the revenge of the ancient Maya?  THE END".


But Xha IS an ancient Maya!  This would make more sense as a present ending, because at least then all the archeaologists would be interlopers.  Can't have an ancient treasure without an ancient curse.  No picture of the player pounding on the cave walls in despair, unfortunately.


Results So Far


10 Good Endings

5 Deaths

5 Bad Non-Death Endings

9 Neutral Endings

6 Inconclusive Endings

2 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Mystery of the Maya Alternate Endings Part 38


CHOICE #41, the final decision, has something unseen in an R.A. Montgomery book:  consistency!  The treasure cave that had killed me in the previous ending has a blocked entrance in the present.  Manuel "does not smile" when I ask him to send me back to my own time, and he warns me not to be "hasty".  I didn't tell him anything about the treasure hunt:  he knows by looking at my face.  To disregard Manuel's advice and enter the treasure cave solo, turn to Page 112.  If you try to get help for the expedition, turn to Page 113.


Indiana Jones would approve of the "It belongs in a museum!" option.


"You find a group of professional divers in Merida and lead them to the cave.  They place a small dynamite charge in the cave entrance.  There is a muffled roar, the water foams and bubbles and grows murky with sand and mud.  The cave mouth is open.  The treasure is where you remembered it being.  You start bringing up the gold.  Then a jeep arrives.  Four uniformed Mexican officials get out.


'Congratulations!  You have found the lost jewels of the Maya.  Our government will be very happy with your work.'  The man smiles.  The other three start loading the gold and gems into their jeep.  You realize that you don't really mind at all.  The Mayan treasure rightfully belongs to the people of Mexico, who are their descendants. 


You are glad that you were able to restore the treasure to its real owners.  And you like being the center of attention.  The government invites you to Mexico City and honors you at a dinner in the Mexican Natural History Museum where the jewels will be displayed.  THE END".


In the next conclusion, you'll see that whatever continuity R.A. Montgomery created for this branch will be cast aside when I fail the Morality Test.


Results So Far


11 Good Endings

5 Deaths

5 Bad Non-Death Endings

9 Neutral Endings

6 Inconclusive Endings

2 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Mystery of the Maya FINALE


If I agree to share the treasure in CHOICE #41, everything from the past is still there.  If I decide to take it all for myself and therefore go to Plot Hole Cave earlier, guess what happens?


"You decide to go it alone.  It is a tight squeeze.  You would get bruised and cut as you inch through the narrow opening in the sharp rocks without the protection of your wetsuit.  At one point you think you are not going to make it.  Finally you are alone inside the cave.  You remove the aqualung and head toward the treasure hoard.  IT'S GONE!  Someone got there before you.  You stand there empty handed, feeling foolish and disappointed.  Time waits for no one. . .THE END".



No picture for either CHOICE #41 ending.  A disappointing Neutral Ending that contradicts the other conclusion is an appropriate send-off to an R.A. Montgomery CYOA.  I've learned a bit more about the Maya while typing these posts, but I'm glad I'll move on to a different author for the next book.  Here's a hint:  It was once in the Choose Your Own Adventure series, but not anymore. . .



Final Results


11 Good Endings

5 Deaths

5 Bad Non-Death Endings

10 Neutral Endings

6 Inconclusive Endings

2 Second Chance Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Mystery of the Maya CHOICE Map


CHOICE #1, Page 6
-See Dr. Lopez at Merida University, Page 7-9:  Go to CHOICE #2 (CLEAR)
-Directly to Chichen Itza, Page 38:  Go to CHOICE #6 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #2, Page 9
-Drink time travel potion, Page 11-12:  Go to CHOICE #3 (CLEAR)
-Talk to police near Chichen Itza ruins, Page 38:  Go to CHOICE #6 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #3, Page 12
-Go with Priest Clan, Page 34-35:  Go to CHOICE #4 (CLEAR)
-Go with warriors, Page 40, 43:  Go to CHOICE #31 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #4, Page 35
-Become a priest, Page 14-15:  Go to CHOICE #26 (CLEAR)
-Run away, Page 16-18:  Go to CHOICE #5 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #5, Page 18
-Remain in Kabah village, Page 19-20:  Go to CHOICE #16 (CLEAR)
-Trek to Cozumel island, Page 31, 38:  Go to CHOICE #6 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #6, Page 38
-Chichen Itza, Page 46-47:  Go to CHOICE #15 (CLEAR)
-Uxmal, Page 44-45:  Go to CHOICE #7 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #7, Page 45
-Temple of the Magicians, Page 50:  Go to CHOICE #8 (CLEAR)
-Get thee to a Nunnery, Page 52-53:  Go to CHOICE #13 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #8, Page 50
-Go with old man to cenote, Page 71:  INCONCLUSIVE ENDING (CLEAR, “cenote” is ruse for being kidnapped, unsure if you live or die)
-Wait for Manuel, Page 76:  Go to CHOICE #9 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #9, Page 76
-Talk to Mexican police and ignore note, Page 78:  Go to CHOICE #10 (CLEAR)
-Obey suspicious note and go to Nunnery, Page 81:  GOOD ENDING (CLEAR, escape Earth with Tom and some aliens before some Maya calendar disaster happens)
 
CHOICE #10, Page 78
-Cooperate with cops, Page 98:  Go to CHOICE #11 (CLEAR)
-Just want to get out of “red hand” situation, Page 99:  INCONCLUSIVE ENDING (CLEAR, escape police with time travel potion, but don’t know what happens next)
 
CHOICE #11, Page 98
-Merida, Page 114:  Go to CHOICE #12 (CLEAR)
-Cancun, Page 115:  DEATH (CLEAR, thrown into sea by revolutionaries after contacting them at hotel)
 
CHOICE #12, Page 114
-Fight for Red Hand gang, Page 120:  GOOD ENDING?  (CLEAR, Red Hand is peaceful protest group, teaches law to poor people and demands land reform)
-Spy on Red Hand gang for police, Page 121:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR, tied up for two days, saved from execution because Tom is a leader of Red Hand.  Tom tells player never to come back.)
 
CHOICE #13, Page 53
-Hotel Maya as note suggests, Page 75:  Go to CHOICE #14 (CLEAR)
-Disobey note and stay in Nunnery, Page 77:  INCONCLUSIVE ENDING (CLEAR, fall through floor onto chute that leads to “ancient Mayan ceremony”.)
 
CHOICE #14, Page 75
-Plead innocence, which is actually true, Page 83:  BAD ENDING (CLEAR, imprisoned for 30 years, snarling man with no lower teeth in illustration)
-Tell “truth”, which is really a lie, Page 84:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR , deported)
 
CHOICE #15, Page 47
-Go to planet Merganatic, even if no return, Page 62:  INCONCLUSIVE ENDING (CLEAR, go to Merganatic, but with foreboding narration, why do they like Maya society so much?)
-Finish the job on Earth, Page 64, 22:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR, Manuel uses neuralizer on you, Tom is on spaceship, missed chance to see another planet)
 
CHOICE #16, Page 20
-Wait for Tom in Kabah, Page 23-24, 26:  Go to CHOICE #25 (CLEAR)
-Become “seafaring trader”, Page 32:  Go to CHOICE #17 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #17, Page 32
-Isla Mujeres, Page 85:  Go to CHOICE #18 (CLEAR)
-Rumors are nonsense, Page 86:  Go to CHOICE #22 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #18, Page 85
-Continue through storm, Page 37:  Go to CHOICE #19 (CLEAR)
-Sail to land, Page 102:  GOOD ENDING (CLEAR, adventure just a dream, will write novel about it)
 
CHOICE #19, Page 37
-Stay with Arawak on Cuba, Page 116:  Go to CHOICE #20 (CLEAR)
-Return to Cancun trade route, Page 117:  Go to CHOICE #21 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #20, Page 116
-Chichen Itza, Page 123-124:  GOOD ENDING (CLEAR, Tom released from sacrifice because priest knows about eclipses)
-Isla Mujeres, Page 126:  DEATH (CLEAR, poisoned arrow)
 
CHOICE #21, Page 117
-Resist potion wearing off, Page 127:  BAD ENDING (CLEAR, end up in sort of beach Limbo where friends disappear, no one can hear you scream for help)
-Let potion wear off, Page 128:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR, return to present)
 
CHOICE #22, Page 86
-Visit Tulum, Page 100-101:  Go to CHOICE #23 (CLEAR)
-Return to ship, Page 104-105:  BAD ENDING (CLEAR, sail in Maya boat forever, illusion of Swedish cruise ship visible)
 
CHOICE #23, Page 101
-Medical team, Page 118:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR, Tulum dies of plague, but time travel potion gives immunity, Manuel returns you to present)
-Leave Tulum, Page 119:  Go to CHOICE #24 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #24, Page 119
-Leave Chichen Itza, Page 129:  INCONCLUSIVE ENDING (CLEAR, Fear of plague in Chichen Itza makes everyone leave, fate of player character unknown)
-Ignore priests’ threats, Page 130:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR, convince noble of sanitation measures, but too late to save Maya from plague, warp back to present and talk to Dr. Lopez)
 
CHOICE #25, Page 26
-Uxmal, Page 27:  SECOND CHANCE ENDING (CLEAR, Manuel plays flute, explains that Maya had abandoned Uxmal, can go to Page 38 and CHOICE #6)
-Rain forest, Page 61:  DEATH (CLEAR, thirst)
 
CHOICE #26, Page 15
-Refuse to sacrifice, Page 42:  DEATH (CLEAR, sacrificed)
-Carry out sacrifice, Page 65-66:  Go to CHOICE #27 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #27, Page 66
-Stall for time, Page 54, 40, 43:  Go to CHOICE #31 (CLEAR)
-“Accept the knife”, Page 80:  Go to CHOICE #28 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #28, Page 80
-Plan to escape with prisoners, Page 87:  Go to CHOICE #30 (CLEAR)
-Summon Manuel, Page 88:  Go to CHOICE #29 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #29, Page 88
-Right fist, Page 108:  GOOD ENDING (CLEAR, sent to present, find Tom, get gold figurine and mission from Plumed Serpent to study own country)
-Left fist, Page 109:  GOO D ENDING (CLEAR, get good luck charm from Manuel, he disappears, don’t find Tom)
 
CHOICE #30, Page 87
-Rebel against priests, Page 106:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR, don’t find Tom or lead a rebellion, have to go back to present)
-Try to go back to present, Page 107:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR, watching TV in Merida)
 
CHOICE #31, Page 43
-Go with slaver raiders, Page 48:  Go to CHOICE #32 (CLEAR)
-Stay with defenders, Page 49:  Go to CHOICE #35 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #32, Page 48
-Fight with raiders, Page 67:  BAD ENDING (CLEAR, successful raid on Ixtal, let prisoners go, but Tom is dead)
-Hide, Page 68:  Go to CHOICE #33 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #33, Page 68
-Clearing path, Page 56:  Go to CHOICE #34 (CLEAR)
-Stand still, Page 57:  SECOND CHANCE ENDING (CLEAR, enslaved in Ixtal temple, but red hand symbol sends you back to the present, can advance to Page 38 and CHOICE #6)
 
CHOICE #34, Page 56
-Call for help, Page 89:  GOOD ENDING (CLEAR, warriors heal you, all are friendly)
-Rest, Page 90, 94:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR, camera bird watchers rescue you in present, don’t tell anyone about time travel)
 
CHOICE #35, Page 49
-Don’t play ball, Page 70:  Go to CHOICE #36 (CLEAR)
-Play ball, Page 72:  GOOD ENDING (CLEAR, Toltecs raid ball court, Tom rescues you and sends you to present)
 
CHOICE #36, Page 70
-Pursue jaguar, Page 58-59, 93, 95:  Go to CHOICE #37 (CLEAR)
-Look for water, Page 60:  Go to CHOICE #40 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #37, Page 95
-Lead Toltecs to Chichen Itza, Page 111:  Go to CHOICE #38 (CLEAR)
-Refuse Toltec demand, Page 110:  Go to CHOICE #39 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #38, Page 111
-Escape from Toltecs, Page 13:  GOOD ENDING (CLEAR, become attendant of Plumed Serpent, but Tom’s fate unclear)
-Become leader with Plumed Serpent’s blessing, Page 21:  INCONCLUSIVE ENDING (CLEAR, become beloved ruler, but possibility of being murdered by priests)
 
CHOICE #39, Page 110
-Yellow straw, Page 39:  GOOD ENDING (CLEAR, become Toltec ruler, happy reign until dying at 93)
-Blue straw, Page 122:  DEATH (CLEAR, sacrificed to Smoking Mirror)
-Red straw, Page 131:  BAD ENDING (CLEAR, enslaved to build pyramid, see mirage of people from present)
 
CHOICE #40, Page 60
-Take treasure in past, Page 96:  DEATH (CLEAR, cave-in and perish from lack of oxygen)
-Take treasure in present, Page 97:  Go to CHOICE #41 (CLEAR)
 
CHOICE #41, Page 97
-Enter cave solo, Page 112:  NEUTRAL ENDING (CLEAR, treasure already gone)
-Enter cave with help, Page 113: GOOD ENDING (CLEAR, Maya jewels placed in Mexico City museum)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Part 1


"Return to the Cave of Time-revised and expanded by Edward Packard from his classic Choose Your Own Adventure* book".

"*CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE is a registered trademark of Chooseco, LLC, which is not associated in any manner with this product or with U-VENTURES".


Edward Packard must have had a divorce from R.A. Montgomery after the original CYOA series ended, and not an "amicable" one.  Montgomery received the rights to the name of the series and many of its books, while Packard would publish several of his entries under the name U-Ventures.  Montgomery seems to have erased Packard's contributions in "The History of Gamebooks" at the end of the Chooseco reprints.  The resulting conflict between the marketing and the legal disclaimer was enough of a joke by itself for this post!


Return to the Cave of Time is a sequel to #1 in the original CYOA series, The Cave of Time, and even stars the original player character.  Don't think the first book has been published as U-Ventures, though there may be a Kindle version.  I've listened to a podcast playthrough for The Cave of Time in the Finish It series long before buying this, so I'll probably catch any references that do exist.


The cover shows a crashed white spaceship on a red planet at night, with robot tentacles that look like they're about to tear it apart.


"Your heart races as you make your way through Snake Canyon, looking for the entrance to the Cave of Time.  About midafternoon you reach the familiar grove of pine trees near the cave's entrance, only to find that landslides covered it over".


This probably occurred after my past self was looking for Maya gold.  That should end the book on Page 1, right?


"You are not one to give up easily.  You search the floor of the canyon, looking for another way in.  It's not until the sun is about to go down that you find one, a hole barely big enough to squeeze through, hidden by clumps of sage".


After crawling through several tunnels, I hear a repetitive song with "three or four notes".  The singer is the Oracle of Time, the old man at the center of the Cave of Time in the first book.  He is a "thin, ghostlike figure with a long white beard".  I ask him what time is.  This is funny to me because in real life I read a book called The Network of Time by Alon Halperin that was about this exact question.  The short answer from The Network of Time is that disputes about time tend to fall into one of two interpretations:  Heraclitus, who insists that everything flows, or Parmenides, who says time is an illusion and that all moments exist at once.  The Oracle of Time is Team Heraclitus:  "Time is what keeps everything from happening at once".


I ask him when time started, and when it will end.  Unusually philosophical for a CYOA hero.  He offers to show me in CHOICE #1:  The beginning of time on Page 4, or the end of time on Page 7.


"I'd like to see the end of time', you say, 'as long as it isn't the end of me!"  Our hero's experienced enough to qualify that wish with a condition that it doesn't result in instant Death.  I'm now weightless, floating in space like a "misshapen asteroid".  A star much larger than the Sun is baking me as I'm spinning around, though the rotation also cools me down.  The star shrinks but shines brightly, until even covering my eyes fails to block the light.  Next is total darkness.


Upon returning to the Oracle of Time's room, I ask what could happen before time begins or after it ends.  He responds by saying that there's another time "outside our time", and that I could meet other people for whom the "time frames" I'm out of sync with.  My character exists in staying in their own time frame, and the Oracle of Time asks whether I want to go to the future or the past.  The protagonist is smart:  they explicitly mention they don't want to go to the Black Death or the time when Earth is destroyed by a red giant Sun. 


The Oracle of Time tells me a code word:  "Calypso".  This will get me out of a bad time, but it can only be cast once.  Future is Page 14, Past is Page 25 for CHOICE #2.  If the Time Machine series is any indication, the future will be more fun.  The writer doesn't have to be restricted to realistic events!


"You are lying in an open silk-lined box.  Is it a coffin?"


My character is feeling healthy despite being trapped in a box.  Other coffins are nearby, making me wonder if I've been transferred to Between the Stars.  A fog conceals the ceiling, and I feel as if I'm eating ice cream while listening to music and watching a sunset.  "Whoever has captured you must have hooked a wire into the pleasure center of your brain!"


A robot arm, possibly from the cover, puts a plastic oxygen mask on my mouth, and then I swim while still inside the coffin.  Exercise intended to keep muscles from atrophying in confinement.  After drying out and being placed inside the coffin, a robot voice says:


"You have been identified as an alien intruder.  Your bioanalysis shows an 87.37 probability that you can understand the English language.  Based on your brain-wave reaction to the preceding statement, the probability that you understand the English language has increased to 99.97 percent.  Stand by for transport".


A woman with an elongated torso and face tells me she is Celeste Four-Three Three.  My location?  Colony Suprema Eighty-Seven to the Fifth Power, Proxima Neptuna, Galactica Virgo Eight Hundred and Four.  Almost as specific as H.G. Wells's future of Year 802,701.  She says that technology has rendered life obsolete except for directly receiving pleasure in these coffins.  Now I'm thinking of the short story With Folded Hands, where robots refuse to let humans do anything because they would be at risk of danger.  Celeste 433 asks if I want to continue living in the coffin in pleasure on Page 23, or "become rebellious" on Page 34.  It's CHOICE #3. 


When I reject Celeste 433's prison, she says I'm from a "primitive culture", so of course I'd value freedom over staying in a box.  Suprema Eighty-Seven to the Fifth Power will probably fight a war "between the grand overseers", and Celeste 433 refuses to tell me who they are.  She's not confident that her civilization can survive.


CHOICE #4 has two planets where my character could survive:  Alpha Alpha on Page 36, or Earth on Page 100.  Alpha Alpha is past Pluto and might be the most advanced colony, but "advanced" might result in more coffin confinement for all I know.  Earth according to Celeste 433 is a "scarred and ruined planet, a backward child of the galaxy, an archeological scrap heap".  Did Packard read Pebble in the Sky just before writing Return to the Cave of Time?

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Part 2


In hopes of seeing a dolphin drill sergeant, I choose Alpha Alpha.  For the second book in a row, my Canonical Ending is Inconclusive!  Although there are illustrations in this book, none appears here.


"I'll go to Alpha Alpha', you say.  'Farewell then,' says Celeste 433.  'And. . .'  You miss the last part of what she says.  Perhaps you lost consciousness.  The next thing you know you are aboard a spacecraft, seated in a chair molded to fit your body.  Through the windows you see endless numbers of stars and galaxies.


You have been traveling through space for some time when you notice a luminous cloud ahead.  It looks like millions of sparkling drops of water suspended in space.  As you approach it, you realize that it's not a cloud at all, but a planet dotted with thousands of lakes.  Could this be Alpha Alpha?  You look around your spacecraft.  There are a few levers and dials.  You try to move a lever, then another, and soon find that the controls are locked.  Your flight has been preprogrammed.  There's nothing to do but watch, and hope.


You continue to close in on the planet.  Little flashes of light are jumping from one region to another.  One flash comes right at you.  Perhaps the inhabitants have sensed your presence.  Being so advanced, they should have no trouble bringing you in for a landing.  To your surprise, your spacecraft veers away from what seemed to be your destination.  You watch the planet slip to the side.  Ahead now are only a few distant stars.


What's happening?  Why didn't you land on Alpha Alpha?  You try to hold back your tears, try to think of a reason to have hope.  Then you do think of a reason:  Celeste 433 said that Alpha Alpha may be the most advanced civilization in the galaxy.  Surely such an advanced civilization must be based on love, not cruelty!  It must be through love that they have lengthened your journey.  Surely there is a good reason for it.  Maybe the planet you passed wasn't your destination.  Maybe Alpha Alpha lies ahead.  On and on you travel, wondering if you'll get there.  THE END".


My character will probably die of thirst when the supplies run out, though Packard allows a small chance of survival.  Is there a specific moment when "Calypso" is cast, like the code word "Gilgamesh" in Heart of Ice?  Or is it meant to be a "get out of Death" once on the honor system?


So far, Return to the Cave of Time is more verbose than an R.A. Montgomery CYOA, which I think is good.  Fewer endings in exchange for more story.  It's like a You Say Which Way without the "cutesy" tone that series can occasionally suffer from.


Results So Far


0 Good Endings

0 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 1


On the way to Earth in CHOICE #4, I see Jupiter and Saturn, but Mars is much closer.  Earth is concealed with "thick gray clouds".  The narration speculates that the clouds are the result of excessive carbon dioxide emissions, which is probably a reference to the "runaway global warming" idea for Venus's clouds.  I think this part was added in the revision.  CHOICE #5 gives the option to land on Mars manually on Page 103, or let the autopilot take me to Earth on Page 102.  Can I stick the landing?


"When you pull on a lever, a hologram appears, showing objects for hundreds of millions of miles around you.  Accompanying it are readouts of distances and bearings.  You touch another lever.  A green arrow on the hologram points toward Earth.  Using the lever and turning the arrow slightly, you're able to point it toward Mars.  You feel the spacecraft turning, then steadying on a new course.


A red arrow flashes, pointed toward a small object, undoubtedly an asteroid.  It's about one hundred thousand miles away, then seventy thousand, then forty thousand. . .your spacecraft turns very slightly to avoid the asteroid, then turns again until you're back on course to Mars.  Mars grows larger and larger ahead of you until it fills half the holographic screen.  You're close enough now to see surface features like mountains and canyons.  It's time to get the spacecraft to brake and go into Martian orbit so you can look for a place to land.


You work the other levers, experimenting.  You're thrown back in your seat as the spacecraft suddenly accelerates.  You're hurtling toward Mars at terrifying speed.  Now, instead of cruising through space, you're diving toward the surface.  You pull a lever you hadn't tried before.  A red light comes on.  A buzzer sounds.  You pull on two levers at a time.  The craft brakes.  The spacecraft is slowing.  You didn't realize how low it was, headed toward a Martian mountain, in fact right into it!  THE END".


No need for a picture on Page 104 when it's on the cover!  Packard knows we read these books for the fatalities.  It's a fair Death when you look at the CHOICE #5 clue:  "It might take a while to learn how to steer this craft".



Results So Far


0 Good Endings

1 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

U-Ventures:  Return to the Cave of Time Alternate Endings Part 2


As I'm approaching Earth in CHOICE #5, the ship's speakers tell me that it isn't a "habitable planet", and usually only "archeologists and reconstructionists" visit Earth.  What is meant by "reconstructionists"?  Civil War reenactors?  Neopagans trying to revive a forgotten pantheon?  The ship suggests I go to planet Sintra on Page 90 for CHOICE #6, as it's similar to what Earth used to be.  The other option is to continue to Earth on Page 84. 


"You ask the computer to redirect you to Sintra.  G-forces almost crush you as your spacecraft accelerates.  It's as if you suddenly weigh three hundred pounds-the price of rapid travel through space!  More than an hour passes before your craft stops accelerating and you resume your former weightlessness.  You are now coasting-at what tremendous speed you have no idea.  As you are relaxing, a buzzer sounds and words appear on your video screen:


Stand by for hibernation treatment.  When you come out of hibernation 83.5 Earth years from now, you will find yourself on the planet Sintra of Number 8,773,389-a highly stable, class G star.  Sintra is one of the most beautiful, abundant, habitable planets in the galaxy.  Conditions are almost identical to those that existed on Earth during the early days of humans on that planet.


You try to imagine what life will be like on Sintra, but you're soon asleep.  Your next sensation is of a dull electric shock in your head, then another, and another.  You flail your arms, as if trying to brush away a fly.  You want to go back to sleep.  But there's no chance of that!  The mild shocks persist for a few moments.  Then loud music is playing in your ears.  When it stops, a voice speaks:


'You are awakening from hibernation.  Your spacecraft has landed on Sintra.  Atmosphere and temperature are well suited for human life.  You may open the hatch whenever you want.'


Your mind is flooded with questions.  What's this planet like?  What sort of people live here?  What kinds of animals and plants are there?  How advanced is their technology?  You can't wait to see!  You stretch, sit up, and look out the window.  On one side is a cluster of brightly painted houses; on the other a beautiful park rimmed by giant ferns.  In the center is a splendid fountain.  You throw open the hatch and breathe the fresh, clean air. 


At the same time several large tear-shaped saucer cars silently approach your capsule and land nearby.  Smiling and holding out bouquets of flowers, the inhabitants of Sintra greet you.  THE END".


For once, listening to advice in the future dystopia timeline pays off.  The ship's computer takes me to utopia.  Since this isn't an R.A. Montgomery book where causality has no meaning, I wonder why Celeste 433 didn't mention Sintra earlier.  Maybe she thinks the player character is "riffraff" who has no place there?  You'd think Sintra would have changed for the worse in 83 years.  That would have been the obvious twist.  No picture.



Results So Far


1 Good Endings

1 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings