{"id":6062,"date":"2019-03-16T22:29:32","date_gmt":"2019-03-16T21:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=6062"},"modified":"2025-09-07T00:45:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T22:45:32","slug":"das-feuer-des-mondes-christian-florian-sussner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2019\/03\/das-feuer-des-mondes-christian-florian-sussner\/","title":{"rendered":"Das Feuer des Mondes \u2022 Christian & Florian Su\u00dfner"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

In my last post I mentioned I wanted to introduce a few adventure gamebooks, and with Das Feuer des Mondes<\/em> I\u2019m starting with a more recent title in the genre\u2014though \u201crecent\u201d might be a stretch, as it already appeared five years ago. Many current gamebooks are reissues of popular titles from the 1980s, so I was curious how a more contemporary work would read. What kind of adventure awaits you here, and whether it\u2019s worth reading\u2014you\u2019ll find out in this post.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I\u2019ve already written in the past about Joe Dever and his wonderful Lone Wolf<\/a> books. In the 1980s there was a brief boom in adventure gamebooks. These are books that aren\u2019t read straight through but are divided into numbered sections. You step into the role of the protagonist, start at the first section, and then choose how the story should continue and what you, as the main character, will do. That way each reader experiences the book differently and has a uniquely personal adventure, usually under a set of rules: battles are resolved with dice, items are collected, and everything is tracked on an action sheet. As the name suggests, these are books you play\u2014often set in fantasy worlds. It\u2019s a nerdy affair, but I loved these books as a kid and teen, and as I\u2019m finding these days, they\u2019re still great fun and very entertaining to read.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Das Feuer des Mondes<\/em> is likewise set in a fantasy world, on Anmar. You slip into the role of a night watchman in the city of Waldheim. During a nocturnal patrol you\u2019re attacked and marked by a Shadow Servant; from there things escalate quickly\u2014you\u2019re hunted by dark forces and must find a way to counter the threat. It\u2019s all very classic, but the story is entertaining to read.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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This gamebook also provides a character sheet where you record stats, backpack items, endurance, etc. And there are two maps you reveal as you go. Both the sheet and the maps are available as a download<\/a> so you can print them and scribble freely.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I really liked the book\u2019s clean structure. Instead of reading the rules first, you dive straight into the story and are prompted, bit by bit, to consult the rule blocks at the back\u2014so you learn on the fly and the reading flow stays smooth. The mechanics are well designed; you can tell the authors learned from older titles and refined the structure. It\u2019s obvious they\u2019re fans of the genre (how could they not be). After the tutorial\u2014which reminded me a bit of video games\u2014the adventure truly begins, and later you can even choose different character progressions, again very much like in computer games. You can pick between a warrior (Path of Claws) and a mage (Path of Wings), with further branches within each. Instead of rolling randomly for starting skills, you earn them through puzzles. These are elements that hook a gamer nerd like me right away. The implementation is excellent, and the balancing is something a few games could learn from. (For insiders: you won\u2019t run into an unwinnable Zakhan Kimah here.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The book is divided into three \u201cbooks.\u201d Book 1 takes place in the capital, Waldheim, where the story begins and ends. Books 2 and 3 play out in a jungle and a forest, respectively, which you gradually explore. With the help of the maps you navigate and must complete objectives in these regions to push the story forward. Each book contains 200 sections\u2014so three times 200 in total\u2014which is quite a lot; you\u2019ll be occupied for a while. I usually need about one evening for a Lone Wolf<\/em> book; for Das Feuer des Mondes<\/em> I took three evenings altogether, taking my time and enjoying it (as I do with Dever\u2019s books, too).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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I also enjoyed the sheer variety of mechanics. For example, you might find a ring engraved with a number; to use it in the right place you add that number to your current section number. There are puzzles, random events, explorable maps, teleportation like in video games, trading, tasty item upgrades, and more. The authors really went to town\u2014but everything is well balanced, so your character progression feels good, there are steady side quests to complete, you get to puzzle a bit, and you follow the story step by step. By the way, the narrative often nods to other gamebooks and to games like Diablo<\/em>, lending a light, humorous note that fits nicely.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As for me, my luck in games\u2014of any kind\u2014is usually lousy. I was perpetually broke and could never afford anything at the merchants, and my Humanity was so low I was on the verge of becoming one of those sinister Shadow Servants myself. But I somehow kept pulling out of the nosedive and finished the book as a Raven Hunter. If you\u2019ve read it too, feel free to comment on how your run went\u2014I\u2019m curious!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Stylistically the writing is on the simple side\u2014typical for the genre. The focus is on staging situations, and in a book like this it\u2019s crucial that scenes are clearly rendered, which they are here. In terms of content and language it\u2019s very suitable for younger readers as well. Had this fallen into my hands back when I first devoured gamebooks, it would have been a big favorite. But even now, as an adult nerd, it\u2019s a pleasant read.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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In classic \u201980s fashion, the book includes illustrations. The spot illustrations and maps are nicely drawn, and the character sheet looks good. The full-page pieces, however, appealed to me less; the style feels rather amateurish and can\u2019t hold a candle to, say, Gary Chalk\u2019s wonderful art for the Lone Wolf<\/em> books of the \u201980s. The physical book is a standard paperback, which actually suits a gamebook\u2014it\u2019s easy to flip back and forth. Of course I\u2019d always love a de luxe edition, but that would be a niche within a niche.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Conclusion:<\/strong> Das Feuer des Mondes<\/em> is a well-crafted adventure gamebook with a pleasantly balanced, fair difficulty level, inventive mechanics, and a story that, while not wildly original, is fun to play through. I loved picking it up in the evenings and exploring the world of Anmar. The illustrations could have been more lavish, but taken as a whole this is a rounded, very entertaining gamebook that I can heartily recommend\u2014especially for anyone who\u2019s never tried this format and is curious, or for gifting to a young person who\u2019d enjoy something a bit different.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book information:<\/strong> Das Feuer des Mondes<\/em> \u2022 Christian and Florian Su\u00dfner \u2022 Mantikore Verlag \u2022 560 pages \u2022 ISBN 9783939212638<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my last post I mentioned I wanted to introduce a few adventure gamebooks, and with Das Feuer des Mondes I\u2019m starting with a more recent title in the genre\u2014though \u201crecent\u201d might be a stretch, as it already appeared five years ago. Many current gamebooks are reissues of popular titles from the 1980s, so I … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Das Feuer des Mondes \u2022 Christian & Florian Su\u00dfner”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"Das Feuer des Mondes \u2022 Christian & Florian Su\u00dfner - lesestunden","description":"In meinem letzten Beitrag hatte ich bereits angek\u00fcndigt, dass ich das ein oder andere Abenteuer-Spielbuch vorstellen m\u00f6chte und mit Das Feuer des Mondes starte"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,20,187],"tags":[190,191,33,189,188],"class_list":["post-6062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-reviews","category-gamebook","tag-christian-sussner","tag-florian-sussner","tag-joe-dever","tag-mantikore-verlag","tag-spielbuch"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/das_feuer_des_mondes_beitrag.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}