The Endless Quest books were three series of gamebooks. The first two series were released in the 1980s and 1990s by TSR, while the third series was released by Wizards of the Coast. Originally, these books were the result of an Educational department established by TSR with the intention of developing curriculum programs for subjects such as reading, math, history, and problem solving.[1]
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. A short spin-off series of 4 Endless Quest: Crimson Crystal Adventures books were also released during 1985. There were also several series of similar books that did not bear the Endless Quest name.
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. However, the stories and characters in an Endless Quest book, while not necessarily more complex than in a Choose Your Own Adventure book, are often more fully developed because the Endless Quest books are much longer. For example, the character referred to as "you" in the text almost always has a name, gender, and backstory. The result is that the books in the Endless Quest series resemble miniature novels with many different endings.
The majority of the books in the series were based on Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), but some were based on other TSR games (e.g. Gamma World, Top Secret) or even licensed properties (e.g. Conan, Tarzan).
Mirrorstone, a division of Wizards of the Coast that publishes fantasy fiction for children and teens, began republishing the Endless Quest series in January 2008. The first book in the series is a revision of Claw of the Dragon (#34 from Series One). They have updated the book, including making it gender neutral so it can be enjoyed by both boys and girls, and plan to update and publish more of the D&D books pending the success of this first title.
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| Title | Setting | Author | Published | Cover art | Interior art | ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June, 1982 | |||||||
| 2 | D&D | Rose Estes | June, 1982 | Larry Elmore | Jim Holloway | |||
| 3 | D&D | Rose Estes | June, 1982 | Larry Elmore | ||||
| 4 | D&D | Rose Estes | June, 1982 | Larry Elmore | ||||
| 5 | D&D | Rose Estes | Jan, 1983 | Larry Elmore | Jim Holloway | |||
| 6 | D&D | Rose Estes | Jan, 1983 | Harry J Quinn | ||||
| 7 | Rose Estes | May, 1983 | Timothy Truman | |||||
| 8 | May, 1983 | Larry Elmore | ||||||
| 9 | Top Secret | July, 1983 | Larry Elmore | |||||
| 10 | Circus of Fear | D&D | Rose Estes | July, 1983 | ||||
| 11 | D&D | Aug, 1983 | Larry Elmore | |||||
| 12 | Aug, 1983 | Keith Parkinson | ||||||
| 13 | Dragon of Doom | D&D | Rose Estes | Nov, 1983 | Harry J Quinn | |||
| 14 | D&D | Nov, 1983 | Jim Holloway | |||||
| 15 | D&D | Feb, 1984 | Larry Elmore | |||||
| 16 | D&D | Feb, 1984 | Clyde Caldwell | |||||
| 17 | Star Frontiers | Jul, 1984 | Clyde Caldwell | Sam Grainger | ||||
| 18 | King's Quest | D&D | Jul, 1984 | |||||
| 19 | James M. Ward | Jun, 1984 | Clyde Caldwell | Doug Chaffee | ||||
| 20 | Hyborian Age | Jun, 1984 | Keith Parkinson | Sam Grainger | ||||
| 21 | D&D | Sept, 1984 | Clyde Caldwell | Keith Parkinson | ||||
| 22 | D&D | Sept, 1984 | Jeff Easley | Jeff Easley | ||||
| 23 | D&D | Morris Simon | Nov, 1984 | Clyde Caldwell | ||||
| 24 | Star Frontiers | Catherine McGuire | Nov, 1984 | Jeff Easley | ||||
| 25 | Hyborian Age | Roger E. Moore | Dec, 1984 | Keith Parkinson | ||||
| 26 | Tarzan and the Well of Slaves | Jan, 1985 | Larry Elmore | Ben Otero | ||||
| 27 | Lair of the Lich | D&D | Mar, 1985 | Jeff Easley | ||||
| 28 | Gamma World | Morris Simon | May, 1985 | Keith Parkinson | Doug Chaffee | |||
| 29 | Tower of Darkness | D&D | Jul, 1985 | Jeff Easley | ||||
| 30 | The Fireseed | D&D | Morris Simon | Oct, 1985 | Larry Elmore | |||
| 31 | Tarzan and the Tower of Diamonds | Tarzan | Dec, 1985 | Jeff Easley | Jeffrey Butler | |||
| 32 | Prisoner of Elderwood | D&D | Bruce Algozin | Feb, 1986 | Jeff Easley | Gary Williams | ||
| 33 | Knight of Illusion | D&D | Mary L. Kirchoff | Jun, 1986 | Clyde Caldwell | Sam Grainger Jim Holloway | ||
| 34 | D&D | Bruce Algozin | Sept, 1986 | Clyde Caldwell | ||||
| 35 | Vision of Doom | D&D | Mary L. Kirchoff | Dec, 1986 | Ben Otero | |||
| 36 | D&D | March, 1987 | Jeff Easley | Jim Holloway |
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 that 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).
| Title | Setting | Author | Published | Cover art | Interior art | ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D&D | Susan Lawson (pseudonym for Margaret Weis and Roger E. Moore) | March, 1985 | Mario D. Macari, Jr. Gary Williams | ||||
| 2 | D&D | March, 1985 | Mario D. Macari, Jr. Gary Williams | |||||
| 3 | Renegades of Luntar | June, 1985 | Keith Parkinson | Mario D. Macari, Jr. | ||||
| 4 | D&D | Mary Clark | September, 1985 | Larry Elmore | Mario D. Macari, Jr. |
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, continuing from series one, for convenience).
| Title | Setting | Author | Published | Cover art | Interior art | ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | Dungeon of Fear | 1994 | Jeff Easley | |||||
| 38 | Castle of the Undead | Nick Baron | 1994 | Clyde Caldwell | Terry Dykstra | |||
| 39 | Secret of the Djinn | 1994 | Jeff Easley | Terry Dykstra | ||||
| 40 | The Siege of the Tower | Kem Antillies (pseudonym for Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta) | 1994 | Jeff Easley | Terry Dykstra | |||
| 41 | A Wild Ride | 1994 | Jeff Easley | Terry Dykstra | ||||
| 42 | Forest of Darkness | Dragon Strike | Michael Andrews | Jeff Easley | Terry Dykstra | |||
| 43 | American Knights | Gamma World | 1995 | Jeff Easley | Terry Dykstra | |||
| 44 | Night of the Tiger | AD&D Ravenloft | Jean Rabe | 1995 | Terry Dykstra | |||
| 45 | Galactic Challenge | 1995 | Terry Dykstra | |||||
| 46 | Bigby's Curse | AD&D Greyhawk | Anne K. Brown | 1995 | Jeff Easley | Terry Dykstra | ||
| 47 | The 24-Hour War | Gamma World | 1995 | Keith Parkinson | Terry Dykstra | |||
| 48 | The Test* | AD&D Greyhawk | Wes Nicholson | 1996 | ||||
| 49 | Sands of Deception* | AD&D Al-Qadim | Jean Rabe | 1996 |
These books were all written by Matt Forbeck. Each one is loosely based on a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition campaign.
| Title | Module | Published | ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Escape the Underdark | 2018 | |||
| Big Trouble | 2018 | |||
| Into the Jungle | 2018 | |||
| To Catch a Thief | 2018 | |||
| Escape from Castle Ravenloft | 2019 | |||
| The Mad Mage's Academy | 2019 |
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 that otherwise share the same style with the Endless Quest books. A bookmark-style insert was provided with simple Dungeons & Dragons statistics for the book's main character, and a dice-rolling mechanic was added for determining the character's fate within the story.
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.
TSR also used the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebooks format for books tied into their Marvel Super Heroes roleplaying game, published as single-character Adventure Gamebooks, and later as 1 on 1 Adventure Gamebooks, and featuring licensed Marvel Comics characters.
The first four Endless Quest books were reviewed by Marcus Rowland in White Dwarf #39 (March 1983).[3] Rowland rated Pillars of Pentegarn as 5 out of 10, Mountain of Mirrors as 4 out of 10, Dungeon of Dread as 6 out of 10, and Return to Brookmere as 7 out of 10.[3] Rowland also reviewed the next two books in the series, giving both Revolt of the Dwarves and Revenge of the Rainbow Dragons 5 out of 10.[4]