Dungeons & Dragons: To Catch a Thief: An Endless Quest Book

Nostalgic parents rejoice!

Told in second-person present-tense, this fantasy is styled after the beloved choose-your-own-adventure books of yore. It also features a vast array of renowned D&D art, with works ranging from sepia to full color.

The story opens with you knowing just two things: That you are a halfling rogue… and that you’ve been soundly caught with your hand in the wrong pocket. The woman who’s ensnared you has a problem. A baby griffon has been kidnapped and is in need of rescuing, before it becomes the personal pet of an already powerful Beholder. Now you have some choices to make. Be pressed into the service of a civilar, refuse and be imprisoned, or try to connive your way out of what will surely be a treacherous mission…

Will you be a hero? A coward? Or something more opportunistically in-between?

The larger print, abundant imagery, and vagueness in regard to violence all culminate to make this material ideally suited to the lower range of Middle Grade. Readers are given no background on the main character in question outside of race and class, so it’s easy enough to insert oneself into the storytelling. Fortunately, not all roads lead to a gruesome death! But… a few of them might.

If you, dear reader, are anything like me… you can count on needing at least a half-dozen bookmarks to note the pages you may want to return to if your storyline’s ending strikes you as less than ideal. >.> (Why yes, I did go back and try every single fork in the non-linear option tree. You live your life and I’ll live mine. ;P)

My only suggestion for future installments would be the inclusion of a character sheet at the beginning. I think this would help readers with their decision-making, as well as introduce a foundational concept that could later transfer to the tabletop game. (It would also be neat to have a playable character ready-made. Just saying.)

A great option for reluctant readers, budding D&D fans, and kids who generally appreciate having more engagement and agency in their reading material.