Gamebook Review: "The Cave of Time" (1979)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to the seminal "The Cave of Time" by Edward Packard, as well as the entire Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) gamebook series:

The above book cover should be familiar to a generation of readers who were children and young adults in the 1980s, when CYOA reached the peak of its popularity.  Much like Original Dungeons & Dragons popularized tabletop role-playing, CYOA popularized interactive fiction a few years later, where the reader took on the role of the protagonist and made choices that determined the direction and outcome of the story.  For example:

You are hiking in Snake Canyon when you find yourself lost in the strange, dimly lit Cave of Time. Gradually you can make out two passageways. One curves downward to the right; the other leads upward to the left. It occurs to you that the one leading down may go to the past and the one leading up may go to the future. Which way will you choose?

If you take the left branch, turn to page 20. If you take the right branch, turn to page 61. If you walk outside the cave, turn to page 21. Be careful! In the Cave of Time you might meet up with a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex, or be lured aboard an alien spaceship!

Not only are *YOU* the protagonist, but *YOU* direct the narrative!  This was mind-blowing stuff for kids!

"The Cave of Time" was among the first CYOA that I read and it's a still classic, evoking both mystery and a sense of adventure.  Although listed as #1, "The Cave of Time" was preceded by Messr Packard's "Sugarcane Island," published by Vermont Crossroads Press as the "Adventures of You" series in 1976, but it *IS* the first work of interactive fiction for wide release.  

Consequently, CYOA spawned a wave of imitators, most of which were not nearly as well written or as engaging to read.

I would also be quite remiss if I didn't mention the wonderful and evocative illustrations by Paul Granger:

Messr Granger's pictures lend the story, by turns, whimsy, gravity and terror.  Great stuff!

Related to the last, CYOA is, of course, notorious for instadeaths and "The Cave of Time" is no exception:

"The Cave of Time" can be quite harsh with its instadeaths, as they can come with no hint of your impeding doom.  While that may be true to life, this is an instance where I think the gamebook is better served by verisimilitude instead.