Enjoyable like some of the other Endless Quest books, this one vaguely follows the narrative of Storm King's Thunder.

There is an early decision in this book, which greatly changes what will happen in your story, either going to save your mother and brother, or go after your father. Depending which direction you chose, it dictates which giants and challenges you face. At least with saving your mother and brother, there wasn't a path I could find that then led back to finding your father.

This means there is a LOT of variety in this story. I also quite liked playing a magic user, as it gave what felt like more varied options to choose from.

The artwork in this, like all the new Endless Quest books is excellent. Overall a fun read.

Not a lot of happy endings. But then again, it is D&D based ;)

This is a great choose-your-own-adventure style book. You're chilling at home minding your own business when giants attack! There are lots of choices for you to make, and most of the paths lead to a pretty bad ending. Have fun trying to find the path that leads you to a victorious end!

I love how many options there are, and how sometimes when you think you're choosing the "safe" option there's a plot twist and it wasn't so safe after all. I read through this about three times and then gave up trying to survive this encounter with the giants. I sure wasn't able to find a path to a happy ending, though in flipping through and reading some of the endings there ARE a few... well, it not HAPPY endings, at least less horrible ones that don't result in your death.

Warning that there is a fair amount of death and dismemberment in this book (plus giants eating people and choking to death), so it's not for a very young audience.

Well...it took me three tries to finish this book. I survived, but it still wasn't the happiest of endings. Oh well. I guess that happens sometimes. I actually really hope they decide to continue with this Endless Quest series and do the other classes. I'm not going to lie--I'd really be interested in the Druid and Barbarian books.

It has been ages since I've read a Choose Your Own Adventure type story, and I have to say that these D&D ones are great fun and made me feel like a kid again. I would absolutely recommend all of them to Dungeons and Dragons fans but also to those who want to experience the nostalgia of the CYOA books you loved as a child.

Originally reviewed for YA Books Central: http://www.yabookscentral.com/yafiction/23405-dungeons-and-dragons-big-trouble-an-endless-quest-book

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.

As the story opens, you are given a more extensive backdrop of information than is seen in some of the other books in this series. You are a juvenile elf living in an ancient tree, along with your wizard parents and much younger brother. Right in the middle of your not-quite-clicking magic studies, the ground shakes. Hill giants are approaching your home, and their intentions are vile. Your parents spring into action, instructing you to protect and hide your brother. Do you obey them? Do you stand with your parents to defend your home? Or do you grab your little brother and make a run for it through the forest?

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. 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)

I regret I wasn’t able to enjoy this book as much as To Catch A Thief, or Escape The Underdark. Unlike with the aforementioned titles in this series, the main character you are acting as/for comes with a history and background (i.e. A family, including wizard parents and a high liability little brother.) The background itself isn’t such a bad thing, although it gives more sentimental tilt to decision making than we saw in previous installments. More irritatingly, the character you play is apparently too young and inexperienced to pass as an actual wizard. So, if you go into this hoping for decision tree choices that will involve using magic… you will be largely disappointed. To that end, the claim on the cover of “You are a wizard!” makes a promise to readers that the book doesn’t truly fulfill. >.> “You are a fledgling wannabe magic user who will mostly be running, hiding, seeking, and getting in WAY over your head!” would have been a more apt tagline… although admittedly, a bit more cumbersome.

As I have mentioned in related reviews, my primary 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 hopeful option for reluctant readers, budding D&D fans, and kids who generally appreciate having more engagement and agency in their reading material. Although, I would recommend other books in this series over this particular work.

What FUN! Big Trouble jumps right in and makes following the adventure easy for kids that are just starting out in Find Your own Adventure books.
I have several kids I will be recommending this to.