The "World of Lone Wolf" series was, without doubt, the most enjoyable role-playing gamebook series I ever played.

The combat/survival system is similar to that employed by the Lone Wolf series, but with the added concept of "willpower" points, (which represent, essentially, Grey Star's magic resources). The player selects five of seven magical powers to use before starting the adventure.

The series is lavishly illustrated by Paul Bonner's artwork, and each volume contains a colour map of South Magnamund.

I was quite young when I played these adventures, and I would wait breathlessly and impatiently for each new volume to come out. The world which Ian Page and Joe Dever create is romantic and captivating. All the magic creatures in the story are unique to the world of Magnamund - no elves or dragons - which adds the special feeling of the books.

Grey Star always has companions in his adventures - giants, theives, ape-men (sorry, Kundi), but the most notable is the wytch girl, Tanith, who continues throughout the whole series.

If you want to get this book (which is a good idea if you like fantasy), be sure to get the other 3 books! Very adventurous and fun.

A wonderfully new exotic atmosphere greets the reader in the 1st book of the Grey Star series.

Set in the world of Southern Magnamund, a world away from the adventures of the hero Lone Wolf, whose series has won numerous awards and encompasses three mini-series as well as off-shoots, Grey Star the Wizard begins with Grey Star sailing from the Isle of Lorn, where his mentors, the Shianti wizards, have self-exiled themselves. Many years ago the Shianti created a magical artefact called the Moonstone, but this relic disrupted the balance of the world of Magnamund, and the Shianti were forced to seal it into a Trianon in the plane of Daziarn as well as remain forever on the Isle of Lorn.

Some time later, a great wizard called Shasarak rose to power. Aided by the Shadakine, great warriors from the Sadai Desert, Shasarak brutally destroyed all major nations of Southern Magnamund, creating a vast empire. The Shianti watched with fear as Shasarak grew in power, and someday the fates have promised that the evil tyrant will cross the Sea of Dreams to the Isle of Lorn and fight with the Shianti for total domination once and for all...

Aided by seven sisters, the Shadakine Wytches, who possess mastery of animal language, evil magic, and the Kazim Stones, magical hearts of creatures of stone, Shasarak also mastered vast legions of daemons and spirits, and has ruthlessly persecuted the pilgrims of the Shianti and other religions. Once, long ago, Shasarak had control of a wondrous but terrible artefact called the Sunstone, a gem that had the power of the sun, but its abuse led to the destruction of an entire civilization...with power like that the Wytch-King has all of the human nations in his iron grip.

The Shianti, unable to help, prayed for assistance. And on the stormy night when Shasarak was crowned King of the Shadakine Empire, a ship ran aground. Nobody remained alive, save a small child, which the Shianti named Grey Star, for the streak of grey in the child's hair. The Shianti cannot help mankind, but Grey Star, being human, can..

Grey gives a good general overview of the beginnings of the Russian Empire. However, it is somewhat disjointed, jumping from event to event and back again. That makes it somewhat hard to follow, but in the end, worth it.

I'm flabbergasted to learn that some readers actually enjoyed this pointless bit of piffle. Truly, there's no accounting for tastes. Here's the deal: this Ian Grey guy was briefly, peripherally involved in screenwriting. He's been in the same room with a few third-tier celebrities. He doesn't like think very highly of the movie business. Oddly, Grey seems to believe that this all adds up to some sort of sensational now-it-can-be-told muckraking extravaganza. It's a bit like a meter maid writing a tell-all account of the inner workings of the justice system. How these aimless drivelings ever found a publisher is a complete mystery. If you feel like rolling around in some real insider sleaze, read Charles Fleming's "High Concept".

Should be mandatory for film students and anyone else who wants an inside look at the Hollywood meat grinder.

Ian Grey answers the question everybody asks themselves as they exit the multiplex: why do movies suck ? He also has ideas about what to do about it. And if you don't feel like doing anything... he'll make you laugh instead of grinding your teeth. Some of these interviews and essays are fabulous (Wes Craven, the life-affirming qualities of gore, yes... the Oscar night, Sean Young, Ulli Lommel...). Others are "merely" great, and the whole book is enlightening and immensely entertaining. It should be a must read for moviemakers, for moviegoers, and for all those who have stopped going because, well, indeed, movies suck.