The Citadel of Chaos

The Citadel of Chaos is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Steve Jackson, illustrated by Russ Nicholson and originally published in 1983 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the second in the series in both the Puffin (ISBN 0-14-031603-5) and Wizard (ISBN 1-84046-389-9) series.

The Citadel of Chaos had a similar goal and setting to the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, with the protagonist exploring the antagonist's lair (in this case, the titular Citadel of Chaos) with the intention of slaying him. However The Citadel of Chaos removed the key-collecting mechanism of the previous book and expanded the rules with the inclusion of a magic system. This system would be further developed by Steve Jackson in the later Sorcery! series.
Contents
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* 1 Story
* 2 Trivia
* 3 Later references
* 4 See also
* 5 External links
* 6 References

[edit] Story

Deep inside the Citadel of Chaos, the dread sorcerer Balthus Dire is plotting the downfall of the goodfolk of the Vale of Willow. His battle plans are laid, his awesome army equipped, and attack is surely imminent.

Summoned by a desperate plea for help, YOU are the Vale of Willow’s only hope. As star pupil of the Grand Wizard of Yore and a master sorcerer yourself, you must strike at the very heart of Balthus Dire’s nightmare world. Though you command many powerful spells, the quest may be deadly, for who knows what creatures lie in wait in the Citadel of Chaos?

The book, like many Fighting Fantasy titles, is set in the fictional world of Titan in the Allansia region. The player must negotiate deep into the Black Tower to defeat the evil warlord Balthus Dire, who plans to conquer the Vale of Willow. The climax of the book is a complicated and strategic spell battle with Dire.
[edit] Trivia
Citadel of Chaos map

1. The illustration of the entrance to the Gaming Room within the Black Tower shows a left-hand side passageway just before the door (book ref: #52). Yet, the text describes it as a passage straight to a single door once you've passed a three-way junction.

2. When the Pocket Myriad is captured from the Black Elf in the Citadel's Wine Cellar, the text describes it as being damaged in the fight (book ref: #272). Yet, when you combat the Hydra and Balthus Dire, for some reason it works again and you're able to make use of it (book ref: #384 and #315).

3. The book had two different cover illustrations when it was originally published by Puffin in the '80s and '90s and a third when Wizard reprinted it from 2002 onwards. The first having a black creature in the foreground and the fortress of Craggen Rock behind, the second with the Living Whirlwind creature with the citadel in the background and the third of the Hydra beast and some yellow stone work.
[edit] Later references

The main villain of the book, Balthus Dire, has his name used on an upstairs room in the Fighting Fantasy book House of Hell, also written by Steve Jackson. This was #10 in the Puffin series and is #7 in the Wizard reprint.

The character also appeared in the novel The Trolltooth Wars by Steve Jackson and is mentioned in the back story to Creature of Havoc, gamebook #24 in the original Puffin series, #4 in the Wizard series.

Video game versions of the book were released in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.

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