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Item - Space Patrol

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(Sixth printing)
(Sixth printing)
(Sixth printing)
(Sixth printing)
(Later printing)
(Later printing)
(Later printing)
(Later printing)
(Revised cover edition)

Combined Summary

Series: Choose Your Own Adventure (1979-1998) — no. 22
Contained In: Choose Your Own Adventure Box Set 5 (21-25) (Collection)
Choose Your Own Adventure Space Box Set (Collection)
Translated Into: Patrulha espacial (Portuguese)
Patrulla espacial (Catalan)
Patrulla espacial (Spanish)
Patrulla espacial (Spanish)
Pattuglia spaziale (Italian)
Supeesu Patrorooru [スペース・パトロール] (Japanese)
Uzay kartalı (Turkish)
Xīngqiú Xúnjǐng [星球巡警] (Chinese)
Author: Goodman, Julius
Illustrators: Reese, Ralph
Jacobus, Tim (Revised cover edition - cover)
Date: July, 1983 (First printing)
ISBNs: 0553233491 / 9780553233490 (Sixth printing)
0553262599 / 9780553262599 (Later printing)
0553275208 / 9780553275209 (Revised cover edition)
Length: 118 pages
Number of Endings: 26
User Summary: As the title suggests, you are the commander of a space patrol and you must travel through the solar system making sure all is in order.
Demian's Thoughts:

This is a fairly good science fiction adventure, though it's pretty typical in most ways. There are a few strange, goofy endings, though.

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drereichdude's Thoughts:

Having read this book for the first time back in junior high school, it became one of my two absolute favorite science fiction-related titles in the CYOA library (the other is Edward Packard's exceptional The Perfect Planet), and I really enjoy reading it again from time to time.

You are the Commander of a SREV (Space Rescue Emergency Vessel) which is part of the Solar System-based Space Patrol in the 23rd Century. You travel between planets and moons and generally keep the peace, as well as perform emergency rescues and repairs as needed.

You are aided by a sentient computer named HENRY, and he is good company on your missions. Many things can occur as a Space Patrol Commander. One story has you do battle with the ever-cliched space pirates. You can also do repairs to your own ship, and attempt to avoid space-based hazards like radiation storms.

There are two storylines in this book that interested me the most. One is that you have to thwart "revolutionists" (the author's euphemism for terrorists) from releasing deadly viruses such as Venusian Swamp Fever into the population of the solar system. If you follow the right path, you can actually prevent it from happening. That's good, I think!

The other one has you discover a strange glow on an asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, and it turns out to be a gigantic door built by an alien species. If you choose to go in, you discover that the technology put there by the highly-advanced alien civilization can teach you many things, and can even help you make modifications to put you in orbit around their world. What happens next is completely left up to the reader's imagination. That's really cool!

This CYOA title is is of my favorites. Be warned, though, of the very first choice you need to make. If you choose wrong, the story abruptly ends! This is the only case of having that happen that I know of in any gamebook, that the wrong choice on the first try results in a bad ending. Yeesh!

I also noticed that the author, Julius Goodman, wrote very few books in this series. As for the illustrator, Ralph Reese, he is one of my favorites along with Frank Bolle and Ron Wing.

One ending I particularly enjoyed has you traveling through a strange energy "drain," and it is really a "temporal vortex" of sorts, and you end up trapped in the early 21st Century. In other words, now! And the author refers to the population of Earth as "primitive." What a hoot!

There are also some other pretty funny endings in this book as well. Read it today!

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Good's Thoughts:

Fun, but one I don't read much. 7/10

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ntar's Thoughts:

I think I returned to this book more than the others in this series when I was younger, and now having come across it again, I still find that it is a satisfying read. The adventures are quite varied, but mostly common sci-fi type scenarios. However, I like the internal dialogue and situations between the main character and the computer Henry, with some good comedic passages. I think that avenue could have been exploited further for a great book, but nonetheless, I think it was this aspect that kept me coming back to this book.

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Stockton's Thoughts:

This book is great. I think I like it the most out of all the CYOAs I currently have. The material manages to be funny and works surprisingly well, especially - as previous reviewers have noted - the passages between the reader's character and Henry.

One thing I do wonder about, however, is why Mr. Goodman used the gramatically correct but stylistically questionable term "revolutionists" to describe the terrorists in the book who want to release the swamp fever virus. I find the use of this word to be annoying, detracting from any sense of realism previously built up in the narrative. It smells like political correctness, but you never know.

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Waluigi Freak 99's Thoughts:

All of the varied science-fiction adventures were pretty enjoyable. I liked the fact that you are able to experience multiple adventures without coming to a final ending. Some of the dialogue between the reader and Henry was originally funny, and the plot thread about the deadly viruses was interesting. One of my favorite books in the series.

More reviews by Waluigi Freak 99

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Known Editions

First printing
Sixth printing
Later printing
Revised cover edition

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