When ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire was released in 1980, it was a slow boil hit. In those days, computers were a niche market; only 8% of American homes had a computer (it's currently at 96% today!). Mass marketing campaigns were unheard of for software, especially games. Computer hobby magazines were the best way to find out about new games and software at the time so releases did not have the hype and pomp of modern day new releases. As in ZORK's case, word of mouth was what made or broke your game. ZORK's popularity grew and it became the best-selling computer game of 1982. By then, two sequels were already out (they were actually all one giant game that was split into three parts to fit on the 1.2MB, 5 1/4" floppy disks) and they too would top best seller lists. As Infocom, the company which developed ZORK, branched into other games and media, Avon Press approached them with desire to turn ZORK into a "What-Do-I-Do-Now" book series to compete with Bantam's Choose Your Own Adventure series. Readers would read a few pages of the story, then were prompted to choose a path or action to take and turn to the corresponding page to continue. The first three books were developed as a trilogy of adventures in 1983 with a fourth book following in 1984.
The books didn't sell as well as the games and by then Infocom was developing digital comics in the form of ZorkQuest which allowed players to interact with the story in the same manner. Infocom continued to develop novels based on their games for Avon and in 1990 and 1991 two more ZORK books were released - this time novels.
Lets go back to the What-Do-I-Do-Now books. The series focused on two children, Bill and June, and their adventures in the Kingdom of Zork. The books are geared toward the young adult range but the stories are consistent with what you would find in the games. The kids interact with people and creatures both original to the books and taken from the games. Familiar locations, such as the boarded up White House (not to be confused with the President's home) and Flood Control Dam #3, also make appearances.
Along the way, you can find items that can help you out later. The game employs this by prompting the reader to turn to a specific page if they have the item. It was, of course, possible to cheat and turn to any page you wanted whether you had the item or not. The writer countered this by adding phony options into the book to trick would-be cheaters. They are some of my favorite jokes as they contain the same humor the games are known for.
Some of the books used pointless riddles similar to those found in Zork II. The reader would have to make the right choices in order to succeed. This added an interesting element to the stories as you were required to think about the clues that the story suggested.
In all, the books are entertaining and while geared toward young adult readers they provide all of the elements you would expect to find in any Zork story.
This brings us to the two novels. I'll take them in order starting with 1990's The Zork Chronicles, of which Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin said, "Wry and black and savage... there's a knife behind every smile." One must wonder if he was just speaking about his own books or this one, but never-the-less he clearly saw a parallel.
The book follows Glorian of the Knowledge: a professional sidekick and magic user. Glorian is sent to guide Mirakles of the Elastic Tendon on a dangerous quest. Mirakles is armed with his enchanted sword, Redthirst, which gives off the scent of baking bread in the presence of supernatural enemies (ah, that good 'ol Zork humor...).
The book takes the fourth wall and bends it into the story. The characters reference "The Implementors" which was the term used throughout the games and books to refer to the Infocom designers themselves. It also references the "Autoexec" (the file which runs the game) and the "Control Character" (the actual player of the game). This weaved our reality into the story and made it part of what was going on. While this is not an uncommon thing to find in any Zork story, it is fleshed out much more here as Glorian explains it to an uninterested Mirakles for the reader's benefit.
Many locations from the first three Zork games are visited by the heroes. The story weaves in and out of the games' maps which makes it easy to keep track of where the characters are geographically if you are familiar with the games themselves. Also present is the usual dark humor and satire of which the Zork series is famous for. Overall, this story is highly entertaining and is a recommended read for any Zork fan.
1991's The Lost City of Zork follows Caspar Wartsworth, a "part-time barbarian" who fancies himself an adventurer. He puts together a rag-tag party of adventurers which include a bumbling wizard, a sleeping princess, and a very "green" thief. Together, they set out to free the Borphee Guild of Wizards from the evil King Duncanthrax.
This book is funny. From the catch-phrases of the characters to the situations they get into, it really brings out the best in Zork comedy. Once again, the story weaves in and out of locations found in the games; the fourth wall, however, isn't bent much as it was in Chronicles.
These books are all excellent entries in the Zork universe and dive deeper into the lives of the people which inhabit it. The cover art is fantastic and fits with the established Zork series and the four "What-Do-I-Do-Now" books have black and white illustrations throughout. You can find these books for about $4-8 each on eBay which is only a little above their original cover price so they aren't worth a whole lot to collect but that means they are easy to obtain for those who desire them. The entertainment factor is high on these. Even if you aren't a Zork fan (...yet) but you have a dark sense of humor, you will find these books enjoyable. They are easy reads (especially the "What-Do-I-Do-Now" books) and an avid reader can most likely get through the novels within a day.
For more information on the Zork series, check out The Zork Library or my own fan site The Zork Underground.