Remember those old choose-your-own-adventure books you used to have when you were six years old where you would flip from page to page creating the story as you went along. Well, okay, maybe you don't. But I certainly do. It was my first experience with role-playing, and is probably some of the first hypertext ever created. I've dug up a real gem of a book that cried out to me to be transcribed into HTML format. The original book is called "Zork, The Cavern Of Doom" and was written by S. Eric Meretzky for Infocom, the same person and company that created the interactive adventures that were hugely popular back in the days of forty columns. The book's copyright information follows. Scroll down to begin.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

Copyright (C) 1983 by Infocom, Inc.

ZORK is a registered trademark of Infocom, Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

Interior illustrations by Dell Harris.

A TOR Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, 8-10 W. 36th St., New York, New York 10018

First printing, September 1983

ISBN: 0-812-57985-2

Printed in the United States of America

Distributed by Pinnacle Books, 1430 Broadway, New York, New York 10018

You are bored. There's nothing on TV except some stupid reruns. You wander into your local book store and pick up an interesting-looking book entitled Zork: The Cavern of Doom. As usual, you turn to the first page and begin reading.

The book is set in the magical land of Zork, where a new, incredibly rich underground realm has just been discovered. Dozens of adventurers have entered The Cavern of Doom, but none have returned. Only YOU can save them! There are bad-tempered warlocks, huge diamonds, dragons, and a giant empire to explore. It looks like this book is good!

Do you choose to save the kingdom? If so, read on!

Or do you choose to go home and watch reruns?