Fangs of Fury is the 39th entry of the Fighting Fantasy series of Gamebooks, written by Luke Sharp.
Six massive stone dragon Sentinels guard the tiny kingdom of Zamarra. Perched on the top of its highest citadel, the dragons are the invincible, unstoppable guardians of Zamarra since the kingdom's inception, but the fire they breathe has been extinguished. Zamarra is under siege by Ostragoth the Grim, who is working with the Evil Sorcerer Jaxartes, whose army of orcs, garks and chaotic races threatens to destroy the twelve wizards of the Mage-Order and seize the fortress of Zamarra! The only hope of Zamarra is for a brave adventurer — YOU — to restore the fires of the dragon Sentinels, by re-igniting their flames in the dreaded pits known as the Fangs of Fury.
Time is not on your side. As you set off for your quest, the fourteen fortress walls surrounding Zamarra are constantly under siege by Ostragoth the Grim's forces. To highlight the urgency of your quest, you begin your journey with a cursed bracelet on your wrist; it will remind you every time a fortress wall is conquered, and when all fourteen walls have fallen, you die as well, because with Zamarra taken, you're as good as dead anyways...
Often regarded as one of Luke Sharp's better books, Fangs of Fury is memorable for its creative approach towards the usual time limit countdown, and the well-structured storyline with various branching routes for collecting artifacts for a successful ending.
Fangs of Fury provides examples of:
- Action Girl: A Lady Knight is seen fighting several garks. You help her kill three, but when you're done you realize she has slaughtered every remaining gark single-handedly.
- Amazon Brigade: A band of female warriors riding Fangtigers are shown defeating an army of orcs and goblins. While they are not hostile, they will request that you pay them for killing the forces of chaos.
- Ambition Is Evil: Ostragoth's desires to become leader of his mercenary army made him the evil conqueror he is.
- Artifact of Death: You begin your quest wearing a cursed bracelet which glows every time a fortress wall is breached. When all fourteen walls have fallen, the bracelet will instantly kill you. Subverted in the end though; if you succeed in your quest, the bracelet will release you and becomes instantly studded with gems and diamonds, a priceless reward for your victory.
- Attack of the Monster Appendage: You get to save a warrior woman who's being dragged underwater by the tentacles of an Octopod creature.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Ostragoth the Grim and Jaxartes the Evil Sorcerer, their union being called the Ostragoth-Jaxartes Alliance.
- Big Good: Astragal the Wizard, a lawful sorcerer who will aid you in your quest. In this adventure, Astragal and the Mage Order oversee defenses of the city of Zamarra, defending it from the evil army besieging it.
- Cape Wings: An Elf is shown with a magical cape allowing flight, and you can claim the wings for yourself later on in the quest.
- The Chosen One: You are the Torchbearer, the chosen hero who will re-ignite the Fangs of Fury. Good luck!
- Citadel City: Zamarra appears to be one of these, surrounded by over a dozen fortress walls.
- Continuity Nod:
- Once again, you risk encountering Fire Demons, enemies which previously appeared in The Forest of Doom and Trial of Champions.
- Fangtigers, which appeared in Luke Sharp's previous book, Daggers of Darkness, make a comeback as pets of the Amazon Brigade.
- The lawful wizard Astragal from Luke Sharp's Chasms of Malice and Daggers of Darkness returns as well, and plays a bigger role in this adventure.
- Draconic Humanoid: A number of them populate a valley, and you are likely to fight a few of them while attempting to cross.
- The Dragon: Jinxana, who is adequately titled as the "right hand of Jaxartes". Ostragoth is supposed to be this, but he's more accurately The Ghost.
- Dragons Up the Yin Yang: There's an illusion of a Chinese Dragon hovering above three Wazarri monks which provides guidance for your quest. The illusion dissipates when the monks perform a Heroic Sacrifice.
- Elemental Embodiment:
- The Flame Warriors, which are man-sized elemental soldiers.
- The Fire Demon probably also counts.
- Evil Living Flames: Jaxartes very briefly becomes a pillar of fire with a face, as the flames from the Fangs of Fury destroy him.
- Flaming Sword:
- The Dragon men use these as their standard weapons.
- Kragaar has this weapon as well, as shown in the front cover.
- Jinxana the sorceress will summon this type of weapon to use at you.
- The standard weapons of Fire Demons throughout the Fighting Fantasy series. The one in this book uses a Fire Sword to fight you.
- Free-Sample Plot Coupon: You get 4 Black Cubes immediately in the backstory.
- The Ghost: You hear right from the start about The Dreaded warlord Ostragoth the Grim, who raised the most formidable army this side of Khul, who is The Dragon to the Big Bad Jaxartes. Obviously, he should have a big role and fight you in a tough Boss Battle, right? Actually, you never see him, not even from afar, and he is barely mentioned. All in all, he is just a justification for why Jaxartes has a huge army at his beck and call, but considering that Jaxartes himself is seen directing them and intervening when your allies launch an assault, he might as well have never existed.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: The two-headed serpent, shown on the front cover, cannot be fought normally. Your best bet is to just run from it.
- It's All Upstairs From Here: Infiltrating Jaxarte's domain involves climbing up his tower, one level after another.
- I've Come Too Far: In the opening backstory you briefly re-consider your choice of undertaking this quest (which involves wearing a cursed bracelet that can kill you), but you press on anyway.
- Kill It with Fire:
- Kragaar's pet serpent can breathe fire, and it kills two garks by roasting them to a crisp.
- How you defeat Jaxartes in the end, turning the Fangs of Fury and its power on the evil sorcerer.
- The revived dragon sentinels will do this to EVERY. SINGLE. ENEMY that's still alive in the ending of the quest.
- Kung-Fu Wizard: Jaxartes' henchmen include a number of wizards extremely capable of fighting, called Mage Warriors.
- Living Statue:
- The Stone-Skin Warrior, which is immune to your sword. You can defeat him by toppling him over and smashing him into chunks.
- Astragal the Wizard will possess a gargoyle to give you a lift at one point.
- The dragon sentinels of Zamarra. They're invincible, indestructible, and nigh-unstoppable living statues, and they utterly massacre the forces of evil invading Zamarra once you've restored their power.
- MacGuffin Location: The titular Fangs of Fury, which is a volcano where you must re-ignite its flames.
- Magic Wand: You'll need to collect one of these, which gives you a bonus when fighting wizards, demons, and magic-based enemies.
- Mind Rape: The Inquisitor will do this to you. The mental assault is so damaging it might even kill you due to excessive Stamina damage!
- Mirror Match: The Inquisitor will attempt to test you by making you fight a mirror version of yourself whose stats are exactly the same as yours. Subverted that it isn't a fight to the death; if you lose you get your stats restored to normal immediately.
- Multiple Head Case:
- Kragaar's pet is a two-headed serpent, shown on the front cover.
- The Double-Headed Devil, a minor enemy, is also this trope.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Helping an old lady gets you stuck in the bottom of a well with a deadly horned devil. Even if you defeat the devil, you can still be trapped down there.
- No-Sell: If you have any Black Cubes, each one of them will absorb one fire-based attack directed towards you.
- Our Genies Are Different: One called a Schizoid Genie will attack you.
- Playing with Fire: Several examples, like Fire Demons, Dragonmen, the schizoid genie, Jaxartes the wizard, and of course the dragon sentinels once you've succeeded in your quest.
- Plot Coupon: The black and white cubes, which you'll need to collect for your quest.
- Power Crystal: Star Crystals and Triangular Crystals, among the vital treasures you need to collect for your quest.
- Quicksand Sucks: You find a treasure chest stuck in a quicksand pool, where two goblins are struggling to retrieve it. If you kill the goblins and open the chest, you only have time to grab a handful of treasure before the entire chest sinks into the mud.
- Race Against the Clock: You must complete your quest before the final fortress wall is breached...
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Captain Laski of the Seventh Footsloggers. Should you succeed in your quest, he will acknowledge your authority with honour.
- Red Baron: The Bonecrusher Battalion, possibly the most awesome name that can be bestowed to a military unit!
- Ribcage Ridge: A dwarf is stuck in a cage made from a dragon's ribs. You don't get to release him, unlike in most Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, since he is more than willing to stay in the cage rather than face the hostilities of the outside world.
- Right-Hand Attack Dog:
- Kragaar has a two-headed serpent pet which he can unleash on you.
- The band of warrior women are shown commanding Fangtigers.
- Jaxartes attacks you with the aid of two trained pet wolves.
- Secret Underground Passage: This is how you sneak out of the besieged fortress of Zamarra at the beginning of your quest.
- Seers: Kim-Ona turns out to be one of these, should you rescue her from the orcs.
- Self-Immolation: Three Oriental-looking Wazarri monks will do this to themselves (by Spontaneous Human Combustion) after healing your Stamina and giving you guidance for your quest. Sadly, there is no way for you to save them. You're on your own when the scene ends.
- Shout-Out: A giant you encounter quotes the "Fee-fi-fo-fum" line from Jack and the Beanstalk.
- The Siege: Your quest takes place simultaneously with Zamarra being in the middle of one.
- Sole Survivor: A crying little girl named Kim-Ona is the lone survivor of an orc attack. It's best that you save her before the orcs comes back and abduct her, as she will lead you to a valuable clue to repay the favour.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Jaxartes the sorcerer.
- Squishy Wizard:
- The Council of 12 wizards protecting Zamarra. If the last fortress wall gets breached, they get effortlessly curb-stomped and Zamarra falls.
- Averted with Astragal, Jaxartes, the Wazarri monks, and the warrior mages, though.
- Take It to the Bridge: A band of orcs will attempt to block your way as you try to cross a bridge. You get to roll a die to see how many orcs you'll need to fight while crossing.
- Video Game Caring Potential:
- If you help some locals kill two drunken orcs in a tavern, you get rewarded with 20 gold pieces. Easy money considering how weak the two orcs are!
- If you save Kim-Ona from some orcs, not only does she help you with a vital clue, but you get 2 Luck points immediately. But...
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: ... On the other hand, you can simply leave Kim-Ona on her own, and let some orcs take her away without suffering any Luck penalty. Shame on you if you choose this option!
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's implied that Ostragoth is destroyed with the rest of his forces when you made the dragon sentinels come to life and wipe out the invading army, but it isn't explicitly confirmed.
- Winged Humanoid: The Dragonmen. If you don't have a pair of Elven Wings to fight them in the air, you take a Skill penalty during combat with them.
- Zerg Rush: While gremlins are pathetically weak enemies in other Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, you can get trapped in a room full of them at one point, and given their sheer numbers in this situation, your best hope is to just make a run for the exit on the other side.
