TheZork books were a series of four books, written byS. Eric Meretzky, which took place in thefictional universe ofZork. The books were published byTor Books. Like theZorkvideo games, the books were a form ofinteractive fiction which offered the reader a choice of actions symbolized by pages to turn to, as in the contemporary book seriesChoose Your Own Adventure or the laterGive Yourself Goosebumps series. The protagonists of each book were a boy and girl, called Bill and June on Earth and re-dubbed Bivotar and Juranda in Zork. The settings and plots were reminiscent of locations and events from theZork universe.
At each ending the player received a score from zero to ten based on how far they had made it through the book and, if the ending were a failure, a chance to try again at the incorrect choice. The books also usually contained a "cheater trap", reached by opting to use an item which does not exist (at least not in the current book). In these traps, the story abruptly ends; the reader is chastised and not given a chance to try again.
The books were written in English and translated into Spanish. All four books were published as "What-Do-I-Do-Now Books". Copies did contain publication errors—page numbers that the reader was directed to turn to or turn back to were at times incorrect. The first three books were published as a trilogy in August and September 1983; each has the titles of the other two listed opposite the cover page. The fourth book in the series was published in October 1984.
The first book in theZork series,The Forces of Krill, used familiarZork locations and scoring systems. Bivotar and Juranda are on a quest to find the three Palantirs of Zork and to defeat the evil sorcerer Krill. There were 20 possible endings.
The second book in theZork series,The Malifestro Quest, contained several inside jokes for those familiar with theZork games.Bivotar and Juranda must rescue the hero Syovar and two quirky elves, Fred and Max, from the evil wizard Malifestro. There were 18 possible endings.
The third book in theZork series,The Cavern of Doom, tried to capture the "exploring the dungeon" motif of the earlier games.Bivotar and Juranda search the Cavern of Doom, which is an uncharted portion of theGreat Underground Empire and the site of several mysterious disappearances, including the elves Fred and Max. There were 17 possible endings.
The fourth book in theZork series, theConquest of Quendor, featured silly riddles reminiscent ofZork II.Bivotar and Juranda search for the Helm of Zork in an attempt to bring peace to the Land of Frobozz, in defiance of Jeearr, a riddle-telling demon. There were 17 possible endings.
Of six novels published as "Infocom Books" by Avon Books between 1989–1991, two were directly based onZork:The Zork Chronicles byGeorge Alec Effinger (1990) andThe Lost City of Zork byRobin W. Bailey (1991).
Colin Greenland reviewedThe Forces of Krill,The Manifestro Quest andThe Cavern of Doom forImagine magazine, and stated that "Any child of any intelligence will swiftly realize they're being patronized, and will return to their own fantasies - and a good thing too."[1]