I got this softcover at Barnes and Noble. I like choose-your-own books, and this long-lasting series generally features a nice mix of choices - some obvious, some seemingly random, but most having to do with character-trait decisions: do you obey orders, think of the safety of others, react to a crisis...?

This one is really good, mixing cultural influences from the story's time and place with an understandable desire to preserve one's own life. Some of the choices lead to unresolved but hopeful conclusions, and those that lead to death feature an arrival in an afterlife. There are paths that involve vengeance for a violent attack on one's village, on a possible new life with friendly strangers, on a chance to join the army led by a charismatic young commander (based on a historical figure) - and within these branches, decisions as to whether to offer aid to a wounded enemy or to confront a powerful leader regarding the sacrifice of a magnificent white horse. I was pleased at the variety of choices, some of them much more nuanced than I'd have expected in this kind of tale!

[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]

I left this book in the Little Free Library outside the Adult Learning Center; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2019 D for December release challenge. ***