The King's Quest Companion is a book by Peter Spear that serves as both hint book/walkthrough and contained complete novelization of each of the games in the King's Quest series by the original Sierra On-Line company. The first three editions were published by Silicon Valley Books, and fourth edition by Osborne/McGraw-Hill. The novelization for KQ6 was written by a guest writer, Eluki Bes Shahar. Roberta Williams had some influence (though how much is unknown) and praised the books, as well as supplied to the author about the games stories.

Background

The first edition covered the first four games, and each new edition added the most recent game. The fourth and last edition covered up to the seventh game in the series. The walkthrough novelizations are written from the point of view of various fictional narrators, such as Derek Karlavaegen, who also was used in manual for King's Quest 6, as well as other characters mentioned in the games or manuals. These characters serve to provide the hints in narrative form. The first two editions also included an encyclopedia, "An Encyclopedia of Daventry" giving expanded details on various subjects related to the games. The idea is that these articles (the "novels") were sent from another universe via a device called the "Eye Between the Worlds".

Description

In The King's Quest Companion, Spear claims that the World of Daventry exists in a different plane of reality. The creatures of magic and mythology withdrew to this other world to protect their existence as science and technology took over in our world. Spear says he gets his information from Derek Karlavaegen, a scribe from the World of Daventry. After Karlavaegen interviewed Prince Alexander about his escape from the wizard Manannan, he traveled to Llewdor and took up shop in Manannan's house. It was here that he discovered "The Eye Between the Worlds", a device that allows him to communicate to other dimensions. It is through this that he has supposedly sent messages to Spear, including the story versions of King Graham and his family's adventures from the King's Quest games. Spear even suggests that the Eye can be seen in the actual King's Quest III game, pointing out an object on the bookshelf in Manannan's study that looks like a computer screen.

Novelizations

Other articles

Sierra Involvement

The King's Quest Companion is an official guide created in part through the help and input by many Sierra employees, and as such referenced by some of the later material produced by Sierra. Roberta Williams is acknowledge for being of help in writing the books. According to Peter Spear, he would call Roberta Williams in order to develop chapters for the book. If she wasn't around or was too busy, he would contact other colleagues working on the games including Jane Jensen. The books were officially endorsed by Roberta Williams and she believed it brought the games to life in an exciting new way. She said it added another fascinating dimension to the entire King's Quest experience. She felt it was a pleasure to read, and a must have for anyone wanting to explore the series in greater depth and detail. She provided Peter Spear with encouragement, support, and access to work in progress. Ken Williams (the former owner of Sierra On-line) supported the book from day one. He and his brother John Willams were extremely helpful and supportive of the book through the years, and without their support the book might not have existed. Peter Spear worked directly with Jane Jensen while editing and writing material for KQ6 portions (the main novelization was written by the professional novelist eluki bes shahar), and he worked with Lorelei Shannon on the material published in the 4th Edition and King's Quest VII: Authorized Guide. Other people at Sierra that assisted with Peter Spear in developing the book through the years include Bill Davis, Dennis Jonathan, Kirk Green, Anita Greene, Liz Jacobs, Mark Seibert, Marc Hudgins, Jonk Meek, Dan Rogers, Jerry Bowerman, and Joe Escalle. The author directly worked with designers and the game publisher to receive behind the scenes information, and influenced material in the games (About King's Quest I-V), the manuals and even other official Hint Books on occasion (see KQ6 and KQ7 hintbooks by Lorelei Shannon, KQ5 Manual (computer and NES versions), the Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles, KQ6 itself, and King's Questions (a computer game), and other material in the King's Quest Collection (15th Anniversary Collector's Edition)) (The Royal Scribe). Sierra's Interaction Magazine, and King's Quest Collection reprinted portions of the book on occasion to advertise them, give background story to the King's Quest World, and give hints to players (Sierra Magazine, Autumn 1989, Interaction, Fall 1994). The former article was included in the Inside the Chest archive included in several editions of the King's Quest Collection.

Reception

The editors of Computer Gaming World reviewed the book and stated that "A final comment on the book itself must be that The King's Quest Companion is more than a hint book and more than a reference work, it is... well, a companion. We suggest that readers will get even more out of the fine adventure series if they play the games (or replay them) with this book beside them."

Reviews

Sources