Have you been to a site named gamebooks.org, maintained by Damien Katz? Plenty of gamebooks/cyoa reviews in there. I think it is the most complete archive of gamebooks. I had written a review for The Legion of Shadow back in the day on that site and I also posted that on Amazon. Suddenly remembered this and wanted to share it with you. Here is the full review:
mray0093's Thoughts:
First and foremost, all books in this series are like self-contained epics. They are huge in volume and people looking simultaneously for depth and length in a gamebook would be amply rewarded if they come across the first book in the DestinyQuest series, The Legion of Shadow. The book is divided into three acts, each act complete in itself. There are various quests which are marked on the map according to their difficulty. Boss fights are also there which are a boon for players due to the attractive bonus items made available after the fight is over. The game system is well-structured and the combat rules are pretty smooth. You can travel anywhere you want, explore markets and towns, buy stuff, help NPCs and keep customizing your character with better and still better gear. There is no permadeath. You can start playing again from the point where you died and play the same quest again or choose a different one from the map. Dice determine the outcome here, the randomness of which gets more or less balanced by the game mechanics. Overall, a great game. Do check it out.
Oh and btw, enjoying the third book greatly. Familiar concepts and worldbuilding, yet totally new and refreshing gameplay. You are Da Boss, literally!!
