Misc
He-Man and the Memory Stone
Comments: The summary of the plot is a bit open ended. But there is a good reason for that: This is one of these 'play along' books! It is like a simple RPG for one player (correct term would be Fighting Fantasy in case that means anything to you): You are He-Man. The setting is laid out to you and then you have multiple choices what to do. Depending on which path you choose, the story continues in a different way. Sometimes there are fights which are decided by rolling the dice. Overall, this 'game' isn't really long or particularly hard, but it is certainly unique - there is no other book like it!
The Secret of the Sword
Plot: The Sorceress gives Adam the task to go to Etheria to find the rightful bearer of the 'Sword of Protection' (similar to He-Man's own Sword of Power). Etheria is a world suffering under the rule of the Evil Horde and their cruel leader Hordak. He-Man meets with the rebels, and together, they try to rescue villagers who are transported into slavery. In the presence of the Horde's Force Captain Adora, the Sword of Protection begins to glow. Irritated, He-Man gets careless for a moment and he's overpowered. Imprisoned on Beast Island, he tries to convince Adora the Horde is evil. She is unsure and rides out in disguise to see what life on Etheria is really like. Meanwhile, the other rebels manage to rescue He-Man. Hordak is putting his newest machine into action. It drains people's energy and uses for an energy beam. He-Man is imprisoned again and used to feed the weapon. During the night, Adora finally recognizes her true identity, she uses the Sword of Protection to change into She-Ra and frees He-Man. Together, they destory Hordak's beam. Back on Eternia, the Sorceress tells the story of Adora's identity. She is Adam's twin sister whom Hordak has abducted as a baby. Now, her parents are happy to see her again after such a long time. The Etherian rebels free Queen Angella and conquest Castle Brightmoon. Adora recognizes she's still needed on the world where she lived most of her life. Comments: This book is a close transcription of the movie of the same name. Still images from that movie are used to illustrate the story. Not bad, but suffers from the 'one punch solves everything' mentality of the cartoon, of course.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Plot: Dragon from the Lost Valley: An earthquake has freed a dinosaur from a valley in which prehistoric creatures have survived. On its search for food, it destroys several villages in spite of being a peaceful creature in general. Using Teela's ability to communicate with animals, the Masters of the Universe convince it to be lead back to its home. On the way, Skeletor attacks, because he wants the dinosaur for himself, but he doesn't stand a chance. The Masters seal the valley again.
The Curse of Crystal Mountain: Queen Marlena is infected by a rare virus. Only the Snow Dwarves have an antidote. He-Man travels to Crystal Mountain to meet with the dwarf elders. There, another He-Man has already arrived before him to claim the antidote. After several tests of strength which don't result to anything, the real He-Man outsmarts and unmasks Faker with the help of a a magnetic device. The dwarves hand him the antidote and the queen is saved.
Menace in the Marshes: Man-at-Arms, Adam and Orko are sent to the swamps to look for a rare mineral. They plant a probing device and wait. In the night, some fog-based lifeform shows itself to them. Mer-Man sees his chance to capture the heroes and orders his Sea People to attack. The Masters survive this assault with the help of the fog which comes to their help. Acknowledging this is the fog's land, they give the false report of not finding any minerals in the area to the king.
Pinnacle of Peril: Man-at-Arms has developed a next-generation Talon Fighter. On the test flight, Zodac steals it and leaves test pilot He-Man stranded on a mountain. Stratos rescues his friend, and during the test run Skeletor does with Zodac, Man-at-Arms reveals he has built a remote control into the new vehicle, catapulting the evil guys out of their control (literally).
Galactic Fugitives: A spaceship contacts the Masters of the Universe. The aliens' homeworld has been destroyed and they're looking for a new home. The heroes give them the coordinates to land in front of Castle Grayskull. However, the ship can't be found after landing. It turns out the aliens are so small that their ship is only the size of a football. Skeletor steals the ship and the crew, but after a chase, the aliens are free again.
Warlord of Eternia: Skeletor attempts to gather a real army to finally take power. His undisciplined mob is no match for the royal army, though. On the search for better soldiers, he travels into Eternia's past together with Evil-Lyn and Beast Man. In that time, Eternia is ruled by a warlord. Seeing Beast Man's skills as a warrior, he immediately recruits him into his services and imprisons the raving Skeletor. Beast Man strikes a bargain with the warlord: He will train a whole army of warriors his ways of fighting, and in return, the warlord should let them return to their home. Of course, the evil warlord doesn't hold his end of the bargain, but thanks to Beast Man again, the three escape to the present again anyway.
Comments: Six very nice stories done in the same style as the regular Ladybird books. Most of them actually aren't concerned with actual fighting between He-Man and Skeletor so much (which is good). Overall, a good read. Be careful, though: the download is larger than 20MB!