Endless Quest™ books contain an extrordinary amount of battle encounters for a series that lacks a combat system beyond "Fight the evil? Or run away from the evil?"

But don't be fooled. Lurking underneath the bookcovers of superstar fantasy artwork (Elmore, Caldwell, Parkinson, and more) is a dangerous immunity to the often elevated secret weapon of the gamebook / text-adventure enthusiast: "careful reading.".

Pillars of Pentegarn
Return to Brookmere
Revolt of the Dwarves
Hero of Washington Square
Raid on Nightmare Castle

An example of this immunity is readily apparent in book 12, Light on Quests Mountain, by Mary L. Kirchoff and James M. Ward. In this sci-fi adventure, you play the spearwielding son of a village chief in TSR's Gamma World™ setting. And although, somehow, you can defeat bloodthirsty nightwings by screaming at them (33), forget about defending your best friend from angry dog-men (140). Post-apocalyptic dog-men are dangerous creatures.

And your friend should know better.