Review of City of Masks

Okay, guys... this week I'm going to deliver up a review that I promised a friend months and months ago. Thank you David Walters for being so patient with me!


City of Masks is a adventurous romp through an imaginative fantasy world created by author David Walters. A young assassin steals a powerful sword and flees the oppressive school where he has been trained, hot with dreams of vengeance against his former masters for the slaying of his parents. Out in the world, he meets up with a beautiful foreign ambassador and quickly becomes involved in hefty political matters, which he tackles with all the subtlety of an angry puppy. His tremendous personal skill and dedication lead to him playing a shaping role in events to come, but never does he forget his parents, or his need to avenge their deaths.


The Good

There are two things City of Masks does very well: the setting and the pacing. Pacing and building tension is a challenge as an author, and City of Masks is a page-turner. I consistently found myself on the edge of my seat at the beginning of any new chapter, wondering what was going to happen next, wondering how he was going to get out of it this time. It's an exciting yarn, no doubt about it!

But even more impressive, I think, is the vision of this world. The City of Restal is a world ruled by a strict social order. There are 12 castes, based on 12 animals, and each member of the city or surrounds must wear a mask at all times, showing a depiction of the animal that represents their caste. Each chapter opens with an excerpt from the Manuscript of Creatures, many of which describe one of the animal castes--typically one which will play a significant role in the coming chapter. Women wear masks of cloth, while men wear masks of wood or metal, and showing your naked face is considered improprietous, much like we would consider showing nudity. It's a fascinating society, and I still find myself thinking about it from time to time.

I also should mention that many of the descriptions are done quite well, especially the fight scenes. The fight scenes are vividly drawn, and the author has a good sense for when to describe in detail, and when excessive detail would be tedious. As I mentioned above, the pacing is excellent.

Now lets move on to...

Edit: Also got to give a nod to some of the excellent surprised the book delivers up, especially a couple of big reveals that come later on. Well done, sir!


The Bad

While there is much that is noteworth in City of Masks, it has some weaknesses as well. The characterizations are weak, the audacity of the hero sometimes breaks my suspension of disbelief--I really feel he would have gotten himself killed after two days in the open world--and the plot flirts dangerously with the cliche.

I shouldn't say the plot, per se, is cliche. Actually, I would have to mark up "plot" under the positives in this case. There are some excellent and unpredictable twists, which bring a lot of life to the world, and everything mostly seems to make sense as you go along. It's more just the premise that is a little cliche. An assassin goes rogue, then seeks vengeance for the slaying of his parents. Hardly unfamiliar.

Actually, the real problem, I think, lies in the characterization of Rayne himself, or, as he is so melodramatically dubbed, "Darkspirit." *sigh* Reading some of Darkspirit's dialogue, I feel like I'm watching a twelve year old masturbate. Seriously, man, have you never heard of impulse control? Also, what's with the random morality at inappropriate moments? He's not otherwise notable for being what you might call a 'good person.' I swear, this guy chooses the strangest moments to grow a moral compass.

It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't consistently get away with it! Darkspirit's character consists, basically, of being a pissy little bitch, and for some reason no one ever calls him on it. The world itself is warped by the power of Darkspirit's raw supposed-awesomeness, such that no one can stand in the path of his blazing, adolescent indignation, regardless of social class, combat training, or weight of numbers.

This is definitely the weakest part of the book. There's something about the entire story that feels like a young boy's immature power fantasy--even more than most fantasy stories. But hey, if that's your appetite, then bon appetit.


The Ugly

I'm giving City of Masks a 3 out of 5. It held my interest through the whole novel, and that's not easy to do. But some of Rayne's dialogue is cringe-worthy, especially early on. The characters never completely sell it, but they're colorful enough to be interesting, and the plot, though not original in concept, has some blisteringly tense twists and turns that keep you hooked right up until the fantastic big reveal at the end. If the characterization had been stronger, this could have been a great book, especially with that big reveal, but... the soul of the story really seems to be a power fantasy about Rayne, and I just can't get too excited about that.

By high standards, it's good, but not great. Still definitely worth a read. If you can make it through Rayne's dialogue, you've got a great ride ahead of you. In closing, I also want to say I love the concept of the setting, and would love to see this world brought to life further.

Review of Brian Rathbone's "Call of the Herald"

(This is copypasta'd from my Amazon review of this book.)

One of the first ways I judge any fantasy is by the names, and the names here sounded hollow from the start. The characters are trite and straightforward, the writing is poor, and the story is rote. It's full of telling instead of showing. And the classist conflict of the first chapter, with the good, sweet innocent poor kids being oppressed and bullied by the evil wealthy and privelaged kids just made me gag. It's not the worst I've seen, but I don't recommend it. It's only not a one because I reserve one star for a special kind of bad.

I don't try to read a whole book if it doesn't win me over in the first few pages. In this case, I gave up when I got to the line, "The day was important, different. Something was going to happen--something big; she could feel it." Your mileage may vary; it's just not the writing style for me.

Reviews by Ash: Evil Under the Sun, by Agatha Christie

I just finished my first Agatha Christie book. (Remarkably, I happened to reach the Agatha Christie episode in Doctor Who later the same day that I started the novel.)

I'm not sure if there's much of a call for reviewing Agatha Christie, but I enjoy taking a stern look at things and analyzing what I like and what I don't like. So why not? So, I welcome you to...

Reviews by Ash

Evil Under the Sun, by Agatha Christie

Evil Under the Sun is a murder mystery (of course) set in England of the... what? 1920s? 1930s? It's a strange mix of a comedy of manners and a murder mystery, complete with femme fatale, heroin deals, and evil-hearted swindlers and murderers. Almost incongruous against the high-styled English background.

Set against the backdrop of a draughty old hotel on a secluded island once used by pirates and smugglers, Evil Under the Sun presents a convincing portrait of the genteel guests who attend the modern-day resort, when a woman in red comes among their number who draws the eye of every man who sees her, and an unknown, mysterious killer shatters their peaceful retreat.

Good:

I liked the attention to personalities that Agatha Christie brings to the table. I wouldn't necessarily say her characters have the most emotional depth, but she clearly had a keen eye for the mannerisms of people. I can only assume that these thoughtful descriptions were based on observations of real-life characters.

I liked that the morality of the story had a bit of complexity to it. Though titled, "Evil Under the Sun," the character who initially appeared to be the eponymous "Evil" was not it, and even the most heroic characters occasionally slipped up and lied, or worse (usually in misguided attempts to cover for the people they loved.) Gender roles were straight (1930s England, after all), but her judgement of and opinions about the genders were attractively subtle and shaded.

Finally, I was pleased to discover that the mystery was one which could have been solved. Theoretically. By Einstein with a supercomputer. But all the facts were there! Which makes it a welcome break from Sir Doyle, even if I do like my Sherlock once in a while. I suppose when you take a pirate island and throw in a bunch of elderly british people and a crack deal, what you have just isn't going to make much sense, no matter which way you look at it.


Bad:

The opening of the story was a little slow. Aside from the detailed depiction of different characters and their behaviors, speech and mannerisms, there was very little to hook the interest until the murder happened later on.

The events of the murder were a tad far-fetched. I was not convinced the plan could have been pulled off that smoothly. Although it was at least internally consistent with the clues.

The finger pointing became a bit schizophrenic toward the end. In the final reveal speech of Poirot, he clearly and directly states "You did it!" to almost every character in the room, before finally settling on the real killer(s). Really Poirot? Couldn't you just have pointed to the killer first?


I'm the Guy with the Gun:

If you need a book that will hit the ground running and hook you from the start, this isn't it. But if you'd like to take a trip to a secluded hotel in 1930's England, and meet some colorful characters while you're there, you may have fun with this book.

At the end of the day, Agatha's attention to detail in crafting her mystery leaves me keen to read more of her books. Next time, I want to see if I can figure out the answer *before* she tells me. (Yeah, right!)

Fighting Fantazine Issue #8 Review

Review of Fighting Fantazine Issue #8

The Fighting Fantazine has been running since September of 2009, and it is the ezine to go to for all things Fighting Fantasy and gamebook related. Low production value and slightly amateur art is offset by an extremely high level of care and attention that's gone into creating a quality product, and the sheer amount of content is staggering--including two complete, original gamebook adventures!

[This is also my chance to field my new, "Reviews by Ash," review scheme: "Good, Bad, I'm the Guy with the Gun." Seeing as how my name is actually Ash... it seemed appropriate.]


Good:

This is the first time I've ever opened a Fighting Fantazine, and I was blown away by simply how much is inside. You're looking at multiple interviews with people in the gamebook industry, recent news of new releases and exciting products to look out for, nostalgic articles about gamebook lore and history, as well 70+ pages of original gamebooks, adventures, fiction and comics. Wow!

For myself, having already plowed through most gamebook material that is available today, it was an unexpected treat to find two new original pieces of gamebook fiction inside the Fighting Fantazine. That itself might win my loyalty as a reader. In brief, I found Vengeance at Midnight to be a delightful and action-packed sequel to superhero-themed Fighting Fantasy books, such as Appointment with F.E.A.R. I think the pacing could have used some work; I frequently found myself struggling a little to slog through the story, but I found the investigation system to be innovative and engaging. It provided a satisfying puzzle-solving kick.

The other thing that I found extremely useful was the news and updates on new interactive fiction coming out. I saw some titles that I hadn't known existed before, including the full line of Capstone educational interactive fiction, which is something I'm very interested in. What I thought was a second gamebook turned out to be an Advanced Fighting Fantasy adventure for 2-4 heroes, presumably to be run by a gamemaster. The comic was a little hard to get into without having read the previous issues, but had excellent art (random gargantuan boobs aside...) and an amusing premise of gaining power by defeating Fighting Fantasy books. There was also original fiction, yet more interviews, reviews... it goes on and on.

Overall, I would say the best thing about this ezine is the depth. Clearly a lot of work and love goes into producing it, and the amount of content it has to offer is prodigious.


Bad:

As in many things, the greatest strength of the Fighting Fantazine is also it's greatest weakness: content. There's just so much of it. Don't get me wrong, too much is definitely better than too little, but a little more selectivity could have improved the final product, IMNSHO. Three interviews with gamebook industry insiders? That's great... but maybe they could have been spaced out, one in each of three different ezines. Just an example. I don't want to start pointing fingers at what should be in and what shouldn't. The fact is, almost all of it is good content, but part of the job of the editor is not just to rustle up lots of content, but also to make hard choices so that what remains is the best of the best--in an attractive, meal-sized package.

I also have to mention, for the sake of completeness, the art. While the back cover looked really very nice (if not work-safe), the front cover definitely had an amateur quality to the artwork. I haven't seen enough of FF yet to know if this is normal, but it gave the front cover a "home-brewn" feel that might turn off some readers. If there's a budget, it might be worth splurging on art for the front page, if anything.


I'm the Guy with the Gun:

I didn't expect to say this, but I absolutely recommend the Fighting Fantazine for any gamebook enthusiast. This definitely has a "by fans, for fans" feel to it, but if you don't mind the low production values, it's a great place to get news of the industry and even some awesome, original material. Your only challenge might be sorting through the voluminous content to find the bits you're most interested in. Go check it out! You won't regret it =)

Review of the Choice of Games gamebook house

Just when I think I've found everything related to gamebooks on the web, I stumble across something else. Apparently there's a whole other production house out there producing gamebooks. Check out Choice of Games.

I thought about doing a review of individual gamebooks published by them, but there's enough similarities in style and composition between them that I'll start by just doing a review of the whole lineup.

The Pros


* I really like the focus on story in the Choice gamebooks. They are less about adventuring and more about navigating political or social interactions. I found the intrigue presented in the "Affairs of Court" series (part 1: Choice of Romance, part 2: Choice of Intrigues) very compelling and fun--a great example of intrigue in the gamebook format (something TMG has promised us as well... hopefully?)

* Very high standards for the kinds of choices players are presented with

* Their books are presented free online, or for a very modest price on various digital platforms.

* There is an announcement on their website that they are currently looking for writers. (For all of us aspiring gamebook authors out there ;) In addition, anyone can write a game using their system and they will host it on their website and share with you a measure of any revenue it generates.

* Large selection! There are five officially published books, and a whole score of fan-made ones.

* Some nice art. Each game has at least one nice piece of artwork, if only for the title.

* Quick! This is also a con, but it is nice that you can bust through one in an hour or two.

The Cons

* The writing is a bit hit or miss. I'm not sure this should be in "cons" because sometimes the writing is very good, but, well... it's just hit or miss. Sometimes I'm very impressed, but other times I felt like it was a bit lackluster, both with overall plots and with the quality of the prose.

* Several of their games use a system where character attributes are inversely linked. For example, in the Choice of the Dragon book, Brutality is an important fighting score. But increasing your Brutality necessarily reduces your Finesse. They only have 100 points to split between them. Similarly, increasing your Honor reduces your Cunning, and vice versa. This makes it hard to feel very much like you're making any progress over the course of the game. You're just moving points about, and if you train one thing here and another thing there, then you end up not improving either. I found that very annoying.

* Traits occasionally available that aren't really relevant. I specialized in magic in my playthrough of the Affairs of Court series (starting with Choice of Romance) and it only really came up once. And it didn't really seem relevant then.

* Too Short: It's fun that they're quick, but I think if they were longer they could be built with more depth to really take advantage of the story-based system they're obviously striving for.

(I hate to belabor myself, but my example of excellent, relatively deep story-based gamebooks remains Endmaster's works on the Storygames website, Necromancer and Eternal. Let me tell you, I could not read through one of those in an hour.)

Suggestions


I have read... apparently all of the Choice gamebooks. Didn't realize I'd managed that yet. My recommendations:

Choice of Broadsides: This was my favorite so far. I'm not a special fan of "high seas" settings, but I though this one was very well put together. Mostly, it just lasted long enough for me to start to care about the character a bit and get invested in what was happening. It does suffer from the inversely related stat pairs, though.

Choice of Romance/Intrigues: Together composing the "Affairs of Court" series, I thought these were pretty fun. Mostly, they are a good example of political intrigue in a gamebook.

Choice of the Dragon: It was okay. I guess it's fun to be a dragon and pick on the little villagers, but I wasn't really sure what the point was.

Choice of the Vampire: *shudder* Despite a beautifully written beginning, the writing went on to completely lose me. Sections frequently had more choices than text. I had very little idea what was going on, and the options available were frustrating and pointless. By the time I got into the supposed "romantic" plotline, it had so completely lost my interest I actually stopped playing. It just seemed easier to close the tab in chrome than to make the next choice.

May the next player enjoy Choice of the Vampire more than I did. It's a shame, because I was all prepared to be really excited about getting to be a vampire in the New Orleans of the 1800s.

Above all, I'm just really glad to see someone out there experimenting with a different form of interactive fiction. As much as I love the Fighting Fantasy/Lone Wolf/Tin Man Games genre of gamebooks (and think the genre is making major improvements as it evolves!) my true passion is interactive fiction as a whole, not just this one, fantasy-adventure, interpretation of it.

Thank you, Choice of Games, for taking your own stab at expanding the boundaries of what gamebooks can be.

Hope some of you enjoy the links :) Happy reading!

Oh--one final thought! If you want more detailed reviews of any of the above, (or any other requests, for that matter) let me know ^^