Contents:
Transition States in the American Renaissance.
In Poe, Fuller, and the Mesmeric Arts, Bruce turbines examines how the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and Margaret Fuller draw from representations of and theories touching on animal magnetism, somnambulism, or hypnosis rendered in newspapers, literary and clinical journals, pamphlets, and books. Child Languages in Canadian Literature. Baby language is a topic within which everyone seems to be knowledgeable.
All mom and dad examine their kid's language rigorously, if undeliberately, and each relatives has its invaluable stories of the original verbal improvisations of adolescence. For writers who continuously fight with and luxuriate in the mysteries of language, the language of kids holds a distinct appeal. Only you saw the first day of a threeday tournament. If Froissart is right, you should go there at its end. The king knows the meaning of the motto, and the king could make you a knight.
The banquet is nearly over. Jump back thirteen years to Windsor, You take a close look at Nigel as he leads you off to the tents. Two priests carry you to a rock above the water.
Portuguese , Spanish My Thoughts: This is probably the most unusual book in the series. The option of visiting the future is certainly a change of pace from the rest of the series, though the book manages to maintain a similar style to the other books - the future world feels almost as well developed as the historically-based pasts of other volumes. There aren't any entirely new ideas here, but this is still one of the best sci-fi gamebooks I've read by far.
Ice Age Explorer Author: You must travel back to the Ice Age and discover what inspired a unicorn-like cave painting. This is a fairly interesting book; it's not all that different from the earlier dinosaur-related book in structure, but the subject matter is less familiar. The Mystery of Atlantis Author: Kenneth Smith First Published: You must travel through time to find the historical basis for the story of Atlantis.
Like the first book in the series, this is a fairly easy book to get through, but it's definitely an entertaining read. Wild West Rider Author: Steve Leialoha First Published: Your assignment is to travel to the American West in the s to discover why the Pony Express only lasted eighteen months. This is a good book, though it's just about average quality for this series. There's a bit of challenge towards the end, but it's not too hard to get through the book fairly quickly. Martishius and Alex Nino First Published: You must find out who fired the first shot of the Revolutionary War and retrieve his musket.
This book bears a certain resemblance to Sword of the Samurai both in its mission to retrieve a weapon of historical significance and in the way it forces the reader to choose an item to take along before beginning the adventure. The portion of history covered by the book is perhaps a bit familiar at least to survivors of the American public school system , and the facts presented don't cover much new ground, but this is made up for by good writing and a few effective moments of humor.
Susan Nanus and Marc Kornblatt Illustrators: You must travel back to the Warsaw ghetto during World War II and discover the location of a milk can containing historical documents gathered by Emanuel Ringelblum in defiance of the Nazis. Italian , Spanish My Thoughts: This is an excellent entry in the series.
The subject matter is dealt with effectively and the gameplay is somewhat challenging without being frustrating; wrong choices sometimes lead to interesting situations. Search for the Nile Author: In order to find out who discovered the source of the Nile, you travel back in time and participate in the expeditions of Henry M. This book is of somewhat mixed quality. It isn't as strong as it could be as far as characterization and dealing with sensitive issues are concerned, though it's certainly not terrible.
It's also one of the most challenging books in the series to get through, though not necessarily for particularly logical reasons. Finally, it allows at least one law of time to be broken, and it seems to bend one or two others; this is interesting, but it strains the book's believability a bit. All in all, this is pleasantly different and interestingly educational, but its flaws are definitely noticeable. The blue-covered picture above is a Perma-Bound library edition of the book. Secret of the Royal Treasure Author: You must travel back in time to find out the source and ultimate fate of a gold and sapphire ring worn by Queen Elizabeth I on her deathbed.
This is Carol Gaskin's first entry in this series and her first gamebook to follow the Forgotten Forest books. It shows the same love of rhyme and wordplay displayed in some of those books, though the context of Elizabethan England makes these tendencies feel considerably less jarring. The book is also notable since it rather unambiguously suggests that the reader's character's gender is male though at one point you can successfully impersonate the voice of a female ghost.
This lack of gender neutrality is particularly interesting considering the book's female author. On a whole, the book isn't exceptional, but it is good, and its final revelations are definitely satisfying and, to a degree, thought-provoking; Queen Elizabeth's life certainly wasn't simple Blade of the Guillotine Author: Steranko cover , Scott Hampton interior First Published: You must discover what happened to a diamond necklace that was an important part of the beginning of the French Revolution.
This isn't a bad gamebook, but it's slightly weak for this series. Some of the jumps to previously read sections are a bit awkward and the option before the story begins of bringing or not bringing a red scarf is pointless and wastes time. Flame of the Inquisition Author: You travel back in time to discover why the famously kind and sensitive Queen Isabella permitted the Spanish Inquisition to take place. This book is quite good; it takes a refreshingly direct approach to an ugly topic, and it doesn't sweeten things excessively just because it's a children's book.
Its storyline is also nicely constructed, allowing all of its pieces to fall into place in a satisfying manner even though they are revealed non-linearly. All of this is helped by the attractively-shaded illustrations, which are a nice change of pace from the line drawings found in so many gamebooks. Like some other books in the series, this one requires the reader to select an item to take along before beginning the story.
Unfortunately, this is the source of the book's biggest flaw -- unless the right item is picked, the book becomes an infinite loop and yes, I have a map to prove it. This certainly increases the challenge of the book, but it also seems more than a little arbitrary, and it renders later references to different items totally pointless since the reader could not possibly have more than the one necessary object.
Perhaps this whole aspect of the book is the result of an error somewhere along the line Quest for the Cities of Gold Author: Your mission is to discover the truth about the Seven Cities of Gold sought after by explorers of the New World. This book finally deals in depth with a topic that has been briefly visited in several previous volumes: For some reason, this isn't a subject which I've ever found terribly exciting I just can't tell any of those explorers apart!
Eventually, though, I did enjoy the story and find this to be a fairly satisfying read. Strangely enough, though, I have the same gameplay complaint about this book that I did about its predecessor -- unless you pick the right item before the story begins, you are doomed to be stuck in an infinite loop!
I can't help feeling that the series would have been better if it had contained a few rules on picking up items during the course of the story; this way, players could have searched for necessary equipment rather than simply being out of luck After all, that's what a real time traveler would most likely end up doing. Scotland Yard Detective Author: Charles Vess First Published: You must travel back to early twentieth century London and help Scotland Yard rescue a kidnapped Indian prince.
This book, written rather surprisingly by the man responsible for Casper the Friendly Ghost, is quite good. It doesn't stand out from the other books in the series in any notable way, but it's still an above-average gamebook.
Sword of Caesar Authors: Robin Stevenson and Bruce Stevenson Illustrator: Your mission is to discover the ultimate fate of the battle sword of Julius Caesar. This is a good entry in the series; not only does it deal with a number of important Roman historical figures, but it also gives a good first-person look at Roman life in various periods and social classes.
This diversity of educational content more than makes up for the fairly familiar subject matter. My biggest criticism of the book is that its artwork seems rather rushed in places and is definitely below average for the series. Death Mask of Pancho Villa Authors: Carol Gaskin and George Guthridge Illustrators: Steranko cover , Kenneth Huey interior First Published: You have to find the plaster death mask of Pancho Villa, a Robin Hood-like bandit who was an important fighter in the Mexican Revolution.
This book is quite good most of the time, but there are a few points where it has writing bad enough to be slightly cringe-inducing. Perhaps this is the weaker of the two writers showing through. In any case, despite these flaws of writing, it's a pretty good story and, like Sword of the Samurai , it deals with significant historical figures unfamiliar to many Americans particularly the children this series is aimed at. Bound for Australia Author: You must find out who the first successful Western settler of Australia was.
While I found this book interesting and enjoyed reading it, it unfortunately has a lot of flaws. First of all, its mission is less than compelling -- finding the first Western settler of Australia is a somewhat vaguely-defined goal, and the ultimate solution has little to do with most of the adventure that leads up to it. Additionally, the book's portrayal of reality is a little more black and white than it is in the better books of the series -- Captain Cook, for example, practically glows with goodness, and while he may well have been a great man I'm not historian enough to offer an opinion , his portrayal here still seems like it must be awfully exaggerated.
Finally, the transitions between sections of the book aren't always smooth -- at one point, for example, you can jump ahead several months on a sea voyage without anyone including your employer asking where you were! Despite all of these flaws, though, the book is worth reading if only for the unique option it allows the reader when it becomes necessary to learn more about British convicts Caravan to China Author: In order to discover why no Europeans followed Marco Polo's route to China for three hundred years, you must travel back in time and follow the route yourself.
This is an excellent book with lots of interesting details and well-described settings. Some of the themes from this book were revisited in the seventh entry of the Earth Inspectors series. In an e-mail received long after reviewed this book, Mark J. Tilford commented on something I hadn't noticed at the time: In most of the other entries in this series, you could theoretically at least get stuck by making the same choices over and over again.
Last of the Dinosaurs Author: To explain the disappearance of the dinosaurs you must travel back to the Great Extinction and observe the last surviving dinosaurs. This book really didn't need to be written. It covers a lot of the same territory as the other dinosaur-related book in the series; I suspect it was only written because dinosaurs sell and by this time the series was most likely waning in popularity.
Among other problems there are a lot of arbitrary decisions which can send you in circles and a couple of largely pointless and uninteresting trips to the 20th century. The ultimate solution to the mystery is believable and realistic, however, and makes up for a number of the book's flaws. Quest for King Arthur Author: You travel back in time and search for the real man behind the legends of King Arthur. The writing of this book was more or less inevitable; how long could a time travel series go without bringing King Arthur in somehow? Fortunately, despite the somewhat familiar subject matter, the book is well-done and interesting, even managing to have something of a message at the end.
The game design is also quite challenging, requiring the reader to think carefully about where and when to go on several occasions. My biggest complaint is one that I've had about a couple of previous volumes -- if you pick the wrong item before starting the adventure, you get stuck in an infinite loop with no hope of escape! Once again, I wish the books had made better use of inventory management It's not too surprising that a book about World War I would deal with the Red Baron, and this one does a pretty good job of it, though it might have been stronger had the reader been given an opportunity to know Richtofen better and thus be more emotionally affected by his ultimate demise.
Perhaps that's a bit much to ask, though.
The book's gameplay is decent; it does a nice job of avoiding the inventory-related infinite loop that I keep complaining about, and its choices often relate back to the data bank in meaningful ways. The book also happens to feature some interesting and moodily dark artwork. You must investigate the role of code-breaking in both theaters of World War II and bring back a copy of a cracked code from each. This is the second World War II adventure in the series, but it is very different from its predecessor. While the earlier WWII story concentrated on a few people in a small area, this one details the entire war!
The book is the longest volume in the series, though it's still rather short when you consider the size of the conflict it describes.
Nonetheless, it successfully covers a lot of territory and portrays the war in an interesting fashion without overly glorifying it. The only complaint that could really be raised about the storyline is that the reader often takes an active role in events -- perhaps not entirely in line with the laws of time.
This flaw aside, though, the book is a success. Game design is also good, with the mission being divided into two parts which can be tackled in a non-linear manner. Probably the strangest thing about the book is its manner of illustration; half of the pictures are hand-drawn while the other half are historical photos.
It might have looked better if it had been more consistent. In any case, the book is a respectable end to the series, though it still seems a shame that the series had to end at all; there's a lot more history that could have been made into great gamebooks! Potrazi dinosaura Translation Of: Search for Dinosaurs This book is not part of my collection.