Tue Sep 5 13:02:00 2023
Before I say anything else, I must note it was quite amusing to see that Valience got such a fanclub for herself in the comments of this thread! While you gotta love anyone who can decapitate a SKILL 12 creep menacing your character in two blows (certainly didn't expect this as what is often the first encounter in a "fairly easy" gamebook!), I am a little surprised Angela Luna from Soul Tracker didn't seem to gather quite as much devotion. Then again, that was probably the byproduct of most people's opinion on Soul Tracker getting overwhelmingly coloured by "What do I have to do to get past DESTRUCTION: 3?", leaving little room for reflection on anything else. As far as non-playable female characters on here go, I found it a little sad to see Autumn Moon of Nye's Song or Grauch of A Princess of Zamarra (or the Princess herself, for that matter) go rather unremarked upon even in their own threads.
As for the story itself, I'll say that I still consider the 50-ref format just a little too small altogether for this medium. Yet, this work is one of the best at working with this size. To me, it's almost on par with Andrew Wright's Impudent Peasant! in that regard, the latter pulling ahead mainly because in its marketplace scene, the things you could buy were all useful in at least some sense. In here, half the items that are purchasable are either awaiting that sequel, or are simply red herrings. Even so, it feels more comfortable with this length than either Bad Moon Rising or The Cold Heart of Chaos, both of which feel like episodes clipped out of a larger story; fine episodes, but lacking in internal development all the same.
At the same time, I must say their authors, Davy Stedham and Al Sander, were all significantly stronger writers in a literary sense, same as Andrew Wright. Their ~50 ref managed to make even minor refs feel vivid, and while there are flashes of that here as well (the poor ending at 6 is surprisingly poignant, and I liked the option to run away and avoid getting framed) it's clearly on a level below them altogether. I don't know where Victor Cheng was born and whether English was first or second language for him (as it is for me), but at the end of the day, the words on the page are still there.
Having that said, I must also give him credit for being a lot better at proofreading than some of the other authors here, including the aforementioned ones. Relatively few typos/grammar issues here this time.
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Less important observations.
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