1.0 out of 5 stars
Another bad gamebook by R.L. Stine..., June 30, 2011
This review is from: Indiana Jones and the Curse of Horror Island (Find Your Fate Adventure Series: No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
* CHARACTERS:
Acceptable.
* ARTWORK:
Above average quality. More artwork could have been used when new characters appeared.
* STORY:
The story idea is decent - it's not pointless like searching for treasure, and not too similar to an idea (i.e. the movies) used before. However, the theme of the story isn't revealed until after a shootout. Instead of just getting shot at right away, there should at least be an explanation of what the story is going to be about.
* AUTHOR'S WRITING STYLE:
Absolutely horrible. This author never learns that phrases like "Indy slowly, slowly pulls you up" is annoying - there is no need to repeat the word "slowly." He does this consistently in all of his books. It makes you wonder where he learned how to write, and if his books are ever proofread by anyone.
* GAMEBOOK DESIGN:
Once again, Stein has to throw in "You decide!" type phrases before a choice, exposing his amateur approach to writing gamebooks. He should have looked at "choose your own adventure" books for a good template.
Another mistake Stein repeats is making some outcomes dependent on what number you choose or what day of the week it is. I mean, come on - a professional author should have a little more creativity.
At the very first set of choices, one of the choices immediately goes to a bad ending. If this was a Zork type gamebook, I could understand, but because this is not the case, this was a very bad decision on the author's part.
Endings also lack subtlety, and there are multiple instances when the author uses "The End" as part of the last sentence of a particular storyline. He also repeats lines such as "you should close this book and start over." This shows Stein's total lack of imagination for coming up with different types of endings. It's very sad when writers with such poor writing ability can have their books published.
* CONCLUSION:
This book is not bad as "Giants of the Silver Tower," but still not good enough to get 2 stars. Stein ruined a good story idea, and this book is another perfect example of how not to write a book.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty Cool, September 17, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Indiana Jones and the Curse of Horror Island (Find Your Fate Adventure Series: No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
A story where YOU and the Bull Whip crackin Indiana Jones are on an Adventure to Horror Island to find the Legendary Emerald Dove. A pretty good Choose Your Adventure-esque book. There are more positive endings then in most of the CYA genre.
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
wow, July 9, 2005
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Indiana Jones and the Curse of Horror Island (Find Your Fate Adventure Series: No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
this book is awesome! in this book, you go to a tropical island in search of the ebony dove with indiana jones! but will you survive?
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