Revenge of the Computer Phantoms (Shadow Zone) [Paperback]

J.R. Black (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 21, 1993 | Series: Shadow Zone

Mike Willis's life is transformed into a nightmare when a computer game comes to life, releasing Thor, a powerful action hero who likes life outside the computer, and a host of evil computer phantoms into the real world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (December 21, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067985407X
• ISBN-13: 978-0679854074
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,304,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A classic of "so bad it's good", February 12, 2008

By 

Chris Gallagher (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Revenge of the Computer Phantoms (Shadow Zone) (Paperback)

Have you ever seen a movie that was so terrible in every way - the plot, the acting, the storytelling - that it was funny? That, once the sheer pain of what you're watching goes away, it's replaced with a genuine enjoyment and awe of the sheer dumbness and brokenness of the product, and a wonder of how such a thing could get made and published?

I've never felt that way about a book before until I read this one. I was given it as a gift when I was a young teen, by my mom, who probably figured that since it was both horror (I was reading Goosebumps and Fear Street then) and computer-related, I had to like it. I of course assumed that since it was computer-related horror, it had to be done horribly, and it was.

First off, authors should not write about that which they do not understand. If you don't know anything about video games and computers, enlist the help of someone who does to make your plot make more sense. As it is, we have some very weird representations of games in there. Weird technical terms such as "back door" (allegedly put there by a programmer to let the player "slip in" and change things - wait a minute... isn't that normally called a "cheat code"?) get thrown around, and we see representations of games that just wouldn't be made in this day and age.

The main characters play a computer game that's divided into 4 levels that are completely unrelated to each other. That's something I'd expect from the Atari era, where games like Necromancer and Alley Cat actually would change the goal and some gameplay elements every level. Not in the 1990s. Anyway, the hero from that game gets pulled into the real world, but naturally, he's not the only thing that enters the real world! For a while, the book features too much corny comedy about helping this fictional character adjust to "our" world. Our heroes have to deal with the threat of all the bad guys that have come out - sometimes from other games! - while also using their l337 haX0ring skillz to try to stop this mess.

This book is just plain stupid. A dumb plot, dumb characters, and way too many facts gotten wrong or that just plain don't make sense. The presumed target audience is going to look at this and roll their eyes, realizing that the author knows nothing of which he writes - as always seems to be the case when pop culture or anything associated largely with the young gets made into a story. On the other hand, the story *is* genuinely fun. It's paced well enough that it can be enjoyed, in the way that a poorly made film with a good pace can be enjoyed. Dumb plot element after dumb situation after dumb dialog occurs fast enough that if nothing else, the reader won't get bored, but the reader will either be upset or amused by the goings-on.

But hey, isn't the point of a book to entertain?

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IT'S A GREAT BOOK, April 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Revenge of the Computer Phantoms (Shadow Zone) (Paperback)

It starts out as a person hooked on computer
games called Mike Wells, tries to play a bootleg copy of a
new game he got. Things don't turn out too well. A crazy
gladiator named Thor jumpes out of his PC.

And soon, all kinds of things are jumping out from
other computer games. If he does'nt act fast, it might be
lights out for the real world