Item - Hazard Pay: Interactive Fiction

A fun read and an enjoyable survival story in space. Hazard Pay is a work of interactive fiction (gamebook or choose-your-own-adventure) in which the reader takes the role of the protagonist, an unnamed junior officer aboard the space ship named Hazard Pay. Disaster hits the vessel and soon the reader must try to survive, first in space, and then (perhaps) on a planet.

There's a short and yet quite fun survival story to be had here, with several decisions which could mean life or death for the main character. It's not all about just right or wrong, however, as there is more than one path to the best ending (though there are a few 'good' endings too, not just one).

There's no game system in the book, so don't expect to be rolling any dice. This is straightforward interactive fiction. The book is well-written, although there are a few minor quibbles (see below). At 83 pages, it is shorter than an average CYOA book but this doesn't make it any less engaging.

Problems: Sadly, there are a few minor issues here and there that don't spoil the book, but might bother some readers. In the edition I read, there is one glaring mistake on page 51. The option at the bottom of the page asking the reader if they want to explore the mountains should point to page 56, not 52. There are also a few grammatical errors, which don't take away from the excellent writing, but an editor should have cleaned those up. Overall a fun read and an enjoyable survival story in space.

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