Item - Raining Hammers: The Ballad of Johnny MacDonald

While the previous book was quite good, this volume is superior in nearly every way. Its story is a bit more linear (but not too linear), meaning that completing the adventure successfully takes quite a while and yields a number of interesting plot twists. The historical footnotes augment the story excellently, and the more advanced game system works quite well, giving the reader more of a sense of control over the random elements of the adventure. My biggest complaint is that it is possible to get stuck wandering aimlessly, trying to avoid returning to events that obviously couldn't happen more than once; the fact that this possibility is acknowledged by the rules doesn't make it any less frustrating when it happens. A lesser complaint involves the game's gambling -- while it is nice to have games within a game, the rules are presented somewhat ambiguously, making betting a little confusing. Still, these flaws are easily overlooked, and this is a worthwhile read -- a well-written, interesting and challenging gamebook. I can't help but be disappointed by the fact that no more entries in the series seem to be forthcoming....

My High Score - 121 (1/14/2001)

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