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Combined Summary
Series: |
Time Machine
—
no. 14 |
---|---|
Platforms: |
Kindle
(Kindle edition) Microsoft Reader (Microsoft Reader edition) |
Translated Into: |
La hoja de la guillotina (Spanish) Ostrica giljotine (Serbo-Croatian) Ostrze gilotyny (Polish) Rezilo giljotine (Slovenian) Sečiloto na gilotinata (Macedonian) I skyggen av giljotinen (Norwegian) |
Author: |
Cover, Arthur Byron
|
Illustrators: |
Steranko
(cover) Hampton, Scott (interior) |
Dates: |
October, 1986 (First printing) 2001 (Microsoft Reader edition) September 17, 2013 (Kindle edition) May 1, 2017 (Ibooks reissue) |
ISBNs: |
0553166603 / 9780553166606
(Book club edition) 0553260383 / 9780553260380 (First printing) 1596876255 / 9781596876255 (Ibooks reissue) |
Length: |
125 pages (plus data bank and data file) (First printing, Book club edition, Microsoft Reader edition, Kindle edition)
|
Number of Endings: |
1 |
Cover Price: |
US$2.50 (First printing) |
User Summary: | You must discover what happened to a diamond necklace that was an important part of the beginning of the French Revolution. |
Demian's Thoughts: |
This isn't a bad gamebook, but it's slightly weak for this series. Some of the jumps to previously read sections are a bit awkward and the option before the story begins of bringing or not bringing a red scarf is pointless and wastes time. |
Shadeheart's Thoughts: |
[Rating: 0/10] While the promising potential of the premise in the Time Machine adventure "Blade of the Guillotine" is at least partially well-handled, there were particularly few redeeming components to save the quest from its prominent, pitiful weaknesses. It's unfortunate how the dangers are kept at arm's length even though the era's appealing visual-oriented choice-based design system fares well as far as reader immersiveness goes. The writing drifts from uninspired and clunky to very much aware of the narrative's potential, but - as with the majority of the books in the series - I think the adventure would've been more enjoyable had it avoided limiting itself to a single correct path; the inventory selection at the start is a bit arbitrary, I might add, and less seamlessly woven into the story compared to the databank, use of setting and handling of "characters". While the year it take place in may be 1794 AD, you won't find too many pointers suggesting a whole lot of imagination was put into the writing of this quest apart from what had commonly been covered in existing documents/research books or documentaries at the time this was written; though the research isn't exactly dated, per se, retrospectively there are parts scattered about here and there which feel VERY incomplete. These books, which in all truth are merely self-indulgent and hard-to-find excursions into a different point in time, appear hyper-focused on their short-lived novelty value - a real shame, since the design and the execution of the linear quest itself isn't all that great to begin with. With the exception of collectors of the series or the most ardent of pseudo-history buffs, I'm afraid I can't recommend this title or any of its time-traveling trepidations. ^^ (Mysteriously disappears into the shadows.) |
Special Thanks: | Thanks to Ryan Lynch for the first printing (with Australian distribution sticker) cover images. |
Users Who Own This Item: | Andys80s, Ardennes, Arkadia, auximenes, bigcobra, bonhomme, bookwormjeff, CSquared, Cyan (Book Club Edition), dave2002a, Demian (first printing), domj29, Eamonn McCusker, egokun, Erikwinslow, exaquint (normal, book club), firefoxpdm, Gamebook, Garrick Muttley, Gurvo, Himynameistony, hoops4ever, horrorbusiness, Hrk, jdreller, Jubal, kinderstef, MacbthPSW, mdcowboy, mlvoss, nelsondesign, Nomad, ntar, Radical347, resurgens, RonaldFrobnitz, Ryuran333, Sheridan77, SherlockHolmes, spragmatic, stock, strawberry_brite (both editions), ThaRid, twar, waktool (US 1st printing ($2.50, AU $2.95)), Yalius, Zolika |
Users Who Want This Item: | Alatar001, dblizzard72, Dronak, Faberwest, Ffghtermedic, Greeneuva, HAMBORSKI (I would like to buy a copy of this book), Mr ?, NEMO (regular&book club edition), Oberonbombadil, Pseudo_Intellectual, ThisIslandEarth, Waluigi Freak 99 |
Users with Extra Copies: |
Cyan
Jennifer strawberry_brite |
Known Editions
First printingBook club edition
Microsoft Reader edition
Kindle edition
Ibooks reissue
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