One of the latest in the way of text and graphic adventures is this offering from Shards Software, which attempts to recreate events from the novel of the same name by Harry Harrison. If you haven't read the book then don't worry because you get a free copy with every cassette.

As Jim DiGriz you are plunged into an alarming scenario when an evil creature called He is destroying the world by cutting off its past. Your mission is to defeat the menace, and a variety of hardware is left for you to use, including the mysterious Time Helix which I found unfathomable.

In this adventure two word phrases are used to describe actions, which does limit play slightly, although an interactive help is available. The illustrations were a little cruder than most, but still highly imaginative. I found that reading the book also gave a much better background than the game introduction.

This adventure to me seemed a little less well presented than some, but science fiction fans will love it, and it is certainly a challenge. Wait till you have to "manipulate spin, flux, resonance and phase" to determine their properties.

D.A.