ENGLAND ' Dark Portal is a British text mag-'azine on disk for the Amiga that spec-'ialises in horror stories. To quote'from the third and apparently final'edition I am reviewing here, `you are'undoubtedly in possession of the very'best for unmatched horror. Never before'has a disk-based collection of stories'taken you so far over the edge. You'simply MUST overcome your initial'doubts and delve in to one of these'lethal works of fiction - you won't'regret it! (or should that be you WILL
regret it?!).'' Having had some contact with the'literary scene here in New Zealand in'my way-distant past, I felt a little'chary when asked to review Dark Portal'III. New Zealand now seems to have more'writers than rugby players, and most of'them write about the relationships they'have with each other, or think they are'having with each other, or hope they'are having with each other, or wish&they could have with each other, or...'Even so, there are still only a few'with a reputation that anybody much'outside the coterie has ever heard of.'Consequently these people tend to'review each other's books and appear on'the literary prize-awarding committees'so that, as the years go by, they'inevitably finish up awarding prizes to
each other.' I mention all this because, although'I don't know any of the contributors to'Dark Portal III personally, I have'corresponded with Andrew Campbell, its'designer and editor. And he is good'friends with the guys, one of whom I'also correspond with, behind The Quart-'ermass Experiment, an Amiga disk mag-'azine that concentrates more on Science'Fiction stories and articles. I'therefore feel an impending sense of'nepotism if I say good things about
anybody's work from this group.' I do have one claim to objectivity'though, albeit slight, and that is that'I am more interested in reading (and'writing, you may have seen my `Deus Ex'Machina') hard science fiction, i.e, SF/with some actual
[3mscience
[0m in it. To do'that, I obviously have to have some'acquaintance with science itself, as'well as its philosophy. As a result,'one can lose interest in anything that'even hints at fantasy; whether it is'religion, magic, crime or spy thrill-'ers, Mills and Boon or, I have to'say, horror stories. The only thing I'can respond to in any of these is that'hard to define you-know-it-when-you-'see-it `quality of the writing'. The'feeling that the story isn't simply'made up by someone setting out to write'a story to impress people the writer/really
[3mis
[0m a writer. You feel it has'been written by someone who actually'has a story to tell, because they've/been there, or felt
[3mthat,
[0m or want to'express a point of view but know they'must pay attention to the basic'requirements of story telling to win a'readership (something I guess I must
learn to do better myself).' Andrew Campbell, who wrote most of'the stories on the disk, eminently'qualifies here. His are for the most'part `reality' horror of the kind one'reads daily in down-market newspapers'about the sort of thing that happens'behind the closed doors and shuttered'windows of genteel housing estates. Not'the adults, what they do to each other'happens in the background like social'wallpaper, but what the kids do to each'other and have done to them. You can't'help wondering how the hell the `social'progress' we are supposed to have made'in these liberal times has produced/
[3mthis,
[0m when so many can so little with'so much freedom. This kind of poverty'could not be helped even with huge'helpings of money, you get the feeling'these people would simply buy bull-'dozers to dig even bigger holes for/themselves. To my mind that's
[3mreal
[0m'horror. Even in places like Somalia,'once the rains come and the people can'grow enough crops to feed their'drought-ravaged people again, they'become civilised once more. Campbell's'`Stone Bridge' and `Harriot Place' will'never be fixed by anything so simple.'They have had so much of everything and'thrown it all away. They are beyond'help, because they would just throw
that away too.' So how did it happen, and what's the'cure? Liberal values have given us'much, legislation against racial or'sexual discrimination, help for single-'parent families, a far more tolerant'society in the legal sense at least'with more humane social welfare and'criminal justice policies. But somehow'these new values have come at the/
[3mexpense
[0m of the good old fashioned'values our parents knew, those of'loyalty, respect, duty, honour, person-'al and civic responsibility, even/simple
[3mpoliteness,
[0m they haven't enhanc-'ed them. And the cure? For something'like this, history, especially that of'the pre-Pizarro Incas, suggests there'probably isn't any. The citizens of our'Stone Bridges and Harriot Places will'just die in one way or another that we'can't as yet foresee, let alone hope to
prevent. Horror, real horror.' The other stories in Dark Portal III'are more `conventional' knicker-'knotters, and are for the most part'very competently written. Most people'for instance would shy off even trying'to imagine what it would be like to lie'paralysed but awake during a hospital'operation, but that is what Kev'Murphy's AWAKE forces us to do. Linette'Volner describes with some relish the'fate of two council inspectors invest-'igating illegal turkeys kept in a back'yard pen around Christmas time (clue:'yum yum..?) The other stories however,'including one or two by Andrew Camp-'bell, are more fantasy horror, demonic'possession, hallucinations, Mr. Death'Himself, and a dark red glowing thing'in a cave that you will need to send'Five British Pounds to the author to'find out What Happens Next. As I said'in my introduction, I cannot feel moved'by stories of this type, though for you'they may well prove the main attract-
ion.' This brings me, finally, to the'future of publishing books on disk.'Visually Dark Portal III is far and'away the finest sample of the genre I'have seen. Andrew Campbell didn't only'write its best stories, he also wrote'the reader programs that gives access'to the scripts, designed its graphics,'and published it himself through his'own Black Dragon Design. In fact about'the only thing he didn't do was write'the music, those marvellously apposite'pieces by Mike Richmond and Andy Smith.'Dark Portal III runs more like a CD-ROM'than a simple floppy, and the Table of/Contents screen which slowly
[3mrots
[0m in'front of your eyes is a sight to be-
hold.' But here's the problem it shares'with all books-on-disk (yes, mine from'TTTM included): hit an icon, and text'appears on screen that you must - you'guessed it folks - then actually READ.'I wonder now, after the minimal res-'ponse I and I believe other text-on-'disk publishers have received, if this'really quite works. It makes me think'of a company here in New Zealand that'was the very first to market children's'stories on video. Was it the roaring'success you imagine? No, because be-'lieve it or not, the videos consisted'of women in armchairs reading aloud'from storybooks. The company died very'quickly and a lot of people nearly died'laughing (sort of a horror story on its'own I guess). Does the printed word'really `belong' on screen any more than'the read-aloud word does? Has our'cultural expectation of the `appro-'priate' media for each become so deeply'ingrained in us? Or can enough people'with sufficient interest in particular'genres, like science fiction, be're-educated into accepting disk-books'because of their cheaper cost and ease'of production and distribution? (NAH! I!hear so many CD-ROM addicts say.)' There is however one faint ray of'hope here. NEC have had an electronic'book on the market solely in Japan for'some time now. In appearance it'resembles an Apple Newton, though it'may be a little larger. I couldn't'glean much from the photo and brief'caption underneath it, but apparently'it has done well enough in Japan for'NEC to seriously consider marketing it'in the English speaking world. If they'can make it cheap enough through mass-'marketing for it to become a world-'standard, this may be enough to do the'trick. More books will be transferred'to it both old and new, and if it can'handle hypertext, this should add to'its attraction for non-fiction at'least. Colour may arrive by then, which'will then allow people like Andrew
Campbell to work his magic.' And if the Amiga has to fade away'into a fond but distant memory, that'would be something at least we can all
look forward to.
~~~~~
[33mOPINION
Graphics : ****
Music : *****
Writing : ****
Presentation : *****
OVERALL : ****
Editor's comments:
&
[35mThe Glowing Red Man
' "What readers may not realise is'that it's impossible not to somehow'become involved with the writers of'software when they send in their prog-'rams for review. As they also tend to'send long letters containing graphic'details of their spouses bunions, or'free registrations to their shareware,'it's all a bit hard to remain aloof.'It's still quite easy to remain object-'ive however when reviewing the software'as you're mainly just stating what
happens as you use it."' Thus wrote your esteemed editor in'the editorial to issue five of Amy PD'and Shareware Review. Oh yes, nepotism.'Where would we (and an awful lot of
people) be without it?' Actually, I've changed my views a'bit on the subject of reviewing since'writing the above. I still feel it's'possible to review software that's of a'non-artistic nature (such as a word-'processor) while knowing its creator,'but with subjective stuff like fiction'it gets a bit tricky. But at least with'shareware you can try before you buy,'so reviews should be taken as a guide'to what's out there only, and not as
part of the buying decision.' Anyway, despite me having The'Glowing Red Man I haven't tried to'review it. So I'll tell you about it
instead.' The Glowing Red Man, Andrew Camp-'bell's book-on-a-disk, is a seven-'chapter novel on a floppy. It has'music, a simple selection screen and'the chapters are preceded by red-scale'graphic montages of scanned images.'There - that's what you'll get for you'money. To check out the story, read the'first four chapters of it in Dark Portal 3.' If any readers who've registered to'TGRM would like to review it for Share-'World then please feel free to do so.'(Unless you're sleeping with Andrew, of
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