11 May 2017

THE HOUSE ON HOLLOW HILL & THE TOWER OF NEVER THERE.

THE HOUSE ON HOLLOW HILL & THE TOWER OF NEVER THERE by DANNY McALEESE and DAVID KRISTOPH

BACK COVER BLURB: Please see either the individual book titles above or the Ultimate Ending website as linked to in 'Source' for details.

FIRST SENTENCE/MEMORABLE MOMENT: Because of the nature of the books I won't be including either of these.

SOURCE: Ultimate Ending Books.

READ FOR: Not applicable.

MY THOUGHTS: Well! Without a doubt quite unlike anything I have ever read before. 

Original, well thought out and very cleverly done. The whole idea (in a nut shell) being WE the readers create the story, hopefully reaching the Ultimate Ending, as a result of the decisions WE ... with the aid of a coin/pair of dice and a pen and sheet of paper if we so wish ... make.

Of the two books I received I particularly enjoyed The House On Haunted Hill perhaps because of its 15 perils and 24 conclusions - as opposed to The Tower Of Never There with its 12 perils and mammoth 32 conclusions - but more than likely it was because the essential plot with its spooky tale and chilling twists and turns appealed to me more than the latter book which, with its teleporting tower, had more of an adventurous feel.

A series of ten books (and counting) that because of their nature need not be read in any particular order. Thoroughly enjoyed by this not so young reader. I should think they'd prove engaging to young readers who may well be enticed off their digital devices by such a fun concept that even allows them the option of downloading a certificate on completion of every Ultimate Ending.



10 comments:

Kelly said...

I can remember one of my children having a book along this line... where they could change the course of the story depending on the choices they made. I'm afraid it's a concept that's never appealed to me. I'm glad it worked for you, though, and I like the idea of being able to download certificates when each ending is completed.

Natasha said...

Ooh I haven't read one of these styles of books for ages, but they're so fun so I should definitely check these two out! Loved your review here Tracy, these sound fun. Thank you, as well, for all of the kind comments lately. - Tasha

Suko said...

Intriguing concept, for sure! Marvelous review, as always!

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Fun idea - kind of like the Choose Your Own Adventure books my kids read years ago.

Anonymous said...

Tracy,
I think it's a fun and fascinating
concept. Perhaps I will add these
books to my list. But thank you for
your excellent review.
Raven

Barbara said...

These remind me of a set of books my son loved back in the 1980s. I think they were called ‘Choose your own adventure’ or something similar. He was never much of a one for reading until these came along, and then he couldn’t get enough. I’m sure these will prove just as popular. Thanks for the review Tracy.

Melliane said...

It looks good! I like the covers as well, so intriguing!

Brian Joseph said...

I also think that this is a great idea. I guess, that as per some of the comments, that the concept was used for other book series. I think that it would be neat if this became more popular. I think that they should try this concept with adult books.

The Bookworm said...

These sound like fun, spooky stories and I like the certificate idea too.

Sherry Ellis said...

This reminds me of a series of books I read when I was a kid. I chose which path I wanted to take, and then flipped to the appropriate page to continue the story. You can have a different story almost every time.