![]() ![]() But she learns very quickly, and every mistake makes her warier, wiser, more diplomatic and better prepared to make good judgments. Every poor decision resulting in death means starting over at the beginning of the game, and Heir Apparent is lacking that most essential option of all computer games - the ability to save a game.īecause Giannine dies so many times, particularly at first, the beginning sequences can become a little repetitive. The only problem: the virtual reality equipment has been damaged, and Giannine must finish the game within a certain amount of time before suffering very real brain damage in actual life. (See Diana Wynne Jones's entry in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland.) Giannine, the protagonist and narrator, plays one of those ubiquitous misplaced heirs in what at first appears to be a standard fantasy setting in a virtual reality game, full of courtly intrigue, wizards, magic rings/boots/crowns, dragons, etc. Heir Apparent is an entertaining twist on the been-there-done-that fantasy cliche of Lost Heirs. Happily, it isn't at all necessary to have read User Unfriendly to enjoy Heir Apparent, which is by far the best of Vande Velde's more recent books. User Unfriendly is the one Vivian Vande Velde book I come close to actively disliking, so I was disappointed when I discovered that Heir Apparent would be a sort of companion book, also dealing with fantasy role-playing games. Rambles.NET: Vivian Vande Velde, Heir Apparent Vivian Vande Velde, ![]()
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