The ZX Spectrum Book (e-book)

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scotland
Posts: 2561
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

The ZX Spectrum Book (e-book)

Postby scotland » May 11th, 2016, 12:21 pm

The ZX Spectrum book, by Imagine Publishing. $5 for ebook
Grade: B

I am a C64 guy from the States, trying to learn more about the British Speccy. I like 8 bit gaming, whatever the system, so its not about bashing or even comparing, but learning and enjoying all those systems and games.

This is less a book than a 'bookzine', or a series of magazine articles in no particular order. It has stories of some games, some developers, and a round robin set of questions and answers with some people connected to the Spectrum.

Highpoints are the tales of Imagine Software and the game Turbo Esprit.

Its only about 110 pages long, and easily read. Its friendly, no British slang, only has a bit of C64 bashing, and does introduce an American newbie to this system enough to keep exploring.

On the negative side, the sparse photos (and b&w on a kindle so forget learning about colour clash) diminish its value, as does not having any structure. Not enough background history, very little technical information, and very little discussion of the Speccy after its 80s heyday or interviews with modern enthusiasts and homebrewers.

Sut
Posts: 845
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 4:23 pm

Re: The ZX Spectrum Book (e-book)

Postby Sut » May 13th, 2016, 3:15 pm

scotland wrote:On the negative side, the sparse photos (and b&w on a kindle so forget learning about colour clash) diminish its value, as does not having any structure. Not enough background history, very little technical information, and very little discussion of the Speccy after its 80s heyday or interviews with modern enthusiasts and homebrewers.


Yes in retrospect I agree, it's a gap that could be better filled, most books focus on the 48k iteration. The Speccy had a bit of a rebirth with the 128k version of the machine and added AY sound chip. Some developers especially Ocean really pushed out some console quality titles at this time.


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