Ratings and Reviews by JoshLabelle
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You're never more than a click away from a string of wonderful sentences., October 10, 2020Loved this! The relationship between the brothers is beautifully textured and well-drawn, the approach to magic feels interesting and fresh even seven years after it was written, and the interactivity is subtle and immersive rather than obvious in a way that felt in keeping with the tone and spirit of the prose - this is a world of things that go not quite said for years and years, full of characters living lives of restraint, and it makes sense that the branching should feel meditative and restrained too.
The writing in Swan Hill speaks for itself; it's full up with sentences that could cut glass. So in lieu of a review, here are a couple of my favourite paragraphs in Swan Hill, which I'd suggest maybe saving until you've gotten to read them in context:
(Spoiler - click to show)"Bushels of papers hide the counters. Crates are piled in every corner. The old experimental equipment— iron racks and dusty glass— cut a mad sillhouette against the moonbright windows on the far wall."
"Your brother shines his light onto a small wooden table and a split-log seat. A black and moldy breakfast encrusts a wooden platter. A withered lump of cheese sits on a folded handkerchief. On the cloth beneath the cheese is a perfect halo of translucent greasestain."
A great short piece to give to someone brand new to interactive fiction, September 8, 2020G.C. "Grim" Baccaris is one of the people creating interactive fiction whose work excites me most right now. I used to work in QC in film distribution, and the sensory descriptions of damaged video here bring me back, vividly, to those times. If I had 5 minutes to show someone what a cutting edge, sensory piece of interactive poetry can do, I would hand them this.
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