|
 |
|
|
|
Here is the full reference card for this book...
If you'd rather place an order by talking to one of our cheerful order desk clerks, please call 1-888-232-4444 (USA and Canada only) or 250-383-6864. From Europe, ring our UK order desk clerk at local rate number 0845 230 9601 (UK only) or 44 (0)1865 722 113.
The Wizard Master: A Virtual Reality Adventure Through Time and Space by Alien Hall 350 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-0217; ISBN 1-4120-2389-0; US$34.50, C$39.12, EUR28.00, £20.00 The Wizard Master is a rollercoaster of a read taking the explorer on a virtual reality adventure through spectacular landscapes and encounters with nightmarish creatures.
Read more!
about the book
about the author
excerpts
catalogue info
About the Book
The Wizard Master
The Wizard Master tells the story of Izward, a young computer genius who travels back in time to stop the evil Vulgor from taking over the universe.
Izward lives inside an ancient fort known as the Institute in the middle of a river estuary. Its buildings have been converted to laboratories and their scientists are the best in computer technology. It has its own defences and is completely isolated from the outside world...
Izward is owned and educated by the Mentors, the Institutes Guardians, who hope to use his genius to enhance their wealth and reputation. Izward leads a lonely life devoid of personal relationships. He spends his spare time playing and designing virtual reality games and experiencing the outside world through computerised images...
Beyond the Institute's island fortress is the mainland known as The Abandon Zone. It is an unpopulated area of destruction, which is recovering from the affects of a Nuclear War...
Izward leaves the Institute on an educational field trip and travels across the Abandon Zone with his tutor Wally Zeeman to an isolated lighthouse on the coast...
and is transported back through time to a terrifying world of monsters and nightmares.
|
About the Author
I was born September 1, 1946 in Manchester, England at the height of a storm. I grew up listening to rain pelting against the roof of our mid-terraced house watching my mother catch raindrops in borrowed metal buckets. Rain in Manchester is unavoidable - something to do with the Pennines, say the weathermen, which accounts for a Manchurian's obsession with the weather.
My father worked in a local foundry battling the heat and grime of post-war industrial Britain until the working conditions got the better of him.
We moved, exchanging city life for an estate overlooking the sea. Here I spent the rest of my childhood looking out to sea imagining life beyond the horizon.
As an adult I embraced teaching and embarked on educating children, a profession I found enjoyable and very rewarding. I obtained a degree in Special Educational Needs and wrote a graded reading scheme for children experiencing reading difficulties
A strong interest in amateur dramatics and theatre production has inspired me to write and produce plays and pantomimes.
Having an inherent fascination for the weather and an imagination far away on the horizons it was only a mater of time before I combined the two and made them a reality. The reality of those daydreams can now be read in my first novel, The Wizard Master.
I hope you have as much fun and excitement reading it as I had writing it.
|
Excerpts - Play the Game and Save the Universe
Izward was falling through a foggy white mist that twirled and swirled all around him. Strange humanoid shapes with grey featureless faces hovered around him. Spindly arms and legs floated from their elongated bodies like the legs of a giant spider. Grotesque hands with long bony fingers were pushing and shoving him down into the grey mist. He struggled to free himself pulling and prising at the fingers that were all over his body, but their grip was too strong and he continued to fall. Suddenly out of the grey mist came the ground and he screamed.
Izward awoke and his reoccurring nightmare was over. He issued an order to his Ambulator and the machine took him across the floor to his work desk. A row of TV monitors attached to computer keyboards and CPUs burst into life as he approached. The Ambulator adjusted his body shape and he sat down. He picked up the VRT visor and plugged it into the VRT OPS Box and placed the visor over his eyes. He switched on the machine and began to perfect his invention.
It had been three years since his accident and Izward had learnt to live with the reoccurring nightmares. The fall at the lighthouse had left him in a coma and he had slept for almost two years. When he finally did awake, thanks to PETE's vigilance, Izward discovered he'd damaged his spine and was unable to walk. However the Institute had valued his expertise and had commissioned the development of the Ambulator, an experimental orthopaedic device designed to help the physically challenged.
The device gave Izward the ability to move freely about the institute and carry out his experiments on VRT. The appliance was a thin flexible contraption that was moulded to the contours of his back and legs. Bionic circuitry stimulated the material enabling it to mimic the movement of the lower back and legs. When fitted next to the skin it was virtually impossible to detect. It was voice activated and apart from the slightly mechanical movements it created when in use the User was unaware of its presence.
Izward removed the visor and placed it back on his workstation. He rubbed his eyes and stared out of the window at the artificially created horizon. The dome shaped roof of the Institute's protective shield reflected a tranquil blue sky. Synthetic clouds drifted around the dome in precise patterns creating the perfect day. Soon the day would fade into night and the same projected images would create the ideal night. This twenty-four hour cycle of day and night provided the Institute's residents with the perfect environment in which to live and work.
The Institute stood on two man-made islands build by the Ancients to protect the coastline during times of conflict. Each island had the same hexagonal shaped building constructed from concrete and steel. According to PETE the original buildings were military fortresses armed with guns and weapons. The Institute's Mentors had decided these abandoned forts would make ideal research establishments and the forts had been modernised. Three centuries later they were the most sophisticated laboratories in the whole of the New World.
The islands were situated three kilometres from the shore and were about a kilometre apart. A transparent tube had been constructed between the two buildings and inside the tube was a walkway and monorail.
Izward could see the other building from his window. It had been expertly restored. A metal skin had been welded around the building with steel shutters and windows to provide light. Two large rectangular balconies with cone shaped roofs and floors jutted out from its side. Izward had researched the original use of these balconies and PETE had told him that the military had put their weapons of war in them. They were now used as recreation and observation areas. On top of the building was a metal clad box that according to PETE once housed the soldiers who looked after the forts. It now contained the satellite control systems that enabled the Institute to communicate with the rest of the world. On top of this building turned a large satellite dish.
Izward returned to his workbench and picked up the visor. He put it over his eyes and immediately the holographic adventure he'd been designing resumed. Izward hit the computer keyboard with speed and expertise. On the monitor in front of him lines and lines of computer programming raced across the screen. In his visor the action continued and the characters in front of his eyes ran or jumped, lived or died according to the program lines being tapped out on his keyboard.
Whole landscapes changed at the tap of a key.
Finally Izward removed the visor and switched off the VRT OPS CPU that stored and converted the lines of programming into VR Images. The system worked. The technology behind it was simple. By using bio-connectors hidden in the visor the Users brainstem could be stimulated and electrical impulses sent to any part of the brain. Different areas of the brain could be activated and the desired effect created. If you wanted the user to experience the illusion of walking and talking you stimulated the Cerebellum, to see colours and organise shapes the Occipital lobe. His new VRT OPS CPU did all this and a lot more too.
He pressed the keypad on PETE's new look computer screen and a holographic image of a young woman appeared. She was about his age and had long blond hair.
"This is Samantha," said a soft voice, can I help you?"
Izward liked the new family members he'd been allocated. They reflected his maturing attitude.
"Get me VR Main Frame," said Izward,
"Very well sir."
A holographic keyboard floated above his wrist and Izward gently touched the keys and wrote...Register...VRT OPS CPU 1...Prototype...Virtual Reality System... Product Slogan... LIFE IS A GAME AND REALITY IS THE NAME... Inventor...IZWARD W. ALLEN.
The keyboard faded and Samantha's image returned.
"May I add my congratulations," said Samantha smiling,
"You may, Thank you," said Izward.
"Do you need anything else sir," enquired Samantha.
"No Sam," he'd already shortened her name, "that'll be all for now."
He touched PETE gently and the SERIES X1 computer switched itself off. He ordered the Ambulator to take him across his room to his sofa and the machine gentle sat him down.
"Music!" he shouted and the room responded with Beethoven's Symphony Number Nine the second movement. Izward closed his eyes and went to sleep.
The Creator, having waited for Izward's recovery, returned to the future to summon Izward into the planet's past.
Outside on top of the Institutes roof the satellite dish swung towards the eastern skies. It had picked up a strange signal from the far reaches of space and had moved into position to receive a message.
Izward's TV monitors suddenly burst into life and filled his room with static and flashing lights. He woke up and thinking there had been some sort of electrical surge ordered the Ambulator to take him to his workstation. Quickly the machine positioned him over his chair and he sat down. He was just about to throw the main switch and turn everything off when the static stopped and all the TV monitors went blank.
Suddenly a message flashed up on every screen.
TIME WARRIOR
YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE
PLAY THE GAME AND SAVE THE UNIVERSE
GAME REQUIRES
VRT OPS CPU 1 SYSTEM
TO CONTINUE PRESS ENTER
The Game
Izward looked at the screen in front of him and shook his head. This wasn't possible. He struck the side of the monitor with the palm of his hand. For a second the screen went blank and all the monitors in the room hissed static. Suddenly they burst back into light flashing a different message,
TIME WARRIOR IZWARD
SUCH VIOLENCE IS NOT NECESSARY
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR EQUIPMENT
TRUST ME!
TO CONTINUE PLEASE PRESS ENTER
For a moment Izward was taken by surprise, then realising it must be a joke, looked around the room expecting to see Beth hiding somewhere. Beth was his assistant and this looked like one of her pranks. Although the Institute's Mentors frowned upon Personal Relationships they had allowed Izward and Beth to work together. Beth was a whiz with computers and she'd helped him construct the hardware for the OPS CPU. The success of his new Virtual Reality console had been down to her expertise. Over the last three years they'd become the best of friends. She had helped him overcome the trauma of his disability and had given him the strength to carry on with his Schedule.
Secretly Beth had reprogrammed PETE to receive direct input from her own computer in order for them both to communicate secretly to each other. She had installed minute cameras in each of their wrist computers to created real holographic images of themselves. Now at the touch of a button they could see and talk to each other.
He looked at the screen in front of him and reread the message. This had to be Beth messing him about. Earlier Beth had gone to her room leaving him to finish off the programme routines. He had promised to tell her the minute the OPS CPU and VTR visor were operational and together they would register their findings with the Institute's Computer. In his haste he had registered without telling her.
He switched on PETE and asked for BETH 1. Immediately a pre-recorded holographic image of Beth appeared above his wrist. The face of a thirteen-year-old girl with long blond hair informed him that she was not available; she was asleep and did not want to be disturbed. The image faded and Izward instructed PETE to turn itself off.
If it wasn't Beth, then WHO had invaded his programme?
Izward inspected the hardware for signs of interference. He could see none. He examined the visor and opened the OPS CPU. Nothing had been tampered with. Finally he switched off the power and rebooted the system. The screens flashed a new message.
TIME WARRIOR IZWARD
AS I HAVE TOLD YOU
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR EQUIPMENT
TRUST ME
TO CONTINUE PLEASE PRESS ENTER
Thinking there must still be a glitch in the system he hit the monitor again. The screens flickered and another message appeared.
TUT! TUT! IZWARD!
I'VE TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT!
TO CONTINUE PLEASE PRESS ENTER
Amazed at what he was seeing, and thinking the OPS CPU must have developed its own intelligence, he pressed ENTER.
Suddenly the monitor screens around the room burst into colour and the room was filled with flashing lights. Each screen displayed a sequence of different colours that lit up the walls and shone onto Izward's face. Izward stared hypnotically into the screen his face reflecting the changing colours on his monitor. Suddenly all the screens in the room burst into red and Izward could see a ball of fire appearing in the centre of his screen. The fireball grew until it filled the entire screen. Around him all the other screens in the room mimicked his own. Soon the laboratory was filled with miniature fires as each screen displayed a blazing ball of fire. An eerie red glow settled across the room making Izward appear like a demon in the depths of Hell.
Suddenly words appeared on the screen. They began at the bottom of the screen and scrolled slowly upwards. From out of the monitors a young girl's voice read the scrolling words.
I AM THE CREATOR
MASTER OF THE GAME
AND GUARDIAN OF TELLURIAN
The words scrolled up the screen and disappeared off the top of it.
THIS IS MY STORY
FROM OUT OF THE SPHERE CAME THE ESSENCE
OF LIFE AND A GALAXY WAS CREATED
Suddenly all the screens in the room went black. At the bottom of the screen more words appeared and slowly moved upwards.
A SUN WAS BORN AND THE PLANETS EVOLVED
CREATING LIFE THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE
In the blackness of each screen a different sphere suddenly appeared. Each globe spun and rotated in the centre of the screen. Each ball had its own unique colour and surrounding cloud formations. Izward recognised them immediately, they were the planets in his own solar system.
The words moved on and up the screen as the voice continued its story.
BUT THE GALAXY LAY UNFINISHED
A PLANET HAD FAILED TO APPEAR
AND WOULD BRING DISORDER AMONGST THE STARS
On all the screens a single planet appeared. Izward recognised it immediately. Its blue's and greens, its swirling clouds of white. He was looking at his own planet, the planet Earth.
The words scrolled on as the story unfolded.
BUT I THE CREATOR CORRECTED THAT MISTAKE
AND CONSTRUCTED A WORLD SO PURE
ITS PERFECTION WAS THE ENVY OF THE UNIVERSE
Izward stared at the screen admiring the skill and ingenuity of the graphics.
The words moved on and up as the voice continued its narrative.
ORDER RETURNED AND THE UNIVERSE WAS SAFE.
The screen continued to scroll the words upwards as the Creator's story slowly unfolded.
BUT AN EVIL THREATENS TO DESTROY THAT HARMONY
AND BRING ABOUT ITS DESTRUCTION
On all the monitors the planet Earth exploded and the screens returned to the balls of fire that introduced Izward to the game. From out of the flames more words appeared.
TELLURIAN NEEDS THE HELP OF A TIME WARRIOR.
YOU ARE THAT WARRIOR.
PRESS ENTER
The words stopped in the centre of the screen and started to flash.
Izward looked unbelievably at the screen and wondered how the Game knew his INTERNET name. Whoever had designed the programme was a genius. He continued to stare at the screen hypnotised by the flashing words. Finally unable to resist the mystery any longer he pressed ENTER.
Izward watched the screens as the words slowly rearranged themselves to display a new message.
THE GAME
OF
WIZARD MASTER
TIME WARRIOR OF TELLURIAN
IS
READY
TO
PLAY
This time there was no voice and Izward watched as the words on the screen faded into others.
ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO ENTER THE WORLD OF TELLURIAN
AND BECOME A WIZARD MASTER?
Gradually the words dissolved and were replaced by others.
DARE YOU FIGHT THE EVILS OF THE DARK ZONE
AND CONFRONT CREATURES BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATION?
"Yes!" shouted Izward completely carried away by the lure of the game.
YOU DARE!
GOOD!
THEN PRESS ENTER
AND
LET THE GAME BEGIN!
Izward pressed enter and a figure of a young girl appeared on the screen. Izward stared at her unable to believe his eyes. It was Beth, or someone who looked like her.
"Beth?" questioned Izward.
The girl turned towards him and smiled. She certainly looked like his Beth but the young girl on his screen was different somehow. Her facial features were similar but her blond hair was much longer and she looked older and a little taller. She was wearing a long white shimmering gown that covered her entire body. The gown came to rest just above her ankles and she wore open leather sandals. The imagery was perfection far beyond anything he thought possible. Whoever had written and designed this game had skills far greater than his.
The beauty on the screen stretched out her arms and held them just below her head.
"Welcome Time Warrior," she said.
Izward looked at the screen. The figure looked like an angel. Her gown shone like translucent gossamer, and hung down at the sleeves like wings.
"I am the Guardian of Tellurian," she informed, " I shall be your Mentor and accompany you on your Quest."
Izward was astounded. How could a game re-create such reality? Somehow it had reproduced a character that resembled someone who was very dear to him.
"Listen to my council and be guided by my wisdom," she explained.
Izward was intrigued and waited for the girl to continue.
"You are about to enter a world of interactive characters and real time environments. Once inside the game you live its reality. Your future will be the illusion and Tellurian's past your reality."
Iwzard grew impatient. He fiddled with the VTR visor eager to put it on.
"I am the Creator of the Game, this is my symbol."
A strange symbol appeared on the screen.
"Follow its path and be guided by its light."
Then she faded from the screen leaving the rune to deliver its message.
Izward waited and waited. Nothing happened. The rune continued to flash and Izward grew impatient. He looked at the symbol on the screen wondering if this was a clue to the next phase of the game. It must be he reasoned and tried to remember what she had said.
'Follow its path and be guided by its light,' she had instructed.
He stared at the symbol. The longer he studied the more familiar it became. Finally he remembered where he had seen it before. It was part of an old computer FONT used in the twenty-first century. Computer keyboards no longer carried such FONTS. However he recalled he had an old CD disc somewhere with it on. He searched his workstation and found it. He inserted the disc into the OPS CPU CD drive and loaded the FONT into its memory banks.
He removed the disc and loaded up the WINGDINGS FONT. He searched its file, found the b key and pressed it. Suddenly a crescendo of noise came out of the monitors and Izward was bombarded with the choral climax of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Across his monitor more words appeared.
CONGRATULATIONS WIZARD MASTER
YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PASSED THE TEST
YOU ARE INDEED A TRUE TIME WARRIOR
YOU HAVE PROVED YOURSELF WORTHY OF THE TASKS AHEAD
The girl glided back onto his screen and Izward watched as the creature gently turned towards him. She smiled and her angelic face filled the screen. Her face was slim and smooth and her long blond hair fell across her face like rivers of gold. She reminded him of a painting of the mythical goddess Venus, he once had had the privilege of viewing whilst visiting the ruins of a real time museum.
"Your game reality is the ancient island of Tellurian," said the girl, "your quest to rescue Wizard Zardo, a fellow Time Warrior, and together destroy the evil forces of the Dark Zone."
Her voice drifted around the room like the ancient song of a nightingale.
"I offer you the following hints," she continued, "remember them well, they will be of great value."
The girl faded from the screen and an island appeared.
"This is the island of Tellurian," explained the voice of the girl, "it is an island full of magic and mystery, myth and legend. Its resources are many, so become a wizard and use them wisely,"
Izward looked at the screen and was taken on a bird's eye journey around the island. He darted through trees and over the tops of mountains. He swooped along rivers and flew over lakes. He dived into caves and through dark underground tunnels. Finally he flew high into the air and hovered above the island looking down at the surrounding ocean. Suddenly the island faded and the girl returned.
"First find the Ring of Genesis," said the girl," summon its power and I shall be there to guide you."
On the screen a large circular ring appeared. Its three-dimensional image began to slowly rotate allowing Izward to study the object more closely. It was silver in colour and looked like metal. In its centre a large cube shaped stone had been set which reflected a deep sea blue. Around the stone, etched into the ring's circular perimeter, were several symbols. Izward looked at them carefully trying to determine their meanings.
Izward watched as the girl placed the ring on her finger and pressed one of the symbols. The blue stone in the centre of the ring began to spin. Slowly at first but gathering more and more momentum with every turn. Finally the image of a strange bird appeared hovering over the spinning stone.
"The Ring," said the girl, "is your greatest weapon. Its magic allows you to eavesdrop on your enemies or make contact with your allies."
Izward watched as she pressed another symbol and the image above the stone changed to a wriggling worm.
"Each symbol," continued the girl, "represents a player in the game. To make contact or observe its progress press its symbol and all will be revealed."
The ring on the girl's finger dissolved.
Izward watched as the girl moved closer to the screen.
"Izward," she whispered, "come closer I have something important to tell you."
Izward moved closer to the screen. He could see Beth's deep blue eyes staring back at him.
"I must warn you! The events you are about to experience are real, " cautioned the girl, "you have but one life do not waste it."
The girl vanished from the screen and was replaced by more instructions.
PUT ON YOUR VRT VISOR NOW!
For more information, please visit www.thewizardmaster.com
Catalogue Information
