The Chip Whisperer: Bit#1 of The Ambivalence Chronicles - a GameLit Comedy in 8 Bits

by Steve Trower

It all started, as so many good stories do, on eBay.

However, when Phil Grundy snatches a pristine Sinclair ZX81 from under the nose of a fellow collector, he has no idea he has entered into more than just a bidding war.

Phil soon discovers that shady forces have been uplifting home computers since the 1980s, and the same shady forces have an unusual interest in his latest purchase.

Armed only with a ZX81 and a retired Commer ambulance, Phil and his friends must travel across worlds real, imaginary and otherwise in their quest to stop the mysterious Assembly of Newly Uplifted Systems.

The Ambivalence a Sci-Fi Comedy in 8 Bits is a series of eight short (approx. 20,000 words) comedy ebooks, the first of which is The Chip Whisperer.

94 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 25, 2016

Reviews

[Gordon Sinclair · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author obviously has a good story telling talent, but the story is overly silly to try and fit in its retro-gaming gimmick and has far too many characters to care about. I will give Bit#2 a go but doubt I will finish the octrilogy.

[Themistocles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ah darn, how I wanted to like this. Not many books in the retro-computing scifi-like sub-genre, you see.

But, admittedly, I couldn't go past the first few pages. The reason is that all the retro-computing stuff is not harmonically weaved into the plot but rather forced-fed to the reader. Instead of winking at the reader, Trower uses all the trite and cliche "in-jokes" like the 50-cassette. All this made me cringe rather than smile.

Contrast this to the excellent Keith Pearson's "The '86 fix" (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... ) and you'll see some really dramatic contrast.

[Winston Crutchfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like the distinctly off kilter flow of Douglas Adams’ early Hitchhiker stories this series will appeal to you. It’s got that kind of disjointed shifting perspective on the setting that gives the feeling that neither characters nor reader have quite a clear idea of what is happening. The author is clearly a pop culture fan and has even made a contest out of spotting the large number of references in the story. The author is still finding his voice so the flow of the story is not very consistent.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun & Nostalgic

A nice short story that will have 80's kids wishing they'd kept all of their old tech! A fun read.

[D.R. Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of fun!

This was a fun and whimsical tale about a secret code that does unexpected things to a retro computer. The jokes and gags run well and the plot pace is spot on.