Recommended

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Which stories? The commercial IF novels Wishbringer, Planetfall, and Dave Lebling's mystery, Suspect (1984, Infocom), work well with students, avoid the preponderance of male-identified activities that characterizes some IF, and are available for almost all kinds of microcomputers. Suspect is the briefest of the three; Wishbringer, the easiest, is best with middle-school students; and Planetfall features marvelous humor and characterization. Probably the richest of all the IF stories for students, though, is Bob Bates' Arthur: The Quest for Excallibur, a beautifully crafted tale of the young King Arthur, as he seeks to prove himself worthy to rule. For your own reading, you might want to try A Mind Forever Voyaging; Plundered Hearts(1987, Infocom), Amy Briggs'spoof of romance novels; and Trinity (1986, Infocom), Brian Moriarty's gently compelling fantasy about nuclear war.

And don't forget the burgeoning cache of freeware and shareware stories that are now available through The Interactive Fiction Page, many complete with reviews. Among these, The Firebird, Winter Wonderland, and, perhaps with a bit of censoring, Photopia, are excellent choices for students.  For your own reading, if you like atmospheric horror stories, don't miss Brendon Wyber's Theatre.

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