Review by Ian Keogh

Begun in 1979, the Choose Your Own Adventure series has been a perennial favourite among young readers, where based on the decision they make about a set of circumstances various options are available. Instead of turning the page in a conventional way, they’re directed to the page playing out the consequences of their decision. Many of the books were written by R.A. Montgomery, among them Forecast From Stonehenge, here adapted as a graphic novel by Stephanie Phillips and Dani Bolinho.

You’re addressed in the second person throughout, arriving at Stonehenge to learn about a missing stone, to discover many people costumed as mythical creatures and the site closed due to a threat. After five pages of set-up your first choice is whether to keep searching for your contact alone or to accompany a bunch of people you’ve just met who say they know a way past security.

Phillips has the easy task of breaking down the adaptation from the original story, which is a cleverly arranged adventure, requiring adaptability and consideration. Anyone taking the cautious option on every occasion places themselves in as much risk of the game ending prematurely as the person who rushes headlong into the unknown. The really smart aspect is the deliberate inconsistency of the characters. Take some choices and someone presumed to have your best intentions at heart proves otherwise.

This type of book needs artistic clarity, and Bolinho provides it, and also ensures just the right amount of danger from the mystical possibilities without providing anything too scary, and she can be really decorative when the story reaches certain places. The young woman avatar representing you is only drawn as cheerful with a full face on the cover, but inside is generally seen from behind or with face obscured.

Forecast From Stonehenge was inventive to begin with, and this new format is just as engaging.