For this “Choose Your Own Adventure” assignment, the book entitled “Deadwood City” was analyzed. In this story, the reader takes the role of an individual in the “Wild West” of the late 1800s in America. At the opening of the book, the reader is told that they had just arrived on horseback to Deadwood City–a town that does not seem particularly active, nor friendly. After going deeper into to the town, the first “choice” of the adventure is presented: Will the reader take their chances at the hotel, the saloon, or the sheriffs office? Once this choice is made, the story unfolds, often culminating with such events as encounter with Indians, shoot-outs with bandits, and other such exciting occurrences associated with the Old West. Though at times flawed, often due to the reusing of preexisting scenarios, the book is an enjoyable read, and truly embraces is “Choose Your Own Adventure” heritage, though it lacks a path which results in an encounter with extraterrestrials.

When it comes to the story architecture of Marie-Laure Ryan, the best “type” that suits this story is the maze. After the first initial choice, of which there are three branches, the different selections the reader makes loop all throughout the pages, often times circling back to much earlier moments, or possibly even ending abruptly. At some points in the story, I felt for certain that a new and exciting path was about to open, only to have it end quickly and quietly in one more page. Other times, the most mundane decisions would circle back around to pages in the teens, presenting you then with a set of choices intended to be stumbled upon much earlier in the tale. For instance, for the initial choice, the reader may either visit the sheriff's office, the hotel, or the saloon in town. One would think visiting the sheriff's office would immediately be a way to discover which bandits in the town are running amok, but instead, the sheriff simply informs you that you can check the general store for jobs, or talk to an old woman for a job at her printing press. In contrast, visiting the hotel and simply walking out puts the reader on a direct collision course with the dastardly outlaw Kurt Malloy. Though many choices are often welcome in a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, they can often times become exceedingly confusing and tiresome to travel through.

When looking the mapping of the book, this aforementioned belief remains intact. The three introductory choices at the beginning can lead to either a long, winding narrative that ends with the reader's character being hailed as a hero of the Old West, or finish too early and abruptly, with the reader only making a scant few decisions. The length of some of these paths is often deceiving, though, as they will often end up cycling back to preexisting paths that had been implemented in other story lines. Though the story appears to be long and engrossing, the truth is that the story is sometimes underwhelming, due to the recycling of many of the possible story elements included in Deadwood City.