By William Nitschke
Interface Publications
£12.95

There are Z80 books and there are Z80 books. And when it comes to Interface Publications there are even more Z80 books. Even as the public is drowning in the deluge of Z80 books, Interface has thrown in another one to observe the Archimedes bath-tub-effect to the marketplace.

In fact, Interface has been churning out Z80 books since the ZX80 warmed its first egg on its heatsink. Talking of which, William Nitschke must have started on his rather unoriginal task about the same time Uncle Clive reasoned that a home computer for under a ton would probably buy nice digs in Cambridge. For this book is not just out-dated - it's positively archaic. Most of the examples deal with the TRS80 model 1 and the short-lived Laser 200 (cor, I bet Nitschke was one of the few that bought one!) The somewhat more successful Spectrum is mentioned once or twice but not in detail.

This book does have some useful information in it but it s also got a lot of noddy stuff as well. Take the section on writing commercial games - I'd be embarrassed to see 2D and 3D mazes in block graphics in the pages of YS let alone sitting on dealers' shelves. For the foolhardy, you can buy this book from most WHSmiths or even send a £12.95 cheque to Interface at 9-11 Kensington High Street, London W8. But if you really want to know about Advanced Z80 machine language, you'd be better off waiting until it's serialised on the back of your cornflakes packet!