WITH SO MANY PUBLICATIONS BEING WRITTEN FOR THE SPECTRUM WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU LOOK AT FIRST? OUR REVIEW PANEL TAKE A BRIEF LOOK AT TEN OF THE NEW TITELS TO HELP YOU MAKE YOUR CHOICE.

The first section of this book is called 'Getting started on your ZX Spectrum' and that is what you are encouraged to do very soon into the text.

The first section is split into five chapters, first introducing you to the various ins and outs of the ZX Spectrum, and then guiding you through colour and sound, and the other intricacies of BASIC programming. The chapter on graphics in motion provides a simple introduction to the subject which is covered in much more detail in the following section entitled 'Colour, Graphics and Sound'.

The third section of the book is entitled 'Gamesmanship', and introduces the reader to a number of the 'tricks of the trade' with some example games programs to illustrate the points made. There follows a very short chapter on educational and serious applications which includes a small word-processor program, a filing system and a statistics listing.

The final section of the book is called 'Taking your Spectrum to the limits' and it attempts to guide the reader to improving your programming. There is also a chapter on machine code programming and two appendices with the ASCII table and the Spectrum's memory map.

The book is well-illustrated with programs and screen displays, and contains a wealth of hints and tips for the beginner and experienced alike.

The Spectrum Handbook, written by Tim Langdell, is published by Century Publishing Company Ltd. The book has 276 pages and is priced at €4.95.

ISBN 0 7126 0152 X