Clive Gifford
1996-1997
A science based spin on the Puzzle Adventure series from Clive Gifford.
With a subtitle of 'Doctor Genius and the Mad Scientists', this series is a Science-based followup to the Usborne Puzzle Adventure franchise. There's more text here than usual and it follows a character lineup of scientists, some smart, some not so smart, where the reader has to solve their quandaries.
Illustrations are fantastic and are some of the strongest in the Usborne series' - reminiscent of the Agent Arthur style from the main series. With a bit more of a modern style than other puzzle-book illustrations, they do a great job illustrating the strong characters, sets and puzzles.
Puzzles are often codes, math, navigation with a compass, or mechanical (with readers choosing which way to turn cogs in machinery). There is a good amount of difficulty here and a good job on integrating genuine science-ey conundrums (though no outside knowledge is required to solve them).
The series ran for only two books but it's vibrant illustrations and interesting puzzles, even with a more laboured story than most Usborne books, it had potential for a longer series.
Both tales pits the wits of Dr. Genius and his resourceful team against the world's most evil and cunning criminal superbrains - solve scientific puzzles and problems
Both tales pits the wits of Dr. Genius and his resourceful team against the world's most evil and cunning criminal superbrains - solve scientific puzzles and problems