Hypertext and the related functionalities involved in navigating and managing hypertext documents are becoming commonplace. This paper describes a way to present and author hypertext narratives using two tools: Fluid Writer and Fluid Reader. The Fluid hypertexts described offer a continuously visible context, allowing the user to see the complete path at various levels.

Fluid Reader is described first. It is based on the metaphor of storytelling, and uses asides and elaboration to facilitate the reader’s ability to explore certain areas in more depth. These areas are presented as embedded interactive “knobs.” In order to facilitate viewing and have the user be aware of interactive changes, smooth animation is used for the process, coupled with colored triangles. These allow the reader to distinguish between the changing parts of the text and the parts that are static. Although this was described clearly in the paper, it would be more easily understood with an actual video example. So far, the authors’ experiences with Fluid Reader have been mostly in a museum context. The Fluid Reader application seems to be well accepted by both adults and children.

The paper continues with a discussion of the development of Fluid Writer, an authoring tool that provides a custom treetable visualization to help authors construct and manage alternative paths in a Fluid hypertext. The problems encountered working with hypertext are clearly addressed by the authors. Managing hypertext in an understandable fashion is an important, nontrivial issue.

A good and relevant discussion about hypertext narratives from the perspective of literary theory is provided. The paper has an excellent reference list.