In 2013, John Wardley wrote his first autobiography, Creating My Own Nemesis. Now, he is back with a follow-up.
Life After Nemesis begins with how he received a phone call from colleague “Fish” in 2016.
Wardley describes how he came into the Wicker Man rollercoaster project late on, as Fish didn’t even realise he wasn’t involved.
He was supposed to have retired from ride design consultancy after 2013’s Smiler, the trigger for the first book.
The new book begins to give away little bits of new information before long.
One is how a never-built wooden rollercoaster’s theme would later become the theme of Thirteen and the Dark Forest at Alton Towers.
Another snippet is the management blunder of not considering a need for evening entertainment at Alton Towers’ hotels.
History lessons
Life After Nemesis is not simply a documentation of events of the past 11 years, it delves into the past.
And in some cases, the very deep past.
Wardley provides some history of rollercoasters and others rides and attractions.
These historical passages can be somewhat meandering, but they do set the scene and build into his anecdotes.
There is the occasional swipe, often aimed at attractions which have been updates to his originals.
He was “mortified” by Duel’s addition of blasters to the Haunted House, while the virtual reality-added Galactica was described as a “total disaster”.
There is also strong criticism of some parts of the Wicker Man‘s original layout, which he was able to party adapt.
But Wardley is also clear he is only sharing his opinions. He even admits he was proven wrong in his criticism of some of Wicker Man’s sections that were not changed.
He also shares strong views critical on “abhorrent” scare attractions, while admitting that others may disagree.
The non-theme park anecdotes include how an old prop he created came back into his life after more than 50 years.
And, he performs the taboo of revealing the secret to a magic trick, but his justification of promoting the art feels valid.
The book is well balanced in adding some recent experiences away from theme parks, but that won’t interest everyone.
Passing the baton
Elsewhere, there is interesting detail on Hex, and the story of how Wardley came to see the actual Chained Oak tree for the first time is great.
The Disaster Zone, an unused concept from his past, is a testament to Wardley’s talents.
You are left, like he, hoping it is one day built.
Wardley says he had “enormous relief” when his effective replacement – the youthful John Burton – became Merlin Entertainments’ creative lead designer.
He also answers the burning question of whether or not he thinks Nemesis Reborn is better than the original.
But as he signs off, he links back into Burton, who shared a similar fascination with rides from a young age.
“Over to you”, he says, as the baton is well and truly passed.