David Grant Books

While the information in Thinking Through our Faith may or may not be new for the reader, the information contained therein serves as a discussion startingpoint, with controversial issues arising from the premise that the Bible as is now known was not written by actual witnesses but, rather, by proclaimers of the faith decades later and, thus, must be taken with caution instead of with rigid fundamentalism or the assumption that it is the actual, unbiased word of God. So, if you're looking for a book that questions the roots to the faith of Christianity, this book might be the one for you.

This slim little volume contains various articles about Grant culled from other sources. Some of them are redundant and not especially interesting, but there are several chapters containing some great, little-known material about Grant. This book would not be a good choice if you're just beginning to read about Grant, but if you have a strong interest and like just about anything to do with him, this is a necessary purchase. The editing, packaging and presentation of the book is excellent. The content is variable, but occasionally soars. Recommended.

This here's a classic horror novel that has been revised since it first saw print. It's a selection in the handy Horror: The 100 Best Books by Stephen Jones. I don't recall which version was talked about in the 100 Best, but I believe its the unrevised one. Nonetheless, it's held up very well over time. It's something of a cultural parable (hippie vs. establishment) that excedes expectation, horror convention and cliche. Recommended.

A very quick and fun read, but not very deep and didn't really stay with me after all was said and done. I like how Mr. Morrell didn't let up with the action at all. And there were some genuinely creepy/disturbing moments - that poor kid in the mansion, and the doctor visting the trailer guy with the rabid dog. I'd recommend the book if you have a plane ride and need something to read for 3 hours or so. Mr. Morrell's later books are much more enjoyable.

I made it to page 130 or thereabouts, and by that point I was really struggling. Like many others, I picked up this book because of the "classic horror story" tagline and because I'd read a few short stories by Morrell and had found them all complex and entertaining. Unfortunately, the Totem is neither. The setting is a small town in Wyoming and though the author does a grand job of pulling us into that scene, as well as getting us acquainted with the characters, the book didn't seem like it would ever really begin. There's not hook at all, unless you count a mutilated sheep. Maybe in 1979 that would have been enough for audiences to breeze through 120 pages of setting description in anticipation for the next "horrific" event, but I doubt it. I for one would have given Star Wars another re-watching instead.
When the "action" does finally happen it's unbelievable and not very exciting. People and animals going crazy from some type of communicable disease or virus and attacking others...not the most original plot, even then. I mean, how long had night of the living dead been out at that point?
This book is not a horror novel. It's not even really a thriller. It's more like somebody grabbed on of Larry McMurtry's early fiction efforts, though some random, poorly written violence in it, and then had Morrell gloss over the mistakes. Sorry David, I'm still a fan of First Blood and this won't stop me from trying another of your books, but for anybody looking for a "classic" horror novel, this is not the place you need to be.
As far as horror fiction dealing with people going crazy and attacking others, I'd recommend Richard Laymon's One Rainy Night, the movie Ravenous, and also Robin Cook's best novel, Acceptable Risk, which isn't a horror book either in the strictest sense of the word, but can get damn scary at times. Anyway, happy reading!

David Morrell's THE TOTEM was originally released in 1979 and is considered by some to be a classic of horror fiction. This novel was eventually re-released in the mid-1990s, in one of those expanded, author-approved versions. This is the version of the TOTEM I chose to read, and I strongly suspect I made the wrong decision.

My impression of this new version of THE TOTEM is that it's too long and bloated. This novel has a multitude of characters, and Morrell spends countless pages exploring the psyche of characters that don't play a large role in the plot. As another reviewer commented, most of this novel is an overly-long setup, leading up to a climax that is almost laughably short and unsatisfying. There are also way too many subplots stuffed into the storyline, which deprives the book of any real momentum. Morrell's prose is strong, and there are some great moments in this novel, but they just don't add up to a satsifying story in the end.

There's a reason why the 1979 version of THE TOTEM is half the size of this version -- a good editor saw the flaws in Morrell's original draft, and excised all the boring and irrelevant parts. My advice is to find that older version of this book, which is no doubt more tightly written than this rather bloated mish-mash of a book.

Seeing David Morrell's "The Totem" on a list of the best 100 horror novels made me haunt bookstores and libraries in an effort to find it. After finally reading it, I do not believe that the novel belongs on that list. In my opinion, it is neither scary nor memorable; I consider it an average novel.

The Totem is about Nathan Slaughter, a police chief who discovers monsters are stalking his Western ranching town. Slaughter is a good character, being capable, heroic, and moral. The setting of Potter's Field is a character in its own right and is as integral to the novel as Jerusalem's Lot is to "Salem's Lot." An accomplished storyteller, Morrell sets a brisk pace and injects enough suspense to fuel the narrative. There are a few mildly chilling moments, but I would not compare them to the stomach-turning moments of Blatty's "The Exorcist" or Harris's "The Silence of the Lambs," two novels referenced in the author's foreword.

About the foreword: the edition that I read is a revision of the original 1979 novel. Morrell seems to think that this revised edition is better than the original because it is bigger and deeper, but I wonder if it is. Horror and suspense novels are most effective when they are taut. Morrell stuffs too many characters, too many subplots, and too much exposition into this revision, crippling its intensity. I think that his editor in the 70s was correct: Less is more when it comes to horror.

I have some other qualms, particularly about the novel's structure. Much of the novel is setup, whereas the climax is over in an eyeblink. The resolution is laughable as Morrell tries to connect the story to the characters in a satisfying way. He also occassionally forecasts what is going to happen, thus killing the suspense in key moments. Finally, I think that a reader in the 21st century would not necessarily connect to the topical content (hippies) as an original reader would in the 70s.

I collected baseball cards in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a kid, mostly Topps. I re-opened my card collection in March 2008 after 35 years in the attic. The book doesn't doesn't have any logic or organization to it, and makes no sense. For example, if you're looking to price your Topps cards (as I suspect most people are), 1973, for example, you have to look under "1951 Topps Blue Backs" in the table of contents - bizarre. And good luck finding the table of contents sandwiched between more than 10 pages of advertisements. in the "How to Use this Book" section it starts "isn't this great" then continues, "every year this book gets better." Almost nothing on how to use the book.

This is a good product for the collector or dealer that that is interested in mainstream issues and the more widely known limited distribution sets.However if your interests are more ecclectic and you like the more obscure and less traded or sold products....forget it. For those people I suggest Sports Collectors Digest Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.This is equally true of Becketts Price Guides for Football and Basketball.In short if you stick with Topps and the other nationally distributed sets Beckett is OK.If you are looking for regional or otherwise limited production products your wasting your time; SCD is MY choice.

I have bought Becket Guides before and this has information that you get for free. There is no pricing for Classic, Collectors or another words 1/2 the companies out there. Then in the companies that they show 1/2 the subset are missing A GREAT BIG RIP OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

This book essentially is a Beckett PLUS (which comes out every 2 months) with more details (such as every card in each set is listed). There aren't really any oddball sets priced, which I guess is what the Beckett Baseball Almanac is for. Overall the book is very useful since it gives complete checklists and some extra details about each set. I just wish more oddball sets were listed so I wouldn't have to buy the Almanac book as well.

This was received in a very timely fashion and when it was suppose to arrive. Amazon is a great company. This is not the first item ordered from Amazon and it will NOT be the last.

I bought this book because of the chapter O'Riley had on its site (Flocking) and the general experience I have had with O"Riley in the past. While there is plenty to learn from this text, its not for the faint of heart or new programer. There is a lot that needs to be done to get set up for this.

My first issue is that some of the code seems just a little too complex for a beginner. While I respect the features hes trying to put in, it can clutter up the main point of what is happening, and makes learning the basic principles harder.

It seem the writter assumes you read his other book 'Physics for game programer' since he refers to it several times.Download the sample code for the book and you will see what I mean.

Then there is no discussion of the graphic package being used. I tried to do the stuff with GDI+ and ended up switching to DirectX because the flickering was so bad. Some discussion on setting up a test and development enviroment to run these projects on would have been helpful.

Oh and it was written in C+. Okay, no big deal, but a warning would have been nice. I can handle C+, but I do my work now in C#. Since it was written in an OO language, a little back ground on system design would have been helpful too.

Asking too much? While the info there is good, there are a lot of obstacles for a 'beginner' to handle. I'm motivated though, and bought his phyiscs book just to see if it helps out any.

This book gives people that are new to AI in game programming a quick start in that area. If you are interested in looking at the broad fields of AI with direct application to game programming, this will show you a bit of everything. The text is clear and doesn't require any higher understanding of mathematics than some basic trigonometry. I think that the problem most people have with this book is that none of the chapters covers its subject in depth. Thus, people looking to learn AI from this book that ignor the "Game" part of the title will be disappointed. Full C++ sample programs are available on the books web site-the book is all in C++, and you should have no problems understanding the code with moderate C skills. Bresenham's line algorithm, line-of-sight-chasing and intercepting are all explained in a pretty simple way. My biggest complaint is that, even within the construct of game programming, the presentation of Bayesian systems and probability was too short for my taste. The following is a description of the book from the context of the table of contents:

Chapter 1, Introduction to Game AI - Defines game AI and discusses the current state of the art as well as the future of this technology.

Chapter 2, Chasing and Evading - Covers basic techniques for chasing and evading as well as more advanced techniques for intercepting. It also cover techniques applicable to both tile-based and continuous game environments.

Chapter 3, Pattern Movement - Pattern movement techniques are common to many video games and developers have been using them since the early days of gaming. You can use these techniques to preprogram certain behaviors such as the patrolling of a guard or the swooping in of a spacecraft.

Chapter 4, Flocking - The flocking method examined in this chapter is an example of an A-life algorithm. In addition to creating genuine looking flocking behavior, A-life algorithms form the basis of more advanced group movement.

Chapter 5, Potential Function Based Movement - Potential-based movement is relatively new in game AI applications. It can handle chasing, evading, swarming, and collision avoidance simultaneously.

Chapter 6, Basic Pathfinding and Waypoints - Game developers use many techniques to find paths in and around game environments. This chapter covers several of these methods, including waypoints.

Chapter 7, A* Pathfinding - No treatment of pathfinding is complete without addressing the workhorse algorithm of pathfinding; therefore, this whole chapter is devoted to the A* algorithm.

Chapter 8, Scripted AI and Scripting Engines - Programmers today often write scripting engines and hand off the tools to level designers who are responsible for creating the content and defining the AI. In this chapter, you'll explore some of the techniques developers use to apply a scripting system in their games.

Chapter 9, Finite State Machines - Finite state machines are the nuts and bolts of game AI. This chapter discusses the fundamentals of finite state machines and how to implement them.

Chapter 10, Fuzzy Logic - Developers use fuzzy logic in conjunction with or as a replacement for finite state machines. In this chapter, you'll learn the advantages fuzzy techniques offer over traditional logic techniques.

Chapter 11, Rule-Based AI - Technically, fuzzy logic and finite state machines fall under the general heading of rules-based methods. This chapter covers these methods as well as other variants.

Chapter 12, Basic Probability - Game developers commonly use basic probability to make their games less predictable. Such cheap unpredictability enables developers to maintain substantial control over their games. Here, basic probability is covered for this purpose as well as lay the groundwork for more advanced methods.

Chapter 13, Decisions Under Uncertainty--Bayesian Techniques - Bayesian techniques are probabilistic techniques, and in this chapter you learn how you can use them for decision making and for adaptation in games.

Chapter 14, Neural Networks - Game developers use neural networks for learning and adaptation in games for anything from making decisions to predicting the behavior of players.The most widely used neural network architecture is covered here.

Chapter 15, Genetic Algorithms - Genetic algorithms offer opportunities for evolving game AI. Although developers don't often use genetic algorithms in games, their potential for specific applications is promising, particularly if they are combined with other methods.

Appendix, Vector Operations - How to implement a C++ class that captures all of the vector operations that you'll need when writing 2D or 3D simulations.

All the chapters in this book are fairly independent of each other. Therefore, you generally can read the chapters in any order you want, without worrying about missing material in earlier chapters. The only exception to this rule is Chapter 12, on basic probability. If you don't have a background in probability, you should read this chapter before reading Chapter 13, on Bayesian methods. I would recommend this book if you are looking to implement AI into a game without wanting a complete explanation of the theory. If a complete explanation of the concepts is what you require, you will be disappointed.

AI for Game Developers is a book aimed at beginner game programmers that want to apply AI techniques in their games. The range of topics covered is vast, chasing, flocking, pathfinding, state machines, bayesian networks, neutal networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic and more.

The authors spend time to explain these AI concepts from the ground up, with numerous code samples and accompanied by full programs including GUIs & simulations, downloadable form the book's website.

So far all good, but not really so if you look a little closer. For a programmer with more experience than the complete novice, many problems become apparent quickly:

The code listings ("examples", as the authors uncommonly call them) are lacking in many aspects. The code is of low quality. C++-- some call it, and it's an appropriate name for the code of this book (take a big program with a bunch of globals and void foo(void) operating on them, wrap it all (public) in a class, and call it Object Oriented). The principal author is a scientific programmer, which shows well since the code looks sometimes like a port from Fortran. The code is also poorly typeset, in a font almost identical to the text, which makes samples hard to spot and follow. The authors also paste huge amounts of code in the book that sometimes fill whole pages, without any apparent reason. Another little deficiency is the typesetting / overall formatting quality of the book - some diagrams are simply missing, fonts are uncomfortable (especially the mix of code & text)...

It seems that most of this book's problems are about the code, though. On the conceptual level, the book is not bad. As far as I can judge, the explanations are clear and even novices should have no trouble understanding how the algorithms work. Just look away from the code, please !!

Is good book to initiate within world of AI, brings very good examples on fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms, in my opinion would have to bring CD-ROM with more examples but even so I recommend them for people that is initiating within development of video games, have a simple way to explains concepts that in other books can that are abstract and until moments very confused, explain it of direct and very simple way, are a book not very extensive you will be able to read it in a pair of days, and thus to begin to apply it within any application or game, the code comes very simple manageable and easy to use, it comes in c++, I hope enjoy so much as I.

Terrible and useless even for a book on AI for budding game developers. The theory and explanations in this book are sometimes decent but more often than not quite lacking. (es: in one of the first chapter the author uses Bresenham algorithm without taking the time to explain it). The use of tile based examples introduce unnecessary overhead, and the continuos attempts to introduce physics related code and references to the author's other book on game physics are just plain annoying. The range of subjects covered is very broad (chasing and evading, pathfinding, emergent behaviours, rule based reasoning, bayesian networks, neural networks, fuzzy logic, finite state machines, genetic algorithms), definitely too broad to treat each of these subject in decent depth and with clarity. Example code is of low quality and just superficially object-oriented. If you are looking for a decent introduction to game AI I recommend Matt Buckland "Programming Game AI by Example" and "AI Techniques for Game Programming".

Rather than a consecutive run of issues, this trade is more of an anthology selection.

Actually, there is one two issue run with 25-25, but th eothers are 11, 36, 56 and 84.

Issues range from town destructions, death of friends, to getting magical monkeys off backs.

A nice addition at the end is a timeline of Constantine's life, and also an overview of various areas of London and the nasty and sordid stuff that goes on there Hellblazer-stye.


3.5 out of 5

Many books try to go with the whole angels/demons thing. But these books deliver. So rare do the characters and writing reach such a high caliber. I wish the director of the movie had actually READ all the series before making the film. Nuff said.

Garth Ennis et al., John Constantine, Hellblazer: Rare Cuts (Vertigo, 2005)

Perhaps the best thing about movie adaptations of comic books is that they dredge up new printings of old work. In this case, the old work hadn't been collected in graphic novel form before; this series of Constantine-flavored vignettes, published in Hellblazer between 1988 and 1994, were things that slipped through the cracks, or perhaps weren't considered important enough to publish in the collections at the time. We get tales from Grant Morrison (whose two here are the book's strongest), Garth Ennis (oddly, the weakest of the lot), and Jamie Delano.

This probably isn't a book for beginners; a lot of things are bound not to make a good deal of sense until you've got more of a feel for the established characters (Chas, especially). One that does stand on its own, though-- and I realize that every other reviewer has singled this out, as well, and I don't care-- is Morrison's wonderful two-parter, "Early Warning" and "How I Learned to Love the Bomb." This would've made a great movie, actually (a better one, probably, than what we got).

If you're already a Hellblazer fan, pick this one up for the Morrison tale and some good background on Constantine's character. Othwerwise, head back and start somewhere else (preferably at the beginning of Morrison or Ennis' run as writer). *** ½

Collecting a variety of Hellblazer comics that never made it to graphic novel print, this is the perfect start for someone who has never touched the comic in the past. Collecting Delano's "Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come," Dead-Boy's Heart," and "In Another Part of Hell," Ennis' "This is the Diary of Danny Drake," and Morrison's "Early Warning" and "How I Learned to Love the Bomb," some of the best stories by these authors are written here (in fact, "In Another Part of Hell" arguably Delano's best Constantine story ever-detailing the reason Chas remains such a good friend to John).

Ignore the one star review below, and make no mistake that Rare Cuts is essential Hellblazer reading. Mainly published to coincide with the release of the Constantine movie from Warner Bros., it has been long overdue for these issues to be re-printed in TPB form. Consisting of stories written by Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis, and Grant Morrison, with various art from Sean Phillips, Mark Buckingham, Richard Piers Rayner, and V For Vendetta artist David Lloyd; Rare Cuts is a gem. Delano scripts the infamous "Newcastle: A Taste of Things to Come", an important story that remains a pivotal event in the Hellblazer mythos to this day, while Morrison provides a great two part story involving John and some very blood curdling going's on's in a small town. Ennis' story isn't up to par with his other Hellblazer material, but it's still a solid story. The real standout here is Delano's "In Another Part of Hell" which examines the long relationship between John and his best mate Chas Chandler, and just what John did for him way back when. All in all, Rare Cuts is a gem for Hellblazer afficiondos, although newcomers may want to check out older titles first before digging into this.

I am upset when I bought this new book, Emergency Care: Update (Emergency Care) from Amazon.
UPS shipped my order and the book was wet and damage when I opened from the box.
I believed that the seller which is Amazon did not secure the book with plastic. On the time I ordered the book the weather was rainy.

Not a bad text. Includes pertinent info and is organized pretty well. My instructor (with 20 years of experience as a medic and firefighter) prefers another author, however.

This is an excellent book and some of the questions actually appeared on the national registry exam. Great investment.

Gould are forgetting who is the reader of this book. It is biology student, not a statistician. The book uses too many big-words that only a statistician knows exactly. The index is terrible and the organization of the topics is horrendous.

I wouldn't recommend this to Biology student who doesn't have any strong background in Statistics. And if you have already had a strong background in Statistics, you don't need this book for it is too shallow.

Gould are forgetting who is the reader of this book. It is biology student, not a statistician. The book uses too many big-words that only a statistician knows exactly. The index is terrible and the organization of the topics is horrendous.

I wouldn't recommend this to Biology student who doesn't have any strong background in Statistics. And if you have already had a strong background in Statistics, you don't need this book for it is too shallow.

I've been using this book to teach an introductory course for college sophomores in environmental science and I think it's great. The language is simple and uses examples from human nature and everyday life in the early chapters, and the chapter organization and layout are very conceptually intuitive. I highly recommend this book for statistical neophytes in the natural and social sciences.

As long as you've had college algebra, this book should be quite helpful in figuring out stats. Every important term is well-defined, and every concept is illustrated with a data set.

He starts off quite basic, introducing types of data and graphs, then moves on to introduce more involved topics, one at a time.

This book is geared narrowly towards Church groups. I bought this book on Amazon, and I never knew that it was for Churches until I received the book. I figured there might be ideas in the book that could work for my organization as well. You'd think there would be, but there wasn't. Even if my organization WAS a church group, there are few feasible fundraising options in this book. It is unrealistic as far as fundraising goes.

This book had wonderful ideas for youth groups interested in fundraising. Although it is geared (in language and ethic) toward church groups, I adapted the text to use the ideas with inner-city kids. Some of the suggestions are a little far-fetched, such as the Pink Flamingo heist (where you send a letter to everyone in the neighborhood announcing that a pink flamingo (yes, the plastic kind!) will arrive on their lawn and they have a day to get rid of it and pass it on to someone else. They can avoid this by purchasing "Pink Flamingo Insurance" which will "protect" them from the gag, hence the fundraising aspect...). That wouldn't go over too well in most communities! It's worth checking this book out - it's very creative, at the least. Something for everyone.

Great book which debunks many of the myths concerning this mysterious place. Highly recommended.

When this book was published in 1984 it may indeed have been new information but much has been discovered since then. ...