X Books

I wanted something special for someone whose grandfather commanded a WWI uboat. He knows almost nothing of his grandfather. Lowell Thomas should provide a dashing glimce into what it was like for those men. Where else could I find a book like this in minutes?

I have one of the original copies of this book, and enjoyed it immensely when i was younger. it's a great book for teenagers, since it provides all the breathlessness (something for which Thomas is noted) of the adventures of the sea without the coarseness sometimes found in military stories.

Llowell Thomas, the American reporter commissioned to cover WWI by President Woodrow Wilson, gathered material for this book in the mid-1920s from face-to-face interviews with the Kriegsmarine U-boat commanders. These were men who, despite the terrible odds of against them, were lucky enough to survive the war. The book is divided into 36 chapters, each of which is usually a fascinating submarine combat story as recalled by the actual U-boat commander or one of his officers. But this is not a comprehensive history of WWI submarines. Most of the interviewees were Germany's leading submarine aces during the war - Hersing, Weddigen, Speiss, Arnauld de la Pierre, Hartwig, Hashagen, Spiegel, and Schweiger - or of their immediate surviving subordinates.

The book relates how 10 years' after the war Thomas interviewed each korvettenkapitan (the rank of most U-boat commanders) at their offices, pubs, hotels, homes, and even in the very Naval Club where the U-boat commanders met during the war (p. 133). Many famous sinkings (including the liners Lusitania and Arabic, the battleships Triumph and Majestic, the old armored cruisers Hogue, Cressy and Aboukir), submarine activity off the American coast, and countless forgotten stories are recounted.

Most of the stories are gripping in their detail of the truly dangerous life aboard one of Wilhelmine Germany's early 'iron coffins'. Engine failure, erratic diving behavior, asphyxiation, ramming attacks, minefields, depth charges, Q-ships, and even enemy submarines were just some of the everyday risks intrepid U-boat crews continually faced. Despite all the risks, some U-boat commanders, notably Arnauld de la Pierre, still adhered to the chivalrous prize rules in theatres where they could such as the Mediterranean. But even the most dangerous of enterprises also has it's share of unbelievably ridiculous and humorous situations - 'baby on board', searches for fresh vegetables, sailors' superstitions, etc.

This is a popular history book - very few notes, no bibliography or confirmation of the witness' stories - written by a contemporarily popular reporter in 1928. So, don't expect any academic features except an index. But that's not the point of this book anyway. The reason Thomas wrote the book was to finally tell the story from the Germans' perspective, which of course was absolutely impossible during the war itself. After tempers had cooled 10 years on, this book and other ones like it giving the German version of events were greedily consumed by the British and American publics.

As a former submariner I enjoyed this book immensely. I could not put it down until I finished it and want to thank my friend and son in law, Stan Myers for giving me this book. In addition to it's publication year 1928 concendincal to my birth year, it's history regarding the use of this weapon of war was astonishing. Having served with shipmates who remember the loss of world war two shipmates because of faulty torpedoes, I am at a loss to understand why this country, after defeating the Germans in world war one, did not research the German torpedoes design in 1928. It was without a doubt, according to this book, a very effective weapon. At the start of WW2 our submarine force was at a very sever disadvantage because of faulty weapons. Im at a loss to understand this and I will make every effort possible to have this book read by current and past submariners.

This is more of a commentary than a review. The book holds a special interest for me, as my mother, Josephine Lehman, worked for Lowell Thomas between 1926 and 1931 and crossed the Atlantic twice in 1927 and 1928 to interview the German U-boat captains featured in this book. Her diary and letters expand on her experiences in Germany and England, as she searched out her men. I want to correct the obvious and common assumption that Lowell Thomas did the research and interviewing; he did not. Lehman was a ghost writer, and while LT credited her for her work personally, ghost writers did not get their name up front with the well-known authors at that time. I am pointing this out for the sake of historial accuracy, and because this work was done by a young woman who had carved out an exceptional career for herself at a time just shortly after women received the vote. This should add to the interest of any who read this book, which deserved to be reissued as the first world war fades from memory. Especially interesting for readers living on the eastern seaboard is the chapter about the series of U-boat attacks off the New Jersey shore during June 1918 -- the interaction between the German commanders and the prisoners they took on board after sinking their sailing ships describes a form of "chivalrous" warfare long gone. Amusing too. Read it and see what happens when the two New England sea captains, both prisoners, meet.

This book is a comprehensible review of principles and methods of SEM and X-ray microanalysis write in a single and elegant language. The authors avoid using mathematical formulas in the description and demonstration which turn it an atractive book to all scientists and even the beginners.

This ought to be the dream book of those who do SEM imaging. The first half or say first five/six chapters are solely devoted to fundamentals of SEMs and the rest of the chapters are dealing generation of X-rays and concentrate on EDS. I have not yet finished reading this book. But certainly recommend to other SEM users to possess this book and read it as and when required.

The book is very good. I can learn a lot about the SEM from this book. The cd has also some interesting pictures, additional information.

This book is a great book for learning the Basics about Electron Microscopy and X-ray Analysis. You get a good overview!

The book came in excellent condition as stated. It also arrived in a timely manner.

Some previous reviewers say this sketchbook has only around 170 pages, but under "Product Details" above, Amazon says this sketchbook has 224 pages. FYI.

I agree that these are great journals and sketchbooks. For some reason Amazon does not list the number of pages in the various Watson-Guptill sketchbooks, even though it is printed on the sticker. I have two versions of this book with the same ISBN number - one bought in 2001 with 224 pages and one bought in 2004 with 176 pages. Maybe Watson-Guptill has trimmed the size of the sketchbooks. So the most recent version has 176 neutral pH, nonyellowing archival-quality pages.

The texture and grain of the paper was really enjoyable to use, and I would consider this a great gift purchase to any aspiring journal writers or even artists. However, the major complaint I would have is the feeling that there aren't as many pages as originally anticipated. I was expecting over 200 sheets, but ended up with about 170 or so. Though this is not a big deal, but it would be advisable to list this someplace on the website and differentiate it from similar products of the same company.

Great product in most other regards.

Great bargain and the weight of the paper is enough to handle light watercolour washes. The paper is smooth and works great with ballpoint pens.

These make the best sketchbooks and journals. The binding is excellent and very durable. The paper is smooth and fine, a joy to write or draw on. For a two-week trip to France, I bought a Watson-Guptill sketchbook for use as a travel journal. This journal went everywhere with me, knocking around inside my totebag and being taken in and out of the bag many times a day for writing, and yet it arrived back home showing hardly any wear and is today my most valued souvenir of the trip. Every time I travel, I buy another of these wonderful sketchbooks. They're the best.

Thanks for sending the book among others that I ordered along with it in good condition, and sooner than I had expected. Its a simple and straightforward book that orients itself around the MacOSX Web Objects application. Good value for money a worth while buy.

Let's cut to the chase. Josh Marker's new WebObjects 5 book rocks the house. Trudging through Apple's WebObjects API documentation can turn ones eyes red and bleary, so where do ya start? Well, I say start with Marker's new gem. pple's WebObjects is a best kept secret as it derives from the brilliance of the geniuses at NeXT, and who knows why Steve Jobs doesn't market WebObjects more aggressively? This book helps get a person (particularly the WebObjects newcomer) to get down and jiggy with WebObjects. The world is not always Microsoft and so don't let Apple's genius scare you. Start out with Marker's book and then go from there. You won't get lost and Marker keeps things easy to understand. The only thing missing from this book with slight disappointment is coverage of WebServices which was introduced by Apple in WebObjects version 5.2. Otherwise, rock and roll!

I ordered this book expecting it to be a more advanced WebObjects book than it actually is. Unfortunately, most of the material covered in the first 11 chapters CAN be gleaned from Apple's documentation accompanied by some experimentation (which I've done over the last year or so). For me, those chapters were a rehash of stuff I knew, although I did pick up some good advice and tips from those chapters.

However, for a Java developer (the book doesn't pretend to teach you Java) who is new to WebObjects, those first 11 chapters are a a godsend, filled with well-written text containing a huge amount of practical advice and illustrated with extensive screenshots. Reading this book and doing the exercises will save you literally dozens if not hundreds of hours of "doing it the hard way."

Chapters 12 and 13, on the other hand, are filled with bits and pieces that are NOT easy (or sometimes possible) to get from the official documentation and can only be learned by finding a more experienced developer to mentor you. For me, these two chapters were worth the price, and for a computer programming book, the price is quite reasonable.

A big thumbs up for this book as an introductory WebObjects tome, and here's to hoping that some publisher will contract Mr. Marker to write a follow-up "Advanced WebObjects for Mac OS X" because I'll be first in line to buy that one.

This is the best beginner WebObjects book ever! Examples are clear, concise and easy to follow. It has made me a believer in this technology.

I'd like to agree with the previous reviewers. This book finally made the progression through WebObjects clear and understandable. Its power is apparent and the gotchas are clearly highlighted as you go through the book. Mr. Marker also wrote the excellent Apple document on WebObjects web applications. (Un)fortunately, the Apple document is only about 100 pages, so this book nicely moves on from it. Technical overview by mmalcolm only lends further credibility to this book. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Reading this book has inspired me tremendously. I've
never believed an Eastern writer could cover so many
fields that actually are the interests of the western
people.
I believe the writer has done a great deal of reading
and research prior to and/or during his writing of
the book which he mentioned he had taken 4 years to
complete.
As for comments on what are all about in the X-Codes,
I have found most of them are already adddressed by
prior reviewers.

My only comment is that it's worth your money to read
this book.

The book covers a broad and dramatic contents of great interest to modern seekers of the truth. The cover is also very beautifully designed. But why is there a tear dropping down from an eye that looks out from the Cosmos? The fact that we are born imperfect into this world is already good enough reason to really cry in secret. Why are some people suffering while others are enjoying? Is God really fair to all humans? If not, what programs could HE use to ensure all are treated equally and fairly when each soul gains entrance to this world? Read this book and you will discover the answers too.

"Scientists have shown that forces emanating from extraterrestrial bodies, particularly the Sun and Moon, affect species on the Earth ranging from potatoes to man" says author, spiritualist and visionary Francis Hoy. In his brilliant new book, The X-Codes, the reader is treated to an exploration of who we are, and why!

Mr. Hoy intelligently discusses cosmic harmony...the influence of extraterrestrial bodies via four fundamental forces; gravitational, electromagnetic, weak nuclear and strong nuclear. We learn that these encode our genes, and therefore affect human nature and behaviors.

This reviewer believes that the insight and loving kindness found in The X-Codes are the result of Mr. Hoy's growth and ability to discern his true and higher Self...the mission we all have. Indeed, how to achieve it is the stated purpose of this provocative work.

The X-Codes delves into not only genetic coding, but also reconwaves (the emanations from the solar system), astrology, reincarnation...and physical death. We learn of the very real possibility that, as the Sun, Moon and Planets matured and thus did their emanations), so did we. Wouldn't this account for the disappearance of, say, dinosaurs?

The X-Codes is a splendid marriage of science and spirituality. Francis Hoy has given us a thoughtful and remarkable presentation that ranges from creation to demise...and an insight of the greater divine mission that follows.

This reviewer recommends The X-Codes to everyone with an astrological bent who is interested in the evolution of humankind, and the interplay of celestial forces that still direct our destinies!

Richard Fuller / Senior Editor Metaphysical Reviews

"Scientists have shown that forces emanating from extraterrestrial bodies, particularly the Sun and Moon, affect species on the Earth ranging from potatoes to man" says author, spiritualist and visionary Francis Hoy. In his brilliant new book, The X-Codes, the reader is treated to an exploration of who we are, and why!

Mr. Hoy intelligently discusses cosmic harmony...the influence of extraterrestrial bodies via four fundamental forces; gravitational, electromagnetic, weak nuclear and strong nuclear. We learn that these encode our genes, and therefore affect human nature and behaviors.

This reviewer believes that the insight and loving kindness found in The X-Codes are the result of Mr. Hoy's growth and ability to discern his true and higher Self...the mission we all have. Indeed, how to achieve it is the stated purpose of this provocative work.

The X-Codes delves into not only genetic coding, but reconwaves (the emanations from the Sun), astrology, reincarnation...and physical death. We learn of the very real possibility that, as the Sun, Moon and Planets matured and thus did their emanations), so did we. Wouldn't this account for the disappearance of, say, dinosaurs?

The X-Codes is a splendid marriage of science and spirituality. Francis Hoy has given us a thoughtful and remarkable presentation that ranges from creation to demise...and an insight of the greater divine mission that follows.

This reviewer recommends The X-Codes to everyone with an astrological bent who is interested in the evolution of humankind!

Richard Fuller/Senior Editor/Metaphysical Reviews/metarev.com

A very interesting and creative book...that navigates a broad spectrum of human life scenarios and cosmic phenomena. Dr. Ng Chee-Mang (Ph.D.) Hewlett Packard Malaysia

Get your best buds together , dress up in funky attire, and GO CRAZY ! ! ! ! ! !

Now, I'll admit, I was skeptical about a the new role playing game, Agent X, when I first heard of it. A table top game with a system that flawlessly translates into live action game play, that sounds too good to be true, right? Too good or not, its the truth. Agent X's simple and realistic mechanics made all the games I've played in run smoothly and only aided in establishing a mood of mystery and suspicion that kept players coming back for more. If you're looking for a new kind of game with all the right stuff look no further than Agent X.

Finally a game that allows players to step into the world of Agents like Scully and Mulder. A must buy for all X-Files fans. Why only watch the show when you can experience the world of the X-Files through this game "Agent X"? I am surprised that Fox hasn't approached these folks about licensing it as the Official X-Files Role Playing Game. I had a great time playing it at ConQuest and will be looking for Agent X games at all the cons I go to.

Agent X has a great new system that differs from all current roleplaying games on the market. It a must buy for any serious gamemaster looking for a new genre for their group, and an even more important buy for the first time and long time roleplayer looking for a new style devoid of fantasy world play. The content addresses the more realistic side of roleplaying giving you the rules you need to play a real government agent. A must try.

I played the game at Comic Con International in mid-August, and I must say, I was impressed. Now, I'm not saying this just because it was two of my friends who were running the game (Hi Lee!), but it was actually a well thought out game. The system is simple, easy to learn and easy to play. Go out and by this game... NOW!

Whose side are you on?

Pupil of Aristotle, ruler at 16, commander at 20 of armies when modern men are only just legally eligible to drink in America, and conqueror of half of the entire known world by age 26 .... the historical accounts of Alexander the Great's imperial military campaigns ... and its enduring legacy centuries later. A man who truly belongs to history.

Not even Napoleon, Douglas MacArthur, or General Patton could match the military legacy of Alexander the Great. Both Alexander's youth and his zeal created a legend that is unrivaled.

As with all history, one never knows all, one can only assume, because, one was never there, or so we think.

Or watch the movies and read this as well. This is a great little book that contains excerted translations of the three ancient biographies of Alexander, written by Plutarch, Arrian and Quintus Curtius Rufus, all Roman writers. The book is edited so that it forms a continuous narrative throughout Alexander's life. Aside from archeological finds, these three ancient writers are the sole sources of reliable information on the historical Alexander. The introduction by Wood is useful.

I do have to note that I find it odd that on the Amazon page under "Language Notes" it says "Latin, English," since there is no Latin here. The original texts were in Latin, but they are not reproduced here.

Alexander the Great, was born on or around July 20, 356 B.C.E., and is my favorite personality to read about in history. To me he is the whole package general, statesman, conqueror, and philosopher. The smartest man who ever lived, Aristotle, tutored him. Alexander conquered more of the known world than any other figure in history, accomplishing all this before he dies at the ripe old age of 33. Some people called him conqueror and violent overlord. Some other called him civilizer and even God! All of them yet, called him "The Great". He was the first man in modern history that took this name, "The Great"! Even as a young boy, he shows great promise.

Curtius' work is the oldest extant work available and based on eyewitness accounts. He does a better job than most in explaining the battle scenes, and seems to be more balanced in his admiration and criticism of Alexander then any of the other early biographers. I love his Bucephalus Story, and I recount it here so you get a flavor of the promise this young Alexander shows.

The legend begins with Philoneicus, a Thessalian, bringing a wild horse to Philip for him to buy. None of the hands was able to handle it, and Philip grew upset at Philoneicus for bringing such an unstable horse to him. Alexander, however, publicly defied his father and claimed that he could handle the horse. The bet between Philip and Alexander was that if Alexander could ride the horse, Philip would buy it, if not, Alexander would have to pay the price of the horse, which was 13 talents, an enormous sum for a boy of Alexander's age to have.

Alexander apparently noticed that the horse had been shying away from its own shadow, and so he led it gently into the sun, so that its shadow was behind it, all the while stroking it gently and whispering into its ear, (Alexander seems to be the original horse whisperer). Eventually the horse let Alexander mount him, and Alexander was able to show his equestrian skill to his father and all who were watching. The incident so impressed Alexander's father, King Philip that he told the boy "Look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of you, for Macedonia is too little for thee". He named the horse Bucephalus, which means Ox head, and rode it across Asia, founding a city in its honor in India after its death. This story gives you an inkling about the man.

This book is a must read for students of Alexander, I also recommend Plutarch's and Arrian's work. Contemporary writers, J.F. C. Fuller and Tarn. Most of Alexander's greatest military traits are in the area of military logistics and to understand his genius in this area I highly recommend reading, "Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army," by Donald W. Engels.

As a retired U. S. Army Major, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ancient warfare, and history.

Born in Macedonia in 356BC Alexander The Great changed the political face of the Middle East to such an extent that the present age is affected. He only lived 32 years but created an Empire that spanned 1000's of miles and included many cultures. He was tutored by Aristotle and raised to be a king. He toppled Darius of Persia, conquered the surrounding areas and invaded India. When he took on a task, he stayed with it with dogged determination. He was a brilliant battlefield tactition and motivator of men.

The story of his life was recorded by the classic biographers, Arrian, Plutarch and Curtius. In this book, Michael Wood presents Alexander's story by compiling the different accounts in chronological order. There is very little additional text, editorial, background, etc. Sometimes, he interjects comments where the original accounts vary (due to the biases of the biograhpers). This is a simple book to read and understand. It is an excellent resource for someone who wants an introduction to Alexander.

The map, list of sources and gloassary of main characters are quite helpful.

He's got an amazing grasp of the subject and very easy, organized way to present it. I'm enjoying learning what could otherwise be a very dry subject.

I bought this book along with Mac OS X Server Essentials. While that book is good on the GUI interface, this book shows in good detail what is really going on under the hood and behind the scenes. I have a much better understanding of Open Directory and LDAP in general as well as Kerberos and Single Sign in logic. Many of the other services offered under OS X Server 10.4 are also explained well. The command line information is good while not being so in depth as to lose the reader. You should have a basic familiarity with UNIX command line before trying to understand the concepts presented. The section on security is very good and presents a broad range of options to the administrator.

This book is a one-to-one version of the course material found in the Directory Services Integration and Administration v10.4 course, the Security Best Practices v10.4 course and more. The exercises are well thought out and easy to do. Not so easy to remember are the 800+ pages, but it is not meant to teach you all you need to know about being an SysAdmin. It is enough to get you through these two exams, which give you 7 credits and the ACSA. And it is enough to set you off into a job as Junior SysAdmin or, as in my case, a supporter with server duties.

Ideally, one should visit both official courses - not so much because more is offered in the actual courses than in the book, but rather because one can ask pointed questions of the teacher, that one cannot ask if something in the book is not clear.

As in most such books, it represents a beginning - the rest is a matter of acquiring experience. Do not expect this book to give you all the answers. I doubt if that would be possible. But it will give a whole lot of things to look out for and a whole lot of new input, especially if you have been doing some SysAdmin-ing and now want a look-see as to how the fulltime SysAdmins do it.

I read this book from cover to cover in order to prepare for two of the ACSA certification exams Apple offers, including the Directory Services Integration and Administration and Best Security Practices exams. If one is interested in the topics then one can learn an amazing amount of details and facts, otherwise difficult to come by in such an easily readable style.

However, I should warn, the book is not perfect in that the quality of the exposition can vary greatly from chapter to chapter. If I recall correctly, one of the first chapters explaining the basics of the KDC service and the concepts of Realms and principals contained grammatical errors so severe that they compromised the validity of the topic. Furthermore, some very interesting topics, such as cross realm authentication are barely touched upon.
Also, the information herein will not really help one troubleshoot a problematic service/server, but it will give you the background information, provided you are actively absorbing the information, which will allow you to analyze and think through troubleshooting scenarios.

However, any of these pitfalls are made up through such step by step explanations of the background processes behind promoting a server to an OD master, for example. I wish more OS books would cover such information either in this way or even at all.

Regardless, the book definitely did an amazing job of preparing me for the exams. I received very high scores on both exams (a 96 on the Directory Services and an 88 on the Security exam) and learned numerous interesting facts in every chapter.

At last, I would surely recommend this book for anyone thinking of getting an ACSA or someone just curious about the Unix side, along with its many possibilities, of OS X.[.....]

As another review states, this book is the guide for the relevant Apple ACSA courses. It succinctly provides you with an understanding of the basic information needed to attack the certification exams.

I do also recommend that you find the time and funds to actually take the classes. The folks in Cupertino have put a lot of work into creating great courses that offer you the crucial opportunity to learn by doing. The content and examples you work through during the courses are relevant to a wide range of applications, from small business to multi-national corporation as well as K-12, higher education, and research.

Schoun himself is one of the top independent providers of Apple training and has had no small hand in the development of the courses. I've had the pleasure of taking classes from him on several occasions and recommend his work highly.

THE BOOK DESIGN AND CLASSY JACKET ALONE ARE WORTH THE MONEY. LOVED THE MOVIE. THE ONLY PROBLEM THAT I HAVE IS THAT THEY DON'T PUT ENOUGH COHERENT STORYBOARDS INTO THE CONTENT. ALSO, THE NIGHTCRAWLER'S MOCK-UP CIRCUS POSTER DON'T REALLY GIVE ANY ADDITIONAL VALUE OVER THE BOOK'S GENERAL CONTENT.

My first impression was WOW! This book captures the essence of the movie. It's great to see the story boards it just makes you remember every scene of this excellent movie. It's obvious all the crew involved in X2 cared a lot about details and art and this book crowns it. The addition of the movie script is great, i think we fans love to read the original script to see what scenes didnt make it to the final and wonder what they looked like (if they add them in the DVD it would be fantastic). The quality of this book is absolutely great. Beautiful pictures in every page you turn. A must to every X2 fan.

Being new to the world of the X-men, this book has everything to offer for the die hard fan. The Beautiful black hardcover (not to mention its wonderful slipcover with the entire cast on front) is amazing! The book is filled with illistrations, costume drawings, stroyboards, idea drawings of the proposed danger room, characther bios, and the best part...the complete movie script of X2! Well worth buying. I would suggest any fan to buy to add to his/her collection.

An astounding companion to the film, this book should be on every X-fan's wish list, and probably on that of anyone interested in how a real two-hour block of entertainment is made. There is real heart in this film--it stands out from most summer blockbusters as a simple, non-preachy statement on tolerance, gorgeously wrapped up in the craftsmanship of thousands of film artists, performers, computer graphic artists, and editors. It's a work of art, a rollicking ride, and this book is a terrific tide-me-over for anyone yearning to own the film on DVD in the future.

If you are looking for concept art, production stills and behind the scenes photography, this is the book.

The book goes in chronological order, for the most part, and shows the concept drawings and paintings, the storyboard sketches (and text), and places them next to finished photography of the sets and characters, which gives you a great idea of how the concepts are turned into reality.

It takes you into character development for all of the major characters, with concept art to final film stills. The characters covered are: Nightcrawler (with a great full page poster of "the amazing nightcrawler"), Charles Xavier, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Rogue, Storm, Pyro, Magneto, Mystique, Mutant 143, and Lady Deathstrike. Most characters have only 2 pages each, but Nightcrawler, Mystique, Wolverine, Mutant 143, and Lady Deathstrike have multiple pages which show sketches and final photography.

The locations/sets covered in the book are: the White House, X-Mansion, Cerebro, Plastic Prison, X-Jet, Alkali Lake, and Stryker's Base.

This book is 100% filled with great content: drawings, photos, and storyboards, along with a section on the special effects. I wish it were twice as big, but everything in the book is awesome.

To me, this is an X-Men-ized & far darker version of `GunslingerGirl.' (which is already quite dark) of the age-old question, `Who is really the monster?' & the reverse of an age-old question, `At what point does a man become a machine?'

I've never been one for super heroes; nothing against them, they simply aren't my genre of interest. However the X-Men have always been an exception for me, with their captivating villains, back stories, & genuinely complex social explorations. & with its thick science-fiction atmosphere & heavy, suffocating subtext, I can sincerely claim that X-23: Innocence Lost is a must read for all X-Men fans, maybe even for all comic book fans in general.

Dr Sarah Kinney has been called to a science institute to assist with the assembly of a new `weapon X', a clone of the escapee human-engineered super mutant `Wolverine'. But Sarah's been numb for a long time now, emotionally detached from humanity, & doesn't realize it until too late--she is creating a child, not a weapon.
The story's backbone is of parental love & loss of freedom; with perhaps the most monstrous villain I have ever seen for the fact that we watch him grow from an envious & arrogant doctor into something not human who doesn't even realize how truly evil he has become, & even more chilling is that he is not an over-the-top villain but someone who you could actually & unfortunately meet; & is aided by a grimly black climax & surprisingly upsetting ending.
There is a potent emotional & disturbing power behind this work & it haunts you long after closing its covers.
Despite some flaws in the art, the bizarre yet vivid color palate somehow intensifies the cold, lonely feeling of isolation, & the characters are given soul-filled eyes that pierce.

So what is the answer to this question...?

4.5 stars rounded up.

I also recommend the first 2 exhilarating volumes of `New X-Men: childhood's end' as well as 'X-23: Target X' by the same authors, though both pale in comparison to this inspired gem.

I love this book. The origin of X-23 is a much better story than I was expecting - better than Target X. There were several plot twists that I didn't see coming, and the death of Sue, X-23's "mother" at the end is one of the more poignant moments in comics. As for NYX, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but as a teenage mutants on the loose in Alphabet City discovering their powers, I found the Runaways-esque feel of the book to be right up my alley. The main character is a great blend of street smarts and just plain cuteness. Some very adult themes in both stories. I loved every page and will definitely read it again.

...Would be soo good. I mean, Wow! that was a pretty stupid idea to make a Wolverine's daughter. But ut actually came out great! don't believe it? Just try it out!

A must for every X-Men fan.

What a story. Ugly & brutal and yet heart-wrenching. This is truly an extraordinary graphic novel. If I had one complaint, it would be that the artwork definitely follows the anime tradition, and I personally prefer more a realistic style.

First of all, I am new to the X-Men, so I can't very well judge what the seasoned fanatics will think of this. After all, the X-Men themselves don't even appear- except for a flashback showing Wolverine.

But make no mistake- this story is brilliant.

Here's what you should note:

1.) The drama is very real here. It is a highly emotional plot that works so well that it would probably make a darn good movie.

2.) There is plenty of action, all of which is wonderfully illustrated- and note that there is more than a little bloodshed.

I hope this is enough to help you make a judgement. But please, even if you don't read it now, read it SOON. The story is absolutely engrossing and I believe that the character X-23/Laura has the potential to become exceptionally popular among fans.