Mythology Books

The bloodthirsty Celtic epic "The Tain " clearly starts another war:Liam Mac Uistin vs Roald Dahl.This well known and loved Celtic myth is a stunning epic that tells of a quarrel between Queen Maeve of Connaught and her husband,Ailill.Maeve cannot bear being less wealthy than her husband so she tries to take the brown bull of Cooley even though she knows there will be fierce competition between her army and the Red Branch Knights of Ulster.Deviously her chief druid puts a geas(spell)on them to put them into a deep sleep so Maeve has enough time to swipe the brown bull, but Cu-Chulainn has other plans........ This adventure, told with exciting description and in great detail deserves all the praise it gets.The Tain is a fantastic read and in my opinion Liam Mac Uistin shows Roald Dahl who is BOSS!

My teacher asked me to read this book and review it but I didn't let that put me off!She has good taste in books actually!The Tain is a very exciting book with lots of gory details .It's all about our old friend Cu-Chulainn but I'll let you read the rest yourself, you'll be glad you did!

A bloody epic by the fantastic author Liam Mac Uistin. This adventure is a tale of the struggle between Maeve's army and Cu Chulainn as they fight for the brown bull of Cooley.This superb novel fuses Maeve's greed with Cu Chulainn's might.Maeve wants to be richer than her husband and so the Tain begins... The book progresses into magical twists and bloodcurdling battles and as the tale continues more and more people die and more and more magic is used. This book is so interesting you cannot put it down,for the twists and turns that Liam has produced are brilliant and we recommend this fantastic book to anyone.It especially encourages children to read and learn of the historic legends of Ireland.

Beautifully illustrated and very well written--an excellent present for any child. I bought this as a Christmas present for my friend's child. Nex Christmas I'm buying more of these books for other kids as presents. Absolutely stunning!

I am a big fan of Gennady Spirin's artwork. His FIREBIRD epitomizes classic Russian-style painting with it's ornate touches. He is a genius.

The artwork is fantastic, evocative, and gorgeous, combining a gold palette and northern winter-evening moonlit scenes, and featuring intricate folk art border illustrations. The tale is in some ways charming, including a sympathetic wolf, though there is no emotional or character development (It's more of a quick, amalgamated introduction to Russian fairytales), and it offers no lessons you'd want to impart to a child, other than: Go have adventures with a magical wolf at your back! (Also lurking in the story may be a morality tale for those in a position to run an imperialist power: Don't be afraid to buck cautious counsel and be acquisitive with regard to allies' possessions, but follow counsel when it comes to preparing for war. I sincerely doubt this is a useful lesson for your typical middle/working class kid, what with her/his lack of imperial power.) Plot synopsis: A magical, powerful wolf takes a few days out of his or her life to really help the fortunate youngest prince undertake successive adventures, culminating in the prince gaining all sorts of booty: a lovely mate, a golden-maned horse, a magical sword, kingdoms, adulation, and a spectacular peacock in a golden cage.

Love this book! I found it in a museum store and fell in love and bought it immediately. Oscar is a cat who brings to life quotes from another favorite Oscar. You'll surely find some favorite pages and smile.

These engaging tales are well translated and are a good introduction to Japanese folk literature. The spectacular treat of this book is the illustration. Naoko Matsubara is a brilliant woodblock artist. Her powerful pictures breathe authenticity into the not quite believeable, miraculous tales. Her powerful lines and radiant colors illuminate the stories carrying them into a transendient sphere .

This book has truly charming (not "cute," but very cat-like) line drawings of a cat, accompanied by quotations from Oscar Wilde that are very apposite for a cat. It's a perfect gift for occasions when you don't want JUST a card, but a full-scale book or other present is too much. I've probably given away 10 copies in the past few years, and can think of another 10 possible recipients. (Plus, it's fun to have around for yourself)

This is a well written story of two people who have come together despite the objections of one the one's people and family and the past of the other. A world has been created which at the end of the story a reader hopes to return to and questions raised on how these two such persons came together. It was a book I could not put down from the time I picked it up and I look forward to the next instalment being in print

This is a good fantasy book with heartstopping adventure and is filled with great characters, especially the main characters.

This book is set in a world where women are the warriors and hold the important positions in society. Tigh, a peace warrior and Jame, an Emoran princess, are so wonderful and fun and their affection for each other captures your heart.

The story is fast-paced and is filled with surprises. You never know which way the story's going to go next making it a lot of fun to read.

Tales of Emoria: Past Echoes is fun, magical, thought-provoking and just plain enjoyable. I also found out this book has been nominated for the 2000 Tiptree Award. Way to go Mindancer.

I was hesisitant to read this book when it was being posted in parts on the web, but I decided to jump in one day, and have been a fan of Jame and Tigh ever since.

Wizards, Warrirors, and Illusions, combined with the love and devotion of the two characters to each other makes Past Echoes a thoroughly interesting read.

Michael LaFargue says the Tao Te Ching is the former even though it's often treated as the latter.

According to LaFargue (my paraphrase), there are two ways to read the Tao Te Ching, just as there are two ways to read any text.

The first -- the one taken by any number of readers of Lao-Tzu, including some "translators" whom LaFargue doesn't name and I won't either -- is to point your face at it and sort of see how it makes you, like, _feel_, you know?

The second, and the one LaFargue favors, is to place the text in the context for which it was written and try to understand what its writer or speaker would have intended by it.

This is the approach LaFargue uses in order to produce his excellent (and thoroughly annotated and cross-referenced) translation of the Tao Te Ching. He also, in an extremely helpful essay on hermeneutics, discusses this approach at length and explains the context in which he believes the text to have been written.

I won't try to discuss every topic he covers, but one extremely helpful point is his identification of much of the text as what he calls "compensatory wisdom." On his view, some of the Tao Te Ching's pithy sayings are intended not as metaphysical speculation but only as counters to contrary human tendencies. (When we say that "a watched pot never boils," we surely do not mean that if you sit there and watch a pot, it will literally _never_ boil. We are merely warning against a common tendency to rush things that can't be rushed.)

This seems to me to be right on the money, and indeed to be pretty widely applicable to Oriental religious literature including the Bible. It is the right way, for example, to read the book of Proverbs, and some of Jesus's sayings from the Christian New Testament as well.

LaFargue's volume, then, may be of interest both to readers of Lao-Tzu and to readers of the Jewish and Christian Bibles. In discussions of "biblical inerrancy" and such, it is too often forgotten that the Bible is ancient Near Eastern literature and therefore not written to modern Western European standards. Inerrantists and religious "liberals" alike could surely profit from greater appreciation of this point; many apparent contradictions just disappear (and so do some theological creeds) once we understand that the text isn't _always_ offering us metaphysical principles.

In any event, widespread reading of LaFargue's book might spare us another spate of ill-considered screeds on "the Tao of" this, that, and the other thing. What a relief that would be.

The three way comparison format (english translation, cultural translation, and reasoning for translation based on historical and linguistic fact) and the dry, reserved language give this book the cut to access unique tumblers in the most difficult of locks. LeFargue and his students (he mentions them adding their understanding) paint meaning and understanding like a watercolor, with each layer's contribution plainly visible, rather than the masking qualities of psuedo-scientists' day-glo acrylic or the holistic turtles' enamel pastels. Triangulating one's own understanding from a single source is an unusual treat. For a rational and restrained mind the fit is magic and the bolt of suspicion is thrown back (or a rough slide for some). All the same its the only book in its genre I've been able to wholly admire.

As an anthropologist, constantly confronted with hermeneutics and the interpretation of culturally unknown texts and social situations and as a former student of chinese language and philosophie I can only strongly recommend this book. It is -by far- the best translation and interpretation I have ever read. Crucial to the the understanding of teh tao te qing is a good and profound explanation of the historical and social setting of the work and its probable authors. Lafargue has achieved this wonderfully. Strongly recommended...

If you are interested in ghostly tales of North Carolina, this is a good book. An excellent addition to anyone's paranormal library.

I have loved this book since I was a kid--Harden has a gift for campfire storytelling that never fails to give me chills. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the tales, myths, and legends of the great state of North Carolina!

I have loved this collection of ghost stories since I was a child--Harden has a gift for campfire storytelling that continues to give me chills every time I read a story. I highly recommend this book for any Carolinian with an interest in the paranormal!

There is nothing I will not do for Queen Kunti. I love Kunti!!!!

I once owned a limited edition copy of this amazing book signed by (His Divine Grace) A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's mother which I read daily and adopted as my spiritual path to enlightenment and to rajputs. Sadly, after an evening of rajputs finest, a little castle eden and a life altering experience in a dusty library in the north of England I somehow managed to leave Queen Kunti behind. But I have never forgotten the Teachings of Queen Kunti. The massive hole in my life has alas been filled with over-eating and gout. But no matter how many pies I have eaten and will continue to eat - nothing will take the Kunti out of me. I only hope that whoever picked up my copy of this book will treasure it as I treasured it, and not forsake it as I so foolishly did in my youth just for a bit of carnal darkness in a darkened library. Ooo war she wit?

I stumbled upon this book in a dusty library and instantly fell in love. It's universal themes of purity, understanding and aural awareness touched a part of me I never knew existed. I can honestly say that this book has changed my life for the better. In fact, I plan on giving it to a friend so that he too, can learn about the teachings of Queen Kunti.

Jane Archer retells ancient stories in a style that makes them great fun for adults and children alike. But while fun, the stories also give insights into the distinct cultures of the native people from whom the stories arose. The history sections that follow each set of stories convey further insights into the originating cultures and deepen the enjoyment of the stories when they are read a second time, then a third time and a fourth. In short, here is a book containing stories and histories you can reread and enjoy time and again and share often with others. I recommend it highly. It deserves MORE than five stars. Don't miss it!

TEXAS INDIANS transported me. As I read, I felt myself sliding into the past, sitting at a camp fire listening to an elder tell the stories as I walked in the old ways. The myths, legends and histories are told clearly and objectively, yet the cultures come alive. Ms. Archer gave me a window into a world past, yet still present, and I was a bit surprised how deeply connected I felt to both spans of time.

Jane Archer retells ancient stories for modern readers and makes them such fun to read! But while fun, the stories also provide insights into the native Texas people from whose cultures the stories arose. The short history sections that follow each group of stories give further insights into the various native Texas cultures and make rereading the stories even more meaningful and fun. This is a book you can enjoy more than once and in more than one way, and it is a book you will find yourself wanting to share often with others. Don't miss it!

This book does not need a review. What a quality piece of work, distinguished especially by the deft editorial work of one John Pelan. Bravo!

Wellman's weird short fiction can be found in an amazing number of horror anthologies, but most of his books are out of print. This is a shame, because Wellman's fiction deserves a much wider audiance. After I became interested in Wellman through his Silver John stories, I looked around for more of his work, but it was hard to find. Thankfully, Night Shade Books has remedied that. This first volume collects Wellman's John Thunstone and Lee Cobbett stories, which read like supernatural film noir--all of which I completely enjoyed. Wellman really knew how to tell a story; his writing flows with beautiful simplicity. If any of these stories seem a bit familiar, it's because they've influenced a lot of other writers over the last half century. As the publisher's description accurately states, these stories could easily be seen as a template for "The X-Files." A striking, full-page illustration accompanies each of the 21 tales in this volume. A genuine treat for horror enthusiasts.

All of Wellman's excellent John Thunstone short stories, with his four Lee Cobbett stories rounding out the collection. Many of the Thunstone tales feature either the evil Rowley Thorne, deliberately based on Aleister Crowley, or the Shonokins, a strange and evil group. Judge Pursuivant shows up in "Chastel", an excellent vampire tale in which Cobbett plays only a minor role. "Twice Cursed" is the longest story, and most unusual. Thunstone tries to help two men with the same name who get involved in a "Dark College". No duds in this collection.

Beautiful illustrations and simple prose make this a quietly poetic and aesthetically pleasing selection to read to kids three years old and up. A great introduction to the Native American concept of the seasons of the year and the close and personal relationship with all of Nature.

I was fortunate to hear the author speak in the early 90s in my hometown of Syracuse, NY. He is an engaging storyteller. It was then that I discovered his book. The artwork in this edition is rich and appealing. The vignettes of each moon, combined with the illustrations, make an appealing canvas for young and/or exploring minds.

This book is an excellent work of Native American children's literature. Joseph Bruchac is a well-known Abenaki story-teller who profiles in this book the thirteen moons of the year, and profiles for each moon what is important about that season to different Native Nations. The artwork is a beautiful compliment to the story. If you are looking for a solid and sensitive look at inter-tribal stories for children, this is a great place to start!