Peter Carey Books

Having obtained a means of escaping Yahweh's creation, Lucifer begins to gather his resources for the greater task ahead. First he must regain his wings, which are being held by the children of Amaterasu (Japanese pantheon) as part of a clandestine plan of their own. Despite being physically helpless upon entering their realm, Lucifer still manages to outwit his "hosts"--thereby earning the ire of several enemies who will cause him a great deal of trouble later on. It goes to show that the devil's most dangerous weapon is his will.

Further stories in this volume have to do with a very old and dangerous baby in a bottle, the primeval shapeless things known as the Jin En Mok, and the true nature of Elaine Belloc. The latter will turn out to be essential to the arc of the series as a whole. And expect to meet Lucifer's brother before it's all over. Since Lucifer doesn't bother to share his plans with us, the relationship among these things might not make sense yet. But this will become clear in future volumes, as his plans come to fruition (though not without a fair share of setbacks).

The various mythic themes and settings are drawn together in a way reminiscent of Gaiman's work on The Sandman. And it stands to reason that fans of the latter series will be predisposed to like this one on general principle. But Lucifer is really a different animal, and with this volume Carey continues to gain momentum, finding his own voice along the way.

It's hard to rate the individual volumes' relative merits, but the series as a whole is recommended. Lucifer is a strangely compelling and charismatic protagonist, despite his utter self-absorption, and the plots involved are truly world-altering in every sense. In the end, even the omniscient are surprised.

"Children and Monsters" starts exactly where "Devil in the Gateway" ended: after Lucifer finished doing God's quest, he received a gate into the void - a place outside of creation. That is the main storyline of this novel. This graphic novel also contains three parts:

The first story tells how Lucifer journies into the Japanese dimension of death. As we found out in the previous novel, the Japanese goddess of Death obtained Lucifer's wings (which were torn off him). Thus, Lucifer embarks on a quest to get back his wings. I loved this part! If I didn't know, I could've sworn Neil Gaiman wrote this part.. it really felt as if it belonged in the "Sandman" universe.

The second story is above an immortal girl who was born thousands of years ago, yet can't die because she was cursed by her gods for not getting an abortion.

The third story unites the previous novel with the first two parts of this one.. Lucifer comes back with his wings and wants to enter the void, only to have an army of angels try and stop him. All the previous threads come together here.

I think this graphic novel was much better than the previous one. It definitely feels more and more like an extension of the original "Sandman" series. If this level continues - I am definitely going to stay till the end! Highly Recommended!

As an avid (trader paperback-only) reader of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, and the non-Gaiman spinoff "The Dreaming," Mike Carey's "Lucifer: Children and Monsters" wins top marks all around.

The first Lucifer collection "Devil in the Gateway" re-introduced us to Lucifer from the Sandman stories. "Sandman" fans will recall that he gave up his wings, closed shop, retired to a nightclub in Los Angeles and watched the ensuing chaos resolve itself.

In "Devil in the Gateway," Lucifer named his price for a task requested of Heaven. Not much of a task... the mere disposal of a few ancient gods. In exchange for this errand, Lucifer's price is paid: a Letter of Passage.

Lucifer transforms the letter into a gateway leading Outside of Creation. The gateway is crafted with the divine name so that even the Creator himself cannot close it without destroying all of Creation.

In "Children and Monsters" Lucifer's must reclaim his wings from the Japanese pantheon of gods (on mortal terms, no less), deal with the assembled Armies of Heaven, and finally resolve a unfinished scenario with one of his fellow Fallen.

Since I'm not one for buying issues each month, I can only say that I eagerly await the third book.

This collection of stories brings forth a surge of emotions that range from satirical humor to suspense, and they do this from page to page. Peter Carey's collection of short stories flows with all these emotions, keeping the reader in suspense through the surrealistic tales he creates. Events and locations seem so normal that one almost forgets that these are fictional tales, taking place in a world where things, places and events seem perfectly conventional until it break the laws of what is feasible and what is pure fantasy. A native Australian, Carey's stories take place in a would be Australia. Here we look into the thoughts of people in completely different situations. There is a tale of a soldier who has to guard a fence in the desert, keeping people "out". Soon he forgets which side he is supposed to be guarding, doubting his competence and his sanity. Some other stories deal with lost dreams, people who have sunk so far into despair that they emerge victoriously on the other side. This is a very good read, especially if you like to read a satisfying tale, and only have short periods of time to accomplish it.

Here are the complete (26) short stories of Peter Carey in a single volume, including those collected in the books "The Fat Man in History" (Crabs, Peeling, Life & Death in the South Side Pavilion, Room No. 5 (Escribo), Happy Story, A Windmill in the West, Withdrawal, Report on the Shadow Industry, Conversations with Unicorns, American Dreams, and The Fat Man in History), "War Crimes" (The Journey of a Lifetime, Do You Love Me?, The Uses of Williamson Wood, The Last days of a Famous Mime, A Schoolboy Prank, The Chance, Fragrance of Roses, The Puzzling Nature of Blue, Kristu Du, He Found Her in Late Summer, Exotic Pleasures, and War Crimes), along with 3 previously unpublished works (Joe, Concerning the Greek Tyrant, and A Million Dollars Worth of Amphetamines).

Peter Carey has risen to fame as a novelist, having gained notoriety from such works as Oscar and Lucinda (which garnered him the Booker Prize), Jack Maggs, The True History of the Kelly Gang, and My Life as a Fake. However, like most writers, his debut publications were short story collections and "Collected Stories" finds his mini-masterpieces all in one place. I started reading Carey during a brief residence in Melbourne (I'm a short story fan and was looking for an Australian writer to compliment my travels -- I think it was a travel guide that pointed me to Peter Carey). I bought "The Fat Man in History," but after being blown away by the first few stories, I returned it for the complete "Collected Stories" and never looked back.

Many of the stories have a surrealistic plot, such as "Do You Love Me?" in which the work of cartographers plays a role in the dematerialization of places and people, "Life and Death in the South Side Pavilion" in which a man attempts to shepherd a group of horses that keep dying by falling into a pool of water, "Peeling" in which a man's lover unravels into nothingness, or "Exotic Pleasures" in which captivatingly beautiful birds murderously overwhelm the world. Others center on human relationships, such as "Room No. 5 (Escribo)" in which a couple traveling in a foreign land fall in love in the midst of a military coup, "Happy Story" in which a man balances his love for his girlfriend with his passion for flying, "The Uses of Williamson Wood" in which a woman confronts her abuser, and "He Found Her in Late Summer" in which a man sacrifices himself for his lover. The stories are difficult to describe further because they're not really "like" many other authors I can think of. The language and character interaction are spare but powerful (reminiscent of Joe Frank -- see [...], the stories are brief, often divided into terse sections/chapters and focusing on the bizarre or fantastic (like Vonnegut), and there is a recurring theme of futility in impossible situations and suggesting a larger metaphorical meaning (evoking Kafka). Each tale leaves a strong emotional impression -- I found myself eager to read the next, but not wanting to finish too soon and exhaust the supply either.

Although "Collected Stories" is the complete collection of Carey's short works, it isn't as available (in the U.S.) as is "The Fat Man in History." But trust me, after reading a few of these stories, you won't be satisfied knowing there are more out there.

After reading this short story collection, I tried a few of Carey's novels. None ever matched the power of these short works. There have only been a few other authors whose stories made such a mark. I also happened to read "Letter to Our Son" by Carey while browsing in a bookstore -- a very short tribute to his son's birth, but also great little story that sticks in my memory.

I am an avid reader of both Secular and Christian fiction, and of Christian non-fiction and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I couldn't wait to sit down and read it again. Not only was it written extremely well, but it also keeps your attention because of the shocking way that people of the jungle in Bolivia lived. There are miracles abounding in this book, and I found it a great strength of encouragement in my daily walk with God. You see through this book how satan can reign when there is no real knowledge of God, so thankfully missionary's are willing to risk their lives and the comfort of home to reach these lost tribes!

okay i'm reviewing this w/ an 8 year old's eyes-back when my uncle wrote this book and before he launched himself into his hard core church growth and spritual warfare mode-he wrote this book as a dedicated missionary of the gospel.i have no room any longer for any of the religious nonsense that accompanies my family's lives-however, i very much loved this book as a child and thought my uncle one fine guy.i should probably re-read this book-but, i think it best to let the memories live on.he doesn't need this review to continue writing or selling his books anyway.

The theme in this volume seems to be how 'lowly workers' percieve the 'grand events'. There is a fascinating character study of Beatrice Wechsler (formerly waitress in Lucifer's piano bar) who just tried to stay out of harm's way so far.
The fallen Cherub Spera has a great line about picking up the slack when a serious flaw in Lucifer's creation becomes apparent.

But my personal favorite is the story of the evil puppet theatre that fist plunges the audience into depression before going for the kill. The size of the Teatro Crepusculo depends on the mood of the audience so when Gaudium defeats it by radiating joy (as is his original nature), it can be swatted like a nasty bug. Besides being a masterful use of the artistic possibilities of the grahic novel this says something quite deep about the human mind, feeling good and feeling bad.

And then Gaudium has a great line about reverting back to his old shape and what he expects when everybody else starts realizing what the absence of God really means.

Therefore still five stars for this volume, although some stuff about time travel and immortal beings producing offspring is hard to swallow from a logical point of view.

As a first note, if you haven't read the previous books in this series this is not the place to jump in. The focus of the stories in this book is present more on the supporting characters and provide more in the way of atmosphere to the series than they do to advance the plotline. That said, the stories are well done and enjoyable. You could probably skip this installment completely without losing much plot continuity but I wouldn't recommend it. Particularly as one of the main threads involves ridding Lucifer's domain of any immortals, there are a number of interesting oneshot characters that are presented with the final pages introducing a new major character.

This one's a heartbreaker about poor Irish and their futile efforts to avoid being stepped on an ruined by the wealthy and powerful, leading to inevitable crimes of revenge and justice. Written in dialect that's not difficult as though it were actually Kelly writing. Highly recommended.

Americans and Australians share many personality traits: both countries are vast expanses of wilderness, explored and settled by stubborn, independent people who often defied the British leaders. Their people also have a weakness for turning villains into heroes. In America, citizens cheered the exploits of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Bonnie and Clyde. In Australia, the lower class hero was a man named Ned Kelly, the son of dirt-poor Irish immigrants who led a gang of outlaws who made fools of the authorities for almost two years. This unusual historical novel purports to be the autobiography of Ned Kelly, written in painstaking script on stolen paper, envelopes and foolscap by an almost illiterate hero. By turns, touching and profane, the story details Ned's inevitable journey into thievery and lawlessness because of his fierce love for his mother. Ellen Kelly was a fiery beauty whose marriage to a weak-willed Irishman forced to flee Ireland after betraying his friends set the stage for tragedy. Unable to support his growing clan, Ned's father deserts them. When Ellen spurns the attention of the local policeman, she inspires a vendetta that curses her family for a lifetime. Desperate to provide for Ned, she apprentices him to a powerful highwayman. Soon Ned is learning the ways of thieves and robbers. The book chronicles his adventures with Harry, his eventual rebellion against the cruel criminal and his futile attempts to return to a normal law-abiding life working the farm for his mother. Carey has written a brilliant novel that captures the spirit and heart of a man who inspired the devotion of his neighbors and friends. Ned is clever, courageous, stubborn, profane, but at the heart of his character is his fierce loyalty to his mother, to his wife and to the daughter that he will never see. Carey captures the pride and honor that makes Ned so sympathetic and inspiring to his countrymen.

An excellent account of the Ned Kelly gang in the form of a series of letters.
The story is a fantastic read, though the style does take a little getting used to. Carey has mirrored Ned Kelly's famous The Jerilderie Letter in his prose, hence the roughness and lack of punctuation. The likeness is so clever, and the story so wonderful, that this book won him the ManBooker prize in 2001.
I highly recommended this book.

I tried this book for no other reason than I liked the title and premise. For a story where every reader knows the inevitable outcome, it manages to be both absorbing and fresh, with a unique voice in the form of Ned Kelly's narration. There's just enough taken from history, and enough extrapolated from bits and pieces of known correspondence and journalism, to make it feel like you are reading a historically-accurate (though clearly subjective) document - which, while not quite true, comes a lot closer than most "fictionalized history" novels. It isn't thrilling, because nothing recounted in the form of letters is ever thrilling, but it exerts its own kind of hold that keeps you constantly wondering what choice Ned will make next, and either cheering for him or wanting him to hold back. That's the sign of great characterization, and will keep me on the lookout for more novels by this author.

I don't know enough about the history of Ned Kelly to comment on the historical accuracy of the events, though I gather that the novel is quite well researched. What makes the book such an enjoyable read though is the remarkable portrayal of life in colonial Australia. You get a visceral sense of how it might have felt to be poor in the dog-eat-dog world of Ned Kelly's time, of the desperate struggle to conquer the Australian bush, of the constant oppression by authorities for whom laws rarely provide an effective check on power, of the solidarity of human beings brought together by their shared trials and tribulations. Carey has managed to convey a sense of this era in a way that few writers are able to. It is a portrait of social conditions that can be compared to the novels of Charles Dickens.

I've been trying to read Jack Maggs for the past couple of weeks. I found myself always trying to find something else to do. This included catching up on magazines, playing Freecell on my PC, etc. Tonight I finally gave up at about the halfway point in the book. Unfortunately, I didn't really care about what happened to the characters and didn't find the story at all captivating or even interesting. I read quite a bit and it's pretty unusual for me to quit halfway through a novel. Obviously many readers loved the book, but I didn't.

Apparently this story is a reinvention of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. The book is rich with interesting characters and a powerful moral vision. The story begins in London, 1837, with Jack Maggs returning after 20 years in the penal colony in Australia with the fortune he made there. He has a mission in London which he conceals to others and masquerades as a footman to an eccentric household of Percy Buckle. A wonderful story with a satisfying ending.

I have watched Oscar & Lucinda (Peter Carey) about 10 times. It's one of my alltime favorites. I heard about Peter Carey when Theft: A Love Story was reviewed in my local newspaper. I got the book and then went online to see what else he had written. I read Jack Maggs first, the story is so enthralling and the cast of characters reminds you of the quirkly people out of a Dickens novel. In a book where there is no sex, a little violence it certainly kept my interest from the first chapter. I give Jack Maggs *****

I started reading this book on a recommendation, and basically had no idea what it was about when I picked it up.

The first thing that struck me is that Peter Carey had launched himself into a virtuoso exercise in Victoriana: sordid smoggy London streets, graphic descriptions of the abusive living conditions of the under-privileged, and of course...a tall, dark, brutish, brooding, mysterious anti-hero type of character lugging his broad frame and tortuous past around with him. The mystical aura of the surroundings is also compounded by a sub-plot involving hypnotism. So far, so good, very entertaining. Actually, the character of Jack Maggs reminded me right away of Marv, the main character of the first Sin City book (Mickey Rourke in the film).

Then, a plot twist, and another, and another, to the point that I kept wondering "what the hell is this book actually about?". There were a few modern angles thrown into it as well, like a small gay reference (reminiscent of "Fingersmith" without the humor), a number of pointed comments on the role/position of women, and a strong whiff of the difficulties in reconciling national and personal identities. However, these didn't detract from the book or politicise it to excess -- rather, these elements added even more texture to an already vivid read.

All of a sudden, this book had morphed from a Victorian comic-book/soap-opera (think Wuthering Heights) into something completely different, and very emotionally loaded (father-son relationships, manipulation, etc.). What was also very interesting was the story arc that emerged -- this book seemed to be about the conclusion of the characters' story arcs, rather than a description of their lifelines (which was what the first half had led me to expect). Basically it felt like I was reading Book 10 in a series and was missing the first nine.

...and, stupid me, it was only after having finished the book that I figured out (or rather, I was told) that this is a riff off of Great Expectations, at which point things started to make a bit more sense. Yes, Maggs is close to Magwitch, and Phipps sounds like Pip, and why not, this was a pretty cool twist on the story.

Still, though, I couldn't grasp what had motivated Peter Carey to write this sort of hommage to Dickens. It is very entertaining, very well-written, and definitely a recommended read, but ultimately a bit puzzling. I think you need to be intimately familiar with Victorian literature to get all the subtleties of "Jack Maggs".

A previous reviewer likened this to a jazz riff on Dickens, and I fully agree. Imagine listening to a well-loved classic song, and then listening to a fusion-jazz version of it, complete with bizarre synclavier and bongo solos. The jazz version can be really cool in its own right, but if you don't know the original, you lose something in the structure of the piece.

Verdict: recommended, but read Great Expectations first!

I often become annoyed at reading reviews where critics rave about how wonderful a novel is and how "Dickensian" it is. Peter Carey's novel may be the first example I have come across that deserves that label. "Jack Maggs" is a novel that is completely realized in its attempt to recreate Victorian (possibly circa-the Industrial Revolution, but dating it is a little difficult) England not only in setting, but in language and tone as well. I literally felt like I was becoming a 19th century reader as I read the text. What amazed me was the fact that if I hadn't known it was a Peter Carey novel, I would have attributed the novel to a contemporary of Dickens himself.

The novel centers around Jack Maggs, an exiled thief who returns to London to find his pseudo-adopted son Henry and reclaim his house. By accident, he becomes the footman to one Percy Buckle and eventual "scientific study" and novel inspiration for a writer named Tobias who has the ability to hypnotize his subjects and obtain whatever information he wants from their brains. It's a wonderful cast of characters who become embroiled in Maggs' search for his son, someone who does not want to be associated in any way, shape, or form to his benefactor. As the story continues, you wait and wait for a terrible tragedy to occur, and you can literally feel a noose getting tighter and tighter in the final few pages.

I loved reading this book as I have enjoyed much of what Carey has written. For those who love Dickens and James, this book will be a wonderful addition to your bookshelf.

I have no doubt that there is a group of people out there who love "Theft". (In fact, the friend who loaned it to me raved about it.) These are probably the same people who can readily appreciate the genius and vision in Jackson Pollack's paintings. I am not one of these people, however, and I found "Theft" to be plodding, artless, mostly uninteresting (save perhaps the last 50 pages), and just plain pointless.

My chief complaint with the book is that there's very little plot. What plot there is (beginning with Marlene's second appearance and the trips to Japan and New York) would have been better served in the form of a short story. The first 125 or so pages are almost unreadably tedious. I nearly gave up on multiple occasions, and would have had I not felt some obligation to the friend who loaned it to me.

I also found the characters to be thoroughly unlikable. The only character I had a modicum of fondness for was Oliver (oddly!), and maybe a touch for Hugh as well by the end. But Carey seemed to go out of his way to make them a remarkably off-putting, crude, and offensive bunch. Why on earth would Carey expect me to care at all about these people? I have no idea.

In summary, "Theft" is not worth the effort. It's not rewarding or interesting, and it doesn't make any notable or unique contribution to literature.

Theft is great fun. Told in alternating voices of "ex-really famous" painter Michael Boone ("Bucher Bones") and his mentally-challenged brother, Hugh ("Slow Bones"), the story takes on a lyrical quality skipping from Australia to Japan and to New York. A bitter divorce, a complex art scam, a love story of sorts, a brutal murder and the delicate relationship between two brothers combine for a humorous, magical roller coaster ride. Carey's command of language is, in a word, brilliant.

Another terrific book from Mr. Carey told from two perspectives, the main character and his not so bright brother. He particularly writes beautifully about how an artist feels about his work, the materials, the process and you can see the paintings in your mind. How deeply he feels about phallo green. Another rich achievement. Plus there's that business about who stole the painting.

Excellent, moving, exciting, makes books in general seem like better works of art with characters so alive you wonder where they are now. I'm lucky to have been stolen but willingly went. 4 1/2 stars

I give this book two stars instead of one because I could not bring myself to finish it. I hate not finishing a book once I start it, especially one such as 'THEFT' that I was so looking forward to reading, so believe me I tried. I suffered through page after page of this book for over two weeks only to get a little more than halfway through. You heard right, it took me two weeks to just get to the halfway mark, that is because every time I read a page or two I found myself falling asleep, as this had to be one of the most boring books that I have ever read! 'THEFT' has a promising concept, a former world renowned painter finds himself, after being bankrupt on the verge of making a comeback only to get involved with a mysterious woman who threatens to bring down all that he has worked for. It sounds as though the book has a lot of suspense and intrigue. There is a promise of adventure as the clues unravel about the art theft & murder but at least for the first half of this story those things come in the smallest of doses. I couldn't even give a proper synopsis of the book because as far as I could tell, not much happened other than two brothers complaining an awful lot about each other. Every time you would see a hint of the story taking shape the focus of the story would change and it ended up being dragged out.

Again, I give this book two stars instead of one because since I did not finish it, something, somewhere down the line could happen to make this a more interesting book. However, I personally couldn't suffer through another 100 pages before that happened.

Tom Peters' book is entirely spirited and full of spontaneous ideas for sales. His approach is out of the box, he is not a conformist, leaving me with many ideas to start now!

The book is written in many short example. Easy to digest each part. Let the concept become a part of you.

Save your time and the one cent and read Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance
and prepare for the 21st Century global economy with solid sanity.

I can't put it down! I love his honesty, his say it like you see it and his human approach. Not sure what else to say. It's on my top 10 list.

This book is okay to read, but while I started reading this book seriously to read it all at once, I just oculdn't do it at once. It took me lot longer to finish this book than most others -- compared to the size of the book, not because the content is bad, but the way it has been written.
Don't get me wrong this book is not a waste of time or money, and in fact, points delivered out of this book are well stuck to my brain that I use it regularly, but when you are reading a "Tips" book, it is hard to remember continuously everything thing and use it, so you have to stop and read some other time -- more like reading Gita/Bible/Qaran -- Absolutely fantastic words of wisdom, but can't swallow it all at once and by the time your each the end, it is lot longer..

I was thinking between a 4 star and 5 star for this book, but it ended up with 4 star, because, I didn't intend this book to be written this way -- better set of examples/anectodes would have made the book more interesting to read and remmeber the points easier, forever.

You may know Peters from his classic book IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE...business visionary and seminar leader. This book moves him and you into the cyberstage era. As it says on the back cover -- getting to excellence is not enuf --you have to leap and leap again and then catapault their imagaination-- blow their mindsets (hmm that's a 90's word) and knock off their Nikes...It's the wowers who will win in this brazen world. Women will love his milk, cookies and managing people chapter-- after all isn't that a stereotype-- the woman boss who brings in the goodies for the staff meeting....He covers hundreds of ideas here and disperses praise generously from Mary Kay for her MLM incentive program to the guy who keeps a clean bathroom at his gas station...Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way-- says Ted Turner and quoted by Peters...What Peters got right and remember this book was written back in 1994 is the irreverance to the corporate store....and the flattening of the pyramid...and the importance of small biz-- he talks to 11 entrepreneurs. Buy it used ...it's great to have on your shelf when you can't figure out what to do next as the boss of them or the boss of YOU!...Enjoy....fun airport reading....especially after a difficult meeting or maybe even before one.....

This is a collection of short stories. While the main characters from the movies are mentioned only briefly, if at all it is still an interesting read.

Having read all of the "Tales from..." books, I can clearly say that this is the worst.

Unlike the others (except Empire), each story is not he backstory of someone you've seen or may be interested about. That was the real beauty behind the other ones, but I expected this one to be still interesting at least (like Empire was), but it was disappointing.

The stories weren't bad, really, but few of them had any characters that I could like, get to know, or even distinguish from the other characters. Some of the stories seemed to blend together a bit, not a good thing in a collection of separate stories. These stories just didn't keep me reading. This book actually broke my streak of books I'd read. I'd been reading a lot of Star Wars novels, then started on this one. I put it down in the middle of a story, and didn't bring myself back for months. I finally forced myself to finish it off, and now I'm back on track reading tons of books.

Some stories were definiately better than others. Jade Solitaire was pretty good, and Interlude at Darknell was cool, because I'm a fan of both the Horn family and Ysanne Isard.

Uhl Ehearl Khoehng, though, was AWFUL. Bizarre is not the word to use, even though it was. The story was bad and confusing, the writing sucked, and it kind of ignored nearly all of everything in Star Wars. If you do pick up this book, I urge you to skip over this story, because it was terrible.

Tales from the New Republic contains eleven stories with Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole doing the best work and Patricia Jackson bringing up the rear with two tales that just don't amount to much. Fortunately, the efforts from Mr. Zahn and Mr. Stackpole are excellent and more than offset the weaker efforts by some of the other authors. This book is one of several Star Wars books that rely on the same structure, i.e., pick an area in the Star Wars universe at about the same point in time and write stories about a number of different characters. Some of the characters are known to us going in, but most are not. Some of the stories are successful, and some are not.

"Interlude at Darkknell" by Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole is an excellent four-part tale that gets the book off to a good start. Senator Garm Bel Iblis joins forces with Corsec inspector Hal Horn in a duel against the Empire's most dangerous agent in an effort to obtain the plans for the Death Star. It is a gripping story that ties in well with the background information we already have about the Death Star. Mr. Zahn follows this story with "Jade Solitaire" in which we follow Mara Jade through one of her adventures.

Most of the stories from the other authors are fun to read and are decently written. If you decide to skip Patricia Jackson's two stories, you won't miss much. Her storylines are just completely uninteresting, and her style is pretentious and wordy.

This is the last collection of short stories in a chronological reading of the Expanded Universe that we have undertaken. Now we will move on to longer tales with more familiar characters.

Tales from the New Republic is the fifth and final collection of short stories in my chronological reading of the Expanded Universe. Like the preceding volume Tales from the Empire, it compiles stories originally published in the Star Wars Adventure Journal which are set during and after the Original Trilogy. Several of the authors overlap both volumes as well, including fan favorites Michael Stackpole and Timothy Zahn, who turn in another collaborative novella broken into four parts.

The Stackpole/Zahn effort "Interlude at Darkknell" kicks off the book with Zahn contributing parts one and four and Stackpole taking the middle two. Bizarrely, considering the title of this story collection, the novella is set all the way before A New Hope and utilizes the Death Star plans as the driving plot device. Senator Garm Bel Iblis, known to many EU readers from the Thrawn Trilogy, is swept up in an attempted assassination which sets him on the path to opposing Palpatine's Empire. Ties to Stackpole's Rogue Squadron books and comics include Corsec inspector Hal Horn (Corran Horn's father) and Ysanne Isard, a malicious and ambitious field operative for Imperial Intelligence. Unlikely alliances and sudden double-crosses are liberally sprinkled through the four parts, keeping the pace brisk and the plot exciting.

In addition to the novella, Zahn's "Jade Solitaire" was also selected for this compendium. Mara Jade is in charge of the Wild Karrde while her boss Talon Karrde is away on business. Bloated industrialist Ja Bardrin captures the Wild Karrde's crew and hold them hostage; his demand is that Mara set off to rescue his daughter, who was kidnapped by Drach'nam slaver Praysh along with a valuable prototype ship. This story has a terrific action sequence as Mara does what must be done to the slaver organization and also fills in the backstory of her vessel Jade's Fire.

Patricia Jackson contributes two stories to this volume. "The Longest Fall" rhapsodically recounts the strangulation of an unlucky Imperial officer. "Uhl Eharl Khoehng" tells of a Dark Jedi and his plotting with his son to perform the hardest play ever. Having already read one of her stories in Tales from the Empire, I continue to dislike her pretentious storylines, overly flowery language, and heavy-handed fetish for evil. Lucas has never portrayed the bad guys as role models in the films, and while I don't mind some shades of gray being explored in the EU, in terms of overall theme I believe good should always be held as the ultimate ideal.

The remaining stories in the volume are largely high-quality and engaging. Chris Cassidy and Tish Pahl are featured twice and utilize the same core characters in both stories. They also work in an interesting appearance by Kyp Durron in a story set after the events of the Jedi Academy Trilogy. Paul Danner's "No Disintegrations, Please" is a fun over-the-top story of Boba Fett doing ridiculously impossible things to chase down a bounty. Danner also has a second story in the book, and authors Jean Rabe, Laurie Burns, and Kathy Burdette have one story each.

I've enjoyed reading collections of short stories that stray from the beaten path of the main film characters, but I admit, at this point in my chronological reading I'm ready to get back to some longer stories featuring more prominent characters. I still feel the Tales concept is a strong one and would like to see more collections in the same vein someday.

While this book is not as diverse as Tales of the Empire, and it perhaps better organized and focuses on a less concentrated time period. (ranging from the Old Republic to the middle of the Jedi Academy Trilogy (about seven years after Return of the Jedi)) The stories are intelligent and well written, and some of them even heartbreaking. I wouldn't however, recommend this to someone who has had little experience with the Expanded Universe, because they would be totally lost. Anway, the stories are:

Interlude at Darknell(four parts) Yet another collaboration between Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole! AN interesting story about a younger Bel Iblis and Corran's dad as well.

Jade Solitare: My favorite in the book. How Mara aquired her beloved ship, the Jade's Fire.

Gathering Shadows: A severely wounded man and woman sit in a cell and share their delirious miseries.

Hutt and Seek: The hilarious duo of Fen and Ghitsa mess with Shada D'ukal and her mistryl pals, not a good idea...

The Longest Fall: A chilling acount of an Imperial officer getting force-choked to death by Darth Vader.

Conflict of Interest: A young Rebel spy tries to desipher who is friend and who is foe.

No Disintigrations, Please: A fascinating Boba Fett story.

Day of the Sepulchral Night: A pair of greedy weequays get what they deserve.

Uhl Ehearl Khohng: A bizarre story that I'm guessing takes place at the end of the Old Republic. Warning: reads like a romance novel.

The Last Hand: A young man desperately wants a lightsaber and will go to any lengths to buy one.

Simple Tricks: Another story about Fen and Ghitsa and taking place some years later, during the Jedi Academy Trilogy. I never like Kyp Durron at all, but this story gave me somewhat of a different view of him.

Suffice to say, this is good book recommendable to anyone with a clear understanding of Star Wars.

Carey is obviously a talented writer and I enjoyed his musings on commercialism, modernity, hell, heaven etc. and his ability to create eccentric characters and odd situational motifs, but in the end I didn't really care about the characters or what happened to them given that they were types of one sort or another.

Each character is sketched very carefully with lots of physical details and back story, but unfortunately, they as characters, don't really develop over time, or maybe they did, but I was lost in the minutia Carey's detailed approach though, does lend itself well to constructing atmosphere and landscape - the novel is set somewhere in Australia, in a metropolis that is at the edge of a jungle. Carey does a fantastic job of describing in detail everything from a tree root, to the journals buried in the grounds of an insane asylum.

Bliss isn't exactly bliss to read, but it wasn't hell either. 3 out of 5 stars. I'll probably checkout some of his other books.

Highly recommended. Surprisingly moving story that questions the rhythms and relationships in modern life. Definitely thought-provoking

This was Peter Carey's first book, and the first Peter Carey book I've read. Some of the story telling (Carey's, not the protagonist Harry Joy's) was truly fantastic, in other parts it felt forced and I became distracted.

Harry Joy, an oblivious yet "good bloke", suffers a heart attack. When he recovers he believes he is in hell. After witnessing his family in a new light he leaves. His journey makes up the story. I don't know if any of the other readers felt this way, but some of it reminded me of American Beauty.

I picked this book up on recommendation by a book seller. It was the first book I've read by Peter Carey. While I found Carey's use of language fascinating (I have not read much Australian literature which may have increased my interest), the story failed to satisfy. I felt that Carey abandoned the gloom and doom of Harry's "Hell" as the story drew to a close in order to give the character the sense of bliss and heaven on which the book's themes revolve. While I appreciate the stab at finality, the ease with which Harry transitions to a bush lifestyle and forsakes his urban past is unbelievable particularly in light of torment and obstacles he is confronted with up to this point.

Following a good verses evil dichotomy throughout the book, Carey proposed that abandonment of the urban (evil) for the rural (good) is the path to happiness. Even if I had read this book at the time of its release in the 1980's, this structure would still have rendered the tale naive. Carey delves into the complex means with which modern society corrupts imperceptibly through the media's perpetuation of ideology and then offers an over simplified solution to the problem. It does not ring true.

I was also disappointed that Harry's daughter Lucy was not a more developed character. Carey's makes her character highly intriguing but then fails to fully flush her out.

This is definitely a worth while read despite its flaws and I will certainly explore more of Carey work. I only hope that his later books are more carefully constructed.

Harry Joy is much like someone we all probably know. A regular guy, a successful businessman, husband, and father. But after suffering a heart attack he transforms into someone much more interesting. He is rescusitated, but convinced he is in hell.
Don't read this and think you know where this story is going, there isn't anything that can prepare you for the rest of this brilliant, quirky, dark, hilarious story. Harry is surrounded by a cast of characters who are not necessarily likeable, but complex and interesting. We get to know his wife, his children, his business partner, and some new friends as well as Harry gets to know people as they really are, and not as he thought they were. This is a funny story, told in a serious way. Pay attention and you will laugh out loud. Highly recommended, Peter Carey is a brilliant writer.