Non-fiction Books

Third in the Twilight Series this is a truely excellent read... I have many of Maggies books in my collection.

every book that I have read in this series is wonderful..Maggie Shaynes vampires are captivating...

RE-PRINT THESE BOOKS....PLEASE!

Maggie Shayne's _Twilight Memories_ re-introduces Roland de Courtemanche, a 1000-year-old vampire who first appeared in _Twilight Phantasies_. In this book, Roland is living in France with his young charge, Jamey Bryant, while Rhiannon, an arrogant-yet-vulnerable, beautiful, reckless 2000-year-old vampire romantically pursues him. They once again face the DPI(Department of Paranormal Investigations) and a dangerous mortal who is hunting Rhiannon. Eric and Tamara, protagonists of the previous book, also make an appearance in this book.

Maggie Shayne readers, take heart... Her "Wings" series will be available soon at Wal-Mart, Waldenbooks and Borders in a collectors series. For those of you who love her work as well as I do, this news will make your day. Also look for "Infinity" (remember "Eternity"?) - it will be available in September/October... I know this news will make some people very happy!

If anything I found the second in this vampire series better than the first. While the story of the heroine Rhiannon seems to owe a touch of credit to Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned, she is a great heroine. I appreciate that unlike the usual tale this isn't about an innocent female mortal seduced by the dark seductive vampire. She is an ancient vampire herself filled with arrogance, insecurity, and unrequited love. Roland, introduced in Twilight Phantasies is both irresistably attracted and resistant to the love of his immortal life the tortured and mercurial Rhiannon. They are a memorable and unique pair. They aren't a simple retelling of a familiar plot. A wonderful book.

Henry Wilt is just a regular guy with 'semi' normal thoughts and ambitions, trying to get somewhere in life, except that those around him pay little or no attention to him at all. This drives him to conconct some wayward plan to remove the main thing that's kept him where he is: his wife, Eva. All things are going swimmingly until a chance-meeting with their new neighbours shifts his whole world to one where anything ridiculous and downright unbelievable ends up making a lot of sense.

It's the effortless way that Tom Sharpe interlocks the characters and circumstances in his books that makes them so addictive. I've never read a book where I literally burst out laughing, only to have to sink deeper into my seat to avoid the quizzical looks from those around me. I loved Blott On The Landscape and Porterhouse Blue (and I didn't think he could top them!), but Wilt is by far the best one I've read...and judging by the reviews that Amazon readers have been giving his other books, it seems the journey for me has just begun.

Wilt began Tom Sharpe's peculiar and irreverant view of life that is expanded throughout all his books since. One step outside the normal leads to two steps and before we know it we are in a parallel universe of the absurd that is very, very funny, outrageous, and essentially human, warts and all. Tom Sharpe has inspired some of the best new humour writer's of today. I think particularly of Robert Fox, who in Red Fox Goose Green takes the everyday in English village life -- the fox hunt, the church service, the pub -- and breathes Tom Sharpe style farce into the institutions that made Britain what it is.

If you enjoy satire, and you like it laced with sexual innuendo, profanity and wit, you will love Tom Sharpe's books, but you will particularly love Wilt, which takes you into the world and never-ending irony of lower-class British academia. Henry Wilt is miserable in his existence as a "Tech" lecturer, married to Eva, his incorrigibly energetic, enthusiastic and critical wife. He attempts to escape by way of fantasizing how he might murder Eva, who has recently taken up with the sexually wacky American couple next door. After an embarrassing encounter with an inflatable doll, Wilt decides to practice murder on it, and ends up being accused of murdering Eva. A fantastic read.

I bought this book 15 years ago when traveling. While waiting for a change of planes at Heathrow, I started reading, and couldn't put it down. I started chuckling to myself, then laughing out loud, then laughing so it hurt!! Other passengers were staring at me. I showed them what I reading and some of them nodded knowingly.

It is the funniest book I have ever read!

This is Sharp's best novel yet, the second detailing the life of Wilt a college lecturer and his severely disfunctional family. In what is basically a farce Sharpe's satire bites deep into every subject he touches, as Wilt comes under investigation by the police for drug dealing, infiltrates a US nuclear air base and has to use face cream to cool his burning uncontrolable penis. If my description of this novel sounds manic, the reason is simple, the book is manic. As an Englishman living in the US I am not sure if the humor travels well, but I hope my American friends can appreciate it, because this book is one of only three (all written by Tom) capable of making me laugh out loud wherever I am reading it (which can be most embarrasing). Try it and enjoy a different view of life and then be thankful you don't have to live Wilt's life.

I'm so lucky that my high school Latin teacher, in the early 80s, had us read this alongside Virgil, Horace, Ovid, etc. I had never read "Winnie The Pooh" before! -- and read it only after reading both "Winnie Ille Pu" then, much later, "The Tao of Pooh." You don't need to be as weird or backward as I am, though, to love this. The book is terrific. To all Latin teachers: bring this to class, please. It's wonderful. The students in my class loved it, finding it all very familiar to them as we reached each part. It wasn't easy to translate--I don't know how the newer ones compare ("Harry Potter" in Latin, etc.)--but in 3rd or 4th year high school Latin, it was at our level and a lot of fun. The students who knew Winnie the Pooh found translating it easier than I did, as in: "Oh, this is the part when...", thus were able to extrapolate through its accessibility. For them it was a break from difficult or unfamilar Latin writing, rendering it Useful through familiarity with its English version. For me, I got to know Pooh through Latin, and I've loved Pooh and the gang ever since.

The top line is the original English.
The second line is the latin.
The third line is an attempted translation.
(Here I have added additional comments.)

...in which we are introduced to
Quo in capite nobis ostentantur
By which in our heads they are shown
(to show a person into someone elses head
means to introduce)
(nobis our, capite heads, word order in latin
is not the same as in English

Winnie the pooh and some bees.
Winnie ille Pu ataque apues nonnullae
Winne that Pooh, also bees notnone.
(translate nonnullae as some)

And so our stories begin.
et incipient fabulae.
And they begin the stories.
(Latin unlike English had no word "the". To
translate into English this word must be inserted
when this would make sense to do so.)

HERE is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now,
Ecce Eduardus Ursus, scalis nunc.
Look/behold Edward bear. On the staircase now.
(scalis is literally a ladder)

bump, bump,bump,
tump-tump-tump

on the back of his head,
occipite gradus pulsante
back of the head on the grade (stairs) he hits (pulses)
(Occipital region is the back of the head. Think of hits
or pulsations while on a down grade).

behind Christopher Robin.
post Christophorum Robin descendens.
after Christopher Robin he climbs down (descends).

It is, as far as he knows,
Est quod sciat,
It is which he-thinks

the only way of coming downstairs,
unus et solus modus gradibus descendendi,
the-one and only manner of the stairs descending,

But sometimes
Nonnunquam autem
Not-atnotime(sometimes) but (however)
(sometimes however)

he feels that there really is another way,
sentit etiam alterum modum exstare,
he perceives also there-is-one manner to stand apart
(he senses yet another mode exists)

if only he could stop bumping
dummodo pulstationibus desinere (possit)
Provided that the-bumping- to-give-up (it is possible)

for a moment and think of it.
Et de eo modo meditari possit.
And about I go about manner consider it is possible
(de Eo modo the manner you go about something ie method )
( and it is possible to think about the method.)

And then he feels that perhaps there isn't.
Dende censet alios modos non esse.
Then he feels the-other manners to not be.
(so sometimes he thinks there are no other methods).

Anyhow, here he is at the bottom
En, nunc ipse in imo est.
Behold, now himself at the bottom
(note imus form of inferus is used here)

, and ready to be introduced to you.
vobis ostentari paratus
to you to be shown prepared (prepared to be shown to you)

Winnie-the-Pooh.

(OK, so you get the picture. DONT miss this book. Pooh is about to roll in the mud next then take up flying. Do you really wanna miss that?

If you would have had trouble translating that level of Latin on your own, get a copy in English as well. Also get Latin translation software so that you can quickly look up any unknown word. You can plug in words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs, into the software for immediate translation. I use QuickLatin for this purpose but there are others. Search for Latin translation software on the net. )

Most people who only know a little Latin should hopefully be able to understand Winnie Ille Pu. The ending has a 'notes' section where unusual phrases such as 'scire velim' are listed under their respective chapters for easy reference.

There is something a bit more elegant about the Latin of Winnie Ille Pu compared to Fabulae Mirabiles, but that is caused by the differing genres of the writings. However, Fabulae Mirabliles would be my choice for the Latin beginner.

I sing of a boy and a bear...
Perhaps Vergil would have opted for Pu (Pooh) rather than Aeneid had he the choice, and begun his tome not in the journey from Troy, but rather the journey around the forest.

I have this sitting next to books of equally interesting exercise, such as a translation of modern poetry into Old English. Likewise, Henry Beard's translations of various ordinary statements and phrases in Latin (and cat behaviours in to French) also sit next to this honoured tome.

When I returned from Britain and began to think in theological-training terms, I had to re-acquaint myself with Latin; for an exam I had to memorise one biblical passage, one passage from the Aeneid, and one passage of my choice. I chose Winnie Ille Pu, and, as it had not been excluded from the list, I was permitted this indulgence (I believe that the exam list now has a section of excluded works, including this one, more's the pity).

Do not be frightened off by the fact that this is a book in Latin. It is very accessible, and quite fun to read with the English version of Winnie-the-Pooh at its side. The Latin version has kept many of the original illustrations as well as the page layout forms, for example:

In English:
And then he got up, and said: 'And the only reason for making honey is so as I can eat it.' So he began to climb the tree.

He
climbed
and he
climbed
and he
climbed,
and as he
climbed
he
sang
a little
song
to himself.
It went

like this:

Isn't it funny
How a bear likes honey
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
I wonder why he does?

In Latin:

Et nisus est
et
nisus est
et
nisus est
et
nisus est
et nitens carmen sic coepit canere:

Cur ursus clamat?
Cur adeo mel amat?
Burr, burr, burr
Quid est causae cur?

Statements sound much more grand in Latin: 'Ior mi,' dixit sollemniter, 'egomet, Winnie ille Pu, caudam tuam reperiam.' which means, 'Eeyore,' he said solemnly, 'I, Winnie-the-Pooh, will find your tail for you.'

This is a delightful romp through a language study. I have recommended this to friends who want an introduction to Latin, together with the Lingua Latina series, which uses a natural language method for instruction.

Alexander Lenard, the translator, obviously did a great labour of love here, and I agree with the Chicago Tribune's statement that this book 'does more to attract interest in Latin than Cicero, Caesar, and Virgil combined.' One wonders if the Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet will be translated into Latin to make them seem 'more philosophical; or indeed, will Winnie ille Pu be likewise translated into Sanskrit and other such languages? It is not uncommon that the entertaining use of language does more for language enrichment and interest than any academic or official push of the tongue. It is no mistake that the Welsh language effort incorporated cartoons from the beginning -- it is natural for people to respond to fun and lively things, and this kind of treatment can be rather tricky, in that the average reader might not be so consciously aware that education is going on...

Winnie-the-Pooh in Akkadian? Hmmm, I feel a Ph.D. dissertation topic coming on...

This work is no small endeavour, but rather a thorough and engaging translation of the entire Pooh story. From the start, when we are introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh, through to the adventures in the Tight Place (in angustias incurrit), when Piglet meets a heffalump (heffalumpum), meeting Kanga and Roo (Canga and Ru), the expedition to the North Pole (Palum Septentrionalem), and finally saying goodbye, the entire story and text is here. One can (as I do) set the Dell Yearling 60th Anniversary Version of Winnie-the-Pooh side-by-side with Winnie-ille-Pu and follow line by line the engaging story, which translates well into this one-time universal language. And why ever not? Surely if there is a story nearly universal appeal, it would be of dear Winnie.

As A.A. Milne was a graduate of the Westminster School (which is housed down the block from my old Parliamentary offices) and of Cambridge, he might consider the translation of his classic work into the classical language a signal honour, and one wonders if, given the fact that Milne studied classical languages himself, if he ever translated any pieces, however small, into those languages that every English schoolboy learns to hate and love.

The story leaves off with Christophorus Robinus heading off to bath (and presumably, bed) ...

Of course, being a person of small importance myself, I identify much more with Porcellus (Piglet) than Pu. I know the struggles against the clerical/hierarchical/academic heffalumpum, and as Pooh has given me a new language of consideration for such conditions, Pu has given me a bilingual command of that language.

Long live the Porcelli amicus!

Treat yourself to this charming little jeu d'esprit. It will do wonders for lifting your sagging Latin spirits when struggling with some of the heavy-duty stuff.

This remains my favourite Sweet Dreams book of all time and that's saying a lot as I own 250 books of the series! I'm a sucker for the cliché romantic formula of hate at first sight, even more when it's partnered with the `girl and boy pretend to be a couple' formula. This plot is by no means original but it's a refreshing, fun and witty read. Darby and Bruce meet when their cars collide into each other's and shortly realize it's a small world after all when Darby's cousin sets her up on a blind date later that day with none other than Bruce himself. Accusations of being a `Neanderthal' and a lousy driver are flung back and forth until Darby has to enlist Bruce's help in an attempt to get rid of the unwanted attention from another student.

The characters are endearing without being obnoxious and their run-ins with each other are hilarious. I owned this book when I was a teenager and lost it when I loaned it to a friend. It took another 10 years to track it down through ebay just as I was about ready to buy another copy of it somewhere else for $50!!! I've read this book many times, even now as a 30-year old and I always finish it with a smile on my face.

I read this book when I was in my early teens. It brought me such emense joy, that when asked my favorite book, it always springs to mind. When it is not kosher for a 20-something woman to admit that she still loves a teen romance novel, I do. It always brings back wonderful memories, and it makes me happy just to remember the characters. Bruce and Darby are as much of my teenage years as algebra and history. So, if you are fortunate enough to read this book, savor it.

This one of the best books I've EVER read. I just wish I had my own copy ! It's very funny and romantic but not only that.. The characters and storylines are so well constructed that you feel like you know them. An excellent re-readable book

I read "Wrong Way Romance" many times when I was younger and still remember the characters. At one point I had intended to steal the book from the library, but I returned it and never found it again. "Wrong Way Romance" is an enjoyable read and hopefully I will find it again someday!

I once had a copy of this book but lended it to a friend and never got it back. It took me three years to find a copy again and it was worth it because this book is so funny and so cute that anybody who ever liked young adult romance should have this title in her (or his?) personal library.

I first read this book almost 15 years ago. It is practically bleeding with researched technical facts to enhance the plot, which is also captivating. Two main characters, Whalid and the President, seem to change their outlook later in the book.

It is a must read, especially now. A TLC broadcast from 1997, Doomsday: On The Brink, shows that as decades pass, such an incident might be inevitable. In the last 30,000 years, every other weapon the human race has invented has proliferated and been used. Decades? Centuries? Millenia? When the people who remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki have passed? Who might be tempted to push the button then? Not just political or military leaders, but terrorists?

A terrifying must read.

Readers of Frederick Forsyth, Jack Higgins and Tom Clancy must get their hands on this brilliantly written thriller of a potential nuclear catastrophe in NY city. This book seems especially plausible today and adds to the impression. The characters are believable and the plot unfolds superbly, no let-ups or loose strings! A must read for all thriller readers, you will not be disapppointed. I read this book at a stretch and it is at the top of my all-time favorites list (and I've read quite a few thrillers!)

Definitely this book deserves SIX stars, it will keep you reading from the first page till the last one, involves all the presidents of the world and even with that is an easy book to read, but here are my questions:

Why could this happened 25 years ago and not right now? I think that this book is timeless.
What does the president will really do?
What does the Police, FBI and CIA among others will really do? They really know how to handle this kind of problem?
All the countries will respect the president's decision?

Read this book and think about these questions.

I paid 25 cents for this book and it was the best quarter I ever spent. This book grabs you at the beginning and does notlet go of you to well after you are done reading it. The subject matter is so topical that the 22 years from original press does not matter at all. Buy it used, find in in the library, or if you have money to burn buy it from a Zshop. You won't be disappointed.

This was a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The ultimate villain Mommar Quadaffi is able to hide a nuclear
bomb in New York City.He also has a team of terrorists who are
loose in New York.He is then able to use the bomb as a means of leverage against the President of the United States.In the mean-
time the FBI,CIA, and the New York Police Department are searching high and low to locate the bomb.The clcok starts to
click down on the time left to find the bomb.The President and
the law enforcement agencies are under the gun.Quadaffi plays the
role of the villain very skillfully.This is a very scary book
that is indeed a page turner. Read it.

Aces High is a high class, and high up restaurant catering to the Aces, the Wild Card victims with powers. It is expensive and snooty, run by one of their own, a man named Hiram Worchester, who has the ability to control weight.

The Aces have two serious problems in this book, and the stories all relate to these somehow, the menace of the alien Swarm, and the crazy black magic style power use of the Astronomer, a geeky crazed black magician type.

The other memorable nasty, Demise, with his death gaze and regeneration abilities, also is introduced in "If Looks Could Kill".

Wild Cards 02 : 01 Pennies from Hell - Lewis Shiner
Wild Cards 02 : 02 Jube: One - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 03 Unto the Sixth Generation: Prologue - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 04 Jube: Two - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 05 Ashes to Ashes - Roger Zelazny
Wild Cards 02 : 06 Unto the Sixth Generation: Part One - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 07 Unto the Sixth Generation: Part Two - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 08 Jube: Three - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 09 If Looks Could Kill - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 02 : 10 Jube: Four - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 11 Unto the Sixth Generation: Epilogue - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 12 Winter's Chill - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 13 Jube: Five - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 14 Relative Difficulties - Melinda M. Snodgrass
Wild Cards 02 : 15 With a Little Help From His Friends - Victor Milán
Wild Cards 02 : 16 Jube: Six - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 17 By Lost Ways - Pat Cadigan
Wild Cards 02 : 18 Mr. Koyama's Comet - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 19 Half Past Dead - John J. Miller
Wild Cards 02 : 20 Jube: Seven - George R. R. Martin



Fortunato meets a nice girl to go along with his geisha collection, but his pursuit of the Masons through rare coins has terrible consequences.

5 out of 5


Walrus boy ain't what he seems.

4 out of 5


An ally makes a desperate teleportation attempt to warn Jube of the Swarm.

4 out of 5


The death of his alien ally and the loss of the singularity shifter and a garbled message of warning distracts Jube from the xmas cheer.

4 out of 5


The death of his alien ally and the loss of the singularity shifter and a garbled message of warning distracts Jube from the xmas cheer.

4 out of 5


Jube hires Croyd to find the alien corpse, and anything with it. Devil John biffo.

4 out of 5


Modular Man made, Swarm invade.

4 out of 5


Singularity shifting. Don't try and mind-control androids.

3.5 out of 5


When Jube realises his ally meant the Swarm, he knows he needs the power of the Singularity Shifter rather more urgently.

3.5 out of 5


Astronomer hires Demise eyes.

4.5 out of 5


Jube enlists the transparent infobroker.

3 out of 5


Punks find Shifter.

2.5 out of 5


Girl shy Turtle.

4.5 out of 5


Astronomer, Swarm, Takisians all prove to be a little overwhelming.

3 out of 5


Captain Trips drops back in, as Tachyon's relatives show bad timing, capture them, Turtle, and others.

5 out of 5


Tachyon and Trips vs Takisians and Swarm for the fate of the world.

5 out of 5


On the Mason trail.

3 out of 5


Astronomer has hostages and Shakhti machine, but the Aces rally for a raid.

4 out of 5


Swarm sighting.

3 out of 5


Yeoman finds the Singularity Shifter while taking out Egrets. When Tachyon learns of this, he has a plan to take the fight to the Swarm.

5 out of 5


Jube tells Red about some aliens and decides his allegiances are local.

3.5 out of 5

This is the second book in the Wildcards series. This book focuses on the lives of many of the aces of the wildcards universe, with the main unifying plot of the stories being the threat of an alien invasion.

Aces High is a more focused book, dealing with a smaller group of aces and returning to them more often rather than the sampler that the first book was. Many of the favorites return; Fortunato, Dr. Tachyon, The Great and Powerful Turtle, but there are some really nasty villians that appear in this book, as well. The villians are not nice people, so be warned, but they are interesting characters. The leader is pretty much evil to the core, but his hirelings are much more human, each with their own motivations which are explained pretty well in the book. They aren't all evil; many are just looking to get ahead and backing the team that they think will win. Well, and perhaps are a bit more accepting of the "win at any cost" mentality.

I can't think of a story I didn't enjoy in this book, either. All were well written, and were tied together well. I think my favorite story may have been the exploits of Modular Man, but Captain Tripps is a very interesting character as well. I hope to see more of them in future books.

So far, it seems that these books should be read in order, so if you skip Wildcards 1 and start here, you may be lost. Just a word of warning, since I know the books can be hard to find.
I recommend this book to all Wildcards fans and any superhero fan that has not read this series yet is doing themselves a disservice.

A great installment in the Wild Cards universe. An alien swarm is headed on a collision course with earth and the Aces must unite to fight the impending doom of the world. However, "the Astronomer" - a super-villain- is trying to stop the heroes, and employs any devious methods to reach his ends... There are new characters presented such as Demise - who can look in your eyes forcing you to relive his death, and thus die yourself...and Jube, the walrus-like newspaper salesman with bad taste in jokes and equally bad fashion sense... who knows what motives he has?

This is a great story, and I can't help but think that the wild cards would make an excellent series on the sci-fi channel.
I look forward to the next episode!

Relic113

The continuing short story collection set in the shared world as introduced in 'Wild Cards,' this is the continuing stories of those Aces and Jokers (and sometimes plain old natural humans) in the fallout of the genetic Wild Card virus. We're in the eighties now, and a new menace looms on the horizon - a dark alien organism is on its way, and the Swarm Mother sends terrible creatures down to attack earth in many places - and who else can stop them but the super-powered Aces?

The nice thing is the story-arc merely starts with the swarm assault, and from there, the weaving in of new and old characters is superb. We revisit some of the best characters from the first volume (The Great and Powerful Turtle is my favourite so far), and the story of the Swarm Mother certainly doesn't end in that single attack. This is solid stuff, and very well organized to say that it's a shared world.

Now I've ordered book three in with the last of my online gift certificates, and hope it arrives soon! Nothing quite like a new literary addiction.

'Nathan

Over a dozen years ago I received the first two Wild Cards books as a birthday present. I read the first one, enjoyed it, but wasn't so sure about the series. But I already had the second one, so I might as well give it a shot, right? What a difference a second chance made.

Wild Cards Volume 2 (Aces High) is, for me, where the Wild Cards series really began. Unlike the first book, which is a series of introductory and mostly unconnected plots, this one features several central plotlines as the storylines all begin to converge. An alien race known as the Swarm is heading for Earth. The Astronomer, leader of the Masons, is preparing for his own conquest. And when one of your greatest defenders is a pimp whose powers only activate when he engages in tantric sex, well, you're in big trouble.

There's so much great stuff in this book it's hard to leave any of it out. Lewis Shiner's "Pennies from Heaven" establishes the Astronomer as a real threat, setting the stage for both this and the next book. Walter Jon Williams's "Unto the Sixth Generation" is one of the cornerstones of the book, both introducing the Swarm into the Wild Cards universe, as well as Williams's robotic hero Modular Man. Several other stories introduce new, very-long-running characters; Walton Simons's "If Looks Could Kill" brings aboard the very dangerous James Spector (aka Demise). "By Lost Ways" has Pat Cadigan bring aboard Jane Dow, the Water Lily who really would be happy to just slink into the background and whose story is more important than one might think at first... Last but not least, George R.R. Martin's "Jube" story twists and turns its way through the book, uniting the short stories almost effortlessly.

Old favorites still abound, of course. Roger Zelazny's "Ashes to Ashes" is a hysterical romp through Jokertown as the ever-unpredictable Croyd tries to go on a simple seek-and-locate mission with predictably disastrous results. George R.R. Martin's "Winter's Chill" has Tom Tudbury discover that being an Ace doesn't make your life great at all; in fact, sometimes it can downright ruin it. Melinda M. Snodgrass and Victor Milan coordinate their stories "Relative Difficulties" and "With A Little Help From His Friends" as Dr. Tachyon and Dr. Trips have to join forces (not once but twice) to deal with Tachyon's not-very-happy relations. John J. Miller's "Half Past Dead" is both an epilogue to the Swarm story as well as continuing the story of Yeoman.

There are very, very few books in the Wild Cards series where every single story hits a home run, but this is one of them (the next book, Jokers Wild, also manages to do this). If you were on the fence after the first book, trust me--this is the one you definitely can't miss.

I have to agree with the other reviews on this book, it's a MUST have at any price.

The art from the early Dragonlance covers has always been some of my favorite fantasy art, and this book dives deeper in the vaults to bring out art that if you're like me might never have seen. Some of the art is from the dragonlance calandars, posters, etc. This book will leave you with a deep appriciation for Larry Elmore and the other great artists who've done these covers.

I was born with the name of Raistlin.. naturally i would want to see the character i was named after. This book provided me with the start to my passion with Dragon Lance.
It goes into detail and explains everything (how the dragon riders stay on the dragons etc.).
I have one copy and so does my Dad, but mine has pages missing from when he used them as posters. I want another copy but it depends how much i am willing to pay on e bay.
This book is worth getting for a price such as £50.

Enjoy.

This book is worth every penny I paid to get it. It includes a short story about how the Dragonlance epic came to be, the four original color roughs (by Larry Elmore), sketches of the dragonlance and saddle and how to use it, sketches and pictures of the many types of draconians, armor and weapons, beautiful oil and acrylic pictures, a little history and pictures of the Heroes of the Lance, pictures and history of minor characters such as Lord Lorac, the elven king, and much, much more! This book is a must-have for any Dragonlance collector. You won't be disappointed!

This gorgeous book is one of the finest compendiums of TSR artwork ever created - it is loaded full of hundreds of illustrations, free of print, on glossy paper; included are every piece of full-color artwork ever created for Dragonlance (up through 1987), supplemented with rich text and many, many concept sketches that appear nowhere else! For Dragonlance afficionados, or those who appreciated classic art by Easley, Caldwell, Parkinson, Elmore, and more, this is the ideal collection.

This was an absolutely beautifully laid out book. It contains 'round 40 full color full page prints of paintings of the dragonlance saga. Along with the prints there is also background info. on how the artists put the images together, along with an intriguing storyline that ran with the images. An absolutely fantastic book... can't say much more about it!

"...Christmas is such a special time that very special, almost magical things can happen. And the most magical thing of all is Santa Bear: I'd say he has the best job in the whole world, because the joy of giving is what Christmas is all about." -- From the book

This lovely book by Stan and Jan Berenstain follows the Bear family as they navigate through the trappings of Christmas: making lists, feeling the tug of store-front windows loaded with toys, kids worrying if they've been good enough to merit Santa Bear's visit, the spirit of giving and more.

I love that this book doesn't demonize wanting things (like The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies), and shows kids deciding to spend their own money to buy their parents special gifts from Christmas.

One adorable scene in this book is when the kids encounter a bell ringing Santa outside the mall, standing in front of a pot that says "Help the Needy". Paper Bear explains "His job is to collect money to help the needy--birds who need seed, squirrels who didn't put enough aside for the winter".

Especially good for Christmastime, The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear is a heartwarming story with an uplifting message that children will no doubt enjoy.

This is such a cute book! This one has the Bear family going to the mall two days after Thanksgiving and finding that it's all decorated for Christmas. Mama thinks it's too early, but Papa thinks that the kids will be fine and they will be able to handle it. Then the next page shows the cubs jumping up and down in front of the toy store way too excited for the season to begin. Sister has a ton of questions about Santa, like how does he get down our skinny chimney, how does he drive his sleigh when there's no snow, etc., etc. Just the same questions just about every child has at one time or another. It also goes through how hard it is to wait until Christmas Eve and all the things a kid goes through waiting for that wonderful event. Lastly, it shows the cubs buying thoughtful gifts for their parents and being very excited when they open them on Christmas. The book closes with Papa explaining all of Sister's questions on Christmas Eve while they are looking up into the sky, waiting for Santa Bear to come. Then, it starts to snow and blankets the entire town with Christmas snow.

This is such a great little book - it shows all the joys of Christmas through a child's eyes but also teaches about giving. When Sister says that Santa Bear has the hardest job in the world making all those presents and then delivering them, Papa counters with the fact that he thinks that Santa Bear has the best job because he gets to give all those gifts to so many cubs. That's the last sentence in the book too - when the cubs give their gifts to their parents, they realize that Papa was right - Santa Bear did have the best job in the whole world because it feels better to give than to receive.

We LOVE this book in our house and I just can't recommend it enough!

I got this book as a christmas present in 1990 and really enjoyed it. All the toys looked exciting to me and I really loved the illustrations.

I gave this book four stars because it is a great book for children dealing with questions about Santa Claus. Papa Bear answers all these questions with a simple answer, "Christmas is such a special time of year that very special, almost magical things can happen. And the most magical thing of all is Santa Bear."

This book is about how the cubs start wanting their presents for Christmas. Brother bear wants just a couple of things and makes a small Christmas list, while sister bear makes a really long one. Sister gets thiknking and she realizes she's being greedy.

I reccomend this book to any child who is havinbg a want problem. The point of this story is don't be greedy. This is for children 5-8 yrs. of age.

The literary voice of the ninteen-twenties' "Jazz Age," F. Scott Fitzgerald was out of step with the grimmer thirties. Facing his wife's insanity, increasing alcoholism, and his own obsolesence as a writer, the stories collected here show Fitzgerald facing his demons in bracingly honest prose. If "Crazy Sunday" and the other tales of the adventures of Pat Hobby, down-and-out screenwriter, feel a bit like autobiographical wallow, and "Family In The Wind," about a doctor in the midst of a country tornado, is an interesting if uncharacteristic journey into Steinbeck country, it's the title story of the collection that's worth the price of admission.
Charlie Wales is an ex-broker, returned to Paris after all the good times have gone, with only the goal of regaining custody of his daughter after the death of his wife. A thinly veiled take on Fitzgerald's own troubled relations with daughter Scottie after wife Zelda's madness, it's at once a suspenseful, moving, and lyrical story. All his powers are at work here, as if he knew this was his last shot at literary immortality, and he was just about right.

I bought this volume of stories simply to get a copy of Fitzgerald's "May Day" which I'd read in one of my college texts and then could not find for years. I have always felt that "May Day" would make a superb film--and the screenwriter could lift most of the dialogue right out of the story. It is that good and simple and dramatic. Actually every one of the stories in this collection is first rate. Here is Fitzgerald, only in his 20's, writing of American aspirations before, during and after World War I. And no one wrote about this subject better than he did. The characters are rich and complex, all of them dissatisfied with the bones that life has thrown them, all of them desiring what others have. The reader sees their foibles and loves them anyway. These are not perfect people. They are real people in a time of trouble--fighting, most of them, simply to stay afloat in a world changing faster than anyone would have thought possible. I cannot recommend these brilliant stories highly enough. There is also a brief life and appreciation of Fitzgerald in this lovely Scribner edition.

The Book of Revelations in the New Testament is the most likely source from which F. Scott Fitzgerald draws his "Babylon Revisited". In Revelations, Babylon the Great (also an ancient Near Eastern city of materialism and sexual excess) is the `mother of whores' and the source of all evil in the Roman Empire. She is said to have been defeated by God and judged for her excessive sin. Upon her destruction, the saints rejoice while the merchants and hedonistic pleasure seekers morn. Symbolism abounds in this revision of the timeless tale and the choice of Fitzgerald's title could not be more appropriate.

Charlie himself is the regeneration of Babylon. During the economic boom of the 20's, Charlie and his wife lived life to its fullest and most shallow degree. They partied until sunup. They squandered wealth. We even get the impression that there was a significant amount of infidelity existing on both sides. As with Babylon, Charlie is punished: The stock market crash in 1929 liberates him of a fortune, "his child [is] taken from his control, [and] his wife escaped to a grave in Vermont."

As with Babylon, Charlie's fall had its rejoicers and mourners. Marion, his wife's bereaved sister, saw Charlie's fall as an opportunity to gain control of his child, and with sincere intentions rid her family of the sinner. Though she doesn't expressly rejoice in her brother-in-laws demise, she does blame him for her sister's death and understands why his life has turned out askew. Duncan and Lorraine, on the other hand, mourned the loss of their sinister partner in indulgence.

This story is complete with all of the historic reference and symbolism that has come to define F. Scott Fitzgerald. What a fantastic, unbelievably creative writer. It's amazing how timeless his writings are, and "Babylon Revisited" is the perfect example of that fact. It really makes you think about your own life.

The king of the 1920's Lit World wrote short stories for big money in Scribner's Magazine, Collier's, Esquire, and Saturday Evening Post. His first novel made him famous, This Side of Paradise, but his subsequent novels including The Great Gatsby sold meagerly. Zelda and Scott went through dough like drunken sailors, so Scott wrote short stories for a quick buck. This group of stories is among his best and though some or all were written commercially, Scott's talent was so huge that they rival his chief competitor's: Hemingway, Parker, Anderson, and Larder in charm and precision.

Above all, Fitzgerald is charming. The drunken rich boys of May Day are close to the authors experience and poignantly revealing. Scott was the son of a failed businessman. His mother's family was well to do and Scott associated with rich beauties that seemed always just beyond a snow covered golf course as in Winter Dreams. His experience with his future wife, Zelda Sear, an Alabama debutante is cloaked in fantasy in Ice Palace. Surely newlyweds are surprised to find they have married strangers. In that there is no secret, but Fitzgerald gives his bride a hysterical nightmare in a St Paul carnival ice maze. The reader loves Sally Carrol and is genuinely caught up in her dilemma of Minnesota in-laws and a suddenly stern husband.

Fitzgerald was a dreamer and The Diamond As Big As the Ritz is a parable about a family so rich, and so self-centered in their luxuries, they murder their guests less the secret of the their wealth be known. In an era where a million dollars could buy a country, Fitzgerald's fascination with success and the rich permeates his work.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of our greatest writers. He is best known today for his many wonderful novels, especially The Great Gatsby. As time has passed, his marvelous magazine stories have faded from sight . . . even though those were more widely read than his novels when they were written.

In Babylon Revisited: And Other Stories you will deepen your understanding of the novels . . . and of their author in these often semi-autobiographical tales. The best stories have as much impact as any of the novels in a spare exposition that adds to their power.

Each story deals with the same general theme: We live on hope which is based on illusions about reality. When faced with reality, we happily escape into new hopes based on different illusions. We are sort of like Peter Pan: We don't want to grow up.

The theme comes across with startling persuasiveness as Fitzgerald unpeels the many forms of hopeful illusions that will seem familiar to every reader.

The stories build chronologically across the backdrop of the United States after World War I in the 20's and 30's. That shift in authorship times also inadvertently adds the drama of seeing how the psychology of the young and educated changed as American went from mindless boom to seemingly unending bust.

Fitzgerald has a rich imagination to makes his world open up for readers so that you can feel both the physical sensations and the emotions of the characters . . . and become the characters while you are reading.

The stories themselves have that delightful quality of exaggeration that makes his points indelible.

The Ice Palace explores a Southern beauty's pursuit of an advantageous marriage in the frozen tundra of Minnesota in winter. May Day recounts the pursuit of pleasure and accomplishment by those of various social classes and beliefs. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is a wild tale of a mythical place and the consequences of unlimited wealth. Winter Dreams deals with the painful consequences of acting on the illusions of romantic love. Absolution is an amazing story about how we can carelessly end up being untrue to God and ourselves. The Rich Boy considers how being rich and powerful can get in the way of being close to others. The Freshest Boy looks at being an awkward teenage boy and how he came to make peace with the world. Babylon Revisited shows how our mistakes can come home to roost after we believe we are invulnerable. Crazy Sunday is an astonishing look at the psychology of how we connect to one another through others. The Long Way Out is about a woman who suffers from a mental collapse and is now ready to return to her husband . . . when fate steps in.

My favorite stories in the book are May Day, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, The Freshest Boy, Babylon Revisited and Crazy Sunday.

If you haven't read these stories before, you have a great treat ahead of you. If you can find a copy of George Guidall's narration for Recorded Books, your pleasure will be even greater.

When I began reading this book,I anticipated a telling of the nazi shadow engulfing the Jews of Austria in the style of-say- Primo Levi, or even Zweigs recollections in his 'World of Yesterday' autobiography. But Appelfelds style is unique. Yes, the nazi shadow is coming to engulf.As readers we know what their fate will be. But Appelfeld tells the story from the universal human perspective where we evade reality and interpret everything the way we want it to be, not as it actually is.

Jews are gathered in Badenheim for their annual vacation. The 'sanitation' department has ordered all Jews to register. The residents know they will be going to Poland.Dr Pappenheim talks of the new opportunities; how it is essential people return to their own country of origin. (The atmosphere of evading reality is heightened as nobody asks 'Why?') Langmann is angry. He is Austrian. Why should he be uprooted over a mistake? Peter the pastry shop owner blames it all on Pappenheim for bringing decadence to the town with his art festivals.(Again, no one asks what has this got to do with their situation-even though Peters accusation is a common myth espoused by the nazis.) Fussholdt carries on writing his major critiques on jewish philosophers and culture whom he dispises despite his own judaism.

Throughout, there are no Cassandra characters. Only quickly appeased comments (They took my house is somehow turned into an understandable action by the residents.)Even at the end, Pappenheim is convinced they cannot have far to travel when 40 filthy cattle trucks arrive at the station to take them to Poland; its all ok.



This book is a mere 148 pages and must be read in one sitting to gain the full effect. It transcends the era and the crime it portrays, it tells you of mans fatal flaw in disbelieving the evil that can occur. Trusting to decency and reason to quell brutality. You know that these people know, but even as a reader, you would feel uneasy in trying to break the truth to them.



Appelfeld has a unique way of writing and a message for both his own people and all of mankind. This was an honour to read.

Badenheim is a quiet, idyllic holiday town in Eastern Europe. The 'leader' of the town, Dr Pappenheim, is busy preparing for the annual festival, writing letters and sending telegrams to beg and plead for musicians and artists from Vienna.

While the preparations are under way, the Sanitation Department begins quietly undertaking a rigorous inspection of each and every house and shop in Badenheim. Among the many questions asked is how many and who of the residents are Jewish. The vacationers and locals alike think nothing of the questions, nonchalantly confirming or denying their religion, and returning to their food, their wine, their entertainment. Here and there, a few people discuss the increasing powers of the Sanitation Department - they have just recently closed the Post Office - but nobody seems to mind. Badenheim is quiet and peaceful, and that is how they like it.

Time passes. The impresario, Dr Pappenheim, is still writing letters, but he senses that they are going off into the void, never to return. A few - very few - letters are still allowed into Badenheim, but for the most part, the Sanitation Department has closed off the city. Guards are posted to deny entry or exit to any man, woman or child of Jewish descent. It happens so slowly that nobody really notices, but at one stage, almost all of the non-Jewish people have gone, and of the tiny trickle of visitors allowed into Badenheim, every person is a Jew.

There is a quiet horror to Badenheim 1939. Throughout this very short book, it seems as though with each page, the oppression and terror of World War II is approaching the Jewish people of Badenheim, but they never see it. With every freedom slowly being denied - the shops are closed, the gates are sealed, outside communication is forbidden - the reader is left to wonder if this time, if this time when the Sanitation Department closes the pastry shop, say, will they understand? But they never do. Everything happens over such a long period of time, and so quietly, that nobody really seems to realise when they are suddenly trapped, except for a few minor characters who are slowly going mad, the cracks in the calm facade they have wrapped themselves in widening with every minute.

This book is most effective because we know what happened to the Jews post-1939. We know where they are going, and what will likely happen to them. The Sanitation Department assures them that they will be transplanted to Poland, and everything will be fine. They believe because they have to believe. Towards the end of the novel, the razor wire, the guns, the dogs all make an appearance. To ignore what is happening is suicidal, and yet they do. After all, how could a race of people imagine that they would be persecuted in such a terrifying manner? Surely, their minds would shied away from such horrible information, from the mere idea that a man - a country - wanted to eradicate six million of them? And yet, that is what happened, and that is how the novel ends, a perfect, bleak, dark ending that is all the more horrifying for how completely reasonable every single tiny little step leading up to their incarceration inside a derelict train, headed, presumably, for Auschwitz.

Badenheim 1939 is a powerful book because it shows how easy it is to accept something unacceptable, if it is presented in small, reasonable, easily palatable pieces. None of these characters are overly bad, or good - they are absolutely normal. They squabble, they argue, they love, they laugh, they sing, they cry. In fact, throughout the entire novel, nothing untoward happens to any of them - except for the encroaching holocaust.

Badenheim is a an Austrian resort town whose denizens are almost all Jewish. This short novel describes the reactions of the residents of the town as preparations are made to deport them ' to the East'. It describes the gradual series of changes in which the town is slowly closed down, and its residents denied their privileges and enjoyments. A number of characters stories are highlighted including the Impressario Pappenheim who has for years organized the Music and Dramatic Festivals in the town.The story of a half - Jewish waitress who identifies with the Jews and who injures herself in desperation is also told. Also an assimilated writer who mocks Herzl and Buber and worships the satiricial Karl Kraus is despicted. Most of these characters are living in the delusion that they are about to be deported from Austria to go to a better life in the East, in Poland. Appelfeld is a master of depicting these small games people play with themselves, these small self- deceptions which keep them from facing a horrible truth.
In the end the town closes down and the residents and vacationers of Badehnheim are taken away. When four old dirty trains hook up with them they still refuse to see the reality. And the concluding thought of escape is that they must be going 'on a short journey since the cars are so dirty'.
Assimilated Jews, often self- hating but even more often painfully human in clinging to delusions of their own normalcy and safety are the subject of this work. It is all prelude to the Disaster and Destruction the Shoah which is to destroy them all.

Aharon Appelfeld, one of Israel's greatest writers, has had only a handful of his 40 books translated into English. It's too bad. Then again, it's too bad Appelfeld didn't write "Badenheim 1939" under the pen name "Albert Camus" --- if he had, this 148-page novel would be taught alongside "The Stranger" and regarded, rightly, as a modern classic.

Appelfeld is a very unlikely writer. But then, it's remarkable that he's alive. Born in Romania in 1932, he was a quiet boy, an only child. He was just 8 when the Nazis shot his mother and deported him and his father to a concentration camp in the Ukraine, at which point they were separated for twenty years. Aharon escaped to Russia, where he was a shepherd. In 1944, at 12, he joined the Russian Army. When the war ended, he made his way to Italy and, finally, to Palestine. He spoke so many languages he couldn't express himself in any. And he had only a year or two of schooling. But he managed to enroll in college in Jerusalem and, soon after, to begin writing stories in Hebrew.

Appelfeld has one great subject: understanding what happened to his people. "I'm dealing with a civilization that has been killed," he has said. "How to represent it in the most honorable way --- not to equalize it, not to exaggerate, but to find the right proportion to represent it, in human terms." What kept him from depression, bitterness, suicide? "I've never been an angry person. This is what saved me."

"Badenheim 1939" --- the first of Appelfeld's books to be translated from Hebrew to English --- is a modest, precise, even-handed tale. As it should be; this is a simple story, of a single season in a resort town favored by Jews. As the novel begins, Spring has arrived. So have the musicians. And the first tourists.

Dr. Pappenheim is the local impresario; he's all bustle. Expect to see him at the Post Office, sending telegrams and opening letters. But this season is unlike all others. For one thing, the Sanitation Department has increased powers --- it's now authorized to undertake "independent investigations." For reasons not made clear, these investigations include the construction of fences and rolls of barbed wire. Appliances appear, "suggestive of preparations for a public celebration." The visitors to the resort expect "fun and games."

And, indeed, the office of the Sanitation Department is starting to look like a travel agency, thanks to the new signs: "The air in Poland is fresher" and "Get to know the Slavic Culture" and "Labor is our Life." There's plenty of time to think about those signs; walks are now forbidden, guests must stay on the grounds of the hotel. It's a nice break in a dull day when the Sanitation Department puts maps on Poland on sale.

The Post Office closes. Just as well. No mail is arriving --- and who knows if letters are getting out? But more people suddenly show up, all of them Jews. Here for the Music Festival? Apparently not.

And now it's Fall. The cakes of summer are no more. Ditto cigarettes. Lunch is barley soup and dry bread. Concern? Bad dreams? Of course. But no one can really believe that what is happening is more than an inconvenience. At worst, a mistake.

At last a train appears at the station. An engine with four filthy freight cars. The last paragraph shows how the worst thing you can imagine can be sold to you as something else. How easily you and yours can be lost. And, in one of the greatest sentences ever to end a book, how you can go to your doom still believing it's all going to be okay.

A beautifully crafted, chilling novel that casts its shadow forward to 21st century America. One is reminded of Hannah Arendt, "the banality of evil." A must read, which I would like to see included in high school history programs.