Short Stories Books

These stories are timeless. Sure the cars and truck (and steam shovels) are dated, but your young kids will love the stories. The Little House and Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel are must reads. This book helps to fill those nights when you need a story that's just a bit longer, a little richer in plot. The illustrations are simple, but truly enhance the story. These stories will entertain you and your child for many story-times to come.

It is a great book and I sent it to Tim Dexter in Minnesota, he has a grandson now and his grandson will have his 1st birthday in March of 2008.

This hardbound collection of Virginia Lee Burton stories is one of my essential gift ideas for little ones. Not only are the stories filled with memorable characters (Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne, the Little House, Maybelle the trolley to name a few), but the stories have meaning - the the ideas of hard work, trustworthiness, self-reliance - topics that children don't necessarily understand but need to learn - pervade the stories. Additionally, the illustrations are vivid and captivating for little ones. This collection is a great addition to any child's personal library and makes the perfect gift, especially since it's under $14.00.

This is a book we buy as a gift for new babies. It includes three of our favorite picture books, with pages reproduced in their original formats.

What a great compilation of wonderful children's stories. My family loves this book and we love Virginia Lee Burton!

Anyone who likes Larry Niven's work at all should be happy with this book.

From Tom Clancy's introduction, along with others by co-authors and editors, through all the stories - and this basically includes his best work of all (Inconstant Moon and All the Myriad Ways), along with some other good stories. In fact, even with the excerpt scores averaging almost 3.50.

Even the excerpts are well done, the fun scene from Ringworld a good choice, for example.

Throughout, Niven offers commentary, and non-fiction pieces include an extensive look at how they put together the setting for The Mote In God's Eye, and also a piece outlining plans to write something that would satirise Known Space as all a hoax.

Then at the end a few thoughts and an advice paper apparently that he and some other writers, including Pournell did for some political body or other.

I'd probably call this a 4.25 I think.

N-Space : excerpt from World of Ptavvs - Larry Niven
N-Space : Bordered in Black - Larry Niven
N-Space : Convergent Series [short story] - Larry Niven
N-Space : All the Myriad Ways [short story] - Larry Niven
N-Space : excerpt from A Gift from Earth - Larry Niven
N-Space : For a Foggy Night - Larry Niven
N-Space : The Meddler - Larry Niven
N-Space : Passerby - Larry Niven
N-Space : excerpt from Ringworld - Larry Niven
N-Space : The Fourth Profession - Larry Niven
N-Space : Inconstant Moon [short story] - Larry Niven
N-Space : What Can You Say about Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers? - Larry Niven
N-Space : Cloak of Anarchy - Larry Niven
N-Space : excerpt from Protector - Larry Niven
N-Space : The Hole Man [short story] - Larry Niven
N-Space : Night on Mispec Moor - Larry Niven
N-Space : Flare Time - Larry Niven
N-Space : The Locusts - Larry Niven and Steven Barnes
N-Space : excerpt from The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
N-Space : Mote Lite - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
N-Space : Brenda - Larry Niven
N-Space : The Return of William Proxmire - Larry Niven
N-Space : The Tale of the Jinni and the Sisters - Larry Niven
N-Space : Madness Has Its Place - Larry Niven
N-Space : The Kiteman - Larry Niven


She puffs on Pluto.

3 out of 5


Overcee project farm people find.

3 out of 5


Demon summoming time limit Atom solution.

3.5 out of 5


Murder maybe multiverse.

4.5 out of 5


Slowboat reservation.

3 out of 5


Vaguely lost.

3 out of 5


PI no Martian Manhunter.

3.5 out of 5


A specially adapted ramscoop ship pilot gets in trouble in space, when he sees a large golden alien humanoid. He finds himself rescued and transported 12 light years instantaneously back to Earth.

3.5 out of 5


Various biffo, with or without laser beams.

3.5 out of 5


Alien alcohol test case quad pill investigation.

3.5 out of 5


Really lunary weather we're having.

4.5 out of 5


Strange party alien trip.

3 out of 5


Free Park experiment not bright.

4 out of 5


Three stage dude adjustment.

3 out of 5


Quantum black hole is ridiculous overkill.

3.5 out of 5


Offworld mercenary Cabell nightwalker Spectrum Cure.

4 out of 5


Fuxed up entertainment production mission.

3.5 out of 5


Monkey kid form peak.

4 out of 5


Abandon ship, the little bastiches have weapons.

3.5 out of 5


Hey! That looks different.

3.5 out of 5


Sauron attacks Dagon City. Who'd like to see that?

3.5 out of 5


Heinlein time alteration.

3.5 out of 5


Harem sneaky story.

3 out of 5


ARM to schizo arm.

3.5 out of 5


Flying lessons.

3 out of 5

This book is at the top of my "If I were stranded on a desert island..." list. I don't love everything Niven's ever written, but this sampler has something for everyone. This isn't just the best of Niven, it's some of the best SF written in the last 40 years. What's also nice is the inclusion of hard-to-find stories like "For A Foggy Night" and the non-fiction slice of life stuff. NSpace, Playgrounds of the Mind, and the later Scatterbrain provide an unparalleled look at the career of one of SFs greats. If you read no other science fiction this decade, read these books.

I purchased "N-Space" and its sequel "Playgrounds Of The Mind" in summer of 1992, totally unaware of who Larry Niven was, or that he already had such a lengthy history in the science fiction community. At that point (my first year in college) I had not read a lot of SF beyond the confines of Star Trek novels; save the space opera of W. Michael Gear and the military SF of Chris Bunch & Allan Cole. I didn't even really know what 'hard' science fiction was, and picked up "N-Space" and "Playgrounds Of The Mind" because I was pining for something different--perhaps more challenging?

Oh boy, did I ever get my wish! I soon discovered that "N-Space" is not a straightforward science fiction novel, but rather a mega-compilation of short stories, novellas, and outtakes from novels, spanning Niven's (apparently) decades-spanning SF career. I spent the fall and winter of 1992 totally falling in love with Niven's various universes, and the characters that inhabit them. Moreover, I fell in love with the 'hard' aspect of Niven's work, which compared to the space opera I had been previously reading, was rigorously rooted in the realities of physics and science. I was enchanted by the idea that you could stick to real science (mostly) and still tell amazing and adventurous science fiction stories. In fact, much of Niven's hard SF ranks superior to a great deal of softer material precisely because of its 'realistic' flavor. The generic, and often rubbery gadgets and technology of softer fare is religiously replaced in Niven's work by concrete extrapolations, based on what we understand about the universe in the present time.

Now, with that in mind, I would caution younger or less experienced readers, where "N-Space" is concerned. Especially since the book is not a novel unto itself, it's easy to get lost or distracted in this book. So many different ideas, concepts, times, places, and characters, are all hurled at you at once. If you're not ready to hang on for the ride, you're liable to get thrown off! Thus, if you're brand new to science fiction, or if you were like I was, and only familiar with media SF or military/opera, you need to understand that "N-Space" is a very different kind of book that gives a very different kind of read.

Still, Niven has enormous talent, not just for telling hard SF stories, but for telling them with wit, insight into character, and not just a little humour. His imagination when it comes to world-creation is dazzling, and his alien races and places are some of the most memorable I have ever read. Like a smorgasbord, "N-Space" gives us a healthy portion from virtually all of Larry's playgrounds, both well known and obscure. By the time I was done with "N-Space" I launched voraciously into "Playgrounds Of The Mind", which is essentially the second half of "N-Space"; the two books serving as the first and second parts of one, giant collection.

I've since gone on to explore the majority of the works that "N-Space" touches upon, and after a decade of consuming Niven I consider him to be, perhaps, my all-time favorite SF writer. "N-Space" is not his best single work, it is the best from his best, and as such, makes an outstanding primer for anyone who has never read Niven, but wants to becoming broadly and deliciously acquainted with his work.

At one time the term "science fiction" caused eyebrows to raise. "Isn't that reading for losers who can't relate to others well?" Larry Niven is one of the authors who forever changed the way SF is perceived, one whose fiction emphasizes science without cutting short on any of the tools of your typical brilliant writer of fiction. This gives us well-sculpted characters, even in the shortest of stories, with eye-opening and theoretically sound scientific concepts, plot twists, and remarkable endings. Satisfying story after satisfying story.

What's unique about this collection isn't that it includes a foreward with comments by other authors and fans, or that the author comments on each piece within the collection. Those are commonplace. But in Niven's world, he likes to let you into his world in a special way, perhaps by dishing some dirt on an SF mag who rejected a story that turned out to win a Hugo, etc. He openly questions his finished product, saying that "Today I'd write this story differently," etc. As if we could lift the lid on his cranium and step inside for a moment, seeing how the stories are crafted. Very interesting.

Not as interesting as the work, however, another unique thing about this collection: Not only short stories are collected here, many of which only appeared in one issue of some now-defunct SF mag or other, dating back to the mid 1960s upward to 1990 when this book was first published. He also includes essays, such as an unforgettable commentary on the problems Superman would have if he tried to mate with Lois Lane, as well as excerpts from his published novels at the time. A terrific sampler of a terrific author, whose early-70s work "Ringworld" stands as one of the most brilliant works of speculative fiction of all time. Intelligentsia still debates the validity of its scientific assumptions, and while even Niven admits that most of these have been disproven, how many SF works do you know that sparked so much debate while still being so widely admired?

Niven is far, far beyond any alien shoot-em-up author. This ain't "Star Trek." This is real scientific fiction told by a natural storyteller who loves what he does. We readers love him for it.

I am a lapsed Niven fan having discovered him in the late '70s as a kid. Something spurred me to buy N-Space as a way to rediscover what I cherished about his unique mix of hard sci-fi and realistic human emotion.
Thank goodness! When I was done I had to immediately start picking up where I left off with "The Mote in God's Eye" and I look forward to re-reading treasures like "Footfall." Perhaps I'll just start at the beginning and work my way up? :)

I love it! David Levithan does it again. This book just puts your mind in a different world. It really is the Realm of Possibility. There are gay couples and struggling souls. All of this in the form of some wonderful poems. The church choir girl can fall for the goth guy, the beautiful song writer can fall in love with a girl of her own, and sooo much more. After I read this book I was shocked at how much of an effect it had on me. If I bought it I would read dozens of times. You'll love it. This author really knows what he is doing. I hope you enjoy it!!

I've gotten recommendations for David Levithan's books before, but I'd never read any. I picked this up at the bookstore and was hooked. Although I enjoyed basically every part of this book, my favorite was Charlotte's narrative. I cannot express how much I loved it, how much I wanted to be like her and do that. "The Realm of Possibility" is definitely worth reading; it won't take you long. It is amazing.

Though this book drags in a few of the poems, it's mostly very readable, as free-verse poetry tends to be if you read it quickly. Sexuality and sentimentality - or, if you like, adolescent angst - are heavily featured, but Levithan is so good at rendering them that the book hardly ever feels trite or emotionally abusive. However, the standout entry is clearly "The Patron Saint of Stoners," which deals with a far more serious issue than most of the others, in far less dramatic terms. The narrator of the poem, Clara, is an excellent student who has trouble trying to find some pot; but the important question for the reader is not the how, but the why. "Gospel," told from the perspective of Gail, a fervently Christian and compassionate girl who befriends an outcast, and "Writing," in which a Goth girl, Charlotte, literally puts "the writing on the wall" in a surprisingly uplifting way, are also very good.

Like "Boy Meets Boy" and "Are We There Yet?" the tone of the book is - not relentlessly, but insidiously positive. No one is worse off at the end of their poem or the book than at the beginning; even the 'bitchy' character who gets her comeuppance also has a personal insight.

One thing Levithan never addresses is why the twenty characters are writing these poems, or if they even are writing them down. Interesting, because he could have written it off with a throwaway line - for example, "Mr. So-and-so is making everyone write a free-verse poem for English class" - but instead he leaves it unclear whether they are simply internal monologues or poems the characters actually write.

I love everything about this book! Even the length was just right. Every line was so insightful and we can all relate to each character in the short stories and poems. The form of all the poems was really creative and I respect the writer for putting on paper the feeling of so many different human beings. This book is simply amazing- you just have to expirience it for yourself.

I admit it: this book totally sucked me in. The characters are realistic, and I was able to find something about a number of them that I could relate to. And I found a number of them that I simply fell in love with, for all sorts of reasons. My favorite sections were the ones written by Anton, Charlotte, Lily, and Jed.

I found the book somewhat confusing at times, because I kept coming onto names I'd seen before. So i actually went back and made a little list of characters and their relationships, which I shall put up here for anyone that's intested. So *spoiler alert* for the next section of this review (just in case you want to pick up this book knowing NOTHING whatsoever about anything in it... I'm not giving away anything really important):

Daniel: is Jed's boyfriend and is neighbors with Pete
Mary: suffers from anorexia, is Pete's girlfriend
Diana: is in love with with Elizabeth, writes love songs for her
Megan: is in love with Diana, watches her loving another girl while she plays the part of a devoted friend
Tyler: rants about his girlfriend's love of Holden Caulfield
Anton: a seemingly troubled youth- sits in the back wearing black and earphones and writing poetry
Gael: relgion is important in her life, hates injustice, stands up for Anton
Jill: possibly Tyler's boyfriend, stole Cara's boyfriend, feels she doesn't deserve him and regrets the person she is
Anne: nice poetry about random things
Jamie: has just suffered from a breakup, is zack's brother and jed's friend
Pete: Mary's boyfriend
Clara: perfect student lacking a positive homelife, interacts with Jed and Toby
Charlotte: writes haunting messages ("you are foolish in your unhappiness") around school, mesages deeply affect some people, intrigue others (Daniel)
Elizabeth: lives in sister's shadow, tormented by people who disliked sister (Cara), Andy's girlfriend
Cara: loses respect after an incident involving Elizabeth, has fake friends (Jill)
Lia: friend's with Clara, korean, in love with delivery boy
Zack: Anne's boyrfriend, Megan's friend
Karen: no obvious hints as to her relationships
Lily: is close to Jed, although they don't spend much time together, her poetry style is unlike any of the others presented in this book
Jed: is celebrating his one year anniversery with Daniel (it's so sweet!), also- title of book comes from his poem

For a book that eventually got made into a Steve McQueen movie I was very surprised by the depth of this book.

McKenna does an excellent job of portraying China in transition, told from the points of view of the sailors on the USS San Pablo and from the missionaries at China Light, people whose world is literally shattered. The first part of the book focuses on the protagonist, Jake Holman, as he learns to adjust to life onboard the tiny San Pablo after having transferred from the Pacific Fleet. Everything is going to be perfect, he is going to have his own engine, his own engine room and be able to run it the way he wants to. Except that's not how it is on the San Pablo - most of the engineering work is done by coolies, cheap contract laborers who make their living by skimming off the ship's supplies. Coolies cook, clean, iron uniforms, swab the decks, maintain the engine and do all of the menial work leaving the crew to drill, and drill and drill and drill. The paper tiger of the San Pablo's small crew and it's three pound cannon is the only force guarding American interests - missionaries, factories, mines and more, this far up the Yangtze and appearances have to be maintained no matter how ultimately ineffective the reality may be.

By the second part of the book the Chinese have seen through it. The armies of Chiang Kai-Shek marching under the "gearwheel" flag of the Kuomintang are marching north towards the Yangtze while Bolshevist forces are working and agitating along the northern banks of the river. At first the coolies start skimming more and more off the top, and then they abandon the ship, running overboard and swimming towards a blockade of sampans that have started to surround and harass the ship every day. China is awakening to a sense of self-identity that had been suppressed for a very long time and the men of the San Pablo are despised relics of the old China, an abused and tortured China with no sense of pride or self-worth.

Perhaps one of the most difficult things for the crew to deal with is the fact that the people they are supposed to be protecting, largely missionaries, are full supporters of the Kuomintang. When the San Pablo is told to stand back and only defend American lives, not American property, it is because of the missionaries who have gone home and lobbied for American non-involvement in China. The reader feels the frustration, anger and demoralization of the crew as they are curtailed repeatedly from executing what is supposed to be their primary purpose - protection of American interests. The Chinese have also learned how to make paper tigers of their own from their Russian advisors and waste no time in churning out propaganda and sometimes outright lies about the San Pablo and their men. There is no place for the men of the San Pablo towards the end of the book - their country has for all intents and purposes abandoned them and there is no place in this new, alien China they find themselves in.


One last thing I will mention is that that most readers will be sent running for a dictionary of mechanical engineering by about fifteen pages in. I learned more about steam and marine engines reading this book than I ever expected to.

The Sand Pebbles is a wonderful, edgy, sweeping, panoramic novel, to be sure, and I highly recommend it for all those reasons. But one aspect of it makes it an unexpectedly valuable historical statement. It concerns the sailors of a US Navy vessel patrolling the upper reaches of China's Yangtze River in 1925 and....

Excuse me? Hello? There were US Navy vessels a thousand miles inside China? In 1925? In the heyday of "isolationism?" During the supposedly minimalist administration of "Silent Cal" Coolidge? Can you imagine the equivalent, were the tables turned: that some foreign power might assert its "right" to protect its expatriate nationals by permanently stationing gunboats on the Ohio between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh? The arrogance of it (and its undoubted cost to the US taxpayer) is staggering.

If highlighting this absurdity was any part of author McKenna's immediate intention, it's not apparent. He was too great an artist to flog any political point-of-vew. But his realism requires him to portray the ambivalence of the sailors on the front line of this policy, the rigidly-repressed doubts of the captain, the hostility of some of the putative beneficiaries, the cheerful advantage taken of it by a few, and the stubborn resistance to alternatives or change everywhere.

Some weeks ago, I was playing channel flip on the telly, and came across an old movie on a cable station. Happily, I caught it at just the begining, and settled in to watch this tale of American Navy men aboard a rickety gunboat in China. In fact, I was interested enough to find a copy of the book that the film was based on and happily settled in to read.

The Sand Pebbles tells the story of the San Pablo, a creaky, none too sturdy gunboat from the Spanish-American war cruising the rivers and lakes in Hunan Province in China. Much like the boat, the crew isn't much too look at either; under the command of Lt. Collins, they're a rough lot, at the very bottom of the barrel. Into this world comes Jake Holman, another American seaman, who has come to the San Pablo to find a place where he can fit in, without the annoyance of the petty demands that the Navy sets on their crewmen.

As Holman finds out very quickly, he doesn't fit in very well at first. For one thing, there's the system of letting the local chinese coolies do all of the work, while the crew merely sits back and, well there's a lot of topside drills. Holman hates it, being one of those sorts who would rather be with his beloved engines than around other people. It's a trait that instantly sets him apart from everyone else in the crew. They don't care what's going on, just so long as they don't have to do much, have good chow and clean quarters, with on board coolies to do the laundry and give daily shaves, and liberty now and then. They grumble a bit, but it's friendly jibbing -- they know they have it good here, with a fine soft perch, and are collectively known as the Sand Pebbles.

But Holman -- it's not so good. He almost immediately gets into a fight with the coolie who is running the black gang in the engine room, with consequences that will have much more serious repercussions later. He takes another coolie, Po-Han, who has promise, trying to teach him the inner workings of the ship's engines, but a lack of communication skills make it nearly impossible. Holman struggles to fit in, but it not easy.

We also get to met other crewmen, from Frenchy Burgoyne who is smitten by a delicate Chinese girl that he could never marry; Red Dog Shanahan, perpetual troublemaker and wise-mouth; Lynch, one of the petty officers with a Russian woman tucked away in Hankow. Finally there are the missionaries at China White, a nearby religious outpost. Holman is attracted to Miss Eckart, a young woman that he is drawn to despite the deep wide of culture and morality that separates them. For a while, everything seems to be settling in place, but all too soon, revolution is growing and soon the San Pablo will be right in the middle of it all.

I have to say, I was really impressed with the book. Author Richard McKenna takes the time to create a world that is very alien to most of his readers, and his own knowledge from serving with the US Navy gives the details of living on board a gunboat an authentic flavour. While many readers will be offended by the slang and abuse that is very misogynist and racist, it also brings forward a past that most of us never knew. McKenna is simply writing about the world as it was at the time -- where other nations and races were viewed with outright suspicision and no one worried much if such terms as 'slant eye,' 'Slopehead' or 'chink' was hurled about. But McKenna is also careful in how he does it as well -- the reader will find themselves being rather unsettled as they read, and left to decide for themselves if times have really changed much in the last forty years since this novel was published. In any case, it is certainly a very good read, with plenty of introspection, action, and the day to day lives of men who are being forced into a untenable situation and one that may have no survivors.

I recommend this one for any one interested in military history, China in the 1920's, or just want a good story about bravery and heroism in a desperate time.

In this new edition, Robert Shenk provides an introduction that talks about Richard McKenna's own adventures serving in China with the US Navy, his attempts to write after leaving military service (he wrote science fiction at first), and then the experiences that brought around writing The Sand Pebbles. The book is now published by the Naval Institute Press as a Bluejacket Edition, a collection of books that focus on naval and military subjects.

It really doesn't matter about your attitudes about war with this one; instead it focuses on the people who work hard and serve, sometimes in awful places and situations and explore their lives and thoughts, and how they survive. It's just about a five star read, and I was left with quite a few questions and thoughts myself once I had finished it. It's a very different sort of novel than what is being published today, without the hyperaggressive macho of most military thrillers today, and one that feels and sounds realistic.

Five stars. Highly recommended.

"The Sand Pebbles" is an interesting and entertaining novel set in China circa 1925. China is governed by feuding warlords, and its foreign trade is dominated by foreign "treaty powers" including the USA, Japan, and the leading European nations, all of which maintain strong naval and marine forces in China to maintain their positions and protect foreign persons and property.

The novel takes place on an obsolete, barely functioning American river gunboat, the "San Pablo," known to her crew as the "Sand Pebble." The protagonist, Jake Holman, is an engineer-crewman aboard the Sand Pebble. Jake has a passion for mastering the ship's engines, but initially is frustrated by the fact that aboard the Sand Pebble each American sailor has a Chinese coolie understudy who in fact does almost all of the work aboard ship. The Sand Pebble crewmen have delegated almost all of the ship's routine to a shadow crew of Chinese coolies, and do very little actual work. Jake's frustration with the coolie-understudy system and his attempt to fit in with the Sand Pebble crew are part of the main theme of the novel.

The real story of "The Sand Pebbles" is, however, the emergence of China as a modern nation. The Kuomantang Chinese Nationalist movement is becoming ascendant in China as the novel unfolds, and it seeks to sweep away foreign influence, and the warlord system that has kept China weak and divided. The officers and crew of the "Sand Pebble," in common with the other foreign military forces, must deal with this new movement, which seeks to change Old China, which had seemed eternally unchangeable. The slow understanding by the foreigners, including the Sand Pebble, that this change is real and something that must be dealt with, is the real story in the novel.

Author McKenna does a masterful job of presenting China as it was in the 1920s, together with life in the American gunboat navy of those times. This is a novel rich with detail and atmosphere. Both the American and Chinese protagonists are presented with dignity and insight, making this a very interesting read. While the storyline of crewman Holman is interesting enough, this is only an excuse to tell the real story--the transformation of China.

This novel will reward the patient reader. I personally found it engrossing and entertaining. Recommended.

Old China Hand had a meaning during the early 20th Century. Jake Holman, primary American character of this book is an old China hand. He's a sailor on an American gunboat, a part of the multi-national forces cruising the interior waters of a China in the throes of unrest, warlordism, rebellion, turbulence and chaos created by the downfall of the Manchu Dynasty and the Boxer Rebellion.

Jake's navy is one that resembles the post-WWII US Army in most of Asia prior to Vietnam in some ways. Asians do the unpleasant and difficult chores as houseboys and other types of assistants, to the point of imposing a dependence on them and degradation of competence of the Americans. Those who love Chinese history, those who love historical fiction, those who served in the Far East and remember, almost anyone can appreciate this classic work of (greater than) historical fiction.

This book is one you'll read more than once, probably see the movie and love it, and read the book again without feeling the least letdown. It's a gripping tale of an almost forgotten time in history. I recommend it thoroughly, whatever your reason for reading it.

I was getting this book to read Truly Everlasting which is a great story about two childhood friends that grow up know everything about each other but never dated. A little boys letter to santa brings a Truly Everlasting love. The First Noel what better place to find a good men then at Church. A man that love children and love the Lord you can get any better than that. Kwanzaa Kupendi the love of a good man that believes in you and what let you give up on yourself is wonderful. All three stories were great holiday stories keep up the good work ladies. I look forward to reading more by you all.

I really enjoyed this book. Ms. Mason's story about a young lady struggling to raise her sister's son after tragedy strikes, Kia had never taken time to find love and had given up on faith because of the tragedies she's endured, now a handsome stranger will show her what love and faith are all about. Ms.Walker's story was an okay read, it was kind of sad and depressing, suicide is the last thing you would want to read about during Christmas. Mrs. Jackson's book was great, as usual Brenda Jackson and the Madaris family made you believe in love. Felicia and Trask's story was very touching, and showed what a little patience and a lot of love could achieve.

i enjoyed all of the author's stories in this book. felicia masons story was about a man helping a woman find her faith back in god just around the christmas holidays. mrs. walker's story was about a man helping a woman find love and overcome her pass thru their love for one another. mrs. jackson's story was about two stubborn people who have known each othe all their lives come together and find love in each others arms. her story was the best.

BET presents three authors with truly gifted talents to bring together a truly unique holiday anthology.

Felicia Mason starts the anthology off with her story The Fist Noel. The First Noel tells a story of a young mother who's doing everything possible to take care of her nephew who mother died during a house fire. When Franklin Williams appeared in her life she's not sure what to do with the new relationship. Margie Walker writes about a traumatic young lady who goes through desperate measures in her life as she attempts to cope with life itself but when her friends introduce her to Simon Stevenson to her they both find the love that was there between them but not before trouble begins to brew. Kwanzaa Kupendi has an extremely well written story taking a closer look at the rates and reasons of suicide. Truly Everlasting is a part of Brenda Jackson best selling Madaris family. When Felicia Madaris finds herself attempting to fill full her son's dreams she finds herself up against her archenemy Trask Maxwell but the bargain that is made to make her son happy allows these two enemies to find their true love.

BET has really outdone their selves this time with their holiday anthology bring a variety of holidays with a variety of conflicts.

The stories in "Something to Celebrate" are truly wonderful! I loved reading all of them. I was moved by Kia Simmons' story in "The First Noel." Kia was a dedicated woman, who because of an earlier tragedy in her life, she was not up to celebrating the holidays. Kia had lost all the joy of the Christmas season, as well as her spiritual belief. However, she was devoted to her nephew, whom she raised from a baby after the death of her sister. It is during this Christmas season that Kia meets the love of her life in the form of Franklin Williams. Franklin not only comes into Kia's life as a love interest, but Franklin brings faith, worship, joy, and a renewed spirit into Kia's life. "The First Noel" was short, but sweet. Kia could not have found love and hope in a better place!

"Kwanzaa Kupendi" was another touching story. Michelle Craig could not have asked for or been given better friends than Loretta, Reba, and Clarissa. Nor could she have developed a more devoted relationship than with Simon Stevenson. Michelle has a lot to deal with regarding her past and her family relationship, but her friends are there for her. Through their dedication and friendship, Michelle comes to realize that life is worth living and love makes it even better.

Now, for Brenda Jackson's story, "Truly Everlasting." It is 'a forever love.' Love has a timing effect. Felicia Lavern Madaris has already decided to change her flighty ways and settle down to become the perfect mother to her young son. However, looks can be deceiving. Felicia has changed her attitude, but not her dress appearance. She is still an eye catcher to the men, especially with some of the daring outfits she wears. "Everlasting Love" is Felicia's and Trask Maxwell's story. Trask not only comes to Felicia's aid, but comes into her heart as well. Their love blossoms into an everlasting love.

Ms. Jackson has done it again with the Madaris' clan!

If you ever played Traveller, or GURPS or anything else like that, you will love this story. Very well written and entertaining. Piper's death was a loss that the SCIFI community will never recover from, especially with books he wrote like this one.

What can any one say about his writing? Always top of the heap and riviting to the end of the book.

_Space Viking_ (1963) was a four-part serial in _Analog_ in 1962-63 and was accompanied by some marvelous John Schoenherr illustrations. It was reprinted by Ace shortly thereafter to modest attention. Since Piper's death by suicide in 1964, a number of his admirers have tried to make a case that the novel is a classic. Well, it isn't. It is a well-crafted space adventure that has some intelligent things to say about politics and warfare. But there is nothing highly original about the novel in plot, style, or content. It doesn't have the sparkle of his own Little Fuzzy novels.

Briefly, the story is this: The Galactic Federation has collapsed, and planets are now at the mercy of marauding Space Vikings. The hero is a nobleman named Lucas Trask whose bride is murdered on their wedding day by a madman. To catch the killer, Trask becomes a Space Viking and begins a series of conquests across the galaxy. But gradually, he finds that he is also rebuilding...

One of the characters in _Space Viking_ is an admiral named Otto Harkaman, who becomes a right hand man to Trask. The name sparked an echo in my mind when I reread Piper's novel. And then it clicked. It reminded me of the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Frank Herbert's _Dune_ (1965), another _Analog_ novel. One man is essentially heroic, while the other is essentially villainous. But both are politically savy. Orson Scott Card once complained that most science fiction writers knew little about politics. They would have politicians in their stories say things that politicians would never say in real life and do things that real politicians would never do. This is not true of Piper and Herbert. You sense that their depictions of political meetings are authentic and that the policies that they make are realistic. Granted, their politics are somewhat on the medieval and Machiavellian side, but they are realistic nonetheless.

In any event, I heartily recommend _Space Viking_. Classic it may not be, but it deserves more attention than it has received in the past.

I picked this book up the other day at a used bookstore. I decided to do this when I saw that the book was in better shape than the one I have in the basement and the price was great (only $3.00, not bad at all for a book that I love). Having picked it up, I immediately started to read Space Viking (again for the upteenth time). As with many of Mr. Piper's books, Space Viking is as much a look at society and political systems as it is a space opera. In this case a futuristic feudalism is examined while remnants of the Old Federation raid their poorer neighbors.



For me this is a five star book. The story telling is descriptive, the plot; while simple it does have a style that enables the space opera to move forward nicely while Mr. Piper explores space feudalism (and other forms of government) and the impact when people leave one country/planet to seek their fame and fortune. While this book was written in 1963, Mr. Piper does a great job making this a timeless classic. More science fiction writers would be better if they'd emulate Mr. Piper's works.

With the transition of much of H. Beam Piper's work into the public domain publishers like Aegypan Press have finally begun to bring Piper's work back into print and for that fans of Piper owe them a debt of gratitude. This novel, set in Piper's Terrohuman Future History, is his writing at its best. Centuries ago, rebels fleeing the Terran Federation settled the distant Sworld Worlds. Now their descendants, the Space Vikings, plunder and loot the worlds of the collapsed Old Federation. Lucas Trask, a Sword Worlds nobleman, begins the novel as a critic of the Space Vikings, believing they are draining the Sword Worlds of their most capable talent. But after suffering a terrible crime Trask turns Space Viking himself, venturing into the Old Federation seeking retribution. Eventually, Trask becomes a Space Viking prince at the center of brewing conflict between the Sworld Worlds, other Space Viking planets, and the "civilized" worlds of the Old Federation. Part space opera, part political intrigue, and all action this novel is an excellent introduction to Piper's centuries-spanning Future History.

Also recommended by Piper are Four-Day Planet, Uller Uprising, Little Fuzzy, and The Cosmic Computer.

I saw 2 of Chekhov's plays in college and I honestly don't remember them. Glenn Close appeared in one I remember, but beyond that I was obviously distracted. Nothing could have prepared me for the perfection of these stories. I have never read a collection that had such an impact. Chekhov's clear-eyed world view peers at tiny physical details in the lives of the characters to see into their souls. They are tragic heroes in common clothes.

Chekhov looks on without judgment. His attitude is humane and liberal. No matter how foolish his subjects, his attitude is never condescending.

I hadn't realized it until I finished Pevear's forward, but Chekhov begins to slip subtly into stream of consciousness in several stories. This and many other innovations make Chekhov a pivotal figure in fiction writing. He is certainly under appreciated at present.

(I can't compare it, of course, but the P&V translation is another gift.)

Anton Chekhov is largely known for his plays (The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya), but he is also widely regarded as a master of the short story. However to fully appreciate these stories the reader should be somewhat familiar with the state of fiction in Russia during the last half of the 19th century as well as social and political conditions in the country at that time. Some knowledge of Chekhov's personal history and his philosophy of life is also helpful. Lacking these insights one is likely to find these stories to be excessively negative and depressing.

One difficulty in reading this book of his best short stories is that the first few (50 pages or so) are unrelentingly depressing; death and unrequited love being the main themes and they are told in Chekhov's spare style. A Boring Story is a longer and more interesting piece. It includes some aspects of Chekhov's philosophy, and while it ends on another depressing note, there is still an element of hope present. Ward No. 6 is perhaps the best of these stories, as well as the longest. It tells of a hospital in Siberia with a ward for mental patients. The story centers around a doctor (Andrei Yefichmych), a decent and compassionate man who gradually descends to the depths of the place. Along the way he has an interesting exchange with a mental patient, Ivan Dmitrich. The doctor suggests that one can be happy anywhere, even trapped in a prison, and cites the example of the Greek philosopher Diogenes who so distained material things that he lived in a barrel. The patient disagrees strongly, shouting, "I love life, I love it passionately!" He adds, tellingly, that maybe Diogenes would not have been so happy if he had had to live in a barrel in the wintry cold of Siberia!

The other stories in the book treat of a variety of people and situations from all walks of Russian life. While despair and a sense of hopeless fatalism remains the main thrust of many of these stories, there is also an element of hope present. Chekov keeps coming back to the idea that the future will be better. Some stories, such as Anna on the Neck, even have an element of humor. The last story, The Fiancée, perhaps sums up Chekhov's view of Russian life. In this tale a young woman living in a small town becomes engaged to a local man. A guest from the city, Sasha, starts to talk with her about how empty her life will be if she marries this man. Gradually she begins to come to this realization and in the end leaves to move to St. Petersburg to have "a new, expansive, spacious life, and that life, still unclear, full of mysteries, lured and beckoned to her."

I have given Chekov a rating of 4 stars, rather than 5, because, compared to Guy de Maupassant and O. Henry, his stories do not sufficiently express the full range of human emotions. Both of the latter masters of the short story infuse their work with humor and even broad satire and this is the stuff of life as well as the dreary world that Chekov inhabits. Yet maybe Chekov is reflecting the reality of Russia in his time. In any case these stories are well worth reading.

There are no better short stories than those of Anton Chekov. He wrote characterizations that resonate across the years and across cultures. Chekov takes you deep into these people's lives and struggles so that the reader feels a very definite strong connection with these characters that populate pre-revolutionary Russia. Short on plot and yet each story is satisfying and memorable. Some , Ward 6 is an example ,are masterpieces of the short story form.

Excellent translation and stories that you can read and enjoy again and again for years. You can't go wrong here.

This is the first series of works that I have read by Chekhov. I wanted to read some of his shorter works before beginning reading his novels. Now that I realize how much I enjoy his stlye, which I think other people will like as well, I am looking forward to reading his larger works. I very much liked the insight into the Russian culture.

Chekhov simply astonishes. "The Lady with the Little Dog," one of his most famous stories, is rendered splendidly by Pevar and Volokhonsky. I don't know of any other writer who captures the confusion, fear and excitement of romantic love as well as Chekhov does here. The last line is perfect.

John Domini has done it again. When I first discovered Domini's books (see Bedlam, Highway Trade, etc.), I became a die-hard fan. His recent novel has won me over again. Domini writes with clarity and tooth: his characters so alive, they practically emanate from the page, springing from one adventure to another. The book is true to its title, chronicling the adventures of the protagonist Kit, who upholds the written word, as a writer /owner of an independent rag that outs the heinous political undercurrents of that era. Domini captures this with wit, excellent research, intrigue and as always, astounding character development. This author is a tour de force of the written word and a celebration to the field of literature. Bravo!

The 70s may be the most misunderstood decade of the 20th Century. While most people would prefer to not try and understand the 70s, cracking jokes about polyester leisure suits and disco dance lessons, John Domini is not ashamed of the culture of that time. And if nothing else, this book is a reminder of what we shouldn't forget about the 70s. Certainly the punk movement of that time should be remarked upon even if David Byrne rode on the New Wave from the basement bathroom of CBs in NY to stardom while Joey Ramone stayed true to the form. But perhaps that's Domini's point. His main character often asks via an ongoing newspaper story in his head, "How can a punk be a success?" Maybe a punk has to be a success to have an effect on the culture. Perhaps David Byrne was on to something. Domini's character, Kit Viddich, channels Hamlet and Odysseus throughout the story as if to say this moment in time, this story, this punk artifact will too last through time. In other words it will be added to the culture, even if it is just words, words, words.

And in the most brilliant aspect of the work, Domini channels the maestro, Marshall McLuhan, pairing David Byrne's band, the Talking Heads, with the message itself of the Talking Head. Certainly the 70s didn't invent the newsreporter but it was in the 70s that the newsreporter turned into the talking head: the news interpretor, the god of the media, the ever yakking, ever usurper of the print media.

Which leads us to one final artifact of the 70s that should not be forgotten: the alternative newspaper. Again, not invented in the 70s, but certainly legitimized therein. Our modern zine culture is a testament to alternatives born in the decade after the 60s when so many idealists were left empty-handed and asking what now? They knew what the truth was, had seen what could be from those hippy-dippy days, and we weren't tired yet as so many others were. They weren't ready to accept the superficiality that turned out for the 80s. They weren't all leisure suit-wearing disco ducks after all. And political corruption was still rampant.

If nothing else this book is an American story complete with happy ending. Against all odds and frankly good sense, the good guy remains steadfast against the corporate giant. He doesn't accept the bribe, he doesn't fold, he doesn't give in. Whether or not he wins is not really the point; the fact that he remains is what's important. Corporate and political greed will always be with us. As long as we have our little heroes slogging it out in their independent and under-funded press against those Goliaths, we can feel we're on the right track. For in the end it is the story of the individual that is important. As long as we don't lose our integrity, we have a happy ending.

Domini's book doesn't insult intelligence, so please don't read this book if you lack a sense of humor, reality, sensuality, or common sense because this experimental novel is just that: about the senses. Sometimes the reader becomes as lost and confused about the world and moral obligation as Kit, fumbling through each scene with new light and revelations. This book of senses unfolds, layer upon layer of Kit's, his wife's, hard emotions and what to do with life and it's decisions and consequences. The split-screen effect of Domoni's style with Kit's thoughts doesn't distract, it adds to that confusion that everyone in life must face...just not as much as the characters in this rich book of characters.

Perhaps it is the language of this novel that elevates it above the level of mere crime drama. Domini juxtaposes elements of noirish intrigue with retro-hipness to create the tense story of Kit Viddich's struggle of ethos in a dark world of corporate and government conspiracy and negligence.

The best part of this book is the many allusions to Shakespeare's Hamlet, partiuclarly one of Domini's choruses, borrowed from Act II, scene ii: "Words, words, words..."

I loved this book because of the really cool and modern writing style. Domini uses a "split screen" technique to give you the main characters thoughts and plans for turning his experience into an article for his independent newspaper. the characters use an almost stylized dialogue -- one minute Kit and his wife soundlike a 1940's film and the next the newspaper staff is talking like the hippest underground punkers the late seventies/early eighties had to offer. Very cool. All the characters have secrets and adgendas. It's a great read that is literary and experimental.

This is a wonderful book to read aloud with pre-teens and teens. Great lessons written in an understandable way. Beautiful illustrations too.

This is a book written for teens. As such it is a great book. But, if you want a great coffee table book, this is it. As a mature Christian, you may not learn a lot about God, but reading just a few pages will brighten your day. This book is better than a hot cup of soup on a cold day.

An absolutely indespensible part of a practicing Christian's library. The children love it, beg me to read it and I am learning right alongside. Don't miss it!!

Great addition to any child's library. The stories can be a wonderful start to very meaningful conversations about the important things in life.

I can remember going to church camp as a teenager and hearing the director read this book aloud to the campers. Still today, hearing her read about the Wemmicks and the Song of the King are among my favorite memories from camp. Now that I've returned to camp as a counselor, I'll be bringing this book along with me to read to the kids. The stories paint word pictures that come to life as they are read. (And if that isn't enough, the illustrations in the book are outstanding.) More than that, these stories are specifically intended to open up conversation about the subjects they deal with. The lessons taught through the stories are ones that will stick with the kids--and the adults too. I've already bought two copies of this book, one for myself and one for a friend teaching at a Christian elementary school. If you're looking to instill godly lessons into young children, I doubt if you'll find a more useful, excellent book.

If you've read any of Harold Jaffe's writing at all, you know he writes with tremendous heart and devotion to his cause. Certainly this heart manifests itself in angry textual roadside bombs and subversive attacks, but the underlying cause is a nobel and brave one. A devoted fan of Jaffe's work, I find myself impressed with his precision and relentless social critique. In "Mother Palestine," Jaffe tweaks a familiar formal innovation, an unsituated dialogue, by simply employing the device of motherhood. The effect is stunningly effective, it pulls us into the politics of this remote struggle through a minimalist suggestion of intimate human relationships that every reader will respond to, on one level or another. It is an example of Jaffe exploring the range of textual methods and structures he has been using now for well over a decade. "Revolt Wives" is another important inclusion here--it suggest a humanistic compassion for all who suffer at the hands of the oppressive ruling class, not just the muslims who suffer. In that regard, especially considering how the book can be received, Jaffe's work remains so very important as expression of what a growing portion of the US population is feeling--a contempt for our (our=corporate war machine whether US or Israeli or otherwise) punishment of innocents abroad and at home in the name of profit and sweet crude. Incidentally, and sadly, I think the populace's disagreement with the war machine would be much better contained if gas were still $1.50 a gallon, but that's another story. "Mustache" is also wonderful, and especially important as it seems whatever party is in power, the deference to Israel is reliable and unwavering. Hate to be a self-hating half-Jew, but man it is a bummer to witness the recurring atrocities that happen under the blind eye of US-Israeli relations. And the way the US is treating Hammas after they won the (clean) democratic election--what the heck is that? It is a despicable time, and Jaffe's recording of absurdities such as the orange alert, atrocities such as the corpse wagging of Hussein's sons, is another important accomplishment in his long and committed carreer.

In "Trader Joes" Jaffe introduces the notion of a forgotten, non-threatening and invisible young Arab woman--a victim of the violence--and then echoes that figure in later texts. Of all the texts here, I will reread "Sewage" first, as I love the neatness of the way the three threads work together. Unfortunately, the caustic patriotic violent interrogator is most familiar to me, but the alignment with the ineffective water treatment plant and the compassionate cop is direct, useful, and does what Jaffe does so well--recontextualizes reality in ways that reveal ugly truths.

One final comment: Jaffe resurrects "Things To Do in Time of War," a story he first published in Straight Razor, which came out during the first Gulf War. The first version of the story was located inside the home, and it had a particular delirium to it. This version of the story is located in the workplace, on the freeway with other commuters, and it has has much less delirium and far more ingrained horror. In the nearly ten years that have transpired between these two installments of the same story, Harold Jaffe has shown his readers how committed writing works, how the indefatiguable machinery of corporate-government policy and "morality" can be challenged with anger and precision. More than that, he keeps hope alilve for those of us who believe that culture is not merely a marketplace for the hegemony of the ruling class. His next book is expected to be a collection of his essays and docufictions directed at writers who wish to join him in the project of textual rebellion against the status quo. It could not be a more timely and appropriate move from a writer who has inspired so many devoted readers despite the marginalization that mainstream publishers and distributors may have imposed on him during his career. So long as Jaffe keeps publishing books, committed writers will know that that there is a future for the voice of outrage and indignation. Guerrilla writing is alive and well and you can find it in the pages of Terror-Dot-Gov.

An extraordinary network of vignettes dervied from newspapers and on-line "news" sources. Jaffe has coined the phrase "docufictions" to describe his cunning deconstructions of what passes for objective data.

The result is something like postmodern America re-seen, or--beter--seen for the first time with a distressing clarity.

Brilliant.

With Terror-Dot-Gov, Harold Jaffe demonstrates he has the eye of a prognosticator. In his fictions (called "docufictions" because they're so accurate) he dramatizes how -- and why -- America is destroying itself and how -- and why -- it's taking a sizeable portion of the world with it.

The signs and portents are all presented and interpreted: heads severed for justice and sport; attack dogs sinking their teeth into the flesh of innocents; Baghdad treatment plants for processing raw (feces) and cooked (prisoners) sewage; and players in the game of "who would you bomb?"

I don't mean to imply that it's a grim book. On the contrary, it's humorous -- ironic and satirical without trivializing its subjects. And why not? As long as we're determined to act like neo-lemmings we might as well laugh as we plunge over the cliff!

"Harold Jaffe brainwashes a drug fetus to the guerrilla=sex in the 21st century." - Kenji Siratori, author Blood Electric

To read Harold Jaffe's pieces as a commentary on or critique of the war on terrorism is to under-read him, as Beckett was misread as being "symbolic" or Swift as a fantasist. Just as Swift made an ostensible target of the Irish in his "Modest Proposal" while actually targeting the bigotry of the English, so too does Jaffe construct a triadic argument. The ostensible target this time may be the war on terror, but the true target hiding behind the straw man is the reader. Jaffe reveals imbedded assumptions in the language of these docufictions and in so doing betrays the lack of objectivity in news texts and reports as we receive them. He points his pen at us and shows us how complicitous we have been in committing the atrocities he describes. We may revile the media's displays of violence and feign shock, but we are always willing to stand in line to pay the price of admission. In "Behead," for example, the beheading of Brent Marshall is described as not going very smoothly "because of Marshall's exceptionally thick neck." Thus the brutality of the slaying is blamed on Marshall, a Virginia "thick-neck" of the type we have learned to feel less compassion for over the years because a thick neck represents a "dumb jock," "a red neck," "a hick." "Big as an ox" means "dumb as an ox," as we conflate clichés to get there. In "Pizza Cannibal," one character says, "I just couldn't believe this guy [Salt Brumley] could have done something to bring out the feds." Brumley is described as a "homely bachelor" with "stick-out ears, large flat feet, cleft palate, and low IQ," and the first three attributes are taken as personality issues: people with stick-out ears and large flat feet are routinely made fun of as being "stupid" in our society (see Li'l Abner), and are generally considered too "simple" to be harmful. In the same story, Jaffe challenges us liberals to look at our own smug intellectual superiority--would we who uphold that what goes on between consenting adults in the privacy of their bedrooms is perfectly acceptable include mutually agreed-upon murder and cannibalism? Or are we liberal only up to a point? What point? Why? Caveat Emptor? The dialogue in "Trader Joe's" contains pure consumer speak. Where would conversations go nowadays without consumerism? Would we have anything to say to one another if we lost our retail chains and baseball scores? Even references to Pinochet and suicide bombs are dropped into conversations because of their impact on Chilean wines and Home Depot. My favorite of these docufictions, the one that really got me involved, is "White Terror." This is presented as a game, with the key refrain being, "Who would you bomb in that one?" Scenarios are given to us, such as how one of Queen Elizabeth's corgis was bitten by a terrier belonging to the daughter. Who would you bomb? The respondent is told the dogs are named Raj and Dottie, but even after knowing which dog was which, the respondent still assumes that Raj was the terrier. He assumes the violent one has the Eastern name. Assumptions such as these are at the heart of the book. Jaffe challenges the reader with disquieting juxtapositions and multiple versions of the same story. "Which is true?" we might ask. Can we ever know, even if we are "told" by media or government that one version is true? Of course not--all we get is filtered versions whose points of view and choices of diction reveal deep-seated biases. Look, for example, at the different descriptions of a group of dogs in the six alternate versions of a canine attack in "Revolt Wives." The dogs are described as a "lumpen," a "Gestapo," a "kasbah," a "death row," a "Bentustan," a "Gaza" of frenzied dogs--each term, of course, associated with death and abuse but carrying with it so many different connotations that they alternate versions of the scenarios are immediatley colored by that word choice. This is Jaffe's brilliance: he shows us how language has been used against us as a weapon, and he challenges us to wake up to that fact.