Short Stories Books

Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth is about Michel, Addy, Karl and a panda named Stillwater. Stillwater's umbrella lands in their backyard. He went to retrieve it before it would become a nuisance. This is how Addy, Michel and Karl met Stillwater. The day after Addy went to have tea with Stillwater. He was in a big yellow tent with a long red flag on it. He told her a story about his Uncle Ry and a robber. The day after Michel went to visit Stillwater. He was in a tree. He told him a story about two rabbits and luck. The day after Karl went to visit Stillwater. They went swimming. Stillwater told him a story about two monks and a puddle. This is how Addy, Michel, Karl and Stillwater became friends.

Stillwater is a good story teller. He told good understandable stories. Simple things in life reminded him of stories.

I like the way the author put stories in a story. The normal illustrations were colourful while the illustrations for the short story were cartoony.

By Nik

Moral philosophy for kids - and their parents. My three year old likes the stories as much as I do. The messages are delivered simply so that you take from them your own meaning to your degree of understanding. We try to read Zen Shorts in the mornings to remind us of more peaceful ways to approach the day. I really can't recommend this book enough.

The illustrations are georgeous. There are moral stories based on some Zen principles within the main story line. My son is only two, but he loves the pictures (and the Chinese Marlon Brando voice I use for the panda) and I think he'll grow into the story.

I love when lessons are presented in such a way that a child would not recognize that they are learning anything. This is a gently presented story. The book reminds me of Aesop's Fables. I will be purchasing more books by Jon Muth.

Who knew? Zen can be fun. Well, I thought so, but it sure is wonderful to come across a book with a terrific sense of humor (both visually and in the text) that also conveys values. Other reviews do a terrific job capturing what's great about this book, so I will only add that I have found this book to be valuable while trying to teach my pre-K child about managing anger and disappointment: the juxtaposition of the classic zen tale about "carrying" anger with the child's experience of it could have been heavy-handed, but the joyfulness conveyed by the illustrations and Stillwater's gentle, gentle guidance combine to make the lesson resonate without coming down like an anvil. We now talk of "putting down our anger" in our house and it has made all of us (kids and adults) more centered. A perfect, quiet bedtime read. And the covers of Muth's books, when matted and framed, make for great bedroom posters!

I love this book and so do my kids. I'm sure my grandkids will too. I was surprised at what excellent condition it was for a used book. Even the cover looked really good. Thanks much!

This is one of the best books ever; for children and adult. If you have Christian Beliefs, I highly recommend it.

This is a wonderful book for all ages! The meaning is beautiful. Highly recommend!!!

This is such a great book for children. It gave me the chills the first time I read it. I would certainly recommend it to others.

This story is a Christian allegory illustrating, in a simple, yet clear, manner, God's power to use our lives for His purposes in ways that surpass even our biggest dreams.

The story begins by introducing three trees, each with its own grand dream. As the story progresses, the trees begin to question their purposes and wonder whether their dreams will come true. By the end, each tree realizes that not only are their dreams fulfilled, but they are fulfilled in unexpected ways.

While the book may be intended for children, the story's message appeals to readers of all ages. I purchased the board book version so that it would withstand the handling of my two toddlers. Because the pictures are not as bright and baby-friendly as what you would find in other books, and the story is an allegory, my then 18-month-old wasn't very interested in my reading it to her. Now that she is 2 1/2 and is familiar with stories about Jesus, she now asks questions about the pictures and listens as I explain that God created each of us for a special purpose and can use us in ways we never expected.

Jorge Luis Borges was one of those rare writers who can take even a bizarre, utterly unbelievable idea, and spin it into an exquisite little gem of prose.

And this classic writer was at the peak of his powers when he collected together "Ficciones," whose plain name belies the subtle power and exquisite beauty of Jorges' short stories. Even among Borges' many short stories, few of them can rival this little labyrinth of strange ancient cities, fictional histories, and the eerie depths of the human mind.

"I owe the discovery of Uqbar to the conjunction of a mirror and an encyclopedia." An odd old saying from the Middle-East leads the narrator to seek out the long-lost heretical histories of a fictional world known as Tlon. Its beliefs, language, and metaphysical eccentricities increasingly fascinate the narrator, until it's almost a surprise to realize that Borges invented all of this.

The stories that follow are no less engrossing -- the recounting of a strange, haunting novel, a man who attempts to LIVE as Don Quixote, a man who tries to dream a new being into existence, a lottery that determines the way the people of Babylon are to live, an examination of a brilliant and underrated author, an exploration of the eternal Library of the universe, and a labyrinthine spy story.

The second round of short stories is a bit less enthralling, merely because it focuses more on "typical" Borges short stories. But they are still pretty enthralling pieces of work -- the remembrance of the brilliantly eccentric Ireneo Funes, the story of a scar, a series of murders linked to "the secret Name," a condemned man's begs God for a year to perfect his art, a forgotten heretic, a conversation leading to revenge, the Cult of the Phoenix, and a man entranced by the "Arabian Nights."

Mirrors and labyrinths fill Borges' work -- real and imagined, in word, metaphor and reality. You see them in an endless library, a guitar melody, a contradiction in religious faith, a complex plot, and in the mind of a man who loses himself to an obsession. The mirrors show you the sides of people that they would never see themselves, and the labyrinth twists the mind into new places where it would never normally go.

"Ficciones" explores places where normal fiction would never go -- such as a Babylonian lottery for different places in society, corrupted by greed -- even as it imbues its eulogies, metaphysical ponderings and explanations with the tinge of reality. The cults, deaths, and art that Borges describes seem so plausible, and are given such depth and detail, that it comes as a mild shock when you realize, "Hey, he made all of this up."

Part of that is due to his unique style, full of elegant wordcraft and gently luminous imagery ("a round yellow moon defined two leaf-clogged fountains in the dreary garden"). Even a stabbing is made brutally beautiful, and often dialogue is unnecessary -- the most beautiful and striking stories in here are the ones where Borges (aka the narrator) eagerly explores some invented facet of the world.

And woven through these stories are many of the things that fascinated Borges through his career -- a tragic hero, ancient heresies, an elusive God, and people whose lives he could somehow explore through his own imagination.

If you could criticize anything at all, it's that few of the characters -- aside from the Borges "narrator" -- are much more than walking symbols of a murky little message. But hey, you could simply see this entire book as an exploration of Borges' own imagination by himself. He happily recounts countries that are nonexistant, books that were never written, geniuses who never were.

"Ficciones" is about the dullest name you can possibly give to a work of genius -- an intricate little web that is all mirrors and mazes. Absolutely stunning.

Borges is one of the great literary giants of the 20th century, a statement that in itself appears as a graveyard of a word; that his influence is comparable to that of Joyce, Proust and Beckett. I would another name to that list, that of Georges Perec, a French novelist most famous for his works "Void" and "Life, A User's Manual".

I am no authority in much of anything, so I'd advice you find and read as much Borges as you can, but I've found that this collection is a fitting place whence to start and end endeavours of life. Literature works as a way of shaping not only our imagination but expounding our sense of self; this is a phenomenon that does not exclude anyone: most of the time it is merely unconscious as we hone endless miles through the seas of matter, of influence. Reading the great masters not only takes us to the root of what has been shaping and influencing the most intelligent and worthy art created, this reading gives us tools of becoming a self-conscious human being.

But read these stories for fun if you're not a self-confessed pretentious bohemian like me. I do, too, yet for me the other half of the fun is to dwell in the experience and shape an abstractly spatial being of it, place it into my mind as a station between different poles of my being. I theorize because I don't know any better. I keep returning to this book time and again, and to his poems, in themselves undertakings of a genius mind to create a new world, a function which any work of art should consciously yet as lucidly as possible promote. Each of the stories is a labyrinth for the mind, a whole microcosm of wordplays, mirrors, riddles, puzzles, mazes, doubles, self-reflection, catalogues and everything from between. A whole literary life being constructed in these short stories, much in the same way as a word-to-word memorization of a Cervantes. As with that book, everything that we experience in fiction, that feels the same has changed forever.

With best regards,
AK

My knowledge of Borges is small; before purchasing Ficciones I had only read two or three of his short stories. Enough, however, to know that it would be well worth the short time it takes to read each of these stories.

Borges had an unusual and amazing way of compressing the most stimulating, fascinating material into a small number of pages. You may read one of his stories in ten-fifteen minutes and contemplate it for a week (or more) and remember it for life. And still, you may well want to reread it many times; it has happened more than once that upon finishing a Borges short I immediately wanted to go back and start from the beginning.

The strange thoughts on infinity and the nature of existence are presented in a way that stimulates thought in a humble yet intruiging way. Ideas that may be well recognized and used in other fiction (in some cases overused) have some other element, some different approach, so that even if the premise is not "new" the experience certainly is. How this can be done, and in so few words no less, is beyond me.

This was certainly one of my very best buys and I know that this book will be well worn by my reading alone, not to mention that of the many people I will lend it to with my best recommendations. These short stories will bring beauty and excitement of the mind to many an otherwise boring, mundane day.

Transport the Wachowski brothers to the 1930's and ask them to express their philosophy by way of short stories. You might get something in the same ballpark as Ficciones. The diversity and genius of Borges' work is so unique that if you were to know all the languages in the world and had no word limit, it would still be hard to do a review that does justice. Ironically, this is exactly the kind of challenge that Borges would stand up to. I will attempt to review this work by enlisting adjectives that come to mind.

Surreal, mystic, recursive, sophistic, heretical, philosophical, religious, profound, imaginative, ingenious, circular, open-ended, unorthodox, personal, hallucinational, original, universal, self-referential, concise, contextual, complex, ironic.

Here are a few examples of the complexity of Borges' mind at work.

Borges attributes certain imaginary books and volumes of books to some of the authors that he is most influenced by. In reality, these books are projections of Borges' fertile mind and no more. In the process of critiquing imaginary works of art (let's call this meta-art), he creates an instance of the meta-art in the mind of the reader. It's like me talking to you about the eating habits of a third person you haven't met, and actually does not exist! Borges never fails to leave you with a lasting impression of a meta-art that resonates with your senses. On second thoughts, this is obvious because the meta-art is as much a figment of your imagination as it is Borges'. Every meta-art is a reflection of your own creative mind, while Borges is simply holding a mirror. And talking about mirrors, here's a quote from Borges as attributed by him to the meta-art in his first short story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius": "The earth we inhabit is an error, an incompetent parody. Mirrors and paternity are abominable because they multiply and affirm it." And with this we come full circle just like you would in most of Borges' stories.

Borges is fascinated with the idea of god and provides several unorthodox notions of god that might be as appealing to scientists as they would to priests. This is done more so by illustration than by elucidation. In fact, subtle self-references and recursions are an integral part of the entire work. The stories embody the concept that Borges sets out to illustrate, and always come full circle at the end such that appreciating the story is equivalent to appreciating the concept. Whether it is the wizard of "The Circular Ruins", the librarian of "The Library of Babel", the spy of "The Garden of Forking Paths", the teenage boy of "Funes the Memorious", or the playwright of "The Secret Miracle"; the self-referential nature of the work is haunting. Each story leaves you wondering how Borges could convey so much with so little words [This also speaks volumes about the quality of English translation]. Then again, the very topic of brevity and excessiveness is discussed in one of the reviews of a fictional book. It is like Borges does not let anything go. Yet again, the very topic of an all-encompassing book is discussed in the context of a fictional book that aspires to BE god.

There was not a single story of the seventeen that was not profound. There is no chance that you would not re-read this book after reading it once.

Borges never fails to please, to challenge, to entertain, and more importantly make one's brain shift into high gear!
If you are looking for an easy read, don't expect to find it in Ficciones.

However, if you are looking for a little cerebral cortex arousal; grab this book and find a cozy spot...you won't be disappointed!

Reading with his head instead of his heart, Borges looks to fill his mind with all the minutia and information he can possibly hold and release it back in his works with finely crafted and fascinatingly playful philosophical stories.

The sparse, objective writing of Ficciones is a far cry from his earlier lyrical style, of which he says: "In those days, I sought dusk, the outskirts, and unhappiness; now, mornings, the center, and serenity."

Thankfully in the newer center, we are treated to 17 extraordinary stories that are teasingly succinct, yet brimming with imaginative and aesthetic prose!

The scarcity of words requires that the reader pay attention to them all or miss much of the wisdom and subtleness that define the delicate and ingenious style that is this fine master of fiction...Jorge Luis Borges!

I really enjoyed this book. It's a great read. A favorite for me. I was reading on the train one day and got sooo caught up in the book that I almost missed my stop! lol, this book also made me do something that I've never done before, which was pray for the character. That's how real the words become. You truly fall in love with Silver and her plight, that you want to root for her with everything... including prayers & tears ; ), well maybe just the prayers for me. Treasure has created a wonderful world and I'm sure you'll be pleased.

This was book was exceptionally brillant! The creative way the writer used his words to manipulate my mind and bring me into his world was powerful. Treasure E. Blue has given me a new outlook on the way I view society today. It's taught me to always be thankful for what I have and not for what I don't have. In life we have many challenges, and this book has made me realize that I'm not the only person facing obstacles. Thanks much! Now, if only I could get my uncle to write as good as you (Smile)

For me, after reading a book the reminants generally lasts a few days. However, with Harlem Girl Lost by Treasure E. Blue these reminants have lasted for several weeks now. Generally, I do not provide feedback on a book; but, in this case an exception has been made! I was able to relate to some of the characters in the book; which bought me back to the days of growing up in Harlem. Sometimes you think you could escape the past, but reading a fantastic book such as this makes one realize we all have made mistakes. This book has been an inspiration to me and provided me with one of those "ah haa" moments. I have recently started a mini book club with a few friends. Our first book, you guessed it...Harlem Girl Lost!!! I wished I had a read a book such as this many years ago, but as they say better late than never. I simply wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you for writing such a great book!!! Of course, I am now reading "A Street Girl Named Desire". Shhh, don't let my club know. At any rate, this book is worth the reading, I can't wait for the next one, or better yet a movie. Please continue to write, we need more writers like you. Best Wishes :)

This bookis of the chain!!! The characters are so real and the storyline was amazing, nothing was left out. All of my questions were answered. I would highly recommend this book to my fellow readers. I really hope that Treasure Blue will bring out another novel really soon because I will truely support all of his books.

Treasure E. Blue, Harlem Girl Lost (Ballantine, 2004)

It's an oft-bandied-about statistic in writing manuals that 95% of the books published in any given year sell less than five thousand copies total. So, when one reads about a book that, when self-published, sold sixty-five thousand copies-- to spell that out for you, outsold most books published by a factor of thirteen before it landed a book deal-- one expects something special. Or one should, anyway.

When Blue is on his game, this book is something special. It's a fast, ugly, whip-smart morality tale about life in Harlem. It chronicles the lives of Silver Jones, whose mother raised her to be someone who could get out of the decrepit neighborhood and start fresh somewhere else, and Silver's on-again off-again boyfriend Chance, school outcast turned slick, predatory drug dealer. The book (aside from a few flashback chapters that drag) keeps along at a breakneck pace, challenging the reader to catch up, spinning its tale as outlandishly as any of the blaxploitation movies Blue castigates in a passing comment.

That said, Blue is not always on his game, and when he's not, the book grates. His characters are often boilerplate, if not outright stereotypical (remembering that stereotypes apply equally to the good as well as the bad), and his plot harks back to those same movies. That said, this sort of thing can be mighty enjoyable in the right hands. Every time I got myself convinced that Blue's hands are the right ones, he did something else that annoyed me. Time and again it was the book's dialogue. I understand the whole "keeping it real" thing, but there's a point where you've gone beyond keeping it real and entered the territory of keeping it parodic. And, really, how many times do you have to use the word [censored] in a book to keep it real? Not this many, I'm pretty sure.

Not a bad book, but not nearly what it could have been. ** ½

Hey...what do I really need to say here? I mean, this is Edgar Allan Poe we're talking about! It's an excellent collection of his stories and poems. Many people are of the opinion that Poe's works are all rather macabre. Although many of his works do fit into that category, he was also a brilliant satirist. For example, I recommend his short story, "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether". Quite hilarious, and very witty. Poe was a highly educated member of society, and was also the 'inventor' of the modern detective mystery with his short story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." His incomparable literary style has gone unequaled to this day. For those already familiar with Poe, I suggest you read him again to have a fresh look at his works. For those who are NOT familiar with his works, you are missing out BIG time! Poe having been homegrown right here in America, we can be proud of his literary achievements. Check it out.

Allan F. Whitney

I bought this book as a gift for my friend. She loved it.I was so glad I was able to find it here.

Edgar Allan Poe is regarded as the undisputed master of the gothic horror genre. This collection contains all his published works, faithful reproductions from the orginals, that have made him famous. With stories like the the Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell Tale Heart and poems like The Raven, this books is a must have for any Poe fan or any one who is new to Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite authors of all time. I recall reading the 'Tell Tale Heart' as an 8 year old and getting hooked. I read most any work of his that I could get my hands on, in the process inspiring in me a love of literature and mystery. I loved his works so much, many years later I coupled my biology major with an english minor just so I could have an excuse for reading during the busy college days. This work compiles the literary works of an absolute genius into a beautiful, must have volume. It would be a perfect gift for anyone who enjoys Poe and even for the child who shows growing signs of getting into video gaming...maybe catch the kid before its too late!

Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809, died October 7, 1849.

What is it that makes an author famous? I don't mean famous in the sense a news article reports that "Jack Greylea's novels sold 15 million copies last year," but in the sense that he is thought of as being profound, and seminal. That he is quoted, and scholars analyse his works, and he is looked upon as being the original voice of his style, or the font from which many imitators have drawn inspiration.

Edgar Allan Poe is one such. The very hint of his name calls up images of midnight graveyards, of crumbling mansions lit by wax candles, the home of strange and tormented aristocrats, till the description "Poe-like" can draw as vivid a picture in our minds as "elephant-like."

Yet his output was not great. Basically a short story writer and poet, he produced only one full-length novel, which received more censure than praise, and which very few people today can name. Without wishing to run him down as an author (what he did, he did well, but what he did well, was to be Poe) he was a limited writer, and all of his works over twenty-two years can be contained in one thickish book.
So what is the secret of Poe, whereby a scanty writer becomes the cult-centre of a world of horror that carries his own stamp? It lies I think in two things.

Not to place these two in any order of importance as regards his continuing fame - I leave this to you - but I would say....
Firstly, that it was his choice of subject and execution of it. The mournful, weird and macabre, in which man becomes little more than an instrument of darkness, and that usually the worst darkness, that which wells up from within, whose black light shows us as being not the pawns of evil, but the source of evil itself. But to seize on this idea - or any other idea - as inspiration is nothing, merely the starting point from which the quill hits the paper. It is in the execution of his vision that Poe's genius emerges. Not with a great deal of subtlety, nor a much complexity, but with great and disciplined fixity on the horror of his intentions, Poe moves relentless to the nasty culmination of his stories, and they come to us with all the rawness of unconsoled misery. His art was that of the short story writer, and as such he wrote little, but when reading Poe a little is more than enough.

Secondly, that Poe more than any other author is identified as a man with his works. An orphan and an outcast from his adopted family, overly sensitive and reckless, he lived wildly, lied readily, lived in poverty, married strangely to his thirteen-year old cousin, was widowed miserably, and finally died mysteriously at age forty, from uncertain causes that speculation has named as anything from drug addiction to murder. As if this were not enough, his works were controlled after his death by his executor, who attempted to blacken his name. More than any other author that I can readily think of, Poe was his own tormented, tragic hero, and his oppressed characters were him.

In the nineteen-sixties, several of Poe's stories and poems - The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, The Raven, The Tomb of Legeia and others - were made into popular, low budget films, cementing Poe's reputation firmly into the mythology of modern horror movies. It's common of course for movies to be nothing like the original written work, but all of these are based on not on fully worked out novels, but ideas that Poe dealt with in comparatively few pages.

Incidentally, the principal actor in many of these was Vincent Price, whose tall, mournful frame instantly springs to mind as well nigh inseparable from Poe's weird gems.

Wonderful illustrations and a book that will not bore an adult. Great learning tool for young readers.

This book was recommended to me on a recent sailing trip thru the Great Lakes. I bought it for my hometown library as it was a wonderful geography lesson. Truely a dateless book and a lovely present for a child or library.

I couldn't say enough good things about this book and the series.

I have used this book as a child, with my children, as a teacher, and now with my grandchildren.
The book offers many educational experiences, entwined within a fine story.

I read Paddle-to-the-Sea as a child (I was born in 1942), and its story, illustrations and maps have left lasting impresssions on me. It blends social studies, geography, 20th Century American history and wonderful artwork into a gentle, loving tale. It ought to be required reading for all American youths.

I LOVE all of Holling Clancy Holling's books, but I have to admit that Paddle to the Sea is my favorite. The story of a little boy who carved a little man in a wooden canoe, and the adventures encounterd by the little man just captured my imagination. I never knew the Great Lakes until after feeling as though I had been there with Paddle to the Sea. H.C. Holling books are works of art packed with wonderful facts from science and geography. Any teacher's dream curriculum because you'll have the children enrapt attention! My sons love them as much as I do, and even now, they remember reading them as great memories.

Love Richard Scarry, but the illustrations in this publication are a bit dull/faded. There is a lot of content here, but still I was disappointed by the faded look. I recommend Richad Scarry's 'I Am a Bunny' Board Book which has superior color and my baby loved it at 3 months! Her first favorite book!!!

I'm very glad to see this back in print, but there are at least a couple of changes between this and the 70's version. First and foremost, the story of Pierre Bear has been replaced with "Good Night Little Bear." I strongly suspect that it was to 'modernize and politically correct' the book. But, I do think that Good Night Little Bear is a better story all round, so no real complaints.
Also, some of the stories and nursery rhymes are a bit abbreviated. E.g. the kittens and the mittens, and for reasons I can not figure out, the illustrations are about 10% smaller than in the Best Nursery Rhyme book.

Also, for the I am a Bunny book, I certainly think it's worth getting the book itself. The unique format makes it really stand out, and the pictures fill the pages entirely, with no distracting empty space.

This book was one of my main teaching aids growing up; however, my child will need some time to understand Richard Scarry's concept (along with some of his other books as well) of combining several theories and objects on one page that can confuse a young or developmentally challenged child. Not saying that it's impossible, but would take time. I say let them get interested in colors and basic shapes first, then direct them to the pictures and start introducing them to what they are by definition. Not only are there definitions and body parts and other concepts, but short and concise stories too if you can capture your child's interest long enough to sit still to listen to your reading and place the story with the pictures in a concept that they understand. LLO'C

Parents who grew up with Richard Scarry's books and who are nostalgic about his wonderful characters may be somewhat disappointed with this book. Some stories are taken from the delightful Richard Scarry's busy world (which appears to be now out of print and only available used on amazon for $124). Apart from these, the other stories are in a style which is very different from the Richard Scarry's books which I grew up with.
Until they come out with a reprint of Richard Scarry's Busy world, I would recommend "What do people do all day", or "Funniest storybook ever", where you can find all the familiar characters such as the cat family, lowly worm etc.

My mother kept my copy of this book because I loved it so much when I was a child. I now have a three year old son and he chooses to read it before bedtime night after night. He loves "Pierre Bear" and all the pages in between. It's a classic and I had no idea they even sold it anymore. Definitly an heirloom-quality book.

The Three Musketeers is one of my favorite books and Twenty Years After is practically just as good. The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because the editor, David Coward, gives away the ending of The Man in the Iron Mask. He tells you what happens in the last chapter of the last book in a footnote! DON'T read any of the footnotes in the last 20 pages of the book unless you want the story spoiled, in that case just go to wikipedia.

As the title says, it is twenty years after the events in the Three Musketeers. The four heroes are living their lives as they wanted, but are all slightly disaffected.

Cautiously, they agree to undertake a task for the Queen.

Complicating matters is the son of Milady de Winter, who is an anti-fan of these men, you could say.

The Musketeers must learn to work together again, even if their politics are aims are not all the same.

Thoroughly entertaining, "Twenty Years After" is a fulfilling sequel to a classic swashbuckling masterpiece.

Twenty Years have passed since D'Artagnan and the Musketeers triumphed over Cardinal Richelieu, preserved the Queen's honor, and brought justice upon the face of evil, Milady. The wave of time has carried the four friends down very different paths of life, and they have not been in contact for many years. D'Artagnan, looking for fortune and lost glory, offers his services to the wildly unpopular Cardinal Mazarin. The Cardinal accepts, and commissions D'Artagnan to unite the quartet for the service of France. What follows is a plot filled with twists, turns, surprises, and adventure. Many characters return from "The Three Musketeers," while several new characters play significant roles in "Twenty Years After." One such character, the son of Milady, has a twisted soul intent on the "revenge" of his mother.

Readers of "The Three Musketeers" who loved Dumas' four heroes for their youth, energy, and courage, will now love them for their maturity, wisdom, and honor. Undoubtedly, these are not the same four men we were left with at the end of the first book. The beauty of "Twenty Years After" is Dumas' ability to age the characters appropriately, and show the effect of time on their nature. In doing so, we see that while time has changed much, it has not changed their undying loyalty to each other.

My only issue with "Twenty Years After," and I'm surprised to find myself saying this, is the lack of a romantic aspect. D'Artagnan's love for Madame Bonacieux in "The Three Musketeers" actually pulled the reader in, making D'Artagnan's loss the reader's loss. There is no such story in "Twenty Years After," which I found rather disappointing. Despite this, "Twenty Years After" is an excellent sequel and I recommend it to anybody who enjoyed the first book.

It's been twenty years since the close of The Three Musketeers, and only D'Artagnan remains in service to the French Crown. Richelieu is dead and his protege Mazarin now holds the power behind the throne. Anne of Austria rules as regent for her young son, and civil war threatens France.

D'Artagnan is sent to bring the Musketeers out of retirement, but they find themselves at odds between the two sides in the civil unrest. D'Artagnan wants to be promoted to captain and Porthos who wants to be a baron, side with Mazarin, Athos and Aramis with the Fronduers (sp?). However, they soon find that although much has changed, their love and friendship for each other remain intact, particularly when faced with the evil son of Milady, who is bent upon revenge against those who executed his mother.

There's way too much plot to even try to explain, leave it to say that there is much adventure and derring do, from the civil war in France to the conflict between Charles I and Oliver Cromwell in England. I especially enjoyed the nail biting, sit on the edge of your seat excitement during the escape from England and Mordaunt, along with the rescue of D'Artagnan, Porthos and Athos from Mazarin (what fun!). Along with the excitement comes the humor of their constant banter and escapades making for a near perfect read.

I personally liked the parts in England the best, but I think that's because I have a better understanding of English history than French. Even after researching that period in France and Mazarin online, I still got a bit confused at times, but that is a minor issue in comparison to the rest of the story. Dumas is brilliant (as always) and his dialogue is among the best (as always). An awesome sequel to the Three Musketeers, and I am looking forward to starting the next chapter in this story, The Vicomte De Bragelonne.

It is truly amazing how many people don't have any idea that the Three Musketeers appear in more than the novel of the same name and "The Man in the Iron Mask." I must admit that for many years I was in that category myself but I was absolutely delighted to find that their adventures continued in this book and I must say that I found the exploits in this book to be almost as thrilling as the exploits in the first book.

Dumas played extremely fast and loose with history in the first book and he spends a good deal of time in this installment trying to correct some of his earlier deficiencies. Most notably Cardinal Richelieu, the great villain of the first book is in this book venerated and our heroes even bemoan the fact that they opposed him. It is also notable that Dumas is considerably more faithful to history in this book than he was in the first but don't make the mistake of thinking that this will read like a historical novel because as usual Dumas never lets the facts get in the way of a good story.

Athos, Porthos, d'Artagnan and Aramis have gone their separate ways and have completely lost contact with each other in the twenty years that elapse between the first and second book. So much so in fact that when d'Artagnan tries to put the group back together he has trouble finding his comrades. At the behest of Cardinal Mazarin who has replaced Richelieu d'Artagnan begins to search for his former colleagues so that they can unite to protect the Cardinal and the Queen from a growing revolt in Paris. He does recruit Porthos but the other two are in league with the rebels and then they face each other again when they become involved on different sides of the English Civil War.

In the end however their friendship and the deadly threat posed by someone from their past bring the friends back together and together these men are as usual unstoppable. Dumas has again provided for a swashbuckling good time and an adventure story that few authors can match. If anything, this adventure is more thrilling than the last as it takes place in two countries and even on the sea with only the occasional break so that the always-hungry Porthos can have something to eat. Anyone who enjoyed the first book will certainly enjoy this one and will do so maybe even more so than the last. These Musketeers didn't lose a thing over those twenty years.

Charmed Life is about some kids who go to study magic with one of the official guys in charge of magic. He has a couple of kids of his own, and they are the usual school age to have the school age disagreements and fights and not being nice to each other that goes along with that.

The eldest also gets a bit peeved at being thrown in with the young brats, too.

A young boy, Cat, must deal with his crazy and selfish older sister Gwendolyn who is obsessed with her own magical powers. Certainly much slower and less exciting than Jones' Howl books (read: more for children), but still has her enchanting and seemingly effortless style that captures a world where "magic is like music". Jones is always a good read. The characters are mysterious and thoroughly enjoyable. Gwendolyn is ambiguous and silly and selfish and delightful. Cat is an innocent; Chestomanci is Jones' typical ambiguous and passive wizard. The imagery of magic, particularly Cat's matchstick nine lives, is absolutely delicious. Grade: B

I am constantly on the lookout for new fantasy reads, because not only is it difficult to find a truly lasting (and by "lasting" I mean you think about it all the time, read it again and again, and gulp down every one of the author's other books) fantasy story, but if you do that author is usually what they call A Lofty One-Piece Wonder who writes one astonishingly beautiful story, gives it to the world...then settles into retirement and ignores all letters posted to them begging for a sequel.

Ah, not so with Diana Wynne Jones.

Hearing about her was actually an accident. I had picked up the book "Inkspell", the sequel to a book I'd enjoyed very much (Inkheart) and saw, on the back, that there was a quote on the back from "Diana Wynne Jones, author". For fun, I wandered over to the J's. Only a few Diana books were there -- THE MERLIN CONSPIRACY, ARCHER'S GOON, and -- the book that forever endeared me to this amazingly talented author -- EIGHT DAYS OF LUKE.

Having five dollars just aching to be spent and about that many minutes left till we had to go, I bought it on a whim.

And inhaled it that night.

I was going through withdrawls. NEED -- MORE -- DIANA -- WYNNE -- JONES -- BOOKS!!!

I got back to Borders and began to scrounge the shelves. Hmmm. "Chronicles of Chrestomanci". Looked okay -- not as good as I'd thought "Eight Days of Luke" was, but -- what was?

I read a little, put it down. Read a little more, and -- couldn't stop.

I am now on Book II, "The Lives of Christopher Chant".

I think you understand what I'm trying to say. Buy this book -- and while you're at it get "Eight days of Luke", too.



Rating: Very Good

"Charmed Life" is my first Diana Wynne Jones book (I know, I know ... I'm a little late) and I'll openly admit I came to her work through Miyazaki's amazing film "Howl's Moving Castle". Imagine how stupid I felt when I realized that I had been missing out on one of the best writers of our age. While it starts off slowly, Jones's first Chrestomanci book is still a grand, magical, yet simple adventure that sweeps the reader off their feet into a quirky yet solid world that readers will enjoy again and again.

Eric, a.k.a., Cat Chant, is a small and passive boy who thinks that he has no magical powers unlike his sister Gwendolen. Gwendolen is an ambitious, spoiled, and powerful girl who dreams of controlling the world. One day, when their parents die in a tragic boat accident, Gwendolen's powers attract the attention of the dapper and eccentric Chrestomanci. Chrestomanci is an enchanter, and a nine lived one at that, so that means he controls and governs all magic in the twelve related worlds. Chrestomanci seems to take an interest in Gwendolen, so he invites her and Cat to live in his castle.

When they arrive at the castle, both children dislike it at first. But Cat, being the passive boy that he is, quickly makes friends with Chrestomanci's two children even though he's absolutely frightened to death of their father. But Gwendolen has other ideas. She hates the fact that she has to learn maths and history instead of magic in school, and she is absolutely appaled that Chrestomanci doesn't take notice in her powers. Soon, Gwendolen sets out on a war of wills and magic against Chrestomanci and his castle, and Cat is unbeknowingly caught up in the whirlwinds of his sister's dangerous ambitions.

Jones is brilliant in her prose and writing. She easily writes with a sense of whimsy, while at the same time fleshing out realistic characters and villains. Cat is passive at first, but he soon grows a spine and stands up against the one thing that holds him back (I won't ruin the surprise). Jones' magic is an everyday and casual part of life for the characters, but it comes in second to their emotions and the overall story. The story takes so many surprising twists that shocked and surprised me, I was literally biting my nails towards the end wondering what would happen next.

"Charmed Life" is a delightful and charming surprise. While not a grand and sweeping epic, it will still sweep readers off their feet with the simple and quiet humor, magic, and sheer enjoyment that Jones so evidently finds and puts into her work. This book is not to be missed, and I can only end with saying how foolish I feel now that I didn't find Diana sooner.

This story and the next ("The Lives of Christopher Chant") are easily the most complex and interesting stories in the Chrestomanci series, and really the ones that the rest hang upon, because they really explain who and what the "Chrestomanci" is, and the role he plays in the fascinating universe Diana Wynne Jones has created. This is fantasy at its best, well written and very inventive, with characters that seem both familiar and bizarrely unique. It is, I suppose, not life-changing fiction but it keeps you there and makes you care and gives an opportunity to wonder. (It is no accident that Hayao Miyazaki based his latest film - Howl's Moving Castle -- on one of Jones' novels: they seem to have imaginations that operate on the same wavelength; like him, she is endlessly inventive and capable of a sublime blending of the supernatural and the ordinary, and loves finding magic in machines, and has an obsession with cats.)

The basic premise of the "Chrestomanci multiverse" is that every time there is a major event that "changes" the world, the world actually divides into two alternate realities, one in which the event occurs and one in which it doesn't. Somehow, though, while the possibilities might seem infinite there are a limited number of possibilities that resemble the one Chrestomanci inhabits enough to warrant his general attention and concern. Within each major world variation, there are nine alternates (don't ask why just nine) that are apparently unified because they have the "same" people doing different things in them. It sometimes happens, though, that an individual within one of those realities has no parallel in the others, and so the "lives" that would belong to the other realities actually belong to him or her. Such a nine-lived individual has powerful magic and becomes a likely candidate for taking over the position of the British-hired Chrestomanci (think a mixture of Rowling's Minister of Magic for an indication of his range of responsibilities, with Head of Hogwarts for his overall competency).

Speaking of Rowling, some have compared Jones to Rowling and there are some interesting parallels -- so many that it is hard not to think that Rowling had at least read some of Diane Wynne Jones' stories. Still, I don't agree with others who say Jones is a better writer than Rowling. There is a way in which she is: for her elegance of prose, her compactness of style, for the overall simplicity and completeness of her stories. Still, I think that Rowling is superior because what Jones doesn't try to do Rowling does very well. Jones creates another world whose basic features are similar to ours, but is different in specifiable ways. In that sense it is pure fantasy, a work of the imagination that she can tinker with and alter in various stories but is basically self-contained and organized in such a way that each story can be really complete. Rowling fits her story of another world into THIS world and sets herself with what seems to me a much more difficult task of accommodating her fantasy to the unknown and improbable and strange and unfinished character of any story set in this real world. The edges in any such story are unwieldy and it is a real tribute to Rowling (though in no way a criticism of Jones who has other aims) that she can wield them so well.

This is a long novel, and like War and Peace it goes on throughout the life of its main character. Cold climates make for long novels, I think. I loved it because it handles the life of a Medieval Norweigan noblewoman and her family from childhood through old age and death. It is very accurate and compelling. It reminds me that some issues in women's lives are constant, no matter what.

first off..i did not know that this was back in print....secondly i am damned glad it is...a great alternative to all The DaVinci Code wannabes...there are no diabolical plots..no artistic chicaneries here...it's 14th century Scandanavia people!!!it's cold...it's hard living...it's LIFE..and there is a lot of LIFE in these pages...Kristin marries a way-philandering man but he's a major babe and she endures...she prevails, actually...i first read this at the tender age of 12...then 10 years later...come to think of it..i'm looking for something to read now that has TEETH to it...maybe i'll revisit KRISTIN...could do worse3, no???

Excellent quality of a very hard-to-find book. I purchased 2 copies and was delighted with both of them! Prompt shipping...can't ask for more from an online purchase!

This is an excellent book! You will not be able to put it down. You will be drawn into the characters' lives. This is one of my all time favorite books.Kristin Lavransdatter: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

This is an incredibly rich, multi-layered look at medieval Norwegian life. Undset skillfully interweaves customs, superstitions, and a great knowledge of the Norwegian manorial life into this 1000+ page epic. There are no awkward pauses in the story in which an author gives the background information, but instead is able to blend these details into the narrative.
Though this book might seem like a lengthy time commitment, this book is hard to put down and actually a relatively fast read.