Games Books

Do you really want to learn the very core of chess endgames? Then just buy this book (and read it)!

If you are looking for the definitive one-volume endgame manual, this is the book, make no mistake. FCE is sensational. Somehow the authors have achieved the almost super-human feat of writing a monumental reference work that is at the same time instructive and readable. As well as explaining the techniques and principles of thousands of endgames, the authors have even gone to the trouble of inserting numberous tests and puzzles. It is obvious they really care about the reader assimilating the material.
As the project was meticulously checked by computer program, and the typesetter was John Nunn, it is safe to say the quality of analysis and assessments is as close to perfection as is possible. The book belongs in the library of anyone who takes chess seriously.

This is one-volume encyclopaedia covering all endgame techniques. An advanced chess book for players rated over 2000. I would not recommend this endgame book for players rated below 2000. The problem for those players is that it is not easy to find the endgame elements and techniques a player rated below 2000 should focus on and exclude the rest. I miss a clearer index of the instructive examples (this is almost given as a footnote on the last page). It is not easy to lookup different standard position and techniques in this book. Examples are Triangulation, Vancura position, etc. Even the simple technique - opposition, has no chapter name, so have to go to the chapter "2.1 King + Pawn (s) vs King" to find it. But of course, this is an award winning book, so if you want an advanced "all-in-one" endgame book, this is the book for you.

Many of the other reviews have argued that Karsten and Muller have created a single-volume endgame book that has all the key points of the endgame.

This may be so, but I have tried to sit down and use it for study only to be disappointed. The material is fairly well organized, but it is too dense to work with. This is the sort of endgame book that gives endgame books a bad name. It is full of information but is dry as dust.

I recommend Dvoretsky's "Endgame Manual" instead for almost all players. That book uses two colors of font to highlight important positions. "Fundamental Chess Endings uses almost the same style as "Basic Chess Endings" (written by Reuben Fine 19 1941) and feels as dusty.

If you have the money and desire, get both books. But you will probably use Dvoretsky's book more.

Chess Endings are very important, as Lasker, Capablanca and modern chess teachers say.
At my small local club, we are all at class C and sub-class B. They are very good tactical players, and prefer to play the middle-games where there are still many pieces left. Player A is the best tactician there, has been the number one for three straight years. (My tactics are not as good as most of theirs. Luckily, I learn a few tips from Chernev's writing.)
a) One day (I witnessed), player A obtained a position in Rook Ending, and each side had a Rook. He got four Pawns on the K-side, his opponent (player B) had 2 on the Q-side; the Kings were on the rear of their own Pawns. So far so good. Player B had his K on second rank, while player A had his K on the back-rank! Player A kept giving useless checks and ignored advancing his un-opposed Pawns. Player B cleverly advanced his K and Pawns at every opportunity. To our horror, player B got his Pawn and R to the seventh and his K was right behind them. And we know the rest of the story.
b) Weeks later same player A won a Knight for a Pawn from me in the opening. After that, he just moves aimlessly with the goal to win on the clock, while I used my active Rook to win another Pawn. Only then he tried to trade off our last Rooks, which I quickly calculated and complied. Besides his centralized Knight, he had one Pawn on c-file; I had 3 Ps on h-, c- and b-files (all of mine had reached mid-field). His K was on his own third, while mine was at fourth rank. I saw that I could at least have a draw. Because his K was unable to defend both sides simultaneously, I could force him to trade off his last P. To my surprise, he let my b-Pawn become connected passed pawn. And after my K entered his K-side, the game was over. He had to let go his Knight for my h-pawn.
c) Another time I visited a cross-town chess club. In a tournament, an expert playing white had Bishop and 2 Pawns versus his sub-1700 opponent who had lone R. All white pieces had reached or passed mid-field with his Pawns on g5 and h6. It was about the adjournment time. The tournament director, also a chess master, came by to observe the game during the black piece player considered his sealed move. I waited for the master to study the position for 20-30 seconds, and then I pulled him aside and whispered to him that the game was a draw. He said, "No, white is winning." I then answered that all black had to do was to give check to white K via the back-rank and trade his R for white g-Pawn (white could not block the check by his B!); white was left with the wrong colored B! That was the first and only time I could show-off my "computing prowess" to a master, ;-). The story didn't end here. While the sub-1700 player was working out his sealed move, the expert said, "It doesn't take much longer, let's play a few more moves." I think, the expert felt regrettable for saying that so he immediately corrected, "Let's get together over the weekend and finish our game." Now isn't it something? I just learned a lesson on how a chess player should treat an inferior opponent!

Three examples above show that endgame experience can be really important and fun. Now let us go back to the book FCE. This book is masterwork. The cover is beautifully designed. The book is reasonable size and light. It is larger than The Amateur's Mind both in size and content, but is more comfortable to handle. The content table in front and the table of database on the back provide two quick ways to search for the positions of interest. The analysis is professionally deep. The explanation of each chapter and section is very clear and easy to follow. The font, the diagrams, and layout are very handsome. This book doesn't have as much examples as Fine's BCE, but the critical positions are all here, and the analysis is much deeper and more accurate. Almost all the positions are from actual games so they are very realistic. For correspondent games, I often search this book for the endgames like Q + Ps, R + Ps, Minor Piece endings. Before I have FCE, I used BCE mainly, but BCE doesn't have enough diagrams and is dated. It may take me at least 5 complete years to study this book; and Fine, at least 10 years. This book is classic (I hope the paper and spine will last long for at least 20 years), I don't mind to have an extra copy to write the experimental notes.

Thank you for the hours of fun the kids have had search the 5 books we ordered.

My husband and I have more fun with these books whether it's with our grandson or our friends. We really get into it and found that it helps our eye coordination and our memory. I would highly recommend this to anyone at any age!

I find these books great mind stretchers, even for us older folks. This book especially is a learning tool because there is a page with all the letters of the alphabet surrounded by little objects that start with each letter. Another page groups things by category with overlapping categories. Really well done.

Bought this book for my kids who are ages six and seven. Good mix of hard to find and easier to find items. We also bought I spy books for other kids that we know and they were hooked. Makes a nice gift.

I love this series our daughter is about to enter kindergarten and she really enjoys finding all the items on each page!

At twelve years old, Alex begins thinking that she might be a good enough swimmer to represent New Zealand in the Olympics in 1960, when she is sixteen. Juggling high school, other extracurricular activities, and competitive swimming is tough, though. It becomes especially tough when Maggie, who has been competing since she was two, moves nearby and begins training at Alex's pool. Maggie has an overbearing mother and an absolute dedication to swimming that means she mostly wins her events against Alex. Alex remains certain that she will be able to come out on top at the Olympic trials, though.

As that time comes closer, Alex becomes less and less certain of herself, and she finds herself getting more and more overwhelmed by the events in her life. Will she be able to set everything aside in order to focus on what may be the most important swim of her life?

This was a decent story about swimming and about the pressures of high school, which haven't really changed all that much in the last forty years. However, I was disappointed by the predictability of the storyline with Andy. On the second page of the prologue, before we had even officially met him, I already knew exactly what happened. It was a letdown when my suspicions ended up being true.

I read this book over and over again. It's well-written and handles emotions more complex than most books for this age group.

I was at the secondhand bookstore, reading a book about greatbooks for girls, and it mentioned one I thought I'd seen whilebrowsing the shelves earlier. I went and picked it up, 259-page"In Lane Three, Alex Archer" and decided to get it - itsounded good and was only ... anyway. I spent the next three daysreading little parts of it at a time, and could barely put itdown. The epilogue was especially good, and after finishing it Iimmediately wrote out a new Favourite Books List - there was a new onein first place.

I loved this book! It is an excellent read and is well written. The story is beautiful and the characters are believable. It's a story an girl can relate to, no matter their age. The emotions and trials of Alex are very real; it's hard to put it down until you're done! I recomend this book to anyone. Not only does it talk about growing up a teenage girl, but it describes things such as the personal struggles of competiting in a way that is different and refreshingly honest. Buy this book today!

This book was a great book. If you are a swimmer you can relate to all the training and the time you have for everything else. If you have ever dreamed of going to the Olympics this book shows you what you have to need and go through. Alex shows courage and faith in this book. The book also gives examples of a swimmer's friendships and dreams. "In Lane Three, Alex Archer" is a really good book, it tells the story of a swimmer's life when she is training and trying to have fun.

Excellent book!!! It helped my kids and myself complete the game! Help alot during complicated levels.

This guide helped me a lot to beat the game. I got stuck at the second dungeon so I bought the guide. The only problem is that the walkthrough for the seventh dungeon, Eagle Tower, I got lost and couldn't really figure out what to do, so I just walked around trying different stuff. But other than that, this guide is perfect and you should get it if you own the game.

IT KICKS BIG BUT I BOUGHT IT FOR MY FREIND AND HE BEAT THE GAME IN ONE DAY! BUY IT NOW! ! !

What can I say? This guide book is very well put together, aiding the young adventurer (i.e. you) thru his quest in beating the Wind Fish and solving the elusive mystery of Koholint Island. It is very well thought out, with complete maps for everything. Of course, it being a guide book, if you really want to beat it you ought try to do it yourself first, and consult the book only when necessary. But they have done a very fine job.

There is one stint I have against it, however. At the beginning of each section, they have suggestions for things you ought to do. This is all well and fine - but one some of these they should direct you to the page number that dealt with that specific item or whatever it is. Example: they say in one of the later sections it is good to go and get your boomerang. You have to go back and find where they talk about the boomerang (which, as I remember, in the early part of the book, not the section it should be). But this is only a minor stint.

Another good thing is they have a map, and on the back of that is where to get all the new pictures from the camera shop. The only problem with that is if you lose the map, you're basically screwed in the picture department.

Visually very nicely laid out. You can very clearly tell where you need to go. The dungeons are taken step by step, and is an excellent example in the writing of guides. I would like to see more of their work: if its anywhere near this good, then they're great overall. They should be regularly featured guide writers (they probably are). The one problem I mentioned is only minor, and does not deserve to detract an entire star.

Therefore, this guide book is 4 & ½ stars. Keep it up you guys! Actually, on second thought, a full 5 stars.

What can I say? This guide book is very well puttogether,aiding the young adventurer (i.e. you) thru his quest inbeating the Wind Fish and solving the elusive mystery of Koholint Island. It is very well thought out, with complete maps for everything. Of course, it being a guide book, if you really want to beat it you ought try to do it yourself first, and consult the book only when necessary. But they have done a very fine job.

There is one stint I have against it, however. At the beginning of each section, they have suggestions for things you ought to do. This is all well and fine - but one some of these they should direct you to the page number that dealt with that specific item or whatever it is. Example: they say in one of the later sections it is good to go and get your boomerang. You have to go back and find where they talk about the boomerang (which, as I remember, in the early part of the book, not the section it should be). But this is only a minor stint.

Another good thing is they have a map, and on the back of that is where to get all the new pictures from the camera shop. The only problem with that is if you lose the map, you're basically [messed up] in the picture department.

Visually very nicely laid out. You can very clearly tell where you need to go. The dungeons are taken step by step, and is an excellent example in the writing of guides. I would like to see more of their work: if its anywhere near this good, then they're great overall. They should be regularly featured guide writers (they probably are). The one problem I mentioned is only minor, and does not deserve to detract an entire star.

Therefore, this guide book is 4 & ½ stars. Keep it up you guys!

We bought this for our nephew's 4th birthday. I must say that I spent at least an hour looking through the book before I wrapped it. I thought it was really cool and couldn't get over how the closer you looked, the more you would see. Aidan liked the book but was much more interested in his sea of presents on his birthday. However, my brother tells me that after a few days, Aidan went back to this book and started looking at it with my brother. He loves it and gets excited when he can figure out what the items are.

I bought all of Steiner's books for my three year old for Christmas. This one is by far his favorite. I love reading each page and he finishes every sentence. If I would let him he would sleep with this book every night and it's fun for adults to look at too!!

The creativity oozes from this book. You'll never look at ordinary products in the same way again. The creative author of this book takes ordinary items and creates unique display pictures. You or your child can spend hours looking at each picture to see which unique items are used, and how they are used. Great gift, and great for libraries to have on hand

These books are spectacular, we play "I spy" with them and see something new every time.

What a wonderful book! I bought the book as a gift for my nephew and enjoyed it so much I nearly didn't want to give it away! Needless to say my nephew was delighted and loves the book. It's a great way to spend quality time with the younger generation, you will get as much pleasure as they do, finding all the cleverly arranged objects. A great way to wile away a cold winter's eve.

This book is for you. I belong to the former group and I suspect many golfers are in the latter. After reading the book it became clear to me once and for all which swing elements are non-negotiable, and which ones I can live with and work around, the negotiable. I heeded the author's advice and went through the whole book instead of skipping around and that vastly improved my understanding of the swing. The best thing about the lessons in the book, they work!

I have been playing golf for six years and have taken numerous lessons. Additionally, I have read countless instructional articles in Golf Digest and have had limited success. It always seemed like every time I tried a new move to "correct" my swing, I would improve for a few days and then fall back to my old habits and get very frustrated.

I purchased Joe's book, "The Negotiable Golf Swing" from Amazon about two months ago and read the book from cover to cover, rather than just glancing over the areas I thought would help my golf swing. I am glad that I read the entire book before I decided to try some of his drills and exercises.

After reading the book, I now understand why the golf ball slices, hooks, pulls and pushes. So when I am practicing on the range, I can now take the necessary steps to correct my ball flight, instead of just hitting ball after ball and hoping to correct my problem.

I suffer like most golfers do, with the over the top move, and hitting the ball from outside to in. Joe's simple explanation of how to correct the over the top move has helped me immensely. I am now able to hit the ball from the inside and I am using less effort then before and I am hitting the ball solid.

The book is very well illustrated which has really helped me understand how to correct my swing path and to have me swing from the inside to out instead of outside to in. Once I corrected my swing path, I was able to hit the ball straight and also gain some distance. The illustration and explanation on page 129 is my favorite, it shows you that "from a player's prospective, it appears that it would be impossible to hit a ball if the angles are maintained this late in the downswing. This lag creates clubhead speed and power." This illustration and explanation has helped me convince myself to trust his advice and to maintain the angles and lag.

I would recommend this book to golfers who have become frustrated with their golf swing and have considered quitting the game. Read the book from start to finish and do not jump from chapter to chapter. Also, have an open mind and try his drills and exercises on the range for a month or two. It will be well worth the time and effort you put in at the range, before you try it out on the course.

Thanks Joe for making golf fun again.

The Negotiable Swing is, by far, the most straight-forward and informative golf instruction book I've read to date. The concept of "negotiable" vs. "this way is the only way" is long over due, particularly because one size does NOT fit all. The illustrations are top notch. For any golfer (even a lefty like me)who wants to think out of the box, this book is for you. It has been said that "tradition is the enemy of progress." The Negotiable Swing is certainly a break with tradition...in a very positive way.

I purchased this book because it had several reviews with 5 stars. I have to agree with them! Joseph Laurentino does a marvelous job in breaking down the swing into negotiable and non-negotiable details. He writes in an easy to read manner and I have already benefited from his book in my iron play from one chapter in the book. Finally my iron shots have stopped pulling left of the target and I am more able to hit greens for GIR's and thus pars and maybe birdies. I was able to shoot a career best round of 90 at a local course two weeks ago (I am a 44 year old, 20 handicapper). I highly recommend this book for any golf nut, 5-35 hndcp.

This is the Best golf instruction book! The author allows you to be an individual and shows you how to make your swing work. Just the section on chipping is worth the price of the book. It's probably the first book I've read cover to cover in 10 years. I'm reading it again because there is so much good info that I want to get it all. The instruction has taken much of the stress off of my swing and allowed me to really start enjoying golf for the first time in the 40+ years that I've been playing. There is so much good and understandable info that this is a must read if you want to play better.

This is one of my all time favorite picture books for all ages. Peter Spiers beautiful illustrations need no words to tell this story. The possibilities for interacting with a child are endless as you wander through the familiar and find the surprising! My granddaughter is 2 years old and loves animals. What could be a better birthday gift?

The happy and humorous tone of this book will make it appealing to any child, whatever the family's religion.

The only text is at the beginning and it is a charming translation of a poem that summarizes the story of Noah. The poem is delightful in and of itself- Spier did a great job of translating.

The illustrations are then left without text, which is very refreshing, since there are so few picture books nowadays. I enjoy leisurely paging through this book with my young daughter, talking about the pictures in and of themselves, as pieces of art and as pictures that tell a story. I feel that the pressure is off in terms of trying to finish a sentence or a story when there is no text there.

In addition, this book is appropriate for Muslim families as well, since the illustrations (and beginning poem) are sufficiently vague as to accommodate for the small differences in the telling of the story in the Qu'ran and the Bible.

My first Peter Spier book. Not saccharine, wonderful details (including Noah mucking out the ark). Great to have a child read to YOU.

This is an excellent picture book - my three year old really loves it. My only "complaint" is that it takes a long time to go through all the pictures and talk about each one making it less than ideal right before bed unless you want to spend 20 minutes on just one book! Seriously though - the book is just wonderful and allows parents to go into whatever level of detail regarding the Noah story as they feel is appropriate for the age of their child. It is a softcover and the pages and cover are not of the highest quality - it would be lovely to have in hardcover with larger pages.

This book really does not need any words. It is so well illustrated that you can understand every part of the story. His detailing is stunning. Every time we read this book, we find new details. This is the best book of Noah's ark story!

I got this book to help with a drama camp that I was teaching. It helped me organize and plan in a way that kept the kids focused. They had a great time and so did I. I highly recommend this book.

This book is amazing. It gives great instructions for many fun games. The instructions are brief,but fun,and give enough information to make the games easy to implement. I have used the book twice for a group of kids, ranging in age from 9-14, and they have loved the activities! I've purchased a couple other similar books that were not nearly as fun and well-put-together as this one.

I bought this book to use to teach a drama class in my homeschool co-op, and I'm so pleased with the fun games and ideas for teaching basic drama concepts. The kids are loving all the games and I think that the games and exercises really spark their creativity.

I never take the time to write reviews for books but I had to for this one! EVERY activity is great--you don't have to search through picking and choosing. I know this will be an invaluable source for me in teaching drama to both elementary and high school students. Thanks to the author for such a great resource!

I purchased this book before I started teaching creative dramatics in Recreation deprtments teaching K-8. It was wonderful. I loved it. I would reccommend it to every teacher (theatre or not) it has wonderful classroom activities.

Reviewed by Kim Peterson for Reader Views (5/06)

When someone plunders Queen Bee's lilacs and steals her nectar, the maid calls in Detective Brown to help the distraught ruler stop the culprit. The upset queen feels so disgruntled that she threatens to have Detective Brown's head if he doesn't solve the mystery quickly. But the case proves most baffling with an old tennis shoe as the only clue.

Several days later, when the queen calls Brown in for a report she threatens him about his head again. With his life on the line, Brown feels motivated to solve the crime. He stays up all night to crack the case. Before he captures the thief he is deceived, almost bested in a swordfight, and nearly outwitted by the crafty crook. But his successful efforts are amply rewarded by a delighted Queen Bee.

The rhyming prose and lyrical feel to this picture book should appeal to young children and the adults who read to them. The bright, jewel-colored illustrations serve up a visual treat for young eyes. Illustrator Pamela Marie Key created enchanting pictures rich with vivid detail. I enjoyed the pictures even more than the well-written who-dunnit about the queen's stolen nectar. The four activity pages of at the end of the book form an appealing addition to a fun little mystery.

This little book gave me a reason to read to my young children. It is a book that begs to be read out loud and there is such a fantastic little story with such attractive art. Great!!!!

It is not often that I fall in love with a book. But I do love this book! It isn't just for kids, it is very fun for adults to read. This terrific story in verse has amazing little characters who fit quite nicely in their little insect world. The lilac tree is a great place to be! Surprise yourself and get a copy.

I am an aunt and have no kids of my own but this little book was recommended to me by a close friend. Love it!!!! This is a very well written children's book. I have oh so much fun reading it to my nieces. Good plot and the rhyming was terrific. I thought Dr. Suess was great. Move over... this author is unbelievably talented. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the story and think it has great characters and a nice ending.

When I found this jewel of a children's book last week on a trip through Kansas, I was struck by the beautiful cover. What a catchy title and then I open it up. Awesome!!! Yes, the art rocks but the story is totally originial and I love Detective Brown. Awesome little dude. Simone, write more of your incredible books. I am a fan for life. Great story and great characters.

I bought this book from the author. This is the meat and potatoes of magick. A must have for any serious practitioner. He has other books as well. Moloch Sorcery rocks!

i bought this book and like it. ive been a member of molochs yahoo groups for sometime and while the man is passionate about what he speaks hes one of the best authorities on magic. he writes in a unique style which is to you not at you. its like hes talking to a friend instead of lecturing me and i like that style.

while books layout is different and the type face is thick, i found it easy going. not sure what others are griping about as i found his book to be to the point. theres no chapters on ethics or karma or any of that preachy stuff you find in some other book. what you get is here's how to do this and that. nothing more and nothing less.

his website offers a lot of free info if your intristed in learning further after youve gottn into this book.

I received this book for review from the Scientists of New Atlantis Inc. in Las Vegas, NV. It is a grimoire and while a bit on the more expensive side, I was impressed with this work for many reasons.

First of all - it's not just a "hard cover" it is a bound book on decent paper. Real binding!!!! Not "trade paper" or having a "harder than usual" cover like so many other publishers use, but a real binding! And the paper wasn't "two grades up from newspaper" but it is real quality paper. The book even smelled of ink!

There is a dust jacket on the book. White glossy cover, with the title, a very "primitive" style graphic of a sorcerer and there is the publisher's information on the reverse, rather than "kudos" for the author or a book blurb promo for the book or author. Very simple style, nicely addressed.

Why so much trouble for a book? To be honest, how would you like your personal grimoire to be printed? On some cheaper paper that will yellow with age, or having a card cover with someone else's graphics? No, your personal grimoire probably is on better paper, in a nice binding of some kind, and you have your pictures in and on the book. Same here, because this is what this book is, a personal grimoire of a sorcerer.

Sorcerer; interesting choice of word for someone who is "self describing" themselves as a "magical practitioner". There is a differentiation here, between someone who is a witch and practices magics and one who has dedicated themselves to the magical arts, is learned and is a very astute practitioner.

There is a lot of "loving care" put into this book. The text is larger print, easy to read, and it can lie open while you go through the many recipes and instructions in the book.

The book opens with some quotes about "sorcery" from some very well known and important authors in this field. There is a notation by Brother Moloch about this being the second edition, and some comments to thank his supporters. Unfortunately, there is no table of contents nor index, but then again, does your personal grimoire have a table of contents or index? Probably not.

The material covered is a good basic primer in "sorcery". It is very applicable to a variety of uses and situations, and contains much material you may not find in all those commercial volumes that may line your shelves. This makes the book valuable immediately from that standpoint.

There are guided meditations, tables of correspondences, small rituals of consecration and discussions on a variety of magical workings. I found his "herb work" to be very informative, and the table of correspondences contains a lot of different information than normally found in the usual sources. This work is indicative of one who is a root worker vs. the usual kitchen witchery resources we are more accustomed to.

There are some great "recipes" for oils and incenses, for both curing and cursing, so refreshing as opposed to all the books out there that preach "goodness and white light". This is not "Wiccan" material but basic magical workings. One must know how the cursing occurs in order to understand how to undo these kinds of things, and this book will show you how it's done. Note that his sources are discussed in this book, and pointed out.

There are some nice instructions on how to do basic meditations, as well as some interesting guided meditations. Actually, there is a lot of basic information in this book that will assist most practitioners in achieving results from spell workings, rituals, dreaming and more. Good advices for having notebooks handy to write in, as well as outlines for including the really important information you need.

There are discussions on tools, elementals, diagrams for magical workings and altar setups,. There is a variety of sources, including African and Norse, for the material included in this book, giving the reader a well rounded view of sorcery and its practices. This book is not limited to the usual sources.

There is a bibliography of some books, with more than the usual "title and author" material. The author comments on the books he lists, commenting on their value to the author and what he thinks of them.

In the final analysis, the author includes his own notations as to the real value of the material included in this book - that is; does it work? He notes the material that does work. And for myself, there is material that I have tried from this book with some amazing results! How many books can you say that about?

There is so much more to this book than I have covered. I have just scratched the surface in this review. This is "working practitioners" book, not just another "handbook" and it is chock full of information that can be easily applied to any practicing witches workings. The understanding that comes from reading someone else's work provides a very key element in our practices - validation of experience!

If you are looking for a really good book on working magic in practical application, this book is worth the extra funds to have in your library. For a bound copy of someone's grimoire of actual experience working with basic formulas and rituals, this book is no more expensive than if you were to bind your own "book of shadows" and present it to the public. boudica

I read the review by "evil genius" and had to respond. Its
a totally moronic use of what 'evil genius" must think is clever
irony. Pragmatic Magics is a great grimoire that I have used a
countless number of times in casting spells and magickal
workings. Often when I know I am missing a point in some
magick, it is this book that I use first. There is a great
section on Herbal Sorcery which I use often. If someone asked
me what book to read first to practice magick, this is the
book I would give them.

I have the "grimoire" and everything in it is legit. It acts as a wonderful companion piece to other works by various authors in my library. I think evil genius can't appreciate salesmanship.