Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

I really don't care of teletubbies. But boy did both of my kids. They loved this book because they ask questions like who's hiding behind the tree and the kids would flip it up or down and find who it was. They were anxious. A very enjoyable book to read and fun!

It's a great book for older kids. My daughter tore all the pop up parts out of the book so now we pretend that it's peek-a-boo.

This pop-up book asks you who's hiding behind different things, with the Teletubbies being behind the first four hiding places. Then comes Noo-noo & finally all the Teletubbies are hidden. While 1 or 2 year olds who like the show will probably get some giggles out of it, the book's art work is lacking. It's pretty stale fare, especially the sky. Couldn't they have put at least one bird, or maybe the sun with the baby's face in it up there? This seems to be a rush-job to capitalize on the popularity of the tv show. Looks like it worked - the copy we have is a 5th edition. There's many other pop-up books out there that are done much better, but if your little kiddies love the Tubbies, I'm sure they'll dig this.

I know most parents cringe at the thought of the Teletubbies,me too, but my one year old loves them. In "Teletubbies Play Hide and Seek" little ones are asked to find the Teletubbies under the flaps. After just a couple of readings she understood how to wait until mommy reads the words before she lifts the flap. She also learned the word boo. It's a little word, but it's a start. You might not enjoy the Teletubbies, but it's worth it to watch your child's face light up.

My 8-month old daughter LOVES this book! It makes her laugh out loud and she already has figured out how to lift the flaps on her own when we read it! It's a cute little book for babies and toddlers. I don't mind the Teletubbies so much anymore! :-)

In Tigerheart, Peter David approaches the Peter Pan mythos with a fresh but affectionate eye, by saying to himself "and then what happened?". The tale of the boy who would not grow up is seen in Tigerheart from the perspective of Paul Dear, a boy from Kensington Gardens who also lives much of his life in fantasy, but has to grow up when he finds himself in Pan's universe.

In Tigerheart, the names of many of the characters have been changed, but not for anonymity - they have been changed to emphasize the universality of the way little boys look at the universe, and to show that little boys, whether going on daring adventures with their loyal tiger companions, fighting vicious pirates or being more brave than an indian brave, are all much the same.

And the book shows how growing up is not a clear cut thing, restricted only to people who have gotten older, but is instead an incremental and highly person process that changes from person to person, and from moment to moment.

Though Peter David has proven his standing as a very good writer in the past, this has proven to be one of his best works, and not only does he capture J.M. Barrie's voice with uncanny accuracy, he also captures his sense of wonder, and then leavens it with his own sense of humor and a dash of realism. If you enjoy classic adventure and appreciate a thoughtful philosophy, you can't go far wrong with this book.

I just recently finished this book and I have to say that yet again Peter David has thoroughly engrossed me in the story and the narrative. Peter Pan is fun again and its just an amazingly fun read and you dont know where its going but your along for the ride and it is a blast.

I dont care if your young or if your old, this is definitely a book for all ages. This book proves to me yet again, anything Peter David writes is always top notch and I will read it. If you want some suggestions I would recommend his Sir Apropos of Nothing series, the Knight Life book series, and most definitely his Star Trek New Frontier book line-and these are just a few of his works that are brilliant. Check them out!

I picked my copy up from Peter David himself in New York. Truely a magnificent book. Every bit as fun as Harry Potter and twice as smart. It works on so many different levels. David explored concepts that J.M. Barrie never even dreamed of. Tigerheart is packed with detail without feeling bogged down, creating a world that the adventurous in everyone will want to be a part of. I hope it gets the attention it deserves.

While reading Tigerheart I experienced many things. I saw the world through reasonable but incorrect explanations that made more sense than anything in the real world. I dealt with the psychiatric implications of "The Boy" to a child. I also nearly curled into a fetal position when misfortune struck Paul's family. That was all in the first 100 pages.

I was reasonably interested in the plot summery of the book and found I liked what I read inside much more. I can't explain it without giving too much away, but it's one of the most depressingly noble quest I've read in a book. Tigerheart is a beautiful blend of both the good and evil that exists in Paul's world, a character who is surprisingly reasonable for his age, sympathetic, and just plain likable.

I give it a 4 out of 5, only because it switches moods so frequently that there is no safe stopping point. Any interruptions were completely unbearable, I just wanted to be rid of my world until I was finished with Paul's world. Though a welcome change from many books I've read lately, the level of addiction I experienced was probably a bit unhealthy.

Good book with a "re-imagining" of the Peter Pan with an interesting twist.

I enjoyed it, even though it is written in a Narrator form that I usually find boring.

I would recommend this to anyone that has enjoyed any of the other Peter Pan stories (movies, books, whatever).

From the moment I first read the synopsis I was intrigued. Time travel, a Scotsman, fantasy and true love are all wrapped into one novel.

In Time Masters we discover that there is a Creator God who created races both Muiraran and Human. Then he ordained that they must co-exist and intermarry in a very unique way for the future of both races. Muirarans contain special abilities, that when placed in loving submission to a human mate can change the course of history.

Time Masters: The Call is a fast paced and interesting story centered around two individuals, one human and one Muiraran, who are destined to change the world. Only together can they stop a great evil.

While being drawn up into a fascinating story, I also found myself captivated with the spiritual concepts in Time Masters. The spiritual concepts were told in a subtle way and beautifully woven into the fabric of the story.

Another thing that I loved about Time Masters was the depth of the characters. My favorite character was Shona, the Muiraran maiden. Everything about Shona's character makes you desire to see her protected and cherished. This adds to the suspense of the story as forces conspire to capture, control and even experiment on her. This also draws the reader into the conflict and heightens the intensity of the struggle. Dallan becomes a larger than life hero, as despite his struggles and bitterness over his situation, he begins to uncover his desire to protect and cherish Shona.

Time Masters captivated me and I highly recommend it. I found the premise creative, the theme of virtue uplifting, the writing descriptive and the story highly engaging.

When I first read this book's description, I thought it reminded me a little of Doctor Who. Timelords, Time Masters, sound kind of similar? Sure.

The comparison may stand, but you'll need to add a few random elements to the mix. A fierce Highlander, a dozen cats, a grinning African, several worried chaperones, chocolate chip cookies, an antique weapons shop, an alien race, a gruesomely evil villain and his clueless hirelings, and a plentiful supply of cliffhanger climaxes. And that's not even the half of it.

You will need to be fairly tolerant of grammar and sentence structure best described as "original". However, this is certainly part of the author's effervescent style, even if it tends towards chaos at times. The rambunctious storyline is so ''out there" that its daring expressiveness is just one more aspect to leave you shaking your head in disbelief. But dinna fash yerself - the writing style is certainly vivid and gripping, including a particularly evocative rendering of the hero's Scottish dialect. Good job!

The plot will keep you on your toes for sure. You can sense how the author must have had an exciting time writing it. There are many scenes that are curiously poignant, and many profound allegorical images of things like justice, sex, music, faith. But the deepest comments are those regarding the state of being in love, being intended for the other, giving your heart away, and finally sharing one heart. All this across the breadth of three time periods - a distant past, an even more distant future, and one something like our present day.

A zany mix of cliches and genres, often hilarious, quite possibly the wildest journey of your life, aud certainly anything but predictable. If you are able to turn a blind eye to a few anomalies, I think you'll enjoy this rip-roaring tale very much indeed.

The story moves so swiftly that I had to catch myself reading too fast and had to slow down. Each sentence kept me in anticipation and each chapter delivered. It DID satisfy. I was thrilled to have read a great story that left some things to your imagination. It did not include vulgar and nasty details of sex and murder. These are things that really take away from a story. Instead, the author brilliantly wrote the details and climaxes to affect your heart, mind, imagination, and dare I say, soul?? I found myself lost in each character. There is depth. A book about battling evil, virtue, loyalty, strength, true love, a Creator, masculinity, femininity, meaning and purpose. I absolutely cannot wait for the next in the series. Meanwhile, I will read this book over again. I highly recommend this read. Is it possible to be satisfied AND want more??

Book One of "The Call" series, Time Masters is a fantastic, sweeping epic. In the year 3698, a terrible civil war is on the brink of erupting. To prevent unthinkable ruin, Dallan MacDonald must inherit the responsibility of being a Time Master - yet to earn the title he must earn the love of the nigh-otherworldly Muiraran Maiden. Stolen away as an infant and hidden in another time, she rejects the truth of her nature, and earning her love will be no small task! A race against time to prevent the destruction of civilization ensues, in this dramatic and absorbing saga of heroes, villains, love, and hatred.

Time Masters was a really fun adventure, surprisingly so. When I saw that it was over 500 pages, my heart dropped. I thought,"Oh, no. It better not be boring or I'll never get through it." Hurray! It as anything but boring. I was excited about getting back to it when I had to pull myself away for duties like meals and sleep (but I didn't do much of that). I found it easy to become immersed in the world of the 3600's and the different time/cultures that Dallan and sweet Shona inhabited. I was impatient to see them finally get together and save the world...or would they be able to do it in time? Marvelous character development. I see this as a book for both teens and adults. Now I am looking forward to the second book in the series.

I was so happy to see that the publisher has opted to do a 3-book large format release for this excellent series by P.N. Elrod that even though I own all the books under the original mass market covers, I am buying them all again in the new editions.

I am also ecstatic to see that they have done a MUCH better job on the cover art than in the original mass market editions. If I had not been running a chain bookstore when the first one came out hadn't gotten a recommendation from one of my customers who loved the book, I would NEVER have picked it because the cover art was so tacky. I think a lot of good books go unnoticed because the publisher harms the book with bad art. Publishers: use a plain colored cover instead of something that makes the book look like tough-guy drivel or something else they are NOT! Good cover art sells books, BAD ART KILLS!

I recommend this series to readers who are interesed in how a 'normal' human might react to the circumstances created by being made vampire unexpectedly. Jack isn't a deliberate hero, and is no part of any 'brotherhood' or 'secret society'; he is instead a Joe Average hack journalist scrabbling to make a living in the depression, a likable guy who bumbles around trying to figure out what happened to him and feeling like he is up to his waist in the quicksand that has become his existence.

In many vampire fiction novels, becoming a 'creature of the night' magically solves a host of probelms and enables the hero to go on a crusade or gain lots of 'powers' which help to cope; this doesn't happen for Jack. He tries to do the best he can under the circumstances he's been handed, but finds himself becoming more at odds with the 1920's organized criminal empire he's become inadvertently pitted against, and finds himself relying more and more upon the few human friends he has who know what he is. His vulnarability is at times wrenching.

These books are enjoyable fiction which make you think about what it REALLY might be like to have the vampiric circumstance thrust upon you. No sturm and drang, no graphic sex scenes, but plenty of emotional response where the reader becomes invested in Jack, his friends, and the trials of his new existence.

I recommend these book Highly - watch out, though: they're hard to put down and you may face the hazard of staying up way too late to finsh and showing up for work the next day with dark circles under your eyes!

P.N. Elrod's Vampire Files are amazing. They take old-style detective fiction, set in post Al Capone Chicago, and merge it with the supernatural in the form of Jack Fleming, former reporter turned private investigator. Oh yeah, he's also a vampire.

Elrod's stories would be great reads on their own, but with the addition of Fleming's status as a bloodsucker, they are absolutely fantastic.

Wonderful settings, filled with exciting action and really cool characters, make these books seem to whiz by. Fortunately this volume includes the first three books of the series.

By the end of the last book, you'll be hooked. Be sure and pick up The Vampire Files Vol. II.

For those who like vicious gangsters, dapper detectives with a dark past, and smart, beautiful damsels in distress, The Vampire Files are a perfect fit. Get this one today!

Set in 1936, our hero finds himself on a shore with a man tyring to kill him. The series of books follow Jack's adventures to find out why someone whats to kill him and his search to find his lover Maureen. Excellent light reads 9/10

PN Elrod's "Jack Fleming, Vampire PI" series is a great read with humour and a fantastic setting in 1930s Chicago with film noir aspects. This collection of the first three stories is excellent value for money.

BLOODLIST
The story begins with "Bloodlist" where we meet Jack Fleming waking up having crawled out of the sea. No sooner has he staggered to the road when a passing driver clips him with his bumper - clearly on purpose. Jack finds himself in discussion with the car driver and discovers that he is supposed to be dead, killed because he wouldn't tell people where an important list was hidden.

Jack realises pretty quickly that he has become a vampire. Fortunately he knows about the vampire life, having had a vampire girlfriend previously, and he prepares his life accordingly (fetching some of his home earth, finding somewhere safe to sleep the day, feeding from the stockyards). Elrod gives her own particular selection of traits to vampires - garlic, crosses and invitations into rooms don't work, disappearing, extra strength and glamour do. What's fun about this story is that we learn about Jack's skills and nature as he does and because he's clearly not evil, just a pleasant and friendly ex-reporter who wants to get to the bottom of his own death.

Chicago is a city of gangsters and other dodgy types in this story and Jack falls foul of several of them. What's great about Jack as a character is that if he were fully human he would have died multiple times as he really isn't quite up to dealing with these characters. However his vampire nature gets him out of a lot of sticky situations and also enables him to have a great time scaring some of the people who were involved in his death. Assisted by the trusty Charles Escott, a brave private agent and sometime actor, the two of them try to find out why Jack was killed and what was on the list. In the course of their investigations Jack meets Bobbi, girlfriend to one of the gangsters and a surprisingly phlegmatic person who seems able to cope with his vampiric nature.

There are a lot of amusing jokes and allusions to various books and films which went over the head of this relatively young English reader but that didn't matter as the story was always enjoyable. The best parts are when Jack is 'haunting' his killers but the fun is interspersed with some serious moments as he slowly begins to remember all that they did to him and to come to terms with his new nature.

This is an excellent first story in the series and Jack is a great new character, both as a vampire and also as a slightly hapless investigator.

LIFEBLOOD
The second story, "Lifeblood", takes place just a few weeks after the first story finishes. Jack and Bobbi have settled into some kind of a relationship and Jack also spends some of his time helping Escott with his private investigations. However they soon decide that it would be wise for Jack to have some more of his home earth stored at Escott's place in case he has a problem with returning to his hotel room so Jack drives 'home' to Ohio to collect it. On the way he realises he is being followed and eventually has a showdown with the two people in the car - vampire hunters. They're obviously both rather loony and have read far too many vampire novels, thinking that they are safe from Jack with their garlic and crosses. He gives them a flat tyre and then continues on his way.

Once he's collected the earth he passes his parents' house to find the vampire hunters are there. He chases them off, then returns to Chicago but worried about his parents. Unfortunately he hasn't completely escaped the vampire hunters and they start to plague him in Chicago; he's worried about Bobbi and whether they will go after her. His attention is also taken by an old woman, Gaylen Dumont, who has responded to his adverts in the papers asking for Maureen to contact him (Maureen is his lost love and the vampire who made him). Gaylen is Maureen's sister, now 74 years old, and she gives Escott some information which might help him to find Maureen. However there's more to Gaylen than Jack initially realises and more danger to Bobbi than just from the vampire hunters. Jack is faced with an impossible situation, one that he realises Maureen found herself in, and it's only with the help of Escott his friend that he can survive at all.

This story is more gritty perhaps than the first as we have more emotional engagement from Jack. Being a vampire makes him mostly bombproof but it doesn't mean that he isn't extremely vulnerable because of the friendships he has made and because of his family. The story is always interesting with some great humorous touches and Jack as a character is always very appealing. I found that as a reader I really cared about what happened to him and wanted things to work out well for him. It's a great second book in the series and possibly could be read as a standalone book although it might seem rather complex. The ending leaves the question of Maureen still unresolved and this is dealt with more fully in the third book.

BLOODCIRCLE
The third story, "Bloodcircle", continues straight from where "Lifeblood" left off. Jack Fleming, vampire investigator, and his assistant/boss Charles Escott are still trying to find out what happened to Maureen Dumont, the female vampire that made Jack. She disappeared five years ago when realising her sister Gaylen was going to force her to make her a vampire. Jack and Charles have a small clue to follow about Maureen's disappearance so they set off on a trip to New York State to follow the clue.

Eventually their search takes them to a rich household of the reclusive lady Emily Francher whose mother died in strange circumstances. Jack goes to investigate and soon discovers that Emily's gigolo lover is rather more significant than he might seem. They follow more clues which culminate in Jack being seriously injured and with a very amusing scene where Charles appears to be a body snatcher. The unmasking of the villain and the explanation of what really happened five years before is no great surprise but is well written and enjoyable nonetheless.

In this episode of the Vampire PI series we learn more and more about Jack's personality, particularly with regard to his morals and his feelings. There are some really interesting little vignettes into his thoughts, for example when seeing coffins sized for children when he is in the funeral parlour. Jack's about as far from the traditional view of the evil vampire as it's possible to get and yet he also has to drink blood and carries out mind control on people. The scene where he's trying to find a meal in a farmyard is an amusing episode amongst some of the darker events of the story.

Again this is a great read, like the two previous stories, and it seems like P N Elrod has settled well into her characters and is slowly revealing more and more about them. It's a most enjoyable series and a welcome change from the usual overblown and sex-obsessed vampire genre tale.

This is a collection of books 4-6 in the Jack Fleming, Vampire PI series and contains entertaining supernatural stories which leaven the 'vampire' moments with the humanity of our bloodsucking protagonist, Jack. He's a great hero because he's fallible, seems to get shot and knocked out rather regularly, cares for his girlfriend Bobbi and his friend Charles Escott and tends to blunder around not being quite sure what he's doing a lot of the time. Perhaps his blundering and being shot may pall over time but at the moment it makes for a very different, and very likeable, hero.


ART IN THE BLOOD
"Art in the Blood" sees Jack coming to the rescue of a man at a party and then being sucked into problems within the art world. Alex Adrian was a famous artist but hasn't done anything since his wife committed suicide; Evan Robley and his sister Sandra are also artists and when more suspicious events start taking place, including a death for which Alex Adrian might be responsible, Jack and Escott have to unravel the plot and work out what's really going on. The Chicago underworld plays its part as usual with more dodgy characters who have it in for Jack and Escott.

This story gives us more of an insight into the relationship between Jack and Bobbi as well as Jack needing to use his powers of vampire hypnosis more and more, leading to more people finding out what he truly is. It's another great read with a lighthearted feel and yet sometimes a darker undertone.


FIRE IN THE BLOOD
The first page in this book is great fun as we meet Jack apparently stripping Olivia Vandemore's evening gown from her and about to sacrifice her on an altar to Sabajajji, the Spider God. Fortunately this is just part of the novel he is writing rather than reality - although reality for Jack Fleming, Vampire PI, is often as bloodthirsty as this novel.

Jack and Charles Escott, Private Agent, are summoned to see Mr Sebastian Pierce, a rich retired Chicago man who tasks them to find a valuable bracelet that his daughter's boyfriend or a friend of his may have stolen. Jack finds himself shadowing the daughter to Bobbi's club and soon enough they stumble into murder and mayhem. A new member of the Chicago Underground, Vaughn Kyler, comes into play in this book and he's a particularly creepy individual who is resistant to Jack's vampire hypnosis. This book also sees the darker side of Jack having an outing after an episode of hypnotising goes rather wrong. Once again Jack finds himself in dodgy situations and only escapes by the skin of his teeth - is this ability going to pall any time soon?

The ending of this book is rather open and in fact leads directly into the next story, "Blood on the Water", although fortunately this episode does reach some sort of a conclusion. However Jack's rather more off balance in this book because of the darker side of his powers and we are learning more about him through it. Another great episode in this excellent series - a series that it probably pays to read in order.


BLOOD ON THE WATER
This story starts directly after "Fire In The Blood" and I think it would probably be rather difficult to understand everything that's going on, along with the fairly large cast of characters, without reading some of the previous books.

Jack Fleming, Vampire, had a bit of a shock in the last book when his vampiric nature got away from him and he nearly killed a woman. He's still struggling with the aftermath of those events in this story and is unwilling to use his hypnosis skills but equally doesn't want to talk about it to the rather perceptive Charles Escott, his partner.

The 'baddie', Vaughn Kyler, who we first met in the last book plays a significant role in the beginning of this story when he gives Jack the ultimatum to leave town or die. This gives Jack huge moral qualms - Jack knows that if he doesn't kill Kyler then neither Charles nor Bobbi will be safe, and yet how can he become a murderer? I think the way that the author showed Jack's fears about this was excellent.

In this story everyone is still chasing the bracelet from the last book and Jack enlists the help of Gordy, another local crime boss who's helped them in the past. Unfortunately a turf war seems to be breaking out with a new entrant, Angela Paco, playing her part as well. The three-sided war looks to be unstoppable and Jack has to decide on his actions with Kyler.

Once again, as in most of the other stories, Jack gets himself into various fixes and nearly dies. His physical limits are tested in a new way and there is more violence surrounding him. In the earlier books there was a lot of situation comedy where Jack was acting like a ghost and it happens again, very amusingly, in this book. However the turf war in this book lends it a darker feel and no doubt sets up for further instalments.

In short, it's another good read and we're getting further and further into Jack's character as the stories continue but this wouldn't be a good first book for a reader in this series.

This pair of books is a satire, and it is fairly obvious of what type. A couple of really advanced aliens decide to monkey with life on earth. This leads to humanity developing rather quickly, but it turns out 'dem people are rather immature and like to hit things, kill people, and blow stuff up.

This results in a lot of dead people stuff for the aliens to play with, becoming confused for the god guy and the devil guy. Fairly amusing.


3.5 out of 5

This is a strikingly original fantasy novel about fascism and foolishness. Humans, it postulates, are a species condemned to struggle against the pain of having "a mind capable of conceiving eternity trapped inside a body that dies." Two energy beings, blind drunk after over-indulging (in what?) at a graduation party on a series of backwater worlds, miss the bus home. Facing the prospect of eternal boredom, they begin to tinker with the mental capacities of a few unlucky apes, and presto, "Christ, Beethoven, Auschwitz, thumbscrews and philosophy, Magna Carta and White Supremacy, poetry, poison gas, nuclear fission and romantic love" are born. Fast-forward to present day, and the two decide to intervene to prevent the marriage of Charity Stovall, an intelligent but unthinking religious hanger-on, and Roy Strider, a small-minded, vicious proto-fascist. But they do it by show-and-tell, convincing Charity and Roy that they're dead and letting them roam through Heaven and Hell to find wisdom--or damnation (it's your choice, after all). Highly entertaining, packed with original, witty, novel conceptions and ideas. (About the only book I can think of that resembles it to a degree: Robert A. Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land.") Four stars instead of five only because the characterization is limited in depth.

This book is about a bus driven by a man named Mack. He was driving children around and people on the street where yelling at Mack. They were telling him to watch out and Mack did. What was down there? It was a dog that kept barking at everyone. Mack tried to catch it but just kept barking. People on the street were getting mad at the dog and were looking for the owner. A man was in the bakery shop asking if they seen something for him. Read the book to find out if he found it.
I liked the book because of the surprise ending and the pictures. Katie V.

You have to read both books to get the full effect. Theology/mythology meant to enlighten/amuse/provoke thought and, yes, even educate in a painless manner--Read these books!!

....

Waiting for the Galactic bus begins at the begining...of the human race that is. Some aliens who can exist in solid form or in energy are taking a trip around the universe, tripping all the way since they're young and want to try the latest and greatest in sensory experience through thier equivilant of drugs and extreme sports. They happen upon a planet where they spend some time drinking in the rich atmosphere and experiencing various solid forms, getting drunk on the sensations. When they're ready to leave, two brothers in thier number who are considered trouble makers and losers are too drunk and get left behind. The others decide they'll come back for them in an aeon or two, serves them right for being drunk jerks, right?

Barion and Coyul wake to find themselves alone, with nothing but the primitive life of Earth to keep them company. Since they're so bored, one decides to give self-awareness to a monkey and start a human species. His brother warns him against this, as there are serious laws against elevating species before they are prepared for it, the disasters resulting from such irresponsible advancement of a species are terrible and the punishments severe. But, since the deed's been done, might as well improve on the design, right? figures the other brother.

And so, it is the begining of all the creativity, sadness, hope, destruction, love, hate, art, and violence. Barion and Coyul soon discover that this new species just keeps going on after they die in the form of consious energy. Not quite sure what to do with them, they decide to throw them a party, and "Upstairs" and "Downstairs" develop, and religions on earth develop and influence the way the realms develop.

So, after witnessing human history, and all the violence it can produce, as well as recognising the potential, they decide to intervene to stop what could very well be the next Hitler, before he is even conceived. And here is where our human charachters enter. Charity and Roy...Roy the Nazi wanna-be, and Charity, who has great potential, but doesn't know much of anything outside what she learned in a podunk little town; poverty, the local tabernacle church, and McDonalds.

Coyul and Barion take them on a ride through downstairs they can never forget, giving them both thier individual dreams to wake the sleeping genious in Charity, and to show her the monster the Roy can become. Charachters throughout history are also working in the realms of upstairs and downstairs and add a lot to the story. All told in witty, thoughtfull, and downright funny prose. A very enjoyable read.

I bought this book for my 3.5 year old as a party favor - and she LOVES it! There is a little plastic magnifying lens tucked into the front cover in a little pocket. Once we showed her how to take it out and look for Waldo, she does it over and over again. She walks around the house with her book, finds a nice spot to sit, takes out her magnifier, looks for Waldo, then once she finds him she finds another spot to sit in and does it all over again. It's really cute!

The pictures in the book are pretty tiny though, so it's a real challenge to find Waldo. It looks like they shrunk the images from the original version so they could fit them into the small book. I'm 36 (i.e. my eyes are not that bad) and I needed to use the magnifying glass in a bright room to find Waldo! The only downside to this book is if you misplace the magnifier, it's not as fun to find Waldo, but hopefully that won't happen to you.

As all you Where's Waldo fans may know. there were only a very few of these books ever made. I for one just loved them all as a young reader. Now, years later and by shear luck, my son was given two of those old books....which he fell in love with and only wished for more. A few months later, I was again lucky and found two more in a local book store and purchased those. Leaving only two remaining....now collectors items.....these were practicly impossible to fine. After searching (what seemed like) endlessly, one day I decided to check out Amazon. To my surprise....There They Were! And at a price that I couldn't believe! And only 10 days before Christmas! I immediately made placed the order and within just a few days (less than a week at normal shipping), there they were on my doorstep. I couldn't believe it! We finally had the complete series of Wheres Waldo Books! And both books were in prefect print condition!
Thanks Amazon! And another big Thanks for helping make a little boys Christmas great!
Next time, I`ll check Amazon first!

I purchased this for my five year old for Christmas. Before I could get it wrapped I was looking for Waldo! This is a great family book and really generates a lot of excitement for any age.

I couldn't keep this book. My son lost this book from the library. Looked for this book everywhere and finally found it at Amazon! Thanks Amazon! The book was really inexpensive too!

My four-year-old son loves Waldo, and we've had a lot of fun looking through this book EVERY night since he got it. It's his favorite book. There's so much to look for, more than just Waldo and his stuff -- there's Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard, Odlaw, Woof and all their props, as well as 25 Waldo Watchers scattered throughout the book. From an adult perspective, the postcards aren't as much fun to read out loud, but overall I love sharing the book with my children.

My biggest problem with Wings to the Kingdom is that after going back to Four and Twenty Blackbirds, I have to find something worthy to read until Oct 2, when Not Flesh Nor Feathers comes out. I loved Eden. The combat boots, the Death Nugget, the whole thing. And every time Benny nearly pees in his pants from glee or horror, I have to laugh, because he reminds me of that classic dork in all of us, the one who lights up like a six year old at the thought of ghosthunting, no matter who's in the room who might argue. The characters are spelled out just like all Southern literary characters should be- colorful, lovable, and with screws popping loose all over the place.

cherie priest is slowly replacing donna tartt as my favorite american female novelist of our time. *wings to the kingdom* is a somewhat slower story than *four and twenty blackbirds*, but every word is heavy with seduction, pulling the reader in with such force that it is hard to stop reading.

in brief, things have happened since *four and twenty blackbirds*. the protagonist eden moore is somewhat older, but still in every aspect a fascinating and multi-dimensional character. the setting is the same as in *four and twenty blackbirds*. new characters are introduced, old characters resurface. eyes glitter in moonlight and the mist grows heavy over chattanooga as the story progresses in a labyrinth of excitement and allure.

cherie priest is a wizard with words, and *wings to the kingdom* is a rich testimony of her magic. read it. I am very glad I did.

Pardon the pun.
One might worry whether CPriest's follow-up to _Four and Twenty Blackbirds_ might suffer the notorious "sophomore slump", but that would be needless suffering.

_Wings to the Kingdom_ builds on the foundations laid in the first novel, yet works on its own for readers who missed the first book (though, really, you're missing out on a good story if you haven't read it).

_Wings_ is engaging and dynamic. The storytelling is solid, the setting and the characters are real, and the mystery/tension is a treat.

I'm looking forward to the next in the series

If you enjoyed Four and Twenty Blackbirds, you will love Wings to the Kingdom. Cherie Priest's tale of ghosts at a Civil War battlefield grabbed me from the very first page. Taking an actual legend and weaving it into a spine-tingling story with believable characters, Priest just keeps getting better and better. The main character, Eden Moore, is likeable and interesting, as well as sympathetic. The rest of the characters are also well-rounded, even the publicity-seeking professional psychic investigator, who could easily have become a cliche. A very enjoyable read, and I eagerly look forward to the next installment!

Phenomenal follow-up to debut novel Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Eden Moore is dragged into a supernatural mystery at the Chickamauga battleground, and must deal with the public reaction to her ability to speak with the dead. Incredibly written, with a fast-paced storyline that still takes time to fully develop character. Priest cements her place in the Southern Gothic canon. Highly recommended.

This book was an interesting companion to The Giver and Gathering Blue. In answer to the questions about Gabe and Jonas they both survived and arrived together on the sled. Jonas became leader and Gabe is the mischievous eight year old student that mentor is tutoring early in the book as he has not attended his studies enough and instead has concentrated on playing. He is only mentioned for this couple of lines but the age and name mean that it must be referring to the child Jonas rescued.

All I can say is: READ THESE BOOKS - you will not be able to put them down. They capture your heart and mind, and, what a wonderful time you will have reading Lowis Lowry. You dont have to be a child to read these books, I am not a child and I throughly enjoyed these books.

I remember that my brother bought The Giver for school and he told me it was actually good (which is rare since he doens't like to read) so I decided to read it. I was absolutely emerged with it and keep the name of the author in my mind. One day I saw Gathering Blue and noticed it was by Lois Lowry so I read it without realizing it was a "sequel." I read it and loved it as well and then noticed that the inside flap had The Messenger, so of course I had to read it as well. It was when I finished the last book that I realized it was a trilogy. I loved how she wrote all three books because regardless of having read all three books or not you would not even notice they are related to each other as she writes the books as stand alone pieces. I highly recommned anyone to read these books as they deal with issues that make you think while enjoy a great story.

I think Lois Lowry is an amazing writer. My favorite book of all time is The Giver.

All three of these are wonderful children's books! Having the three in a set together makes a great gift also.
I suggest them for advanced 4th graders up to around 7th grade.

Robin Jarvis' Wyrd Museum Trilogy is a fantastic blend of Fantasy and Horror with interesting characters and a great story line.
Jarvis starts his trilogy with the slightly more easy going, "The Woven Path" which is an exiting journey into the the past life of an old teddy bear. Neil Chapmann and his family move into the Wyrd Museam as his father takes a job as a caretaker. While exploring Neil comes across a room filled with mysterious treasures and meets Ted, the reincarnation of a world war two American pilot. The two of them are sent back in time by Ursula Webster one of the three sisters who own the museum. They end up in London during world war two. Unfortunatly an ancient power has been unleashed on the city and Neil and Ted only have a little time to finish their quest before the demon finds them.
This is a great book although it may be frightening for smaller children.

This book is about 11-year-old Neil Chappman, whose parents just recently got divorced and he now lives with his father. The father got a job as a caretaker at a creepy museum. Because the father hadn't much money, Neil and his father had to live at the museum. While exploring the museum, Neil got sent back in time where he had to save the lives of 4 people.

I liked this book because of the way the author used descriptive language, as well as the amazing characters that the author developed. This is a great book for anyone who loves fantasy and adventure stories, but it has some scary bits in it so it's probably not for little kids.

This story sends chills trough you, but I`m not completely shure how much little kids enjoy it, because there is quite a bit of describing and I`ve found out that the youngsters don`t really find that amusing - it bores them if it seems too long. Shure they can identify with Niel (a boy sent back to war-time London) and the Teddy, but him actually beeing a grown man must confuse them.

I enjoyed it nevertheless - the Webster sisters anre creepy without any other stuff happening, and the father is so adorably helpless. The Story itself is well writen too and will probably not dissapoint you. Try it.

The Wyrd Museum trilogy has some of the most spine-tingling moments I have ever come across in juvenile fiction. While it is probably a little too gruesome for the 9 and under set, it provides plenty of thrills and chills for everyone 10 and above.

When you have grown weary of the exploits of a certain young wizard, come and visit with the Webster sisters for a magical tale of a more sinister sort. Nothing in or around Hogwarts has ever been this creepy!

A must read!!! If they made a movie out of this, it would probably outsell Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and you simply can NOT put it down. If you like books with mystery, action, comedy, horror, drama, romance or ANYTHING of everything all three of the Wyrd Museum books deliver and keep you wanting more!!!

This is the best book in the series. I really started to like Yorick in this book. And the story begins moving forward after being drifting in the Midwest for a long time. It is well worth the read if you get the opportunity.

Ever since the first issue of the Safeword arc, "Y: The Last Man" has been a non-stop ride of awesome issue after awesome issue after awesome issue. Fans will be especially pleased with this book, the fifth collection of the series, as it is by far the longest one yet. It collects eight issue, and is composed of the two-issue "Tongues of Flame" arc, the one-shot "Hero's Journey," and the five-issue arc, "Ring of Truth," which this trade paperback is named for.

Until this point, Brian K. Vaughan has been building the story quite nicely, leaving us asking question after question, but always satisfying us with each twist of the plot. But things start to change here. New developments are made, yes, but as Yorick, 355, and Dr. Mann finally reach the destination they've been aiming for since the first volume, answered to those burning questions are heaped upon us like food on a Thanksgiving Day plate.

+ What was up with that Toyota lady from One Small Step?

+ Who were those cloaked women who assassinated Agent 711 in Safeword?

+ Why did Yorick's mother work with the Russians in One Small Step?

+ What made Hero so bad? (Hero actually gets her own one-shot in this issue, which is composed entirely of flash-backs. I was apprehensive when I saw it coming up, because I found the "side story" at the end of One Small Step to be frustrating. But my weariness for another tale that deviated from the main story line of Y were blown away by "Hero's Journey." It's one of the best comics I've read and gives us invaluable insight into one of the series's most interesting characters.)

+ Also, most importantly, we finally hear Dr. Mann's theory on why Yorick survived the plague.

With humor, drama, and some of the best action you'll find in comics, wrier Brian K. Vaughan and penciller Pia Guerra (who illustrates all eight issues this time around) continue to blow me away with Yorick's epic story. I'm sure fans and critics alike will agree that this, as the cover boasts, is "top-notch."

9/10

Volume 5 was incredibly exciting, and answered the one question Y readers have been asking since the series began; "What caused all the men to die?" This volume also shows how complex Hero is, and how she tries to fight the demons within herself. If you read the first 4 volumes, this one will not disappoint.

This is one of my favorite collections in the Y: THE LAST MAN series. I've been reading/rereading the books in the series in anticipation/celebration that the entire epic story is finally coming to an end. This is the volume that shows the end of Yorick, Agent 355, Dr. Mann, and Ampersand's cross country journey come to an end. They finally reach Dr. Mann's laboratory where she is able to determine that Yorick was shockingly not the key to the survival of malekind, but Ampersand. The next stage in the series is set into motion when Ampersand is kidnapped by the mysterious ninja who had been until now looking for Yorick.

There are a lot of fun things in this book, from Yorick's hook up with another blonde named Beth to Hero's emergence as something of a hero to the culmination of the Culper Ring story. And for the first time since the initial issues Beth returns as a character (the old Beth, not just the new one).

Some readers did not like the preceding issues. I did, very much. But I'll grant that these issues are among the highpoints in the series. They not only sum up everything that the series had been leading up to before but also provide a transition to all that would occur next.

Yorick and his allies have finally made it to California. Dr. Mann now as access to the information and tools she needs to try and work out exactly why Yorick is alive and all the other males on the planet are dead.

The female of the species also demonstrates that they are equally capable of war and crime when given the opportunity.

If someone said 'ninja monkeynapper' to you generally, you would probably laugh. Here, it is no laughing matter.