Science Fiction Books

I was having the most stressful four months of my life, and every time I picked up this book, I was instantly transported to the no-responsibilities, no-danger, money-free, superficially-gorgeous, pleasure-dedicated, high-tech world I imagined could solve all my own problems, and then entertainingly placed into the mind of our nameless, i'm-not-taking-your-bull-crap, teenage protagonist, who proved to have more guts and dreams than anyone that knew her could have imagined.

For anyone who has felt trapped and restless, who has fought depression by means of the external world, and has failed attempt after attempt, the beginning of this story will ring all too true, but through her self-discovery, you, the reader, will embark on an increasingly epic journey and find that society does not make who you are, or anyone else with true heart.

In the second half of "Biting the Sun", she showed me the beauty of OUR world, which I was not expecting. I will not dare to explain that, because that aspect more than any other in this book, I believe, is best solely left to the interpretation of the reader. ;)

If you are interested in all of this... and the human condition!... then you should give this book a go!!! This 1st person writing style is quick and easy, almost immaturely & confusingly so sometimes, but that's just another off-beat quality that makes this book so grand -- the protagonist is a teenager, and this is the future, so what the heck? It fits!

This is my first Tanith Lee book ever. There is so much I love about this book --- the language, the pictures it makes in my head, the setting, some incredibly inspiring quotes among so much that is vague --- that I cannot imagine another of her books topping this off, but I hear that this is one of her early works, so c'mon, surprise me some more Tanith Lee!!!

Lee really gets you into this book. Set in a time when dying holds no consequence since you can come back and design a new body and when you can design your own dreams, one young jang girl rebels. Tired of the same thing she tries at first to move up a stage to an older person when that fails she tries at working. She tries all things from digging up artifacts in the desert to making a child and breaks the few rules that the society had set and ends up being thrown from civilization for killing another person against their will. Ready to experience new things she starts her own garden in the desert and oasis of freedom she was exiled to where she can live and be happy until others want that same freedom and the society she was desperate to escape from starts meddling its way back into her life.
Good book, had romance, adventure, fantasy, I loved it. It was long though (I read it in one sitting) so don't buy it if you'll just read a page every other day that really takes away from the story.

I've seen most reviewers class this as SF - but I'd put it in the fantasy section. Other reviewers have given you excellent information on the content of the collection of two novels. I read Drinking Sapphire Wine first as a teenager (my FIRST SF/Fantasy experience)and it's great as a stand alone novel. Reading Don't Bite the Sun gave me the background to understand the heroine/hero's (as you can switch body genders!) actions and why she/he chose instead of PD (where your personality is wiped and you "return" as a child to "utopia"). I identified with the main character, who's name is never mentioned in either novel, as she/he was a loner as I was and still am to most extent and saw the world in a different light than others as well as had a love for pets, archaeology and the desert. I admit to having read this book over and over and over and still enjoy it today as an adult, along with the Sliver Metal Lover these are my favorite novels from Tanith Lee's great volume of work. When I was a teen I indoctrinated my friends to these novels and we used the Jang slang in our everyday language and notes. My first copies were LOST by a friend who SAID they were stolen out of his locker - HA! I don't BELIVE it. He was either obsessed with me (which he outgrew and married a lovely lady) and wanted my property or didn't want to buy his own copies to read and read! Along with the SF of body and sex changes there is the background of human emotions, which have been squashed to only "good" emotions by hypnoschool, revealing some of the darker emotions of the characters and love which will endure the ages. Exiles from the four Bee's, the main character and her/his friends/lovers and followers and some desert animals struggle to make an existence outside the dome - which except for a little android sabotage (AGAINST their programing!), turns out to be a better life than in the cities and the main characters find true love instead of having love of the domes. Would I read this again - yes I have - over and over.

This is an amazing and original fantasy novel.

It takes place in either the future, or on another planet. Death has been illiminated along with sickness and old age. You change bodies, change gender, change anything, the whole world (which appears to consist of three domed cites in a large uninhabitable desert wasteland) is controlled by human like androids.

You go to school until roughly the age of five and then you're "Jang", or teenage for up to a hundred years afterwards. Jang are encouraged to kill themselves and come back in wacky bodies, have sex with dozens of people in both genders (though they have to get married first and annual it afterwards) and take tons and tons of drugs, mostly ecstasy pills. Also Jang are encouraged to steal, but since no money exists and paying consists of putting out emotional energy to power the domes in forms of excessive "thank yous", it doesn't really matter if they do.

Basically this society has no soul, no responsibilities. Androids handle everything. Death means nothing, so life means nothing. (Which is a very profound concept if you think about and not one I've seen used in fantasy before.) And one mostly female Jang rebels (in sort of a roundabout fashion) and changes all that.

It's a cool book and it reinforces ideas of the human spirit. I look forward to reading other books by this author (this was my first.)

Five stars

I was surprised that no one saw the connection between the theme of this book and the theme with Dostoevsky's "The Underground Man". Whereas Dostoevsky takes the idea that man is inherently lazy, selfish, and easily bored and illustrates it in subtle ways in what was the present for him, Tanith Lee basically magnifies everything Dostoevsky has to say in a way that you can't ignore it, and puts it waaaaay into the future.

For those of you who haven't read Dostoevsky, as it isn't common with teenage sci-fi lovers, Dostoevsky was basically a conservative in the 1800s when communism was just begining in Russia. Russian communists beleived that through communism, man would live in a paradise, with all needs met, and do work for the sake of work and his love for his neighbor. Communism placed way too much trust in the goodness of human beings. Dostoevsky knew that no matter what, humans would never be content with what they had, and "The Underground Man" was a sort of warning against this idea.

Anyways, Tanith Lee understood all of this, and in her book takes us into a future where everything runs on the power of human emotion, and the need for human workers has completely vanished. Because human emotion is vital to make the city run, humans are encouraged to indulge in their every whim, to unleash all their restraints and do whatever it is they beleive will produce emotions within themselves--happiness being the preffered emotion, for when one is happy one does not question or think or ask for more. Death cannot touch the citizens. You can do anything you want without risk.

Initially, the reader may be confused, because the psychology of the citizens seem reversed. They actually enjoy in some way feeling unhappy, but soon the reader realizes why--in a world where you are pampered and all your desires met, the only way one can really feel anything is to experience a bit of dissappointment.

Anyways. It's a fabulous book, a good introduction to these deeper questions of humanity for the seeking teenager, but I think readers of all ages might enjoy it, if one can only relax themselves into the story and put their faith in the author.

"Catspaw" is a MUCH better book than its prequel, "Psion." As with "Psion," I don't care much for its theme that humans, especially wealthy powerful ones, are evil. But, for "Catspaw," that's pretty much overridden by how well Vinge writes and by the tightness of the plot. About the only thing I didn't like in the book was the occasional lapse into unnecessary sexual details in about five different places. Other than that, this is a very well-written book that I highly recommend. If it weren't for the sense of loss a reader would suffer without having read "Psion," I'd suggest skipping that book entirely. Most of the necessary information comes out in this book. But, it's not complete until almost halfway through the book.

Whoah! I've read this book three or four times already! I love it so much. and Cat is just a great character you can just fall in love with him. I really hope others read this book too. i still haven't read the 1st or 3rd books to this series but i feel like i understand them perfectly. but i still really wish to read them. I've never liked a book quite this much.

This is quite possibly the best book I have ever read. Thought provoking, emotional, and exciting, the author draws the reader into a world that could easily be the real future. Cat's unique point of view illustrates the universe in such amazing clarity that his pain and wonder is completely tangible. He's moved from street rat to university student forced to do the dirty work for a huge conglomerate and each word of his experience resonates.

This second installment of the Cat books was the first I'd ever read from this author, all because I took a chance on a book in a library give away box. It's one of the most amazing treasures I've ever found.

I loved this book. I've read the entire series of the main character, Cat, but Catspaw I believe is best in the series. What's more, the book can stand alone. The unique writing kept me interested the entire journey, with the 1st person view of the main character, but his abilities to read minds lets you have the perspective of other characters in the book as well. I liked Cat's personality. He's real, with flaws, and fears, and yet does the right thing without being a do-gooder. Even the villians in the book seem real, and you can almost- but not quite- understand why they are the way they are.
This story encompasses Cat being pressed into service to be a body guard for a political member of the very government he hates. You get political intrigue, a hint of romance, and a splendid view of a futuristic world with a well thought out plot. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This was the first book I'd read in this series, many years ago. At the time, I was more impressed with it than I probably would be now, because I didn't recognize that the world she was building was somewhat standard cyberpunk (never even heard of cyberpunk at that time). Therefore the world seemed more original to me than it actually is (also illustrating one of my standard ideas about genre fiction--if someone who has never experienced a genre before suddenly comes to it, the most hoary and ancient cliches of that genre will seem dazzlingly fresh and familiar).

However, though the world fascinated me, in the end, the real heart of the series are Vinge's characters. Cat, Lady Elnear, Argentyne, Jiro, are all wonderfully drawn, and Vinge portrays them with a great deal of heart and honesty; she plays fair with the reader. Good social commentary too, with a message that is both uplifting and sobering; she explores a theme I've seen other authors do as well but one that I think is quite profound, that human connections are necessary to allow human beings to succeed in the face of evil (Cat's bond with Argentyne and his link to Mikah are what enable him to ultimately succeed in his goal). I recently bought a copy of PSION and I'm working my way through it, eager to meet Jewel and some of Cat's earlier friends.

I was so glad to find this book again as I had read it to my sons when they were in grade school. This is a very fun book for children big and small! This was our very first Daniel Pinkwater novel and was the biginning of our lifelong love of his writings. Read this to your children - give it to them to read. ONE disclaimer - if they are already immersed in fantasy then they will have little appreciation of how subtly Pinkwater takes you from known to the absurd to the almost believeable.

Lizzard Music is the way I got my son Matt to read as a kid. He could read but wasn't at all interested in the boring books he got handed at school. It was like pulling teeth to get him to read. I gave him lizzard music and asked that he read for 1/2 an hour and that was the last I heard from him except for some laughing and every once in a while a "wow! mom this is great!". He didn't put the book down except to eat and sleep until he finished it and then made me go get more Pinkwater books. So basicly my son reads thanks to the humor of the genius that is Daniel Manus Pinkwater!!! Thanks Mr. Pinkwater from moms everywhere

A very appealing book, and a favorite from Pinkwater. Good for both boys and girls, especially those looking for something funny and original.

Manus Pinkwater is a pretty cool kinda guy. He has the unique feature of being as tall sitting as he is standing, and that makes me wonder if the convex dimensions of an author's backside are somehow related to the quantity of his imagination. You see, Manus writes far-out books. No, no, I mean...realllly far-out books. I think he passes the Twilight Zone somewhere in route to where he goes to pen his creative little novels. Lizard Music may take the cake among everything straaaaange he's written, however. This story puts your brain in a food processor and hits frappe. What's it about? Oh, you want to know that, don't you? Okay.

Lizard Music is about a ten-ish young man named Victor, who is left one summer in the early 1970's in the custody of his free-loving teenaged sister, Leslie, when their parents take a summer vacation. Not ten seconds after the parents exeunt stage left Leslie does the same thing, meeting up with some hippie buds and taking off in a van with the warning that Victor better NOT tell on her for this. Hey, Victor's more than happy to oblige. What ten-year-old wouldn't love being left alone with a full frige, a small stack of spending money, and no rules or supervision whatsoever? Victor has the time of his young life. He eats what he wants, he does what he wants, and he stays up as late as he wants watching previously forbidden monster movies. It's this last liberty, the late bedtime, that sends young Victor's life into some veddy odd places. One night, past midnight, Victor is up watching the TV station sign off after the late-late-late show has concluded and right in front of his drowsy eyes he sees the most peculiar program he's ever witnessed: a jazz group composed entirely of man-sized lizards performs a concert in the minutes before the station ceases its signal. That's not to say it's a cartoon or guys in costumes...these appear to be great big lizards playing jazz. The next morning Victor wonders if it was all a dream. (He had after all been hitting the candy and cola a little hard the last couple nights...) To get to the truth, Victor stays up another night to see if it happens again. It does...and something else does too. Let me just say Victor takes a trip that's even weirder than the one his sister is on with her fellow hippies. "LiKe FaaR OuT, dUdE!!!" Lizard Music is the sort of book no one but Pinkwater could have written, no one could possibly figure out before its conclusion, and that no one will quite know what to make of when they've finished reading its mind-altering text.

I remember the night that my grandmother gave me this book. My mom was in the hospital for what would have been her last round of chemo and I had been beaten up in school that day for tucking my pants into my argyle socks in a rather unsporting display involving football players, loose change, and vending machines. Pinkwater's book kept me sane through the sixth grade and then some. There are a whole bunch of physicists in my department who feel the same way. We are very much in debt to the Chickenman and some other friendly phantoms from Bughouse Square and Pinkwater's memory (real or not, we are smart enough as a collective to get back to them).

I love this series, this character, and had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately it left me a little disappointed.

This book spends a lot of time following Mark, Miless' clone, instead of Miles himself. This includes almost the entire third act of the book. Miles is what makes this series interesting, and Mark is a poor substitute. The underdog outsmarting his opponent and the charm with which Bujold writs the character is what makes this series shine. With that missing, this is closer to run of the mill sci-fi then great sci-fi.

The story itself is interesting, and there is enough mystery and intrigue to hold the readers attention. This book also has the best small unit action of the whole series. It is fast past, well executed, and has a true feel to it.

While this book has its problems, and is a bit of a let down as the series goes, it is still a quality read and worth picking up if you follow the series.

I write this review having read this sometime ago. The whole way the author treats this 'brother' issue in this and later books is simple superb.

Needless to say, the brother is the exact opposite of Miles in so many ways - and tantalizing similiar. The author develops this dichotomy very well and uses it to very entertaining effect during the reading.

Must read book. The only down note is that it seems the author has exhaused the Vorkosigan theme - all good things must come to an end sadly.

One deadsicle, one schizo.


Mark impersonates his brother to take the Free Mercs off on a liberation mission. A bit of an understatement to say this doesn't go well. The original version is killed and frozen, and Mark is tortured until his not so stable personality fragments into many.

The M & M show has to someone get out of this and wreak some havoc on bad Barons.

I came late to this series, and had serious doubts about all the awards its author has won after reading Shards of Honor. Luckily, I bought the 2-in-1 "Cordelia's Honor" and forged ahead anyway into Barrayar. Wow. Now that was worth the praise. Then I advanced to Warrior's Apprentice and was further amazed. Could the author continue to churn out action packed smartly written comedy slash adventure slash dramas? She can. She has. Sure there are dips. I found Cetaganda a bit lifeless. But the other books are predominantly very strong and impressive.

Mirror Dance is the culmination of all that came before. Seeing the Vorkosigan's from Mark's perspective is like meeting them all over again. Watching him become human in the face of his newfound family's integrity and acceptance is incredibly moving. I can't lavish enough praise on this series or this book.

Not without suprsie I read the previous reviews. Personally I did not like the last three novels : "Mirror Dance", "Brother in Arms" and "Borders of Infinity" as much as the novels in the "Young Miles" book. It seemed to me that inadvertently Bujold's interest to moral dillemmas started to influence too much of the story and characters. I remember how one of my school teachers was telling us how Pushkin ( the author of "Evgenii Onegin" ) was distraught that his characters could not fall in love. To me this is an example how author remains loyal to the world of characters he creates and follows the logic of his own creation.
It also feels sometimes that Bujold falls somewhat victim to romanticising the brutal, ruthless world of Nexus monopolies, intelligencies and political intrigues that she had created herself). For example , suddenly Barrayran Chief Security ( who is described as one of the most feared and paranoid persons in the "mean" society of Mile's home planet) suddenly becomes soft and sentimental and lets Mark just off the hook. It appears that Bujold feels too conflictual about hurting more an "innoncent prey" of sadisctic Kommaran revolutionary.
-But what about the security risk?
-Yeah, but Mile's mother would not want that to happen to the clone of her son ( I think Bujold identifies with the Countess). Of course you could argue both ways.
Again,I would give away my left hemisphere for the poetic beaty of Bujold's right but, but .... I hope to see more "war hawkish" elements in the future novels.

I am so sad that Sailor moon products are out of print. This is an amazing story. I love the Manga and the Anime. 200 episodes wasnt enough!

The whole series is very mysterious and keeps you on the edge of your seat. When you're reading this series all that goes through your mind is "What's the Golden Crystal?" 'Who's Helios?" And most of all "Is Darien gonna be OK?" Finally the last book of this series! IT's wonderfully written and drawn as I said before. It teaches you little lessons that you don't realize until you need to know these lessons. (Does that make sense?) If you read the previous books of the SuperS series you should really get this one to find out what happens in the end. It's so sweet and happy!

This is my absolute favorite out of all the Sailor Moon mangas. I love the Supers series to death, and this is the perfect ending. I've got to say that the main reason this one is my favorite is because of the artwork. It's stunning, to say the least. Ms. Takeuchi pulled out all the stops on this one. No matter how many times I read Supers #4, the picutres never fail to make me stop and say, "Wow". It's certainly not lackin in plot, either. This is where everything comes together, and every twist and turn is compelling and credible. Every element of the ending to Stars is satisfying. This little book, in my opinion, represents manga at its finest.

This is a wonderful volume. Bunny/Darien, Usagi/Mamoru, Serena/Darien are my favorite couple. I loved both the Japanese and English versions. The Japanese version is my favorite and the English version is great. I use both the Japanese names, Usagi and Mamoru and the English names Bunny and Darien. In this volume, many events occur. Bunny and Darien awaken and have lots of romantic moments together. Soon, they must face more challenges. Bunny and Darien are girlfriend and boyfriend and eternal lovers. They must face a huge challenge when a secret about Bunny's past is revealed. Bunny is worried, but Darien comforts her. Darien protects his true love, Bunny. Darien tells Bunny to lend her his power. Darien tells her they can conquer this. Darien and Bunny kiss. As they kiss and hold hands, the energy of their love and power saves them. Darien and Bunny's kisses are so loving. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask kiss and have lots of loving, romantic kisses in the series. Soon, a secret is told about Bunny and secrets are revealed as Bunny and Darien discover new things. Find out what will happen in this volume. Bunny and Darien are the best couple. Usagi and Mamoru are the best couple. Serena and Darien are the best couple. Usagi/Mamoru and Serena/Darien and Bunny/Darien are all the best couple in ever version.

This is THE most cool comic book I have ever read! It totally blows Dennis the Menace out of the water!! The conclusion of the SuperS series is included in #4; including yet another oh-so cute 'n' funny "Rini's Diary" (What happened to the 'picture' part??). We see all of the sailor scouts "Sailor Guardian's" and the senshi in their princess forms!! Also Luna, Artemis and Diana turn into their human forms, (Flashback to the Sailor Moon S movie!), and Bunny flashbacks to the Silver Millennium. (There are some VERY cute scenes of Queen Serenity and Princess Serenity as a baby, as well as the six/seven year old Inner Senshi! Oh, and witness the birth of the one who possesses the second greatest power to the Queen (no, its not Tony Blair!), ETERNAL Sailor Moon! And a new crystal of the Pink Moon! (Guess who owns it?)

A book that is a literary puzzle, an adventure of sorts, and full of sneakiness and tongue-in-cheekness. I have read quite a lot, and when I read this, I had trouble trying to work out who was who in quite a lot of cases. I suppose this is a lot of the appeal, though, being like a really, really hard cryptic crossword, at times.

Silverlock is a fun, roller coaster ride through literature. It chronicles the journey--inner and outer--of an American cynic as he travels through the world of literature. Some of the fun is tracking down the literary characters, from Beowulf to Don Quixote to Becky Sharp. Part of me regrets not having been born in the 1950s to relish Silverlock fully; the Internet makes finding the sources of the characters effortless. Hopefully, readers take the next step and read the original sources to expand their understanding and appreciation of literature. In my opinion, the novel posits that literature is an evolving, cumulative organism. Modern (American) literature is built on the foundation of the stories that came before. The novel shows that someone can find meaning in the stories he or she encounters, and sharing those experiences--and possibly using them to invent new stories--is one of the joys of life. Anyone with respect for literature and the history of speculative reading should give Silverlock a try.

_This is truly a book for book lovers. It starts with a middle-aged Chicagoan with a degree in Business Administration and a life that that has ceased to hold any meaning or charm for him. He boards a freighter as a passenger in order to try to put a little interest and excitement in his life. Well, he finds it. The freighter is shipwrecked after several days of running before a storm and the main character, Silverlock, finds himself cast adrift without a life boat. As he says- if he had cared to live, he would have died. As it is however, he doesn't struggle and exhaust himself- he merely surrenders himself to his fate and the currents. Fate soon finds him....

_What Silverlock finds is the Commonwealth. This is a place where all the great stories from myth, legend, and literature actually exist, somehow, side by side. This requires a suspension of belief, but given the excellent story telling that isn't too difficult. That seems to be what the Commonwealth is all about- it is the Commonwealth of story telling, or imagination.

_It is more than just a survey of great characters and stories, however. Silverlock comes across as pretty unsympathetic at the beginning, but through experience and suffering in his travels from east to west he grows immeasurably in character. Perhaps the Commonwealth is a mask for purgatory, where lost souls are given a second chance at growth and redemption. In any case it is more heaven than purgatory for the reader.

_Save this book for special quiet times when your spirit needs a recharge. I know that I do.

The plot exists only to connect allusions popular in western mythology. An easy read and may create interest in beginner who may be attracted to find out the source of the iconography.

More advanced readers might resent the fact that originality was sacrificed to make the glue for the various fables. Representing "Silverlock" as a masterpiece of literature is an error that ought not to be told even to the youngest reader.

Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.
Samuel Johnson

I suspect that this is one of those polarizing books: those that love it REALLY love it; others will be, at best, blandly indifferent or outright bored. I hew more closely to the second camp.

The book has notable adherents and in recent years has been hailed as a bit of a neglected gem, but I found it only moderately diverting. It was written in 1949 and so it's a bit dated (and its attitudes toward women are not the most advanced, but then again, the protagonist is by his own admission a cad and a bounder), but that's really not much of a problem.

The novel is your typical Pilgrim's Progress type of thing, and is divided into three parts, which turn out to be Chance, Choice, and Oracle, or as I see it, Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell, based on the decreasing level of quality (and the not-concidental Dantean shenanigans toward the end). It starts out strong, but the charms grow old fast, and the overarching quest in the middle section simply is not very gripping. In the final third, the book becomes unbearably didactic and wearisome, and then, rather suddenly, the words "The End" scroll across the screen.

On a side note, I found myself often contrasting this book to Stephen Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant". Both feature (anti-)heroes thrust into a strange land and both deal, to some degree, with large philosphical concerns. (In fact, Donaldson acknowledges having read this, and having plucked the titles of a couple of his novels from one of the songs within, but purports to find the book sub-par.) The major contrast, of course, is that Covenant believes nothing of what he sees, but Shandon easily rolls with all that he finds, no matter how fantastical, to an extent unbelievable of someone from mid-20th century America.

Filkers and others who enjoy making songs out of poems will like "Silverlock", as will those who excelled in high school English classes and who can pick out some of the myriad allusions. I suspect most others will find this to be much less than advertised.

I would, at any rate, recommend picking up an annotated version to get details on some of the more cryptic appearances of characters from myth, fable, and literature.

Love this in my Star Trek collection. Helps you to remember all of the great episodes of this series.

This book really set the standard for me for what a companion book for a TV show should be. A nice essay on the shows creation, lenghy season overviews, detailed synopsis' for each episode, and at least a couple pages (note these are big pages) of behind the scenes information on every single episode. With all due respect to a previous reviewer I don't understand how one could say there isn't enough behind the scenes information. This book is basically everything you could ever want to know about the TV show Star Trek Deep Space Nine. I now only buy companion books that follow a similar format. For anyone who likes DS9 this is the book to own.

This book is just too good for words - I actually was a little stunned to see it existed, and when I received it, I could not have been more pleased with the content. In-depth articles on each episode, illustrated by nice B&W photos and great interviews with cast and crew up and down the list.

Definitely NOT for the casual fan, but for those rare DS9 fans among the Trek fan base, this is the one.

Also, for those of you who enjoy the current "Galactica" series, this is a good window into how Ron Moore learned to write serialized, relevant sci-fi. If anything, this show is superior in many ways to "Galactica," if only by allowing a few rays of light to shine through the perpetual gloom.

Only complaint, and a very minor one: no interviews with either Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat, nose-to-nose the best villain in Trek, along with Khan and Q) or Cirroc Lofton.

Some of the information is interesting, though I do have to admit that I was somewhat let down by it. I thought there would be more "insider information," so to speak, than there was. All the technical info was great, but I was hoping for more personal information, more about inside jokes/behind the scenes/etc. The sections that begin each season are a bit better in this respect though. After one read through of each episode, though, the book's primary use now is just to remind me what each episode is about so I can decide whether to watch it on DVD for the 6th time, or skip to the next episode. Not exactly the central use I had in mind when I bought it.

I'll just add to the heaps of praise for this massive work covering the complete Deep Space Nine series. The plot of every episode is described in detail, as one would expect, but this volume goes much further, devoting a great deal of text on each episode and season, primarily offering points of view from the writers, story editors, producers, directors, and other production staff, and occasionally from the actors. What's especially great, aside from all the detail that fans salivate over, is that everyone involved with the production is generally pretty candid about what does and doesn't work, so the less-inpsired episodes aren't subjected to faux praise for the sake of selling DVDs.

It's not flawless, however. Too much detail is sometimes given about how a story evolved into what finally aired, whereas there are often other questions about plot and character development, or lack thereof, that would've been more compelling to read. Also, there are spoilers in some of the behind-the-scenes info that could've been better disguised; it makes it difficult to share the book with someone who is watching the series for the first time. Those are small nits to pick, though. No other Trek episode guide comes anywhere near the level of depth and quality of this one, and I can't recommend it highly enough to fans of the series, even those who don't consider DS9 their favorite part of the ST franchise.

This is a re-read from my youth and I am glad that it has been reissued. I love all of Engdahl's work and I only wish that she would write more after her long dry period. A well-writte intelligent and charming female protagonist learns and grows within a setting much like early (good) Andre Norton- reminiscent of Ice Crown, in fact.

This is an interesting book. I like the three different voices she uses to narrate the three different worlds, and the way the most advanced world, being the most self-aware, is done in first person.

Interesting questions are raised and about truth, right/wrong, etc. I do not agree with everything the author seems to believe, but this book would be a good springboard for discussion of questions like, "What is truth?" and "What/who is God?" and "Is there anything beyond what we can see and study with traditional science?"

There are a lot of other interesting questions that can be pondered that the book raises but does not answer. For instance, was Alana's father exploiting her young heart and propensity to fall in love in order to save the world of Andrecia and, if so, is that a morally defensible thing?

Not the absolute best book I have ever read, but worth reading, and probably worth reading more than once.

Having read Sylvia Engdahl's excellent novel, The Far Side of Evil, several years ago, I approached this book with a positive outlook that it would be just as thought-provoking and well told. I wasn't disappointed, though this novel is indeed different in tone.

The Enchantress of the title is Elana, whose exact age is never given but can be assumed to be in her late teens or early twenties. Elana, looking for adventure and real life experience, stows away on board a starship that is sent to Andrecia, a medieval planet that is currently being colonized by a more advanced society. Once her presence is known, her father and boyfriend decide that Elana can indeed help with the plan to oust the invaders, which will allow Andrecia to continue to develop at its own pace. Elana becomes the "Enchantress"; she befriends two locals who are off to fight the "Dragon" (a massive rock-chewing machine), and helps them by awakening their own skills so that their quest will be successful. In the process, Elana finds herself falling for the local known as Georgyn, and in her inexperience, putting them both in grave danger.

This book moves seamlessly between points of view, which gives it a much more universal feel than had we only known Elana's side of the story. When Georyn's voice takes over, the story almost becomes a fairy tale; indeed, that is how he sees Elana and the invaders who have come to his world. Elana is, of course, young and inexperienced but desperate to do the right thing; and Jarel is the lone voice of the invaders, unsure of his world's plans but unable to do anything to stop them.

I enjoyed this novel but did feel that at times it was a bit on the fantastic side. I felt the plans Elana's father made to dupe the invaders weren't necessarily believable, but I was able to keep in mind that this is indeed a fantasy. Elana could be infuriating in her lack of knowledge and her headstrong ways, and her poor boyfriend Evrek is relegated to the background while Elana forges ahead with a relationship with Georyn. Overall, however, this is a well-written novel and Engdahl has a gift for telling a tale that will pull you in from the first pages. Over thirty years since its debut, this thought-provoking novel holds up well and is just as relevant today. Recommended for lovers of fantasy.

When Elana's mission gets put in jeopardy she faces a lifetime of torture and imprisonment. Will she be able to save herself and the mission? Elana, the Enchantress, and her father were agents of the Federations Anthropological Center and it was their assignment to stop the Imperials from taking over the planet Andrecia. They led Georyn, a woodcutter's son, to believe that a stone was the source of his new magical powers; however, the truth was that they had taught him telekinesis and he wasn't even aware of it. Georyn was supposed to use his "magic" to defeat the dragon (a mechanical weapon used the Imperials). Elana and Georyn were on their way to the Imperials camp when natives captured them. The natives took them to the Imperials camp where they were locked in barracks. The Imperials planned to send them to a research center to be studied. Elana persuaded one of the guards, Jarel, to help them and he let Georyn out of his cell when no one was paying attention. When it appeared that the dragon was going to defeat Georyn, Elana decided to sacrifice herself to try to end the whole ordeal. As she ran and laid in front of the dragon, a flood of courage surged through Georyn. He used his magic powers to save her, stop the dragon, and scare away the Imperials. Georyn went to the king to announce that the dragon had been killed and to get his reward. He decided to explore the rest of the planet he lived on while he had the chance. Elana left Andrecia after accomplishing her goal and traveled back to her own planet. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone who enjoys reading a great book.
This book is written with loads of details. Georyn was the youngest of four sons born to a poor woodcutter, who lived on the planet Andrecia. Elana was a young woman in the First Phase of her training to be an agent. Jarel was an Imperial medic who was determined to prove that his civilization was not right in trying to colonize Andrecia.
Even though this is a science fiction book some of the things in it are realistic to our own world. The cool, green, peaceful planet, Andrecia is the third planet of a medium sized yellow sun. The Federation tried to prevent weaker nations from being taken over by stronger nations. Some types of people tend to be better at some things than others.
This book will stretch the reader's imagination. The Imperials used a huge machine that resembled a dragon to clear an area on Andrecia for the colony they were planning to establish. Georyn was taught telekinesis on a subconscious level, therefore he didn't even know about it. The Federation was an organization meant to save weak planets from the more powerful ones trying to colonize.
I recommend this book to everyone. It is a great read. It is very imaginative but some of the elements of the book seem somewhat realistic. Even if you are not a big fan of science fiction books this is a story that everyone should read.
~V. Newberry

Please keep in mind that I really liked this book. "Enchantress" is well written and enjoyable. That being said, I could not entirely enjoy the story because I had a problem with the heroine. I know this probably says more about me than her but...

The heroine, as thoughtful and insightful as she is, is a bit of a hypocrite. She "suffers" enormously with guilt about even the smallest of lies she is forced to tell her "poor primitive" lover.

On the other hand she only feels a twinge of condescending pity for her fiancé whom she has been more-or-less betraying by concealing her "forbidden love" for the "primitive" for most the book.

And when it comes to lying to her father and sneaking around behind his back; forget about it! She doesn't even hesitate a second and even takes a certain pleasure in it, even when, inevitably, her "disobedience" endangers entire civilizations.

There are only four main characters in this book. The heroine, her male father, her male fiancé, and her male lover. I found myself many times wishing she had a mother, sister, or best friend to whack her upside the head and tell her to stop acting so ridiculous.

The one woman who COULD and WOULD have set her straight was killed as the book opened. (Actually there WAS one other female in the book; a practically-unconscious sacrifice victim being "delivered to the dragon.")

Anyway enough about my problems. If you didn't even notice the things I had issues with, (and you probably didn't) "Enchantress" is a good read.

The Never War (Pendragon Series #3) This book came as part of a box set containing the first 3 books in the series. They are quality paper backs. They will probably stand up to a lot of re-reads. I had been in search of a series to fill in the void left from the conclusion of the Harry Potter series. I have found that D. J. MacHale's series about time travel by a teenager and his friends to be an excellent transition from Harry Potter. I am currently finishing up book 8 in the series. I have purchased 7 of the books from Amazon and will buy books 8 and 9 when they come out in paper back. I would highly recommend this series to fans of Harry Potter. Trust me, you won't be disappointed and you will love the adventure.

The Never War is the third book in the Pendragon series. I thought this book was amazing this book I think was the best of all of the pendragons. This book brings back the characters Mark, Courtney, Spader, and Bobby and a new traveler Gunny. This book brings you back into 1937 on first earth. At the start of world war two and ends with a big ending that may shock you.
I would totally recommend this book because it envolve your own world and it makes you brush up on your history. This book is definitely the greatest sci-fi I have read. The Never War is a book that you never want to stop reading it keeps you on the edge of your seat through out the whole story and this book always has you thinking of what could happen next.

This is a really interesting book for probably one reason: the historical fiction.
This book takes you to First Earth, where life is eternally 40 yeaers behind our Second Earth. The plot of this story is where Saint Dane is trying to alter things that have already happened to cause chaos throughout Halla. This is about the Hindenburg. Saint Dane offers Bobby a chance to save the Hindenburg from crashing but what will happen if he doesn't?
This is book is chalk full of good historical fiction. I liked it, A LOT!

For this book review I read Pendragon: The Never War. The author of this fantasy book is D.J Machale.

This book is mostly about Bobby Pendragon who is a traveler and Gunny and Vo Spader, another two travelers who go through the flume that killed Uncle Press. Vo Spader and Bobby Pendragon come out and see two gangsters who have machine guns pointing right at them. The gangsters take them but they both escape and that's where they meet Gunny. Gunny takes them back to his hotel because he is a hotel bellboy. He lets them stay on the sixth floor. They meet a gangster named Max Rose but Max Rose makes them go see Winn Farrow. Winn Farrow catches them and ties them up and he burns the place down, but they escape. A big blimp called the Hindenburg comes in with Max Rose's money in it, but Winn Farrow fires a rocket at it and blows it up and Max runs into the blimp and he dies. They all go back to Second Earth and see their friends.

I think this book is a really good book because it didn't get boring or anything. It was a really exciting book. This book would be best for people who like good adventure books and exciting books.

D. J. MacHale wrote for television for years before turning his attention to novels. He created ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, a long-running series on Nickelodeon in the United States, but it also showed in Canada on YTV and Cinar.

For the last few years, he's been writing the adventures of Bobby Pendragon, a boy who's destined - hopefully - to save the world. Several worlds, actually. Bobby is a Traveler, one of those who have the power to "flume" from world to world. He's brought into the adventure by his Uncle Press. As Bobby was growing up, Uncle Press also took Bobby scuba diving, mountain climbing, to martial arts, driving, and several other things that gave him skills he needs to survive against enemies he encounters. All during that time, Uncle Press was training Bobby to be a Traveler.

Bobby's greatest foe is a villain called Saint Dane. Saint Dane has the ability to change his appearance at will and constantly hides in different worlds while working his nefarious plans.

THE NEVER WAR is the third book in this exciting series. In it, Bobby travels to First Earth, which takes place in the year 1937. The gangster era isn't new by any means, and I was slightly let down when I discovered I wasn't being taken to a new world. I especially loved Cloral, the world Bobby went to in the second book, THE LOST CITY OF FAAR, and I look forward to returning there hopefully in one of the later books.

Still, I'm older than the average Pendragon reader. The 1930s and the Hindenburg are familiar to me through several other books I've read as well as history I've researched.

For all the familiarity with the time period, though, MacHale tells a fascinating and fast-paced tale. Bobby and his new best friend Spader land in the 1930s while pursuing Saint Dane. They're immediately met by machine-gun toting thugs that try to kill them. Bobby figures out how to escape and gets Spader out as well. Spader is way out of his depth because he's never seen anything as "technologically advanced" as the 1930s.

One of the best things about the Pendragon books is that Bobby usually gets to save the day in a down-to-earth manner. He doesn't have any really special skills or powers that help him. At this point, he's fourteen years old and can do what most kids that age can. This makes the series more believable in some ways, and I think it draws the Pendragon audience in a little closer.

MacHale's sense of timing and pacing is excellent. The story moves quickly, and I got a real sense of urgency throughout the book as Bobby tries to figure out what Saint Dane is really doing. Many of the chapters end up on cliffhangers that will draw you rapidly into the next chapter. The dialogue is fantastic and sounds real.

One of the other facets of the series that I really enjoy is Bobby's friendship with Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde. The closeness they share, even through Bobby's journals, feels real.

MacHale also mixes in adult heroes with his young champion. Vincent "Gunny" Van Dyke was an excellent grown Traveler in this novel. He was kind and gentle, and guided Bobby and Spader throughout the adventure.

I did miss the world-building in this novel, but I know MacHale gets back to it in later volumes of the series. But for kids who haven't researched the 1930s much, this should be a fun book and on equal footing with fans of Artemis Fowl and Alex Rider.

Molly Moon's Stops The World is a fabulous book for both children and young adults. I think that the characters in this book are unique, and right when you think you know the ending of the story, it turns again, making it more exciting, thrilling, and suspenseful! It makes you never stop reading! This book is simply fabulous! Children would describe Molly Moon as 'magical' and young adults would describe Molly Moon as 'mysterious'. The bad guys almost always aren't as bad as they seem to be. In this book, bad guys can turn good. It kept me very busy on a long trip.

As the title suggests, Molly Moon is hitting Hollywood in this book. But why is Molly heading to the USA after such a weird and hypnotic experience in the Big Apple? You will have to read the book to find out. Remember to read the first book to meet all the characters and work out what they are about!

This is a great book!! A great follow up to the first Molly Moon book. My boys and I take turns reading(ages 8 & 12) We can't put it down! I highly recommend it!

This is the second book of Molly Moon I've bought for my 9 year old. She loves them! It is a fairly thick book but she knocks it out in about 3 days. Highly recommend!!

my grandma got the first three books for me as soon as the time travel (book 3) one was in the book store. then she sent them to me in a package. when i saw them, i was in the middle of reading a different book (narnia, i think..), so i put them in my shelf so i could finish "the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe." when i finally finished that by thanksgiving '06, i pulled out the molly moon books and read the first one, the second one, and the third one, straight through in that one day! it was so much fun when molly and rocky (in the second one) were in New York, livin' the sweet life. and i thought my heart was going to burst when (also in the second book) the magpie could have made them into human being salsa!!!

but i thought it was great when they were in Sinclair's car, watching ms. trinkleberry and nockman. (hahahahahaha!!!)


i love this book, and ive loved all the other ones, too!