Ace of Aces Books

I've tried several courses: math, science, history and language. My kids especially love the Sign Language cards! I purchased all three card sets and the CD-software. The photographs are more realistic than drawings which you mostly find in ASL products. Great for younger kids too. My daughter's using them in her Brownie troupe and my three-year-old has picked up on some of the alphabet and numbers already. My older son has some mild learning disabilities and looking at a page in a book with so much information all together makes him nervous. I put one card at a time on a cleared table. It helps him focus and that gives him more confidence. People have been making or using flash cards forever, and I think they always will be no matter how fancy computers and software gets (but the Exambusters software is good too). I've recommended them to others.

In junior high, my son got a head start on high school courses and that helped him get better grades. He used both cards and CD. My son liked the software, so he studied more than he would have from a book. Learning is hard work, but the exambusters made him feel like it's not quite so bad. The software is well-laid out, colorful, and user-friendly. The messages they give when they score the tests are amusing.

I bought several courses. The cards offer basic concepts in small bites. The information was relevant to what was presented by my teacher. The cards and CD's gave good review before exams and a head start at the start of the new school year. The cards had a lot of questions; you can carry them in your pocket and learn a few each day. The software was easy to use. It is like the cards but on the screen. You can take a test or just review. Front is question, click for answer on back of card. The software can also show the cards on the screen at random, first the question, then the answer. They change every few seconds. That keeps you reading and wondering what's coming up next. It's entertaining while you're studying.

I've tried several courses: math, science, history and language. My kids especially love the Sign Language cards! I purchased all three card sets and the CD-software. The photographs are more realistic than drawings which you mostly find in ASL products. Great for younger kids too. My daughter's using them in her Brownie troupe and my three-year-old has picked up on some of the alphabet and numbers already. My older son has some mild learning disabilities and looking at a page in a book with so much information all together makes him nervous. I put one card at a time on a cleared table. It helps him focus and that gives him more confidence. People have been making or using flash cards forever, and I think they always will be no matter how fancy computers and software gets (but the Exambusters software is good too). I've recommended them to others.

In junior high, my son got a head start on high school courses and that helped him get better grades. He used both cards and CD. My son liked the software, so he studied more than he would have from a book. Learning is hard work, but the exambusters made him feel like it's not quite so bad. The software is well-laid out, colorful, and user-friendly. The messages they give when they score the tests are amusing.

I bought the cards for students I tutor for SAT/ACT/GED. I have them memorize the cards first. Otherwise, I'd have to dictate a vocabulary and formula list to each of them and that wastes time better spent on solving problems together and discussing concepts.

I ordered this book for my brother who is obsessed with airplanes. The format is great and the illustrations are very detailed. Worth every penny!

Pictures, pictures, and pictures: Just what aircraft lovers want and need. This book is a MUST for all those who buy books about WWII aviation, who respect all Osprey publications, and who want to know a bit more about the planes and the pilots who flew them. Thirty planes and pilots, thirty stories--and drawings and aircract specifications. This a book for "beginners" or for those who have all the Tony Holmes books. A required addtion to any library.

This is truly a great collection of stories. The book has passages from various fighter pilots from various nations who took part in the Second World War's battles in the air. Told by the aces themselves, this book is a great read, and provides insight into the actions of many of these brave men as they risked their lives thousands of feet above, fighting for their countries as well as their own survival.

I really don't understand how this work could have been so poorly received. The entire Voidship series is one of the most provocative and deeply moving works of science fiction that I have ever read. I actually found this series far more provocative than the Dune series. I don't know how much is Herbert and how much is Ransom, but this is an incredible collaboration. It is a long inquiry into the nature of existence, consiousness, and humanity. It is also a great story. It a truly original, unique work.

This is not a story of empire, such as in his great classic series, "Dune; but rather, Herbert and Ransom tell the story of an ill-fated interstellar colonial expedition gone horribly wrong. I am looking for a hard copy of this work because I believe that the general theme of the mega-hit Strategy software game, "Alpha Centauri" is inspired by some of the vicious alien creatures described in Herbert's story of the adaptation of humanity to a brutal alien world. Characterization is a lot deeper than most sci-fi, and the "run around the fortress" scene is something I've remembered for more than two decades since I last read the book. In our world of animated feature films, this would make an incredible movie.

Unlike Dune, this series has been out of print for some time. Shame! No one does it better than Herbert but Dune-Mania has left too much of his best work unread and unknown. Dune was a masterpiece, no question. But the series devolved into action novels - the work of creating his universe did not have to be re-done so the rest was just what happens next (and as Brian continues the series, what happened before). The Voidship series is different. Beginning with Destination: Void, which establishes the premise, each novel must reestablish the world in which it is set. Each set of characters has very new hurdles and new forms of intelligent life(? at least self-awareness) to deal with, each with their own world view. A good marketing bet would be to reintroduce these novels in paperback, capitalizing on the popularity of the Dune series. Let the new generation of sf readers discover the other worlds of Frank Herbert. This review refers to the series - Destination: Void, The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor

Published not long after the 30th aniversery of the strip and featuring highlights going back to its early days as a college-oriented rather than military themed strip, "The Best of Beetle Bailey" is a must own for fans. It features autobiographical material of creator Mort Walker as well as the best bits from the strip's 60s and 70s heyday. This is a vital book for understanding the history of the strip.

I had checked this out from the library at least a dozen times before finally finding a copy of my own. Beetle Bailey, while still pretty good, used to be one of the funniest comic strips of all time. This collection does a wonderful job of showcasing the development of the strip during its first 30 years, along with the evolving characters, characters who just didn't make it, censored gags that you never saw in the newspaper, and other gems. This is truly one of my favorites of all time, and I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes the strip or Mort Walker.

This wonderful collection of Beetle Bailey strips takes the reader on a very funny path. The reader is treated to Beetle Bailey, the goof-off college student to Beetle Bailey, REPORTING FOR ACTIVE DUTY, SIR! We also see Sarge transformed from an officer with a medium build to the husky, lovable, short-fused Sarge we love today. We are introduced to a group of funny oddball characters, such as Zero, named for his I.Q, Lt. Fuzz, a lovable toady, General Half-Track, a funny figurehead and Killer Diller, the incurable romantic. Plato, the intellectual brings wisdom and reason into the mix; Rocky, the inveterate rebel a sense of alienation among his fellow enlisted men; Lt. Flap, a sense of decorum. He's one of the few no nonsense officers after Sarge! Cookie, the unappreciated camp cook who looks a lot like Sarge, Sarge's bull dog, Otto, the camp mascot and other very funny characters.

This is such a funny book. Let Private Beetle Bailey teach you the finer points of Sarge baiting, bull dog chasing, work dodging and Cookie crumbling. This book is a treasure for true fans of the strip.

This book is just excellent!
Everything you want to know is in there.

If you have plenty of books on the Luftwaffe, these little Osprey books usually provide lots of "unpublished before" photos and a wealth of color profiles, and this one is no exception. Great mini-history of the theater itself from the German perspective, and a must for any library on the subject of Western Front Luftwaffe aces.
Get the Russian Front 109 aces book as well, and check out the FW-190 series on both fronts too to round out your collection. As visual references these gems are unmatched for the price.

Mr. Weal has done a great job in this book. A large review of the operations of the 109 units in the western front. Lots of information about units combats. Shows the hard work of the german fighter pilot in this theatre, lots of amazing pictures and excellent color plates. Tons of pages has been published on this subject, but this book is a good choice for modeleres and for anyone interested in german fighters, specially the 109. Strongly recommended.

I'm the kind of person that reads a lot and has learned to put down books to do other things. I just couldn't do it with this book! I opened the book to start reading it and I couldn't close it until I was finished. Then I went back and read it again.

Before reading any book one must consider one's expectations of it. Black steel was, for me, a book I would read during my 30 minute commute to school. I can honestly say that I enjoyed it immensely. The writing is smooth (if simple), The characterization sufficient and the action superb. What more do you need ?

Ok, you've read the Matador Trilogy and loved it (I hope). But it's not over. The Matador's have finished their prime mission in life but now what? "Black Steel", "The Albino Knife" and "Brother Death" are the continuing stories of Sleel, Emile and Bork.

In "Black Steel", our friend Sleel is as full of arrogance as ever. But life has, perhaps, gotten a little boring - not that he would ever admit that. Along comes a new contract as a bodyguard for an old thief - Jersey Reason. Fine. No big sweat for a man like Sleel. But two challenges are building on two distant planets for unsuspecting Sleel. First, the Lord of the "House of Black Steel" wants the thief dead and will let absolutely nothing stand in his way. On another planet a young women, with ties to the Matadors, is looking for her "perfect student". These four characters meet and the result (not to give too much away) nearly kills Sleel and crushes his ego, utterly.

The second half of the book is the story of Sleel finding himself (maybe), falling in love (maybe) and facing several of his greatest fears (definitely).

In the previous Matador books Sleel was an amusing character but didn't really add a great deal to the story. Many times he was simply a comical break in the story. In "Black Steel" all that changes. Sleel, it is discovered, is a person of great depth, high honor and deep pain. I particularly liked the part of the book that introduced Sleel's parents. If ever there were two people who should not have had children it's these two. Sleel's stone cold pain from trying to get through to his parents will make you want to put the book down and stare off into the distance.

I've read this book at least half a dozen times and lent it to numerous friends. Needless to say, I highly recommend it.

My name appears as the last entry on the page of women inmates infected with HIV (aka Francine Rodriquez). The ACE program helped me to be where I am today. I was an ACE staff member during the years of 1996-2000. That program, along with: the inmate women, inmate ACE staff member, civilan supervisors and prison administration helped me become the woman I am today. Today I work in Amethyst Women's Project which is a crisis intervention/referral service. In this agency I work as a HIV educator/outreach worker, facilitator of Women's HIV Support Group and I work in the feild of substance abusers. My life is complete today. It was behind those walls where I was able to grow and to face many of my life issues that kept me from moving on and giving myself a better life. When I was paroled in 2000 I left behind many women whose lives have touched mine as I have touched theirs. A few of my friends have sentences that range from` 15, 20, 25 yrs. to life. Those women are not only doing time they are also living and fighting the HIV virus that resides within them. I made it out alive--not many will. The voices of those women deserve to be heard for there are many. I am just one....

What a wonderful idea and help for all women. Now will anyone here them? It sounds like a good idea but will anyone in this world here anything from the women in prison? Do we still stoop so low that we do not honor a women in prison and the help about aids is invaluable. How can we get this out into the public? Will the health of our country be changed if we hear their voices? I want people to hear there voices and make them credible. We need the knowledge and the pain and suffering which these women have to put up with and poor health care could break your heart. Many times women do things against others not for the same reasons men do, but for lack of money and a place to live. Many times they must have food for there children and diapers for there little ones, that is the heart of being a women. Sometimes things happen and they are sent to prison. Many times they already have aids but remember it was given to them by men! How can we as a group help them and hear there voices? Think of that! They are alive even in the worst conditions so I think whatever knowledge they have it should be brought out to the schools, to the radio, to the tv etc. We need to know.

My name appears as the last entry on the page of women inmates infected with HIV (aka Francine Rodriquez). The ACE program helped me to be where I am today. I was an ACE staff member during the years of 1996-2000. That program, along with: the inmate women, inmate ACE staff member, civilan supervisors and prison administration helped me become the woman I am today. Today I work in Amethyst Women's Project which is a crisis intervention/referral service. In this agency I work as a HIV educator/outreach worker, facilitator of Women's HIV Support Group and I work in the feild of substance abusers. My life is complete today. It was behind those walls where I was able to grow and to face many of my life issues that kept me from moving on and giving myself a better life. When I was paroled in 2000 I left behind many women whose lives have touched mine as I have touched theirs. A few of my friends have sentences that range from` 15, 20, 25 yrs. to life. Those women are not only doing time they are also living and fighting the HIV virus that resides within them. I made it out alive--not many will. The voices of those women deserve to be heard for there are many. I am just one....

I love Spider Robinson's work. This story is a great part of the Callahan saga and leads to 'the next thing', with more fantastic, yet believable characters banding together to save the world. We also learn more about Callahan and why he has wanted to run his place the way he has. Depending on which version you read this story from, you may also learn a bit more about Spider and his connection with Callahan...
This might be better for older teens, at least, as there is more than one love scene and perhaps some language from time to time that they may be ready for at that age.

_Callahan's Secret_ (1986) is the third collection of stories about Callahan's crosstime saloon. In an introduction, Robinson stated that this would probably be the last of the Callahan books. It wasn't. But I think that it is fair to say that the later stories were "second cycle Callahan tales." A number of things come to and end in this collection.

There are four stories in the collection, all novelettes from _Analog_: "The Blacksmith's Tale," "Pyotyr's Story," "Involuntary Man's Laughter," and "The Mick of Time." A comparison between these tales and the stories in the first collection, _Callahan's Crosstime Salooon_ (1977), shows a marked difference. The later stories are more skillfully plotted, more smoothly written, and a bit more bawdy. Also, the jokes, tall tales, and puns are-- if you can believe it-- more clever and outrageous.

We sometimes have a tendency to underrate humorous fiction. Great fiction must be serious and solemn. Humerous fiction can be _good_, you understand. But not great. We forget that doing humor really well can be deucedly hard. In any event, I am giving top rating for these stories. They are some of the best of the Callahan's Place stories. They are great fun and great writing.

Hilarious; but only if you have odd taste. i would suggest trying some of Robinson's other work such as Stardance if you're in the mood for true scifi. Callahan is a time traveler that runs a bar in long island. punning only allowed on days that end in -y. a little off color at times but never raunchy. I love it.

This early novel in the awesome Casca series by Barry Sadler marked one of his all-time great classics. In this story, Casca finally finds solace in Hellsfjord, and in the arms of a loving wife.

But doomed to outlive everyone around him, Casca soon finds himself in dire straits. Lots of high adventure in the grand tradition, Casca the Barbarian will surely entertain you on several levels.

I like the old tales of barbarian lands before they became civilized, and this novel plants me right in the middle of this. You can imagine the unbroken forests and sylvan glades as Casca and his German friend Glam journey through virgin woodland. The tale of the Norse castle at Helsfjord is well told too, and the love story between Casca and Lida holds the middle of this tale together, as Casca overcomes the evil work of Ragnar and Hagdrall to triumph.

Casca takes to running the hold like a duck to water and fends off invading Saxons in a battle you can imagine Beowulf taking part in. A sad ending but as all Casca readers know, things never remain the same for the immortal warrior. Great story, one of my favorites.

Of all the 26 novels in the series to date, this must rank right at the top alongside Number 1. Its typical Sadler; punchy, to the point without being over descriptive yet it flows along beautifully so that the reader goes with the flow and doesn't want to put the book down.

Although classed as number 5 in the series its actually the second book sequentially and I believe in fact it was written shortly after Eternal Mercenary but wasn't published for some reason until much later. It's set in the 'Barbarian' lands of Germania and Scandia during the time of the Roman Empire and concentrates on one particular place, the fictitious Helsfjord.

Casca quits the civilised lands of the Empire, tired of the fighting, and meets with the tough German warrior Glam. The books tells of their developing friendship and such is the way Sadler wrote this character that he is often fondly recalled by many Casca readers even to this day. But what really sets this apart from the other Casca novels Sadler wrote is that the middle part is dedicated mainly to the blossoming love between Casca and the daughter of the lord of Helsfjord, Lida. Lida is blinded by her father and Casca thrown into prison as a result but Casca turns the tables later and kills the old man and takes Lida as his own and becomes the new lord.

The second half of the book deals with life in Helsfjord, and the reader can feel the happiness of the protagonist as he finally finds a place he can call home and a woman who can love him, for she is blind and cannot see he does not age. But you just know the end will come as eventually Lida falls ill and dies in the depths of winter, a sad end to a love affair.

The book ends there and Casca 2: God of Death picks up from this point. This book, Barbarian, is one of the best written of the series and balanced nicely between action, adventure and character development, something some of the series sadly neglected.