Ace of Aces Books

Bob Johnson is one of my heroes. When I first purchased this book, I read it straight through. The next day I read it straight through, again! Since my purchase, I have read this book 5 times, and never tire of reading it. Bob Johnson was the "All-American-Boy," and fighter pilot. I wish that I could've met him. It would have been one of the highlights of my life. I hope someday that I will be able to shake the hands of men like Mr. Johnson, and thank them for their courage and commitment to freedom.

No matter what you say, the best WWII fightyer pilot memoir ever written was The Big Show, by Pierre Clostermann. That said, Johnson comes as a close competition. Written with the aid of Martin Caidin, it is a gripping book.

As someone who has never been tested in the air...I have nothing but admiration for those who have and excelled. What it must have been like to get up at dawn and know that today might be your last? I can not imagine the strength of character those like Robert Johnson must have had?
This book is fantastic ...the Thunderbolt was a massive airplane and took skill and courage to fly over europe in weather that most pilots today would not even go up in period ...even with all kinds of radar and instruments that are the norm today. Read this book and honor a man to who we owe a huge debt.The book is one of finest written about the subject and you will feel as though you are there in the cockpit living it along with Robert!
I am humbled by the courage of those like Robert and this book brings all that in clear focus!Buy it and you will not put it down!

Thunderbolt! was the absolute best book I have read. Why? A good question, it is an extrodinary story of a man and the war that changed the world. This book focuses on world war 2, I am very eager to learn more about the causes and effects of the war, this book helped me learn alot more about fighter planes, and warfare of the U.S and Germany during that time period, (1942-1945) it also had alot of things that you could picture in your mind. "Thunderbolt" is defnitly not for young readers, it has many challinging words, and it was kind of hard to understand. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this book a 10.

Mark

Republic's P-47 Thunderbolt was a WWII monster of a fighter. Fast, well armored, with heavy firepower, it was a nightmare for its lighter opponents. One of America's leading aces of the European theater, Robert Johnson, takes the reader on combat missions where the outcome is always tenuous. Through 1943 and into 1944, the P-47 was our frontline escort fighter until the P-51 arrived, with its longer range capability. But it was the "Jug" that chewed up Hitler's Luftwaffe and led the way to the air superiority that made the Normandy invasion possible.

Major Johnson came out the victor over 28 opponents and his story as told here is one of valor and determination on both sides of this awesome conflict. Highly recommended.

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.

very good book, recommend to everyon

I'm a big fan of Asprin's work, so I may be a bit prejudiced. Unlike his other work it is barely humerous at all but still very captivating. I loved this mix of Action / Adventure and Millitairy Science Fiction. The aliens are really alien, and very cool.

(Sophisticated? Hell yeah, like a magnum blazing in the full moonlight).

The bug wars is an excellent novel, succeeding on wo fronts. First, it paints a realistic and unromanticized picture of a military campaign. Second, it produces an excellent description of a totally alien society and mindset, without the use of human comparisons. Either of these alone would be difficult. However, I agree with the reviewer who said that the story isn't really over. I myself would like to see a sequel wherein the Tzen encounter humans. I would be interested to read what they would think of us, and how they would react to our civilization.

This book is simply the best Sci-fi novel I have ever had the pleasure to read, hands down. It combines the sophistication and imaginative futuristic weaponry with the traditional imperialism of a race versus another, with insects as humans simply to make it that much more weird and exciting. My father read this book to me before I could even read it myself (I don't recommend this considering it would scare normal kids beyond words) but it really is a good book for anyone to read over the age of about 13. action-packed, suspensful, intruiging, creative, mysterious and fast-paced, this book is not only one you can't put down, but is one you will most certianly pick up again in the future.

Robert Asprin writes comedy, right? I had made the unfortunate mistake of bottlenecking this author's style - and I did love the Myth series of books - but he covered a serious science fiction drama with an impeccable portrait of war, and a species constrained by a sense of honor and dignity. The writing in this book was surprisingly sensitive and heartfelt, and the characterizations were wholly satisfying. This was a good read, on many levels.

I just discovered the Bureau 13 novels (there are only three of them) and they're fantastic! Laughed until my ribs hurt all the way through. Plus the heroes really have to pay for their victories, they get wounded and major characters die. But more importantly, the characters are a real team, each member gets their time to shine, and while each is a tough hombre, when working together as unit are they truly strong. Never seen that before in any novel and I loved it!

Hilarious. It has that perfect mix of fantasy, military factuality, and humor. Bureau 13 where you discover that the myths aren't and the monsters might be on your side.

I have read and re-read this book so many times that it is literally in tatters. I need a new copy, that's how good this book is! Truly an unsung classic, which leaves you salivating for more...Nick Pollotta does indeed give us more, with the books "Full Moonster", and "Alien Academy", both fantastic and worthy sequels, which follow storylines brilliantly! I had the DISTINCT PLEASURE of corresponding with the author himself, and I learned that Tri-Tac Books will be re-releasing the trilogy in March of 2000 if all goes well, but until then, I will continue my hunt for an original print copy! DON'T MISS THIS BOOK! ! !

I just discovered the Bureau 13 novels (there are only three of them) and they're fantastic! Laughed until my ribs hurt all the way through. Plus the heroes really have to pay for their victories, they get wounded and major characters die. But more importantly, the characters are a real team, each member gets their time to shine, and while each is a tough hombre, when working together as unit are they truly strong. Never seen that before in any novel and I loved it! I found my copies in a used book store and was hoping to find new copies online. But no such luck. Hey, Mr. Pollotta, get back to work and write more of these right now!

Taken entirely on its own merits this witty adventure novel deserves an extra star, but good as it is I cannot really say that it stacks up against the best works in print. As an example of gaming fiction, however, it could probably be a five star book. Richard Tucholka's schizophrenic role-playing game of modern horror, government agencies and high explosives is an uneven mix of childish humour, satire, action and scares; and to his great credit Nick Pollotta somehow managed to match the mood of the game perfectly and create an enjoyable romp in the process. The plot is linear, the characters cardboard and the laughs sporadic, but the whole is pulled off with such panache that it is impossible to avoid being swept along. Gamers love this book, perhaps because it reads exactly like a gaming session, but if you are coming to the world of Bureau 13 from more traditional horror and conspiracy fare then you may find that you're biting into a meringue: It's awfully sweet and fun, but lacking in substance and ultimately a wee bit less than you might have hoped for. But... if you see a copy at a fair price then you could certainly do worse.

Excellent. With a very interesting plot, the author uses a plain language that becomes an adictive reading, and as a bonus...educative!

Excelente. Resulta un ejemplo perfecto de cómo una historia debe ser contada.
Con un argumento extraordinariamente interesante, el autor utiliza un lenguaje siempre claro que redunda en una lectura adictiva y como valor agregado resulta educativa.

From the first pages M. Druon takes you back into the history, centuries ago when France was devastated and nobels were gods, whilst people were treated as nothing. The dirt of relations between royal personas, conspiracy, accusations, treasons and love - all in The Accursed Kings.

M. Druon's language is so easy to understand and the way he buit all the volumes makes you feel living in France, in 14th century; when you close the book for a moment, you still feel the presence of that time...

Admirers of classic literature and world history will be addicted to reading The Accursed Kings over and over again.

Thumbs up! Six stars! Sure this series ranks as one of the best (perhaps the best) historical novels I have read. From the first book to the seventh one, it is impossible to stop reading. The books are historically accurate and M. Druon depicts the events in the most amazing and gripping way. Read the whole series (seven books).

This historical novel deals with the extermination of the Knights Templar and the curse that came upon the french monarchy as a result.

However interesting and easy to read, lacks a bit of character and plot depth. The author builds up a situation or conflict, only to resolve it in very few paragraphs, and to a certain extent in very predictable ways.

If I compare it to the Alexandros Trilogy (Manfredi), I'd have to say this one is not as good and left me with a certain sense of emptiness.

This is the first of 7 volumes and based on this one, I'll go as far as one more and see what happens.

This is probably the best historical novel (or series, as there are seven of them) ever written. Entrancing, vicious, beuatiful, innocent, short-sighted people get caught in this story of fate and destruction. Great, thumbs up!

As a lifelong fan of time travel and alternate timeline stories, I first read this yarn when it was serialized (as "Gunpowder God") in ANALOG in 1964. I came across it recently at a university book sale and decided it was time to reread it, and I wasn't disappointed. Calvin Morrison, a Korean War veteran and the son of a minister, is a corporal in the Pennsylvania State Police (an organization for which Piper evidently had a high regard). While preparing to rush a bad guy holed up in a farmhouse, he's sideswiped by a passing Paratime Patrol transtemporal vehicle and gets bounced into an alternate Pennsylvania countryside where the Aryans of India went east instead of west, occupying what did not become China and then crossing the Pacific. Morrison is extremely adaptable -- it apparently takes him only an hour or so to accept what's happened to him and that he's not going back to his own world -- and quickly finds himself "Lord Kalvan," chief advisor and war leader to Ptosphes, Prince of Hostigos. All in all, this is a delightful exercise in military and geopolitical fantasizing . . . though it seems odd that people who get scooped up willy-nilly and dumped in ancient Rome, or wherever, always seem to possess all the political, historical, and technical knowledge to set themselves up nicely. Of course, if the displaced person were an overweight fries-cooker at Burger King, or a Mary Kay saleswoman, there wouldn't be much of a story! This is by far the best (and longest) of Piper's Paratime stories. If you liked Sprague De Camp's _Lest Darkness Fall,_ you'll love this one!

Calvin Morrison is a Pennsylvania State Trooper who suddenly finds himself lifted out of his (our) world, and deposited on a parallel Earth. In this other Pennsylvania he finds a small kingdom of bearded primitives who appear to be on the losing end of a war of conquest. The locals have so little gunpowder compared to their enemies because the secret of making it is controlled by a corrupt religious order, Styphon's House. Calvin, a student of military history, finds himself proclaimed Lord Kalvan, and given the job of rescuing a seemingly hopeless situation.

This book is very well written, and the action is gripping. I've already read this book three times, and it gets better each time.

Cpl. Calvin Morrison of the Pennsylvania State Police goes out to arrest a killer, stumbles into a lateral time machine, and falls suddenly into the feudal princedom of Hostigos, which is not in another world, but right in the middle of Pennsylvania. Hostigos, ruled by a benevolent prince with a beautiful daughter, faces the short end of a war of extermination. Morrison has a chance to display his leadership ability, utilize his knowledge of military history, rescue the princedom, and wed the princess (who could never be mistaken for the stereotypical damsel in distress). But can he do it before he is hunted down by the Paratime Police? He did, after all, manage to shoot a Paratime Policeman when he stumbled into the lateral time machine.

Piper explores the ramifications of alternate universes and parallel time lines, and makes good use of his knowledge of Renaissance military science in crafting a fast moving, entertaining novella. He should have written a novel.

The title of my review pretty much says it all. The other reviewers have pretty much laid out the story line. Like the other reviewers; from the time when I read my first sci-fi, the idea of being whisked away from the boring 20th century to a place where I could be a sword swinging gallant, in a far away fantasy land, where I fight the good fight, defeat evil, and win not only the princess but the crown. H. Beam Piper made it live and breathe in what I think was his best work. One only has to read a single novel by Piper to wish that he had lived long enough to not only gift us with more brilliant stories, and to receive the recognition as a Grandmaster writer of the genre. Any writer who could range from Little Fuzzy, to Lone Star Planet, and the miriad worlds of Paratime; what surprises would have come next?

Okay, the other reviews tell you about the story, I first read this story in 1977 before they stuck those damned UPC codes on the book covers! (at least on most books). I was completely enraged at H. Beam Piper for photocopying my fantasies, until I found out the story was written prior to my birth! What s-f fan, history buff, and other cool hobbyist have not dreamed of being whisked off to another world where he can "Win The Day"! If you are in the Society of Creative Ananchronisms you should checketh this out, if you are a muzzleloading buff, read it. If you are someone who just likes a good improbable/probable yarn, READ IT! If we could get the makers of "Lord Of The Ring" to make this a flick, FABULOUS!

The cover grabbed me and the writing held me. Surprisingly, I've never been a fan of werewolf novels, but I'm a Ty Merrick fan from here on out.
Jo Anne Horn

A werewolf. A miserable future. A drug. A detective. World dictatorship. Put it all together and you have the makings for a fantastic story -- add a female aspect and wow! Ty Merrick, female detective who just happens to be a werewolf stalks the dark streets of a future world where only the richest of the rich live in any sense of normality. The remaining masses exist in a run-down world filled with darkness and mystique. Add in the drug 'quantum' and you have a sci-fi mystery at its best. A page-turner to the end.

I am an unabashed fan of this superb writer. However, whoever did the cover design for this book is entitled to share in the applause. Put this one on your coffee table. folks, and it will create stimulating conversation with others as well as private pleasure when read. Get it. Get it now. Nancy Masters

QUANTUM MOON is a chilling leap into an unreal world where a gutsy heroine faces it all--mystery, danger, and evil while struggling with her own inner devils. Read this one when you need to escape the mundane present and go full-throttle into life on a whole new level of excitement. - Gwen Choate

Denise Vitola has created an amazing world with this novel, rich with mysticism, corruption, police procedurals and the fantastic. Her Ty Merrick character is one of my absolute favorites and Denise has developed her beautifully. Ty is an incredibly complex character who must deal with her own personal demons while also fighting crime in a world run by superstition and greed. A must read for anyone who loves sci-fi with a unique take on the category.

It's been a while since I read a book that I loved this much. This book was exquisite. It's a simple story, but that doesn't mean it's boring, not by any means. It's gloriously interesting. Even the littlest words, the tiniest snippets of dialogue, are intriguing. Well, I was intrigued, anyway!

I fell in love with the characters in it right from page one. And that meant I cared what happened to them. The birds, the trees...they all had unique and well-developed characters. (I cannot remember reading a book where I fell in love with the character of a tree before, but it happened here!) And thankfully, there were no 2D characters here, and no cliches. The characters took me on a deeply emotional journey, and I returned changed. Not many books can do that.

Kids will love the exciting, fast-paced story with gorgeous animals in it. Adults will be intrigued by the story as well, but will also be impressed by the psychology of the tale. It's a happy story on the whole, but it's also a story of love and loss, and how what happens in moments of grief or adversity can stay with us for a lifetime.

I would thoroughly recommend this book, not just for kids but also for adults who want to read classic YA fantasy.

I would also suggest that people ignore the laughably inaccurate Editorial Review on this website that is written by Publishers Weekly. Seriously, when I read that review, I was forced to wonder if the reviewer had even read the book, because if they had, they would have understood Anna's resemblance to Mellwyn's daughter. The book could NOT have made the reason for that any clearer!

This is a well-written story of a young girl trying to learn of her roots. At nine years old she knows little about her mother or father. She lives with an old fisherman. The old man has told her he found her in the woods, but warns her to stay away, or the ghouls in the forest will get her.

Young children, especially girls, will enjoy this story.

*warning, major spoilers*

T.A. Barrons writing carves a magical story about Anna, a 9 year old girl who desperately wants to know of her past, though all the fisherman she lives with will tell her is that he found her under the branches of the High Willow, which now seems to call to Anna. He forbids her to ever go into the forest, for fear she will be torn apart by the murderous "tree ghouls" But one day when the fisherman is out at sea, the curiousity gets the best of Anna, and she wanders into the forest, where she finds only magic and beauty. She soon befriends a bear cub, who later turns into a boy who claims to be a "tree spirit".
Anna's new friend takes her to the high willow, but the fisherman finds her and furiously drags her back home, and forbids her to leave the cabin.
Anna one day realizes how very much her fingers look like willow branches, long and thin, and how the high willow calls so longingly to her, and suddenly figures out exactly where her mother is.
But when her tree spirit friend returns to take her back into the woods, in trying to prevent Anna from going the fisherman injures himself badly on an ax, and Anna must choose between the man who fathered her since before she could remember, and her destiny.

With beautiful writing that will weave you tightly through this story of love, magic, and family, T.A. Barron will enrapture you, I couldnt put it down. I highly reccomend this book to everyone, of all ages.

T.A. Barron wrote a wonderful book, Tree Girl that will blow you away. In the book you meet a little girl named Anna. She lives with her grumpy old father Mellwyn in a little one room cottage by the sea and forest. All day long Anna will play with Old Master Burl, the tree in her back yard. Through the friendship she has with Old Master Burl, she became inspired to meet the High Willow in the forest to unlock the secrets of the past.
If you love fantasy this is the book for you. Every minute you read this book you feel like you are with Anna seeing her story with your own eyes. The author's great sense of words bring the characters to life. No one is stuck behind in your head. With the words, T.A, Barron pulls you in the book; you won't want to get away. You can't go to bed without dreams about what will happen next, will the wind show her the way and much more. This is a must read.
After you read this book you will never forget the message in the story. Millions of kids all over the world find out that it is better to be where you belong and not where you feel weird. If you find your place you will be happier than ever!

I loved reading Tree Girl. You feel like you're really there. I have dreams about this book. If I could put up more stars,I would.

The Borribles is a truly subversive piece of children's literature. The trilogy takes all the epic fantasy elements of Tolkien: adventure, clansmanship, codes of honour, and inverts them against a backdrop of urban decay and social entropy. Borribles are children who run away from home, scavenge for food and would live forever were it not for the adult world's constant attempts at dragging them jealously back into the madness of workaday mortality. De Larrabeiti is obsessed with the geography of a London that he depicts as a city of near total squalor. The Thames is black and cholera ridden, warehouses crumble, schools lay in ruins and mindless commuters shuffle blindly to work each morning whilst the wily Borribles steal fruit from markets, carry catapults for protection and attempt to live outside of the rat-race. As the story progresses, so does Larrabeiti's vision, shifting from the relatively whimsical sparring of rival subhuman groups -Borribles versus the strange, rat-like Rumbles- to a more serious depiction of a highly moral youth culture where money is an evil temptation, corroding the Borribles' scruffy, communal utopia, forcing them out of hiding and into battle with the adult world; a world teaming with sadistic policemen, hysterical civilians and degenerate alcoholic child-snatchers. A world where the only friendly adults are tramps, wasters and circus freaks. Not hard to see then, why the books never made it onto school reading lists. Yet the characterisation is mature and moving, the plotline ingenious and thrilling. But perhaps most impressive of all is the whole Borrible mythology: a coherent world complete with proverbs, songs, rules, lore and ethical codes, thriving beneath the grimy, menacing mess of modern London. Arguably one of the greatest works of children's fiction and almost certainly the darkest and most morally ambiguous, The Borribles is a fantasy saga ripe for comic-strip and film adaptation, yet it appears to have slipped into near obscurity...

Michael De Larrabeiti (1937): British author: * the "Borribles" series of elf-like folks in a dark London: * The Borribles [1976] * The Borribles Go For Broke [1981] * The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis [1986] * The Provencal Tales [1988] story collection (according to "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy", John Clute & John Grant, St.Martin's, 1997, p.263)

Since he was born in 1937, its unlikely we'll see any more books...

It's really weird ... for the last few months, I'd been remembering bits of the "Borribles" though I couldn't remember what they were actually called or who the author was. It was driving me mad, I remembered reading these 2 books (the first 2 in the trilogy) about fifteen years ago, and all of a sudden the stories came back to me and I couldn't remember enough to find out who had written them or what they were called ... after months of trawling through second hand bookshops and Amazon, I walked into the local shop and discovered - to my immense and somewhat stunned delight - that all 3 had been reprinted in one volume. Needless to say I purchased it on the spot .. about a week ago. I've now reread it all and THEY'RE AMAZING. Forget the lord of the rings, harry potter, forget dickens, forget shakespere, Mr de Larrabeiti is a writer of no small talent. Across the Dark Metropolis is the conclusion of the trilogy and better than the first two... not that they were bad, at all. Each just gets better. I'd almost wish for a fourth but I think that would spoil the beauty of them, one follows so well onto the next, yet each is stand alone. I can't praise them highly enough: I've got a stack of books, historical, fantasy, murder mystery, all waiting to be read, and they jumped the whole queue. My memories of these books weren't wrong. If you haven't already, go out and buy them yourself.
Steve

According to the Borrible website, The Borrible Trilogy is to be reprinted in the summer of 2002! The fans have been heard!!

anyone who reads the reviews of de Larrabeiti's books can see how much they are loved. Instead of just lamenting the fact that he is out of print, it is time for some action. Does anyone have an address we can write to? Who was de larrabeiti's agent? Who was his primary publisher? Does de Larrabeiti know how much we love his books, and how much we would love to see sequels? Even if he no longer wishes to write, these should still be in print. These are true classics, and we should start some form of lobbying with publishers. Any ideas? ADDENDUM: 11/04-He is back in print! Buy! Read! These are wonderful!

Castles and courts suck.


Skeeve is left with a lot more than he really wants to have to deal with, let alone just the whole court magician gig. The king bails out due to impending nuptials, and this then leaves someone's mother mad at him, not to mention a fairy godfather, of the somewhat mafioso flavor, as opposed to the Glinda flavour.

This Myth book is the fourth in the series. Like the others, this book is chock-full of marry mischiefmaking as Skeeve, the young magic apprentice, and his master Aahz, the powerless demon, continue to experience eeary adventures.

In this volume, Aahz is spirited back to his dimension just as Skeeve is being commanded to replace the king so the king can go on vacation. Now, why would a king want a vacation, asks Skeeve about one moment too late? Because of some deals that will likely cause him to be killed. Skeeve manages to extricate himself from this mess by creative use of his talents and his friends including Hugh Badaxe, Big Julie, Tanda, and Chumly.

Just as Aahz returns and the story ends, the second story line develops. In this one, Skeeve gets tangled up with the mob and the whole gang has to figure out how to get them away from Postillum, Klah, and the Bazaar at Deva.

Needless the say, there are plot twists aplenty as well as much of the quirky humor that is written in so well by the author. For instance, at one point, there is a wrestling match provided by midget wrestlers with four arms from the dimension Tue (sounds like too). So, of course, the puns commence: The team is known as the "terrible Tues" etc.

The book is great fun and will not take long to read. Pay close attention to the quotes that grace the beginning of each chapter. They are a hoot and a holler in their own right.

This is the fourth book in Asprin's Myth series and it's just as good if not better. Aahz is transported back to his home dimension, Perv, and Skeeve is left to handle his job as court magician on his own. He soon ends up with a homicidal queen, Hemlock, and the Mob's fairy godfather, Bruce, after him.

Hit or Myth is just as entertaining as the previous books in this series. Even though Aahz was out of the story for most of the book, the storyline continued to work. It allowed the reader and Aahz to realize how far Skeeve has come in his apprenticeship. It was nice to see Skeeve develop throughout the book from an apprentice to a magician in his own rite.

This was the first book by Robert Asprin I ever bought, it was the first I had ever seen and most of my friends have spent the last few years being regailed with how brilliant this guy is. The pottential this book showed made me spend ever since looking for anything written by this guy in the hope that he maintained the passion of this book. For the most part I have not been dissapointed, and I am still convinced I was one of the first Brittish people to hear of this guy.. I have one important thing left to say.... BUY THIS BOOK....

This was my first Robert Asprin book, and it will not be my last. With a quirky cast of characters including a murderous princess, a kidnapped mentor, a silly pet dragon, a war unicorn, an absent king, and the mafia, not to mention the apprentice this story revolves around, this is truly an enjoyable read.

It goes quickly enough to be a great vacation book, but don't wait to pick it up! Run out to your nearest bookstore, grab a copy and start enjoying, and laughing. You'll be glad that you did!

And for those that won't trust me and want a preview of the plot, Skeeve, an apprentice magician, is tricked into assuming the kings likeness and place on the throne, by King Rodrick himself! The king then runs away. Why? Because he's about to be married to an infinitely rich princess! Right about then the mob shows up and things really get bad from there, but if you want to know what happens next, buy the book!