Ace of Aces Books

I picked this paperback up for a pittance. From the beginning, Merle Constiner transports yuou to a world long since gone. To compare his writing to a high definition panorama is an understatement, yet he manages to put you within inches of the characters and the action. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

I found this to be a most enjoyable book to read after I finished reading The Zero Stone. It continues the search of Eet and Murodc for the source of the Zero Stone. It reveals more of the stone's power. And, after rescueing the Zacathan from raiders, how they are able to trace the stone to it's source and the final outcome of Murdoc and Eet is surprising. I do hope that they continue with the tale of Murdoc and Eet.

Expertly compiled and co-written by World War I history experts Norman Franks and Hal Giblin, Under The Guns Of The Kaiser's Aces: Bohme, Muller, Von Tutschek And Wolff - The Complete Record Of Their Victories And Victims, is an exhaustive profile of four distinguished German aces of World War One, which informatively examines their personal and professional lives, including the aerial combat deeds that earned them the "Blue Max" (Germany's highest award for bravery in action). Under The Guns Of The Kaiser's Aces also includes the lives of the Allied airmen these German Aces fought and downed, and as well as their own deaths incurred by battling against the Royal Flying Corps. Black-and-white photographs, a wealth of details, painstaking research, and revealing insights from two true experts on the WWI and WW II air wars mark Under The Guns Of The Kaiser's Aces As a fascinating read for military aviation enthusiasts, as well as a major and significant contribution for World War I Military History reference collections.

Description from the book back cover:

The Texas Panhandle was a wild and lonely place in the 1870's. But even after his Pa's death, Ben and the rest of the Zachary family held on to the land. It was all they had. But then the Kiowa Moon came and one of Pa's old enemies saw an opportunity to get even ...

A story of human courage and family love, The Unforgiven is the powerful novel from which the American film classic starring Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, and Audie Murphy was made.

I was given a battered copy of this book by a friend of mine in sixth grade. Just two pages in, and I knew I was hooked.

Words really cannot describe what an amazing gift Esther Friesner has for humorous fantasy--and this trilogy, of which this is the third volume, is her most side-splitting work. _Unicorn U._ is arguably the best of the three. The chapter titles alone are memorable; the puns are *awful*, and if the plot doesn't have you laughing out loud at least five times, I'll eat a bug. The characters are funny enough that they'd be worth reading about if they did nothing but sit around all day... and, of course, they have considerably more to keep them busy than that. There's an Apocalypse to stop, after all.

And as if these qualities weren't recommendation enough, _Unicorn U._ is quite possibly the novel of the trilogy that's richest in meaning, moral, and message--all without spoiling the mood or missing a beat. While I might not put it into the hands of a child (a lot of swearing happens), I'd certainly say that it would be a worthwhile read for young adults. It's funny enough to hold attention without lacking substance beneath the laughs.

If you can find a copy of this book anywhere, buy it. Even if you haven't read the first two, buy it. And then spend years hunting for the others if you must. This is definitely my favorite comic fantasy series, and Esther Friesner deserves all commendations for being able to mesh serious issues with humor in a manner unmatched by anyone else.

If you can find this out-of-print beauty, do so. It is a wonderful collection and will become well-read (and reread) in no time.

I'm a long-standing fan of the writings of James H. Schmitz, the author of a number of remarkable science fiction novels and stories originally published between 1960 and 1974. I enjoy them for their bold female characters (surprising even by today's standards), for the author's deft handling of psionics, and for his surprisingly accurate forsight of certain technologies such as cell phones.

Many of Schmitz' writings fall into one of two universes and have many interlocking characters. He wrote one set of tales set in the universe of the "Agent of Vega" series. He created a different universe in the "Federation of the Hub" series which includes over two dozen stories and novels (this is the first novel set in that environment). His writings exist as eight novels and fifty-odd stories in several collections, most of which have thankfully been reprinted by Baen books.

The Universe Against Her was first published in 1964. It consists of two episodes which can be regarded as the first two Telsey Amberdon adventures. Despite the juvenile title (and equally silly pictures on the front of the book), I found this to be a great read. If you're new to Schmitz, this book would be a very good place to start.

MILD SPOILERS: The first of the two episodes describes how a very young Telsey first learns about her psionic ability, which then allows her to overcome several obstacles and avert an impending disaster. The second episode involves Telsey working to gain greater control over her new-found talent and struggling to avoid being a tool of the powerful Psychology Service.

The TV series Babylon 5, and the recent Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold, owe something to the excellent legacy of Schmitz and especially the Telzey character first introduced in this book. Highly recommended!

I was surprised by this detailed look at the full story behind all of Elvis's #1 hits. Each chapter gives a full account and its a truly facinating read! Thoroughly recommended book.

As a teenage girl, this book really helped me understand love and boyfriends. This Author is the best!!! Has she written other stuff, please do write more!!!

Yeah, I know that one has to take inflation into account when computing these things, but still, what incredible deals the sci-fi lover could acquire 60 or so years ago! Take, for example, the March 1946 issue of "Startling Stories," with a cover price of just 15 cents. For that minimal charge, the reader got stories by sci-fi greats Frank Belknap Long, Jack Williamson and Henry Kuttner, PLUS the entire novel "Valley of the Flame," by one Keith Hammond. Hammond, as we know today, was just one of the many noms de plume used by the husband-and-wife writing team of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore, and "Valley" turns out to be yet another remarkable tale from this legendary pair. Equal parts sci-fi, fantasy, Haggardian lost-world adventure and jungle epic, it tells the story of Brian Raft, an American medical researcher in the wilderness of the Amazon Basin, who goes in pursuit of a kidnapped colleague and discovers the hidden valley of Paititi. It is a fairy world of sorts, where falling boulders seem to drift like feathers and streams run like molasses. The reason: All life-forms in Paititi have been abnormally accelerated by the flame called Curupuri, a mass of living energy from the heavens that had crashed in the Amazon region aeons ago. The area's native jaguars have evolved into catlike humans (this is not really a spoiler; the subtitle for the tale in "Startling Stories" reads "A Novel of the Cat People") and numerous mutated plant and animal forms thrive in abundance. Raft becomes embroiled in a plot involving the madman Parror's quest to strengthen the Flame; falls into intrigue at the castle court of the crazed King Darum; and becomes romantically involved with the feline Janissa. The book features two tremendous set pieces; one in the Garden of Kharn, in which Raft must fend off all manner of monstrous flora, and the second in the cavern of the Flame itself, as Raft battles his tigerish madman foe at the brink of an abyss whilst the mountainous, mutating Flame threatens to destroy the entire region. Throw in a cave full of deformed mutants, duels with vicious taloned gauntlets, some high-tech superscience, hypnotism and magic amulets, and you've got quite a little package of wonders on your hands. I don't think it will surprise anyone to learn that Kuttner and Moore write wonderfully, with a surprisingly wide range of literary, artistic and historic reference (Balzac, Baldur, Brancusi, Arrhennius, Fenris-wolf and Birnam Wood are all brought up) that belies the novel's pulpy origins. The book is as exciting, fast moving and colorful as can be, and was deservedly chosen by James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock for inclusion in their overview volume "Fantasy: The 100 Best Books." I enjoyed this novel even more recently than I did when I first read it 20 or so years ago, and think that it would make for an incredible film, if brought to the screen with respect by a team with the requisite $200 million. The 1964 Ace paperback edition pictured above, which is the one that I own, has a cover price of 40 cents, and I feel it is high time for this great fantasy work to be put back into print after 40+ years at today's modern, inflated prices. Whatever price the reader winds up paying for this one, I think he/she will be extremely satisfied.