Games Books

This is a wonderfully written book. A gorgeous story with beautiful illustrations. I gave this book as a gift to a friend of mine going through IVF. She loved the story of the Rainbabies and Mother Moonshower.

The Rainbabies is a delightful book about an older couple that have everything but the one thing that they desire more than anything in the world, a child. One night after a rainstorm, they find twelve little babies in the grass and they take such wonderful care of them. So much so that Mother moonshower comes and gives them a "real" daughter of their own. They feel complete and full of love.

I couldn't stop crying the first time I read this book. I have had cancer and because of my chemo was told that I may never have children. It hit home to know that you can have everything in the world, but feel like you have nothing if you don't have the love of a child. At first I felt robbed of this love. But I also understand that there must be a reason why. This is still my favorite book to pull out and read when I'm feeling a little bit lonely.

This story is tender and sweet. You'll love it with all your heart.

Rainbabies, written by Laura Krauss Melmed, is a fascinating book with a wonderful fantasy story. In this emotional book, an elderly couple always wanted a child of their own, but were very unfortunate. One rainy day, when they went outside hoping that the rain would bring them good fortune, they found twelve small babies. Along with this, came a series of disasters. The elderly couple proved their loyalty watching and caring for the rainbabies, and received an award of their own. This book races through many feelings such as sad, happy, excited, and when it is over you love how it turned out. Although it is a picture book, I would recommend it for all ages. From the questionable start to the happy ending, this book is worth taking time out to read.

When the moon gives twelve tiny babies to a childless couple, the new parents take great care of their charges and eventually receive an unexpected reward.

An old woman and her husband of many years had plenty of food and a good house, "but the thing they wanted most was the thing they lacked: a child to call their own." One night the couple goes outside during a moonshower, which "brings good fortune to everyone it touches." And sure enough, there in the grass were a dozen drops of water, each holding a tiny baby. Where the rainbabies came from and what becomes of them makes for a great story about love, loyalty, and the fulfillment of your heart's desires.

Jim LaMarche's illustrations are delightfully realistic and he depicts the old wife and her husband as loving and joyful. A variety of emotions surface throughout the story: tension, intrigue, mystery, and at last, happiness, making this a wonderfully touching tale.

Rainbabies, written by Laura Krauss Melmed, is a fascinating book with a wonderful fantasy story. In this emotional book, an elderly couple always wanted a child of their own, but were very unfortunate. One rainy day, when they went outside hoping that the rain would bring them good fortune, they found twelve small babies. Along with this, came a series of disasters. The elderly couple proved their loyalty watching and caring for the rainbabies, and received an award of their own. This book races through many feelings such as sad, happy, excited, and when it is over you love how it turned out. Although it is a picture book, I would recommend it for all ages. From the questionable start to the happy ending, this book is worth taking time out to read.

I didn't realize till later, that the rainbabies represent the months of the year, which is why their mother is the moon mother. The moon creates the months of the year. And also why there are 12 of them, one to represent each month of the year. They never really left the elderly couple, they just bacame something else. At least this is what I tell my granddaughter when we are through reading the book.

I didn't look at this as an adoption book but more of a babysitting book. It respected the deep bond of the true mother of the rainbabies, and it was right for them to return to her. I look at this as a way to confirm that when my child goes out in the world, she can always come home to me, because my relationship to her is a sacred one. And when we watch over the children of others, it is our responsibility to protect them as if they were our own. I'm glad to find a book that supports this value, because I see it so lacking in the opinions of so many caretakers of other people's children. Every child is sacred, regardless of whether it is your own, or someone elses, and we have a responsibility to look out for all children. That is a sacred responsibility.

This theme has been coming up a lot in my granddaughter's play, since reading this story to her. So I bought 12 of the smallest little baby dolls I could find and made little felt blankets for each one, and my granddaughter has her dolls "babysit" them until the Moonmother can come to get them.

Red Zone Management is a down-to-earth explanation of why so many organizations, faced with making a step change to reach the next level, fall flat on their faces and end up in worse shape than they were before. Organizations that "fumble the ball" in the red zone often see momentum swing to their competition, leading to potentially irrecoverable losses. This book will help an organization's leaders recognize the red zone--and play to win.

Here is a book with helpful insights to deal with issues faced in every corporation,if you are re-engineering the whole company or a small unit that is floundering.

Dutch scores with this great manual on not just recognizing Red Zones, but on how to plan, communicate, motivate and execute successfully in them given today's unforgiving and full speed environment.

He has done a terrific job capturing what team members urgently need to know and while pointing out what they need to challenge and he has put it in an easy to read and understand format.

This book has joined my short list of must read's for teams that I lead on high risk/high reward projects.

I strongly encourage you to read this book!

Red Zone Management is a down-to-earth explanation of why so many organizations, faced with making a step change to reach the next level, fall flat on their faces and end up in worse shape than they were before. Organizations that "fumble the ball" in the red zone often see momentum swing to their competition, leading to potentially irrecoverable losses. This book will help an organization's leaders recognize the red zone--and play to win.

Red Zone Management is based on a football analogy for the last 20 yards that lead to a touchdown. This is make it or break it time for a team. According to the author, Dutch Holland, businesses are increasingly facing their own red zones. For a business what constitutes are red zone? It is activities that can lead to extraordinary profit or loss. These situations fall outside the scope of daily business management. Here is a list of red zone situations:

Changing competitive strategy

Mergers and acquisitions
Reengineering work processes
Implementing enterprise solutions (ERPs)
Implementing e-Business solutions
Changing culture

What are the types of behaviors that cause red zone initiatives to fail? Here is Holland's list:

Lack of high quality executive support
Lack of comprehensive and detailed up-front planning
The organization is too narrowly involved
Inappropriate delegation for critical leadership responsibilities
Undisciplined and incomplete project management

Red Zone Management covers the general topics of the red zone in the first half of the book. Each business red zone gets a chapter in the second half of the book. Each of these chapters covers a company that failed in this red zone and one that succeeded. In addition each of these chapters covers the roles that senior management needs to play for this particular red zone.

If your company is in the red zone or will be in one soon this book can tip the scales in your favor to succeed in the red zone.

This is definitely the most enjoyable store bought module I've adventured in. Our group has had a lot of fun going through this one.

There are two main features to this module that I enjoy the most:

1. Encounters are challenging.

There appear to be very few of what I call "fluff" encounters. Most of them fully challenge the abilities of our group. In this respect, it gives everyone a chance to contribute to the success of the encounter, not just the fighter type characters. Rouges, wizards, clerics and bards can all play an important role. (Our bard has been especially helpful.)

2. Role playing opportunities.

This adventure is not just a dungeon crawl with only combat. There are a number of encounters that can give the player characters a chance to practice role playing.

I'd rather not say much more, because I don't want to spoil any surprises. I'll just add that there appear to be some plot lines that could extend beyond this adventure. Perhaps WotC is planning a sequel?

Of all the 3rd edition adventures, i must say this is simply the best!
I just got this book and it kept the players wide awake all night long.
The enemy encounters are real challenging and you should be well prepared.
The plots, items, spells, and new templets are great.
This will get you WAY up after you have finished.

This book, its worth EVERY cent!

regards,
A satisfied costumer

I recently finished the original 1985 version of the Temple of Elemental Evil. For a DM who only plays for about 10 days total per year, this took years for us to complete. Near the end, we were like, man, when is this going to be over!? HOWEVER... this was definitely the coolest adventure I've ever been involved with. If you love solving puzzles, exploring rooms, killing weird monsters, and finding excellent treasure, this is without a doubt the greatest adventure you could possibly get. It's not too bad on a DM, either, since everything is well laid out and explained in marvelous detail. Keep in mind, this adventure will take you from low level way up the ladder, so there won't be much room for side adventures, although you might want to make a couple side adventures anyway to break some of the monotony, which may occur at times. Overall, assuming the new adventure is basically the same thing as the original (which I'll bet it is), I think you will be very pleased.

Although I agree with most of the feedback that this is a great module (the dungeon levels are excellent and well-documented). I would point out that the overland maps, while beautiful, are NOT TO SCALE and DO NOT MESH with the Living Grayhawk material. Also the maps and sketch of Hommlet DO NOT MATCH the old AD&D module (esp regarding terrain). Unfortunately this is typical of the Dungeons and Dragons product line. For example, the text says it's 30 miles to Verbobonc, but the overland map shows 90. There are no details about the river that flows past Hommlet, nor the one that flows past the moathouse. Nor are there any roads shown for the route to Rastor. While this is fine for hack and slash GMs who don't care about realistic whole-world detail, the more discerning GM will spend hours remapping and/or rescaling all the overland areas. Because there are no published detail maps for the world of Grayhawk, the GM must make his own maps, and face the prospect of reworking them later to fit future modules into the campaign. All-in-all, this is really just a case of poor editing. I would suggest dropping this module into your own campaign world and forgetting the World of Grayhawk altogether, since it so inconsistent and patchy. You may have to redo one or both of the two overland maps, but at least you can make it mesh.

First of all, let me say that this is easily the best module I have ever gotten my hands on for Dungeons and Dragons. It is very well written, provides everything in great detail, and is a hell of a lot of fun to run. As the DM of my home campaign, i must issue a few warnings to those who want to use this adventure. My campaign is set in the Forgotten Realms and thus I needed to do a fair bit of conversion to set the adventure in Faerun, but in the end it was well worth it.
DMs should remember before running this adventure that it is intended to be the backbone of an entire campaign, and if you run the entire thing, it most certainly will be just that. After conquering the Temple, your PCs will have saved the world (hope I'm not spoiling this for anybody), and the question for the DM is simply: Where do I go from here? Frankly my PCs are a bit disenchanted with the entire "Save the world, um, again" theme. I'll still give it five stars since it is the best module available as far as content is concerned, just make sure you want your campaign to be remembered as "When we did the Temple of Elemental Evil".

My only complaint is that it WON'T teach you how to win the World Series of Poker since I'm not giving away anything to say that the author doesn't win the Big One which he writes about. Besides from that, this is the gambling book that all other gambling books have to test themselves against. What a writer! Also enjoyed his MAN WITH $100,000 BREASTS which is the second best gambling stories book.

World Series of Poker time again. Plenty of strategy books out there. Only one about what's inside the heart and head of top players. I reread Konik's masterpiece the night before the last tournament I played. Won it. This is the book I'm going to be reading night before the Big One. Mr. Konik I salute you.

I'm speechless. I read the one about the Binion's murders and playing in the world championship of poker and I thought that it was an extremely sophisticated look at the world of gambling. Then I read Konik's take on playing in the World Championship of cards and I'm speechless. I don't know if I want to cry or laugh or just read it all over again. If you play cards you need to read this book.

Getting ready to make my first entry into the World Series of Poker. Konik's book was highly recommended by a friend whose played in the Big one three times (made money two years ago)and he said it won't teach you how to win the tournament but it'll put into words everything people feel/think when they're involved in the ultimate poker compertition.

Totally agree.

If you're gonna play in a poker tournament especially the Series, you should read "Telling Lies". Finally I found a book that captures what its all about. Also excellent stories about backgammon and blackjack.

Mr. Konik great job. I'm gonna want an autograph at the World Series. See ya at the final table!

Every once in while a writer such as Michael Konik elevates Poker to artistic and emotional heights reserved for exceptional feats of art AND science. Spanier, Alvarez and Holden are other names of such conjurors who come to mind.

Like Sir Holden, Mr. Konik also is cursed with the helpless realization that inconsequential to his passion, and Matrix-like aptitude for Poker, he too shall never ascend to "physiological ascendancy" long enough to seize the Bracelet - not yet at least. Fortunately for us, his reluctant affinity to his "day job" will provide us the memorable glimpses into an intellect, a game, and a perspective that would otherwise remain cloaked by the trite interpretations of the Discovery/Learning/Travel channels, and kept regretfully shrouded in obscurity.

Michael does a superb job in this book about varied and unique gambling experiences which culminate into the grandest story of all:
His own WSOP heroics (or lack thereof), interwoven with the raw trials of his inner-demons (or goddesses in his case).

This latter and final segment of the book is a brilliant piece of writing that transforms Poker, with all its nuances, humility, "brute" refinement and fragility into Magic. Just when you think Poker can evoke only images of banal-minded, leather-"butts" that haven't washed their hands since three infections ago, nor read anything that didn't include a chapter or blurb on "check-raising UTG", Michael Konik uses eloquent references to Gericault, Milton and Goethe (naming but a few), shedding revealing insight into his own 'raison d'être', all the while exalting the virtues of a truly remarkable game.

This is definitely a must-read/must-own book appealing to readers of both intellectual and poker-aficionado qualities (especially for those gifted with the philosophical capacitates to appreciate the a posteriori relationship between "tabula rasa" and sizing up the guy in seat#2).

If you read this book just for the stories outside the Poker world, you'd still be doing yourself a huge favour, and by accident discover the best account of pocket 3's I think I've ever come across. ...

My sons loved this quiet book and asked to count the items in the lovely illustrations endlessly. Anno includes a bit of whimsy on the final page if you are thorough in your counting!

I bought this "big" book to use in my Kindergarten classroom. There are abundant activities, found on the internet in an author search, for young children about counting, sequencing and comparing that can springboard from this excellent resource.

This book is wonderful for teaching counting, groups of a number, time, and many more math concepts, The kids like the pictures and finding the different sets in each picture.

The book Anno's Counting Book is a great book for helping children with counting and learning basic math concepts. It helps with addition and subtraction as well as grouping items. The book starts at zero, which is one of few books that start with zero. This helps children grab the concept the zero is still a number even when there is nothing to count. The book goes all the way through the number 12. Children are also able to count the objects in the picture. Each object in that picture contains that number that is on the page.
The style of the book is very simple for young children. Each page contains one number. On that page there is only that specific number of items that children are able to participate and count along. On the left side of each page are counting blocks. The blocks can help children with their addition and subtraction by seeing how many blocks are missing or how many they have to add to make a certain number. On the right side of the page there is the written form of the number which helps children visually see what the number looks like. The illustrations in the book are also very colorful and detailed, but yet simple enough for the children to count the objects in the picture. As you go throughout the book, the pictures also change through the different seasons of the year.
The book Anno's Counting Book is a great wordless book for children who are just learning how to count. It helps with addition, subtraction, grouping items, and writing numbers.

I have bought numerous copies of this book to give to the children of relatives and friends. I got my first copy of it when my son (now 27) was small, and he loved it. I have one copy that I keep at home for myself, though I have no grandchildren yet--the pictures are so lovely, simple, and comforting, and I usually have one or two more books in stock to give as gifts. Everyone I have given a book to loves it as well. I like all of the other Anno books that I have seen, but I think this is the best.

I purchased this book for my daughter. She is an advanced metals major in college and was absolutely thrilled with this book. She was familiar with the work of the author and was very pleased to have detailed instruction as well as wonderful photographic examples of her work. If you are looking for great gift for an art major, you can't go wrong with this book.

I haven't worked with enamels yet. I am a polymer and mixed media artist. I have been very inspired by the techniques and pieces featured in this book to try enamel work. The book is so beautiful with photos on good paper that it has never been put away on my book shelves. It stays on my work table as a source of constant inspiration. I learn something new each time I pick it up.

This book is a real inspiration ! The quality of the designs, The techniques they have are very professional. Definitely a worthwhile
reference book to have in the studio !.
Kathy Knauf

I've owned this book since it was first published and learned much about the art from its pages. Last week I had the good fortune to take a week-long workshop with the author at the Revere Academy in San Francisco. We used the book as text and reference throughout a fantastic week of exploration. In person, Linda is every bit as informative and enthusiastic as her fine book would lead one to expect. For anyone who can't share the luck of those who have studied with her directly, this book is by far the most thorough, clearly written, beautifully illustrated enameling manual currently in print. If you want to learn The Art of Enameling, buy this book before any other!

I bought this book without knowing anything about it. It's the best enamelling book ever. I can recommend it to everybody who is really interested in enamelling. It's really a professional book! Thanks.

I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone interesting in learning how to play blackjack. Good for beginners, but also has good material
for experienced players. Very easy to follow. Has interesting stories about how blackjack teams operate.

If someone could only buy one book on blackjack, I would highly recommend this one. I have been playing & counting for 15 years. This covers everything you need to be a winning player and then some. It also has something for everyone from the first-time novice to the seasoned professional (including some things I'd rather not see in print).

I have a hard time finding anything that was missed in this book, and it is written in straight-forward, easy-to-understand language. If anything is missing, it is the complex math that bogs down most of us anyway. Blaine instead offers up the best ways to make money, and that is what we are really after (at least me anyway).

Hey its about time a guy put a book together like this*****.

I recommend BJ Blueprint as the first book to read when learning the game. Everything is clearly explained and the stories mixed in are fascinating. Five Star Rating from this reader!

GOOO Train..

Robert

I'm reading "Blackjack Blueprint" for the second time.
It is an impressive tutorial and practice guide for
anyone seriously interested in learning to play blackjack.
Similar to Revere's classic work, Mr. Blaine explains the
basics one must learn to get an advantage playing the game.
Then he offers practice drills designed to ingrain those
basic skills/info, so the new BJ player can perform at a
level to compete with the casinos.
The last half of the book introduces related topics like
BJ tournament play, casino critters, comps, shuffle tracking,
team play, camouflage, etc. All interesting topics for aspiring
advantage players.
Blackjack Blueprint is among the best introductory books on
advantage blackjack play that I've read. It compares favorably
with Revere's and Wong's books, and is more up-to-date.
I don't hesitate to recommend it, and am happy to own it.

This book is without doubt the most well written and entertaining blackjack book around right now. I have read many many books on counting cards and the game of blackjack in general and this is by far the funniest read there is while actually giving really good information on counting cards and the game you must play to be a counter. Blackjack Blueprint doesn't bore you to death with super advanced systems that will cause you to sleep after read each single rule. Instead it's filled with many stories and useful information that are completely relevant to the situation that they accompany. If I were to have one blackjack book this would be the one without any doubt in my mind. I will also add that I don't read for fun at all, I only read books that will give me information and teach me how to do stuff. If all books were this good I would read more then I do.

Having been at the beginner level of origami for many years--that is, I follow the ideas in the books and don't create my own--I have at least 30 books on subjects from origami boxes to modular (unit) origami to money origami. This is one of the best, an excellent introduction to origami in general. Dollars are made of excellent paper with printing on them that helps you get oriented with the diagrams in the book. The projects make great gifts (and tips at restaurants, of course).

This book does not introduce you to the variety of "folds" (such as the outside-reverse fold and the rabbit fold) that are the vocabulary of the mainstream origami books, but eases you into the basics (including the inside-reverse fold without labeling it as such). You will enjoy the transition of your ordinary one-dollar bill into these little origami models, which are mostly three-dimensional (many origami books have you sweating and, 47 folds later, ending up with a flat two-dimensional depiction of some insect). Go to other books if this one inspires you to become an origamist. Or just stay here and have fun. And yes I know that insect origami seems to be viewed with a certain amount of reverence, but you get animals in this book also.

When you have folded your masterpiece, origami is fun in that you can unfold it and practice it again until you have it memorized, very useful for when you want to leave a "Dime-In-Ring" as a tip (this project will cost you $1.10).

I would not hand the book to a young child, as the activies probably work best with an adult helping those under 10 years old. The adult should have completed the model first.

I would recommend getting a bunch of new crisp bills from your bank. Ask the bank when they come in, as the book says they usually arrive around January. Just in case the US gov has any plans to change the pattern on the one-dollar bill, that's another reason to hoard some of the old ones. However, bills that are fairly crisp but not necessarily brand new work very well, and you can find these regularly in change handed to you. When you get these crisp bills in change, hand over a $5 bill and get five more crisp ones.

Lastly, as commented on already, the humor and the little facts about money are entertaining. Typical "Klutz book" excellence.

Happy folding.

Mike

PS Another book, also on an origami specialty but also for the serious beginner who wants to produce fun and useable projects is "Wings and Things: Origami That Flies."

Very cute book--fun for all ages, or for all ages of people with a little patience.

I got this for my 11 year old son. He already had some origami experience and really enjoyed it. He easily did the the first few projects, but had a little difficulty with the elephant and the peacock. After we looked at it closer, we were able to figure it out with little trouble. The book is very well written (and illustrated) and the projects are very clever. My son's main problem was that he was just using the pictures and wasn't taking the time to also read the directions. The spiral binding allows the book to lay flat while you work with the dollar. There are also fun facts included. All-in-all, it is entertaining and well worth the money. I only wish there had been a few more shapes to make.

This was my first money folding book and I really liked it. I actually had bought it for a friend's daughter for her birthday. She and I sat down one day and folded many of the diagrams. I have since bought this book for several other people and always recommend it to beginners.

MODELS
Buffalo Bill Badge, Bowtie, Dollar Ring, Dime-in-ring, Jumping Frog, Elephant, Peacock

PROs:
o Designs are well diagrammed - easy to follow and instructions are very clear (this is unusual for many origami books that leave you guessing). I've seen diagrams for some of these models elsewhere - but this book is worth buying just for the quality of the diagrams. Saves on much frustration! You don't need to know anything about origami to be able to follow this book.
o I REALLY liked most of the designs - many books have a few cool designs and others that are unrecognizable or just kind of eh - The designs in this book are remarkable good.
o Nice spiral bound book - this is a great feature when trying to read and fold.
o Includes interesting factoids about money! Educational as well as fun!

CONS:
o Not alot of diagrams.

GENERAL IMPRESSION:
This book is great for beginners. Diagrams are clear and not full of origami jargon. Models are interesting and fun. I have been folding money for years now --- and it all started with this book. Anyone who asks me for a recommendation - this book is the first on my list.

OTHER BOOKS I RECOMMEND:
Guide to Hawaiian Style Money Folds.
Dollar Bill Origami (for intermediate or advanced folders).

We gave this to my daughter for Christmas and she loves it. She's an artistic sort of girl...likes origami, etc so it was right up her alley. We cannot believe all of the cool things she makes with a dollar bill and she can do it anywhere. It's a great conversation starter and has made her popular with her friends! Absolutely would recommend this book!

Audrey Grant's books - like Introduction to Bridge are exceptional. They are best used in a bridge class/training session where an instructor can lead and help the student through the the basics of bridge learning. The value of Audrey Grant's books are that they present a system of bridge which has revolutionized modern bridge.

This is a great book for those interested in learning about Bridge. We are using it along with an instructor and it is great. Highly recommend it.

I've been considering returning to contract bridge after a 10 year hiatus and wanted to brush up on my bidding. I was looking for an intermediate/advanced overview of American Standard. This is a basic textbook obviously designed to be used in a classroom with a teacher. You will get basic bidding techniques and some recommendations on play. You won't get any conventions past Blackwood, Gerber or Stayman. Transfers, Unusual Notrump and the like aren't covered. If you're a beginner, this is a good starting point, though it would be best to use it with an instructor. If you're an intermediate or advanced player. Look elsewhere.

It makes sense. No cryptic assumptions by the author. Discussion of every possibility, how to react, AND WHY. One of the best "tutorials" i have read in my life.
I started to learn bridge with one friend teaching a group of three. Made no sense. I bought this book, got pulled into the chapters, and at our next practice, i was leading half the session and teaching everyone.

If you are new to bridge I highly recommend purchasing all four of Audrey Grant books in the ACBL Series... CLUB, DIAMOND, HEART AND SPADE. She is unquestionably the best bridge teacher for a novice. In layman's terms she is able to explain and unravel the mysteries of bridge. If you begin with the club book and progress through the series as they increase in difficulty... club, diamond, heart and spade you will be able to teach yourself how to become proficient in bridge painlessly. Her books are written in lesson formats... and they are used by many people who instruct bridge classes i.e. adult ed. Buy one... I'm sure you'll add the other three to your library. I also highly recommend her "Bridge at A Glance" pocket guide which is a quick synopsis of bidding and the appropriate respones thereof. I bought many bridge books before I stumbled upon Audrey Grant and wish I had found her books first! Good luck!

This amazing game (and just plain interesting read!) is currently back in print. You can pick up the new edition, converted to D20, by heading to the publisher's web site. Pagan Publishing and TC Corp have done a great service to its fans by releasing this reprint!

I don't have a long, thoughtful review to write. Just wanted to say this is the BEST RPG idea/supplement I've ever seen. Intelligent, thoughtful, scary, fun...get it get it get it!

This is the best RPG suppliment I have ever read, bar none. It's a great READ, even if you are not a gamer. Interesting background, lots of plot hooks as well. The group that did this book are great writers and are loving what they do and it shows. If you are into Horror, X-Files, Call of Cthulhu, ect...buy it to read, if not play.
The book is curently out of print, but I understand that it will be reprinted in 2006 as a hardcover with d20 rules. Anyone wanting to write or publish an RPG should read this book and use it as an example. A MUST.

DELTA GREEN is the modern adaptation of Call of Cthulhu. Drawing on the same body of UFO lore and paranormal activity as the X-Files, DELTA GREEN has tapped into something very deep. And of course, once you have a successful RPG, you might as well start the fiction flowing, right?

Dark Theaters has some fairly lenghty short stories, designed to flesh out the world of DELTA GREEN. Some clues and hints are elaborated on; what exactly happened during the fabled raid on Innsmouth in 1928? What was the final mission of Gen. Fairfield? We find out more about the summoning by the Karotechia that was a dress rehearsal for the end of the world, but the entirety of the episode remains tantalizingly removed.

Dark Theaters, like the rest of DELTA GREEN fiction, is about what it means to be human. Or not human. The monstrosities which are called up and cannot easily be put away serve to highlight our humanity. But in the end, humanity is just short-hand for a fundamental incomprehension of the universe. We are carrying on a rear-guard action against reality, buying our fellow-man time for ... what? To say that humanity loses in the end is to pretend that there are other players, rules agreed upon, some validity to having tried and lost. Life is a game of solitaire, and we're not playing with a full deck. All is meaninglessness, a blowing of the wind.

And yet humanity means staying in the game. Like Lucifer, the real patron saint of lost causes, we know that we will lose and darnit, we are going to keep playing the hand we were dealt. It gives meaning to life, death, and the passing of the seasons, the sacrifices we have made and those we have sacrificed, to play by the rules, even if there aren't any. So let us cheer for the hero and jeer for the villain, and not go gently into that dark night.

I'm writing this review because the rumors that a new edition with stats for d20 play are getting harder and harder to ignore. Even though the book is old and sometimes hard to find, anyone who seeks it will probably not be disappointed.

Delta Green revitalizes the Call of Cthulhu milieu in two ways. First, it plants the setting squarely within our time, developed from a backstory that starts in 1929 and gets downright spooky in 1947. Eldritch horrors still stalk humanity from beyond - only now the entities that menaced the 20's are content to scheme behind the scenes. Unfortunately for the Earth, some humans are content to betray us all for the ephemeral promises dangled before them. These men are not the frothing cultists and brute savages of Lovecraft: they are scientists, priests, and four-star generals. Plus there are new foes and surprises to keep jaded players guessing.

Second, there is finally a good reason for unusual characters to find themselves allied against the dark. Will a cop balk at sharing forensic evidence with a detective, a journalist, and a Marine? Not anymore. All the PCs are members of or friendly to Delta Green, an illegal conspiracy operating within the federal government. Of course, it's not the ONLY illegal conspiracy operating within the federal government. While Delta Green has adopted the sensible tack of trying to blow away every Mythos problem they encounter, its opponents are convinced that some mysteries can be studied, contained, or even harnessed for their own use.

That's just an overview. There is so much to Delta Green that any gaming group interested in conspiracy-style RPGs could find something useful. There are sections on U.S. government agencies, modern firearms, and mind-blowing adventures that are not for the faint of heart.

With Delta Green, CoC players can feel more confident with a nice gun in their hands, and the assurance that a backup team of ex-SEALs in on the way. Their characters will still die or go insane, but at least they should enjoy the ride.