Games Books

I got the book as a gift for my grand daughter who likes to draw. The vivid colors and expressions on the characters faces should keep her interested for a while. The story line is an added bonus.

Do you need a book that confronts racism, appreciates theater, and shatters stereotypes on a primary level? If so, Amazing Grace, by Mary Hoffman, is the book for you. Not only does this book cover the above topics, but is also highlights on key items for younger readers, such as reading about individual achievements and moral dilemmas.
Grace, a first grade African American female, has an imagination with no boundaries. Grace loves to act out stories that she is told. At school, Grace's heart runs with excitement when her teacher announces that the class is going to do the play Peter Pan. Everyone wants to be Peter Pan, which highlights the enthusiasm for theater among these students. However, as Grace wants to be Peter Pan, her classmates tell her first that she can't because she is not a male. The second reason her classmates say is that she can't be Peter Pan is because she is black. Here lies the racism in this book.
The teacher allows each student to take home lines and memorize them to try out for roles. The best would get Peter Pan. In the mean time, Grace's grandmother takes her to a Romeo and Juliet ballet that features a black Juliet. This inspires Grace to go home and learn those lines as best as she can so that she will be the best one in the class. When it is time to try out, Grace is by far the best Peter Pan and the class votes to let her fill this role. This is where the shattering of stereotypes comes into play.
Past the social issues, Amazing Grace also fulfills the requirements that the Temple textbook states are good children's literature. First, children's literature must speak to the child. Children, especially that would read Amazing Grace, are extremely egocentric. Therefore, they want to read about the potential for individual achievement. Any child that is repressed for any reason could identify with Grace. There are a lot of things that Peter Pan was not, not just simply black. African American students could truly identify with Grace, having to deal with their differences that are spawned by their skin color and culture.
The last noticeable characteristic of good children's literature apparent in Amazing Grace is the presence of in depth thought, especially on morals. This book spawns thought on all the social issues mentioned above. This book would most certainly cause students to re- evaluate their thoughts and stances on racism, stereotypes, and maybe even theater. So many times, students think that what their parents believe is what they have to believe. However, educating students can help not only in letting them make their own decisions, but also educating their parents as well.
Finally, this book is an excellent book for teachers because there are many activities that can be done to accompany the reading. Perhaps this would be a great book to lead into their own class play. Another idea is to place this in a unit on racism and segregation in the upper elementary levels. Also, a teacher could do dress up day and the students could be whatever they want to be. All stereotypes are shattered for the day and each student can be free to be who they are. Amazing Grace may be one of the most influential books that I have ever read on racism and the way that Grace and her family handle this issue is admirable.

This story is about a girl that pretends to play the parts of all kinds of different people and one day thiers a play and she wants to play the part of Peter Pan and some kids tell er she can't then she goes home. Later on they her parents tell her she can do anything she wants as long as she puts her mind to it, and she did.

I liked this story because Grace can be Peter Pan if she put her mind to it. My favorite part is after the ballet. I would recommend this book to a friend because its about your imaginery. The book is amazing.

By: S.J.
Los Angeles
Age 5

This is a great story with a great message. It tells children there are no limits to what they can be. It tells children not to be deterred by sterotypes or opinions. You can be anything you set your mind to. I bought copies for both my son and my niece.

Another great book by Sarah Sink Eames!-Great outfits and pictures-easy to see values-Fun to see how Barbie and friends followed current fashion trends for the late 60's and early 70's-very helpful to any vintage collector!!

Great book. Found outfits and the year they came out. Do Recommend if you are into Barbie clothes...

If you are a collector, you should have this book on your shelf. Comprehensive, complete, with photos galore. A+++++

In Hong Kong, it is not popular to collect vintage Barbie dolls so that it is not easy to explore specific related knowledge. This book really helps a lot. It is a bible for every Barbie collectors!

This book and its companion volume, 'Barbie Doll Fashion: 1959-1967', are without doubt the most beautiful and informative books on the market for the vintage and mod era Barbie collector today. They are very well-written, with lovely photographs of absolutely pristine examples of each outfit, enough to make you drool over on every single page!

'Barbie Doll Fashion: 1968-1974' covers the fashions from Barbie's exciting Mod era, and includes fashions not only for Barbie, but for her friends and family as well. These include original outfits, Pak outfits, Best Buys, Get Ups and Gos, Store Exclusives and every other type of outfit available from 1968 to 1974.

Each outfit is described in detail, with a photograph showing the outfit and all accessories next to it, laying flat. Some outfits are shown on the doll. The photography is stunning, by far the best of any Barbie book I've ever seen.

'Barbie Doll Fashion: 1968-1974' isn't just informative, it's a catalogue of dreams to build on, and a fun book just to sit and look at. You'll never be sorry you own it!

Some background on me:
I have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. I'm also a professional software engineer in the video game industry.
In my education, I had a few classes on electronics/digital circuits and I loved it. I started doing my own circuits outside of class and buying digital ICs to add to my toolkit. Over the years, I'd lost touch with that side of myself and the joy that it gave me. Then I found this book, "The Black Art of Video Game Console Design".

This book is basically an abridged EE (Electrical Engineering) degree with a focus on video game consoles! And the kicker is that you're being instructed by one of the most "readable" authors around. By "readable", I mean that the author has a way of teaching you things as if it was your friend, sitting next to you, turning complicated subjects into an easy-to-understand, entertaining, data stream. The information is clear and the tone is upbeat and occasionally humourous.

As I read through the book, I was hitting everything that I learned in months and months in the classroom, but without all the fuss and only the relevant information. Resistors, capacitors, diodes, truth tables, timing diagrams, etc, it's all there. Then, the author jumped into complicated areas such as joysticks, sound, microprocessors, assembly language, the NTSC (standard TV) video signal (just to name a few). Finally, there we were at the pinnacle of the mountain, the culmination of all our learning, and here's where the real "Black Art" of the book kicks in, the full process of designing a video game console.

In today's hardware driven world, this book should be on every game programmer's shelf, whether they're a hobbyist or a seasoned veteran.

Andre LaMothe is an amazing guy, no question about it. He tends to write huge books, and the amount of material he fits into them is superlative. He's obviously got a passion for what he does, and that passion is certainly revealed in his writing style. He's a guy who never lost that simple love of video games.

Perhaps it's his sheer enthusiasm that makes him seem to sometimes write too quickly. A few minutes spent with The Black Art Of Video Game Console Design brings this tendency to light: I don't know how long it took to write this book, but I imagine the author was under some pressure to get it finished before some kind of deadline, because there are the typical signs of a book that didn't get properly edited. There are occasional typos and punctuation glitches, but more worrisome is the potential for factual errors. For example, an early and very glaring inaccuracy is the claim on page 66 that most electronics solder is 60% tin and 40% flux. In reality, typical solder is 60% tin and 40% *LEAD*, not flux; the flux burns and evaporates away from the solder once the solder has been melted. Yeah, it's a small detail, but any technical editor should have caught that one a mile away.

On a larger scale, however, LaMothe's enthusiasm propels the book forward at a speed not typically seen in how-to books. Comprising almost a thousand pages, this is already a pretty massive book, but the amount of material LaMothe crams into that space is remarkable. The first few chapters are something you have to see to believe, each chapter condensing basically an entire college electronics class' worth of material into around 50 pages. While this means that, in a sense, the book is a good value because it provides a lot of material, this compression obviously comes at a price: Some concepts were just not meant to be explained in a single paragraph, and the book falters multiple times trying to explain something as quickly as possible when the concept would really have benefited from some elaboration.

The result is a book that often makes me wonder what audience would most benefit from it. The first few chapters are all about electronics, and are written on a level that would benefit someone with literally no background in electronics at all. However, the focus of the book is on console design, not EE, and there are better books out there for the person who just wants to learn electronics. This, combined with the fact that you really can't (and probably shouldn't try) to learn the entire field of electronics in one night, leads me to believe that anyone approaching this book should probably have some thorough grounding in electronics technology before you actually start reading the book. Once you get past the first half and into the really game-focused material, the book comes into its own, but a majority of the material here would be better read elsewhere.

So ultimately, this is a book with a HUGE amount of material that you can learn a lot from, and if you really want to buy just one book, it's hard to find a better value than this. But if you want a truly broad-based education in electronics, you'll need to do some heavy supplementing with other books before you can get the most benefit out of this one.

I am always amazed how one person can know so much, learn new things and write <<2 000>> page book--and still produce accurate information that any hobbiest can pickup, without burning out! I wonder if Lamothe's next book is going to top his last? This one, just like Tricks 3D, is not for the faintheart but for the passionate individual that wants to learn how things are done in this world.

I'm in school for Electronics and I am shocked at how much information is packed into a single chapter. I think I learned more reading half of this book than in a year of schooling (as far as practical matters go). I have much to say but I should ramble no more... just buy it man! You won't be disapointed.

At least a book about the most obscure aspect of game programming: hardware designed to play.
This book gives a unique glimpse to the stuff needed to build your own game machine, the decissions you need to made, why to take certain paths in your designs and so on... even it gives you a very good primer on electronics and semiconductors.
Given the great number of Atari homebrewers out there, this book arrives just in time to create a whole new scene... a scene in which not only you will make your own games.. but the very machine they run on!
Definitely, a must have.

I am not going to give a quick rundown of this book, many others have already done that in the reviews. I want to tell you what the book can enable you to do. I was a hardware hacker back in the day when WOZ was hackin the Apple II. I hacked my way into being a programmer and sold my soul to business software.

I wanted to return to my roots and be able to do what the WOZ did with the Apple 1. After surfing the net I came across this book and the XGameStation. With it I have learnt the basic electronics needed to produce a gaming system. I have in fact built my very own video game console and am now programming PacMan for it.

This was all made possible by the information in this book. If the book didn't have it, it told me what to look up with regards to other IC's timings speed etc. Thus providing the Keys for me to unlock those doors that remained hidden until now.

Simply put this book is truly the 'Keys to the Kingdom' of video Game Console Design. I can say that because I have made my own Game Console and I know it to be true.I completely taught myself and I am not an EE student but just a hacker/hobbiest. I highly recomend this book for any beginner or EE student/hacker interested in designing their own Video Game Console.

If your new to electronics Andre' gives you crystal clear basic teaching for you in this book so don't be afraid and have some fun.

Mike

I got this book for my 3 kids, ages 11,18 and 22 who are all Harry Potter book fanatics and used to sit around and make up trivia questions to try to stump each other (especially the older 2). They all have enjoyed taking the quizzes and it is both challenging and entertaining. I would definitely recommend it for those who think they are well versed in Potter minutia--you might be surprised!

As a huge Harry Potter fan and considering myself a fairly careful reader of the books, I was pleasantly surprised by how this book managed to not only stump me but also helped me to recall facts about the series that I never realised I actually knew.

Some of the inconsistencies of the Harry Potter world can make a book like this difficult but the author does an excellent job of explaining these issues. I particularly like how the answers to the questions cite the book and chapter that the information came from. Very helpful to settle disputes amongst fellow Potter fans :)

This is a must-have book for anyone planning a Harry Potter-themed party or event. The three levels of difficultly make is easy for both the casual reader of the books and the hardcore fans to test their knowledge, start discussions or spark debate.

I'm greatly looking forward the rest of the books in this series.

Having just finished this book, I'm going to skip ahead and say: I am delighted.


Skipping backwards, however:


- The simple skill levels provide an excellent ladder into the suprisingly voluminous information within: Young fans will be thrilled to be quizzed as Salamanders (Level 1), drawn on to learn more and graduate to Phoenixes (Level 2), and even adult fans will be challenged by Level 3, the Dragon.


- Hint boxes on almost every page make sure the reader isn't left to flounder if they're lost (or tempted to cheat!). They don't chivvy, scold, or insult, but instead encourage lateral thinking to get at the answers.


- However, the best part might be the extras. The answers are not simple, dry solutions; they are complete and filled with additional content and facts, making it a surprisingly useful reference.


- Trivia Tidbits! Never let it be said that curiosity, once fanned, was allowed to fizzle. The "tidbits" are actually quite meaty asides that often bring in real-world comparisons, point out the historical fact and mythology woven through the Harry Potter books, and encourage outside research and reading.


A wonderful idea for parents might be to purchase the book prior to a birthday and use the questions as a party game. This would work equally well for teenagers, and even adults. Harry Potter appeals to nearly everyone, and this book makes it fun to share trivia and thoughts on the series with friends.

I'll come right out and admit that I expected this book to be a cakewalk. I've read the entire series of books multiple times, and I was convinced that I'd have no problem answering even the difficult questions. Well, I've been well and truly humbled.

Ms. Maltese has gathered an incredible range of facts and tidbits from seemingly nowhere. The book itself is divided into individual quests, or areas of knowledge, then further broken down into three levels of difficulty: salamander, phoenix, and dragon. I knew I was in trouble when I started missing phoenix questions!

Fortunately, the answers are supplied at the end of the chapter, along with some fun trivia bits. I actually went and double-checked some of those answers for accuracy, and the book was right every time.

This book would be a great at a party, or for a fund-raiser trivia quiz. I think this would also be a great idea translated into other languages, since many of the character names are completely different in each country.

My hat is off to Ms. Maltese and her impeccable research skills. I challenge all Potter fans to try their hand and test their Potter knowledge!

Man, I thought I knew a lot about the world of Harry Potter before I read this book. Racheline Maltese's well-written and informative book provides hours of amusement (and in my case, frustration, because I was sure I knew the answers! Stupid Quidditch!). I highly recommend this book for any Harry Potter fan - it's an excellent addition to my library.

I seldom reread a book; this book I have read twice and bought three copies to give away. I will read it again; the writing is so funny, so dazzling. The characters are so real, their stories so poignant. Jewish readers will especially love this book; we know these people though we have never met. I fell in love with Bummy Davis and when he died, I felt a loss. My gangster imagination loved reading about all the mob characters, though I am not a fan of violence or boxing for that matter. I read this book as my husband lay dying of cancer; it kept me uplifted during this difficult time. I loved that it was long and hated that it had to end. This is such a special book, and I haven't even mentioned the awesome research it must have taken to write it.

The authur Ron Ross is at his best. I could not stop reading amd I recommended the book to all my sons.I lived in East New york during those days.Fascinating.
Harry Keller

This book is a very satisfying trip down boxing's memory lane. Ron Ross resurrects here the color and drama of a very fascinating, tough NY prizefighter with a heart of gold--Bummy. Ross gives us in this welcomed work, devoted research, clearly a labor of love, and fine writing. Clearly, I see this book being optioned in Hollywood. Boxing translates to the screen in a big way and I see this book making a million bucks for some talented film maker.

Fantastic account of the life and career of Al 'Bummy' Davis, during the time of Mob rule in New York. Fascinating look into the ways and troubles of immigrant communities and their exploitation by gangsters.

Whether you are looking for a boxing or mafia book, this will do the job.

For anyone who loves a good story, written with wit, humor, and style, this book is for you. I couldn't put it down, and found something to chuckle about or a phrase to admire or an ironic comment I loved at least once on each page. I finished the book today (March 29, 2007)and did something I never did before (and I am 80 year's old). I noted from the book jacket that the author divides his time between Oceanside, LI and Boca Raton, Fl, and even though it is 4 years since the book was written and the author's name is a relatively common one, I called information for his Boca Raton number and took a chance that it was the right Ron Ross. I left a message that if this Ron Ross was an author, would he please call me, and I left my number. A few hours later I received a call from Mr. Ross and we had a delightful conversation for 10 minutes or so. For me to have taken the time to locate Mr. Ross and call him is an example that actions speak louder than words. Believe my action and go out and buy, read, enjoy, and love the book. It's cheap enough, and you'll thank me, and more so, will thank Ron Ross.

Ed Gold

The book is complete in reviewing all the aspects of jewelry making. Very clear explanations supported by big beautiful photographs. A must for all jewelry enthousiasts who would like to start steps in this beautiful craft.

can't put this book down. My design club members are borrowing it.Probably 6 more sales of this book as it is great reference material. The book is also "fun" to read. Great down time pleasure.

This book is by far the best I have. I have no professional training and I am pretty much a beginner (amateur at polymer clay pendants and total beginner at metal). The thing is that I love sculpting....Yet, this book has more info that is helpful to me than any of the other books that I have. The illustrations in this book are more helpful to me than just drawings, like in some of the other books. The angle of the photos shows me exactly what the author is doing. Yeah, it's a lot of info, but that's what I wanted. This book is more complete, in my opinion, than the other books that I have. I love the project pictures that the author has included, as well as the pictures of other artist's work. It's a good price- cheaper than the others that I have, and I'm glad I bought it.

I've been doing basic stone setting and soldering fabrication for a couple of years and have been looking for a good introduction to more advanced jeweler's techniques to help inspire me to take it to the next level. There are a multitude of beautifully illustrated and produced books that attempt to do this - but fail because they don't show you enough (in an misguided attempt to keep it simple) - The Encyclopedia of Jewelry-Making Techniques comes to mind as an example of this problem. This book - Carles Codina's The Complete Book of Jewelry Making - is the real deal. It serves as a basic introduction, but gives enough detail to really get you off the ground and doing projects. I learned new wrinkles on techniques I thought I knew - and got really good insight into new techniques I've been wanting to learn, such as bead setting, engraving, bright cutting, granulation, reticulation, patination, enamel, etc.. Impressive as getting this right is - this book goes further: it gets into the cultural history and significance of jewelery art and is full of really inspiring examples of jeweler's art. Simply having pictures of great art isn't impressive - but really connecting the achieved vision of that art with the techniques described is. So, you don't just get a good idea of how to do the technique and what it looks like - but you also get a real sense of why; of how the technique pays off artistically.

This book starts off with a brief introduction of where jewelry fits in human civilization. Then it moves to introducing the bench and basic techniques and then moves on to advanced techniques. The basic techniques section mentions important details such as collecting and organizing your scraps and assaying metals. The techniques section illustrate each technique step by step and each one shows you a finished project. Finally it does a series of project illustrated step by step that make use of multiple techniques in a real applied fashion. Each part of the book is illustrated with sumptuous photographs showing the technique and tools. The text is brief, but doesn't lack detail. The artistic vision of the artist is modern - but whether you love the pieces shown or not, there is no debating that they utilize and illustrate the craft in an admirable fashion. This book fires me up and gets me working.

This book is one of the best I have,I still refer to it whenever I am in a creative slump.As a full time jewellery Designer/Maker running a businesss I never have any time to try new techniques or read books but this one was so clear and easy to follow,so full of really interesting techniques and many many pictures that I refer to all the time.I have hundreds of jewellery books but none have been as useful and inspring as this one.I tried all the projects and they all came out as shown,I learnt more than I did in jewellery classes I've taken.

Unlike other books in mentions the use of micromotors and abrasives etc instead of pre historic tools and there are many wax projects,some really great examples of jewellery by spanish designers,and information on alloys - everything you need to know.Best $29.95 I ever spent.Made my work interesting again,will be looking out for further books by this Author.

What is most amazing about this game is that it is completely self-contained! I can't remember the last time I saw an RPG that included everything needed to play for such a good price ... And the rules engine is very clean, elegant, and easy to learn. A winner, to be sure.

This is an elegant little system, sitting somewhere between conventional roleplaying games, indie games and even some card games, that scales right through from everyday qualities and actions to changing the fundamental laws of reality.

The object and method of the game: to _be_ the controller - then, once you're there, to keep the conspiracy running and keep down those pesky player characters, like you used to be.

All it needs now is some setting information to get a game started, until the players themselves change the world beyond recognition.

This a simple, broad, and almost seemingly unbound new manual for a more player controled genere. Control is a great means to introduce a more espionage type inviroment, where modern skills make you a powerfull president, or a mole in his empire. The most interesting aspect is that either could be considered the more powerfull, depending on your ability to black-mail, gather information, dodge a few bullets, or bash in a few heads.

Once in awhile, I will come across an independent game like this one and realize the fallacy in only ever looking at one or two major game systems. "Control" combines great premise and imagination with solid mechanics, and is much simpler to learn, set up, and start playing than any other conspiracy RPG I have yet seen.

A great change of pace for the players, allows them to "get even" with the referee. A great idea with a sleek and effective implementation.

If you plan on working with the younger crowd, then this is a great book for you. It has a lot of creative ideas to help children in your classroom along developmentally. If you are running out of ideas for your classroom, I suggest buying this book. It will ensure you never get into an idea slump again.

I ordered this book when I started teaching in an infant/toddler classroom. Despite my five years of college, I had little knowledge on what these little guys could do. This book has been an AWESOME resource. I love how the lessons are separated by age groups. It provides detailed explanations as well as additional information on why and how each activity is developmentally appropriate. Of the several books I ordered, this one is most professional and designed for teachers. I highly recommend it!

This is and excellent and useful guide to help you determine what you can do with your baby each day to help him/her develop skills that prepare them for school. The book take time to explain what exactly you are helping to develop and each day can be something different.

Creative Resourcees for infants & Toddlers (Creative Resources for Infantas and Toddlers) is a great book, I wish that I would have gotten it alot sooner. It has really helped me with my homework assignments.

Good book, lists lots of games to play with child. Shows developmental goals you child should be hitting.

When I first saw the sourcebooks for this game, I thought the playing-card based system would be too complicated. Once the Marshal and the Players have all the rules for combat down, the system goes down like a bottle of The Good Stuff, smooth and quick. The storyline is very imaginative and interesting, it makes it easy to keep your players captivated for many, many sessions and keep them coming back for more.

First, the setting:

The year is 1876, and the American Civil War is still going on. Why? Because on July 4th 1863, a group of Indians crossed over into the spirit world and opened the door for hostile being to move from thier world to ours. Our fear is their currency and they are on a spending spree. California fell into the ocean, revealing deposits of something called Ghost-rock. It burns practically forever (imagine that as a power source), but wails like a banshee as it does. With the renwed power of the Indian tribes and the loss of California, the USA and CSA are at a standoff against each other. meanwhile, the released spirits are wreaking havoc and the deaD RISE AGAIN. Some of these things you can't shoot; that's where it helps to know how to handle the cards. That is, you can cast magic with a deck of cards if you know the right moves. Sometimes having religion will give you some supernatural tricks to pull too. As a setting, DEADLANDS is just incredible and has a lot of fascinating stuff going on.

The mechanics: As an old AD&D player and then a Cthulhu player, I had trouble understanding the mechanics. After having looked at a White Wolf product for the first time, I now understand that the mechanics of DEADLANDS are the World of Darkness dice pool with some proto-D20 aspects and a card-playing gimmick attached.

I think the basic concept is that you have a dice pool based on either your skill OR your attribute. However, the die-type ranges from d4 to d12. Your attribute is determined by a card draw; the value of the card determines the die type and the suit determines your pool size. If you get an "ace" (best number on a die), you roll again and ADD the rolled to the base. Your best value counts in a dicecheck against a target number chosen by the GM (this sufficiently reminds me of a DC that I'm interested in the d20 version as well).You have wound levels that track your health and you use experience to buy up your dice pool. You have merits and flaws and taking more flaws gives points to start your character with. Sound familiar?

The card playing motif returns for initiative (you draw cards for actions in a turn and follow order) and magic (the strength of your effect dpends on the poker hand that you draw). You also get fate chips, which allow you to add dice to your dice pool. There are also some color plates that show an archetypical character; this was a big help in figuring out character creation goes.

Content: A lot of the book is spent on mechanics (about third). ANother third is 1-2 page descriptions of character "classes", including being undead. Unfortunately, these are very short with minimal information on anything (obviously, you should buy all the splatbooks). My big beef is the huckster (spellcaster). For the hex to work, there is a minimum poker hand that must be drawn. Usually this is 1 pair or higher. Frankly, it's not that easy to get a pair without extra cards. I believe that the power level was raised in future splats, but the huckster seemed somewhat ineffective of a character.

The last third is for the GM only and tells of the ssecrets of Deadlands. Overall, a good section.

So to summarize, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good: very innovative concept, looks fun to play, great atmosphere. I like the fate chips (although I would make them more powerful; white rerolls one die, red choose a value for 1 die, blue allows a change of reality that is small, like the villain's holster is still buttoned or the character remembered to bring his pocketknofe after all).

The Bad: many aspects not well explained; more samples of rolling dice for different situations needed. Hucksters' magic seems ineffective

The ugly: EVERYTHING requires buying another splat, and the book is so vague, and the metaplot requires keeping up with the releases. Wait, who published this again?

Anyway, DEADLANDS was a fun read and looks exciting to play. If you are just starting, the d20 version might be more natural to the game but this version has many fun aspect, like drawing cards for attributes.

After reading Deadlands, I just thought I had to share this with my players. Now, when I happen to say 'I may marshall a Deadlands next week', I just happen to have too many players.

It is the first time a Western Game has been good. And it will be hard to ever do better.

The French tinhorn with a Great name

A great game with a great history and a great and annovative character creation system. The combat system is quick to learn and drastically more deadly than your beginner RPGs like AD&D. I've never had one problem with this game or any of the sourcebooks.

This system is a must for roleplayers who have either become jaded with their existing system or just want to try something new. It provides a comprehensive story-line and time-line and gives the characters a whole new lease on development. The lay-out the book is easily read-able and engaging and provides the reader with an understanding of just how much is left to the players and Marshal. When I bought this book, I just had to show it to my roleplayign buddies, and they now are totally hook as I am sure you will be. If you wish to know more contact me or the Deadlands list serve. Marshal Psycho.

How powerful are the violent games played on computers? Can they lead to acting out the violence in reality.

You might think twice before playing those shoot-to-kill games on your computer after you read this well-told tale. Take a couple of slightly unstable teenage boys who suffer problems identifying with society in general and let them play a new game and see what happens.

This is how Cooper O'Brien nearly loses her life while she is trying to find out what happened to her younger brother, Jimmie. She learns more about computers and the dark side of computer programmers than she ever wanted to know.

Talented author Cheryl Swanson gives the reader something to think about in the possibilities of computer games in this intriguing tale. Will Cooper find her brother? Will she survive the search?

Surprises await the reader in this tale as you follow Cooper from one clue to the next, only to find the trail seems cold or a twist that brings you back to the beginning. Plenty of action and characters who aren't what they seem.

I'm pleased to recommend Death Game as something different in the mystery genre. Enjoy. I did.

I don't want to write this but they're making me. Who?
Oh, you know. The usual. Them. The watchers in the shadows. They tell me, "Go ahead. Tell everybody how cool this book is. Or disappear!"
Well, Death Game is VERY cool. This is one of those rare books that scare you and entertain you while making you think.
Know a teenager who loves violent videogames? Read it. You'll learn a lot.
Think there's any possibility terrorists will attack again on American soil? Read it. You'll stop sleeping at night.
In the story, an apparently ordinary American family gets caught in the net of a gang of bad guys/gals who are as beastly as they come. Villians are never so good as when they are very, very bad. Death Game has everything here from sleaze, to narcissistic personality disorders to those whose life motto is: kill, kill, kill.
The author controls the mayhem well and the cleverness is in the details, such as when you discover WHY this family has been targeted. (Gotta read the entire book first.) And that reason, like the rest of the book, is pretty darn cool.

I read this book start to finish on a plane trip to Rome. The language is lush, the action and dialog so vivid it drew me in even through I don't normally read thrillers. Recommend it to any suspense/thriller fan. It was a great read.

Death Game is the story of an audacious plot to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge. Pop a bowl of popcorn, settle into a comfy chair, you won't be putting it down.

Cooper O'Brien, a kick-a#$ San Francisco gal so real you can't believe you haven't met her, is on a mission to save her troubled teenage brother. Cooper becomes the guardian of fifteen-year-old Jimmie O'Brien after her parents are killed in a drunk driving accident. Cooper suspects that her father--a counter-espionage agent--isn't really dead, but she doesn't tell Jimmie, who is dealing with his grief by immersing himself in apparently harmless games on the Internet.

When another boy ends up dead on his father's yacht, a surveillance tape clearly shows that Jimmie is the shooter. But Cooper is convinced her brother is innocent and her background in visual effects makes her suspect the tape has been altered in some way that defies forensic detection.

From there on, you'll be plunged into a non-stop thrill ride. Closed cities in Russia, Internet death matches, a twisted conspiracy--they all play into this extraordinary tale. A great start to a new series, totally gripping and downright impossible to put down.

Reviewed by Kornelia Longoria for Reader Views (4/07)

At first all evidence seems to point at Jimmie O'Brien as the killer of another teenage boy. The security tape clearly shows images of Jimmie aiming a gun at his victim and firing, and everyone believes that the additional investigation is not necessary. To make matters worse, he disappears, leaving behind the weapon used in the murder. However, Cooper, Brian's older sister, strongly believes that her brother is innocent and she decides to do everything in her power to find out what exactly happened, and most importantly, who and why would try to frame Jimmie. However, shortly after she undertakes the investigation, she discovers that Jimmie's part is only a little piece in an enormous puzzle. The situation is far more complex and the resolution of the crime seems out of her reach. Nobody is what they claim to be and Cooper does not know who to trust.
She does not give up, and relying mostly on herself, she is determined to solve the mystery even when the situation looks hopeless.

The whole investigation revolves around the fans of gruesome and cold-blooded computer games. Cooper's brother who a big fan of computer games, made a lot of online "friends" who share the same passion and she believes that the answer is somewhere in the gamers' community.

"Death Game" is one of the books that pull you in from the very beginning and keep you turning the pages anxiously till the very end. It's full of twists and surprises and it will definitely not disappoint all action lovers. The protagonist is very likable and I would love to see her in more books. The other characters are very well-constructed as well. I really liked the way the gay friend of Ms. Cooper was portrayed. Even though the book contains a lot of references to new technology and focuses on the cyber world, it will not be confusing to a reader who is not very well familiar with the latest technological inventions. I would definitely recommend "Death Game" to all thrill seeking readers.